727 Senior Brother Arrives! (1/2)
”Dark Swallow…” The expression on Wang Baole's face was serious. His mood turned dark after he read the full details of the mission.
Dark Swallow was essentially an espionage mission!
However, they weren't conducting the mission in the Federation or in the Dao Palace. They were going to venture… out, into the unknown universe!
Many years ago, at the beginning of the Spirit Inception Era, through certain unique means, the Federation came to know of the existence of multiple civilizations around the Solar System.
They had done so with the talisman that Li Xingwen had revealed to Wang Baole, the core of the Solar System Array Formation. They had also relied on ancient ruins found on Earth for clues. In fact, Wang Baole had read the information about Project Dark Swallow and found… records about Lin Tianhao's father, Lin You!
The records clearly documented Lin You's disappearance at one of those ruins when he had been a young man. He had reappeared at the exact spot of disappearance a year later. His report stated that he had been transported to another civilization and had brought back some basic information about other civilizations in the universe.
Another name had sent Wang Baole reeling back in shock. It was… Xie Haiyang's name!
The records spoke of Xie Haiyang's mysterious behavior, highlighting especially his disappearance during his time in the Ethereal Dao College and his reappearance in the Dao Palace. The Federation had thought this had something to do with the Dao Palace. However, they hadn't been able to investigate the matter further due to their relationship with the latter then.
After the war ended, the Federation had reinitiated investigations on this matter. Xie Haiyang's true origins came under the Federation's scrutiny. The game that he had collaborated with Wang Baole on also became part of the investigation's focus. If not for Wang Baole's unique position in the Federation, which spared him from any suspicion and doubt, he himself would have become a target of this secret investigation as well.
No conclusive findings had resulted from the investigation. Regardless, the team had presented their assessment of the matter. They believed that… Xie Haiyang had come from a greater and more advanced civilization for training in the Federation!
There had been others who had also been the target of this secret investigation. Wang Baole found more than a hundred names. They came from various fields and backgrounds. But two commonalities united them. They had either vanished and reappeared like Lin You had… or various signs and clues had pointed to their not being from the Federation!
Zhuo Yifan's and Zhuo Yixian's names were also in the report. Based on the investigation's findings, they seemed to have been transported out of the Solar System via some mysterious power!
The accumulation of these bizarre occurrences had forced the Federation to give them due attention. That had been the reason for the continuation of the Federation's Hundred Seedling Plan and the alliance with the Dao Palace, which had come in the form of… Project Dark Swallow. The objective of this project was to identify individuals with certain unique skill sets and whom the Federation could trust, then send them out of the Solar System. Their objective would be to search for other civilizations beyond the Solar System!
The means for their travel was similar to Lin You's. The records stated that over the years, the investigation team had located forty-three locations that they suspected were teleportation portals!
Due to the risks involved, they hadn't dared to try and initiate any teleportations. As a result, the Federation had no knowledge of the teleportation capabilities of these portals. The participants of Project Dark Swallow were to act as scouts for information. Should their teleportation succeed, they should strive for the ideal scenario—to infiltrate the extraterrestrial civilizations successfully. Else, they were to ensure their own safety, then do their best to collect as much information as possible, so that the Federation was provided with as comprehensive a picture of the surrounding civilizations as possible.
This plan had been drawn up based on the facts the Federation had on hand. Most of the people who had disappeared via these teleportation portals had never returned. A few, though, had made their way back. Sometimes, after a few months, and sometimes, after years.
This plan should have been extremely challenging for the Federation to execute on its own. The participants' safety rested on their possession of various mystic techniques or artifacts that allowed them to hide themselves or change their forms to blend in. They also needed to be able to communicate with any foreign lifeforms and possess a certain level of cultivation.
With the Dao Palace as a new member of this project, all problems had been resolved easily. Prior to their addition, the Federation had been in the middle of building artifacts that could conceal or change one's appearance. With the Dao Palace in the picture, Zhao Pinfang had been able to complete the construction of these artifacts easily. In addition, the Dao Palace had also provided a solution regarding the challenge of communicating with alien lifeforms.
The project had been reinitiated. It might seem a hasty move, but on the contrary, the Federation had begun preparations for this project many years ago.
Wang Baole stared at the records he had just read and fell silent. He had half a mind to stop Zhao Yameng and his friends and get them to abort their missions. But he didn't know how to convince them and where to start. The Federation made the right move. They needed to find out about the universe that rested beyond their borders. They desperately needed to understand what was going on in the star systems surrounding them. This would allow them to be more prepared for their next contact with an alien civilization, regardless if they were friendly or hostile. This would prevent the war with the Dao Palace from repeating itself. They wouldn't have to face similar despair.