C45 Placing a Heavy Criminal

On March 6th, in the second year of the Galaxy Calendar, the day was ordinary yet restless.

At Military Base 23 of the Human Federation on the AB1698 resource planet, a massive Outer Space Warship, towering at five kilometers high and stretching over a hundred kilometers long, sat silently on the launch platform.

Its pitch-black, ink-like exterior was forged from super alloys, impervious to even planetary collisions.

Inside, it housed the Human Race's most advanced defense system.

Once its Defense Barrier was activated, the ship could navigate through cosmic storms and black holes with ease, as long as its energy reserves held out.

Resting on the launch platform, the warship resembled a colossal cosmic beast, immense and exuding an endless sense of dominance.

Yet, this particular Outer Space Warship was unarmed, lacking any weapon systems, Mechas, or fighter aircraft, and was entirely unmanned.

Through the gaping hangar doors, automated transport vehicles shuttled hibernation pods into the warship, where the ship's Intellectual Brain directed them to their assigned locations.

"My goodness! I looked up the data, and the last batch of convicts sent to the Exile Planet totaled only 7,223. This time, there are over 26,500! How many are actually serious offenders?"

"Who knows how many are truly guilty, but it's certain that less than half are serious criminals."

"Has the federal government lost its mind? Sending over ten thousand people to the Exile Planet to approach Jiang Que? These fools, don't they realize that the more people who try to get close to Jiang Que, the more likely they are to be detected?"

"The consequences would be dire if Jiang Que uncovers the truth."

"The senators and representatives of the Federation Parliament are unbelievably foolish! How can they overlook problems that even we can foresee?"

Viewers of the live broadcast were livid with criticism. "It's probably not just the Federation Parliament members, but also individuals from various factions. There might even be spies from all other races among them."

"Surely not? No matter how incompetent the federal government might be, they couldn't let spies from all other races infiltrate their ranks, could they?"

"No one knows. As long as there's something in it for them, those Federation Parliament officials would sell out their own fathers."

"It's the fault of those damned fools who insisted on not disrupting the Federation Parliament's plans. Had we known that so many impostor convicts had infiltrated, possibly even spies from all other races, we would have raised hell until the federal government abandoned the plan."

"Yeah! Sadly, it's too late now."

"Damn it, I'm going to smash the Federation Parliament's Headquarters Building later. Who's with me? If we gather a team of over a million and we're not conspiring, then by Federation law, we're not liable for anything."

"I'm on the planet where the Federation Parliament's Headquarters Building is. Count me in!"

"Wait for me; I'm buying my ticket right now."

"Forget it! The Federation Parliament's Headquarters Building has been smashed before. Those representatives don't give a damn. They're not the ones footing the bill for repairs; that's on us."

"Even so, we must smash the Federation Headquarters Building. I can't calm my fury otherwise."

"Absolutely, we must take it down."

The enraged citizens quickly came to a consensus. Those who were available on the planet where the Federation Parliament was located united to smash the Federation Parliament's Headquarters Building.

However, no matter how angry or deceived the people felt, they couldn't stop the transport vehicles from delivering the convicts to the Outer Space Warship.

Once all the convicts' sleeping capsules were loaded, the Intellectual Brain took control, and the steel behemoth of an Outer Space Warship began its ascent.

Upon reaching space, it set course for the predetermined coordinates, accelerating to sub-light speed, then light speed, and finally faster than light.

An hour later, the massive space jumpers activated.

Terrifying amounts of energy were rapidly depleted.

Seconds later, the Outer Space Warship vanished into the cosmos.

It reappeared thousands of light-years away, just 0.1 light-years from the Exile Planet.

After verifying the readings on the Outer Space Warship's instruments, it made its way toward the Exile Planet.

After a brief acceleration, the Outer Space Warship rapidly closed the distance to the Exile Planet, traveling at speeds dozens of times faster than light. It wasn't long before it entered the Universe Strom Region, a cosmic storm belt stretching from 0.05 to 0.1 light-years away from the Exile Planet. This area was rife with cosmic storms powerful enough to reduce any star to dust and was littered with countless high-strength meteorites. The presence of this storm belt made the Exile Planet an ideal location for the Human Race to banish its most dangerous criminals.

Middle Minor Warships stood no chance of penetrating the cosmic storm with their Energy Barriers. While space jump technology allowed for folding space to teleport, it was incapable of direct transportation into the heart of cosmic storms or black holes. This meant that no warship could use the Space Jump System to reach the eye of the Cosmic Storm.

Protected by an Energy Barrier of almost inconceivable strength, the Outer Space Warship made swift passage through the treacherous Cosmic Storm. Ten hours later, they emerged successfully from the Universe Strom Region. Following a brief respite, they set course for the Exile Planet at maximum velocity.

After another six or seven hours, they arrived in the outer space of the Exile Planet and rendezvoused with another unmanned large warship. Once the Intellectual Brains of both warships completed the data exchange, the warship previously overseeing the Exile Planet began its journey back to base. The newly arrived warship opened its hatches, and unmanned transport ships began distributing the hibernation pods randomly across the Exile Planet before retrieving the empty pods.

Over 26,000 felons clad in animal skins were now officially stranded on the Exile Planet. Some of the less fortunate ones became prey to ferocious beasts before they even had a chance to awaken. The majority, however, did wake up, only to find themselves utterly bewildered. Some were seen tapping their heads, trying to recall any shred of memory. This confusion was their first response upon awakening from memory erasure.

"I was hoping to identify any fake criminals who hadn't had their memories wiped by observing their reactions. But in the end, they all acted identically," one observer noted. "The agents sent by the Federation government and other powers are incredibly skilled. They're aware we're watching them; how could they possibly leave any trace?"

"The Scanner indicates that aside from physical differences, there are no significant energy fluctuations within their bodies. Even if a spy from all other races were among them, even in close proximity to Jiang Que, he would pose no threat to his safety."

Not to mention that these felons were all randomly dispersed, making it quite challenging for them to find an opportunity to approach Jiang Que anytime soon.

Who can say for certain whether the Scanner's results are authentic? As long as the Outer Space Warship doesn't reboot or activate its intrusion prevention system, some elite hackers could potentially infiltrate the warship's Intellectual Brain and alter data and scan outcomes.

The representatives from the Human Federation are in the mix as well, and they certainly wouldn't be inclined to restart the Intellectual Brain or enable the defense system.

I noticed that a newly arrived felon had something concealed at his waist. Yet, the Scanner indicated there was nothing there, which clearly suggests that the image data was tampered with.

The audience was deeply concerned.

They feared that the introduction of these felons could introduce a host of unpredictable elements to Jiang Que's cultivation method.

Nonetheless, there were those in the audience who were hopeful that the situation might evolve in a favorable way.