Reboot the Galaxy

Chapter 4 Xavier's Chess Game

Li Guangyu strode towards the J-45 and was slowly sucked into its interior under the ship's gravity control.

"Using Xavier to command is quite innovative."

"No matter what, I don't want to be bossed around by machines."

"Then you'd better hope you survive; the intensity of the conflict in Elmendo is no joke."

"Come on, I come here all the time, it's almost like home."

……

People chattered amongst themselves, some carrying guns and slowly walking towards the town, laughing and talking as they went, gradually disappearing into the night. The rest remained where they were, intending to wait for Xavier's instructions.

Di Yan stared intently at the sparsely lit town a kilometer away, his gaze lingering for a long time.

He Xu took the initiative to approach him and start a conversation: "I just met a group of people, and I think you should join them too."

Di Yan shifted her gaze to his face, her eyes turning cold: "Why?"

"They're setting up a 'Yellow Race Alliance'." He Xu took a step forward, seeing Di Yan's bored expression. "It might sound a bit childish, but it's something people from the Japanese area are doing, so that's what it means when you translate it."

"Go ahead, I'm not interested."

"Look around," He Xu gestured, "wouldn't it be a good choice to get to know a group of people and stick together? We come from all over the world, don't know each other, and some of us are dangerous. I think having a team is a good thing, at least we won't be isolated."

Di Yan glanced at He Xu's serious expression, then scanned the others.

As he said, many of them joked and laughed when they talked, and were no different from thugs; nine out of ten of them had been mercenaries.

He spent nearly two years in the mercenary group, experiencing the rough and uncouth culture of the big men, but in the end he was not assimilated. Perhaps he was just not suited to this style.

He nodded in agreement.

He Xu smiled happily, patted Di Yan on the back and began to lead the way to a group of five people. The group was gathered around a large rock, and the lights on the ground dispelled the darkness, as if declaring their ownership of this place.

"Let me introduce you. This is Di Yan, who, like me, is from the Greater China region." He Xu introduced Di Yan to the others.

"Hello, my name is Tomura Naohiko."

A charismatic man with a thick beard approached and shook hands with Di Yan; his English had a slight neon accent.

After shaking hands, Di Yan successfully joined this "Asian Alliance".

There are seven people here, but He Xu said there should be eight. Di Yan knew he was referring to An Zaiyin.

At this moment, Ahn Jae-in is resting in his dormitory due to his injuries, but Heo promised to introduce him to someone else later.

Through their conversation, Di Yan understood that the man named Yuancun Mingyan and another woman with a rather exquisite appearance were husband and wife; her name was Isayama Wasabi.

She rarely spoke, always deliberately keeping herself on the fringes of discussion. Aside from Tomura Naohiko, whenever anyone mentioned her, she would throw a very unfriendly glare at them, sharp as a knife, especially chilling against the backdrop of the lonely lamplight.

Whenever this happened, Norihiko Tomura would step in to smooth things over, and everyone gradually got used to this strange couple.

In addition, the other three are all from various regions of Southeast Asia.

During a break in conversation, Di Yan glanced around. Almost everyone had joined some group, and the lights in the open space were dwindling, most heading towards the town. With each step, the lights flickered in and out of the darkness, like a swarm of fireflies.

After searching for a while, I couldn't find my Western roommate; he had probably already gone ahead.

"Then let's not wait any longer, let's set off now," suggested Norihiko Tomura, putting away the lamp on the ground.

The team marched across the barren, sandy ground, the wind howling in their ears. The town was silent, just like the calm before a storm.

Since the mercenary group disbanded, Di Yan had not participated in any group operations for two years. The feeling of camaraderie among comrades on the battlefield was being rekindled at this moment.

Di Yan listened to the others' enthusiastic conversation with his head down, kicking aside the stones blocking his way, as if kicking away certain thoughts.

About two or three minutes later, a voice suddenly came through the headset. It was Xavier, a calm and resolute middle-aged male voice.

Di Yan frowned slightly, his voice far removed from his usual gentle, feminine tone.

"Hello Di Yan, I am Xavier."

"Hmm." "Hello." "Any instructions?"...

Almost simultaneously, everyone responded to the voices in their earpieces. For a moment, they looked at each other in astonishment, some secretly laughing in the darkness. Di Yan understood what Lieutenant Li Guangyu meant.

"Now you need to adjust your direction and head towards the ten o'clock position until you can clearly see a red building to your right," Xavier said.

Di Yan followed the instructions and moved forward. At this point, he discovered that the people in the "alliance," including He Xu, Yuan Cunming, and Isayama Wasabi, had all changed their direction of travel.

"A red building?" Naohiko Tomura's voice came from the darkness.

"Yes, probably because we were walking together, we received similar instructions," He Xu said.

Not only the "alliance" here, but also the teams ahead received different instructions. The light spots that were originally moving in a straight line toward the town were now divided into many parts, like a fishing net that was gradually spreading out, drifting with the night wind.

The team moved forward quietly, with Di Yan keeping his eyes on the right front. Finally, he spotted the target building with his light.

"Turn off all light sources now and head to the base of the red building," Xavier instructed.

The lights were all switched off at once, and the group quickly moved towards their destination, eventually disappearing into the shadows.

"Please wait here for further instructions."

"How does it feel?" "A novel experience." Two Southeast Asians in the group exchanged glances.

"This technology... I never thought it would actually be militarized," He Xu said quietly, holding his gun.

"Have you had any contact with Mr. He?" asked Norihiko Onmura.

"I had access to related classified information when I worked for the Central Security Bureau. There was a group of scholars doing related research, but..." He Xu stared at the ground, his teeth clenched, "...they're all dead."

"Dead?" Wasabi Isayama asked, a rare occurrence.

"Yes, that was two years ago. I was escorting seven scholars to the military region. As soon as they boarded the plane, there was an explosion, and everyone on board died. These scholars, along with more than two hundred innocent civilians, perished."

Di Yan raised an eyebrow and immediately fixed his eyes on He Xu.

When He Xu spoke of his hatred, his voice became quite rough: "It was this matter that led to my dismissal. I was clearly in charge of the security work, and I investigated everything thoroughly..."

His hand holding the gun began to tremble, and the gun shook, making a series of crisp sounds.

Tomura Naohiko patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, while Isayama Wasabi silently bit her fingers.

Gunshots rang out from the town to the right, sounding about three or four hundred meters away.

"They've started their operation," said Naohiko Tomura, listening intently.

"And what about us?" asked a person from the Vietnamese area.

"We'll wait here." He Xu snapped out of his terrible memories, hugged his gun tightly, and smiled wryly as he gestured with his chin toward Di Yan. "Di Yan, we're both from the same region in China, so let's look out for each other when the fighting starts."

He spoke in Chinese, and his words were very warm and friendly.

"Yes, I will," Di Yan replied curtly.

The roar of passing vehicles echoed down the street ahead as insurgent armored vehicles passed through the intersection and headed towards the combat zone. Many people shouted in the local dialect, and the quiet midnight suddenly became noisy.

As the first group of rebels ran across the street, Xavier's voice came through their earpiece: "Now advance to the street corner, run across the road, and there will be a two-story building with dilapidated doors and windows directly ahead. Go up the stairs to the roof."

The instructions were clear, and everyone quickly got to work.

Once outside the street corner, ahead was the building Xavier had mentioned; it was completely charred, likely having survived a major fire.

On the right were the group of rebels who had just passed by, and on the left, in the distance, one could see figures stirring – that was the second wave of enemies preparing for battle.

After climbing to the rooftops of the dilapidated buildings, Xavier gave another order: "Jump over the gaps and onto the roof of the building on the left. You'll need to do this three times. Go down to the third building, enter the first room on the right on the second floor, open the window, and jump out."

The streets were filled with loud voices, and behind them came the sounds of gunfire and explosions, indicating that the battle had reached a fever pitch.

After passing three buildings and going downstairs, they found a room with the door open on their right. They rushed in, opened the window, and jumped out one by one.

Di Yan grabbed the edge of the windowsill and descended to a height of one body length, then let go and landed freely. With the help of a forward roll to dissipate the force and the protection of his tactical armor, this "quick descent" was carried out very easily.

"Hey! Hide!" Tomura Naohiko said anxiously, shielding Isayama Wasabi with one hand as they hid in the shadows.

Light shone from a window on the first floor of the building, revealing a group of insurgents inside. They were gathered around a table, putting on their gear and talking incoherently.

"It seems Xavier has calculated every route perfectly." He Xu swallowed hard.

"With your back to the wall, head towards the ten o'clock direction. There's a gap between the two buildings. Enter the alley through the gap and climb over an iron gate." Xavier's voice was calm and devoid of emotion.

The group moved forward silently, passing through the dark open space, and found the iron gate at the end of the alleyway between the buildings.

Behind the door is a street, and across the street is a wall covered with graffiti.

The others climbed over the iron gate, while Di Yan, using the moonlight, examined the peeling graffiti on the wall and finally spotted a line of bold white English slogans in the corner:

F**K THE WAR!

When it was Di Yan's turn to climb over the iron gate, the instructions came through his earpiece: "Cross the street, stick to the wall and go to the left, then climb through the window with the others and enter the first building."

The gunfire was getting closer, indicating that the battle lines were also converging on the "Alliance's" side.

As Di Yan crossed the street, he noticed a group of people sneaking along the wall on the right side of the street, turning into the intersection on the other side of the wall. It was probably another infiltration team.

Wasabi Isayama walked at the front of the squad, and when she arrived at the first window as instructed, she fired a shot into the window.

The silenced gunshot was barely audible, and the window shattered instantly. Wasabi Isayama then used the butt of her gun to smash the remaining glass, clearing out a window frame that could be climbed over.

Upon entering the room, Di Yan saw rows of tables and chairs, as well as an electronic blackboard on the wall.

This school has now become a major stronghold for insurgents.

Xavier instructed everyone to wait there.

There were insurgents shouting and running in the corridor, and the sound of vehicle engines could be heard on the playground outside. They had gathered in the open space and were preparing to head to the war zone.

"The pressure from the front is getting bigger and bigger. If we're going to come in and do something, we'd better hurry up." Norihiko Tomura's tone revealed his worry.

"Let's listen to Xavier. Everyone has their own mission," He Xu said.

"I saw a group of people outside, suspected to be friendly forces, who have also infiltrated," Di Yan whispered a reminder.

"Well, I wish them good luck," Wasabi Isayama said coldly.

The school gates outside were flung open with a bang, and several cars carrying rebels drove off, the sounds fading into the distance...

Xavier's voice suddenly came through the headset: "When the battle begins, you need to rush to the main entrance of the building under the cover of your teammates, run out and advance along the building, and then rush to the flower bed in front of you at the corner."

Di Yan gasped, not expecting Xavier to have arranged things in such detail.

Now, Xavier gives Di Yan the feeling of a grandmaster playing chess. He can deduce all situations and is always moving towards victory in the most efficient way, without making a single idle move.

He suddenly felt a sense of terror that made his hair stand on end.

If he were to one day confront the forces possessed by Xavier, he was not confident that he could defeat this intelligent entity.

Just like yesterday, he was identified and arrested at the military base in this inexplicable way.

"What are your tasks?" asked one of the people from the Vietnamese region.

"Cover your teammates' assault." "Strike out and find the flower bed." Two voices came from behind.

The people who needed to go outside were Di Yan, Isayama Wasabi, and Tomura Naohiko, while He Xu and the other three stayed inside the building to provide cover for their teammates outside.

"We won't have a chance to take care of each other for now." He Xu nudged Di Yan's arm.

"It won't make a difference if we do it again," Di Yan replied with a smile.

The sudden gunshot was like food being thrown into a boiling oil pan, which made everyone's spirits jump.

Not far from this building, the sound of grenades exploding could still be heard.

The operation began immediately, with He Xu leading three Southeast Asians to take the lead and kill two nervous figures in the stairwell.

Hearing the muffled groan of someone being shot and the sound of a body falling to the ground, the insurgents immediately became alert, and loud gunfire erupted.

Everyone quickly took cover behind the door to avoid the round of fire. He Xu took out a grenade, pulled the pin, silently counted to two, and threw it out the door. After he threw the grenade, a man from the Thai district threw a smoke grenade.

boom!

The grenade's immense power caused the ceiling to crumble, and the gunfire outside abruptly ceased.

The teammates turned out the door, moved along the wall, and disappeared into the smoke.

The rebels, cursing and swearing, went downstairs and, seeing figures appear in the smoke, opened fire without hesitation.

Four teammates were locked in a stalemate with the rebels, while Di Yan quietly followed the couple out the door.

The three of them moved along the wall, while the entire campus was in complete chaos.

"Two enemies are about to run out of the door at eleven o'clock," Xavier's voice came through.

Di Yan raised his gun and aimed. Sure enough, there were two dark figures at the building entrance in the distance. He calmly pulled the trigger, and the dark figures fell to the ground.

There was a flower bed in front of them. The three of them stood back to back, each monitoring one of the three directions. Once they confirmed that there was no immediate threat, they rushed over and hid behind the fence.

"Under the cover of my teammates, I advanced along the flower bed fence and hid on the side of the steps at the end."

Di Yan did as instructed, but unexpectedly, he ended up back in "lone wolf mode" again.

Hiding behind a half-person-high step, the main entrance of the building is a few meters to the left and front.

"Two people are about to run out of the building."

Di Yan raised his gun and stared at the doorway. He saw a figure flash out, and he tightened his grip on the trigger.

Suddenly, without warning, the two rebels were killed by bullets from an unknown source.

Di Yan's heart tightened; this was clearly an enemy that Xavier had arranged for him.