From cute to empress

Chapter 359 The Difficult Choice of Escape and Return

"Your Majesty, something bad has happened! Something has happened..." Qingluan's voice trembled slightly. She was usually calm in the face of emergencies, but now she was in a panic, which made me feel even more uneasy.

"What happened?" Youcai held Qingluan and asked anxiously.

"I just received news from Earth," Qingluan took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. "An unidentified fleet is approaching Earth, and the Earth's defense system has activated a red alert!"

"What?!" Youcai and I exclaimed almost simultaneously. Earth, the planet that gave birth to us and carried our hopes, was now facing an unknown threat.

Countless thoughts flashed through my mind. Could they be interstellar pirates? Or an invasion from another civilization? What was their purpose? Had the crystal's existence been exposed?

"Your Majesty," the silent monk stepped forward, clasped his hands together, and said in a heavy voice, "Earth is in imminent danger. I believe the most urgent task is to return to Earth as soon as possible, investigate the truth, and make all necessary preparations."

I knew the monk was right. The safety of Earth and the crystals was paramount. I took a deep breath, suppressed my uneasiness and anxiety, and decisively ordered, "Pass the order down! Return to Earth immediately!"

When the soldiers heard the order, although they were surprised, they still began to act in a well-trained manner. The team that was originally preparing to enter the misty forest turned around, quickly assembled, and prepared to return.

"Mengmeng," Youcai walked over to me and gently held my hand. I could feel the warmth and strength in his palm. "Don't worry, we can definitely protect the earth."

I nodded, my heart filled with gratitude and determination. Yes, we have been through so much together and overcome so many difficulties. This time, we will definitely overcome the difficulties!

The returning fleet was heading towards the Earth at the fastest speed, but my heart was getting heavier and heavier, and I always felt that something was going to happen.

"Report! A large-scale meteor shower has been detected ahead, expected to arrive in ten minutes!"

"What?" I stood up suddenly. Before I could react, the alarm rang out throughout the bridge. The piercing alarm mixed with the violent vibrations of the hull, foreshadowing a greater crisis was about to come...

The piercing alarms stabbed into my heart like sharp knives, making it almost impossible for me to think. The spacecraft was shaking violently, and I had to hold on to the handrails to barely maintain my balance.

"Activate the emergency defense system!" Youcai's voice was exceptionally calm in the chaos. While giving orders, he protected me behind him.

Through the porthole, I could see dense swarms of meteors, trailing long flames like roaring fire dragons, madly rushing towards our ship. The energy shield trembled violently under the impact of the meteors, rippling with waves, as if it would shatter at any moment.

"Report! The spacecraft has been damaged by 30%! The energy supply has dropped by 50%!"

"Report! Engine number three has failed!"

Bad news came one after another, and my heart sank to the bottom. Are we going to be buried in this sudden meteor shower?

"Your Majesty, you can't hesitate any longer. You must make an emergency landing immediately!" The monk's voice sounded in his ears, with a hint of anxiety.

"Forced landing? But..." I looked around. The universe was vast and we knew nothing about this place. Forced landing meant huge risks.

"It's too late! Earth can't wait any longer!" Youcai decisively interrupted me, "Execute the forced landing procedure!"

The spacecraft plunged into a planet's atmosphere with a violent jolt. The high temperature generated by friction turned the entire hull a crimson red. I closed my eyes tightly, praying for a miracle.

I don't know how long it took before the shaking finally stopped. I opened my eyes and found that we had landed safely on a plain.

"We are still alive..." I breathed a long sigh of relief, and the joy of surviving the disaster surged in my heart.

"Don't be too happy yet," Youcai said with an extremely serious expression, "We are now on a completely unfamiliar planet, and the crisis has just begun."

We stepped out of the spaceship and looked around. It was a desolate planet with a gray sky and a ground covered with strangely shaped rocks. There was no sign of life.

At that moment, a group of figures appeared on the distant horizon. They were dressed in silver-white robes, holding strange scepters in their hands, emitting a faint golden light, and slowly walked towards us.

"Who are you?" Youcai stepped forward, protected me behind him, and asked vigilantly.

"We are the guardians of this planet," the leading elder smiled faintly. His voice was deep and rich, carrying a strange magical power. "Welcome to our world."

"Guardians?" I was filled with doubts. "Why are you here?"

The old man did not answer my question. His eyes fell on the spaceship behind me, or to be more precise, on the crystal stone on the spaceship that was gleaming with light.

"It seems that you are the ones predicted," the old man said slowly, his tone carrying a hint of excitement that was hard to conceal, "You have brought us the hope we have been waiting for for so long..."

His words made Youcai and I even more uneasy. What was the origin of this so-called "Guardian"? What was this "prophecy" they spoke of? And all of this seemed inextricably linked to the crystal we had brought with us...

"We are willing to cooperate with you to repair the spacecraft as quickly as possible." Youcai broke the silence, but my intuition told me that seeking the skin of a tiger might be the biggest mistake we could make...

The guardians took us to a valley with lush trees and gurgling streams, which was in stark contrast to the desolate surface of the planet. They claimed that there were the necessary materials to repair the spacecraft here and enthusiastically provided us with shelter and food.

I still harbored doubts, but watching the busy craftsmen and the mountains of materials piled high, I couldn't help but believe in their sincerity. Youcai remained vigilant, secretly training soldiers, increasing patrols, and trying to get closer to the guardians in hopes of learning more about the "prophecy" and the secrets of the crystal.

"Your Majesty, I discovered something..." One night, Youcai came to my room with a serious expression and handed me a metal disc. "I stole this from a guardian. It seems to be some kind of recorder."

I took the disc and examined it carefully, finding some strange symbols engraved on it that I didn't recognize. Youcai found an old instrument from somewhere and inserted the disc into it.

"Buzz—" The instrument emitted a low humming sound, and then an old voice came from it: "...The plan is progressing smoothly, the 'Messenger' has taken the bait... As long as we obtain the power of the crystal, we can..."

My heart sank suddenly. It seemed that our guess was correct. These guardians had no good intentions at all. The "messengers" they were referring to were us, and their target was the crystals we brought!

"We must leave here as soon as possible!" I made a quick decision.

"But the spaceship hasn't been repaired yet..."

"It's too late! Instead of sitting and waiting to die, we might as well fight to the death!"

We summoned all the soldiers that night and told them the Guardians' conspiracy. The soldiers were outraged and expressed their willingness to follow us to the death.

Taking advantage of the darkness, we launched a surprise attack. The defenders were clearly caught off guard by our advance. A fierce battle unfolded in the valley, with shouts and the clash of weapons resounding through the night.

Thanks to the talented and outstanding command and the heroic fighting of the soldiers, we successfully broke through the Guardians' defenses, rushed out of the valley and returned to the spaceship.

"Start the spaceship!" I shouted anxiously.

The spaceship roared deafeningly and slowly rose into the air. Through the window, I saw the Guardians chasing us, their eyes filled with anger and greed.

"Quick! Enter the warp state!"

"Insufficient energy to enter the transition state!"

My heart instantly sank to the bottom. Could it be that we couldn't escape after all? At that moment, I saw Youcai standing firmly in front of the control console, holding the shimmering crystal in his hand...

Youcai inserted the crystal into the energy slot, and a powerful energy instantly poured into the spacecraft's power system, and the originally dim indicator light lit up again.

"Jump engine started, prepare for space jump!" The spaceship shook violently, I held the handrail tightly, and my heart beat faster.

"Target, Earth!" With Youcai's command, the space around the spaceship began to distort, eventually transforming into a blinding white light...

When we opened our eyes again, we were already in a familiar galaxy.

"We succeeded!" I hugged Youcai excitedly, and the soldiers also cheered.

This period of flight had exhausted us both physically and mentally, but to have escaped death and successfully returned to Earth was already a blessing. I looked out the window at the azure planet, my heart filled with emotion and anticipation.

However, just as we were about to enter the atmosphere, the spacecraft suddenly began to shake violently.

"What's going on?" I exclaimed.

"Your Majesty, there's something wrong with the Earth's gravitational field and we can't land!" The pilot's voice was filled with panic.

"Abnormal? How could this happen?" I had an ominous premonition in my heart.

Youcai immediately rushed to the control console and retrieved the data for analysis. After a moment, his expression became extremely solemn.

"The situation is worse than we imagined," he said solemnly, "The Earth's magnetic field has become chaotic, and a huge hole has appeared in the atmosphere. This..."

Before he could finish, the alarm rang throughout the cabin, and an intermittent voice came from the communicator: "This is the Earth Space Station... We are under attack... Requesting support..."

I felt a chill run from the soles of my feet straight into my heart. Earth, what on earth was happening?

"Change the route immediately and find a safe landing point!" Youcai made a prompt decision.

"No, it's too late!" the pilot exclaimed, "We are being pulled by a powerful force and cannot escape!"

Through the porthole, I saw dazzling red lights appearing on the surface of the earth, as if they were the flames of hell, devouring this beautiful planet...

"What is that?" I murmured, my heart filled with fear.

"I'm afraid..." Youcai held my hand tightly, his eyes full of worry, "We came back too late..."

The spaceship shook violently and fell rapidly towards the flames...