Chapter 263: The Forerunner's Megastructure! The Ark! The Portal!

"very good."

Li Ang nodded, and then continued: "You should get ready as soon as possible. The laboratories and fleets here will be moved soon. Don't leave behind the necessary data and equipment."

Now that things on the Shield World Celestial Body side have been almost resolved, it is time for the important core R&D members to return to the headquarters of the Wanjie Base to continue completing the experiments at hand.

"Yes!"

"Okay, boss."

As the two doctors finished their words, Leon was taken by them to check on the transformation of the Spartan II warriors.

It must be said that this group of Spartan warriors who are in the experimental testing phase really feel like "small Astartes warriors".

To briefly summarize the features:
He has bones of steel and can withstand beatings, nerves of fiber optics and a good brain, he is proficient in both civil and military affairs, and he is dedicated to getting things done.

Highlight a loyal and capable person!

After completing the inspection mission, Li Ang left the experimental center with satisfaction. His orders were quickly executed by various departments, and troops from all over the country were dispatched and set out again.

At this moment, on the ground of the core of the Shield World, a giant fleet of more than a thousand warships of various types, supply ships, and six fully automated Sojourner Dreadnoughts are ready to go!

Not long after, the last transport fleet arrived at the fleet array and entered the CSO aircraft carrier, which served as the flagship of the 2nd Expeditionary Force.

The fleet began to pass through a giant gate with a diameter of 100 kilometers, rushed out of the core of the shield world, passed through the surface atmosphere, and arrived in low-Earth orbit.

Then, after all the ships were in place, the six Sojourner Dreadnoughts projected a dazzling light in the deep space, and the vortex-shaped jump channel was opened.

Then, the expeditionary force, along with the Sojourner Dreadnought, all rushed into the jump space and headed towards the star field where the City of High Charity was located.

Since the Sojourner's dreadnought's jump engine and technology are of official and genuine quality, they are different from the pirated versions made by reverse engineering like the Covenant.

Therefore, the jump speed must be faster, smoother and more stable. At about the speed of every 24 hours, they can cross a distance of nearly three thousand light years.

You know, this is just the most basic warship of the Forerunner civilization. The super-giant device "Ark" can devour planets and create halos. It can even open portals and directly transmit halos to various parts of the galaxy!
The so-called Ark is actually a giant structure similar to a petal shape. Its front is covered with a huge ecological area that can be inhabited by living things and can withstand damage from the neutrino pulse cannons released by the Halo Array.

Its core is the Halo manufacturing factory, which can extract the entire planet as raw materials to create Halo devices and place them throughout the galaxy.

A celestial-level megastructure like this that combines production, transmission, and usage functions is simply too great!
Even when it comes to "teleporting objects", this thing is no worse than a slingshot. In terms of space technology, the pioneers' technological achievements are equally impressive.

But unfortunately, Li Ang couldn't get such a good thing immediately.

Because the enthusiastic witness AI did not record the specific coordinate information of the Ark, the only information Leon knew was that this Ark giant structure, which has a diameter ten times that of the Earth, is far outside the Milky Way.

With the current technological level of the Universal Corporation, the cost of leading a fleet to explore celestial megastructures outside the Milky Way would be too horrific.

It is estimated that the resources consumed in finding the Ark are almost enough to build another one!

Therefore, if the giant enterprise wants to obtain the Ark as soon as possible, it must either go to Meridian Star, dig out the remains of the "Holy Lamp" of the Forerunners, and obtain all the array coordinate information of the Forerunners.

Or go to the East African region of the Earth, find and open the portal leading directly to the Ark.

Obviously, instead of opening another exploration copy to dig for ruins, it is better to go directly to the Earth, find the portal and get the Ark.

After thinking for a moment, Leon decided to send David to lead a group of troops to the East African region of the "Halo" Earth to find the location of the portal.

Disrupting the situation on Reach and sneaking into the Earth to find the portal is the next strategic goal of the giant company!
……

three days later.

In Reach's low-Earth orbit, in an orbital space station directly above the city of New Alexandria.

[All passengers who are preparing to board the Neptune please go to the No. 7 docking port as soon as possible. The ship will close the gate in ten minutes and officially set sail! ]

[Repeat again, please...]

In the waiting hall, reminders were being sounded over the radio.

A group of UNSC Marines armed with automatic rifles and equipped with exoskeleton devices were standing in the safety passages and elevators, guarding the surroundings and patrolling back and forth.

Among the many tourists, Rita, William Cage, who were dressed in plain clothes, and Alex, a special agent who had just been transferred from the Intelligence Department, were heading to their destination.

At this moment, Rita, Cage and Alex have all undergone the Spartan-II warrior transformation program, and their physical strength is no longer what it used to be!

At this moment, they were planning to take the Neptune to Earth, ten light years away.

David Martinez led a group of Astartes warriors and quietly went to Earth by secret smuggling. Both sides adopted a two-pronged approach.

After all, given the huge size of the Astartes warriors, the possibility of them taking a UNSC flight to Earth is almost zero.

Therefore, they could only take the small fleet provided by the giant enterprise, jump through the hyperspace channel to reach the solar system, and sneak into the East African region of the Earth.

Not long after, Rita and the other two arrived at the port of call, and using the fake ID cards and tickets they had prepared in advance, they passed the crew's inspection and successfully entered the interior of the ship.

Rita, who was always aloof, didn't greet Cage or Alex. She chose a window seat by herself, sat with her head tilted back, and turned to look at the docking port outside.

Although there were only her, Cage and Alex in this box, there was no guarantee that there might not be a secret listening and monitoring system set up by the UNSC.

You know, at this stage, the UNSC organization's tolerance for the rebels has already exceeded its limit, and they wish to drown all these thugs who regard rebellion as a business in the toilet.

The rebels are even more displeased with the UNSC. They often use human bombs and bondage weapons, and specifically choose places where upper-class citizens appear to perform the art of explosions.

It is obvious that the human world in the "Halo" universe has long been plagued by extremely divided class contradictions, which has led to more and more extreme events.

Therefore, in order to guard against the rebels, the UNSC and UEG are likely to disregard the privacy rights of civilians and place eavesdropping equipment on cruise ships, public places, and private rooms.

Especially on a high-end cruise ship like the Neptune, which is prepared for the family members of the wealthy and politicians, it is normal to install strict eavesdropping equipment.

Therefore, Rita and Alex did not communicate with each other throughout the whole process. They just occasionally made eye contact with each other, and then sat quietly waiting for the cruise ship to arrive at its destination.

However, William Cage, who was always sociable, started gossiping about the stranger and came forward to ask about the relationship between Alex and Reed.

These gossips will still be circulated within the various departments of giant companies. After all, it is human nature to eat spectators and watch the show, and it cannot be changed by human will.

When Cage asked this question confidently, even Rita, who was resting with her eyes closed, subconsciously increased her attention and listened carefully to the sounds over here.

Obviously, she was also very curious about the relationship between Alex and Reed. Was it really as rumored, that they were close comrades-in-arms and had feelings for each other?

You should know that on the official website of the Universal Giant Enterprise, there are relevant introductions about the development history of the giant enterprise, as well as the history of Li Ang and senior executives of various departments.

This kind of related "tidbits" have also been dug up by many historical scientific research bloggers from large companies.

Faced with Cage's abrupt question, Alex just smiled and shook her head. She had actually long since become indifferent to this worldly past and rarely mentioned it again.

As for her former superiors and her lover Li De, she believes that they still have a lot of time together and there is no need to bring personal matters and emotions into work, as this would be detrimental to their progress.

Over the years, Alex has mainly served as a senior agent in the intelligence department, and the tasks he has performed are all top-secret operations such as eavesdropping and assassination. Dirty work like this always requires someone trustworthy to do it, and Alex is the best candidate.

It can be said that Alex is a member of the "Jinyiwei" of the world's giant companies!
But this kind of low-profile position and job cannot be continued forever, so Li Ang decided to promote Alex and give her a chance to improve.

After the successful completion of this mission, Alex will be promoted to a management member of the Intelligence Department and officially join the ranks of senior executives of a giant company.

It just so happened that Alex had extensive experience in intelligence gathering and secret lurking, and this time lurking on Earth and finding the Ark's portal was very important for Leon.

With the guidance of such an experienced veteran, investigators such as Rita and Cage can complete their tasks better.

For Alex, this mission is a great opportunity for him to improve himself.

In fact, many years ago, Alex was not an agent who was so eager to make progress. On the contrary, she was very eager to give up, retire, go on vacation and live out the rest of her life.

But the main reason is that her former master, President Miles, was a bad person and treated his subordinates like consumable tools.

It's fine to use people to death.

But every time Miles assigned them a mission, it was extremely difficult, with a high death rate and few benefits. Even their direct superiors would disappear and betray them from time to time.

No one can stand such a working environment, and anyone would become depressed and collapse.

But after arriving at the global giant, the great Lord Li Ang only needed to say two words to make Alex full of energy, that is "fairness"!
As long as the subordinates are willing to work hard, the big companies will be willing to spend money.

What's more, today's world's giants are in their rising stage and are developing vigorously.

As we all know, the rising period of the times is an extremely valuable opportunity. Even a pig that knows nothing can take off on the spot as long as it is close to it.

And the world's giant enterprises are the outlet of human civilization!

As long as they work for giant companies, each of them will be a creator of human civilization and a character worthy of being written into human history.

This is more important than any romance or affection. For Alex, there will always be love, but there are only a few opportunities for progress in a lifetime!

Pursuing progress is the choice that smart people should make.

Rita, who also has a strong sense of professionalism, couldn't help but secretly affirm Alex's insights in her heart. No wonder the executives in giant companies are so decisive and efficient.

In order to make progress, everyone is working hard!
After listening to the words of his predecessor Alex, William Cage nodded repeatedly to express his admiration. This was his role model.

For the sake of giant companies and human civilization, this little thing can indeed be put aside.

Not long after, Rita, who was pretending to be asleep, saw through the sealed window that the scene outside was moving slowly, which meant that the Neptune was about to leave the port of call.

Soon, the dark deep space and Reach, covered by brilliant aurora, appeared in Rita's field of vision.

Then there was a dark blue vortex channel torn out by the engine device, and the Neptune entered the jump space and headed towards the earth ten light years away.

At this moment, in the entertainment hall and dining room set up above the hull, fantastic lights emerge from the mezzanine space. These twisted and bright lines and lights pour in through the panoramic skylight.

Combined with the green plants, soft lights and soothing music in the cabin, the passengers had a different experience and were in a much happier mood.

Security personnel equipped with pneumatic guns, who are responsible for maintaining order at the scene, will guard the entrances and exits of each area throughout the entire process.

Of course, these are just the security forces on the surface.

In fact, there is also a group of UNSC Marines inside the Neptune, a total of 50 people.

This unit of fully armed formal soldiers is designed to ensure the safety of the cruise ship's passengers.

After all, the passengers on the Neptune were either rich or noble. Most of them were first-class citizens of Earth, or wealthy businessmen and senior politicians from other colonies.

If anything unexpected happened to the Neptune, the pressure that the UNSC and UEG would have to bear would be no less than if they had suffered a defeat.

Once these people become hostages in the hands of the rebels, the UNSC will definitely send people to negotiate. At this time, what they have to pay may be the price of several battleships!
At this moment, Alex had brought Rita and Cage to the dining room. Like other travelers, they were enjoying delicious pastries, cooked food, fresh fruits and other foods in a relaxed and comfortable manner.

At this moment, Rita and Alex both noticed that in the leisure area not far away, several security members were arguing with Marines.

Before Cage could turn his gaze over here, he saw several Marines raising their rifles and firing a volley of bullets.

In an instant, the sound of gunfire rang out, and the security members were shot dead on the spot. Several innocent passers-by were also killed tragically by the soldiers' shooting.

Faced with this sudden change, the passengers present immediately screamed in fear and fled in panic.

But just as they were about to pass through the safe passage and successfully evacuate this dangerous area, they found that the gate at the entrance of the passage had already been occupied by other Marines.

There is a tiger in front and a wolf behind, they can't escape at all!
At this time, one of them, a ruthless man with a scarred face and three white eyes, who looked like a villain, came to the platform with a rifle in hand and shouted:

"Everyone, my name is Sullivan. I am an insignificant little bug. It doesn't matter if you don't know me, but I know all of you dignitaries."

"Listen to me, I know that each of your lives is extremely precious, so I don't want to hurt you, because I have to use your lives to exchange for benefits from those UNSC bastards, understand?"

"As long as you don't cause any trouble, I will ensure your safety, but the prerequisite is that you must be obedient and don't provoke a bad-tempered guy like me, otherwise..."

Sullivan had just finished speaking when he fired a shot directly into the crowd, randomly selecting a "lucky listener" and sending him to see God for free.

Seeing the passenger shot in the head, Sullivan let out a chilling hoarse laugh: "If you don't obey, you will end up like him. Do you understand?"

After Sullivan's tactic of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, the passengers present were so scared that their hands and feet became weak that they could not make the slightest noise.

I was afraid that I would anger this perverted murderer.

Under the coercion of the other Marines, everyone had to squat on the ground obediently, like lambs to be slaughtered.

Alex, Rita and Cage followed suit and squatted on the ground, remaining silent like the surrounding passengers.

The best option is to wait and see until the situation is fully understood.

After all, with their current skills, they can easily deal with this group of insignificant Marines in an instant.

"Why would these UNSC soldiers suddenly kidnap the tourists here? Could it be that the rebels have instigated them to rebel?!"

Alex was secretly guessing the situation at the scene. She looked up at the panoramic sunroof and saw that the bright light outside had long been replaced by the dark deep space.

This meant that the Neptune, the ship they were on, had ended its jump voyage. They had left the jump space and arrived in an unfamiliar galaxy.

And this galaxy is most likely the territory controlled by the rebels!
To verify what he was thinking, Alex took two steps back.

She turned her head as far as she could and saw through the nearby porthole that not far to the side of the Neptune, there was a planet with a barren surface, which was getting closer and closer to them.

It is obvious that an overdeveloped and resource-poor colony like this is the rebel army's sphere of influence, just like a street kid who specifically uses a company's unwanted garbage dump as his base.

These Marines are most likely rebels. All the passengers on this cruise ship have been kidnapped!

(End of this chapter)