Chapter 22

Union 333, 09/16 0630

Border star, on the journey to the capital D-3 area

Vien sat in the comfortable seat of the first class of the passenger plane. It was his first time to use civil aviation, and it was due to the rush of time. With Bernie Brown's financial resources, if they are not in a hurry, they may have taken a small private spacecraft to quickly reach their destination.

But this time is an exception. There are less than 20 people in the whole plane, including the crew. Among them, their mission target is sitting in the front, bowing their heads and doting. Continuous travel and crossing fault space are indeed not easy for ordinary people to deal with.

Vien took his eyes back. Wearing formal clothes made him feel uncomfortable, and the tie around his neck seemed to be a little too tight. He moved his body awkwardly and changed to a more comfortable posture to forget the unnaturalness in his mind. He turned his head to look at his teammates beside him, and Louisa stared at the clouds floating outside with great interest; Edwin and Irene rarely quarreled and calmed down to compete with each other's ancient chess game.

The other side is Major McLean. Wayne saw her dress other than military uniforms for the first time, but he felt that this appearance was more suitable for her... as a non-military person. Maybe she can show her beauty by changing her job as a model or something. He drove away the strange idea in his mind. Lillian beside him was enjoying closing her eyes, and she didn't know whether there was music or something in the miniature earplugs.

He recalled his mission in his mind: to protect the target and his family, and track down the mastermind behind the scenes in a possible assassination or kidnapping. It is a very simple task, but as in the past, neither military missions nor other types are allowed to fail.

But these matters will soon come to an end. He had no choice but to stare out of the porthole. The speed of civil aviation was many times slower than that of military spacecraft. Relatively speaking, it focuses on enjoyment, with soft seats and ready-to-service flight attendants, no hard seats and seat belts, and no sudden acceleration or earth-shaking scene... But he still prefers to be fast, simple, and strong.

This forced him to re-examine his entourage. Except for a few bodyguards, the crew were the most likely to suspect, but they were too weak. Wayne was sure that he could pinch their bones in two seconds with one hand... Of course, maybe it was because he was too tall. Each member of the Tigers is more than two meters tall, like a giant. And the tallest edwen is 223 centimeters, just like a basketball player.

Time passed in his wild thoughts, and everything was calm. When the plane slowed down and was about to land at the capital city airport, she woke up with less calibration. She looked up at the watch on her wrist. It was 0810, and the sun had just emerged.

When they walked out of the airport, Wayne and his team members only received three hours of bodyguard training, but the major didn't care about it. They didn't come to be professional bodyguards. And there will be a group of people around Bernie Brown to protect him at any time. This made Wayne relax a lot. He followed Bernie and adjusted his sunglasses to metal induction mode to prevent people with firearms approaching him.

"There are too many people here." Wayne said that the airport was full of people at a glance, dense, mixed with people of various skin colors and different identities. Let's keep up with the target!"

Several of them were a little closer to Bernie, which should have been a preventive move. But several bodyguards next to him saw these "heavy hired" experts as vigilant and approached. They immediately nervously clamped on the left back side of Bernie's body, and some people were ready to pull out guns at any time. But no one noticed it. Maybe it was just a subconscious action made by these people who didn't get used to it.

"Vien." Lillian followed, and she quietly took his left hand. "Relax, this is an ordinary city, not a battlefield."

Maybe only she is present to really understand what's going on. But whether it's false alarms or misunderstandings caused by different identities, in short, with these tall bodyguards on the side, pedestrians will almost subconsciously avoid them. Moreover, the appearance of the team members does not look too "regular".

There are already three suspended vehicles waiting for them outside the airport. Bernie and two bodyguards sat in one of the cars, and the team members and the major sat in the back car. The electric-powered vehicle slowly drove away from the crowded area. After driving on the main road, the vehicle accelerated towards Area D.

Lillian sat in the driver's seat and let the suspended car cruise automatically at 180 kilometers per hour. The metal-protected roof opens automatically, and you can clearly observe the city where the vehicle comes and goes through a piece of black reinforced glass. As the capital city of the border planet, it has a total population of 5 million, which is already very crowded compared with a planet with only 300 million inhabitants.

All the way, Wien looked out of the window. It was a beautiful city, with long isolation fences on both sides of the highway. There are trees with lush branches and leaves behind the guardrail, and below are various artificially planted brightly colored flowers. Every other distance, the suspension car crosses an overpass, and the livestock are moving lazily on it. In the process of opening up the planet, human beings are paying more and more attention to environmental protection and harmonious development of species, although most of them are "immigrant" from the original earth. But not only the border stars, but also other planets that Wayne has been to.

The motorcade is getting closer and closer to the city. Looking up, you can see an inverted funnel-shaped building in the center. The building is getting smaller and smaller, like an inverted funnel. But this magnificent building built in the city center is not the property of the government, but the headquarters of some private consortia.

After entering the city, the motorcade went to Area D, which is more appropriate for local citizens to call it the "rich area". Today, history has developed. Although the coalition government is constantly improving the lives of all people, the long-standing topic of the gap between the rich and the poor will not be eliminated so easily. Perhaps it will still survive until the day of human extinction.

The buildings in Area D are strange. From the perspective of soldiers, these are unnecessary. But Wien knows that ordinary people naturally need these creative and artistic things to enrich their lives and spiritual world, although the army believes that these are causing trouble to themselves. Perhaps in their words, the house should be stable, square, with a terrace or balcony, doors and windows, and divide into the standard shape of the room!

Vien plunged himself into these imaginations, with a light smile at the corners of his mouth. It seems that it is no problem to stay in the city occasionally. To put it fairly, the army may be very rigid except for all kinds of novel weapons. Although he prefers the army.

The car drove away from the main road and turned into a tree-grown road. The environment without sunlight suddenly became dark. There were two or threes of withered yellow leaves scattered on the highway. The car drove quickly, and the leaves flew up and danced in the air.

Finally, he stopped in front of a luxurious house halfway up the mountain. Perhaps Wien's statement lacks the vocabulary. This is not a house, but a huge retro manor. From grassland, trees to lakes to a four- or five-story castle that seems to be between clouds and blue sky in the distance, this should be the landscape that only appears in ancient fairy tales.

"Well, it seems that we need to live here for a while." Louisa looked at all the objects flashing outside the window. "This is really a good place for a vacation."

"No wonder you are threatened by living in such a good place." Edwin also commented.

Lillian shook her head and smiled. She canceled the automatic cruise and turned to manual driving, controlling the suspended car to catch up with the two cars in front of her at low speed. "If you know that the company will occupy more than 80% of the military light weapons orders in the future, you will think Bernie Brown is really a low-key person."

"It's an astronomical number." Irene said, but she suddenly laughed, "Maybe we shouldn't be so reserved."

"Why?" Edwin asked.

"Think about it, the guns at the beginning of the F series, whether it is assault rifles or sniper guns, are bought from him. On the other hand, we are actually his customers. Isn't there a saying that emphasizes that customers are God!" Irene put her hands on her head and leaned against the seat. "Now God is here to inspect and protect his life. Naturally, it is understandable that we enjoy this right."

This theory made everyone, including the major, laugh.

But maybe it was really what they said, Lily thought at ease. The four people around him may not know the value of each of them, but from these actions, the combat effectiveness comparable to a small fleet circulating among the middle and senior levels of the army is not exaggerated or nonsense. Bernie's ability to "borrow" the protection of four Tiger team members is already a great face given by the military.

The suspended car stopped in the garage, and Wayne pushed the door up and came out. Bernie and the bodyguards waited at the exit. The major led them forward and walked with several people towards the spectacular ancient castle in front of them. On the way, Lillian introduced them to the basic situation.

"It happened three days ago. When the Brown family received the threatening letter, they sent two additional groups of security personnel, but even in this case, Mr. Brown's house was invaded by the assassin and took a small piece of Miss Brown's hair with scissors after drinking a bottle of red wine."

"What, did the killer drink a bottle of wine?" Erin held back her laughter and asked.

Bernie Brown looked back at her and replied, "Yes, Miss Hurley. There is indeed a bottle missing from my cellar, and the killer reminded him on the wall that he accidentally drank more and took my daughter's hair.

"Have you been sampled with saliva or fingerprints?" Wayne asked that although he did not have much contact, the doctor had shown them that the DNA of saliva could be used for the most detailed identification or violations of the alliance's decree.

"There is no clue!" Bernie shook his head in distress, "The killer is very professional. We still can't figure out how he or they sneaked in. I didn't receive their warning until yesterday after escaping from the pursuit of the Omalen Colony."

"Well, that's how it is." Irene nodded.

"What did you think of?" Bernie looked at her expectantly.

"Hey, you continue to talk about you." Irene smiled awkwardly, "I'm just thinking about how the killer can drink all the red wine through the mouth of the bottle."

Lillian continued to tell Wayne some possible clues. Louisa came up, secretly poked Irene with her fingers, and said with her lips motionless, "I know, holding it in one hand and pouring it into my throat with my head up, but the technique must be good, otherwise I will be choked to death!"

Speaking of the gate, Wayne found that there were hidden monitoring around the house, but this method was easy to solve. As soon as the electromagnetic pulse came, the circuit was guaranteed to be completely broken, or the monitoring network was invaded, so that only a piece of blur was what they often did.

The housekeeper opened the door and several people walked in.

The feet are on the soft and luxurious carpet, and the air is filled with a faint fragrance. Looking around the whole hall, the famous paintings hanging on the wall, the huge chandelier overhead, the combination of retro and modern. Even Wayne, who is not commonly seen in these decorations, knows that these are extremely luxurious decorations.

But more attractive than these precious items, it is a slightly yellowed photo in a large photo frame hanging on the front wall.

Wayne and the team couldn't help but approach and watch. Bernie found this and followed them and stood beside them. Wayne looked at the photo and had a certain history. The content was a group photo of two men, a yellow man wearing a gray and white military dress, and the rank on his shoulders was obviously different from what it is now. But who is this man? I'm afraid everyone knows him. He is the first emperor of the alliance, Ngaio II. Next to him was a white man with blonde hair, holding II's shoulder. Even though it was old, the remaining smile on the man's face was faintly discernible.

"There must be no one who knows about wearing military uniforms." Bernie said to them, "Next is Peter Brown, the ancestor of the Brown family, who is also a close friend of the second generation. And you can't think of the specific era of photo shooting. He smiled and said, "When the photos were taken, the old alliance was not established yet!"

Vien was surprised and envious. Each of them admired II. He founded the Tigers at the beginning, and everything the great emperor did really deserve their respect. But few people have seen videos or image records about II before the establishment of the alliance.

Bernie smiled and continued to satisfy the curiosity of this group of people, explaining: "The location of the photo is an Asian place once famous for its drug flood, called the Golden Triangle. That is, the Asian region, which is now located at the headquarters of the earth, and at that time, the second was also the rank of major general, and he had just got rid of the title of 're reactionary warlord'! But it was at that time that the Tigers began to be known by the world.

"Your family is really enviable." Lillian held her hands and looked at the photo frame and said, "If you can be a brother with a historical emperor, ordinary people can't sharpen their heads!"

Bernie nodded gently and did not deny the glory.

"But let's deal with the basic things first and continue to talk about them later?" Li Ann asked, listening to her tone, she seemed to know more.

Bernie took a look at Wayne and others, but smiled mysteriously, "Well, it's better to solve the basic things first. I'll treat you in person later. I guarantee that you will make this trip worthwhile, and no longer blame me for being useless and using the relationship to transfer you from the battlefield to this boring city.

Wayne then followed the major around and deployed some simple monitoring methods, familiar with the surrounding environment, locations that may be invaded by the enemy, etc. It is not easy to keep such a vast place. Fortunately, the Brown family is rich. They employ more than 100 top security personnel. As the major said, there is no need for them to do anything.

Then they found Bernie's children, Alice Brown and Fisher Brown. Whether from the photos or in real people, the two fourteen or five-year-olds are very similar. Both sisters and brothers have blonde hair, blue eyes and an impatient look.

"No! What is this? Are you crazy? I want to put something on me! I'm not an experiment for you to play with!" The younger brother shouted, dodged the outstretched hands of the bodyguards and threw away a special tracker for the military information agency against electromagnetic pulse interference on the necklace.

"Get out of here! You bad guys! Don't come near me! I'll kick your dick!" Obviously, her sister's scolding was so good that McLean and Wayne, who followed Bernie upstairs, couldn't help laughing, but Bernie's face was overshadowed.

Vien's first feeling is that these two little guys are not easy to serve. When Bernie pushed open his brother's door with a straight face, Wayne saw three male bodyguards and two female bodyguards blocking his brother and sister. One man and one woman held a tracker in her hand, but did not dare to touch the two young ladies too hard.

"What are you doing!" Bernie scolded seriously, "Fitch, stop it! Immediately! Cice, what did you just say? Is there another girl's reserved? Sit down and obediently ask your uncle to install a tracker on you!"

"You, hold on to both of them and put the tracker on their necklace!" Bernie said to the two bodyguards.

When the sister and brother saw their father angry, they suddenly sat down quietly and became extremely clever. Let the bodyguards put the tracker on the necklace and stuff it back into their clothes. In the end, the two looked at Bernie aggrievedly, rubbing the corners of their clothes with both hands, as if they had suffered a lot. This trick made Bernie's face no longer elongated.

Lillian smiled at the wisdom of the two siblings, and then her eyes looked around the room. Edwin stared at her sister Alice, and she stared at Edwin unwillingly. Maybe the two of them were too close, and Alice almost raised her head high.

The bodyguards retreated quietly. Bernie just wanted to say something, but the communicator he carried with him rang. He complained and turned out of the room to answer the communication. At this time, without their father, the two siblings showed their original faces.

"Who are you?" My brother asked first.

"My father was newly hired on time." Sister Kris said, "Bastards who want to control our freedom and..." But she obviously couldn't think of too many abusive words. Looking at Irene's short blue hair, she continued, "Crazy woman!"

"What?" This time, three women, including the major, looked at her at the same time.

She took two steps back, but summoned up the courage to take a step forward and was unwilling to show weakness. Her brother hid behind her... cheering.

"Hey, little bug!" Edwin squatted down and looked at Alice, "You guessed right! We are crazy or bastards hired by your father. But please rest assured that we receive a daily salary and settle every day. If one day we find that the salary can't satisfy our appetite," Evan grinned and put his face in front of Kris, no more than a centimeter apart. "We will remove your tender arm and throw it in the water to cook!" After saying that, he licked his lips with great enjoyment.

The little girl jumped back to ** with an "ah" and immediately covered herself with a quilt. Her younger brother also retreated in a panic, but was tripped by the stool on the ground. He also jumped to ** in confusion and scrambled to seize the "sovereignty" of the quilt on her sister.

Ewen obviously didn't expect this effect. He turned his head and looked at his companions.

"I know why the little nurse cried at the beginning." Louisa held her hands and sneered.

"Hey..." Irene ate and laughed.

The major continued to look around as if he didn't see anything. Wayne shook his head, but... the effect is really good!

In the evening, the four of the Tigers were invited by Bernie to come to a special room on the second floor. Lillian didn't follow. She wandered outside with several bodyguards familiar with the terrain. Maybe she has seen it. After all, she is from the Military qing ju.

Vine found that there were a lot of photos in the room, as well as models of the spacecraft, some stones or unknown metals. On the other side was a small bookshelf with only a few books and some storage chips, but the title of the book was "From Man to God - Engao the Great". Wayne curiously took it out and turned it over, and the content was the root he had seen. This is different. It is all handwritten, and the traces of modification are drawn with a pen in many places. What surprised him more is that some scribbled comments are inferred from the tone of the writer - undoubtedly the second himself.

The team members looked aside and explained to them: "This is a copy of the original copy, in which some of the handwriting was left by II, as well as his wife, other friends, some famous military strategists, politicians and so on. It is the most primitive and complete."

"It's amazing!" Edwin pointed to a few photos sandwiched inside, "I've never seen these!"

"Look at this!" Louisa pointed to one of the color* pictures, showing a man in heavy armor standing above the head of a dome building holding the flag of the alliance, and from the * of the picture, it should be a war.

"This is a classic scene of World War III." Bernie explained, "The one above is Ngaio II, and under his feet is the parliamentary building of a certain country. This actually happened when the old alliance invaded a country in North America. After this photo was taken, the victory of the three battles was basically laid.

"It seems that what people say that the second generation has foreign high technology is true." Wayne stared at the armor worn by II and said that no other country had developed such a thing at that time.

"That's natural, otherwise we can't spread the colonial area to a place more than a thousand light years away from the earth now."

"But the mystery of his final disappearance, Mr. Brown, does your family know anything?" Wayne asked a question that many people are eager to know.

Bernie was silent for a moment. He walked to the soft chair and sat down. "Sit down. Although this is not a secret, not many people know about it. Since it's Lieutenant Li's question, if I don't give you the answer, I'm afraid the first thing I'm sorry for is myself.

"According to my great-grandfather's oral account according to the memories of his ancestors," Bernie's first sentence had a sense of historical vicissitudes. "At that time, after the victory, his ambitions forced him to strive to develop outer space colonization, so he called the Military intelligence bureau to secretly investigate all normal alternative populations to prepare for alien colonization. Almost a year later, they set out with more than 4,000 soldiers and 10,000 civilians in a warship and agreed to return in half a year, but this was their last appearance.

"II took away all the advanced technology at that time, including the most fascinating compressed dimensional space and plasma weapon technology that is still difficult for human beings to understand, and there are even many levels that we can't achieve now, such as highly concentrated lasers. What is left is only less important, such as virtual intelligence. That's how our artificial intelligence has developed.

"Time passed in a hurry," Bernie fell into the family's great memories. "Until his ancestor Peter Brown died, he told the next heir to complete the search for the way the second generation in the future. He believed that the second generation had no accident and always believed that he had created a beautiful paradise-like world. , so that he linger and doesn't know the years.

"So, you can see these photos on the wall." Bernie pointed to different photos on the wall, "These are projects that we cooperate with the government. Every year, expeditions will explore the stars through ultra-long-distance space transitions to find any traces that may be left by the second generation."

"Look at these, there are more than 150 years of exploration history. We have run as far as about 80,000 light-years away, and it takes a year to jump. Of course, the current technology may be shortened by one-third. Bernie shook his head, "But not to mention the universe, the vast Milky Way alone can make us spend our lives, let alone looking for old alliance humans who don't know where to go."

"Are you still continuing now?" Wayne asked him.

"Of course." Bernie nodded, "It is estimated that next year, the family will organize the farewell of the thousandth expeditions."

"I'm afraid that in this regard, you deserve to be great." Wien said.

"Great? Stupid?" Bernie didn't care too much about such descriptions, "Who knows, maybe the second generation was destroyed by the accident, and we descendants are still foolish to pursue and explore with the spirit of Odyssey!"

They all laughed. Perhaps optimism is also one of the reasons that support them. But when Wayne finally looked at the face of II, he always felt that some miracles would happen - if the Brown family continued to explore as usual.