But his intentions were set. He had chosen her as a model for execution. If concessions equate to weakness, they will encourage the determination of others.

But it's still ......

"Know that your friend's lack of cooperation can be compensated for by yourself," he said directly to the girl. "I can give you a chance. You speak. The first name. Let this fool see that bloodshed can be avoided, and I'll show mercy. ”

She stared at him, silent.

"Hurry up," Cain said. "The first name. I don't give such opportunities often. ”

"Sana can't tell you anything!" Klobak said suddenly, almost sobbing.

"I, I'm sure she can tell," Cain stared into the girl's eyes. "I'm sure she's going to die. Sana? Is that your name? Sana, it's simple. One word. A name. As our starting point. The first name. ”

The girl did not respond in any way. Cain felt his annoyance turn into rough rage, but he didn't show it. He'd been restrained, he had given her a chance, and now she made him look like an idiot. Unprecedented.

"Sana, you've disappointed me," Cain said, pulling the trigger.

Shockwaves rippled through the cavern.

It took a moment for Kai Yin to crawl to his feet. Smoke poured in from outside, and rubble fell from the roof of the cave. The concussion sent him into the air, and he fired completely off target, missing the girl's head.

Two more loud explosions came from outside.

"Let's go! Walk! Najuri shouted. Several of the Flying Soldiers also fell to the side, crawling towards the exit. The prisoners cowered in horror.

Except for the girl.

"Keep bullying them!" Cain shouted to Solipas. He ran towards the exit, and just in time to see the small combat ship pass by for the third time in the light. One of Najuri's transport ships has become a blazing scrap metal frame. Like a dark green throwing knife, the combat ship flickered and descended above the high ground and fired heavy artillery. The blade of light erupted from the muzzle of the Light Collapse Cannon, and the second transport ship exploded, the hull shattered and lifted by the pillar of flames, and it rolled over and fell hard, smashing Cain's DEMAX-3 ship.

As Nagiuri shouted orders, his flying soldiers formed a line of defense at the entrance of the cave, weapons in full swing, and a barrage of firefall barrages shot into the sky.

"Wait!" Cain shouted.

"What?" Nagiuri asked.

"Ceasefire. If they want to kill us, they just blow up the mountain. What they want is our attention. ”

"Ceasefire!" Najuri ordered.

"Contact our main ship," Cain told him. "Let them stand still. Don't be stupid enough to try to rescue or support. ”

"You're playing with fire, old friend."

"It's a little bit of a game this time. Do it! ”

Kai Cain hears Nakuri activate the interactive panel. He stepped forward, black smoke billowing out of the ship's wreckage. The heat on the surface caused black smoke to tumble over the sea. He could feel the heat on his face.

"Come," he whispered. "Go on. Come. ”

The green combat ship reappeared. It emerges from the edge of the high ground at a hovering speed, with engine vents providing lift below. The coloured cockpit canopy reflects the sunlight. Little by little, it passed through the billowing black smoke and moved closer to them. The second also appeared, gray, approaching from the left.

And then a third one came. This time it was red, and it drove directly along the center line of the highlands, directly facing them.

Three spacecraft hovered at a low altitude of twenty meters away. "Ah, a hit," said Najuri. "Syndicate."

"Yes," Cain said. He immediately recognized the hybrid custom design style used by the ship that had just fired: a black-market weapon system, some legitimate, some weird, and exaggerated proportions of weapons compared to smaller hulls. The hulls of all three ships are pre-Empire technology and are certainly old models recovered from Junk Planet, refurbished by the Syndicate's in-house weaponsmiths.

The red ship was the largest, with a shuttle pod on its belly. This is the masking force field generator. Very serious prohibited items. The previous soft-back signal was not a ship. The vague ghosting on the sensors was generated by the three ships, flying in a tight formation inside the masking force field. No wonder there is no hard data on mass and density - they turn themselves into fluids, probably camouflaged in rolling parabolic trajectories, and then disperse as soon as they enter the atmosphere.

Clever, Cain thought to himself. Typical criminal activity, often used to smuggle through blockades and guard fleets.

The red ship moved forward a little. The colored cockpit canopy opened.

"I can blow this carry's head off," Najuri suggested.

"Let me talk," Cain replied. "But keep your men on target. If they want to take them down, they must do it in an instant, or they will turn the whole area into a sea of fire. ”

Nagiuri nodded. Cain stepped out of the shadows and slid unhurriedly down the slope into the sunlight in the middle of the highlands. With his head held high, he strode over the dust on the ground and headed for the lead ship.

"Are you here for something?" He shouted.

The cockpit of the red ship is a two-seater. A pilot in a visor is sitting in front and looking at Cain through the cannon sights. Another person stood up from the back seat and took off his respirator mask. "Something," he said. "I didn't expect to be waiting for me by a cardinal general, but every day is full of freshness and excitement, isn't it?"

This man is Zago. Koren Zago. One of the heads of the Syndicate, active mainly at the edge of the galaxy.

Kaiyin's interactive panel immediately recognized him by his face and voice, but Kaiyin already recognized him. All of Demaxia's officers knew about Zago, having seen the face on tens of thousands of bounty orders. He was at large for a long time because he rarely appeared in person.

So what's so important today?

"I'm honored, Zago," Cain said. "I'll be able to meet you face to face."

Zago grinned. "Oh, it's my honor, Siddha Cain. A picture is worth a thousand words. ”

"You've just destroyed a lot of Imperial property," Cain said, gesturing to a burning wreckage.

"Just want to be grand."

"You succeeded. Why are you here? I'm guessing you're asking for the Emissaries and their followers, right? Is there any arrangement? ”

Zago looked genuinely surprised. "Holy Messenger? What do I want the Holy Envoy to do? ”

"Didn't you come for them??"

"No, sir. This has nothing to do with me. ”

"And why?"

"I guess for the same reason as you," Zago said. "I mean, it's not every day that Cardinal General flies to a periphery planet. So that's what it is, right? ”

"Here," Kai Yin quietly concealed his lack of information. "How did you hear that?"

Zago looked pensive. "Like you, I guess."

Cain read strange feelings in this man. Koren Zago is notoriously overconfident and ostentatious, but he now seems distraught.