Counterfeit Hero

The armed merchant ship slowly turned and departed from the fleet. With its rear thrusters fully open, the massive hull of the Vast carrier, with its brightly lit portholes, began to rapidly shrink along with the majestic warships surrounding her after a slight tremor, eventually blending into the darkness of space. Only dozens of radar blips remained, their distance from the radar center growing ever larger.

The renovated merchant ship mostly retained its previous interior decorations. The porthole frames were made of heavy, textured, fireproof wood, aged and slightly discolored. On it, a dagger graffiti left by some pirate years ago remained. Outside the window, a piece of darkness stretched on, and far away, a few faint stars were visible. Under the dim light, Fatty lit a cigarette, watching as the swirling smoke rose and finally dissipated into the unlit darkness.

”What are you really trying to do?” Margaret stood quietly behind Fatty. Her beautiful face showed slightly furrowed eyebrows, and her enchanting blue eyes were filled with endless confusion.

From the moment the deal was struck, Margaret understood that things were definitely not as simple as Fatty claimed, merely an interest in Feiyang’s operations. This Fatty, who wouldn’t release the eagle without seeing the rabbit, nor string the bow without meeting the enemy, wouldn’t offer a Mecha from the Binart Empire as a bargaining chip unless for a major plan. However, she couldn’t figure out what that plan was, as the bandit army didn’t seem to have the capability to fish in troubled Saleria waters.

Even if the Suss Fleet went all out, there were still three Jiepeng Fleets in the Saleria Longbow Star System. And in the nearby Bermuda Star System, there was the combined Jiepeng and Suss United Fleet. Although these fleets were reserve forces for the Leray Central Star Domain Fleet, in the event of trouble in Saleria, they could complete their entire set of processes from assembly preparation to launch, to arriving in Saleria and engaging any fleet within seven days.

The Feiyang 19th Group Fleet commanded by Douglas had indeed secretly arrived at the edge of the Saleria Longbow Star System—long before the Chuckna Fleet made a high-profile entry into the Southeast Main Channel, this fleet had already passed through the Resk Jump Point.

Zhang Pengcheng didn’t know, Carolina didn’t know either. The Mars Front Army was merely a pawn on the surface of this battle. The actual main force was this Feiyang mixed fleet composed of four A-class fleets. Now, they lay hidden, eyeing the Longbow Star System like a tiger watching its prey.

However, strategically speaking, capturing the Longbow Star System would be ideal, but Douglas wouldn’t forcibly attempt it if unsuccessful. For this Feiyang task fleet, all actions were just a step in a series of battle plans. Their goal was to strike, to destroy as much of the enemy’s living force as possible, and to destroy a large number of warships.

The war would not end quickly, and forcibly occupying the Longbow Star System did not equate to victory. The outcome of the war was a matter of the comparative growth and decline of comprehensive combat power, including personnel, ships, equipment, economy, and logistics. Only by extensively eliminating enemy living forces and strategic materials could one gradually seize the initiative in the war.

According to the analysis by the Feiyang intelligence agency on the military strength of Jiepeng and Suss, their military strength ranked among the top ten in the universe, but years of aggressive wars had already overdrawn too much of their national power. The numerous warships they possessed were, in fact, many facing elimination according to Feiyang’s military equipment plan. And, in the early stages of their attack on the Leray Bermuda Star System, their losses exceeded their previous expectations. This further confirmed the lack of national resources behind their power.

If this surprise attack succeeded, it would be a major blow to both countries. At the very least, for two months, Suss and Jiepeng’s military deployment in the Southeast Star Domain would be in a dire situation.

The Blue Stone Star, occupied by Suss and Jiepeng, had many surrounding resource planets rich in resources. The spaceport base on Blue Stone Star was the main attack target of the Feiyang Fleet in this battle. However, a single attack wouldn’t necessarily capture Blue Stone Star entirely. Without capturing Blue Stone Star, there would be no benefits for the bandit army in the Longbow Star Domain. Why would Fatty embark on something unprofitable? Furthermore, even if Blue Stone Star were seized, it would belong to the Feiyang Republic, and with the limited say the bandit army had, how could they possibly lay hands on Blue Stone Star’s interests?!

Fatty couldn’t be ignorant of this rationale, so what exactly did he want?!

”Nothing... just going to watch the fun. Opportunity knocks but once.” Fatty lied easily, with a story even a three-year-old child wouldn’t believe, as his eyes traced the elegant line of Margaret’s neck downward.

That perfectly shaped chest, those graceful curves... one had to admit, this woman was the dream of lustful fantasizers across the universe. Dreaming of her made you either wet or hurt.

The battle plan, Fatty had already obtained. He hesitated for a long time on whether to burn the bridge now. After thinking it over, he ultimately took the excuse of fearing changes in the plan and dared not provoke Hastings. Although that person was far away and not from Leray, Fatty understood well that someone like that had ten thousand ways to play ten thousand Fattys to death! Now, as the big shot of the Allies, it was best to lay low.