Super Mothership
Three days later.
As if they had planned it in advance, the main fleets of Black Sails, the Maniacs, the Twin Dragons, and the Ghost Pirates all disappeared from the surveillance networks of the various factions at almost exactly the same time…
The Shattered Star Domain immediately exploded into chaos.
As the new generation of ruling powers in the Shattered Star Domain, the main fleets of these five great pirate groups had simultaneously set out, and they had even deliberately concealed their movements…
Would you believe them if they said they were just going out for dinner?
Immediately, the small and medium-sized factions that had originally depended on the Gold Coin Pirates and Karon Pirates became extremely nervous. They feared that the new bosses were going to carry out a major purge of the various factions.
This sort of thing wasn't unusual. Basically, whenever one of the big shots rose to power, the Shattered Star Domain would be thrown into turmoil for a while.
But even more people speculated that there was probably only one target left in the entire Shattered Star Domain worthy of making all five big shots act simultaneously…
Could it be that, following the Gold Coin Pirates and Karon Pirates, the only remaining major power, the Dark Temple, was about to suffer the same fate?
After all, the Dark Temple had once tried to rescue the Gold Coin Pirates and had clashed with Karon and the five great pirate leaders.
In other words, the Dark Temple was their final threat and opponent.
This speculation quickly became the mainstream theory throughout the Shattered Star Domain, and the Dark Temple naturally went on high alert.
Dark Shadow immediately began pulling back its forces, deploying large numbers of unmanned reconnaissance drones outside its headquarters to monitor all the major routes, while simultaneously sending out spies to track the whereabouts of the five great fleets.
While everyone was speculating about who would be the next unlucky target, another group of people in Shattered Star City was also thrown into complete chaos, with everyone on edge.
“Hey! Did you lend him the money or not?”
“Absolutely not! I even had the accounting firm go through the books three times. I definitely didn't lend him a single cent! What about you?”
“How could I possibly lend him anything? I gave the order a long time ago. If that evil star came to borrow money, anything under one hundred million would be written off immediately. Consider it paying for protection against disaster.”
“Sigh! I heard Old Meyer from the All-Killing Bank was so frightened that he packed his things and went back to the countryside to retire. Although he proactively went to settle the debt, whether he'll be able to keep his life is still a question mark.”
“Yeah! Business is really difficult these days! Who would've thought that even lending money could attract a killing star? Hmm… I still don't feel safe. Let's just close up shop and take a few days off.”
“Good idea. We'll all close down together!”
“……”
Rumors spread throughout the city. As a result, banks and money houses throughout the Shattered Star Domain began hanging up signs announcing that they were closed for business, leaving the pirates utterly bewildered.
Had Shattered Star City suddenly fallen into an economic depression, or had it been hit by a financial crisis?
…
Lissa Star System.
This was a prosperous star system that had been developed for more than 650 years, located in the outer territories of the Locke Consortium.
The fourth planet, Lissa, the administrative planet of the star system, was a terraformed habitable world inhabited by more than nine billion colonists.
Because of its excellent geographical location and its position as a transportation hub connecting several major routes, merchant ships from all over the Empire passed through year-round. It was an important trading center for the surrounding star regions and provided the Locke Consortium with a considerable amount of tax revenue every year.
The trading markets here were packed with spacecraft, while the spaceports and orbital elevators were exceptionally busy, handling enormous amounts of wealth every day.
At this moment, on the outskirts of the star system, a small merchant convoy consisting of ten cargo ships was slowly entering Lissa's air-defense identification zone.
“Fleet identification code XXXXXXX. Name: ‘Scud Merchant Convoy.’ Requesting entry into Lissa Starport. Estimated docking time: seven days.”
“Request confirmed! Please follow the guidance instructions and proceed to the A3-area spaceport. Berth number XXXXXX.”
The onboard AI quickly issued the entry authorization.
“Phew! We finally made it!” The bearded captain removed his headset and let out a long sigh of relief.
“Haha! We can finally get off the ship and relax! I'm going to the Broken Cauldron Bar and drink for three days and three nights!”
“Tch! With your drinking capacity, you'll be drunk for three days and three nights. I think your intentions have nothing to do with drinking, do they?”
“What the hell do you know? This is what they call dying beneath peony flowers and still being a romantic ghost!”
“Hahaha…”
The surrounding crew members also burst into laughter and began teasing one another.
The captain was smiling as he watched them celebrate when the radar suddenly began emitting a rapid series of beeps.
“Captain, there's an unidentified field reaction at our nine o'clock position, 800,000 kilometers away!”
An unidentified field reaction?
What the hell was that?
“But the optical sensors aren't showing anything there.” The navigator glanced at the monitors in confusion.
The captain's heart skipped a beat when he heard that.
“Quick! Perform a laser scan of that area!”
Very quickly, several fan-shaped, low-power, variable-spectrum lasers began sweeping back and forth across the area.
The next moment, something astonishing happened!
Wherever the scanning lasers passed, the outlines of a huge number of flying objects appeared like ghosts, only to disappear back into the void moments later.
“Whoa!”
The images transmitted by the light-sensitive detectors caused everyone on the bridge to erupt in an uproar.
“It's… it's a fleet! There's a fleet using optical stealth right beside us!” The captain immediately jumped out of his seat.
Ordinary legitimate merchant ships naturally had no reason to install optical stealth systems. Moreover, the experienced captain had already vaguely guessed the identity of the other side from certain outlines and traces of modifications on their hulls.
The moment he thought of that terrifying possibility, combined with the enormous size of the fleet, the bearded captain shuddered.
“Quick! Run! Get away from them! Get out of this star system!”
Everyone realized that something was seriously wrong. Like rabbits frightened by a cold-blooded venomous snake, the merchant convoy desperately began fleeing.
True to the name “Scud Merchant Convoy,” its speed had clearly been enhanced, making it significantly faster than an ordinary merchant convoy.
“Boss, should we send someone after them and take out those guys?”
“No need. At this distance, the warning systems inside the star system have probably detected us too. Tell the brothers to raise their shields. Get ready to start the operation!”
“You got it!”
At the same time, ear-piercing alarms began ringing throughout the entire Lissa Star System.
Countless merchant convoys and residents who had been staying there instantly fell into tremendous panic…
Because…
Pirates had arrived!
…
Locke Star, headquarters of the Locke Consortium.
“B-Boss! This is bad! The Lissa Star System, Broly Star System, Jilian Star System, and Zamas Star System have all been invaded by pirates at the same time!”
The explosive news stunned everyone present.
It also completely dumbfounded the fat man who had been lying against a beautiful maid while eating fruit…
“Plop!”
The fruit in Jinlock's mouth fell onto the maid's pristine white dress, leaving behind a conspicuous dark-red stain.
Yet he seemed completely oblivious to it.
“What? Say that again!”
Jinlock suddenly jumped to his feet, his short and chubby body displaying astonishing elasticity.
Unfortunately, even though his subordinate repeated the report with cold sweat pouring down his forehead, it did nothing to change the cruel reality.
“Damn it! They've already come knocking on our door, and we didn't receive even the slightest warning beforehand? What the hell is Chloros doing? Didn't he say he'd take care of those pirates from the Shattered Star Domain?”
Jinlock stamped his feet in fury, while a powerful sense of unease also welled up inside him.
After all, at this very moment, the total number of warships in his fleets stationed throughout the various star systems was no more than 500.
And even those were only second-line reserve fleets with relatively weak combat capabilities.
With such forces, merely spreading them out to defend their enormous territory was already stretching them to the limit.
How could they possibly have enough strength to resist the pirates' surprise attacks with their forces divided across multiple fronts?
“How many warships have they brought?” Jinlock asked with bloodshot eyes.
At this point, all he could do was hope that some insignificant pirate group had merely come to take advantage of the situation.
Although they would suffer some losses, they could always settle the score afterward.
“T-Two…”
“Two hundred?” Jinlock breathed a sigh of relief.
“Two thousand!”
“Ugh…”
His eyes rolled back.
“Huh? Huh! Boss? Boss? Quick! The boss passed out! Somebody pinch his philtrum!”
TL Note- Attack...
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