Counterfeit Hero

Many Feiyang soldiers sit on their beds, covering their faces, crying out loud. Many others curl up in the corner, burying their faces in their arms, letting tears run freely.

They can accept defeat, but they cannot accept watching their comrades sacrifice their lives for their survival.

As part of the Feiyang Fleet, invincible across the universe, they realize for the first time that they, and their country, can be so vulnerable!

No one dares to look at the screen anymore.

In sorrow and silence, under the flickering lights of the virtual screen, they quietly await the final retreat order. Despite their fear of hearing that voice, despite the word cutting through their hearts like a knife, they know the order will come sooner or later.

The loudspeaker buzzes as the communication microphone is turned on.

Douglas trembles, gripping the microphone tightly, unable to bring himself to utter the word retreat.

He trusts Fatty so much, but.......

Suddenly, a voice rings out through the loudspeaker.

”God! What is that?!!!”

Everyone freezes. This is not Douglas’s voice; it’s Pang Mingjian’s voice.

This voice is so loud and sudden. The normally calm and silent Chief of Staff bursts out a shout filled with wild joy, shock, and disbelief.

Including Douglas, all the Feiyang soldiers instinctively look at the long-range viewer screen.

The bright electronic lights in the command room reflect the soldiers’ shadows onto the porthole glass. They are all in a stupor, their bloodshot eyes widen with excitement, disbelief, fervor, and a hint of chaos. Blood rushes to their cheeks, their nostrils flare, and their half-open lips tremble uncontrollably......

On the huge virtual screen in front of them, a fighter resembling Saleria’s [Gladiator] but different emerges quietly from the black void. Then another, and another..... On each fighter’s wing is painted a bandit insignia of an eagle spreading its wings and a skull!

Energy Cannons of these fighters gather traces of light. Their tail thrusters explode with long blue trails. Each fighter appears suddenly in the void after a shared burst of blue light. The fighters emerge like Santa clause intent on giving endless surprises to eager children.

In just two seconds, three hundred Space Fighters appear one after another.

Their speed is like lightning across the night sky; their formation is a triangular attack formation; and their position is less than three thousand kilometers from Hanfrey’s flagship aircraft carrier, [Feiyu]!

A second later, the first wave of Energy Cannons streaks across the night sky, hitting a battleship guarding the rear of the [Feiyu] carrier. The battleship’s energy shield collapses instantly, breaks entirely, turning into a ball of white light! After the white light dissipates, [Feiyu] is exposed in front of the fighters, its massive body completely stunned!

Time seems to freeze at this moment!

”General Tian...” Douglas’s fingers almost pierce through the metal railing.

”Is this.... the bandit army?” Chief of Staff Pang Mingjian’s mouth gapes open, his eyes seemingly losing focus: ”That operation plan, is it real? Have they really arrived?”

From despair to hope...... Even the toughest Feiyang warriors cannot withstand this moment’s impact. As adrenaline rushes to their brains and electricity climbs up their spine, tears burst uncontrollably like floodwaters overflowing a dam!

”Ah!......” A Feiyang Senior Soldier screams crazily, clenching his fists with his face flushed, veins bulging from his forehead and neck. His shout lasts for a full ten seconds, until all the air from his lungs is expelled with unstoppable tears!

”Left rudder 3000 degrees! We’re going back!”

As if responding to the mad shout, Douglas’s slightly hoarse voice comes through the loudspeaker!

Without any hesitation, all the Feiyang warriors rush to their posts at the fastest speed of their lives. Many of them still don’t understand what exactly is happening. However, this is the command they’ve longed to hear. At this moment, their brains cannot hold anything else. At this moment, the fierce desire to fight burns within them. At this moment, they just want to turn back and fight hard!

In the distant starry sky, the sudden surprise attack continues.

”Come on, brothers!” a bandit army pilot sneers. His fighter rolls in the air and joins the massive triangular attack formation.

The red indicator lights up, and he presses the fire button on the control stick.

Following the first wave of Energy Cannons, three hundred missiles shoot out like a school of fish diving into the deep sea, leaving the fighters’ wings after a momentary pause then dashing forward fiercely. The sky seems to be lit by the straight trails from the tails of those three hundred space missiles.

The Hanfrey Fleet, like a hornet’s nest fiercely poked, melts into chaos. The [Feiyu] aircraft carrier frantically accelerates to turn, attempting to shake off the missiles behind it. The surrounding escort warships desperately swarm towards it. Far away, the fighters attacking the Feiyang Fleet crazily return to base.