Super Mothership
"What?!" Shadow's expression was one of utter disbelief.
The fleets of Black Sail, Madman, the Dragoons, and Red Dragon seemed to have coordinated beforehand. All of them came charging toward Shadow's position at once, looking as though they intended to gang up on him.
Hey, hey! Isn't the Ghost Pirates the ones being surrounded?
Are they seriously going to leave them alone?
Could it be that they were planning to trade pieces? Were they intending to sacrifice the Ghost Pirates in exchange for Shadow?
Although Shadow had considered that Karon's recklessness might provoke a counterattack, he had never imagined that he would somehow become the primary target of the enemy's retaliation.
"Karon! Come back! This is very likely a trap!" Shadow hurriedly contacted the Karon Beast again.
"I have to kill the Ghost Captain first. It won't take long!"
There was no denying that Nie Yun's ability to draw aggro was first-rate. The Karon Beast's determination to kill the Ghost Captain was exceptionally firm.
"Damn it!" Shadow cursed under his breath and immediately ordered his fleet to turn away from the frontal assault, maneuvering around Flint and the others' fleets instead.
Facing four opponents at once, Shadow might have been extremely confident in his own strength, but he certainly didn't believe he could win.
Meanwhile, the Ghost Pirates made an action that left everyone utterly bewildered.
The Ghost Fleet charged straight toward the Debt Collection Alliance, while a lone flagship was left behind.
Facing the surging Karon Beast and its bioengineered army all by itself, the Ghost Pirates' flagship appeared so lonely and helpless in the eyes of the onlookers, carrying the tragic aura of a lone hero making a final stand.
"What are they trying to do? Leave one flagship behind to die?"
A string of question marks appeared in everyone's minds.
Could it be that they were deliberately doing this to appease the Karon Beast's fury?
The move was impossible to understand, yet it successfully struck a nerve with both Karon and the Debt Collection Alliance.
The Karon Beast saw an easy opportunity to eliminate the Ghost Captain.
The Debt Collection Alliance, meanwhile, saw the enormous amount of wealth loaded aboard the ship!
"Uh... What kind of stupid move is the Ghost Captain making?"
"What do you know? This is called giving people exactly what they want! Ordinary people can't pull off a move like this. Can't you see? Everyone's completely stunned!"
"Hahaha..."
Laughter erupted throughout the Debt Collection Alliance.
In their eyes, what was approaching them wasn't an enemy.
They were ships overflowing with wealth, practically throwing themselves into their arms.
...
"Their formation is loose, there's virtually no coordination between them, and less than twenty percent of their ships are actual warships. Most of the rest are nothing more than gunboats converted from merchant vessels.
"They do have quite a lot of mecha, but they all look like cannon fodder. A whole swarm of them, yet they can't even perform basic serpentine maneuvers properly..."
"I have to say, the enemies in this high-difficulty instance seem unexpectedly weak!"
One of the captains from the "Infinite Fleet Faction" complained over the command channel.
"What kind of tactical discipline can you expect from a bunch of pirates? The instance description already explained it in detail. The Shattered Star Region only has the Seven Great Pirate Groups that can be considered relatively organized armed forces. The rest are so insignificant that even their background descriptions are written with nothing more than a few vague strokes.
"The fact that these originally nameless background characters managed to get a chance to appear is already the screenwriter giving them some extra screen time for free, okay?"
"Uh... when you put it that way, I suddenly feel kind of sorry for them..."
"Actually, this battle does have a certain level of difficulty. It's just that the hardest opponent, the Karon Legion, was taken care of by the Captain himself."
"Exactly! We're simply too weak, so the Captain has to personally step in. I feel extremely ashamed! But... the main reason is still that we don't have enough warships!"
"Yeah! The brother above saw through the essence of the matter. The Infinite Fleet Faction has no fleet, just like a clever housewife with no rice to cook!"
"Hold the doctrinal propaganda for a moment. Does anyone know where those guys from the Martial Faction went?"
"Yeah! I remember there were still several hundred of them, right? Those guys are usually the loudest ones. Why are they so quiet today?"
"I know, I know! I heard they discovered some important NPC. Apparently, they're all gathered around him right now farming favorability."
"Uh... don't tell me these guys really think this is a game?"
"Shh~ The scientists already said that treating this as a game by default can greatly reduce players' psychological resistance to war and their trauma responses.
"So what happens in the game stays in the game. Knowing when not to expose the truth is a basic quality of players on the Civilization Front! Haven't you read this year's bestselling book, 'The Self-Cultivation of Players'?"
"Uh! Sorry, sorry! My self-hypnosis just wore off. I'll fix it immediately. I'm a player. I'm a player..."
"Ahem! Enough. Back to business. Just now, the artificial intelligence has handed over command authority for the battle to us. So, how are we going to fight this?"
Everyone immediately put away their various reaction images, and their tones became serious.
"Based on my experience from 775 PVP fleet simulation battles, where I achieved an A+ rating, the best way to deal with an enemy that's nothing more than a scattered rabble is to identify the weakest target and focus fire until they collapse. As long as we can break their psychological defenses and trigger a chain reaction, the rest of the battle will basically become garbage time!"
"Hmm! Brilliant! I second that with 803 battles under my belt."
"..."
"Ahem! I'm only at 665 battles, but I'd like to suggest to the big shots here that, in order to reduce our losses, we could secretly bribe a few fence-sitters and coordinate an attack from within. We could undermine them from the inside!"
"We can do that?!" Everyone was astonished.
"Our tactics instructor always says one thing: anything is possible! Who says you can't use the power of money when playing StarCraft?"
"Bribery? Brother 665, that move is pretty slick. But... where are we getting the money from?"
"Hehe! I just checked our logistics supplies and discovered that the amount listed under 'funds' practically breaks through the heavens. So I submitted a tactical support application on a whim, and then... the AI approved 500 million Shattered Star Points as tactical experimentation funding."
"That's insane!"
"A rich guy has appeared!"
"The Captain doesn't lack money!"
"Hmm... Recruiting and dividing the enemy, attacking both their fortifications and their morale, while fully exploiting our asymmetric advantage of being rich while they're poor. This strategy deeply embodies the essence of the art of war. Brother 665, you're a formidable youngster!"
"I have a feeling that after this battle, Brother 665 will definitely become 666!"
"Hahaha! You're too kind, seniors!"
After a bout of intense brainstorming—or rather, a brainstorming session that was essentially an exercise in business blowing—the tactical plan proposed by everyone was quickly approved by the rear command center in Magic City, Earth, as well as the AI, and officially entered the execution phase.
The helmsmen began adjusting the fleet formations, while the gunners began calibrating their firing parameters.
At the same time, based on the intelligence they had gathered, the staff officers began selecting potential targets for subversion...
...
Behind the Debt Collection Alliance's fleet.
The red-, yellow-, and blue-painted flagships had gathered together.
"I'm telling you, are we really going to get involved in this mess? The Ghost Pirates aren't easy to deal with. I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong."
"At this point, do we even have a choice? Our base has already been wiped out by the Dragoons. Our plan to follow Black Sail and grab some benefits has gone down the drain too.
"Right now, my brothers are already discussing how to divide up the luggage!"
"Gentlemen, we're already at the end of the road. If we miss this opportunity too, all three of our pirate groups will have to declare bankruptcy and disband immediately!"
"Exactly! Those with nothing left to lose have nothing to fear. Since we're already out of options, we might as well gamble everything on this!
"Besides, the Ghost Captain has already separated from his fleet, and his Legendary Mecha isn't there. What are we afraid of?"
"Hmm! Well said. But just to be safe, when the fighting starts, everyone should stay farther back. We don't need much. As soon as we manage to grab a few cargo ships, we'll immediately retreat!"
That's right.
They were the Red-Yellow-Blue Tragic Trio.
Because their names had been far too conspicuous, the Dragoons had chosen them as the examples to make an example of everyone else. The three had suffered the most—gaining nothing while having their home bases wiped out.
Now that they had nowhere else to turn, they had gritted their teeth and joined the Debt Collection Alliance, hoping to get a share of the Ghost Pirates' spoils and recover at least some of their losses.
However, after watching the entire chaotic battle unfold, the three also understood that the Ghost Pirates were absolutely not an opponent to be taken lightly.
Hadn't even a big shot like Gold Dagger been killed by them?
Otherwise, why do you think the Debt Collection Alliance consisted of only a few hundred ships?
Because anyone with a functioning brain wouldn't choose to take such a risk.
Those who did choose to take the risk were either blinded by greed...
...or people like the three of them, who had already been driven into a corner.
Deep down, the three were actually extremely nervous about this risky gamble.
But circumstances had forced their hand.
They simply had no choice.
"Beep beep beep~"
Just then, the communicators of the three men suddenly rang almost simultaneously.
"Hello! I'm the negotiation specialist from the Ghost Pirates..."
TL Note- Divide and Rule...
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