The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2661 Bird Spirit God? Or a Navy Admiral?
2661. Bird Spirit God? Or a Navy Admiral?

Inside his Red Comet fighter jet, Tang Xiao had already connected his consciousness to the mysterious database of the Glory mothership.

This is one of the things that he still doesn't know the underlying principle about...

The database of the Glory mothership seemed to be directly mapped into his brain. As someone who had been through it all, Tang Xiao initially thought it was some kind of system at first glance, but later he realized that rather than the so-called 'system' that gives the protagonist tasks and rewards in novels, it was more like an operating system.

It was as if this interface was developed solely to facilitate his control of the Glory mothership.

Tang Xiao previously believed that something similar to a biochip had been implanted in his brain during his initial period of slumber. Later, he conducted a thorough examination, using both instruments and the Force, but found no abnormalities in his brain.

Therefore, this small user interface has become somewhat mysterious.

Thinking hard.

This time, when he connected to the Glory mothership's control interface, he indeed saw a notification in the list of hibernation pods, specifically in the last "Prisoner" level.

Upon opening this interface, Tang Xiao saw that, as expected, another 'prisoner' had been awakened.

Could this 'prisoner' be the Bird Spirit God that Elu spoke of?

Tang Xiao's expression turned serious.

A day later, he returned to Dawn through the stargate of Macito and went to the Dawn Palace—his palace.

As he disembarked from the Red Comet fighter jet, Chief of the General Staff Qi Jian immediately approached him and presented him with an operational plan. "Your Majesty," he said, "this is the second phase of the Golden Plan. We plan to draw 200 capital ships from the Model Sector and the direction of Aeriadu, and then..."

"Okay, I agree. Do as I say." Tang Xiao waved his hand impatiently and asked directly, "Where are the Ailu people?"

“Ever since you granted them their audience, their delegation has been waiting in the reception room,” Qi Jian replied. “However… yesterday they brought over a cloning pod and brought it into the reception room. We scanned it, and the cloning pod doesn’t seem to have anything special about it…”

Before he could finish speaking, Tang Xiao had already walked past him and headed forward, leaving him with the words, "This is none of your business. Execute the Golden Plan as soon as possible. After I've finished dealing with things here, I'll continue on to the Northern Front. Also, call Harry Seldon here."

"Yes!" Qi Jian immediately stood at attention and saluted.

Prior to this, Tang Xiao had already issued an order to put the entire Glory mothership into a state of maximum alert.

After nearly being wiped out by the Orega, Tang Xiao adjusted the deployment of the Glory mothership. First, he moved all the cutting-edge research institutes and advanced manufacturing facilities out of the mothership, completely emptying it.

Then, a large defensive force was deployed aboard the mothership. This force included elite army soldiers and powerful combat robots, and their numbers were enormous. Among them, there were 50000 elite army soldiers and 40 combat robots, commanded by three T-series tactical robots.

In addition, a formation of 300 fighter jets and several armored vehicles were deployed, including the Scorpion Flame Tank, which was specially modified for confined space operations, and two Scorpion Annihilator robots.

In addition to these regular troops, there were 20 Dark Jedi Knights who had defected from all over the galaxy, led by an older member of the Twilight Covenant.

This person is called Baron Odal. He was originally an elite vehicle pilot who was awakened from the mothership. Later, he was found to have awakened the Force and was therefore sent to the Twilight Covenant for training.

He was already 29 when he entered the Twilight Covenant, and is now 42. Overall, Baron Odal's talent is not outstanding, but as an elite pilot, he is also a very orthodox soldier with excellent combat skills, and his personality is strict, serious, and meticulous.

Therefore, Baron O'Dal's combat strength is still quite strong, at least at the level of a Jedi Master. However, there is no need for further training. Due to his meticulous personality, the Priestess assigned him to serve as the defense commander of the mothership, the Glory.

At this moment, Baron O'Dal is reporting the current status of the mothership to Tang Xiao via communications—he has searched the entire mothership, especially the location of the cryo-chamber, but has not found anything unusual.

He has now led his men to completely surround the cryogenic chamber to ensure that nothing unexpected happens here.

Tang Xiao nodded and instructed him to remain on guard. Afterward, he went to the reception room.

Having already received the news, the representatives of the Elu people dared not be negligent in the slightest. Upon learning that Tang Xiao had returned, they went directly to the entrance of the reception room, knelt down on both knees, and awaited the arrival of the King of Dawn.

Tang Xiao frowned as he looked at the two rows of Airu people kneeling in front of him.

In his memory, the Airu people had never been so respectful.

Strictly speaking, he harbored deep hatred for the Elru. Not only did he launch a war that shattered the Elru's ambition to dominate the Model Sector, but he also later purged them, killed their queen, and forcibly changed their political system, abolishing the queenhood.

Furthermore, the Kingdom of Dawn occupied Anagi, the most important colony of the Elru, and made it the capital of the Model Sector. Now, on Anagi, the human race is absolutely dominant, and the Elru population has decreased from 60% to around 10%.

Therefore, although the Airu people have always expressed their submission, they would never act so submissively, or even flatteringly.

"Tell me, what exactly is this divine decree of your Bird Spirit God?" Tang Xiao suppressed his displeasure and said coldly.

The representative of the Airu people, Sheila, said very respectfully, "We have brought the incarnation of the Bird Spirit God here."

She stood up and bowed towards the other side of the reception room—where a cloning pod stood. Tang Xiao frowned. He went directly to the cloning pod and opened the fully sealed door. Inside, he saw a male Elru lying on the floor. Countless tubes were connected to his body, barely keeping him alive.

Even Tang Xiao, an outsider, could tell at a glance that something was wrong with the Elu man.

Although the Airu are a bird race, they have retained many of the habits and physical characteristics of birds, such as hollow bones, feathers, and slender figures.

However, in the process of evolution, it was inevitable that they would evolve in this direction to facilitate the use of tools. In addition, biohistorians believe that the Airu people may have had humanoid bloodlines incorporated into their evolutionary process in ancient times, which influenced their evolutionary trajectory.

Therefore, overall, the Airu people are more like humans than birds.

But the Elru man standing before Tang Xiao looked very strange! Two small holes had appeared above his eyes, resembling extra eyes, but they hadn't fully developed. Furthermore, his mouth had become extremely sharp and covered with a layer of keratin, like a bird's beak.

There should be many differences in his body as well, but they are covered by clothes. However, it is still possible to see from the numerous connecting tubes that this person has mutated.

"This person won't live much longer," Tang Xiao said coldly. "Is this the Bird Spirit God?"

“Your Majesty… this is merely a vessel for the Bird Spirit God to descend upon… because only in this way can he communicate with us. The Bird Spirit God’s true form… should be on, uh, Dawn Planet.” Representative Sheila carefully chose her words.

Tang Xiao was now certain that this 'prisoner'-level figure was still in the hibernation pod of the Glory mothership. He wanted to come out but couldn't, so he could only communicate in this way.

Indeed, on the data operation interface of the Glory mothership, Prisoner-class characters cannot return to a semi-hibernation state and engage in limited dialogue like Legendary or Mythical-class characters.

For someone at the prisoner level, almost every aspect is uncontrollable.

However, since it didn't break free from hibernation like Orega, it means this character isn't as powerful as Orega. In that case, the situation might not be so dangerous.

"Let him speak," Tang Xiao said.

Sheila quickly called over the technical staff from the delegation, first shutting down the cloning pod, and then operating the control panel.

Only after the indicator light turned green did Tang Xiao speak into the cloning pod and ask, "Who are you?"

"I am a loser, an exile... I have lost my homeland, my planet, and can only endure humiliation and bear the burden to preserve the last embers of civilization until I reach this place." The cloning pod did not open, but a calm voice came from the communication device next to it.

"Why did you become a prisoner?" Tang Xiao asked.

"I am simply doing what I am supposed to do. As for what my identity should be, that is not up to my will," said the Bird Spirit God.

"So you are not a god."

“There are many definitions of gods. For the Airu people, a civilization in its early stages of development, we could have been called gods in the past,” the Bird Spirit God said calmly. “However, this is not my intention, but I can only do it this way to make my words more convincing.”

Tang Xiao glanced back at Sheila and the Elru delegation kneeling in the distance, and sneered, "Them? This race is all talk and no action, greedy and opportunistic, bullying the weak and fearing the strong?"

“I’ve learned about the war between you and the Elu people. From your perspective, which is as powerful as you are, the Elu people are indeed just a race full of petty cleverness and greed. But if you look at it from another angle, what I see is resilience,” said the Bird Spirit God.

"Before you came here, the Model Sector was barren and remote, with harsh environments everywhere. Black holes and gravitational traps were rampant, making transportation to the outside world extremely difficult. But the Elu people lived tenaciously in this place, changing this cruel environment through their efforts. The Elu people's efforts have played an indispensable role in making Annagi the capital of the Model Sector and the only Gaia planet in the sector."

"Therefore, from their perspective, how could they possibly relinquish their hegemony over the Modal Sector? A common trait among civilizations that can venture into interstellar space is expansion."

Tang Xiao remained unmoved, coldly stating, "I have no shortage of effort or perseverance. To me, the Airu people are merely a small stone on my path of conquest—I can simply kick it aside. As for whether that small stone becomes part of the road or is kicked into a ditch afterward, I don't care."

“But to me, they are a rare bird species, and we are their compatriots,” said the Bird Spirit God.

Tang Xiao chuckled, "Heh... fellow countrymen? There are so many birds in the Milky Way. I don't know where you originated, but you definitely have absolutely no connection with the Ailu people. You're already feeling empathy? Who are you anyway? As a spark of civilization, are you really that naive?"

The Bird Spirit God fell silent for a moment before continuing, "I must say, I do have selfish motives... As a bird race, the Elru people's genes are somewhat similar to ours. When I rebuild my race, having the Elru people's help will speed up the process considerably... but..."

He sighed. "We are, after all, a thing of the past. Even if we wanted to rebuild, we couldn't force it. So, for the Elru people, and for you, the first thing I can do is give, and only then will we express our own expectations."

These words were spoken with utmost sincerity and propriety, leaving Tang Xiao with no grounds for criticism. He nodded approvingly and said, "Very good, it seems we have a foundation for further discussion. Tell me, who are you, what will you give us, and... what do you want in return?"

“My name is Skrand Sharpbeak, from Skranvid, a planet destroyed by a cataclysmic event,” said the bird spirit. “If you wish, I will serve you and provide you with the blueprints for our most powerful warship—the Claw.”

(Schröder-Sharpbeek, I thought about this name, but never mind, according to our Chinese language habits, I'll just use the literal translation from the event text to refer to him: Sharp Beak.)
Tang Xiao frowned. He began searching his mind for the name, but it was very vague. Logically speaking, at the level of a prisoner, the names should all be well-known and familiar, like the previous prisoner, Oleg, whose name truly deserved his status above legendary.

However, the person in front of us, Scrant-Sharpbeak, is not a very famous person.

Finally, he remembered.

Skrand-Beak is one of the legendary leaders from Stellaris! The last survivor of a bird-man race, and also a model combat hero, soldier, and leader!