Li Shaolong's target for the attack was the Xingluo Marquis's star domain. However, as the warship advanced step by step, he noticed something extraordinarily strange.
After the planet filled with ores, the first planet he encountered had not a single living soul!
The entire planet was teeming with flora, trees, and thousands of cities, but there wasn't a single human being to be found, as if all the inhabitants of the planet had vanished into thin air.
This eerie situation made Li Shaolong exercise extreme caution. He dispatched squads to the planet's surface to investigate.
As the teams explored, they found no imminent danger and could not uncover the reason for the disappearance of humanity. Much of the food was still edible, suggesting that the human population on this planet had vanished not long ago.
"At the very least, a planet should have billions of people. How could they all disappear suddenly? Could this be an apocalypse specific to this planet?" Li Shaolong muttered to himself.
He knew that every planet had its share of disasters, whether natural or man-made, and often faced attacks from various extraterrestrial races. However, in the past, humans on these planets had resisted tenaciously. Yet on this planet, they had all disappeared, leaving Li Shaolong greatly perplexed.
If he were willing, with his power, he could take some time and completely wipe out a planet's inhabitants. However, achieving this in such a short span of time was nearly impossible.
Furthermore, he observed that the disappearance seemed sudden, with many things retaining their original state.
"This is the Xingluo Marquis's star domain. If something happened on a planet, he should have received the news. Zhang Chuzheng and their garrison should have received some intelligence as well, but they seem to be completely unaware of this situation."
Li Shaolong had just inquired about it and found that Zhang Chuzheng and the others were equally puzzled; they had no knowledge of the strange events on this planet.
With no immediate understanding of the issues on this planet, Li Shaolong could only leave behind a portion of his soldiers to construct a base and gradually explore, simultaneously gaining control over the planet. The fleet continued its journey towards the next inhabited planet.
In just a few days, Li Shaolong discovered dozens of similar planets where the human population had vanished, while other animals still existed. It was as if the tigers had disappeared from the mountains, leaving the monkeys as kings.
Consider the fact that these planets should have been vibrant and bustling with human activity, yet not a single living soul remained; it felt incredibly eerie.
These planets had essentially become dead stars!
Li Shaolong couldn't fathom what could have caused this.
He was unaware, but his number one spy had stumbled upon some information: the members of the Shadow Hall were responsible for the disappearances on these planets!
This discovery had been purely accidental on the part of the number one spy. He had been assigned a low-level cover within the Mudclod Clan and had no access to any significant events, typically occupied with minor tasks like searching for human scouts.
However, for some unknown reason, the higher-ups had given him a special mission – to retrieve an item and await the arrival of another higher-ranking operative.
If it were an ordinary member, they probably wouldn't dare to open this thing, but the number one spy was never one of them, and he didn't care at all.
This thing was a box, square and unassuming, with a somewhat ancient appearance that suggested it had some age to it.
For such an ordinary box, it was surprising that his superiors were so cautious about it. The message left for him was filled with dire warnings, implying that if he dared to open the box, he would meet a gruesome end.
Losing the box would result in an even worse fate.
In any case, if something went wrong with the box, his future wouldn't be a bright one.
As for these threats, the number one spy didn't pay them any heed. He quietly made his way to a sub-base, prepared to open the box. However, he discovered that there was a spatial barrier on the surface of the box.
The number one spy was resourceful and had his specialties, but when it came to matters of spatial technology, he knew that Yun Ru was the expert to consult.
Unfortunately, when he contacted Yun Ru, she mentioned that she was currently occupied and couldn't break away. Instead, she casually summoned a scientist to assist him in solving the issue.
As time had passed, the Operations Laboratory had undergone significant changes. It now relied heavily on Yun Ru.
Many scientists, aside from Taru and Yuan Yizhong, had graduated and moved on. They couldn't handle some of the more esoteric technologies, but breaking a spatial barrier was something they had learned long ago.
When the scientist arrived, they quickly dismantled the spatial barrier. The number one spy could finally see what was inside the box.
When he opened the box, what he saw was... people!
Inside the box was an otherworldly realm, a massive space that could only be achieved through advanced spatial techniques.
Expanding a small space limitlessly was only possible with profound spatial technology. With Red Alert Base's current spatial technology, they could expand a small space at most. Expanding a space nearly the size of a moon, as seen here, was exceptionally challenging.
However, the size of the space was not the most important aspect. What truly caught the number one spy's attention was that the bodies of these people were covered in a thin, green film, making them appear as though they were asleep. The moment he opened the box, a number flashed in the number one spy's mind, and that number was the total count of humans inside.
"There are nearly two trillion humans in total, and they are all crammed into such a small box. Where did Shadow Hall manage to get so many people?" The number one spy couldn't comprehend it.
Things he couldn't fathom, he reported to Commander.
Su Chen, upon hearing this news, immediately understood. These were the people Li Shaolong had mentioned—the ones who had disappeared from the planets. They had been captured by members of Shadow Hall.
Now, Su Chen's expression grew grim. Regardless of the circumstances, they were all humans, and yet they were being callously captured by Shadow Hall like livestock. This did not sit well with him.
"We don't need to release the people inside for now. We can use them as bait to lure out the next Shadow Hall member. Number one spy, I'll have someone assist you this time."
The number one spy's expression shifted, knowing that this mission might be too much for him to handle alone, or else Commander wouldn't have sent someone to help.
"Commander, if possible, I would like to have Yuri and Lily join me."
For such a minor task, Su Chen readily agreed. One possessed psychic powers, and the other had superhuman abilities—these two abilities were different from the norm and were the most likely to catch the Shadow Hall member. (To be continued...)
[Read /maxnkoga , without ads and support the work.]