Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2289 surprise battle

Near the Safe Zone—

Ruuuuumble

Nearly one hundred and forty fleets continued advancing at an extremely slow pace, maintaining their overall formation while making constant, subtle adjustments to ensure that not a single weakness appeared in their ranks as they steadily closed in on their target. Every maneuver had been calculated beforehand, allowing the enormous armada to move as though it were a single living organism rather than hundreds of individual warships.

Every light aboard the fleet had been extinguished.

Their concealment formations were fully activated.

Their anti-detection barriers operated at peak efficiency.

Even the smallest emissions from their engines were suppressed as much as possible.

Beneath that veil of absolute secrecy, the countless spacecraft spread outward in perfect silence and discipline, producing barely enough activity to alert anyone observing the surrounding space from afar, while every crew member aboard remained under strict orders to avoid any unnecessary movement that might increase detectable energy fluctuations.

Like a beehive disturbed by an attack, the enormous swarm that had previously advanced in a massive arrowhead formation gradually began separating from one another, each fleet drifting into its assigned position without sacrificing overall cohesion or their ability to instantly reform their original formation should the need arise.

The ten support vessels assigned to every fleet deliberately increased the distance separating themselves from their mothership, arranging themselves into a formation while the mothership remained safely protected at the center. Surrounding them, the smaller engagement vessels slowly began circling at carefully calculated intervals, ensuring that any large-scale attack would strike as few ships as possible while minimizing every potential casualty once the battle began. Every captain already knew precisely where to move the moment the first shot was fired.

Little by little, the colossal swarm transformed into an immense wall of warships and heavy artillery.

A wall stretching across an enormous expanse of space.

Thousands of firing ports.

Countless heavy cannons.

An armada prepared to assault an entire galaxy.

Literally.

”Is everything in position?”

The Seventh Son of Zargul spoke without taking his eyes off the magnificent sight unfolding before him.

He stood inside the command chamber of the fleetʼs flagship, where a gigantic transparent observation window stretched from floor to ceiling, displaying the battlefield with such perfect clarity that it almost felt as though he were standing directly in the vacuum of space himself, watching the galaxy with his own eyes rather than through reinforced observation glass.

”Everything is ready.”

One of Zargulʼs Third Generation Sons answered respectfully from nearby.

”In another ten minutes, weʼll enter the effective firing range of our artillery. At that point, we can open fire.”

A broad smile spread across his face.

”Weʼll strike while weʼre still concealed. Weʼll wipe out two or three patrol fleets before they even realize what happened... or where the attack came from. By the time they react, the rest of our barrage will already be underway.”

The smile on that sonʼs face...

On the face of that veteran admiral...

Was completely genuine.

Deep inside, he already considered the battle won.

Every preparation...

Every sacrifice...

Every calculation...

Had been made solely to create this single perfect moment.

When they departed Young Sector 98, they deliberately altered their course before entering the transit route, ensuring that their eventual exit point would become completely unpredictable. Within a sector as unimaginably vast as Young Sector 99, locating the precise point from which they had emerged—or even predicting the direction of their advance afterward—had become practically impossible, no matter how extensive the enemyʼs surveillance network might be.

Furthermore, they had pushed their engines to their absolute limits, burning through hundreds of millions of pearls in order to arrive an entire month earlier than anyone would have expected. It was an astronomical expense, but they had gladly paid it in exchange for what they believed would be the decisive factor in securing victory...

The element of surprise.

In other words...

Even if the enemy somehow knew they were coming...

They would never know where they would appear.

Nor when they would arrive.

Nor the exact instant the attack would begin.

From the very moment they reached the sector, they had activated their concealment formations, spending yet another enormous fortune in pearls simply to maintain them throughout their entire approach without allowing even the slightest lapse.

Those gigantic formations were among the greatest inventions ever produced by the Enchantment Galaxy.

Only an extremely limited number had ever been sold due to their outrageous price.

The most recent known buyer had been a mysterious individual who spent nearly seven billion pearls to acquire just a single formation.

Combining every one of those advantages...

The conclusion seemed obvious.

It was impossible for the True Beginning Empire to know that today would be the day they were attacked.

That certainty was plainly reflected in the admiralʼs eyes.

Within minutes, the Safe Zone would enter their firing range.

Yet the defending fleets still remained scattered throughout the region, each facing different directions while others lazily followed routine orbital patrol routes, looking no different from an ordinary day of peace.

To him...

They were completely oblivious to what was about to descend upon them.

”Do not open fire immediately.”

The Seventh Son raised his hand decisively.

Under countless puzzled and doubtful gazes, his calm expression remained unchanged as he continued speaking.

”I want to speak with their commander first, whoever that may be. Perhaps we can reach an agreement that spares both sides a great deal of unnecessary bloodshed. If they surrender without resistance, everyone benefits.”

”But, my lord...”

The admiral addressed his elder brother respectfully.

”Our opening strike will erase at least three fleets outright. Several more will suffer heavy damage. Their defensive lines will collapse, and their response will become slow and disorganized. Itʼs the single most important strike of this entire battle.”

The Seventh Son frowned.

”Letʼs assume we destroy ten fleets instead of three.”

His voice remained perfectly composed.

”What comes afterward? Weʼll still have to fight nearly forty Note-4 Fleets in a prolonged engagement.”

He finally turned toward the admiral.

”Are you prepared to bear the casualties that such a battle will inevitably produce? Every fleet we lose afterward will outweigh the advantage of that first strike.”

”...”

The admiral tilted his head slightly.

”Then... whatʼs the plan?”

No one present could deny the overwhelming strength of the Nota Fleets after witnessing their performance in battle after battle.

Anyone foolish enough to compare them with spacecraft belonging to civilizations outside the Tyrant Galaxy would only make a laughingstock of himself...

Even among experienced military commanders.

”Iʼll engage them in lengthy negotiations.”

The Seventh Son spoke with complete confidence.

”Iʼll intimidate them. Our strength is overwhelming compared to any defensive force stationed within the Young Belt. Simply revealing my own presence will be enough to discourage resistance.”

He proudly lifted his chin before continuing,

”In my opinion, the worst possible outcome is that the defending forces flee. As for the best... They surrender immediately and swear their loyalty to me without forcing us to fight at all.”

Then he made a decisive gesture.

”Inform all forty-six Nexus State cultivators and all four hundred forty World Catastrophes to prepare to leave their ships.”

”The mere sight of them will plant terror in the enemyʼs hearts.”

”I wonʼt even need to speak a single threatening word.”

”Today... We will win this war without firing a single shot.”

”Understood!”

Everyone present saluted sharply before immediately activating their communication networks, relaying the Seventh Sonʼs orders to every fleet commander and command unit with the utmost speed. Within moments, countless streams of information spread throughout the armada as every officer hurried to prepare for what they believed would be the decisive battle, ensuring that every formation and every elite combatant would be ready to move the instant the order was given.

As for the Seventh Son...

He kept his gaze fixed straight ahead.

The savage smile on his face only grew wider with every passing second, his confidence reaching its peak as the distance separating him from the Safe Zone steadily diminished.

”Nine minutes...”

”Nine more minutes, and the True Beginning Galaxy will belong to me.”

”Nine minutes, and—”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

A tremendous shockwave slammed directly into the flagshipʼs command bridge.

The entire command chamber shook violently, warning lights flashed throughout the bridge, and even the deck beneath their feet lurched for an instant as countless crew members instinctively reached for nearby consoles to steady themselves.

”What happened?!”

The Seventh Son shot to his feet.

”Detection arrays report an armada of fifteen Note-4 Fleets appearing off our starboard flank! That side has been crushed!!”

”What?!”

The Seventh Sonʼs expression changed dramatically as he looked through the observation window once more.

The defensive forces surrounding the galaxy...

Were still lazily drifting through space exactly as they had been only moments earlier.

”This is impossible...”

”Somethingʼs wrong!”

”We have confirmed intelligence from the Syndicate stating that there are only those fifty fleets stationed near the galaxy!”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

”The port flank has been hit! The port flank has been hit!!”

”Another armada of fifteen additional fleets has appeared over there!”

”Weʼve detected a strange spatial gate releasing the ships on both flanks! Itʼs a spatial gate without a metallic frame!”

”How the hell did thirty entire fleets suddenly emerge from such a tiny gateway without any of us detecting them?!”

”What happened to our detection formations?!”

”What happened to our concealment arrays?!”

The Seventh Son roared furiously before waving his arm with overwhelming force.

”The entire formation, halt!”

”Split toward port and starboard immediately!”

”Engage the enemy at once!”

”Understood!”

Rrrrrrrrrr...

The Seventh Son stared straight ahead.

His eyes remained wide open...

As though he had forgotten how to blink.

The fifty fleets assigned to defend the galaxy...

The ones scattered everywhere...

The ones drifting about like aimless bees searching for nectar...

Had vanished.

Every last ship disappeared simultaneously.

They had merely been holographic projections, carefully maintained until the precise moment they were no longer needed.

Standing in their place...

Were seventy fleets.

Perfectly aligned.

Perfectly synchronized.

Every flagship occupied its assigned position with terrifying precision, while the surrounding vessels completed an enormous battle formation that appeared as though it had been rehearsed countless times.

At that very moment...

The countless heavy cannons mounted across the seventy fleets began glowing with terrifying intensity as overwhelming amounts of energy rapidly accumulated within every barrel, causing the darkness of space itself to become saturated with expanding waves of light.

”They were...”

The Seventh Son muttered, the confidence that had filled his voice only moments ago now completely gone.

”...waiting for us?”

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

The combined artillery barrage of all seventy fleets transformed the skies of Young Sector 99 into broad daylight.