Shadows of the Deep Space
Chapter 285: Helplessness (Part 1)

Chapter 285: Chapter 285: Helplessness (Part 1)

"Hmph, this won’t work, that won’t work, we might as well just go back." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

Teacher Tang Xuan said, agitated.

"I like the sound of that! If we’re going back, then let’s go back."

Mia shrugged her shoulders and said. After all, she had already gotten enough, the sooner she went back, the sooner she could cash in, and she could sell it for a good price.

"No, that won’t do! Wouldn’t that be like handing it over on a silver platter? The mining area is something the school invested a lot of money, manpower, resources, and technology transfer in to sign a cooperation with the Abayk Kingdom. Leaving empty-handed now would be like all our efforts went down the drain, wouldn’t it?"

Fleck replied with great unwillingness.

"Then what do you plan to do? They’ve clearly shown they want to take advantage of you; what can you do about it?"

Mia asked with a sigh.

"These bastards are too much, giving them our money, efforts, and technology, and this is how they repay us? They’re simply ungrateful wolves!"

Teacher Chen Yue cursed angrily.

"Don’t say that. In their eyes, those produced materials are rightfully theirs, to begin with. And we are just greedy capitalists; why should they give them to us?"

Mia laid it out plainly.

Upon hearing Mia’s words, Chen Yue and the others fell into silence.

...

--------------------------------------

Inside the office of Starlight City Lord’s Mansion.

Gakels sat in front of the desk, his voice somewhat hoarse, as he asked Secretary Yun Rou.

"How is the withdrawal of personnel and materials from the Neutral Country going?"

"Lord Gakels, the withdrawal is not going smoothly, and many materials have been hindered in their retrieval. Moreover, quite a few of our people in occupied territories have not escaped; they have been detained by the Imperial Army. We are currently negotiating, but the negotiations are also not going well, the Imperial Army is playing tough and denying that they detained any of our people. This is the detailed report."

Yun Rou placed a thick report respectfully on the table.

"I understand."

Gakels looked at the report laid before him, revealing an extremely weary expression.

Yun Rou, watching this, hesitated before speaking.

"Lord Gakels, may I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead!"

"With the Imperial Army being so overbearing and the Neutral Country continuously asking us for assistance, and our citizens are also filled with righteous indignation, why does the Federation refuse to send troops?"

"Fight? How should we fight? The Federation’s people are completely disunited right now, like a plate of loose sand, everyone has their own agenda, and no one respects anyone else! Do you think I can mobilize the other two cities, the Sixteen District, and the other nine major planets?"

Gakels directly countered.

Yun Rou was slightly taken aback.

Gakels continued to speak to Yun Rou.

"Let’s step back ten thousand paces; even if we were truly united, do you think we can definitely defeat them? Those Neutral Countries are either fair-weather friends or their defenses are shockingly weak! If the Federation troops go out and fight the Imperial Army and lose, what then? The troops would be at our gates, and the Federation would be in complete danger! Even if, by some luck, we won. You must have forgotten, it’s not just the Imperial Army in this world; the Heavenly Revelation Divine Country is also watching. I believe they would be happy to stand by and watch us and the Imperial Army both suffer heavy losses, then come after us. I can’t be responsible for risking the fate of the nation, nor do I have the power to do so!"

"So, what do we do now?"

"What else can we do but retreat and recover resources while holding our ground? Our only advantage now lies in relying on the Black Flame Star defense line to conduct homeland defense."

"But we can’t keep going like this forever!"

"Of course, I know that’s not tenable. Right now, we can only buy time and wait for Council Chairman Su Ming to wake up. Only the Council Chairman has enough prestige to unite all of the Federation’s people to solve this dilemma."

As Gakels said this, he also reminisced about the days when the Council Chairman was around. Back then, even if the sky were pierced through, he wouldn’t be as scared, as anxious, or as bewildered as he was now.

"When will the Council Chairman wake up?"

"I don’t know."

As Gakels said this, he seemed to age even more.

...

Three days later.

Inside Hangar No. 1 of the Red Teeth.

Su Ming stood in front of the Gun Knight, watching as the mecha maintenance students performed maintenance on it.

"Wow, that’s a huge chicken frame!"

Catherine followed her mother over, excitedly pointing at the Gun Knight and shouting.

"It’s a mecha, not a chicken frame."

Su Ming corrected with a smile.

"Mm-hmm, big brother, is this chicken frame yours?"

"Yeah!"

"That’s so awesome! If I could pilot it too, then I could protect Mother."

Catherine looked up at Su Ming with great admiration.

"When you grow up, you can learn."

Su Ming said with a smile as he patted Catherine’s little head.

Just then, Mia came over, yawning and holding a bottle of wine in her hand.

Seeing Mia approach, Hai Lan quickly took Catherine’s hand, gently saying,

"Catherine, let’s go play over there. Let’s not disturb big brother and the others."

"Okay!"

Catherine obediently followed her mother to play nearby.

Su Ming turned his head to look at Mia and greeted her with a smile,

"Teacher, what time is it already?"

"We’re not having class today, so what does it matter what time it is?"

Mia replied after taking a sip of her drink.

"Alright, by the way, teacher. What about this Gun Knight? They haven’t reclaimed it either."

Su Ming hurriedly asked Mia.

"This Gun Knight is yours now. I’ve already had someone secretly add this mecha to the boarding record. It’s as though you brought it on board yourself. As for the Iron Guard, I just reported it as battle damage!"

Mia replied very decisively.

"Awesome!"

Su Ming couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up in response to Mia’s words.

"Alright, just don’t forget to treat me to a drink later."

Mia said in a carefree manner.

"Definitely, but teacher, I’ve lost the main weapon of my mecha. I had no choice but to throw away the spear in order to use the mechanical launching device. Do you have any way to help me get a weapon?"

"You lost the spear, huh? That’s a bit troublesome. Plus, your mecha’s current mechanical nail gun is practically useless without the matching spear."

"Exactly, that’s why I thought of asking you."

"I don’t have a good solution, either. You’ll probably have to shell out money to buy another one. But the Gun Knight’s matching spear isn’t cheap. I remember one costs a billion Federation credits!"

"That expensive?"

Su Ming also felt a bit pained when he heard the price.

"Feeling the pinch now, huh? You just tossed away a billion Federation credits."

"There was no other way at the time."

"True, you’ll just have to make do for now. Let’s wait until we’re back at the academy."

"Okay, but what’s going on, teacher? Weren’t we supposed to transfer the supplies as soon as we arrived at Abayk Kingdom and then leave immediately? Now three days have passed with no movement, and we’re not even allowed to disembark."

"Don’t even mention it, something came up."

Mia replied with irritation.

"What happened?"

Su Ming asked curiously upon hearing Mia’s words.