Chapter 39 A Dying Planet

Edward answered and turned back to carefully explain the shooting essentials and tactical maneuvers to Joe, but Joe didn't seem to be a soldier's material, making a few combat maneuvers that looked very awkward. Edward looked at the worried aunt next to him and said, ''Auntie, you don't have to worry, all these tactical maneuvers won't necessarily be useful. If we go to the dispatch center in a while to apply for an energy refill, and they reject us, we will go directly back to the Silver Dragon to wait for rescue, if the refill on the energy, then there is nothing to be afraid of, if not, we will just bail out." Soon, the Silver Dragon entered the gravitational range of Achilles and paddled towards the starport of Newland 3, and the lead gray planet was presented in front of everyone. The entire planet of Achilles was wrapped in a dense atmosphere, and that lead-gray thick cloud layer was stacked on top of each other, making the entire planet look like a dirty basketball wrapped in a layer of foam. In the thick clouds, a burst of lightning was faintly visible, and the few star ports poked out of the clouds, like small boats drifting in the sea of clouds that were swirling with gigantic waves. 'Look at this nice place you picked!" Elina's mouth turned up as she began her tirade, 'Be careful you don't get struck by lightning when you go down there later!" Edward laughed awkwardly, he didn't dare to talk back in the face of Elina's complaints, and said with a snort, 'Look at the data this can be the planet shouldn't be like this..." With a sense of blockage, the Silver Dragon came to a gentle stop in its berth, then was firmly bound by a force field. 'Alright, let's go down and refuel, and if that goes well, we'll go down to the surface and buy supplies." Edward said, gesturing to Joe as the pair walked towards the hatch. 'Stay safe." Elina instructed. The two stepped off the ship and followed the signs towards the dispatch center. Along the way, Edward looked at Joe, who was always trying to pull out his gun, with a pang of amusement, and said, 'You'd better relax, with that stance people will know you're carrying a gun." At this point Joe's head was covered in fine beads of sweat, he reached up and wiped it away, saying, 'How can I look at anyone so suspicious..." Edward almost laughed out loud and said, 'That's because you're suspicious, so people stare at you, take it easy." The two made their way to the front desk of the dispatch center and Edward headed over towards the window that no one was using, Joe following close behind, still looking nervous. 'Hello, I'm the captain of the dss262 Silver Dragon docked at berth 017, and I'm here for an energy refill request." Edward said in a relaxed tone. The young staff member shot a glance at Edward, his eyes landed on Joe who was busy looking around, looking up and down as he activated his communicator with his left hand, trying to say something. Edward hurriedly pulled up a pre-prepared identity information on the communicator, crossed it towards the staff member, and said, 'This is my bodyguard, Joe, alas, we have just escaped from Toronto not more than a few days ago, this world is in chaos now, and I don't even dare to go out without a bodyguard." The staff member carefully checked the identity information with the entry information and then said, 'Please choose the type of energy refill." 'Helium 3 refill, rounded up." Edward said. 'Your ship currently has 4% remaining energy reserves, it will take twenty-one thousand credits to fill it up." The staff member said, reaching out and pointing to the upper communicator on the counter, signaling Edward to pay. Edward paid the bill directly, and after the headset transmitted the ai's reminder that it was being refilled with energy, he finally put his heart down and asked, 'Excuse me, we still need some more supplies, where should we go to buy them?" The staff member who had already lowered his guard replied truthfully, 'You take the space elevator and go straight down to the basement level, the Star Supermarket near the air port will be able to satisfy your request, they can also deliver to your door." 'Energy reserves have been topped off." The voice of the Silver Dragon's AI sounded in the miniature headset in Edward's ear. Edward received the signal and without saying anything more to the staff, he walked towards the space elevator in the hall, Joe followed closely behind, they did not follow the staff's instructions to go down to the basement level, but instead went down to the ground. Edward who descended to the ground walked out of the starport ground hall, stood on the several hundred meters high pedestal plaza of the starport and looked around, the scenery in front of him made his jaw drop. An identical building filled his field of vision, those hundred meter tall black buildings stretching into the sky like giant tombstones, mixing with the lead-gray clouds, indistinguishable from each other. 'My galaxy, what are these buildings?" Joe muttered as he looked at the patches of huge buildings in front of him. Edward also asked, 'Elina, what are these tombstone-like buildings?" After waiting for a long time and not seeing a reply, Edward became a little worried and he opened his communicator, which showed a row of small letters: real-time communication has been disconnected. A panic ran through him and he started dialing Elina's communicator, but the one on his wrist never managed to connect the communication. He tried to connect to the communication over and over again, annoyance coalescing in his mind, and he hated himself immensely in this current state, this current self full of powerlessness. Suddenly, he heard the slight sound of a door opening behind him, and with a sharp push, he pushed Joe out of the way, sending himself into a tumble in the opposite direction, landing on the ground with his gun already in his hand aiming at the visitor. The visitor said, 'Hello, Hon. Edward." Only to see that the man was unperturbed by Edward's gun, but pulled the electromagnetic pistol out of his pocket and aimed it at Joe, who had just climbed to his feet. Edward froze and asked, 'Who are you? How are Elina and the girls?" 'I'll ask the questions first, Hon. Edward, and if there is a problem with your answers, then I will shoot this bodyguard named Joe. Of course, you can also shoot me first and take me down, then I will make sure that the Silver Dragon is unable to leave Achilles." The visitor said lightly, without a trace of emotion in his tone. Edward had no other choice at this point, and said, 'You ask, and after you do, I'll ask, and I'll make sure that the answer you get is true." The visitor said, 'Okay, I only have one question, this Joe, what is his true identity?" Edward froze, glanced at Joe, who was breathing heavily, and said, 'I met him on the planet Toronto, there was just a riot there, and when we evacuated, we took both mother and son with us." After saying that, Edward gave a color towards Joe, who activated his communicator, pulled up his identity information, and scratched the window towards the visitor. 'Please give me a moment to verify." The visitor switched to holding the gun in one hand and used the other to work the interface that popped up on the communicator. 'How are Elina and the others doing?" Edward asked, the gun in his hand pointed steadily at the visitor without a hint of relief. 'I don't know, we're just monitoring the ship." The visitor said, dropping his gun and putting it back in its holster under his armpit, and continued, 'His identity has been verified, Lord Edward, and it appears to be a misunderstanding." 'Then why can't Elina and the girls connect their communications?" Edward said, placing his index finger on the trigger, deciding that if the visitor was in any way suspicious on the subject, he would pull the trigger and rush back to the Starport to rescue them. The visitor held up his hands, paralyzed at his sides, and said, 'Because of the thick cloud cover and also the constant lightning, if you wish to reach Elina, please follow me to the basement level, where there is a signal relay unit." Edward, still not off guard, but not shooting either, asked, 'Why can't I just take the space elevator up to the upper level of the starport and confirm it myself?" 'That would be possible, but that would take you at least half an hour, but it's only a mere three to five minutes to the basement level." There was still no emotion in the visitor's words. 'I choose to go to the upper levels of the Starport and confirm it myself." Edward said firmly as his grip on the gun did not loosen. The visitor pointed at Joe and said, 'He's afraid he won't last to the upper levels of the Starport." Edward glanced at Joe, only to see that his eyes were slack, his hands were on his knees, and he was panting profusely with a sweaty face, and he was horrified to realize that his vision was narrowing. The field of vision that had filled his consciousness shrunk to a circle, and the area beyond it turned black except for the circular field of vision that was continuing to get smaller. 'What did you do?" Edward asked. The visitor took a step back, pushed open the door to the Starport's ground floor lobby, and said, 'The oxygen content of the atmosphere here is less than six percent, so get your asses in here and head to the basement level first." With a loud thud, Joe was the first to fall to the ground as he loaded forward from lack of oxygen. Feeling groggy in the head and not wanting the situation to deteriorate any further, Edward finally decided to shoot and kill whoever was in front of him, rushing back to the upper level of the starport to make sure that Elina and the others were okay first. He pulled the trigger, but the man didn't fall, his godlike marksmanship seemed to disappear along with his vision, and he fired several shots off target, some hitting the glass doors of the Starport's lobby, and some going straight into the floor tiles.