Chapter 116: Earth's Elegant Sound!
The grassland squad successfully cleared the remaining Apollo security personnel.
In the sky, Chang Kong also sent good news.
Out of 10 Apollo space fighters, 6 were directly destroyed in the hangar, and the remaining 4 took off in an emergency, but were shot down by the First Air Squadron, which had already firmly established energy superiority, during the climb phase.
Now, only the labor dormitory area has not been occupied, and that area has also been sealed off.
“Battalion Commander!” a player ran back from down the corridor, “We’ve found two living people hiding up ahead, they don’t seem like military personnel.”
“Let’s go take a look.”
The squad arrived at the mining vehicle driver's changing room, and the heartbeat detector showed that two people were hiding in the wardrobe.
Grassland realized his teammate was right; given the size of that wardrobe, let alone power armor, it would be difficult to squeeze in even wearing an intravehicular activity suit.
He gave a look, and as his teammates raised their guns, ready for anything, he stepped forward and pulled open the two wardrobe doors.
“We surrender! Please spare us!”
Anton and Lao Yu both raised their hands.
“Are you workers here?”
Grassland didn't understand those two sentences, but he saw the workers' uniforms they were wearing.
Both of them looked bewildered.
‘They don’t understand me either? It seems the previous prisoners of war didn't lie to us; these indeed seem like laborers Apollo recruited from New Hope. They've been stuck in this mine and have never been to Li Star, so naturally, they wouldn't speak Li Star language.’
‘It seems they're speaking the ‘Star Alliance language’ that Apollo uses daily.’
At this moment, Grassland suddenly remembered hearing the so-called Star Alliance language when he infiltrated the landing field. It was actually a blend of various Earth languages, with many Chinese words that had changed pronunciation, not entirely gibberish.
He simply turned off the translator and slowed down his speech.
“We, mean no harm, tell your compatriots to put down their weapons, leave their residences, and gather here. We will not open fire.”
Anton still didn't understand.
But Lao Yu, by the time Grassland spoke the second sentence, had already widened his eyes and grinned.
“Engineer Yu, you—can you understand what this person is saying?” Anton asked curiously.
Lao Yu nodded vigorously.
“Of course! I told you to learn more from me, but you refused! What he's speaking is one of the six official languages of the UEG, the noblest language before the apocalypse! But this language should be almost completely lost by now, how can someone speak it so fluently and standardly…?”
Lao Yu pondered for a moment, then finally mustered his courage, stepped forward, and bowed, his voice filled with reverence.
“Um, may I ask which faction you belong to?”
“How can such an elegant sound be uttered?”
Hearing his mother tongue spoken by an NPC, Grassland was truly unexpected.
“You speak our language?”
“What do you mean—‘your language’?”
“It’s our mother tongue, we’re from Earth,” said the young player next to Grassland, “It’s normal to speak Chinese, right?”
“Ah!? Really?”
Lao Yu was filled with awe.
‘Could it really be Earthlings?!’
‘Earthlings! That’s what you call authentic!’
“No wonder! That makes sense now, only pure Earthlings can speak such pure Earth language. Haha, incredible, incredible! I might be the first Star Alliance citizen to see an Earthling since the apocalypse!”
“Old sir, please calm down first,” Grassland had to interrupt him, “May I ask who you are—”
“My name is Yu Xiao, the ‘Xiao’ from free and easy! I am a citizen of New Hope, and also a rather renowned archaeologist.”
“Uh—to be precise, a folk archaeologist—”
“But I have achieved many accomplishments! To better excavate ancient ruins, I have dedicated most of my life to studying the official languages of Earth! Um, may I ask, has Earth overcome the disaster and sent rescue? Are you going to begin the restoration of the galaxy?”
“The true situation is more complex than you imagine.” Grassland couldn't bear to disappoint the other party, but he also didn't want to lie to the old man. “In short, we can talk about these things later when we have time. Since you can understand us, could you please do us a favor?”
Listening to the incredibly standard Earth Chinese, Lao Yu was already ecstatic and immediately agreed.
“Of course! No trouble at all, please speak!”
The squad brought Lao Yu and Anton to the labor dormitory area. Lao Yu, through the intercom system, successfully convinced the people inside to lower their guard and open the airtight door, then walked out himself.
Even the drivers in the mining vehicles outside were peacefully persuaded to return.
“Earthlings have come to save us!”
Almost all the laborers found this statement very fantastical, but fortunately, Lao Yu seemed to be their leader and held high prestige.
The laborers raised their hands and lined up to the control room, sitting obediently by the wall.
Apollo Lunar Nitrogen-3 Mine, all facilities captured!
Except for the formal employee living area being bombed and the control room being severely damaged, the actual production parts of the facility were 100% perfectly preserved.
The mine can be repaired and put back into production within two days!
Moreover, Grassland received a piece of exciting good news from Lao Yu.
In addition to 40 tons of finished Hydrogen-3 fuel awaiting transfer, there were also 200 kilograms of zero element in the mine.
Li Star, inside the Oasis City Palace.
Omar was still being entertained by the City Lord.
“I heard this ‘Breeze Nocturne’ is the city’s finest wine? For such a remote star system, the taste is quite good.”
He leaned back leisurely on the sofa, raising his wine glass.
“Merely a crude creation of the citizen class,” Cole chuckled, “I hope it suits your taste.”
At this moment, Omar's assistant knocked and entered the room.
“Minister, I have news to report to you—”
Omar waited a few seconds for him.
“Go on, speak.”
“Uh—” the assistant glanced at the City Lord, “It’s best if I can report privately!”
Cole shrugged, indicating he didn't mind.
‘Ha, you dog! It seems it’s not good news!’
“Speak here!”
“Our lunar mine—has been attacked.”
Omar glanced at him.
“Labor riot? Just suppress it according to standard regulations. Tell them not to rush to execute the ringleaders, those laborers' skills are quite rare.”
“No, the entire mine facility has been completely occupied—”
“What did you say?”
Omar’s motion of raising his glass to drink stopped in mid-air, an expression of disbelief on his face, and he sprang up from the sofa.
“Say that again!?”
“The entire mine has been completely occupied. The battle is over—”
“How is that possible!?”
“This—the other party is still on the other end of the communication, waiting for our reply—”
“Take me there!”
The City Lord watched Omar's hurried departure with a wary eye.
Their conversation had been halfway through when it switched to the “Star Alliance” language, which he didn’t quite understand, but he could tell from certain specific words that they had probably been beaten.
The City Lord could no longer revel in schadenfreude; he suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.
The situation seemed to be spiraling out of control, accelerating towards the worst abyss.
Omar rushed to the old police station and connected to the communication with the mine.
“Who exactly are you?”
“When you ordered a nuclear missile to be launched at us, did you not think this day would come?” Ye Xing’s voice came through the loudspeaker.
“Is—is that you!?”
His eyes instantly widened, his mouth half-open, unable to utter anything else for a moment.
“You’re thinking, how is this possible, right?”
Ye Xing said leisurely.
“Come, come, let me tell you, it’s because someone at the lunar mine has long been unhappy with you and wanted to rebel! We received help from these friends, hehe, and from now on, it’ll be smooth sailing!”
These words, of course, were taught to him by Executive Officer.
Lu Yuan once again used the 【Smoke and Mirrors】 skill, frantically spreading false intelligence.
Since this trick is effective, use it a few more times!
Ye Xing continued to mislead: “We have been waiting for an opportunity, and now you have come and voluntarily squandered your nuclear warheads, so the lunar mine here can naturally rest easy.”
“In fact, Minister, an hour ago, the lunar air force already controlled the Li Star orbit, and the Oasis City landing field has been targeted. If you think now is a good time to evacuate and run, then please do! We ourselves are very eager to test what kind of combat power those golden age weapons dug out from underground will have when paired with a space fighter platform. I don't mind you playing the role of a live target.”