IMAO Chapter 94

In just a few seconds, the peace of North Rio shattered, plunging all of North Mali into a sea of flames.

Patients rushed out of the hospital. No one had the time to pay attention to Envy who came from the slums and who was moving against the crowd. Envy hurriedly squeezed through gaps between people, trying to make his way into the hospital.

“Nina, Nina!” He called out while running, but there were too many people surging outward, constantly pushing him back.

“Gege!”

A familiar voice reached his ears.

Envy anxiously looked around until he finally spotted his sister Nina being carried in someone’s arms. He quickly ran over to join them, and his whole body relaxed with relief when he saw that Nina was unharmed.

“Come here.” Ji Rong glanced at the boy, grabbing him firmly to prevent him from running off.

The sudden appearance of these warships had, whether intentionally or not, avoided most of the public facilities in North Rio during the recent bombardment.

“Something’s not right about these warships,” Ji Rong’s brows furrowed into deep lines.

“Too many different types,” Jiang Yuan glanced at the warships and mechas gradually flying away in the distant sky. These vessels were a mismatched collection, including ships from Rick, Orlan, Frans… and Chris nations. Although few in number, they formed a motley crew of different nations’ warships pieced together.

Their only common feature was that all the warships and mechas were painted black and decorated with blood-red North Mali flags that resembled blood moons.

Who organized this war?

What was their purpose?

Before they could think further, thunderous explosions rang out again.

Dozens of warships rose from the north of North Rio, followed by mechas and more warships appearing one after another.

These mechas bore no markings, but they were well-trained, organizing into a fleet that quickly began attacking the warships marked with blood moons.

North Rio’s northern district instantly became a battlefield!

BOOM!

Another wave of explosive heat swept over them.

Jiang Yuan looked around and saw people fleeing toward the northern district. Were they trying to get themselves killed faster?

“Don’t go that way! The warships are fighting over there. You’ll get killed by stray fire!” Jiang Yuan shouted, but no one listened.

The northern district…

The northern district was home to North Rio’s wealthiest residents, and those blood moon warships had already bombarded that area once.

Yet somehow, there were still so many warships and mechas appearing in the northern district.

In contrast, North Mali’s government in North Rio’s city center hadn’t sent any soldiers yet. They seemed to be caught up in another major problem.

Jiang Yuan looked at the two children, frowning as he said to Ji Rong, “Let’s head to the spaceport first!”

“Right.” Ji Rong and Jiang Yuan quickly led the two children away from the northern district, heading straight for the spaceport in the eastern district. They soon reached the main street.

Him!

Envy, who was being carried by Ji Rong as they ran, widened his eyes. He just saw a head. It belonged to one of the people who had been watching him earlier. Now only the head remained, its face frozen in shock and terror.

Frightened, Envy shrank back, peeking out with just his eyes to survey the street littered with body parts. Others were also fleeing in the same direction as them.

They all shared one destination – the spaceport!

This time, Envy looked up toward the space above the spaceport, at North Mali’s jump point.

Before, he had only seen it from afar where he lived. From there, the jump point didn’t look big, but the spaceport had always been the direction he watched.

Uncle Aka had told him that if they left North Mali, other countries were different. In those places, the poor didn’t have to live off the wealthy districts’ garbage. Robots handled all waste disposal…

Envy’s eyes flickered as he bit his lip hard, looking back over his shoulder.

BOOM!

A black object exploded in the distance, sending waves of heat rolling out that hit their skin. Even from far away, it still burned.

Envy panted heavily, his heart filled with panic and unease.

“Don’t move. Don’t worry, we’ll be safe soon.”

Ji Rong reassured him in a low voice.

However, the battle between the two sides had only just begun. Soon their warships were attacking each other, spreading the battlefield from the northern district across all of North Rio!

Now nowhere was safe!

Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong continued running toward the spaceport with the two children.

Explosive shells were everywhere, and the thunderous blasts echoed constantly.

As far as the eye could see, the road was in chaos – collapsed buildings, cars… red flames burning everywhere, body parts and corpses strewn about.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Yuan grew anxious too. Although he and Ji Rong were capable fighters, they had no mechas now. They were just ordinary people. If a bomb fell, their flesh and blood would be blown to pieces just the same!

Damn it.

Although they had a space key, there were no fighters inside it. The Thunder Fighter they used in Hoyt had been provided by the Hoyt Empire. Of course, they weren’t allowed to take it with them.

The ground was covered in traces from earlier explosions, countless shrapnel pieces scattered irregularly everywhere, some even embedded straight into the ground!

Circling around two collapsed buildings, Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong rushed toward the spaceport as quickly as possible.

Their pace quickened even more, but before they could reach the spaceport gates-

Looking up-

Ship after ship had almost disappeared into the clouds, with only a small portion of the Princess of the Night’s hull still visible!

The Princess of the Night had left!

“All the ships have left the spaceport. We’ve been left behind…”

“Damn it all to hell!” A man’s face showed slightly less fear as rage made him lose his reason. He shouted while punching a nearby garbage bin with a loud crash.

“What do we do now?”

“We’re finished, we’re dead!”

Around them were sounds of people breaking down in tears. These were all tourists who had been shopping in North Rio during their layover. With plenty of time to spare, many had left their ships to wait for the jump, never expecting something like this would happen.

“We’re dead…”

Explosions rang out again, closer this time, and then another.

“Jiang Yuan, Ji Rong!”

Just then, someone called out their names, and Jiang Yuan saw a familiar face.

He Chuan’s anxious expression relaxed slightly when he spotted Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong, and he ran over to them. “Thank goodness you’re both okay. Quick, come with me!”

“Where’s Gu Bai and the others?”

Jiang Yuan asked instinctively when he didn’t see Gu Bai’s group.

“They’re already on the ship.” He Chuan took a deep breath and said, “Come with me. There are no ships left in the spaceport now. We can only wait here for now.”

“Why didn’t you get on the ship!”

He Chuan looked at Ji Rong and Jiang Yuan. “Damn it, I couldn’t just leave you two kids behind! Shit-”

He Chuan’s eyes flashed as he grabbed Ji Rong and Jiang Yuan, suddenly diving forward.

BOOM!

A bomb fell right on cue, landing on the plaza in front of the spaceport!

The explosion went off, changing the surrounding landscape.

Jiang Yuan could only hear moans, screams, and cries of terror. He Chuan, who had been covering him and Ji Rong, quickly got up from the ground. “Quick, get into the spaceport!”

Jiang Yuan couldn’t help looking back. Most of the people who had gathered in the plaza were now corpses, with intestines and shattered limbs everywhere. Not far from where he and Ji Rong had been standing, a piece of shrapnel was stuck straight into the ground. If He Chuan hadn’t pulled them away just now, they might already be dead!

This made Jiang Yuan’s body tremble slightly.

A soldier without weapons was no different from an ordinary person.

“Has civil war broken out in North Mali?”

“Maybe…” He Chuan frowned, he didn’t know the specifics. To be precise, even the North Mali government didn’t know who these sudden attackers were. The red North Mali flags on the attacking warships were the only information they had.

Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong stopped talking and followed He Chuan and the others into the spaceport with the two children.

“The spaceport is relatively safe for now… We can only wait for the Federation to send warships to take us home…” He Chuan said in a deep voice as he watched the battle outside worriedly.

Just as he finished speaking, an explosion rang out, and the spaceport floor violently shook!

…

Although the situation on the ground wasn’t clear, videos taken by tourists before their ships departed were enough to tell the whole interstellar community that war had broken out in North Mali!

Red mushroom clouds exploded one after another.

Horace didn’t spare a glance at the kneeling Minister of Intelligence. His hand gripped his sword as he urgently ordered Hans, “To the Silver Palace!”

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