- I have several brothers who grew up together, and they are all children of my father's cronies.

- Among them, there is a guy named He Yingjie who is athletic, calm and heavy-handed, quick thinking, and especially excellent.

- I always thought that he would become my immediate attendant and join me in the army and make a career.

- But when I found him...... The once promising guy has been cut off his wings and turned into a corpse.

- That's what those Blackwings do! I am aware, of course, that the evidence I have is limited and that the intelligence is grossly inadequate.

- If this kind of thing had been investigated by other colleagues, I am afraid that it would have been ignored a long time ago.

"But I can't just let this case go unchecked because it only involves the original group, the interests of those in power, and the authority of those in power. I know my abilities are limited. Compared to you, I'm a sesame-sized lieutenant officer. But ah...... Someone in this empire has to do something thankless, but worth doing, right? That's what you taught us in high school, didn't you? If there is justice and integrity, you will not be able to achieve great things, so you must learn knowledge first. But when we leave school and go to work, we leave justice and integrity behind and only care about things that can benefit us, right? ”

Director Russell's gaze deepened as he looked at Carl. She said lightly: "Justice and integrity are important, but like your friends, you lost your life for these things. Is it worth it? ”

"Teacher!!"

"I know what you're trying to say. Cal. You have always been a very confident child...... Very confident. The director picked up the pipe again, put it to his mouth and took a puff, "And you are also very affectionate and have a sense of justice." I can't see it, but I've always known it. You like to disguise yourself as if you don't care about anything, because it's easier that way. But if you are really involved in some major incident, that easy life will never come back. If you're as smart as you, you shouldn't fail to think of that. ”

"I certainly don't want to give up an easy life." Carl smiled, "But I can't do it if I want to give up on finding out about my best friend's death in order to pursue a comfortable life." What's more......" he pointed to the two stars on his shoulder, "The soldiers of the Military Intelligence Department should be mentally prepared to sacrifice their lives for the country at any time." If you don't even want to sacrifice a little easy and comfortable life for the task, how can you be worthy of the military badge on your hat? ”

The director looked at Carl and said as if he had reacquainted himself with him, "You have grown up......"

Carl laughed again: "You mean—it's not as cute as it was when it was young." ”

"It's not the same to be able to speak." Now it was the director's turn to laugh, "Do you really believe in the nonsense of the military emblem?" ”

Carlton choked.

"I don't know what kind of medicine you're selling in that little gourd, but I can hear this determination." Ignoring his dumbfounded expression, the director flicked his cigarette ash and continued, "Then I'll tell you a little bit, only for what I can say. ”

Karl instantly regained his usual refreshed appearance, and his eyes flashed with longing: "Listen up! ”

The director leaned back in his chair, picked up his pipe, and said lightly: "As I just said, in the textbook you studied in high school, there is such a passage - human beings accepted the will of the god Metatron and created the winged man according to the blueprint of the god. 99% of the genes of the Winged People are derived from humans, but they are more noble than humans, because the Winged People are closer to the existence of the gods. However, in real history, there is more than one blueprint—"

"In addition to the blueprint of the god Metatron, there is another blueprint that has also been put into the experiment of creating the winged people - that is, the blueprint of the demon god Satan."

"Ninety-nine percent of the genes are derived from humans, but they are more resilient than humans – that's another blueprint."

"The experiment to create the Winged Man was brutal. Countless test subjects died on the operating table. After numerous setbacks and adjustments, the survival rate of the first batch of Wingmen eventually reached 30%, which was enough for the Alliance to mass-produce. The wings of the first Winged People were all white, because they were all creatures created according to the blueprints of the gods; And the winged people made according to the blueprint of the demon god are all dead. ”

"No matter how much effort the scientists of the alliance try, according to the content of the Demon God Blueprint, they will not be able to create a living winged man. When the survival rate of the heirs of the god Metatron exceeded 80%, the plan of the demon god Satan failed. Therefore, in today's empire, everyone only knows to worship the god Metatron, but they don't know what the demon god is. ”

"It's something that can be said because it's like a myth, and there's no real evidence. Before the Daybreak War, the Winged People were used as tools by humans; After that, the Winged People were treated as rivals by humans. It is reasonable to say that it is impossible for humans to give the Winged People access to the actual content of these two blueprints. Fortunately, the existence of the Winged Man itself is evidence of the existence of the Celestial Blueprint, so there was a system of priests in the empire later. As for the blueprint of the demon god...... That's really no different from a myth. ”

Carl listened carefully to what Director Russell said, and asked apprehensively, "Then do you think it is possible that the Blackwings were made according to the blueprint of the Demon God?" After all, nearly 70 years have passed since the end of the War of Daybreak, and the Allies' research capabilities in this area have also increased, right? ”

Karl ...... No one has ever seen either blueprint at all. It is unknown whether the blueprint exists, let alone create new species based on its contents. "Science is not made up, and there will be no conclusions without factual basis." I'm still saying that, unless you can bring me the winged man with black wings, that's all I can say. ”

Ten minutes later, Carl left the Institute of Advanced Life with a lot of confusion.

He had originally wanted to come here to find answers, hoping that the fog that had been shrouding the investigation process would be somewhat dispelled. Director Russell's conversation made him even more confused.

- Unless you can bring the black-winged winged man to me, that's all I can say.

When he heard the director say this, he almost reflexively wanted to ask, "Then where did you learn about the blueprint?" ”

But until he left the director's office, he didn't open this mouth.

Ask the questions you want to ask, it's something anyone can do.

However, they can think clearly about what questions to ask and what not to ask; And resisting the urge to ask questions is undoubtedly one of the better things Carl does than his colleagues.

Erica. Professor Russell, who was a substitute teacher in his high school years; She had also served in the army and was an old acquaintance with Karl's father, Marshal Yuheng. This lady has always been full of favor for Carl, and she has always been willing to answer the questions he asks.

Anyone who faces someone who likes them can't help but lower their guard and ask questions more casually. But Karl knew very well in his heart that Professor Russell was first and foremost the director of the Institute of Higher Life before he became his teacher. Her sources of information are confidential, the projects she handles are confidential, and most of her research results are confidential. If it weren't for the fact that there was still a layer of former teacher-student relationship between them, with the title of Karl District Lieutenant, it would never have been possible to meet this elder adult.

Therefore, any word spoken in front of her must be extremely cautious, and the other party must not be wary.

The biggest takeaway from this negotiation was undoubtedly the storage tanks - the storage tanks in the Smuggling Wing were the latest models produced by the United Human Alliance, which meant that there must be some connection between the Smuggler Wing and the Alliance. Moreover, the smugglers led by the Blackwinged Man have tried every means to destroy this evidence in many operations, which shows that they do not want to expose the connection with the Alliance, and at the same time, it also shows that there should be a breakthrough here.

Then the next thing to consider should be the "myth" that the director talked about.

The blueprint of Satan the Demon God - it's something that really exists, right?

How could the director of the institute be so bored as to tell myths to military personnel? - This should be a clue that cannot be left unsaid, but it cannot be elaborated on. But where does this clue lead? Carl doesn't have a clue yet.

Before leaving the director's office, he also asked one last question: "Putting aside the matter of the black wings and the smugglers, and only discussing the level of research in the higher life sciences, which country do you think is the leading country in the world?" ”

For this issue, the director has not evaded it, nor has it been reasonable to avoid it. She pushed the glasses on her nose and said with interest, "It's a question that's not easy to define." First of all, in our Qingyun Empire, there are 200 million winged citizens living there, and there are only 6 million in the territory of the Human United Alliance, which is a huge base difference. If it is the research results related to people's livelihood, such as medical treatment and pharmaceuticals, of course, China is far ahead of any country in the world, which is determined by the overall number of Yiren citizens, which is necessary. ”

"What about the rest?" Carl asked, "For example, the non-livelihood aspect. ”

"That's hard to say." "The United Alliance of Humanity claims that they are at least 10 years ahead of any country in the world in terms of genetic technology. But...... Who can tell? All countries have a strong sense of secrecy, and no one can get information from other countries. Since no one wants to fight for this title, then you can say that you are powerful...... However, the attitude of the Kingdom of Blaze next door is completely opposite to theirs. That country obviously has the most advanced military technology in the world, and is willing to sell weapons to other countries in exchange for profits, but it never mentions the advanced life technology mastered by its own country. If you have to say something when asked about it at an academic summit, it is often Wang Gu who talks about him left and right. It's this attitude that makes people feel compelled to care......"

Leaving the institute's office building, Carl walked to the parking lot.

The amount of information he received that day was so great that it would take him a while to digest it.

Hiking is a great option.

The stairwell was empty late at night - the Imperial Academy of Sciences had very few former researchers, and they didn't want to expect to see anyone in the stairwell during such non-working hours. The lieutenant went all the way down, and countless thoughts and images collided in his mind.

Go to the underground parking lot and find your car, get on it, and let the engine start. A gentle female voice came from the electronic navigator: "Please tell me where you are going?" ”

"What time is it?" Karl asked rhetorically.

"July 3, 10:27 p.m."

"No wonder you're so hungry...... "Karl pressed his empty stomach and commanded towards the navigator, "go back to MI." ”

…………

At this moment, 800 kilometers away from the imperial capital, a huge airship more than 260 meters long was floating above an unknown small city.

This small city is called Huaguan, and it is a small town on the border of the United League of Mankind.

Thousands of years ago, when the transportation industry was not dominated by railways, freighters, airboats, and other products of modern civilization, Huaguan was also a prosperous pass with an endless stream of caravans.

At that time, there was no United League of Humans, and even the word "human" had not yet been coined.

Huaguan was once one of the most important border crossings on the border of a large country in this land, and the annual tax paid by the caravans was a large local income.

However, with the development of science and the progress of human beings, the freighter wagons bred by high technology have gradually replaced the caravans of livestock and camels. Because of geographical reasons, the vicinity of Huaguan is not suitable for the construction of railways and airports, and this pass is still an inland city, not a coast, and there is not even a port. Gradually, Huaguan's status as a pass was replaced by the surrounding cities with railway stations and large airports, and it was abandoned by the torrent of the times.

More and more people are leaving the area to live in more developed cities. And the small city has gradually become a small place on the border of the Union that will not even be remembered by name.

But today, Huaguan is about to be resurrected.

The airship floating over this small city is undoubtedly a rare mothership-class airship in the world.

Optical camouflage covered the entire ship, and it was like a beast with its fangs folded, silently crouching in the night breeze.

Thanks to the use of state-of-the-art optical camouflage, the aircraft is completely invisible in the air. No one can tell its outline unless it is deliberately touched.

The airboat had apparently only been delivered for a short time, and there were still some residual wires and oil pipelines used during the test in the engine room; The lights in the ship were still off, except for the bright white light behind the glass windows on the bridge.

An emaciated young man sat in the captain's seat, his face wearing an exaggerated mask studded with diamonds and fringed edges. The mask covered almost his entire face, and only a pair of radiant almond eyes could be seen through the hollowing out of the mask's eyes, and the clear gaze was mixed with cunning emotions, making him exude a discordant yin temperament.

The door to the bridge opened from the outside, and a silver-haired young man entered with a dark-haired man.

The silver-haired young man had a young face and was dressed in a casual suit. The light gray material was obediently wrapped around his body, showing that his figure seemed to be a relatively slender one.

The black-haired youth wore a sleeveless black shirt, revealing a pair of powerful, muscular arms - like the arms of a basketball player, and only those who exercise regularly can have such toned but not bloated muscles.

The two men walked in almost side by side, both with inky black wings on their backs.

Hearing the footsteps of the two, the masked man sitting in the captain's seat originally had his back to the door, but at this time he naturally stood up, walked two steps around the seat and turned to face the two. He also had a pair of black wings on his back, and his wing bones were covered with thin and stretched silver armor, which made his whole person look a little more gorgeous.

When the two young men saw the masked man, they stopped almost at the same time to greet him.

"Qianhang." The black-haired young man's voice was clear and pure, and his tone was very familiar.

"Yo, boss." The silver-haired young man's lilac eyes, the glint in his eyes were as cunning as those under the mask.

Qianhang narrowed his eyes.

The captain was on the steps behind the door, which made him almost look down at the two men below.

He slowly raised his right hand, his fingers were white and slender, and he wore a ghost-faced ring with a hideous expression on his index finger.

"Ji Yun, Alfie." Qian Hang read the names of the two young men and said slowly, "What do you think of this 'Titan Fortress' mothership-class airship?" ”