Shi Lang and the rest had taken claim of a new spaceship. This spaceship was a battleship class vessel. Modified to fit Shi Lang’s needs to the best. It was equipped with the first engine system, this allowed the passengers to move through the space faster, without needing to wait for cooling down the engine after a space jump.

That was not all, the armor of the ship was made of meteorite metal, engraved with array patterns. The latest weapon system for superior firepower. Three completely automated Med-bay, for emergency treatments. Ten rooms, with one gravity chamber, this room had the capacity to amplify gravity by thirty times.

This was not all, this ship had twenty automated bots, ten modern techs, and ten spirit puppets. The puppets were taken away for research purposes. The mechanics used in the puppets was like a scroll to new technology. Shi Lang has been too involved in the war and martial arts, but he has not given up his love for tech development.

After all, he was a tech genius back in school and his skills were still there. The team took a smaller vessel and made a flight to Mars where the Federal weapons depot was. The location of the planet was not always aligned with the federation, so an independent space station was built here and given the name of mars as well.

This space station was big enough to be called a small city, and around this space station, new space vessels were assembled. This station looked like a giant metal spider in space. The small vessel docked at the station port and Shi Lang took the team outside, they cleared a few formalities and inspected the ship.

One thing that this ship specialized in was stealth. If the people on board did not want to be found, then they cannot be found. It was because Shi Lang had people engrave this thing with illusion formation patterns. It was a thousand times better than the latest camouflage tech.

…

The ship finished the undocking process and Hawk said, “Sir, where to?”

Shi Lang sat behind them in the command chair, looking over the deck. He said, “Set course to Ao for the time being. Later, initiate stealth and move to the coordinates I have sent to you.”

Hawk nodded and they moved. A female member of the team asked, “Sir, is it fine to take off the mask now?”.

Shi Lang chuckled and said, “Yes, Sparrow. You can take it down, all of you do not have to be so restrained while we are not on a mission. However, that does not mean you can go slack.”

Sparrow nodded and took off her mask. She was a beautiful girl, but her eyes were filled with a vigor that could make a man shiver when looking back at her visage. Just when the other people were about to relax, Sonic said, “Sir, we are ready to enter space jump.”

Shi Lang smiled and said, “Be careful with her Captain, she is new.”

Sonic nodded with a stiff face and the ship jerked. They have entered space jump. After one jump, they waited for ten seconds, in the meantime, Shi Lang initiated the stealth array and changed the course.

…

Despite the speed, it took them three days, a total of seventy-two hours to reach the destination. From the observation deck they could see, a green planet in front of them. Sparrow asked, “This planet does show the possibility of habitation.”

Shi Lang nodded and said, “The lifeforms on this planet will not be simple. Although the scans do not show any superior species, you never know, what is hidden in plain sight.”

The atmosphere condensed when they heard this. Shi Lang said, “Milo, deploy probes, conduct a reckon in this planet for twenty-four hours. We are looking for a place with minimal activity, however, it must have a water source and a natural shelter nearby.”

Milo was a young man, who specialized in tech and his special ability was observation. Even the minuscule difference will not be missed by him. Hearing what Shi Lang said, Milo responded, “Yes, Sir.”

He went to his work station and deployed drones for reckoning. Shi Lang did not leave the deck, he was not tired. Milo looked at Shi Lang and asked, “Sir, may I ask you something?”

Shi Lang replied, “Go on.”

“Sir, do you think that our combat suits are very effective?”, asked Milo.

The combat suits of the federal units gave the stealth a better temperature modulation but that was it. They had some defense capabilities but in the end, were meant for speed. Shi Lang nodded and said, “I know what you mean. I do intend to research on this.”

Milo had his eyes lit up. He asked, “Sir, can I join this project?”

Shi Lang nodded and said, “This is one of the reasons I selected you for this team. In the future, we will work along for the scientific development of the team.”

The two discussed their ideas at length, and while they were discussing the armor, the rest of the team also passed on some suggestions. They were all now spiritual cultivators and they could stay up for prolonged periods. Even so, Shi Lang had allowed them to rest in their chairs.

After the duration of twenty-four hours passed, Milo said, “Sir, a patch of land has been located. It has minimal movement and meets all the requirements you listed.”

Shi Lang nodded and said, “Set course.”

Hawk nodded and controlled the ship to move. Sonic asked, “Sir, where to dock the spaceship?”

Shi Lang smiled and said, “Milo, tell them.”

Milo replied, “The place I found is ten kilometers away from the coast of the landmass, we can place the ship in the water.”

0)ᴠʟ The people were surprised, but they liked this idea. Sonic said, “Very well then.”

…

After half an hour, the huge red spaceship that looked like a sword descended into the atmosphere and slowly dived under the ocean. Shi Lang and the rest stood in the airlock, they were wearing masks, the toxicology report of this planet showed that they needed to adjust for a period of time before they could breathe freely.

Sparrow pressed the button on the side and a mechanical voice said, “Pressure stabilized, Airlock secure.”

Shi Lang said, “Let’s go and explore.”

With a phish, the door opened and the people jumped down into the water. The computer closed the door after a few seconds. The pressure kept the water out of the ship preventing it from flooding.

Shi Lang and the rest swam from the depths, it was not even a minute before they came out of the ship and they could spot rich and vibrant marine life. The entire place was bright and clear, Shi Lang spoke in his mask communicator, “We have a primitive site.”

The rest agreed and kept swimming upward. They reached the surface, confirmed the directions, and headed towards the landmass. The speed was anything but slow. It was as if they had been refitted with motors. As soon as they reached the shore. Shi Lang scanned the ground with his mask.

The others were doing the same, they were paying attention to the directions and were ready to intercept any attacks. Even if this planet did not show any signs of an intelligent species, they were not going to take any risks. The psychological pressure they were all facing at this moment was not something any normal Terran could have handled.

X had given them clear instructions, “Your superior officer is not a normal person, he is the pride of the federation and the youngest General ever. Make sure you lay down your lives before anything happens to him if you face such a situation.”

Hawk said, “Sir, I have spotted a flock of mammals seven hundred meters east.”

Shi Lang raised his head and used the binocular function of the mask and spotted the marked target. He said, “Milo, deploy mini drones, classify the fauna on this planet, we cannot live on compressed food forever.”

Milo chuckled and said, “Sir, I will need some time to do that, till then please bear with it.”

Shi Lang nodded and said, “Guns at ready, two teams, Star formation. Milo and Sparrow are point leaders. Move out.”

“Yes, Sir!”, with that the initial exploration of the coast began. They had to move to the patch of land Milo found first to erect the probes and other basic equipment to communicate with the battleship.

On the way, they found a lot of beasts and a variety of flowers, mostly useless, but the speed was fast. They also spotted a lot of birds. Sparrow said, “Spooky.”

Hawk replied, “It is the coast, they might have come here to feast on the washed away fish.”

Sonic said, “We are washed away as well? What do you think Krast?”

Krast shook his head and said, “We swam here.”

Suddenly Shi Lang said, “Stop! We have company.”

They all received a mark on the HUD of their masks, adjusting their line of sight, they found a few humanoids with tree bark skin looking at them. Sparrow aimed her gun, and said, “General, what now?”

Shi Lang said, “None of you are allowed to make a move, till I say so. Understand.”

That said, he raised his hands slowly and walked toward the creatures. Milo adjusted the aim, and said, “Be ready to cover the General.”