Chapter 1678: Failed Plan

Chapter 1678: Chapter 1678: Failed Plan

Alliance Main Star, Nami Star.

A Chinese-style small building.

A house robot is shuttling in the living room, cleaning the dust in the room.

An elderly man with silver hair looks at the hardworking house robot, like a busy bee, a trace of helplessness appearing on his aged face: "Little Hua, stop, you’ve done so much work today, don’t tire yourself out, remember to balance work and rest."

The robot Little Hua immediately stops, looks at the Old Marshal, and says seriously: "Marshal, I must correct you again, as a house robot, cleaning is one of my duties. As long as there is dust in the house, I must clean it immediately. Besides, my body structure does not have the human five senses system, so I cannot feel tired."

He Chuan hears this, feeling a bit helpless, looks at this stubborn robot with the same loving eyes as if looking at his own child, and says: "Why are you still using Zhenzhen’s words? That kid is not good at studies and doesn’t have much insight, don’t learn from him."

The robot Little Hua says: "Marshal, He Zhen has already made rapid progress, achieving third in the grade this semester. You should not look at him with old eyes."

"Oh~" He Chuan exclaims in surprise: "When did the results come out? How come I didn’t know?"

The electronic voice of the robot Little Hua carries a hint of human-like helplessness, it spreads its hands, and says: "Marshal, your memory has failed again, this happened on the 12th of this month, when He Zhen’s exam results came out, he called you first to announce the good news, you even praised him then with ’good child,’ and He Zhen was very happy, vowing to work harder."

"Oh—" He Chuan suddenly understands, raising his hand to tap his somewhat stiff head lightly, and laughs: "I remember now, that indeed happened."

The robot Little Hua asks: "Marshal, do you want me to arrange a full-body check-up for you now?"

"No need." He Chuan immediately waves his hand and says: "My memory is just fine."

The robot Little Hua says: "Okay, if the Marshal has other orders, please feel free to give me commands."

The intelligence of this robot in the Marshal Mansion is not high, roughly only the intelligence of a 3-year-old child, and it does not act on its own initiative, only follows orders to act.

Because this robot is already a product from 300 years ago, having served in the He Family Mansion for many years, accompanying the Old Marshal for a long time, He Chuan is nostalgic and does not want to replace it.

Moreover, with He Chuan’s declining health in recent years, he has transferred most of his official duties, rarely appearing in public unless necessary, and he himself enjoys peace and has moved back to the He Family Mansion under the guise of recuperating, canceling all unnecessary meetings.

Being a recluse.

And, the entire He Family Mansion has only this one person and one robot.

At this time—

After a simple conversation with the robot Little Hua, He Chuan soon falls asleep.

The robot Little Hua immediately gets up, gently covering He Chuan with a light blanket.

The Marshal Mansion returns to silence.

Suddenly, He Chuan wakes up again, glances at the time, finds that only half an hour has passed, and he immediately removes the light blanket on him, proceeding to handle a few official duties that he must personally oversee.

In the study, time flows quietly.

Suddenly—

The light computer on He Chuan’s body flashes, he lowers his head to look, his gaze slightly sharpens, and his body subconsciously pauses, then a rare trace of tension appears on He Chuan’s aged face, but only for a moment, his expression soon returns to its usual calm.

The next second.

He Chuan connects the communication. Immediately, the light computer screen displays a face that is not young but very handsome and sharp-tempered, that is the Commander of the Alliance Second Legion, Shi Cang.

Endless starry sky is behind Shi Cang.

"Marshal." Shi Cang solemnly salutes He Chuan with a standard warrior salute.

"Admiral Shi." He Chuan raises his head, looks at Shi Cang, and asks: "How’s the situation?"

Shi Cang falls silent for a moment, then replies: "We failed."

Upon hearing this, He Chuan’s hand resting on the desk trembles slightly, but there is no change in his facial expression, he just remains silent for a moment.

Neither of them speaks.

The atmosphere is heavy.

After a while, He Chuan’s tone carries a hint of wistfulness, saying: "It’s okay, that was a result we were mentally prepared for."

Then, He Chuan asks calmly: "What about the casualties of our warriors?"

Sadness briefly appears on Shi Cang’s strong, handsome face but he quickly hides his emotions, solemnly answering: "105 dead, 410 injured."

He Chuan hears this, closes his eyes slightly, pauses for a moment before opening them again, saying: "Take care of the families of the sacrificed warriors, and treat the injured with all efforts."

Shi Cang says: "Understood. Arrangements have already been made."

He Chuan nods: "Hmm."

Silence.

Shi Cang looks at the old marshal’s thin and frail body, a trace of worry in his eyes, then, with some hesitation, he still speaks: "Marshal, we’ve paid such a huge price, consumed 10 level-12 Crystal Cores, and yet we can’t keep that Space Rift, is this method not viable?"

He Chuan shakes his head, just a slight shake but looks very laborious, which in Shi Cang’s eyes increases his internal worry: "Marshal, you should spend more time resting."

"When I retire completely, won’t there be plenty of time to rest?" When He Chuan says this, there’s actual a hint of humor in his tone.

But!

Upon hearing this, Shi Cang’s hidden concerns deepen, looking at the old marshal with a face full of unsaid words.

He Chuan seems not to see Shi Cang’s worry, pauses for a bit and continues: "The Space Rift can definitely be artificially controlled to open and close, it’s just that our power is too small, and we temporarily can’t grasp its patterns and methods."

Saying this, He Chuan’s tone carries thick sadness, sighing lowly, says: "It’s just unfortunate that because of my request, so many warriors have sacrificed."

Shi Cang listens, feeling heavy-hearted, purses his lips, and says: "Pioneering certainly requires sacrifice, everyone chose to carry out this mission with life and death taken lightly."

This time at the opening of the Space Rift, Shi Cang, as the Commander of the Alliance Second Star System’s Second Legion, followed Marshal He Chuan’s order to go to the opening of the Space Rift to pave the way for the students and the expeditionary fleet who were about to explore inside. Later, according to the established plan, 10 starships carried out the plan to prevent the Space Rift from closing, but—

The plan still failed.

The Space Rift closed within the specified time, and at that time, a sudden space overlap crisis also occurred, resulting in the sacrifice of 105 elite Alliance soldiers.

These were Shi Cang’s subordinates, and Shi Cang was extremely heavy-hearted. However, he does not blame Marshal He Chuan’s decision.

Such a bold plan was the first for humanity, also a kind of trial, a kind of exploring...

Unfortunately, it failed.