DEPARTURE.

Shi Lang finished his cultivation and got up in the morning. He changed into his military dress. They had been asked to don the uniforms for the award ceremony and represent their homeland.

The team gathered and they all made their way to the arena ground. Today, the scene was slightly changed. The five observation rooms were refurbished for the representatives of the high table. Do not think that they were giving the federation team much importance, they were here to present awards for the Tier A battle.

A puny tier-D team did not warrant their attention. Shi Lang and the rest did not think much. The itinerary was simple, walk out of the tunnel, collect the award from the presenter with a faint smile on your face, click commemorative pictures and come back.

Do not waste time, and do not interact with people. They were going back home right away, and then Shi lang will go deal with his matters. The plan was simple and effective.

The team followed the plan and did just what they had been told by Shashi. Soon they all finished collecting the awards and were about to leave the venue when a reporter lady came over to them. The team stopped and the lady asked politely, “May I ask you all a few questions?”

Shi Lang gazed at her and found that the lady had two long ears on her head and a long tail. Her figure was petite and slender, but her gaze did not give a delicate and docile vibe. It was more like a tigress. Shi Lang nodded and asked, “Will they be off the record?”

The lady smiled and asked, “Thank you, may I ask what you feel about the betting and manipulation racket that took place yesterday?”

Shi Lang faintly smiled and said, “I think it was a rather regretful and disrespectful incident.”

The lady was surprised by this response, she asked, “Can you tell us the reason behind this emotion?”

Shi Lang generously nodded and said, “In the Federation, the military is respected as the people in uniforms put their life on the line for the safety of the people. In stellar space, there are a lot of threats. However, this incident was caused because of military powers.

The purpose of the military is to protect and serve, we are not cut out for politics or schemes. To think that such a racket was being run by soldiers, I am ashamed to acknowledge them as anything.”

His words had a lot of meanings, the people would definitely ponder over this. The reporter lady nodded and asked, “What do you have to say about the way the council dealt with this trouble?”

Shi Lang replied, “The actions taken were all very swift and effective. I would also like to thank the high table on behalf of those who suffered or would have to suffer because of this organization. Thank you, for your hard work.”

This was clearly expressing his goodwill and gratitude to the high table. This was basically in line with all the people in the galaxy. The five big lords of the galaxy were existences that anyone would suck up to.

The interview was finished rather quickly and the federal team arrived at the spaceport. They did not have the time to waste, or rather they did not want to waste any time.

Shashi wanted them to stay for a few more days but many important things were waiting for them back home. The spaceship they boarded was a taxi owned by the galactic council, and the speed was rather fast. They will be dropped back at the location of their pickup.

The frontier will be their next stop, it took them a week, and then another couple of days to log everything that happened in the competition. Shi Lang then led the team back to the federation, where the president held an award ceremony for the team.

They were all given a special medal and certificate. This was the highest class of merit given out by the government. After all, they represented the federation in front of the whole galaxy.

Later on, Shi Lang made his way home to meet his parents and also to meet with his mother-in-law. General Charlotte had restarted the Ragnarok program but this time she made sure to tame the pace of the training by a lot. The mortality rate was removed and the targets of this training were high school students.

Shi Lang found her at home and asked, “How are you?”

He was pouring a cup of tea for her. Charlotte looked at him, dressed in casual clothes, the young man looked no different than a boy next door. She said, “I am fine, what about you?”

Shi Lang passed her the teacup with a nod. He did not say much. The lady took a sip calmly and said, “The Ace division is in trouble.”

Shi Lang raised his eyebrow and waited for the lady to continue. The general caught the abrupt change in his aura, and continued, “Two days ago, there was a distress signal from the arcadian capital. It was triggered by Commander Silence.”

Shi Lang asked, “The situation.”

His emphasis was simple, do not give me this rubbish, just tell me the main things. Charlotte said, “Three people went in search of the princess, including Amelia. They went missing, and in a week, they have lost trace of the whole team. Two days ago, Commander Silence also vanished right after triggering the distress signal.”

Shi Lang clenched his fist and said, “Why was I not informed?”

Charlotte gulped, and she said, “Amelia forbade communication. She said that you were on stellar travel and will arrive sooner or later. Things were under control and they had almost gotten to the place where the Princess was.”

Shi Lang stoop up from the chair and said in a calm tone, “Are you the senior officer, or her? You could have overruled her objection and passed on the message so that the precious time would not have been wasted. Yet, here we are having tea.

I am leaving to look for them. You better prepare a written explanation for this matter. I will hold a session when I come back.”

That said, Shi Lang walked out of the house, came to his place, put on his uniform, and left without informing anyone. He went straight to the parliament, and after boarding his ship with OB-One, he left the federation.

The frontal force of the Galactic Showdown was given an extended holiday, but before they had the time to relish this feeling, they were called by Shi Lang. He asked them if they wanted to go out on a rescue operation with him. The team agreed and they all arrived at the spaceport before him.

…

On the ship, the atmosphere was tense and Shi Lang did not spare anyone, unlike his old sunny behavior, he became a cold slab of ice. The people who came across him shivered in fright. They spent a day reaching the Arcadian space.

To save time, they entered the place unannounced. Yes, they were trespassing because the confirmation of their entry will take time and if there was an insider involved in this incident, then that person will be alerted as well.

Shi Lang did not want that. His first goal was to locate a messenger of his own. Zyra, the beast with the wisdom he found on Mythya. This beast was the only person he would trust at this moment.

Jack located a relatively safer spot and Shi Lang, Ryan, Sophia, and Jack dived off the spaceship. No matter how good the stealth was, the size of the ship will dismantle the continuous signal between the planetary defense system.

The team only had three members aside from Shi Lang, he did not want this mission to blow up. He called these three based on their skills and talents. Even Steel lacked Sophia when it came to logic and reasoning. While Jack was a good sniper, Ryan was a good scout, thanks to his speed.

He could not move undetected and fast. Shi Lang took them to glide as close as they could to the imperial palace of Arcadia. This place had changed completely last time only when Shi Lang stayed here as the advisor to the little empress.

The distance between the landing spot and the palace was still not less them fifty kilometers. They had been using the thrusters on their suits to move through the void. They landed and Shi Lang said, “You all do not know the terrain of the palace on the inside. I will enter, and you all will stay here in hiding. Until I come back, you are not to move. Do you understand?”

The team nodded, and then Shi Lang told them a few things to be mindful of before he initiated the illusion array and left the place in silence. He was going to find his people at any cost.