Chapter 716: Throwing the Cup as a Signal, All the Swordsmen Come Out
"I don't know much about battleships, but a super battleship dozens of miles long and made of countless tons of steel and boulders is parked lightly above Augustgrad, as light as a feather and can fly to any of us. Where it wants to go may be far from simple as we imagine.”
Augustus showed a slightly moved expression. He didn't behave like him and seemed hesitant: "Put the Xel'Naga world ship in Augustgrad. She will be a building even more magnificent than the palace." "The Protoss Empire can send the Spear of Adun out of Aiur's gravity well with a city-sized launcher, but we don't."
In the end, Augustus still did not name the battleship, calling her Prometheus or Korhal's Will. Now it seems that just the name World Ship is enough to shock people's hearts, and there will never be another World Ship like this in the world.
"Oh - my emperor, there won't be any problems. Before the birth of the stars that are now old, the Xel'Naga were traveling around the universe on their world ships." Narud chuckled. Smiling: "When they decided which planet to land on, countless ships landed in the atmosphere like palaces. It was simply a miracle."
"Please believe that all worries are unnecessary."
In front of the emperor, Narud looked proud, wearing the black dress like a proud Blackxis penguin. Rather than being a scientist, Narud is more in line with people's perceptions of diplomats and politicians. He is good at talking with people, proficient in etiquette, speaks elegantly, and can attract the attention of others with every word and action he says.
"If there are ten world ships, then the Terran Empire can rule the world." Narud said eloquently: "I guarantee you, even if there is only such a one, you can rule one-tenth of this world."
Augustus smiled and shook his head, saying that he was not interested in ruling the world: "I think the requirements can be lowered a little, as long as we can maintain our existing territory."
For now, Narud's words can be heard in reverse. He thinks he is fooling everyone else and is complacent about his outstanding performance.
Narud is an evil Xel'Naga shapeshifter. He has had countless faces in his long life. In order to achieve his goal, he always appears in different images, but what he does is exactly the same - to steal trust, Inciting war and ultimately betrayal without hesitation.
Backstabbing his former masters who once trusted him so much, and seeing their expressions of awakening and regret, it was hard to tell whether Narud would be happy about it.
Perhaps Narud was waiting for the moment when he betrayed Augustus, who would show an extremely painful expression. That's right, the smarter and better people are at controlling people's hearts, the harder it is for them to accept the fact that they think they plan everything and control everything, but in the end they are the ones who get tricked.
"Okay, I will consider it." Augustus' attitude softened a little and asked: "Emil, now the empire does have a world ship, but can our crews give full play to the capabilities of this battleship?" All performance.”
There are currently about 20,000 crew members on this Xel'Naga world ship, and most of them are imperial soldiers sent by Renault. This crew already exceeds all the main battleships in the empire, but it may not be enough for a battleship of this level.
It may not take many people to drive a world ship, but if you want to use her to start and win a war, it will be different.
Of course, this is just an introduction. What Augustus really cares about is who is in the hands of this ship now, the Tyran Empire or the Narud?
If that person is Narud, then the answer to this question is already written on the surface.
Narud worked so hard to build this world ship not to increase the strength of the Tyranid Empire to resist Amon. When he came to the palace, his proud posture was like a rooster that had just laid eggs, thinking that he had become the master of the world.
This time Narud came with the cannon, and he also wanted to persuade Augustus to willingly put his head into the barrel and light the fuse himself.
He knows the art of satire.
"Of course this is not a problem." Narud could understand Augustus' concerns. The latter did not agree to implement the plan to build a large-scale hybrid manufacturing factory in the empire precisely because he was worried that he would not be able to fully control the hybrid.
Augustus neither refused directly nor agreed. Those who were good at figuring out the king's will knew that he planned to think about it again. After all, he is the emperor and the one who can ultimately decide everything.
Well, Narud was in no rush. Amon's rebirth in the real universe is coming soon, and Augustus and Artanis should be anxious, not him.
Narud can understand that from the standpoint of a king, there are too many things to worry about, and it is inevitable to look forward and backward. But if Augustus was not ready to accept Narud's suggestion from the beginning, then why did he summon him in the palace? It would not be because he missed his old face.
"I have mentioned the training of the world ship crew in the report submitted to the Ministry of the Navy and the Palace. As long as the current operators are trained a little, they will be able to perform all the subsequent tasks." He continued: "More than half of the members of the Imperial Engineering Corps have participated in the repair of the world ship and know this battleship well. The captain and crew are from the Gorgon-class battlecruiser. They all admit that this job is much easier than before."
The Terran Empire already has some Sarnaga spacecraft, most of which were obtained in the expeditionary campaign of Aiur.
Although the technology used by these Sarnaga spacecraft is incomprehensible and unreplicable, it is not difficult to drive them with human intelligence level as long as the operation process and usage methods are known.
"Haha." Augustus smiled, obviously very satisfied with Narud's guarantee.
Emile Narud, my dear friend, your guarantee is really worthless.
"The world ship is a small world that can operate on its own. It is a different world inside, far more spectacular than what you can see on the Spear of Adun." Narud's damned competitive spirit prompted him to say the above words: "Your Majesty, you really should go and see it yourself."
"I will definitely go." Augustus realized that Narud didn't need to brag about the performance of the world ship. In fact, no matter how shocking the words came out of Narud's mouth, it was not an exaggeration.
After the repair of the Xel'Naga world ship, Augustus did not go up once.
"So, Emil, do you think the world ship can compete with the Ark of the Protoss Empire?" He paused and asked Narud.
"In fact, I believe it." Narud smiled confidently, as if he had always done in the past.
"There are things I must tell you. A dark ark appeared, along with a whole fleet of corrupted arbitrators!" Augustus' face showed a stern expression:
"Our Protoss friends confirmed that it was the Pride of Otalis, another of the three ark ships of the Protoss Empire. After the civil war, the surviving arbitrator class took away the last supporters of the traditional system to avoid the bloodshed of their compatriots."
"They just ran away, and they still said so noble." Tychus was basically standing there taking a nap, but he suddenly interrupted.
"You are right." Raynor and Tychus sang the same tune: "If the arbitrators were smart enough, they would not have lost both Aiur and the Protoss Empire."
"By the way, if we lost both Korhal and the Terran Empire, we would definitely be nailed to the pillar of shame, smart gentlemen." Although Augustus only said it in a teasing tone, the others immediately shut up, like two chickens lying on the roost.
But Raynor and Tychus didn't think Augustus was really angry. The former changed his posture and continued to stand, while the latter started to light a cigarette.
"Two days ago, the Arbiter Fleet suddenly appeared and burned Planet Christmas and destroyed the Paralta satellite base." Kerrigan on the other side took over Augustus' words and said, "When we received the news, they were already heading all the way to Zenn."
"Oh my God, this is really the most unfortunate news I have heard in a while." Of course, Narud knew about this, and he knew it much earlier than the Empire.
He was so sad that he almost couldn't help laughing.
The border of the Empire was in flames, and there were wars everywhere, even those marginal planets that had never been attacked were involved. At the same time, many enemies and friends who had never been expected before also came one after another.
As an important branch left after the old Protoss Empire was torn apart, the Arbiter Fleet that left Aiur and exiled among the stars was of course inevitably corrupted by Kara.
An unprecedented chaos and madness swept across the entire Kara, and the deeper the understanding of Kara, the deeper the spiritual sea formed by countless thoughts, the deeper the damage.
The resistance to Amon's will was extremely fierce, but it ended quickly, like a drop of water falling into the water and dissipating without a trace.
When the Arbitrator Fleet appeared again, it had become a dark fleet that had fallen into madness.
The ark ship Otalis Pride had completely changed its appearance. The previously bright and gorgeous golden blue warship armor had turned into a dark and deep gray-blue. Large chunks of dark blue crystals condensed from void energy were displayed on both sides of the ship's side like a knife array, like a row of bayonets shining with cold light, like fangs eager to see blood. Such changes are also common on the warships of other Arbitrator Fleets.
From this, it can be seen that the Arbitrator Fleet may have fallen earlier than their Darram kin, and fell deeper. They did find their own gods, just like the Tal'darim.
But no matter what, both this fleet and Daram's Golden Fleet are burning the land of the Terran Empire at this moment. If the Tal'darim Death Fleet coming from Sran was not blocked by Zurwen's primitive swarm halfway, they would definitely do the same thing.
No matter how the situation develops, humans are always beaten.
"We knew it would be like this." Augustus felt that if Narud was not a Xel'Naga, then his best job would definitely be an actor: "Kara once saved the Protoss, but now it has become a shackle."
"What an irony. The Conclave led by the Arbiter also ordered the exile of those protoss who refused to join Kara, but they became the hope of saving the protoss," Kerrigan said.
Augustus continued: "Unfortunately, our protoss allies can't help us much. In addition to burning our planet, the corrupted protoss fleet is also burning theirs. The invasion is like wildfire in the Koprulu sector. As the epidemic spread, we had to fight on multiple fronts. The fronts were long and thin, and the troops on each defense line were stretched thin. "
"In order to compete with Amon's Dark Ark, we have to send ours."
"It won't take long for the Xel'Naga world ship to be ready for a war. It won't be easier than filling up the fuel tank of a car." Narud said confidently: "Just like me As I said, everything is ready.”
With his people on both sides, Narud could even spend some time arranging the script in advance, but he was not sure whether he would need to spend that kind of effort to act in front of Augustus.
Things are different now. Narud is no longer the lion in the circus who is responsible for performing the fire ring. He should throw the trainer into the animal pen and make him tap dance.
Narud has become increasingly tired of accompanying these humans to play boring emperor games. He is a Xel'naga and the guardian of Aurus, so why must he endure hardships on a daily basis?
Eamonn is a self-righteous guy, arrogant, and looks down on other species, and in this regard, Narud is no less generous.
"Emil, I know you are not a military expert, but you must know more about Xel'Naga than anyone else. If you were the fallen Xel'Naga Emon and wanted to take over the Koprulu sector now, what would you do? ?" Augustus asked Narud.
"Please forgive my ignorance, Your Majesty." Narud seemed not to have thought that Augustus would ask such a question. He was stunned by the question, his face turned red, and in the end he could only smile awkwardly:
"I have no idea."
He finally had to say reluctantly: "Of course, I will summon more power, the more the better."
"If Eamon's commanding ability is as good as yours, that would be great." Renault said sarcastically.
"." Narud spread his hands. He didn't know why an imperial general always went against him, a harmless little old man. He had long said that professional matters should be left to professionals. This is the right thing to do. way of doing.
Narud would never reveal Eamon's plans, if nothing else, but he was not a fool, an idiot.
"Okay." Augustus showed an expression of hopelessness: "It seems that I have to hold another military meeting with the people from the Empire's High Command. Even you can't help us in this regard, Ai. Mir.”
With that said, Augustus nodded towards Narud, indicating that he could go back now.
If Narud is ready to say nothing and no longer prepare to do anything for the Terran Empire, then what is the use of Augustus keeping him.
Eamonn doesn't have long to live, and neither does Narud.
"I thought you were going to take action here." After Narudes calmly walked out of the throne room and walked far away in the wide avenue of the Hall of Mirrors, Renault whispered to Augustus.
"That's because you don't know how terrifying Narud's power is." Augustus looked at Renault and found an explanation that everyone could understand: "He is not a human, he is probably a powerful psychic creature. He represents Eamon worked hard and may have received a gift as a matter of course.”
"So he doesn't care about people," Tychus said.
"The explanation makes sense." Renault said: "You mean, since he is not a human being, there is no need to treat him as a human being."
"I didn't say that." Augustus realized that he was a little reluctant to attack Narud. It seemed like a better choice to tie him up and force him to reveal more secrets.
Augustus looked like he was thinking hard, but he still thought that Narud should be dealt with. He pondered for a while, then sat back on the throne that was much higher than the ground. Finally, he picked up a crystal cup on the tray next to him and threw it to the ground with satisfaction.
In an instant, the cup broke into pieces: "Do it!"
"Look, how beautiful this word is." Upon hearing that there was going to be a fight, Tychus's two blue eyes stood up.
"I don't understand why you have to throw this cup." Kerrigan looked at Augustus in shock: "This is a cup made of natural crystal, using Cassia crystal!"
(The Kassia crystals believe that the crystal can increase their population growth rate, but another theory is that the Kassia crystal also inhibits reproduction.)
"This is a predetermined code." Augustus stretched out his hands and pointed at the pile of broken glass with his two index fingers: "Life needs a sense of ritual, you know."
"You can read minds."
"I told you I don't understand!" Kerrigan said, akimbo.