Before the signal was received, two rows of Steel Mane soldiers surrounded a shorter Steel Mane person and walked in from the main passage.
This dwarf was really short, about the same height as Ding Meng. However, when the short man saw the dwarf, he quickly went up to him and asked respectfully, "Are you okay?"
The dwarf's voice was very soft, as if he was weak. "I'm … I'm fine …"
The short man's face darkened. "You've been wronged."
The dwarf said, "It's okay. Didn't I meet up with you now?"
The short man said solemnly, "Don't worry, I will do my best to escort you back."
The dwarf said, "Thank you!"
The short man said seriously, "You don't have to say that to me."
The dwarf said, "I know!"
At this time, a group of soldiers dragged the escape pod in with steel forks.
The Steel Mane people had a deep understanding of all kinds of metals. The tall man could tell that the escape pod was made of extraordinary material and could be sold for a good price.
Just when he was deciding whether to turn it on or not, the main control panel suddenly made a "ping" sound, and the real-time image provided by the reconnaissance radar appeared. Everyone turned their heads and saw a mighty fleet of frogs approaching them in the dark space. There were no less than a hundred ships in this fleet, and they were arranged neatly and orderly, like a series of mutated frogs.
Needless to say, this was definitely a regular fleet of the military, not some random combination.
His subordinate reported, "Boss, the enemy has sent a message. They claim to be the vanguard of Interstellar Fleet 202 and are entering the rainforest. They want us to cooperate with the inspection."
The tall man immediately turned around and looked at the short man. The short man pondered and ordered decisively, "We can't make any mistakes at this time. Just follow the orders of the frogs. Everyone, bear with it. We'll be fine once we get through it."
He had no choice but to give this order. The Steel Mane Empire was dependent on the frogs, and the Byron Star System was actually quite small. If a country wasn't strong, then its citizens wouldn't be strong either.
Therefore, the Steel Mane people were often discriminated against by the frogs in outer space. Steel Mane spaceships had no choice but to comply with requests to enter the port for inspection.
The inspection wasn't a real inspection. It was nothing more than passing merchant ships and civilian ships. The frogmen would plunder everything. To put it bluntly, without their status as a frogmen army, they were essentially no different from interstellar pirates.
It was obviously not the first time the tall man had experienced this, but since the short man had given the order, there was nothing he could do. He could only wait quietly because he knew that the frogs would soon search around the spaceships.
Twenty minutes later, a series of heavy yet orderly footsteps came from the main passage. The sound was like a hammer hitting a steel plate, very sonorous and powerful. A group of about forty frogmen walked into the command hall with a dignified aura.
The general characteristic of the frogs was that no matter how they changed their appearance, they were still frogs. However, they had obviously evolved many times and could walk upright.
Their thick thighs were the foundation of the frogs. A normal frogman's thigh was almost two meters tall when they stood up, which was about the same height as the Steel Mane people. Therefore, the Steel Mane people on the spaceship looked like dwarfs in front of the frogs.
The lower abdomen of the frogs was huge, and the belly was the most flexible part. Usually, it was easy to be attacked, and it was difficult to recover after the body was damaged. Therefore, the frogs were replaced with advanced bio-technology combined with mechanical metals. Therefore, the frogs looked like real reborn warriors — half biological and half mechanical!
The more heavily injured a frogman was, the more metal plates, coil components, and armor they wore. This was the symbol of the honor of the frogmen. A soldier that had been through hundreds of battles basically only had his head and limbs left. The rest was replaced by metal machines.
The most distinctive feature of the frogs was their eyes, which were as thick as footballs. Their eyesight was very strong. The stronger they were, the bigger their eyes and the different colors. It was the same principle as the hair of the Steel Mane people, which represented their status.
At this moment, the leader of the frogs swaggered forward and spoke from his abdomen, "Who is the person in charge of this spaceship?"
Although the tall frogs were three meters tall, they looked like mice in front of the frogs. The tall frogs immediately smiled and said, "Sir, I am!"
Half of the frogs' chest was made of various metals, but their eyes were slightly red. It seemed like they were General-level frogs.
"Name!" The general was very impatient.
The tall frogs did not dare to be slow. "Lian Luo!"
As soon as he answered, a frogs immediately reached over with a glowing metal light stick. It was probably something like a scanner. The frogs poked and tapped on Lian Luo's body. After a while, the frogs nodded and said, "Hmm, there is no mark. He is an unregistered resident!"
Unregistered residents were people of the Steel Mane race who did illegal business in space. They were typical human traffickers.
Lian Luo's expression changed instantly. His identity as an unregistered resident was exposed. Even if he did not die, he would be skinned alive.
The general turned his head and said, "Have you searched everything?"
The frogs continued to nod. "Boss, we have searched everything. There is nothing valuable. The cargo hold is full of metal trash that we don't want."
The general was a little unhappy. He turned his head and looked at Lian Luo. "You are an unregistered resident. Why did you come to the Rainforest Star Region with such a large cargo ship? What are you doing?
Exploring?
Or catching people? "
The frogs' eyes were especially scary. If one stared at them for too long, they would hallucinate. Lian Luo did not dare to raise his head. He laughed dryly and said, "Sir, we are just trying to make a living. Please be magnanimous."
Even he did not believe what he said. This black ship was a standard large transport ship. Its facilities were very outdated. However, anyone with a little knowledge of navigation would know that the more stupid the ship was, the more expensive it was to maintain. If they really did not find anything in outer space, everyone on the ship would lose everything.
Obviously, the general was not that easy to fool. His eyes stopped on the short man. The short man was indeed different from the other Steel Mane people here because he was wearing a combat suit.
Although the Steel Mane race valued their hair, those who were really rich often wore clothes. Only the lower class people would run around naked. Those who were slightly better off would have metal underpants.
"You, come here!" The general beckoned with his finger.
The short man had no choice but to go forward.
"Take off your clothes!" The general said coldly.
It seemed like a small action, but it was actually very hard for the Steel Mane people to accept because wearing a combat suit meant that one had a certain social status. The frogs wanted you to take off your combat suit to see the color of your hair and determine how dangerous you were. In fact, it was a joke because you would be laughed at by the other Steel Mane people in the future. It was an unacceptable insult.
As expected, the short man did not move or answer. He just stood there quietly.
The general said angrily, "Are you deaf?
Can't you hear what I said? "
The short man was expressionless.
"Slap!"
The general's claw slapped the short man's face.
The claws of this kind of giant frog were comparable to steel thorns. The short man was sent flying in an instant, smashing several control panels in succession. Finally, he smashed into a steel stool and lay there motionless. It seemed that he had fainted.
The general was very angry at first, but he was stunned. "Bah, useless trash. Wearing clothes and pretending to be an expert?
Can't even take a slap from me. What a piece of trash. An unregistered citizen is an unregistered citizen. So boring … "
If there really was an expert present, they would have realized that the short man was definitely not a piece of trash. He was deliberately sent flying by the general. On the contrary, the short man's strength was not below Lian Luo's, but the general was no longer interested in him.
There was another noise at the gate. Two soldiers came in with an escape pod. "Boss, we found this!"
The general smiled. "Ha, I thought you really didn't have anything. Turns out you salvaged a human escape pod."
Lian Luo was depressed. I was hiding in the filter tube of the engine room. How did you find it? Are the eyes of frogs and dogs so sharp?
The general clearly had good eyes. He carefully scanned the escape pod. "Who's inside?"
Lian Luo gritted his teeth. "It's the miners we put in."
It was a big lie, but it was probably the most beautiful lie he had ever told in his life, because it had saved the lives of all the people on board.
The general said, "You came back from Rainforest Planet 1?"
Lian Luo hurriedly replied, "Yes, we are the operators of Akashic Sodium. Sir, you should know that there are quite a few exploration teams from the Nuoxing Empire on Planet 1. We are making some profit from the difference."
This time he was telling the truth, but the general didn't believe him. He asked suspiciously, "Miners can afford to use such a good escape pod?"
Lian Luo could only force himself to explain. "The exploration teams on Planet 1 are from large financial groups. They may have used better equipment. We are a third party, so we can't really land on the planet. So I don't know the specific situation on the surface."
The general looked at him suspiciously and kicked the escape pod. "Open it and let me see!"
Lian Luo walked forward and closed his eyes. He was ready to fight. If there was an officer from the Norse Empire in the cabin, then he would go all out. He didn't want to be detained by the frogmen.
Lian Luo took a deep breath and slowly turned the knob on the outside of the cabin.
With a "chi" sound, the hatch slowly opened and a large amount of white gas spewed out.
Everyone opened their eyes wide in curiosity. However, the escape pod was empty. There was nothing inside, not even a feather.
"Bad luck!" The general was furious. "Are you playing with me?"
Lian Luo's heart was immediately put down. He raised his hands. "Sir, we didn't know that the escape pod was empty. Maybe … maybe the miners below were already dead, so an empty pod was accidentally sent up."
"So f * cking unlucky."
The general was furious. "Everyone else has money to earn. It's not easy for me to go on a mission. How did I meet a ship full of poor people like you?"