Exiting the pompous gates of the Academy of Military Sciences, Paraná boarded his car and galloped toward the new union, the capital of the moon. He also had to rush to Marshall's press conference. The Hunter was fast, hurtling through the lunar wasteland without its life-support system.

In Paraná's view, the events have become clear. The storm he encountered in Io and the scythe encountered by the Earth fleet were most likely the work of the same force. It's just that the purpose of this force is still a little unclear. Under the manipulation of this force, the loss of the Earth in three hours is more than the sum of the past five years. Thinking of this, Barana felt a chill to the bone. He is alarmed to analyze that this force will also visit the solar system in the short term and bring earth-shaking changes to the governing structure of the solar system.

The Hunter is a ship built specifically for fleet commanders with strong defense and maneuverability. The identification system also maintains a database of all species known to man. But in the driver's seat, Paraná's hair stood on end. In his six years of riding on horseback, he had never felt such fear. He instinctively sensed that someone was watching him, but he turned on all of the ship's surveillance systems and found nothing suspicious. He couldn't help but think of a scene from a horror movie, as if when he turned around, he could see a face close at hand and smiling at him. His neck began to stiffen, his eyes stared straight ahead, and cold sweat ran down his forehead and onto the tip of his nose. He mustered up the courage to glance back at the cockpit and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe he was too nervous, maybe the cockpit was dim, maybe he couldn't see at all. Anyway, he didn't notice that a dark figure was sitting in the last row of the cockpit watching him.

The life support systems of the major cities on the far side of the moon are still functioning in an orderly manner. Paraná finally entered the new union, and he lowered the height of his ship and roamed the wide streets of the capital. He had just received a message from Marshall on the way, and there was still an hour before the press conference. He had nothing to prepare, he could only read Marshall's prepared manuscript like a repeater. At this moment, his Third Fleet is patrolling the outer orbit of the Earth, preoccupied with any possible threat. Paraná was tempted to take command of his flagship, but Marshall insisted that he take a few days off.

A vacation may not be a bad thing, but it is not what a fleet commander should do at this moment. Parana resented the United Earth Council's attitude as if nothing had happened. The three fleets, the three admirals, and more than 600,000 officers and men sacrificed their lives for the freedom and glory of mankind, which, in his opinion, was caused by Marshall's misdecision. It is difficult for the military academies of the earth to train enough soldiers to arm three fleets in a short period of time, and it is difficult for the dockyard to build warships for up to three fleets. The earth has been severely damaged, and this is the time for its survival. If that force takes advantage of the opportunity to attack, the 6,000-year-old civilization of all mankind will probably be destroyed in one fell swoop.

Although Marshall did not let him return to the fleet, he was still to command remotely. He parked the Hunter over the United Earth Council Conference Center. He didn't want to walk into the synagogue so early and be interviewed like a bombardment by reporters from all walks of life. He's been tired of dealing with this kind of situation, so let Marshall deal with it first.

Opening the communication terminal, Testin appeared on the screen. Paraná inquired about the basic arrangement of the fleet, and was quite satisfied. But Testin reported discovering a strange situation.

"Your Excellency, our probe has discovered a gravitational anomaly in an area about a million kilometers from Earth with a volume of about a thousand cubic kilometers. However, no wormholes caused by the refraction mechanism were detected. Our hypothesis is that an object with close to the speed of light is hovering around there. Testin said with a serious face.

Paraná's mind was a little confused. None of the known advanced races have ever developed a light-speed class ship. The flip technique is enough to allow them to come and go in the universe with ease. And wandering? Even if a spacecraft could really accelerate to the speed of light, it would only take three seconds for a Testins observer to reach Earth, and what would it be like to wander around a thousand cubic kilometers? It takes to accelerate from the speed of light to the reverse speed of light in a matter of microseconds, and I have never heard of any race that has such a powerful propulsion force to achieve such exaggerated acceleration. Ten thousand steps back, no other race of creatures or materials can withstand such tremendous acceleration without being squeezed into thin sheets.

The situation is becoming more and more complicated, and the situation that has been gradually becoming clear is blurred again. Paraná explained to Testin, everything he had seen at the Academy of Military Sciences and his own analysis, and Testin agreed. It seems that this gravitational anomaly was also caused by this force. Why are they standing still there? If their target is Earth, it only takes four seconds to destroy it. Paraná suddenly realized what it meant to be powerless. As the commander of one of the strongest fleets on Earth, he will receive the highest level of courtesy on any planet he leads his fleet to. They respected not him, but the Third Fleet, a powerful force that roamed the universe. But now he felt that the force under his command was vulnerable to this mysterious force.

He told Destins that if anything was out of range of the fleet, he could open fire immediately. At the same time, he issued a space no-fly order with the authority of the fleet commander, prohibiting all ships from entering the defense zone of the Third Fleet. May this work, Paraná thought, the enemy is mysterious, but the Third Fleet is not a rabble. Let's hope it doesn't end up with the worst.

Ten minutes before the press conference, Paraná landed the spacecraft directly at the entrance of the conference center. This is a privilege that only the commander of the fleet can enjoy. Others can only walk into the synagogue from the tarmac. Before he landed, reporters couldn't wait to surround him. His Hunter is famous throughout the galaxy, though unbeknownst to him, it was this conspicuous ship that caused him all sorts of troubles.

Parana walked down the gangway quickly, and the six golden stars on his shoulders shone dazzlingly under the artificial sun, symbolizing the power and majesty of the lieutenant general. Although the twenty-one-year-old Parana is a little young, the straight lieutenant general's dress and the glittering general undoubtedly bring him some stability. The reporters asked all sorts of questions, and Parana was not good at dealing with such situations, so he could only say a few words. Among the many perks, Paraná's favorite is the ability to park the ship directly outside the gate, which greatly reduces the amount of time spent interrogating reporters.

The whole press conference was lackluster, and Parana was the highest-ranking general to attend. He spoke on behalf of the military, of course Marshall's, and Rambo, on behalf of the highest Academy of Sciences on Earth, spoke separately. Admiral Leslie, commander of the Earth Defense Forces, was furious about the incident, believing that as the highest-ranking officer in the Earth-Moon system, he was the first person to speak at the time, so he refused to attend. As is customary, all fleet commanders should have the rank of admiral, and Paraná is the only lieutenant general among the six commanders. It was clear that he did not take the young Paraná who had been promoted out of the ordinary in his eyes. As everyone knows, Paraná didn't want to wade into this troubled water, and Marshall insisted that he speak on behalf of the military as the hero who defeated Chrissells. Parana couldn't refuse, so he had to comply.

At the same time, in the outer orbit of the Earth, in a vacuum, a violent whirlwind blew for some reason. And the dark shadow in the back seat of the Hunter has long disappeared without a trace.