Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 1432: Chapter 120: Discovery

Outside the massive porthole of the flagship’s bridge, planets suddenly appeared from the eternal darkness of the universe, rushing towards us, rapidly enlarging in front of our eyes before shrinking and disappearing. The light of the Constant Star reflected on the porthole, flickering on and off. It’s like a cold fire, vividly red, yet devoid of warmth.

The command hall, spanning a total of five floors, was illuminated by ceiling-wide electronic lights, making it as bright as daylight. Standing beside the railings of the highest circular walkway, looking down at the bottom floor hall filled with countless electronic equipment screens and interstellar maps, felt like peering into a dreamlike world. The changing graphics and flowing data and text were like colorful fish in shallow sea reefs, constantly swimming.

The hall appeared much quieter because the Senior Officers had gathered in the meeting room to hold a combat meeting.

The strategists in front of the SkyNet Control Console quietly worked on their tasks, occasionally glancing towards the third floor above the hall, waiting for the meeting to end.

As this phase of the hyperjump was about to end, would the fleet continue to voyage forward? Where exactly was the disappeared Western Alliance Fleet hiding in the dark universe? What on earth were the ship captains in the meeting room, the senior officers of the Staff Department, and those strange commanders of the bandit army doing at the moment? Could they locate that Western Alliance Fleet, or had the key issue by now shifted from the Western Alliance Fleet to the conflicts and distrust between these two unfamiliar factions?

Various speculations and thoughts churned in their minds as the strategists occasionally exchanged glances, reading a shared concern from the averted eyes of their companions.

The stifling atmosphere from the command hall permeated throughout all departments of the flagship. The pilots in the hangar were listless, the fighter navigators in the navigation tower stared blankly, the crew in the rest cabins tossed and turned on their berths, and even the bar attendants in the entertainment area seemed absent-minded while wiping glasses.

Amid this inexplicable oppression, a strategist quickly stepped out of the hangar heading to the bridge via the suspended elevator, parted from his companion, walked through the long corridor, and after identity verification at the automatic door at the end of the passage, entered the fifth floor of the command hall.

Passing a Tactical Discussion Room belonging to the Staff Department on the fifth floor, the strategist unexpectedly noticed the lights in the room were brightly lit. Through the glass, he saw four officers, like wooden sculptures—three men and one woman—standing around the tactical computer. Among them was his familiar superior, the true Commander of this fleet, Tony.

The strategist involuntarily paused his steps. He stared at Tony in surprise.

In his impression, Chief Tony was always so composed and serene, as calm as a gentle breeze. But now, that young and handsome face was undisguisedly distressed. His eyes were fixed intently on the tactical computer screen, as if something on that screen had captured his soul.

The strategist stared at the discussion room, and several strategists passing by him also stopped and followed his gaze.

In their mutual bewilderment, a thought simultaneously surfaced in everyone’s mind.

Something’s wrong?!

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It had been a long silence in the discussion room. Unaware that his expression was causing panic, Tony finally contained the tumult in his heart and smiled bitterly, saying: ”There’s no doubt, our new officer is a monster.”

”Tony...” Diana sat beside him, resting her chin on her hand, her eyes vacant: ”Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”

”I know it’s hard for you to accept,” Tony’s blue eyes squinted slightly, side-eyeing Diana as he said calmly: ”But, can I take your remark as an insult?”

Diana rolled her eyes in exasperation and fell silent.

She’s not afraid of Tony. In fact, while Tony is young, he doesn’t possess the sensitive and uncontrollable emotions typical of most young people. He’s mature and tolerant, never one for contesting, and to Diana, he feels like a big brother. Even if she were to point at his nose and tell him she’s insulting him, he could only smile wryly.

However, Diana has always had absolute confidence in Tony’s military expertise. Since Tony had reached a conclusion, there was no room for dispute. Besides, with her own military knowledge, she could clearly see that the orders casually issued by that impudent Fatty, as displayed on the tactical computer, were faster and more precise than Tony’s!

It’s hard to believe, yet it’s an undeniable fact.

After entering this Tactical Discussion Room, Tony had already called up all the intelligence data and Fatty’s order records since the start of this journey. Organizing and comparing these was a strenuous task. But fortunately, the complete Staff Department of the Phantom First Fleet allowed Tony to assign the task through his privileges in the tactical computer program, getting answers within twenty minutes.

Setting aside some routine commands of fleet command, there were some noteworthy points in Fatty’s orders.

Five hours ago, during the first segment. When a gravitational reef appeared ahead, Fatty issued a command for the fleet to proceed along a precise gravitational boundary line. Four and a half hours ago, in the obstacle zone of the first segment, when the radar officer reported a meteor cluster ahead, he simultaneously issued a command to match the speed of the flagship with the fleet.

And in the third segment, when an electromagnetic storm emerged around, he had already preemptively ordered a switch in communication modes. Consequently, the fleet communication remained smooth, and everyone was completely unaware of the electromagnetic storm surrounding them; only the electronic database recorded the storm interfering with all communications during that time.