Colonia Storm Tour

"A sound plan is for us to travel to Saturn on the Eternity."

Lin Haiyuan began his speech with a line from a peacekeeping bomber, while his fingers danced across the keyboard like a keyboard wizard, typing out the image of Saturn.

A gas giant planet with silver-white to blue-white stripes and a beautiful halo appeared on the holographic projection. Basic data about Saturn was displayed in the upper left and upper right corners. Saturn's appearance immediately elicited similar reactions from the other ship girls.

"Is this the true, clear view of Saturn? It's so much clearer than what you see through a telescope, it's so beautiful..."

Taiyuan stared wide-eyed, mesmerized, at the holographic projection of Saturn.

"Is this planet called Saturn? It looks like the crescent moon, covered in sand."

Fushun had no concept of gas giants.

"This sandstorm is just too terrifying..."

Changchun was able to better understand the terrifying nature of these sands by looking at the data in the planet size column.

"Those aren't dust storms, they're the planet's atmosphere, but not like the one on Aquamarine. It's a very dense atmosphere made up of other components. The focus now isn't on the planet's atmosphere, but here..."

Lin Haiyuan marked the approximate location of the floating landmass with a dark green dashed box.

“I won’t go into the specific planetary composition; if you’re interested, you can use the memory recorder to learn about that information yourselves. What I want to say now is that the information Ms. Exile conveyed to me told me that there is a floating continent here, created by an unknown ancient pioneer civilization. Ms. Exile is on this floating continent. After completing my reconnaissance of Saturn in two or three days, I need to find a woman named Exile. She conveyed to me that she has a way to resolve the Ring Messenger and the Void Mist, but I need to find her and liberate her first.”

Lin Haiyuan was determined to go to the floating continent of Saturn to find that lady, no matter what; the only difference was whether he went immediately or later.

He could foresee that on that floating continent on Saturn, there must be beings that neither Exile nor Lin Haiyuan wanted, and these beings were imprisoning and controlling Exile, so a battle would be inevitable.

"So the second option is here: come with me on the Eternal to the floating continent of Saturn to find Ms. Exile and find a way to resolve the issues of the Ring Messenger and the Void Mist. Whether you come or not is up to you. However, I must remind you that at the base on the back of the Azure Moon, only the people who remain will be alive; the rest will be machines. If you want to chat and relieve your boredom, it won't be so easy. Moreover, I cannot guarantee the safety of the base on the back of the Azure Moon, because it is too close to a Void World. So make your choice."

Lin Haiyuan didn't say "You don't have much time left" to Cang Yue. He misspoke. He meant the global confinement of the Angel of Peace, so it was impossible to completely stop all scans. Therefore, being with a virtual world was not an easy thing. Fen Feng was not just a father figure like the Holy Guard. As long as the virtual world made any move, he would be sent back to the virtual world to see hell.

Having said that, he didn't engage in conversation with them, but instead called on Walker.com's AI to continue handling the business.

"Walker AI, now send the Griffin Special Operations Ship with the necessary satellites to Saturn's orbit to build a satellite network. We need to conduct a detailed reconnaissance of that floating continent on Saturn before we set off."

Lin Haiyuan wanted to obtain preliminary or complete reconnaissance results within two or three days, which required the satellite network orbiting Saturn to be online as soon as possible.

"Yes, Master."

Walker.com AI responded that the Griffin Special Operations Ship, which had just completed maintenance and testing, would have satellites installed in its cabins to complete the satellite network setup.

However, while it's said to be built on a satellite network, the establishment of this satellite network is different from that on Earth. Imagine trying to build a satellite network on a gas giant with a mass of 95.16 Earths, and on a gas giant with several planetary rings and numerous satellites. The collisions and bumps that would occur would be an unspeakable disaster for the satellites.

Therefore, this satellite network is not the same as the one on Earth; it only monitors the floating continent that operates on the visual boundary between Saturn's atmosphere and the universe.

This time, in addition to building a satellite network for reconnaissance, a satellite network will also be established for orbital strikes, which are part of Colonia's flank strength.

Upon hearing Lin Haiyuan's choice, all nine ship girls fell into deep thought at the same moment. This choice was crucial for them: should they embark on the seemingly dangerous journey to find Ms. Exile with Lin Haiyuan, or should they stay in the underground of the seemingly safe but dangerous virtual world adjacent to the Azure Moon?

Making a choice is not easy for them, because both choices carry a certain degree of risk, only the types of risk are different.

As he pondered this, Raffi opened his sleepy eyes, which had been half-closed in thought, and raised his hand to speak.

"Commander Lin Haiyuan, Laffey has chosen to go with you to find that lady named Exile."

Raffi chose to go to Saturn with Lin Haiyuan to find Exile.

Everyone looked at Laffey, because she was the first ship girl to speak.

"Why did you choose to come with me? I'm curious, Miss Raffi."

Lin Haiyuan turned his head, showing a curious expression.

“Rafi has not uttered any formal oath of allegiance, but Rafi believes that since he has chosen to join the flank of Commander Lin Haiyuan’s Burning Wind Colonia, he should act with his commander instead of staying underground in the Cangyue base because of the danger. We are facing danger at any time.”

Lafite expressed his thoughts frankly.

"Uh…………"

Raffi's words troubled Anshan. She had originally thought it better not to take her sisters on an adventure and to stay with them in the underground base on the other side of Cangyue.

However, Raffi's words made Anshan, who was deep in thought, feel awkward. Since she had chosen to bring her sisters to join the flank of Burning Wind Colonia, she should logically act with her superior, Lin Haiyuan. Choosing not to accompany her superior, Lin Haiyuan, was both unreasonable and wrong in terms of duty.

"Yes, Miss Raffi is right."

Fushun strongly agrees with what Lafite said.

"That's true..."

Changchun, needless to say, agreed with what Raffi said and indeed believed that they should act together with their superior, Lin Haiyuan.

"Ah."

Taiyuan responded with a soft nod.

“We also agree with this statement. When a general goes to war, his soldiers should follow him. How can there be any reason for him to stay behind out of fear and danger?”

Pu Feng expressed his support using classical Chinese language.

"Yes, yes! We should follow the general on the expedition to Luoyang!"

Isokaze used her unique way of speaking to express her intentions.

“Indeed, Commander Lin Haiyuan did not order us to stay and wait for orders. Therefore, according to our duty and reason, we should follow Commander Lin Haiyuan. Even if we suffer such a disaster, we should not be so lazy and wait for rescue. We should try to find a solution to the troubles brought by the Ring Messenger, instead of bowing our heads and cowering.”

"It's so serious," Hamaka said earnestly.

“Sister is right. We have no reason to stay at the base on the back side of Cangyue. The commander has not given any orders to stay. We should go with the commander.”

Gu Feng also clearly expressed his willingness to follow Lin Haiyuan.

Lin Haiyuan's curious expression gradually turned into a friendly smile, the smile in his eyes appearing ambiguous and unpredictable.

The ship girls' attitude surprised and delighted him. He had originally thought that ship girls who didn't have much affection for him would choose to stay at the base on the back side of the Azure Moon, but Laffey and the others' words surprised him, which is why he smiled.

It would be best if the ship girls were willing to come along, but it's okay if they weren't. Right now, 99% of them are willing to come along, so how can we not make him smile happily?

The only one that didn't voice its opinion was Anshan, which usually takes the lead.

“I… also agree with Miss Laffey’s statement. I can’t stay at the base on the back side of the Azure Moon just to ensure my safety. I must fight alongside my sisters.”

Anshan's voice hesitated for a moment before becoming firm.

Initially, she did want to ensure the safety of herself and her sisters. Now that the ship girls around her and even her own sisters are saying the same thing, if she, as the older sister, says she won't go, it would seem like she's cowardly and timid. How can she then play the leading role as the eldest sister and guide her sisters to grow properly? Moreover, this would also make her reputation very low.

With that in mind, Anshan finally agreed to go to Saturn with Lin Haiyuan to find Exile.

"Since you're all willing to come together, that's great. This will make it easier for me and Walker.com AI to designate our plan."

Lin Haiyuan no longer needed to worry about the safety of the ship girls at the base on the back of Cangyue, and could go to Saturn to find Exile without any worries.

"Commander, what is the exact time we will depart for Saturn?"

Anshan is eager to know the specific time so they can make arrangements for rest, etc.

"If everything goes smoothly, we will begin our journey to Saturn in three days. During this time, we will also send satellites to gather information about the floating continent on Saturn, so that we don't go in confused and search for it."

Lin Haiyuan continued, "Now you all go and get some rest. Walker AI, arrange dormitory rooms for the nine of them: Anshan, Fushun, Changchun, Taiyuan, Pufeng, Jifeng, Binfeng, Gufeng, and Lafite, so they can rest. Orange Fox, you're in charge of leading the way."

Orange Fox nodded and accepted the mission to take the place of the nine destroyer ship girls at the dormitory of the air base on the flank of Colonia.

"Disband."

After Lin Haiyuan dismissed them, the ship girls immediately followed Orange Fox, who smiled without saying a word, out of the main command room and boarded the Commander-type Jackal mobile vehicle to head to their dormitory.

After they left, Lin Haiyuan continued to give orders to Walker.com's AI.

"Walker AI, I don't know the ratio of the time flow in this world to that in the Date A Live world, so you need to pay attention to communication and scanning signals that may belong to our side. When we go to Saturn, if Alice and the others come to this world and start searching for us, immediately send them a message to tell them that I have established a base on the back of the Azure Moon."

Furthermore, I compiled the information about the events on Aquamarine, the Void Realm, and the Ring Messengers, as well as my search for Exile on the ancient pioneer floating continent of Saturn. Exile possesses the ability to resolve the Void Realm fog and the Ring Messengers. I sent this detailed report to them, specifically warning them not to attempt a war of attrition against the Ring Messengers, as their forces would endlessly emerge from the Void Realm fog. I advised them to seek out the Eternal on Saturn's floating continent as the situation allowed.

Lin Haiyuan gave a special reminder at the end.

"Yes, Master."

Walker.net AI began simultaneously preparing its plans for advancing into Saturn's floating continents and delivering a detailed report to Alice and her team.

"call………………"

Lin Haiyuan let out a long breath.

If Alice could have arrived in this world before he led his team to the floating continent of Saturn, the troubles encountered on the way to find Exile would have been much easier to resolve; otherwise, he would have to rely on himself.

"Walker AI, now recharge the Colonia flank air base, replenish the required amount of nanomaterials and other supplies, ensuring 100% sufficiency. Once recharged, we will immediately warp to Saturn's orbit. Our continued presence on the far side of the Moon poses a danger to the entire far side Moon base."

Lin Haiyuan also wanted to use the Colonia flank air base to jointly observe the entire floating continent with satellites, but landing on the floating continent would have to wait until the reconnaissance was completed.

The illusory world that betrayed the faith is probably a dark chapter in the Holy Guard's history. Based on the most common way illusory worlds appear, the Holy Guard may have already fought against those self-destructive idealist fools before that.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Vanishing into the Void (VI)

The time spent recharging and replenishing nanomaterials and other supplies for the Colonia flank air base was not long. Only a short time stop was used, which did not consume much of the No. 1 backup battery. It only took a few minutes to recharge it to 100%. As for the replenishment of nanomaterials and supplies, there is a dedicated teleportation room at the Crescent Moon base. Large quantities of nanomaterials and various supplies can be transferred to the Colonia flank air base via hyperspace teleportation.

Thanks to the efficient operation of drones and hyperspace teleportation, the replenishment of nanomaterials and other supplies was completed quickly, and once completed, the concealment level of the Cangyue Back Base was raised to the highest level.

Raising the concealment level to the highest level means that any actions that would expose the base will be greatly suppressed and reduced, only reaching the minimum standard to maintain the base's operation. This ensures that the base on the back of the Azure Moon will not be easily discovered. Unless there are powerful, comprehensive, and diverse scanning methods, it will be difficult to find the Azure Moon base, which has anti-scanning and optical cloaking facilities.

At this moment, the last trace of azure blue on the rotating Azure Star was completely obscured and disappeared by the spreading mist of the illusory realm, a phenomenon that was witnessed by everyone.

"Master, the GLONASS satellite system has confirmed that Aquamarine's atmosphere has completely merged with the Void Realm Mist, and Aquamarine has indeed become a Void Realm planet."

Walker.com AI reported.

Lin Haiyuan opened the image of Aquamarine Star on the holographic projection and saw a purple planet reflecting white light with purple mist and purple clouds.

Judging from the dim, ethereal mist and the faint purple-white clouds within it, Aquamarine Star has indeed become a veritable ethereal world.

"What else can our satellites scan the surface of Aquamarine?"

Lin Haiyuan asked.

"It's no longer possible. The Void Mist has absorbed all the beam frequencies used for scanning, so we can no longer scan the surface conditions of Aquamarine."

Walker.com's AI gave a negative answer.

"Just as I thought, have the Ring Envoy's fleet emerged from the Void Realm's mist yet?"

Lin Haiyuan remembered that the Kodiak warship he was preparing to bomb in orbit must have been discovered. Although he had used large-caliber naval guns to bombard those detectors from a distance, the damage and explosion of the detectors would definitely attract the attention of the Ring Messenger. The sudden destruction of the detectors could not be due to any reason other than an enemy attack. They would definitely send a fleet to search for this damned enemy in orbit.

"No, our satellites still haven't detected any maneuvering Circular Messenger fleet."

Walker.com's AI still gave a negative answer.

"I wonder what they're thinking. It's better that they didn't show up. Walker.com AI, is the report that's supposed to be sent to Alice and the others who might arrive ready?"

Lin Haiyuan had no intention of staying at the Cangyue Back Base for an extended period, in order to ensure the base's secrecy.