Former Interstellar Mercenary In Urban Cultivation World
Chapter 1176: Shadows of Deception

Chapter 1176: Shadows of Deception

Nemel thought the prince would be angry, but to his surprise, Ceodore did not show the expected fury.

Instead, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"You think so too? It seems I’m not the only one who feels this way. Aelra’s recent actions have been growing increasingly strange. I suspect that he isn’t even the one issuing these orders."

Gren was taken aback. "Your Highness, are you saying that someone has taken control of General Aelra? Could it be those cultivators?"

"It’s a possibility. Earlier, he slaughtered Velzok and his men at the edge of the Erythar Star System. I found it suspicious from the start—Aelra isn’t someone who acts so recklessly."

Gren quickly realized that the prince was telling him this because he had an important task in mind. "What are your orders, Your Highness?"

"I need you to infiltrate Planet Teutonia before the battle at Planet Gallia begins and gather intelligence."

Prince Ceodore never fought battles he wasn’t confident in.

Until he had complete and accurate information on Aelra, he remained uneasy—something about this situation felt off in every direction.

"Understood. I will set out for Planet Teutonia immediately."

Nemel bowed and left the room.

Prince Ceodore leaned back into the sofa, crossed one leg over the other, and muttered to himself, "Aelra, let’s see what’s behind that mask of yours—are you man or ghost?"

The alien army began to assemble, but their actions did not go unnoticed by the Draconis Empire.

The empire quickly received reports.

At first, they assumed the aliens were preparing to attack Planet Veloxia, putting them on high alert.

However, when the data came in, they discovered that the alien forces were not gathering in the direction of Planet Veloxia at all, but instead heading toward an entirely different planet.

"What in the world are these aliens up to? I can’t make sense of their intentions at all."

The Emperor and his ministers gathered once more to discuss the baffling situation.

"This whole situation has been strange from the moment Zesch was killed on Planet Teutonia. The way things are developing isn’t just beyond our understanding—it’s also caught the aliens off guard. That power is no small force, which is why the aliens are taking this matter so seriously," Sharif said gravely.

He still couldn’t figure out where things had gone wrong.

"That’s true. But we’ve also received intelligence that the aliens have assembled an army of several hundred thousand troops to attack us. This is a great opportunity—if we plan carefully, we might be able to wipe out their entire force," Luhay said.

"General Herrera is right. We’ve just agreed to Sable Andalus League’s terms, and we also have Immortal Duan and the others on our side. If they lend their strength, we might be able to take down the alien army without even losing a single soldier."

"Can we really pull that off?" Laith asked skeptically.

They had fought countless battles over the past year, yet they had never secured a major victory.

On the contrary, they had suffered plenty of humiliating defeats.

"I don’t know. If everything goes smoothly, we can—but if things don’t go as planned, then it’s hard to say," Sharif said thoughtfully.

"What could possibly go wrong? Isn’t everything under our control? The aliens have even gathered their forces to fight among themselves—there’s no way they’ll have reinforcements," Laith argued.

Sharif sighed. "I truly hope that’s the case. But our people recently detected a strange signal from an alien civilization. The signal has been appearing with unusual frequency—several times a day. If it weren’t for the isolation barrier set up by the honored Immortal, we might have already lost a great deal of classified information."

"Don’t you find that odd?" Luhay mused. "The aliens have stolen our information many times before. In the early days, when we didn’t have the isolation barrier, they took whatever they could. Why would they suddenly start engaging in such pointless efforts now? Something doesn’t add up."

"General Herrera makes a good point—I’ve been thinking the same thing. And the frequency of this signal is different from the ones they used in the past," Sharif added. Solving this mystery wouldn’t be easy.

"Forget it for now. Let’s focus on the battle ahead," the king finally said.

No one objected.

If Major General Rafiq had known that the reason he couldn’t reach the Emperor was because they had asked the honored Immortal to set up an isolation barrier, who knows what he would have thought?

That day, Major General Rafiq, as usual, went to the control room to check on the situation.

Officer Khan could only shake his head.

"This whole thing is strange. With the aliens’ level of technology, there’s no way they would need this long just to locate and contact the royal family. Maybe we’ll have to resort to more primitive methods."

Major General Rafiq pondered for a moment before saying, "Then let’s proceed with a two-pronged approach. If we still can’t establish contact, we’ll have to wait until the situation on Planet Lumora is resolved."

"General, I don’t think the Empire can hold out that long. I’m worried—the aliens seem to be up to something. If something really happens..."

"To be honest, I’m worried too." Major General Rafiq’s mentor was still on Planet Veloxia, which was one of the reasons he was so eager to establish contact. "In that case, let’s send someone directly. But they need to be careful to avoid detection by the aliens."

"Don’t worry, General. I’ll assign the most suitable person for the job."

That very night, upon receiving the general’s approval, Officer Khan selected a subordinate who is skilled in intelligence gathering and concealment.

The agent boarded a small spacecraft and departed.

The next day, both humans and aliens made significant moves, and the aliens on Planet Gallia began their own strategic deployments upon receiving intelligence reports.

Meanwhile, a fleet of battleship, which had been lying in wait on the outskirts of Planet Teutonia, was suddenly packed with tens of thousands of Cosmorite mecha units and a million troops.

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