In terms of overall capability, the Heaven's Return Fleet did not suffer heavy losses in the previous battle. Their battle formation was not disordered, their spiritual shield was rather solid, and they had sufficient fuel and ammunition.
In terms of experts, the Heaven's Return Fleet did have their own Yuanying, Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators, and Colossi. In terms of top combat ability, they were even slightly better than the "barbarians" on their opposite side.
However, in terms of fighting will, or rather, their belief, compared to the enemy's 120% crazy outburst, they were practically zero, if not negative.
As the last hope of the rightful government of the Imperium of True Human Beings, every noble valued their life more than anything else. None of them were willing to repeat the mistakes of Yun Xuefeng, Song Yushi, and the commander of the ace fleets.
They had taken advantage of the competition between the reformists and the Holy League to take advantage of the chaos. They had never thought that they would die together with a bunch of crazy barbarians!
Judging from the enemy's aggressive approach, even if they managed to secure a victory in the battle, it would certainly be a gory victory in which they suffered heavy casualties. Then, how could they defend the honor of the court and their families? How could they compete with the reformists? How could they take back the entire Imperium and live the comfortable life in the past?
They could not be killed. They could not be killed in such an uncanny encounter!
The moment such an idea popped up, it was like crazily growing thorns that tied up their shaking belief and ripped it into shreds.
At this moment, the consequences of the four families' lack of teamwork due to their ill intentions were fully manifested.
If there was only one fleet, perhaps in a situation where there was no other way out, the brave would emerge victorious and fight to the death.
However, there were four fleets right now. If one of them blocked the enemy in the front, they might still have a chance to escape in a hurry and return to the Yellow Dragon Sector.
It was more or less another version of "three monks have no water to drink", wasn't it?
In the charge aimed at Lei Chenghu's remaining troops earlier, the branch fleet of the Yun family reacted the fastest and was the first to break through the enemy's formation. At this moment, it was also the first to confront the roaring Ding Ling Dong and the Cultivators of the Federation.
The branch fleets of the other three families had been sliding toward the end of the trajectory of the "gravity slingshot" at the highest speed, but at this moment, most of the starships were spurting out countless flames in the opposite direction. They braked in an emergency and slowed down, exposing the branch fleet of the Yun family to the attack of the Coalition Fleet of Pyromaniacs and the expedition army of the Federation.
The four families lacked effective firepower coordination, and they did not intend to step forward to cover the Yun family's vulnerable flanks at all.
It appeared that they did not care at all whether or not Bai Xingjian's Bloodthirsty Saber would perform a quick "decapitation" on the branch fleet of the Yun family, and whether or not Ding Ling Dong, who was charging forward, would blow through the branch fleet of the Yun family from head to tail with her burning fists!
"What is the meaning of this? What is the meaning of this? Where is your loyalty to the court? Where is your valor as an Immortal Cultivator? Why are your fleets stopping? What do you want? What do you want?"
In the highest joint battle meeting on the flagship of the Sky Returning Fleet, the big shot from the Yun family almost went mad in fury. He almost couldn't help but jump to the table and curse his hypocritical colleagues. "We have so many main-force warships and so many Colossi that have not been deployed yet. Do you think that we will definitely fail so quickly? Where are the Colossi? Why are your Colossi not deployed? Why? "
Honestly speaking, the big shot of the Yun family who had burst into fury was somewhat wrong about other people.
It was because the decision to retreat and stop at the critical moment was not an order from the big shots of the military who were on the flagship but an independent judgment made by the commanders of the branch fleets. It was like some sort of … instinctive tacit understanding.
The so-called true path of immortality was a war of everybody against everybody. Every Immortal Cultivator knew the importance of observing and preserving their strength. The idiots who were not adept at such things had been eliminated hundreds of years ago.
Getting to the bottom of it, most of the Immortal Cultivators, at least the high-level Immortal Cultivators, would only listen to the orders in their heart and consider the problems from the perspective of their own interests. The big shots of the families did not have much control over the commanders of the branch fleets or even the captains of the starships.
It was needless to mention that the experts who were qualified to pilot the Colossi had all trained hard for a hundred years before they reached the Yuanying Stage and the Divinity Transformation Stage. They were all dominators of their own regions. Even if something were to happen to them, they had plenty of wealth and opportunities. Why would they fight the Colossi of so many barbarians for a Reversal Fleet that was on the brink of collapse?
A hundred years of cultivation, countless schemes, open struggles, and covert struggles in exchange for today's realm. Could he afford to make up for any slight setbacks?
If there were abundant credits and resources to be earned, the experts of the Yuanying Stage and the Divinity Transformation Stage would certainly have attacked in a hurry. But right now, the enemy was really here to risk their lives. It was hard to say whether or not they could kill Ding Ling Dong. Even if they could kill the Speaker of the Federation, they would be drowned by the barbarians' storm-like bombardment. What was their purpose?
After all, as the experts of the Yuanying Stage and the Divinity Transformation Stage, and with their Colossi, they had the highest odds of survival on the battlefield. Since the situation was so uncertain, they might as well take it slow and discuss it later!
Just like that, the big shot of the Yun family jumped up and down for a long time, but nobody was willing to talk to him. The big shots of the other families all lowered their heads and fell into awkward silence.
After a long time, Song Bugui finally craned his head in from the door again and managed to give an explanation. "Please calm down, Minister Yun. The enemy's combat ability is not necessarily as weak as they appear to be. Their loose battle formation and lackluster light are probably an illusion to lure our army to charge at them. Otherwise, how could the Speaker of the Federation be leading the charge on his own?
"She is nothing more than bait, just like Lei Chenghu's flagship just now. So, the more arrogant and crazy the enemy is, the calmer and more prudent we will be. Why don't we ask the branch fleet of the Yun family to test the enemy first? If we can see through the enemy's mask, we will be able to catch up with our firepower like surging tides!"
Song Bugui's words were like a gust of spring wind, bringing life to the frozen faces of the big shots.
"Yes, yes, yes. Vice Commander Song is quite right. The enemy must have a trap and a scheme. How can the leader of a great military country lead the charge with his fists the moment he doesn't agree with us?"
"She is bait, just like Lei Chenghu. We have been fooled once just now. We must not make the same mistake again!"
"The Yun family has a lot of tough generals and heroes. It has always been the toughest of the four families. I admire you a lot, too. It is only natural that the Yun family will take the greatest credit. Nobody has the courage to compete with you, brother!"
"You are truly wise, Vice Commander Song. Now that the situation is so bad, the Return Fleet needs to be cautious, cautious, and more cautious!"
"Don't the Yun family have several Yuanying and Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators equipped with Colossi? Then, please take action immediately and execute the crazy barbarian in front of the two armies. The morale of our army will be greatly boosted and the dominance of the barbarians will be completely shattered! As for the Colossi of our family, they are in the middle of emergency maintenance and equipping. They will be able to attack very soon and provide overwhelming cover for our allies! "
The big shots of the various families all flattered and booted up to him.
Gloomily, the big shot of the Yun family sat down so hard that his chair almost fell apart.
Gritting his teeth, he was about to give a new order to the branch fleet of the Yun family when, on the battle light beam, the dense light spots that represented the branch fleet of the Yun family in the lead deviated from their predetermined trajectory and bypassed the Coalition Fleet of Pyromaniacs and the expedition army of the Federation in a weird arc!
They were … running away!
To be honest, the branch fleet of the Yun family had already reached the end of the 'gravity slingshot' and accelerated to the highest speed. They were almost running into Bai Xingjian and Ding Ling Dong head-on.
Under such circumstances, they had to take a 180-degree turn at the risk of the starship being completely torn apart by the inertia, and they had to run away resolutely even though their vulnerable flanks were completely exposed to the enemy's barrage. That was quite an adventurous move.
As it turned out, the commander of the branch fleet of the Yun family had calculated the distance between them precisely. When he completely completed the turn and accelerated at full speed in the direction perpendicular to the battlefield, he was still about seventy thousand kilometers away from the effective attack range of Bai Xingjian and Ding Ling Dong when he fled in a hurry.
It seemed that, if the enemy did not chase after him, his branch fleet would have a chance to evacuate from the battlefield in one piece.
Of course, such an emergency braking and a super turn did not come without a price.
Not only did it consume tremendous fuel, the shell and the internal structure of the starship were also torn apart by the gravity of the fourth planet and the inertia of the starship itself. Their defense ability was significantly lowered.
The previous battle formation that had been rather neat was now a mess. All the starships had no time to care about their positions anymore. They all fled crazily in a long snake.
As for the strike on morale … Well, it was impossible to strike something that did not exist in the first place.
As a result, the branch fleets of the other three families would collide head-on with Bai Xingjian and Ding Ling Dong in only a few minutes when they were about a million and a half kilometers away.
There was nothing but silence in the meeting room. The nobles of the other families did not even have the time to berate the big shots of the Yun family for their shamelessness. They issued the most resolute orders to the branch fleets under their command as quickly as possible — retreat. A 180-degree retreat!
In front of them was the army of barbarians that was shockingly large and aggressive.
Behind them, on the other hand, were the remnants of Lei Chenghu's troops that they had just crushed and were still in chaos.
Even an idiot would know which one was easier to deal with.
"Hurry up and attack the Jade Tripod Planet. We — we will return to the orbit of the Jade Tripod Planet and join the garrison of the planet. Then, with the defense system of the planet, we will have a final battle with the enemy!"
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