The Star Knight

The first mission of the Smoke and Sword Mercenary Corps was only [-] credit points, and they had to stay on the planet Musu for seven days. The new star gate has established a perfect node. There are thousands of breeding planets here It belongs to the wasteland area between the stars.

Originally, it would take three cosmic years for the Musu Galaxy to decide its true ownership. At that time, the Republic will make an administrative plan. However, the property owners who bought these planets could not wait any longer and began to send a large number of robots to cultivate them.

It is very cold here, and the temperature difference between day and night is close to the [-]-degree cosmic temperature scale. Most places are desolate, but the land is very fertile, rich in phosphorus, iron and ammonia, and trace elements. The area is planted with osmanthus.

Raymond bargained with the employer, hoping to get some extra rewards for the task, but the employer was very stingy and didn't accept this at all.

"I bought the right to use it for 20 years." The employer yelled, scratching his neck, "It only cost 800 million! You want me [-] at once?!"

Raymond had no choice but to come back depressed, and the two squatted on the edge of the farm, guarding the greenhouse as scarecrows.

The greenhouse covers an area of ​​hundreds of square kilometers, and it takes a car to get from one end to the other.

The gravity coefficient is only [-], and Opal can't help but be eager to try, jumping around in the flower fields, feeling the thrill of flying into the air.

"Hehe——" Opal stretched his legs, jumped five meters between the fields of the greenhouse like a hurdle, and touched the roof of the greenhouse.

"Stop playing!" Raymond said angrily.

The opal bounced around, like an unfettered spring, and disappeared after a while.

At night, when Opal came back with a snot, Lei Meng borrowed a portable atomic furnace from his employer. The two of them built a simple nest and watched the night by the greenhouse. Come, the temperature dropped to more than ten degrees below zero.

"Let's eat." Raymond shared some meat, sprinkled it with sunshine pepper, and poured a small glass of Sagittarius volcanic spirits for Opal.

Opal asked: "How do you work at night?"

Lei Meng sat cross-legged on the ground, and said to himself, "You sleep, I'll be on duty at night."

Opal was eating barbecue, and looked up at the house outside the greenhouse in the distance. The lights inside were bright and yellow, and the owner's family was having dinner—it was a cozy and warm nest.

Opal glanced at Lei Meng, and Lei Meng said, "What?"

Opal waved his hand, aroused an evil curiosity, turned his head sideways, exuded the power of faith, first retreated with one touch, and then secretly peeped into Raymond's thinking.What is Raymond thinking?It doesn't hurt to use a mind reading once in a while.

Opal used very, very little mind reading, not as much as hypnotism. This was the first time he used it seriously. He read Raymond's thoughts and felt a strange wave.It was a few fragments, glowing in the dark, advancing... clearer, clearer.

two moons?The scene in Raymond's mind was a dark blue sky with two moons on it, the ground was gray, and there were many corpses buried on the ground, like a ruin.

Opal couldn't help looking up, and saw three moons in the sky through the greenhouse roof.

Raymond then looked up and said, "The moonlight is beautiful."

Opal hummed, analyzing the scene Raymond was thinking, it should be the place where he stayed in the past.He didn't dare to ask. After a while, what Raymond thought in his mind changed again—it was a warm place, with a fireplace burning inside, just like his employer's home. Raymond was lying on the sofa, Ou Bo sat on the carpet and read a book.

Why?I actually appeared in his mind, Opal was a little funny.

After dinner, Lei Meng packed up his things and said, "Go to sleep first."

The night outside the greenhouse was windy, like a beast howling uncomfortably in the dark. Opal and Raymond leaned against the glowing atomic furnace and dozed off together. Raymond squinted his eyes, and Opal looked at the gemstone in his hand facing the fire in the stove.

"Don't look at it." Raymond said, "Even if it's worth 20 yuan, can you still sell it?"

"That's right." Opal said: "Each regiment has a souvenir. I don't know what Azeroth gave Wrench to their regiment."

Raymond said: "I've heard that some clusters are a cup, and when the twelve star clusters were formed, they got a sword."

Opal said: "Maybe when our regiment grows in the future and recruit more comrades, this gem can also become a family heirloom."

Raymond said, "Forget it, this is enough for now."

Opal put away the gems, shrugged his shoulders, and realized one thing, he had never seen Raymond sleep... or rather, he had never seen him in a deep sleep.

Thoughts spread endlessly, and Opal thought about what Rosen said when he handed the gem to him, and the first commission Azeroth received when he became a quasi-F-rank mercenary.

What is the spirit and feelings of a mercenary?

Money seems to have become a secondary factor, Opal vaguely sensed something, the idea of ​​mercenaries is actually similar to that of star knights, they are busy in the vast universe, apparently to earn the employer's reward, but in fact The moment the commission is completed, besides money, there are more things in return for hard work...

Opal fell asleep in a daze, and felt that Raymond put the coat under his head, told him to lie down, and got up to visit the flower fields.

Raymond was smoking a cigarette, wearing a white vest and mercenary trousers, his boots stepped on the wet flower mud, and a star of red spots loomed in the darkness.The musu flower exuded phosphorous light spots, and Lei Meng laughed while thinking about it, ran a few steps, jumped up silently, leaped several meters, flew to the top of the greenhouse, and touched the ceiling casually.

Opal was snoring, and suddenly suffocated in the quiet night, and felt something approaching from all directions towards the center of the flower field.

He opened his eyes, underground!

"Raymond?" Opal raised his hand and pressed the silver buckle on his ear, and asked.

Raymond landed, stopped, pressed his ears, and said, "What?"

The two were silent for a while, and the voice of Xixisuo gradually became clear, Opal said: "There are enemies!"

Raymond turned around and started to run, Opal grabbed the weapons that the two were leaning against the wall, got up and ran towards Raymond!A roar sounded under the moon, and a giant earthworm-like alien creature suddenly emerged from the ground, spinning and devouring Raymond!

Lei Meng jumped up and passed Opal in mid-air. Opal threw a long-handled axe, and Lei Meng held it. The two of them used their strength to spin and landed at the same time.

Opal: "You support, I block the front!"

Raymond: "I'm a heavy weapon, I'm ahead!"

Opal: "I am a shield-shaped combat force, in front of me!"

Raymond: "Don't be naughty! Come here!"

The two were still fighting for the forward position, and the giant earthworm let out a piercing roar and plunged forward.

"Get out of the way—!"

Raymond pushed Opal away, and the two rushed out diagonally, and the earthworm hit their previous foothold and got into the mud.

Opal said: "Teacher taught! The big sword can attack and defend! You are in charge of supporting!"

Raymond said frantically, "I'll talk about it later! Here we go again—!"

There were two loud bangs, Opal swooped, rolled in the mud, got up, aimed at the raised ground and slashed it with a sword, followed by the sound of sharp teeth rubbing, and a ten-meter-long burrow into the ground The worm convulsed in pain, slapped the ground, and spilled fluorescent-colored mucus. Opal accidentally hit it and was swept away.It was pitch black all around, another man shouted angrily at the entrance of the greenhouse, and the employer came out.

Several light bullets flew back and forth, and Raymond shouted, "Don't shoot!"

There was an explosion, a loud noise, and the sound of the greenhouse shattering. Opal struggled to get up, seeing stars.

Raymond picked up Opal: "It's all right."

The lights in the greenhouse were turned on, and the wind outside was blowing in. Opal saw Raymond's arm being wiped by the light bullet, and it exploded in an instant. He shouted: "Why are you out to join in the fun!"

He rushed over and grabbed his employer by the collar and pushed him to the ground. Raymond looked around and retrieved the axe. The woman screamed, and there was chaos outside the greenhouse.

Raymond said: "Don't hit the employer! Calm down!"

Opal was still furious, pointed at the gun-wielding employer, and said coldly, "Remember it."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The employer's daughter said, "My father didn't do it on purpose... Let me see if he is injured. We have X-ray medical equipment."

The employer's wife came out with a first-aid kit. Raymond waved his hand to indicate that it was okay. He simply bandaged it, took the coat and put it on.Standing in the middle of the flower field with Opal, looking at the tail of an earthworm cut off by an axe.

The nearly two-meter-long worm tail wriggled on the ground, Opal said: "There are no eyes, and the digestive juice is corrosive. This kind of creature should rely on the ground vibration sensor to determine the enemy's position."

Raymond nodded and said, "Find a way to catch this thing."

In the middle of the night, shivering with cold, the two huddled together in the messy flower field.

The next morning, when it was dawn, the workers came out to mend the hole in the greenhouse. The employer’s eyes were red and his face was very ugly. He came out and said, “Your task is over.”

"What?" Opal and Raymond said in unison.

The employer said: "Go back immediately, the commission is over."

Opal frowned and said, "What do you mean?"

Raymond signaled to Opal to take it easy, and said, "What happened last night was something we had to do... We will definitely be able to solve this problem today."

The employer yelled: "I hired you here for food and work! My flower field has been messed up. I haven't caught that thing yet, and the greenhouse is broken like this! I want to complain to your superiors!"

Opal took a deep breath, thought for a while, stared into his eyes, and said, "Are you sure?"

employer:"……"

"Wait." Raymond said, "Let me negotiate."

He took out the mercenary diary and said to the employer: "Sir, you'd better read this first. Regarding the mission rating of this entrustment, it is a 'D'. What does D stand for? It means that you don't need to hire a high-level mercenary group. As long as you spend a small amount of [-] credits, ask two people to watch the night in shifts, and you can leave when the time is up, so in terms of entrusting the principle, you have concealed some facts from the union."

Opal said: "Don't bother with him, let me do it."

"What are you trying to do!" The employer said angrily, "Are you trying to get rich and kill yourself!"

"No, no." Raymond pulled Opal aside, leaned into his ear and whispered, "Go and help them mend the greenhouse."

Opal couldn't believe it: "Why would I do this?"

Raymond said: "Because I am the leader."

Opal: "You'd better think of another reason, the second rule of the mercenary code, don't give in to the power, don't use the identity of the regiment leader to suppress me."

Raymond frowned and said, "Be obedient."

Opal glanced arrogantly at his employer in the distance, casually put the sword back behind his back, and went to repair the greenhouse.

Raymond went back to negotiate with the employer, and Opal climbed up annoyed to help the workers.

Lei Meng said to the employer: "You fired us now, that big guy will come back in a few days, maybe more, you can't help it. And we will report the task details to the trade union after we go back, you see, mercenary diary It's all written on this page. They will send someone to investigate, and finally deduct 50% of your commission as a penalty for breach of contract. From then on, you will be blacklisted by the mercenary capital, and no one will accept it again. Your mission is over, why bother?"

The employer said: "You don't have this ability at all! I..."

"Have this ability." Raymond said: "Last night was purely an accident of incomplete information collection, and you are also responsible. Because you didn't tell us what's going on here. Now that it's clear, we will help you solve it."

"Look." Lei Meng said again: "My people have already repaired your greenhouse. You can think about it for yourself, whether to fire us now, put us on the blacklist of the mercenary country, or continue to cooperate."

The employer glanced at the Opal in the distance, and went home resentfully.

Opal turned out of the greenhouse from the ladder, the sun came out, the ground was very warm, and the temperature in the greenhouse rose a lot.He looked at the wasteland in the distance with a thoughtful expression.

When Lei Meng came over, the two exchanged glances, and they understood each other.

"What are you thinking?" Raymond asked.

Opal replied: "You can use the terrain outside to lay a trap."

Raymond said: "I want to dig a hole along the area where it drilled out yesterday."

Opal: "Oh, please forgive me, I really don't want to drill holes anymore."

Raymond laughed and said, "Then you have the final say."

Opal carried the big sword, looked around, and said, "I need a lasso, like the one used by the little green people on Kodo to control giant bulls and beasts...what's it called?"

Raymond asked confused: "What?"

Opal drew a rope shape on the ground, and in the following time, the two began to work hard, using the long rope left over from the tent to tie a noose.Time passed slowly, and this time the giant earth borer did not appear again.

Raymond asked, "Where did you learn this?"

Opal said: "The teacher taught me. He taught me in the past. When dealing with a large dangerous creature without intelligence, you can try to weaken its combat power from the aspects of control, fighting, and trapping, and finally end the battle with one blow."

Raymond nodded, and Opal said, "Where did you learn to negotiate with people?"

Raymond knotted the rope without raising his head, and his fingers unscrewed the steel bars with such great strength that even Opal couldn't match him.

"If it is said that it is innate, do you believe it?" Raymond said.

"But the first time I saw you." Opal said a little confused: "You are not what you are now."

Raymond said: "That's because I'm too unfamiliar with the environment, so I should be more careful. I don't know whether the people around me are benevolent or malicious. Some planets are very dangerous."

He looked up at Opal and smiled. Opal looked at his handsome eyebrows and found that compared to the first time they met, the guarded look in Raymond's eyes was gone, replaced by a familiar look.

It was as if he had seen it in Rector's eyes.

Raymond said: "I didn't like dealing with people before..."

Opal asked, "What about now?"

Raymond said: "It's okay, make do."

Both of them laughed, and the girl's voice behind them said, "Two gentlemen."

Lei Meng turned his head, his smile was handsome and full of sunshine, the girl was startled, handed them a basket full of food, and said with a smile: "I'm very sorry about my father's matter."

Opal waved his hand and said, "It's okay."

Raymond said: "We didn't take it to heart."

Opal's lasso was ready, he got up to try it, rushed forward a few steps and ran out of the plain, leaped high into the sky in the sun with a yo-ha sound, and when he turned around, he flung the steel rope smartly, shaking out a shining rope trace.It fell up and down, then flipped sideways on the ground, bouncing back and forth like a juggler.

Raymond laughed and sat down by the greenhouse.

The employer's daughter hugged her knees, arranged her skirt and sat beside him, chatted with him with a smile, and didn't go home until her father rushed out to find someone.

"Do you want to marry her?" Opal rolled up the tightrope and asked back.

"Maybe." Raymond put a musu berry into his mouth, looked at him provocatively, and the juice splashed: "Why do you always care about this?"

Opal picked up a few berries at random, and suddenly stuffed them into Raymond's mouth with all his might, and the two laughed and shoved and played like big children.

They pulled intricate threads in the greenhouse, like a cobweb hanging over a flower field.

The sixth day passed, everything was uneventful, the flower fields were repaired, and the earthworms did not appear again.Opal and Raymond were sitting in the corner of the greenhouse, Opal was holding a big sword, Raymond had one leg bent, with a long-handled ax upside down on his shoulder, dozing in the dim light of the new moon.

"Maybe it won't come again," Raymond said.

Opal said, "Wait, be patient."

Raymond: "I can't imagine that an impulsive person like you will be patient."

Opal: "I have always been very patient with battles, only with people."

Raymond nodded, and Opal said, "Brother, what did you do before?"

Raymond remained silent, and Opal said casually, "It's okay if you don't want to say it, I'm just curious."

During the conversation, Opal did a very cheap thing. While saying that it doesn't matter, he released his mental power and secretly read Raymond's thoughts.

At the same time, in Opal's heart, he was still apologizing to his poor master Rector who taught him this skill but never used it where it should be used.

He read the same scene again—two moons, a deserted factory on an abandoned planet, and corpses strewn across the ground.

The faces of the corpses were all Raymond's. One Raymond was standing, and hundreds of his corpses were scattered around his feet, which looked like a big pit for burying corpses.

nightmare?Opal narrowed his eyes, trying his best to explore Raymond's spiritual world through his thinking activities.What does this mean?He remembered what Rector once said, the self in the soul has died, and after destroying countless selves, a new life is ushered in...

"You'll find out later," Raymond said.

The scene Opal read changed again, back to the trade union in the country of mercenaries, that was Raymond's perspective - Opal stood in the noisy hall, pulled his shoulders, and said something to him .

Opal began to recall what he said at that time, "I have a spaceship"?

"Opal." Raymond said, "Did you hear that?"

There was a faint tremor on the ground, very weak, but they felt it at the same time. Opal immediately grabbed the lasso and signaled Raymond to do it. The rope net at the top of the greenhouse, bouncing from rope to rope.

Opal pressed the light switch, and the whole greenhouse lit up.

The underground vibrations kept approaching, and Opal ran towards the center of the flower field at a fast pace. Every step he stepped on was thick and heavy. He ran at high speed with a big sword on his back until the giant earthworm got out of the mud!

The roar sounded in the quiet night, the burrower rushed out of the ground and hit the rope net, Opal shouted: "Be careful!"

The rope net was turbulent, and Raymond almost fell down. Opal avoided the pipe-shaped mouth that fell on his head, and rolled to avoid it at the nick of time. Lei Meng chased after the rope net above his head. He hooked the rope firmly and twisted it, and swung the noose in a circle in the air.

The arc flew away, caught the head of the giant earthworm, and the mouthparts full of fangs were immediately bound tightly.Earthworms rolled all over the ground, crushing five or six flower stands sideways, and Lei Meng said, "It's your turn!"

Opal was thrown to pieces, the alloy rope in front of him flashed by, and he subconsciously stretched out his hand to grab it. In an instant, he was taken into the air, and the giant earthworms ran around chaotically, and finally smashed through the greenhouse. Transparent debris flew across the sky and rushed out of the greenhouse!

Opal roared: "Hurry up! This thing is harder to catch than imagined!"

Opal shielded his face with his left hand, bowed to avoid the oncoming debris and flower mud, and was taken out of the greenhouse like an arrow, and in mid-air, he grabbed the alloy cable with his backhand and shouted: "Where do you want to run! "Then he kicked the head of the giant earthworm.

The roar was hysterical, and the giant earthworm twitched and rolled, rushing left and right on the plain, arching its whole body, rolling, trying to throw the opal off, like a crazy beast. Trapped, neither can swallow soil and dig holes, nor can it spray out digestive juices to hurt the enemy.

Before long, Raymond chased out of the greenhouse. His mechanical long-handled ax glowed golden in the moonlight, drew an arc, and slashed fiercely towards the ground.

When Opal lifted the reins, the giant earthworm turned a corner, and its tail was cut in two by Raymond.

"Good job—!" Opal roared.

The giant earthworm went crazy in an instant, and digestive juices sprayed out from the break, Lei Meng and Opal shouted at the same time: "Be careful!"

It dragged fluorescent green acid and spilled it all the way. Every time Opal lifted the rein, a green acid trail was spilled. Raymond avoided the acid and swung the long-handled ax with one hand.

The nearly two-meter-long mechanical weapon shone with lightning, and the long handle gracefully circled around his fingers before chopping it down again.

Retreating with one blow, Lei Meng dragged the ax with both hands to avoid it, and the earth borer spasmed in pain in the acid, rampaging all the way, rushing out of the wasteland blindly, and the two axes had chopped off nearly five meters in length.

"Chop...small pieces...do it!" Opal shouted while being jolted, grabbed the rein tightly, and kicked it again.

The worm rushed farther and farther, and bumped into the wireless tower on the edge of the farm. With a bang, Opal was hit on the head with a big bump, and was carried away in the clouds and mist. The man held up the mechanical ax in mid-air, and amidst the roar was another fierce axe!

That cut off another half of the length of the earth-boring worm, and the remaining two or three meters of head was completely exhausted. Opal drew out the big sword behind his back, jumped back with a sword, and nailed the remaining head to the ground.

At that moment, the earth borer's bare hair let out a terrifying roar, which lasted for five seconds, spurted out countless digestive acids, and collapsed like a rag bag.

Opal touched the big bag on his head, leaned on the iron tower to pant, was spun around, and vomited out.

"Good job." Raymond said, "I wish you a long life—"

Opal clenched his fist and touched him, then turned to look at the greenhouse, which was full of mess again.

The next day, the employer was going crazy. Opal collected the neat four pieces of earthworm carcasses, [-] meters, [-] meters, [-] meters, and [-] meters. They were neatly chopped into four pieces by Raymond's ax and placed in front of the greenhouse.

"This skin can be given to you." Raymond said.

The employer yelled petulantly, "What good do I want this!"

"Don't be like this, buddy." Opal said regretfully, "Kindness makes money, right? Come, sign the bill with your fingerprints."

Raymond said: "You just entrusted us to drive away or kill all the local creatures that invaded the greenhouse, but you didn't ask us to keep the greenhouse as it is."

The employer stared at them viciously and said, "Just wait and see!"

Opal smiled and said, "Pretty."

Raymond smiled modestly, closed the mercenary diary, and returned to the spaceship with Opal to hand over the mission.

However, when they returned to the union, neither of them could laugh.

"How many times have I told you not to offend the employer—!" The union clerk said, "Otherwise, points will be deducted! Points will be deducted!! We have already been complained! You are simply a disgrace to Sunshine City—!"

Opal yelled: "Please figure it out!! There is something wrong with this commission..."

The clerk said: "Since there is a problem, why don't you apply for institutional arbitration first..."

Opal roared: "I was frozen in that damn place for six days and six nights! I almost died in the belly of a coelenterate..."

Clerk: "It's none of our business! Points deducted!"