Chapter 6: Secrets of the Federation

The deck of the Wind Ship was not particularly small, but under the rapid movements of Akafir and Humat, the space of several dozen square meters indeed felt rather cramped. However, this was an advantage for Akafir. In a confined space, his agility could be fully utilized, while Humat was the opposite. Humat, who had initially been confident in his speed, now realized in shock that Akafir was faster and more agile than him—a severe psychological blow.

Frankly, if not for the extremely sharp weapon Humat currently wielded, Akafir would have already closed in to attack. However, even with such an advantage, the feeling-out phase between the two gradually faded, and the true confrontation of all-out attack was about to unfold before everyone’s eyes.

Perhaps noticing Humat’s agitation, Akafir was in no hurry to attack, instead waiting for a more opportune moment.

Humat, on the other hand, resembled a frenzied beast, constantly turning his body in an attempt to locate Akafir. Yet his efforts were in vain. Each time he spotted Akafir’s position and lunged forward, Akafir had already shifted his stance and moved away, leaving even the afterimage of his high-speed movement beyond Humat’s reach.

“Nice work!” Mels, watching the battle from the side, couldn’t help but exclaim excitedly, while Sha Luo and the others were now convinced that Akafir’s victory was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, unexpected situations often arise just when people are filled with confidence in victory.

After nearly ten minutes of high-speed movement, Humat began to show signs of fatigue, with large drops of sweat appearing on his youthful face. Seeing this, Akafir naturally wouldn’t let go of the best opportunity to attack. Having waited so long, he finally saw the hope of a decisive victory.

In an instant, the black iron sword no longer followed Akafir’s body but instead moved with the young man’s arm, thrusting straight toward Humat’s back.

Given Humat’s current speed, Akafir knew he couldn’t possibly dodge this thrust, so he held nothing back in his strength, charging forward as if in a do-or-die charge.

In that flash, the black longsword in Akafir’s hand accurately struck Humat’s back. However, the thrust stopped right there. Apart from the impact force from the sword pushing Humat’s body forward by about a meter, the blade simply couldn’t penetrate the enemy’s body!

“Is he wearing protective armor?” Mels and the others cried out simultaneously at the astonishing sight before them.

Perhaps they hadn’t considered that what Humat wore was merely the standard equipment of these mysterious warriors. This attire offered no resistance against beam weapons but was more than sufficient against ordinary iron weapons.

Having failed in his strike, Akafir should have had a chance to retreat calmly. Yet at that very moment, Humat, who had seemed seemingly exhausted, suddenly revived with fierce determination, thrusting his sword toward Akafir’s chest. Having already exhausted his strength in the previous attack, Akafir couldn’t perform any effective dodge now. He could only leap backward, attempting to avoid the beam weapon’s attack.

Akafir’s speed was indeed swift, but he was still a fraction too slow. The Beam Sword could already slice through his clothing, and Humat, determined to succeed, somehow lengthened the beam blade momentarily. At this point, Akafir could no longer dodge. He could only twist his body slightly to divert the terrifying orange-red beam away from his vital chest area, allowing it to strike his arm instead.

A searing pain quickly spread from Akafir’s arm, making him realize he had been wounded by the enemy’s attack.

Only now had Humat’s tactics finally succeeded. Although still some distance from his plan to completely defeat Akafir, the battle situation began to shift, and the balance of the fight seemed to tilt in his favor.

*This is bad. Once Akafir is injured, he’ll quickly lose his fighting ability!* Mels thought anxiously to himself.

From numerous past battles, Mels had deeply felt that an uninjured Akafir possessed formidable combat strength. However, once wounded, his poor durability would be exposed, often causing him to lose fighting capacity quickly. Therefore, seeing Akafir struck by the opponent’s beam sword deepened Mels’s concern.

Yet Akafir now surprised Mels. After being hit by Humat’s beam sword, he didn’t panic and retreat in pure evasion. Instead, after steadying himself and adjusting his composure, he suddenly launched into an even faster speed than before, dashing behind Humat and thrusting another sword strike at the enemy’s head.

Although this strike’s speed and power couldn’t compare to the previous one, it still left Humat ashen-faced, forcing him to dodge desperately.

The advantage Humat had painstakingly gained vanished once again with Akafir’s attack, and the upper hand returned to Akafir.

“Akafir, you’ve truly impressed me! You must have been through a lot over these past six months,” Mels said, moved by Akafir’s resilient comeback despite his injury.

Indeed, as Mels said, after returning to the Seven Immortals of Myriad Changes, Akafir had requested intensified training in withstanding blows. Over the past six months, the scars left from training alone numbered in the hundreds on his body.

On the other side, Mika, seeing Humat lose the initiative and even fall into danger, frowned and called out, “Humat, you’ve already lost. Continuing to fight will only lead to your dying far from home. Return!”

Humat had been struggling under Akafir’s attacks, but with his commander watching, he couldn’t be the first to admit defeat. Hearing Mika’s call, Humat hesitated no longer. He immediately swung his beam sword to keep Akafir at bay and then rushed toward Mika’s side.

Without the beam sword, Akafir might have been able to restrain Humat, but in reality, the weapon in Humat’s hand remained a significant threat. Thus, Akafir could only watch helplessly as Humat retreated, with no means to stop him.

“Akafir, come back. You did brilliantly. Go get that wound looked at,” Mels said with a smile to his comrade.

“Boss, I’m fine. His weapon is powerful, but after it cuts, it feels like being burned. The wound is just charred and doesn’t bleed. I think it should be okay,” Akafir replied, walking toward Mels with a smile.

On the other side, Humat stood blankly beside Mika, as if awaiting instructions. Mika spoke coldly to him, “You gave your all in this battle. The enemy’s strength surpassed yours, so you need not feel ashamed. Without defeat, there can be no victory. I hope you understand.

As for wanting to use a Summoned Beast, that depends on the situation. And I believe their summoned creatures are no ordinary beings either, so we must not act impulsively. For now, stand here and watch carefully. Observing battles is also a form of training.”

After speaking to Humat, Mika stepped forward and addressed Mels, “The previous battle was truly impressive. I greatly admire your companion’s martial skills. Now, I have a proposal. Would you be willing to hear it?”

“This battle was initiated by you. Since you wish to stop, I naturally have no objections. I’m listening,” Mels replied, seeing that the other side had lost interest in continuing the fight and thus taking the chance to temporarily cease hostilities.

“Very well. I’ve carefully considered what you said earlier and realized there might be some misunderstanding between us. Please tell me truthfully, what is the relationship between you and Divak? Are you friends or enemies?” Mika asked.

Hearing Mika’s question, Mels hesitated slightly, pondering why he would ask this. *Could they really not be Federation warriors? Or do they have some conflict of interest with Divak? No, if they were allied with Divak, they wouldn’t need to ask about our relationship—they could simply ask Divak directly!*

Once Mels grasped the underlying nuance, his spirits lifted, and he declared loudly, “Divak and we are mortal enemies. He killed someone I deeply respected. So, my sole purpose in going to the Federation is to kill Divak!”

“Just as I thought!” Upon hearing Mels’s answer, Mika’s expression softened. He continued, “If what you say is true, then there is no conflict of interest between us at all. In fact, we could be considered friends rather than enemies, because we share a common foe! If you’re willing, would you come to our submarine for a talk?”

“Boss, don’t believe him. He’s trying to set you up,” Sol interjected, running out from the control room just as Mels was about to reply.

In Sol’s eyes, all mysterious humans were embodiments of evil, and dealing with them was like bargaining with a tiger.

“Sol, stay here. If they wanted to kill us, they wouldn’t need to go through all this trouble. They could simply attack us with their metal machines, and we’d have no way to fight back,” Mels analyzed clearly.

Hearing Mels’s words, Mika already knew his decision. He turned and walked back to the entrance of the metal cylinder, saying to Mels, “Since you trust us, please come with us to the submarine.”

Nodding slightly to Mika, Mels turned to give a few instructions to Sol and the others before following Mika into the metal cylinder. After the three entered one after another, the metal door at the cylinder’s tip slowly closed, and it retracted into the sea, disappearing without a trace, leaving only the deeply worried Sol and the other three on the Wind Ship.

Inside the metal cylinder, Mels now sat with Mika and the others in a cramped space. As the door gradually closed and a soft red light filled the area, a voice came from the walls: “Pressure chamber check complete. Retrieval operation commencing.” A slight tremor followed, and Mels knew the metal cylinder had detached from the Wind Ship.

“This is the passage we use when our submarine makes contact with the surface. It’s a machine driven by something we call electricity,” Mika explained with a smile, seeing Mels’s confusion.

“Submarine? Is it the machine that captured our Wind Ship?” Mels asked doubtfully.

“You could say that. Actually, a submarine is a completely sealed external vessel that carries people inside and can move freely underwater. Its main purpose is to conceal one’s whereabouts. Capturing other ships is just one of its functions. I’ll have our science officer explain these details to you,” Mika seemed quite willing to share his secrets with Mels.

“It’s truly remarkable. Even if we want to fly in the sky, we must rely on magic. As for swimming underwater like fish, that’s simply unimaginable,” Mels said sincerely to Mika.

“Well, we’ve merely inherited the technological heritage of our predecessors. These things aren’t something one or two people could create,” Mika replied with a smile.

Just as his words ended, another announcement came from the surroundings: “Vessel docking complete. Commencing decompression.”

Shortly after the voice ceased, the metal door opened again. This time, Mels felt as if he had entered another world—everything around him was so unfamiliar.

Following Mika out, Mels saw eight men dressed similarly to Humat standing at the entrance, welcoming Mika’s return. These men stared in astonishment at Mels’s appearance, seemingly surprised that a surface-dweller could enter the vessel. After giving them some brief instructions, Mika led the way into the submarine’s interior, ready for the so-called “negotiations” with Mels.

The passageway wasn’t wide—in fact, it was quite narrow—but this confined space was lined with various colorful glass lamps. Dozens of men in identical uniforms worked intently before these lamps, not even pausing as Mika passed by.

After passing through about three narrow metal doors, Mika brought Mels to a cabin measuring only a few square meters. Once they were seated, Mika personally served Mels a drink and said, “The submarine is rather cramped. Please don’t mind.”

“It’s fine. Being able to see such marvelous things is more valuable than any hospitality,” Mels replied politely.

“Well then, I’ll get straight to the point. I’d like to know how much you understand about the Federation. You must realize that with your current equipment, even if you breach the blockade zone, you absolutely cannot land on Federation territory!” Mika stated.

“I don’t know much about the Federation, but I believe if we can get close, we’ll be able to land. After all, the navigational chart we’re relying on for this journey was given to us by Divak. Since he wants us to reach the Federation, it makes no sense for him to have us fail.

On the contrary, I’m very interested in your identity. Why do you say Divak is your enemy? Aren’t you a Federation warrior?” Mels evaded the key point, addressing Mika.

Hearing Mels’s response and question, Mika realized he still hadn’t gained Mels’s trust. After a moment’s thought, he finally decided to explain everything to Mels: “Sigh, actually, even if I hide this, you’ll find out once you reach the Federation. It’s better I tell you now, so you can trust me more.

We were indeed once Federation warriors, but not anymore. It’s not personal ambition that made us rebel against the Federation, but strong disapproval of some of their actions. As the saying goes, ‘Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together.’ The Federation wants to completely occupy this planet with high technology, while we want to use high technology to reclaim our own planet. Within the Federation, the Council of Elders suppresses all opposing voices, so we had no choice but to rebel, using force to resist. That’s the origin of the Free Army.”

“What? You said ‘reclaim your own planet’? Aren’t you from this planet?” Mels asked in shock.

“No. Not only us, but you aren’t from this planet either!” Mika stated gravely to Mels.

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand at all,” Mels asked hesitantly.

"I will tell you everything you don't know, but you must promise never to speak of these things to any land-dweller!" Mika stared intently at Mels.

Only after confirming Mels's solemn promise did Mika continue: "Over ten thousand years ago, our ancestors lived on a distant planet, where we already possessed a highly advanced technological civilization. However, on that planet, there existed another nation of the same race but with different beliefs. In the face of their powerful military technology, our forces were completely destroyed, and our nation collapsed overnight. The culprit behind our destruction was the Summoned Beasts.

To prevent our people from being enslaved, the scientists of that time used technology to create spacecraft capable of interstellar travel, relying on them to lead the surviving humans to this planet.

After centuries of construction, once we had made this world suitable for our life, many scientists began researching Summoned Beasts, hoping to create even more powerful ones so that we could return to our original planet and force those evil humans to return the land that belonged to us.

Unfortunately, the progress of Summoned Beast research did not go as smoothly as we imagined. To control a Summoned Beast, a person had to undergo extremely rigorous training, and given our already small numbers, it was impossible to assemble an army large enough to reclaim our land. Thus, the scientists conceived a new and bold idea: to create a new type of human, born with powerful Summoned Beasts, and use their strength to conquer the hostile humans. These new humans are you.

After over a thousand years of continuous research, the new humans finally appeared and reached maturity. To test their abilities, the scientists exiled these new humans to a separate continent and created powerful demonic beasts to test their survival and combat capabilities.

Initially, during the cultivation process, the scientists could completely control every action of these new humans. But as time passed, these created humans developed independent thinking and reproductive abilities. This came as a great shock to the scientists.

However, events soon spiraled out of their control. As the thinking of these new humans continued to evolve, they became unwilling to accept the scientists' control, eventually leading to a massive uprising. To quell this rebellion, countless new humans and our warriors fell in the war, and the Mafa continent was finally completely controlled by the new humans.

Realizing they could no longer control the new humans, the scientists ultimately found no solution. Thus, we were forced to completely withdraw from the Mafa continent and move to what is now the Federation.

For some unknown reason, all records about us completely disappeared from the Mafa continent. Therefore, you no longer knew of our existence, and we could only observe you from above or by infiltrating your societies. After all, you, who possess Summoned Beasts, are far more powerful than us, and we could not withstand another major war.

This situation persisted for thousands of years until, in the last century, the Federation's scientists finally created a weapon more powerful than Summoned Beasts: the Heavenly Sword System! This weapon can instantly generate and compress neutrons from the atmosphere to produce immense power. To give you an idea of its power, a single attack is enough to destroy an entire continental province!

The Federation's Council of Elders hopes to use this weapon to eliminate all new humans and create entirely new combat weapons. However, at this point, many mid-level Federation commanders realized this would be a massacre. After all, you are no longer biological weapons but flesh-and-blood humans. Thus, many began opposing the Federation's plan, leading to suppression.

To resist the Federation, we recruited like-minded comrades and formed the Free Army. Divak, as one of the Federation's top ten generals, is naturally our sworn enemy!"

Hearing Mika's words, Mels was completely stunned by the content of the conversation. Although he had long suspected these mysterious people must have some connection to him, he never imagined they were the legendary "gods"!

Now, Mels finally understood why the mysterious people called them experimental subjects and why their technology was so advanced.

Seeing Mels's shocked expression, Mika remained silent for a moment before saying: "I know what I've told you must be a great shock, but it is all true. Although we are called rebels, we actually have little confidence in thwarting the Federation's plans. You must understand, the Federation's military strength is a hundred times greater than ours, and we still do not understand the technology behind the Heavenly Sword.

Also, pardon my frankness, but most Federation citizens view you as walking, talking weapons. They would never evaluate you as equals. So, if you insist on going to the Federation, I believe the risks far outweigh the benefits."

"Uncle Mika, I want to know, since the Federation possesses such a powerful weapon, why haven't they destroyed us immediately? Why wait all these years? Are they lacking something?" Mels asked cautiously after regaining his composure.

"Yes. Although we don't understand exactly how the Heavenly Sword System operates, we know it requires a very rare mineral as its power source. This mineral happens to be found only on the Mafa continent. Therefore, just collecting this ore has taken many years.

Moreover, the Heavenly Sword System was recently tested on an offshore island, which used up a great deal of its energy, so replenishing it will likely take some time. Additionally, it's said there are things on the Mafa continent that the Federation's Council of Elders desires. It's precisely because of these things that they have been reluctant to attack the continent." Mika explained all this to Mels.

After listening to Mika, Mels was lost in thought for a moment, seemingly considering how credible Mika's words were. Seeing Mels lost in thought, Mika suddenly stood up and extended his hand to Mels: "I know you are very different from other land-dwellers, so I sincerely hope you will give up this risky voyage and join our Free Army.

I believe that with our strength, given the right opportunity, we can save the entire Mafa continent. Moreover, you can learn scientific knowledge here."

Mika's proposal was indeed very tempting, but Mels replied without even considering it: "Uncle Mika, thank you for your kindness, but I must still see the truth with my own eyes. This doesn't mean I doubt your words, but I wish to use my status and my very life to state our case to the Federation Council of Elders and to Divak. As long as I can pursue what I hope to achieve, even if I fail, even if I die, I will have no regrets."

Seeing the determination in Mels's eyes, Mika felt disappointed but knew this young man could not be swayed by mere words.

After a moment, Mika slowly left his seat, opened a small drawer by the table, and took out a fingernail-sized pendant, handing it to Mels: "Since you have made up your mind, I have no reason to stop you. But remember, the path ahead is exceptionally perilous. When it truly becomes impossible, you must know when to turn back.

This is our Free Army's contact signal. If you encounter other Free Army patrols, or if you are fortunate enough to enter the Federation and face danger, use it to find our comrades. I believe that when you use it, any Free Army comrade will come to your aid."

Taking the pendant from Mika with both hands, Mels was deeply moved. He then said gratefully: "Thank you. It's getting late; I should return to my ship, or my companions will be worried. Please escort me out."

Nodging gently to Mels, Mika once again led him out of the submarine.

Shortly after Mels stepped onto the Wind Ship, the four metal tentacles that had captured it quickly released their grip. Sol and the others were naturally overjoyed at Mels's return, gathering around him and eagerly asking what Mika had discussed with him.

Mels naturally only shared some unimportant topics, avoiding the main points. Although Mels did not want to deceive Sol and the others, he feared their unnecessary worry even more. Therefore, until he confirmed the truth of the matter, he preferred to keep everything hidden.

Mika indeed kept his promise with Mels. After the metal tube disappeared from the sea surface, under the watchful eyes of Mels and his companions, the massive metal submarine soon vanished into the vast ocean without causing any further trouble for Mels.

After parting ways with the metal submarine, the Wind Ship once again sped toward its target, the Divine Barrier. However, this time, Mels carried a greater purpose in his heart: he would risk his life for all the humans of the Mafa continent.