From this moment on, the Red Nimbus Fleet was fully mobilized. On the surface, everything was peaceful, but in fact, undercurrents were surging. Countless invisible tusks extended toward the carriers sent by the special investigation committee, cutting off all the routes of retreat for the enemy.
As the new communication magical equipment was gradually established and tested, the different fleets at the center of the Third Battle Area and stationed in various space zones sent over new intelligence one after another.
The news from various sources had been pieced together and corroborated, confirming the same statement — General Lei Chenghu had indeed returned!
Not just that, the process of General Lei Chenghu's return to the Thunder Fleet was a hundred times more soul-stirring than the father and son of the Wei family had imagined!
During the half month after Lei Chenghu left the Thunder Fleet, the situation of the Thunder Fleet was worse and worse. It was already on the verge of being minced into pieces.
The four Kurfürst families were rather wary of the main-force fleet that had made remarkable military contributions and a high combat ability. They were not as careless as they were with the Red Nimbus Fleet and merely sent a carrier to ask them to surrender.
The Council of Elders authorized the special investigation committee to summon part of the elite forces from the few first-class fleets deployed in the battle area nearby and besieged the Thunder Fleet together.
Nominally, they were exchanging with the Thunder Fleet, but in fact, they were forcing the key persons of the Thunder Fleet to come out and be quarantined and investigated by the special investigation committee.
The Thunder Fleet itself, on the other hand, would be divided into almost ten branch fleets and deployed to different worlds that were billions of stars away from each other.
If the scheme did work out, the Thunder Fleet would fall apart, and the key persons would be quarantined and interrogated. Then, it would truly be at anybody's mercy.
The proud and battle-tested soldiers of the Thunder Fleet were naturally unwilling to wait to be killed.
In terms of combat ability, they might be able to compete with the elites of the four Kurfürst families that were temporarily jumbled up and turn the Third Battle Area upside down.
However, there were still three crucial questions before them.
First of all, Lei Chenghu, their leader, was still missing. The whole fleet was panicking without a leader.
Secondly, the four Kurfürst families controlled the Council of Elders. With the investigation of the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance as an excuse, they claimed the righteous cause.
Going against the special investigation committee meant going against the Council of Elders, which meant going against the Imperium and His Majesty. They would be accused of "traitors".
Most of the soldiers could not summon such courage or make up their minds.
Thirdly, and most importantly, logistics.
The Holy League implemented the strategy of scorching the land when they retreated. The entire newly-recovered area, including the four battle areas, was seriously damaged and heavily polluted, which was not enough to sustain the daily consumption of the first-class fleets such as the Thunder Fleet... 80% of the assets of the Thunder Fleet had to rely on supplies.
Other than anything else, the crystals, high-energy nutrition drugs, and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that the Immortal Cultivators in the Astounding Thunder Fleet consumed every day were already astronomical.
The path of cultivation was like sailing against the current. If one did not advance, one would fall behind. Even if one only wanted to maintain one's current level, one had to cultivate diligently every day. If one did not cultivate for three days, one's perception would be dulled, and one's Spiritual Root would wither. It would slowly degenerate and even fall to a weaker level.
It was like even the strongest warrior could not go without food for three days. Also, the stronger they were, the greater their appetite would be. How could a man weighing three hundred kilograms carry out his full strength if he did not eat at least half a roast pig?
If the rear cut off their supplies, the Thunder Fleet would be stranded in the vast sea of stars in less than a month.
Therefore …
After a few days of painful struggle, the generals of the Thunder Fleet could only lower their heads to the Council of Elders like the Red Nimbus Fleet did and accept all the conditions of the special investigation committee.
It was exactly at such a critical moment that General Lei Chenghu returned to the Third Battle Area.
It was said that he only brought three starships back, but he seemed to boast immeasurable magic. The moment he came back, the whole desperate, lifeless fleet was reborn and injected with the most exhilarating stimulant.
He regained control of the fleet immediately and imprisoned the opportunists. However, he ordered the iron-blooded officers who were tough to the last moment to secretly dispatch the most mobile and stealthy destroyers into a special squad.
At this time, the starships of the special investigation committee were still unaware of the news that he had secretly returned to the Thunder Fleet. They were still scattered everywhere in the Third Battle Area, capturing radicals and warning the commanders of the local fleets, exactly like what they did in the Red Nimbus Fleet.
Seizing the precious opportunity when the enemy's troops were scattered, Lei Chenghu led the special squad to assault the space zone where the enemy's flagship was located, capturing the flagship without any trouble!
The fleet that the special investigation committee temporarily summoned was just a bluff. Under the banner of the Council of Elders, they were not prepared to fight a real battle against the Thunder Fleet at all.
After Lei Chenghu showed an aggressive, aggressive stance that he was going to fight to the death with every soldier, the generals of the special investigation committee quickly collapsed.
Those tough guys soon collapsed and surrendered to the Astounding Thunder Fleet.
As a result, the four Kurfürst families' plan of dismembering the Thunder Fleet in three steps was not accomplished. Instead, the Thunder Fleet captured a large batch of new warships and received tremendous crystals, fuel, magical equipment, and ammunition!
That was what happened at the center of the Third Battle Area in the past three days, if not two.
Because the No. 233 resource planet was too remote, the astounding news did not reach this place until now.
The news that was too appalling made both the father and the son of the Wei family dumbfounded. They could not calm down for a long time.
But while they were overwhelmed by emotions, they vaguely began to suspect whether or not it was true.
General Lei Chenghu's victory seemed to be too smooth and unbelievable. Were there more unknown factors in it?
After suffering in anxiety for another three hours, the truth was finally revealed.
Clear battle videos from multiple angles were sent from the center of the Third Battle Area, all of which proved that the flagship and the core warships of the "investigation fleet" had indeed been disarmed and captured by the Thunder Fleet!
"Father, please take a look at the video files that were just sent over. We should've received the critical evidence earlier than the special investigator!"
Excited, Wei Yuanjia activated the light beam with his shivering hands. "It's true. General Lei has really done it. Also —"
Wei Guanghui waved his hands to interrupt his son's chatter. Narrowing his eyes, he watched the pictures of the space battle that were shot from a hundred different angles.
Although it was a "battle", the two parties did not have a gory exchange of fire at all. The investigation fleet seemed to be greatly surprised by General Lei Chenghu's special team that jumped out of the void in person, but they did not have the courage to attack the magnificent Marquis Liaohai of the Imperium.
The lightning trident emblem of the Imperium of True Human Beings was carved on the head of the starships of the two parties. They were so hostile that even the attack groups of the Crystal Suit had been released. But they maintained the last bit of rationality and did not break the boundary of mutual destruction. They simply confronted each other in the desperate silence.
The silent confrontation in the vacuum of space seemed to be even more suffocating than the bombardment of cannons and barrages.
Wei Guanghui could totally imagine that, in the dead silence, the two parties were shouting desperately in the communication channel, demanding the other party to drop their weapons and surrender, or else immeasurable consequences would be raised. There might even be a civil war!
It was a contest of willpower. The only thing that mattered was which side's willpower collapsed first.
Right then, a golden brilliance that was even more dazzling than a supernova explosion suddenly flashed above the flagship of the investigation fleet!
"This is —"
Wei Guanghui shuddered and found it almost impossible to believe his eyes.
A glamorous gold Colossus appeared in the picture. It must've snuck to the flagship of the investigation fleet without alarming anyone when the two parties were confronting each other coldly before it was summoned at an unbelievable speed.
What kind of Colossus was it?
Even though the picture on the 3D light beam had been reduced by a hundred times, the gold Colossus was still emitting the dominance of a dominator and the determination to cut everything apart.
The moment it appeared, the crazily spurting exhaust flames of the hundreds of starships were eclipsed. Even the brilliance of the stars in the universe was completely swallowed by it, making it the only protagonist on the battlefield!
Wei Guanghui had never seen such a delicate, glamorous, and perfect Colossus before. Compared to the gold Colossus, the two jumbled goods in his fleet were as annoying as garbage.
The gold Colossus was holding a long, narrow saber in its hand. The body of the saber seemed to be made of infinite gold feathers, and the guard of the saber was made of overlapping sixteen open wings.
The gold Colossus waved the saber flawlessly. Ignoring the spiritual shield and the seven layers of plate armor of the flagship of the investigation fleet, the saber pierced deeply into the protrusion at the center of the flagship more than easily.
Wei Guanghui knew the structure of such a warship very well. He knew that the bridge was behind the protrusion.
The gold Colossus that had arrived from nowhere had pierced into the heart of the flagship. Perhaps everybody on the bridge was watching the edge of the saber in a cold sweat in bewilderment!
With the combat ability of the gold Colossus, as long as it spurted out some spiritual energy, the aura of the saber would've been enough to burn everybody on the bridge into ashes.
There was no more suspense in the competition that followed.
The flagship of the investigation fleet that had been hijacked by the gold Colossus collapsed immediately. Lei Chenghu's special team secured a great victory without shedding any blood.
"This is —"
Pointing at the gold Colossus, Wei Guanghui asked in disbelief, "What kind of Colossus is this exactly? Who is using it?"
"According to the intelligence, the Colossus is named 'Gold Vulture', and it is piloted by 'Vulture Li Yao'."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
