Chapter 170: A Warning from the Distant Stars

Chapter 170: A Warning from the Distant Stars

After retreating from the area where the mechanical guards were searching, the trio found a temporary hideout.

"Why were we suddenly attacked? Dozens of mini-missiles bombarded us right from the start. This is just too much," Lin Zeyu voiced the question that was on all their minds.

Lu Heng was equally puzzled about what had just transpired.

When he was communicating with the cylindrical robot earlier, the conversation had been smooth.

Although they hadn't yet gained the approval of the Fugitives, the fact that they could continue the conversation meant there was room for further engagement.

"The attacking party turned that cylindrical robot into ashes. It's unlikely that the Fugitives initiated the attack."

If the Fugitives were behind the assault, they wouldn't have destroyed the cylindrical robot. The Siks civilization had more advanced methods of attack at their disposal.

Based on this, it could be deduced that the attackers and the Fugitives were not from the same faction.

However, Lu Heng recalled that the three factions within the Siks civilization had their differences, but they weren't so severe as to require them to attack each other.

These three factions of the Siks civilization had differing ideologies, but they all belonged to the same civilization. While there was competition among them, it hadn't escalated to the point of resolving conflicts through war.

Su Muyu rested her right elbow in her left hand, her right hand on her chin, pacing in the room as she pondered, "I noticed that the mechanical guards searching for us had official markings. They were probably official Siks civilization guards.

"Do you think we're being hunted because our discussion about the Beast Arena case has been filed?"

Lu Heng slowly shook his head, "Even if we're wanted, the intensity of the pursuit shouldn't be this high. They didn't just launch dozens of mini-missiles at us; they're not trying to capture us, they're attempting to kill us outright."

Su Muyu's face also showed confusion, "That's true. When they fired the mini-missiles, it was a clear ambush, which doesn't seem like a standard capture procedure."

She looked out the window, suddenly thinking of a crucial point, and added, "There's something else strange. You met with that cylindrical robot for at most three minutes.

"Even if we were spotted by the mechanical guards, it's unlikely they could gather so many in such a short time and arrange a missile bombardment."

Lu Heng also noticed the discrepancy and nodded, "I noticed that too. It seems the attackers knew our meeting coordinates in advance.

"If that's the case, there's only one possibility—there's a leak in the communication channel I used to contact the Fugitive's manager."

"What do we do now?" Lin Zeyu, feeling left out of the conversation, asked the most pertinent question.

"I want to confirm again if the Fugitive's channel has been compromised."

Lu Heng made a decision, found another computer terminal, and contacted the Fugitive's regional manager to arrange a second meeting time and location.

This time, Lu Heng sent out a shadow clone to the streets.

The meeting was with another cylindrical robot, and after exchanging just two sentences, they were bombarded with mini-missiles again, followed by high-energy beam sweeps.

The number of mechanical guards deployed was twice as many as before.

The shadow clone was instantly annihilated by the missile strike, and the cylindrical robot was also blown to pieces.

Another attack.

The two meetings had almost identical outcomes.

There was no doubt that the information had been leaked, and the Siks officials were after them.

However, both times, the Fugitives sent cylindrical robots for the meeting.

Although these robots lacked armed modules, they were highly intelligent, and it wasn't a situation where they could be easily sacrificed.

Therefore, it was safe to assume that the Fugitive's manager wasn't selling out information; instead, there was a problem with the information transmission process.

Within a day, they had faced two missile bombardments.

Although Lin Zeyu was outside the blast radius, just witnessing it from a distance made his scalp tingle, "Do you think Nagakawa Tomo might be behind this? If that dog had been transported to this world ahead of us, he'd definitely want to kill us."

Before they entered, the team of three had analyzed the situation and concluded that Nagakawa Tomo might have entered the same Abyssal Battlefield, and possibly earlier.

In other words, Nagakawa Tomo might have already gained a high position within a faction and was using the faction's power to launch the attack.

Su Muyu slowly nodded, continuing the analysis, "That's a possibility, but there's one problem. How did Nagakawa Tomo know we were here? And how did he know it was us contacting the Fugitives?"

Lu Heng closed his eyes, saying, "He must have seen me. I fought in the Mechanical Beast Arena. If he's been following the Beast Arena matches, it wouldn't be hard for him to find my videos.

"As for how he confirmed it was us contacting the Fugitives, that's not difficult to figure out.

"At this point, anyone contacting the Fugitives in this manner is likely to be an otherworlder, even if it's not us.

"And since this mode is a Source Essence contest, even if he discovers it's not us, killing other otherworlders will still get him the Source Essence, so it won't affect his decision."

"Then, Nagakawa Tomo has joined the Fugitives? This is a terrible start for us. What do we do now?" Lin Zeyu asked the same question again.

He was completely clueless, so he suggested, "Should we try another faction?"

Lu Heng shook his head, "It's not a good idea to switch factions."

Among the three factions, the Descension Faction was a bunch of fanatics, essentially a concentration of anti-social personalities.

These Siks wanted to welcome the Abyss's arrival and let it rule over the Siks world.

Joining this faction means working for the Abyss, which will lead to a lot of trouble in the future.

The Salvation Faction, also known as the Preservation Faction, is the mainstream faction in the Sykes Civilization, with over 70% of the Sykes population supporting it.

This faction is powerful and does not accept members from other races.

The Exodus Faction, on the other hand, has a smaller influence and needs to increase its strength and population, so it is open to members from other races.

Although the third task in the Challenge Quest involves joining one of the three factions, only the Exodus Faction is relatively easy to join.

Moreover, Lu Heng only knows the communication methods of the Exodus Faction.

Therefore, there are no other options when it comes to joining a faction.

...

After two failed attempts at contact, Lu Heng's plan to join a faction hit a snag.

He calmed down and began gathering information about the world, rethinking his course of action.

The Exodus Faction has an official name: the Seed of Civilization Continuation Plan.

This faction is not an illegal organization; it has an official website where it openly promotes its ideals.

By accessing the Seed of Civilization Continuation Plan's website, one can find information about the faction.

This includes details about the faction leader.

The three of them began browsing the website, reading the information, and discussing it as they went.

The current leader of the Exodus Faction is a woman named Liorana Sexes.

The surname 'Sexes' is a common one in the Sykes Civilization, and two centuries ago, it was even the royal family's surname. However, it has since become normalized, and any Sykes citizen can use it.

On the Seed website, there is a photo of Liorana Sexes, who appears to be a typical Sykes woman with no visible mechanical exterior, using biomimetic skin.

Similarly, her exact age is also indiscernible.

If one were to judge by human standards, Liorana Sexes would appear to be in her early twenties.

The website also displays the percentage of Sykes citizens who support the Exodus Faction, which stands at 7%.

This support rate is higher than Lu Heng had anticipated.

In his previous life, when he entered the Sykes world a year after the Abyssal Descent, the Exodus Faction's support rate was only 5%, and it was on an upward trend.

The Sykes Civilization was already in a state of internal turmoil, and the Abyss had demonstrated its growing power.

As the Abyss became increasingly difficult to resist, the support for the Descension and Exodus Factions rose, while the Preservation Faction's support rapidly declined.

In other words, the Exodus Faction's support should have been steadily increasing as the Abyssal invasion progressed.

However, why has it already reached 7%? Based on the timeline, the support rate should be lower than 5%.

The higher support rate than his previous memory is the first discrepancy.

Additionally, the leader of the Exodus Faction is not the same person he remembers.

In his previous life, when Lu Heng joined the Exodus Faction, he never encountered Liorana Sexes among the faction leaders.

This suggests that Liorana Sexes either died or retired during his previous timeline.

Could her death have caused a significant drop in the Exodus Faction's support rate?

As Lu Heng pondered this, Su Muyu suddenly grabbed his arm and pointed at the holographic display screen, saying, "Look at this news article."

Lu Heng turned to look, and the moment he saw the title, his expression froze.

The headline read: "Warning from Renowned Scientist Lakrini Sexes."

The subheading read: "The Abyss is Unstoppable; Escaping the Stellar System is the Only Way to Preserve Civilization."

This news article was clearly a promotional piece for the Exodus Faction, and the source of the warning was none other than Lakrini Sexes.

Who is Lakrini Sexes? He was the brain in a vat on the λ838 Wasteland Planet in the Orion constellation.

When Lu Heng helped him, he also sent a recorded message to the Sykes Civilization, warning them of the impending Abyssal invasion.

Now, this message had appeared in the news.

Lin Zeyu leaned in to take a closer look, and his eyes widened. "Wait, isn't this the warning we sent?"

Lu Heng nodded. "Yes, it's our message. I never thought it would become the Exodus Faction's slogan."

Su Muyu continued to search for information about Lakrini Sexes and was surprised to find out that he was one of the three most renowned scientists in their civilization over the past century.

Upon reading this news, Lu Heng finally understood why the Exodus Faction's support rate was so much higher than in his previous life.

Lakrini Sexes was a famous scientist of this century, and even someone of his stature had sent a warning about the impending Abyssal invasion.

To the average Sykes citizen, the first reaction would be that the Abyss was indeed terrifying.

Moreover, Lakrini Sexes had died on the Wasteland Planet while investigating the truth about the Abyss.

With even such a renowned scientist falling victim to the Abyss, ordinary Sykes citizens would naturally feel that there was no way to resist it.

It was no surprise, then, that more Sykes citizens would support the Exodus Faction.

Additionally, Su Muyu discovered an even more critical piece of information.

Liorana Sexes, the leader of the Exodus Faction, was Lakrini Sexes's daughter.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end