Interstellar Survival: Invasion
Chapter 73: Fille IV

"Calm down. It's not like the sky itself will fall on us," scolded Giorno.

"I-I think the sky is really falling on us this time. You need to see this," said the team leader before collapsing weakly on the ground, losing consciousness.

"What's happening? How are our probes?" asked Giorno.

I turned on the Brotherhood's communicator and only heard static.

"Edo, watch over Kamo and try to wake Kalun up. Also, keep your eyes on these people. Aaron and Asa, come with me. We'll take a look outside," commanded Giorno.

"I'll go with you," I offered.

"I'll go as well," said Zhang Bao'er.

Old Du and Prince Toruse stood up as well. I nodded at them, and the four of us followed Giorno and his people out of the hall. We walked along the stairs to reach the top of the college's wall.

Dawn was coming; Betelgeuse's reddish light was slowly shining from the horizon, illuminating a part of the world. The illumination allowed me to get a clear look at the scene before me, a scene that caused me to take a deep breath in shock. Before the college, fully armed soldiers were standing neatly in four square formations.

"Canyue, we're completely surrounded," said Zhang Bao'er.

Only then did I notice that to the left, right, and back of the college, there were two square formations facing each side. At a glance, there were over 2,000 soldiers around us.

"It's over. According to my previous calculation, the imperial army would take at least five hours to get here. Why did they arrive in only three?" said Giorno.

I activated my binocular mode and saw that the soldiers standing before us were standing in a neat formation. At the front row of each square was a row of tanks that were larger and stronger than our tanks. The imperial soldiers and policemen were lined behind the tanks, their brand-new armor gleaming below the sunshine.

At the back of each square were numerous heavy-duty rail cannons. At least 50 drones were hovering in the sky around the college. I even noticed the faint outline of a battleship in the planet's atmosphere. It was ready to join the battle at a moment's notice.

"This show of force is way too excessive," sighed Zhang Bao'er.

"Well, things are becoming truly troublesome this time. They're the emperor's personal guards," said Giorno.

A sharp hiss came from far away. Only then did I notice with astonishment that an imposing imperial chariot stood at the back of the four square formations. Two massive triangular beasts were pulling some sort of square platform. Atop the spacious platform was a golden tent. Inside the tent was a golden throne on which an individual clad in a luxurious purple outfit sat.

A relatively short individual wearing a white robe and holding a staff stood beside the man in purple. Four-meter-tall Gandos stood at each corner below the platform, standing like giant protectors. Surrounding the platform from farther away were imperial police in golden armor, and they all stood perfectly straight, their chests puffed against the wind.

"Is the person on the chair—" I asked.

"Yes, that is the emperor, Fille IV," said Giorno.

"What a surprise. It has only been a few years since I last saw him, and he has grown even more extravagant than before. When we met previously, he was still an amiable and simple person with only a few followers by his side," said Prince Toruse.

"What do you know? You're only a minor prince. Our emperor has lofty aspirations. To rule an even grander empire, he naturally needs to maintain an even more impressive presence," said Giorno with a sneer.

"Prince, the emperor is right before us. Should we ask for an audience with our golden pass?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"Hehe, your golden pass is nothing but scrap paper. In our current situation, I doubt any of us will survive," said Giorno.

Right that moment, an imperial policeman rode toward us on a battle-wolf with a purple imperial banner raised high.

The imperial policeman did not take long to reach the gate. There, he yelled, "As decreed by the most honorable emperor of the Divine Empire, all the criminals in the college are to lay down their arms and surrender. Those who had not participated in the battle will be granted leniency. The imperial army shall attack in 30 minutes regardless of your answer."

The imperial police turned and left after giving the message.

"President Giorno, seems like it has become a hell lot harder for you to achieve your dream of establishing an even more powerful interstellar empire," I sneered.

"The emperor was obviously ready for me. I feel like I have been tricked," said Giorno furiously.

"Canyue, we're not part of the Brotherhood. We will be given leniency?" asked Prince Toruse.

"Hahaha, you are too naive. The great explorer himself blew up the shield device. Were you listening? Only those who had not participated in the battle will be given leniency," said Giorno.

"True, I participated in the battle. You guys surrender first. The prince has the golden pass, and none of you were involved in the battle. Don't take any risks. I'll think of a different way to escape," I said to Zhang Bao'er.

"No. We will fight alongside you. We won't abandon you!" said Zhang Bao'er.

"Are you treating me as air? I'm in charge here. It is not up to you who gets to go or stay. None of you can leave!" roared Giorno.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Zhang Bao'er's temper flared again.

Old Du quickly stopped him.

"A great enemy is before us. We need to think of a countermeasure first. We can talk about our issues later," said Old Du.

Giorno glared at Zhang Bao'er before asking Aaron, "How many combat-capable warriors do we have left?"

"Minus the 17 injured individuals, we still have 81 combat-capable individuals. We also have 4 intact tanks. As for the drones, including those we caught, we have 17 in total," said Aaron.

"So it's 81 against 2,000. Do you think you're one of the 300 Spartans?" sneered Zhang Bao'er.

"Kill that fatty," ordered Giorno coldly.

Ten rayguns were instantly aimed at Zhang Bao'er's head.

"Who dares to open fire!" I took out the activation button for my nuclear warhead and shouted at the thugs.

"We are facing a powerful enemy. Go back to the hall and think of a solution. We can settle our debt after this. Perhaps we won't even get that chance and only a funeral awaits," said Old Du.

Nobody could argue against that. We were running out of time, so nobody made a move.

"You still need Zhang Bao'er to decipher the mysterious characters. If you kill him, nobody will be able to help you," said Old Du.

His words seemed to have reminded Giorno of Zhang Bao'er's importance. A smile instantly covered his face as he said, "I almost forgot that. It was a mere misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! Come, let's go back to the hall and think of a way out of this."

After leaving two people to keep watch, the rest of us returned to the hall. I told Zhang Xingxing and the others what I saw and what I intended to do. They were all astonished, and all of them firmly rejected my suggestion.

"We are all surrounded with no way out. We can only face them head on," said Team Leader Aaron.

"What do you have in mind? Speak," said Giorno.

"Concentrate our firepower and break through the back of the college. I checked. There, the encirclement is the weakest, and there are only 300 people. Perhaps we stand a chance by focusing our firepower on them," said Aaron.

"What do we do after breaking through? They have a battleship. Even if we can break through, how are we supposed to escape?" I asked.

Aaron was instantly speechless. He had not thought so far ahead.

"Why were they even here? Were they hiding nearby when we had come? How did we not notice an army this big?" I asked.

"Edo, bring Kamo here," commanded Giorno.

Edo brought over Kamo, who had regained consciousness.

"What is going on? Where did the emperor and his army come from?" asked Giorno.

"I followed your order and pursued the escaping soldiers with 10 of my men. After an hour, I fell into the imperial army's ambush. My team was completely annihilated. I was only able to escape after hiding in the river," Kamo replied.

"Where did they come from? Our surveillance robots did not notice anything when we arrived," asked Giorno.

"They seemed to have been hiding in some underground tunnel. A large number of them had charged out when they had ambushed me," said Kamo.

"Looks like the imperial army had truly hidden underground, waiting for us to attack the college before surrounding us," said Zhang Xingxing.

"Impossible. That doesn't make sense. I saw their condition. They don't look like soldiers who have been underground for a long time. Also, even if the regular soldiers can take the hardship of hiding underground, how can an emperor suffer the same?" said Giorno. "Remember, the emperor has been missing for quite a while."

"Did they arrive through some sort of time door?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"On a planet like Eternal with high gravity and dense electromagnetic waves, it is unlikely that one can construct a time door large enough to support the transportation of such a large army. No energy source can support the expenditure involved," said Domo.

"Could it be—" Old Du muttered.

"Old Du, what do you have in mind? Feel free to say it," I said.

"I suspect there is an underground palace here. There might be a complicated cavern system under the ground, and the emperor might have been staying in the underground palace," said Old Du.

"Bring Jeferun here," commanded Giorno upon hearing Old Du's speculation.

A Liyate thug immediately brought Jeferun over.

"Great scholar, are there underground tunnels we can use to escape the college?" asked Giorno.

"No. This place is completely sealed," Jeferun hurriedly said.

"Do you think you can live after surrendering to the emperor? Let me tell you the truth. All of you will die. The emperor will not spare anyone. I understand now. The emperor had hidden precisely so that he could lure out all of Sosse's allies and get them all in one go. Do you think you can get lucky?" Giorno said.

Giorno's persuasion seemed to work; Jeferun lowered his head in contemplation before saying, "The college does not have any tunnels leading outside, but I heard from Principal Sosse that the college has a history of over 100,000 years. It was built atop the palace of the fabled Brightlings. Perhaps the Bright palace has tunnels leading out of this place."

"Old Du, what a genius!" said Zhang Bao'er as he gave Old Du a punch to his chest.

"The ancient Bright palace is under the college?" Titan and Amethyst cried out when they heard that.

"Yes. According to the legends, the palace is under the college. However, the sole path between the two has been unused for tens of thousands of years. It is the same place we use to store the banned books," said Jeferun.

"You're talking about the Dark Hall?" I asked.

Jeferun was astonished to hear that term coming from my mouth. "Yes. Sir Canyue, you're truly a knowledgeable person. That is the place."

While we were talking, loud sounds of war drums sounded outside. I lowered my head to check the time and noted that the 30 minutes they had given us was over.