Two hours later, Wang Yile and Modi returned with good news. They had already contacted several black market merchants nearby and arranged to inspect the goods tomorrow. Additionally, they had found the ship repair yard, and some of the less sensitive parts had been located. However, obtaining some sensitive components, especially the four engine engines, proved to be more challenging.
This matter could only progress slowly.
Meanwhile, Virus had successfully completed the infiltration and entered the defense system of the Milky Way II, stealing all defense data in the Milky Way region.
"Come see this, boss!" the young man exclaimed, rushing over.
He pulled out a crystal ball from his pocket and tossed it onto the table. The crystal ball emitted light, projecting an image in front of everyone - it was the holographic map of the Milky Way region.
"Well done," Reno praised sincerely, patting his shoulder in encouragement.
Zooming into a specific area of the star map, everyone saw a familiar star sector.
Pointing to one of the planets, Kane said, "This planet is the Milky Way IV, and this one is the Milky Way II, where the Milky Way Fleet is stationed. It's 130 million kilometers away from the Milky Way IV. Francily, this isn't a suitable defense point. There's a massive gravitational field between these two planets, making it nearly impossible to enter hyperspace. It takes at least seventy minutes for a maximum-speed flight from the Milky Way II to the Milky Way IV, not including assembly, launch, and deceleration time. This means that if someone launches a sudden attack on the research institute, solves the battle within half an hour, and then retreats quickly, they won't be able to catch up with us. In this regard, choosing to raid the research institute is a very correct strategic decision."
"What about the actual execution?" Reno detected the negative connotation in Virus's tone.
"That's going to be tough," Virus shook his head. He pointed to the Milky Way IV, rotated it until the backside was visible, continuously zooming in until the research institute appeared, pointing to the image of the institute, he said, "The Milky Way Fleet has deployed a defense force of two hundred people at the research institute."
"Not that many," Nora remarked.
"The problem this time is heavy weapons. Heavy artillery and Warwolf heavy mechs, and there's said to be a secret weapon, but it's unclear what it is... If we try the same trick as last time, we'll be bombed to bits before we know it," Virus chuckled.
"Wow," Teck whistled, flexing his muscles, seeming a bit dissatisfied.
Kane continued, "In addition, there's a robotic army. According to the data, there are about a hundred main battle-level X800 mechanized soldiers in the research institute."
"Damn!" everyone cursed together.
Main battle-level mechanized soldiers are not easy to deal with. These guys have powerful firepower, are unafraid of death, and follow orders meticulously. They are harder to deal with than human soldiers, with their only weakness being their lack of intelligence.
Just dealing with two hundred heavily armed soldiers is not easy, let alone adding a hundred mechanized guards, not to mention having to handle everything within half an hour.
"Furthermore, any ship wanting to go to the Milky Way IV must pass through the fleet's inspection," Virus added, still finding it troublesome, "So the problem we need to consider isn't just how to defeat the three hundred guards at the research institute within half an hour, but also how to pass through the fleet's inspection and enter that planet."
"It sounds like an impossible task," little Marsha grumbled.
"Believe me, for the boss, this won't be harder than rescuing us from St. Edward Hospital and escaping Earth, right? Boss," Camellia looked at Reno and smiled, still having confidence in him.
Reno replied, "Back then, I only had Stark and Nora as helpers, and now I have two thousand eight hundred."
Upon hearing this, everyone laughed.
Yes, they've been through the worst, so what could stop them now?
Encouraged by Reno, everyone was full of confidence.
However, fate, like a merciless hand, dealt them a blow right from the start.
Early the next morning, Wang Yile took Camellia to sell the Yuga crystals, while the others waited for news at the hotel.
According to the plan, Camellia would use her enchantment ability to sell the Yuga crystals for a good price, which would make many things much easier with the money.
This was supposed to be an extremely simple matter.
Nobody expected it to go wrong.
When the communication rang, Reno was still in the room considering the next course of action.
Reno answered, and Camellia's sharp voice rang out, "Boss!"
"Yes, it's me. What's the situation, Camellia?"
"It's a disaster, we're being chased! Damn it, at least dozens of guys are right on our tail. Oh, no!" With Camellia's scream, there was a deafening explosion from the terminal.
Reno stood up abruptly, "Camellia!"
"I'm still alive, but probably not for long," Camellia shouted, simultaneously returning fire, but her feeble laser gun was no match for the firepower chasing from behind.
"What the hell happened?" Reno shouted as he ran out of the room, pressing the personal alarm. As soon as the alarm sounded, all members in other rooms rushed out.
Reno shared the channel so everyone could hear Camellia's voice, then gestured to rush outside the hotel.
Others understood and followed suit.
Meanwhile, Camellia shouted, "Those damn black market merchants, they're untrustworthy. They think they got a bad deal and sent people to chase us!"
"How much did you sell?" Reno asked.
"Three billion!" Camellia replied.
"Oh, damn!" Reno slapped his forehead.
The value of three Yuga crystals was only one billion. Reno had sent her to sell them just to avoid the black market merchants undercutting them too much. Selling them for a higher price would have been nice, but he never expected Camellia to sell them for the astronomical price of three billion.
This wasn't a transaction; it was fraud!
Camellia's enchantment was indeed powerful but not everlasting. When the black market merchants regained their senses and realized they had unwittingly spent three billion on three Yuga crystals, they would be furious and naturally send people to chase after them.
"I put a lot of effort into this!" Camellia added.
"You'd better save your effort for persuading the people chasing you!" Reno replied irritably.
He dashed to the car park just as a luxury sedan pulled in from outside, and a black-clad, sunglasses-wearing figure stepped out from the driver's seat.
Reno rushed forward and grabbed the black-clad man, throwing him out, "I need to borrow this."
Unexpectedly, the black-clad man dodged with a shoulder feint, then threw a punch at Reno. Reno hadn't expected the opponent's reaction to be so fast, so he could only dodge to the side, but the opponent followed up with a knee strike, fast and forceful. Reno failed to evade in time and was pushed back.
The black-clad man chuckled and approached, "Trying to steal a car..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a dark figure pounced. The black-clad man instinctively dodged and counterattacked with punches, but the incoming shadow ignored the direct punch, completely disregarding it and continued pressing forward, crashing into the black-clad man. The black-clad man felt as if he had hit a rock, then his vision blurred, as if hit by a speeding train, crashing heavily into a nearby stone pillar and blacking out.
Teck clapped, "I said we're borrowing the car."
Turning to Reno, "You okay, boss?"
Reno shrugged, "I'm fine."
He opened the car door.
Everyone had already gotten into the car. The luxury sedan was spacious enough to accommodate eight people.
With a pat of his hand and the application of telekinesis, the car started and flew into the air.
"Camellia, Yile, tell me where you are!" Reno shouted.
"Macedonian Street, flying towards Central Square. Damn those black market merchants, they're shooting in the base city. Are those cops useless?" Camellia's voice was becoming hysterical.
"You already said they're black market merchants. What won't they dare to do?" Reno replied. "Virus, bring up the topographic map of Sahatoo."
"Working on it!" Virus, seated at his position, frantically operated the holographic computer, muttering, "Damn, just arrived in Sahatoo and already trouble. This is an unfavorable start. I hate this. It's a bad omen."
"Shut up, Virus. We're soldiers; soldiers don't believe in omens!" Modi snapped impatiently, taking out his gun for a pre-battle check.
"Give it a rest, we're not soldiers anymore, we're -" Virus stopped abruptly, staring down below his seat.
"What's wrong?" Claire noticed his odd expression.
Virus, with a strange expression, said, "My seat is moving, like there's something underneath."
"Clatter!" All of them simultaneously aimed their guns at Virus's seat.
Nora waved her hand, signaling Virus to stand up, then motioned for Teck to come forward.
Teck's body shone metallically, then he approached, grabbed the seat cushion, and lifted it forcefully.
Then everyone froze.
A brunette girl was trembling under the seat, looking at them with fearful eyes.