Super Mothership
“Lord Arthas, just how did you persuade those pirates? Tell me, pleeease~”
“Uh… that’s classified military information!” Nie Yun said firmly, even as he felt the softness pressing against his arm.
“I heard that you faced tens of thousands of pirates alone without even changing your expression, and with your silver tongue you scared them pale. In the end, even the pirate leader admired you and swore brotherhood with you. Is that true?”
His eyelids twitched. “…No, it wasn’t tens of thousands at the time—there were several hundred thousand.”
“I also heard that you piloted a mech by yourself and fought so fiercely that the pirates were terrified, and in the end they directly sued for peace. Is that true?”
“That one is actually true! Back then, hundreds of thousands of pirates surrounded me. Anyone who dared to come forward—I smashed their mechs one by one!”
“Wow~ My lord, can you give me an autograph?”
“Of course!”
“Me too, sign here, sign here!”
Seeing the patch of fair skin at the female officer’s chest, Nie Yun swallowed. “Um… does this count as sexual harassment?”
“Giggle~”
Off to the side, Catherine watched with dissatisfaction as a flock of chattering female officers surrounded “Arthas.”
Ever since Nie Yun had miraculously returned unscathed from the pirate group—and somehow even brought back a pirate alliance—what was supposed to be an extremely dangerous deep-penetration raid behind enemy lines had turned into something like a relaxed sightseeing tour. The entire crew’s impression of him had jumped from a mere mascot to a “god-tier mascot.”
On top of that, with his overwhelming mech combat ability and absurdly good looks—he had both muscles and appearance!
After this incident, Arthas’s prestige within the fleet reached its peak, and he had become a superstar idol among all the female soldiers!
Even the usually aloof captain, Emilia, had been frequently casting lingering, affectionate glances at Arthas. That mature feminine charm made even Catherine feel a deep sense of crisis.
“Ahem!” Catherine stepped forward and coughed lightly.
An invisible psychic field rippled outward, and the group of female officers immediately felt a faint pressure. Like mice encountering a cat, they quickly scattered.
To others, this was simply Catherine’s growing authority—but Nie Yun shot her a sideways glance.
Using psychic pressure to scare off my fans… that’s a bit much…
“Ahem!” Avoiding Nie Yun’s gaze with a hint of guilt, Catherine reported, “Lord Arthas, we are approaching the enemy’s wormhole alert zone. General Girard has just informed us that in three hours, they will launch a feint attack to cover our fleet’s withdrawal.”
“Mm! We’ll follow General Girard’s plan—but we need to slightly adjust our route. Have the fleet break into the Jinlok Consortium’s alert range from this coordinate.” Nie Yun thought for a moment, then sent Catherine a set of spatial coordinates.
“This is…” Catherine opened the star map and began simulating the fleet’s route. She quickly noticed something unusual.
According to the coordinates Nie Yun provided, near their route there was a very conspicuous red hostile marker—
“Wormhole Expansion Device No. 2?!”
“Mm! I received intel that although this installation was heavily damaged in the last ‘Tidal Operation,’ the Jinlok Consortium has now repaired most of it. It should be fully restored within a couple of days.”
Catherine frowned.
Even though they were entering from behind enemy lines—a favorable position—no matter how foolish the enemy was, they would definitely station heavy defenses there while the device was not yet fully restored.
With just a dozen or so warships? That’s a joke.
“You’re planning a sneak attack? My lord, with all due respect, that’s too risky,” Catherine said bluntly.
“How could it be? I value my life very much. I just want to give them a little scare and conduct some close-range reconnaissance. Don’t worry—we won’t enter their firing range.” Nie Yun smiled slightly.
The reconnaissance was naturally just a pretense—what he really wanted was to see if he could get some “snacks” for his mechanical bugs.
He had been coveting the wormhole expansion device for a long time…
Regarding Nie Yun’s close-range reconnaissance plan, Beckman carefully analyzed it and judged the risk to be low. Moreover, they could also observe the enemy’s repair progress up close and even take some high-definition “secret photos” along the way.
Since it was essentially on the way, he quickly agreed to alter the fleet’s course.
A dozen or so warships activated stealth mode and quietly approached the wormhole…
Three hours later, Girard’s feint attack began right on schedule. Hundreds of warships, along with a large number of drones and mechs, crossed the wormhole and launched an assault on the defensive line held by the Ryan race.
The Ryan race was already accustomed to such attacks and immediately dispatched forces to intercept.
Just as the battle reached its peak, the Fallen Angel and its group—approaching under stealth—were finally detected by enemy radar.
The Ryan race was not surprised by the sudden appearance of this fleet behind them. Of the Gemini’s two special task fleets, one had already been confirmed to have fallen into pirate hands, while the other had remained missing.
Clearly, they assumed this fleet to be the “surviving” Gemini task force.
However, with only a dozen or so fast warships—and lacking heavy assault vessels—the threat they posed on such a battlefield was practically negligible.
But soon, the direction of the Fallen Angel’s movement immediately alerted the Ryan chieftain.
“What are they trying to do? Attack Wormhole Expansion Device No. 2 with just these ships?”
This was nothing short of suicidal! Could they be hiding some kind of secret weapon?
Though he couldn’t figure it out, to be safe he immediately ordered the guarding forces to heighten their alert, prepare to intercept, and dispatched a bronze mech corps to drive them off.
The last time the wormhole expansion device was heavily damaged, Jinlok had used the opportunity to severely punish the Ryan race. If it were damaged again this time, what awaited them would be an even fiercer wrath from Jinlok—he couldn’t afford to be careless.
However, to everyone’s surprise, when this small fleet approached within 20 million kilometers of the device, it suddenly changed course—skimming the edge—and followed a semi-arc trajectory, narrowly grazing the interception force’s firing range as it headed toward the wormhole!
What no one noticed was that just before turning, countless tiny holes suddenly appeared at the bow of the Fallen Angel, like a honeycomb, releasing thousands upon thousands of silver, hair-thin needles!
Each of these needles weighed only a few grams. Like a vast net, they drifted silently at a “snail-like” speed of 120 kilometers per second toward the heavily guarded Device No. 2.
If nothing unexpected happened, some of the “lucky bugs” within this net would hit the target two days later!
Even the most precise radar couldn’t detect such tiny objects from 20 million kilometers away. And two days later, the enemy’s vigilance would have dropped to its lowest—they wouldn’t pay any attention to what seemed like harmless cosmic dust…
Although the Fallen Angel had already turned away, the Ryan chieftain still didn’t dare relax.
“A diversion? Or trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain?”
After a moment’s thought, he dispatched a small force to pursue them, while still keeping a large number of defensive troops stationed near the wormhole expansion device.
But to his surprise, this small fleet truly did nothing more—after teasing him a bit, it plunged straight into the wormhole from the edge of the battlefield… and ran away!
Before the confused Ryan chieftain could figure out what was going on, the Gemini fleet responsible for cover also turned around and withdrew, leaving behind nothing but a trail of engine flares…
This… they’d been played again!
He finally realized that all those tricks were simply to cover the fleet’s retreat!
However, he soon had no time to dwell on such matters.
Before leaving, Nie Yun had broadcast a short message in plain code across the entire battlefield:
“Ryan Star has been attacked by pirates. Hundreds of thousands of Ryan people have been abducted, villages burned, and the Ryan race has suffered heavy losses!”
This information—originally tightly suppressed by the Jinlok Consortium—instantly spread among the Ryan soldiers, quickly causing unrest and panic.
To conquer a city is inferior; to conquer the heart is superior.
Under the influence of this news, the Ryan forces’ morale would inevitably waver for some time, and their combat effectiveness would likely be greatly reduced.
Before departing, Nie Yun had given Gemini yet another “gift.”
At the same time, Jinlok’s reputation among the Ryan race would inevitably plummet—after all, they had enslaved them but failed to protect their homeland and people.
Although harsh suppression from the Jinlok Consortium was almost certain, the conflict between the two sides would only intensify further.
And irreconcilable conflict… is undoubtedly the perfect breeding ground for rebellion.
TL Note- Rebellion....
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