75: Be prepared

As time passed, the pirates from the Four Great Pirate Groups in the starry sky had fought to the point of madness.

Tens of thousands of fleets charged headlong into the gunfire.

Even knowing it was an illusory world, everyone was ignited with boundless courage by the promise of high rewards from their faction leaders.

There was no need to consider the danger, no need to consider conservation.

Dense railgun fire and laser beams blasted back and forth like they were free of charge; from afar, it looked like a colorful river of stars flowing through space.

Planet after planet turned to dust, and the broken fragments of starships and mechs carpeted the starry sky.

Among them, four fleets were sweeping the battlefield with obvious crushing momentum.

Ordinary main cannons couldn't even break their shields, yet they could destroy an entire area with a casual discharge of firepower.

"Suppressor Generation One series."

Although it had undergone exterior modifications, Zhang Huaiyuan recognized this classic starship, which had been phased out by the Free Star Alliance thirty years ago, at a glance.

The ship lived up to its name; the core design philosophy of the "Suppressor Generation One" emphasized bullying the weak with the strong.

It abandoned the traditional design of high-power main cannons paired with multi-purpose secondary cannons, instead loading a full one hundred and twenty secondary cannons.

Compared to the legend series starships, while its power was inferior to the Small Annihilation Cannon, it excelled in sheer quantity, truly achieving comprehensive suppression, especially when facing this kind of low-intensity chaotic battle.

However, according to a historical record he had seen while in the Imperial Mining Zone, this model of starship had suffered a crushing defeat in a drill against the Imperial fleet, and was subsequently phased out.

Of course, for him, it still held significant reference value.

"The processing and distribution of the power supply lines are still among the best for Tier 6 starships even now... Perhaps it could be used to improve the quantity of Small Annihilation Cannons..."

Just as Zhang Huaiyuan was absorbed in his observation and research, the war between the four major factions gradually reached a fever pitch.

Those subsidiary factions had already been wiped out.

"Gale," "Blaze," "Deep Sea," and "Heavy Mountain," the four strongest Pirate Groups of the Peaceful Passage, also confronted each other head-on at this moment.

At this moment, inside the "Gale" command starship.

"Mr. Morsa, our armaments are about the same, so whoever makes the first move will definitely suffer. My suggestion is to dispatch a small portion of heavily damaged starships to feign an attack and cause chaos, then keep the main fleet at a distance and let them fight it out first."

A tall, thin man, dressed in a way that stood out from the others, pushed up his decorative glasses and said.

"You are an elite from the Command Department of the Imperial Military Academy; you are the expert in this area, so you call the shots."

Morsa nodded and said.

Meanwhile, in the other factions, the same scene was playing out.

"Mr. Loranger, let's send a portion of cannon fodder to provoke a fight first, preserve our main combat strength, and focus on mediating the fight..."

"Mr. Hetok..."

Behind the Four Great Pirate Groups stood high-ranking officials of the Star Alliance, so naturally, they had all invited external experts from the Command Department of the Imperial Military Academy.

After making similar decisions, a bizarre scene suddenly appeared in the starry sky:

All four sides dispatched a small wave of fleets with guns blazing, appearing as if they were about to engage in a decisive battle, but their main forces retreated instead of advancing.

In the end, the dozen or so surviving damaged starships from the chaotic battle hovered awkwardly in the center, not knowing where to go.

For a time, the entire starry sky fell into a silent stalemate.

The "Blaze" Pirate Group killed the fewest enemies and received the negative effect: "All weapon energy consumption increased by 5%."

At this moment, a cold notification broke the balance of the starry sky.

"Damn it, me again!"

In the "Blaze" Pirate Group's command starship, Loranger, dressed in fiery red clothes, changed his expression.

This negative effect had appeared several times before; counting this one, his "Blaze" Pirate Group had already accumulated three, and if this continued, there would be no need to fight at all.

He stepped forward and directly sent a communication request to the other Pirate Groups: "Morsa, Fross, right now only 'Deep Sea' hasn't suffered any negative debuffs because they activated their main fleet the earliest. I suggest we join forces and take them out first!"

"No problem, Loranger, you go first, and I'll be there shortly."

"That's right, I'm dispatching my fleet right now."

Both of them agreed readily.

They naturally welcomed someone willing to take the lead; as for how long this "shortly" would be, that would depend on the situation.

"Two damn things!"

Loranger naturally understood their plans, but with the arrow already on the bowstring, he would rather die standing than wait to die by dragging things out.

"Attack Deep Sea, all forces advance."

He took a deep breath and gave the order.

"With all due respect, Mr. Loranger, this is not a wise decision..."

"That is an order."

"Very well, if you insist."

The elite from the Imperial Command Department sighed helplessly and began to quickly adjust the formation.

"Are they crazy! Aren't they afraid of being taken advantage of!"

On the other side, the Deep Sea Commander watched the "Blaze" force advancing and couldn't help but curse under his breath: "Damn it, which guy on the other side made that decision? When I get back, I'll definitely tell my mentor to make sure he can't graduate!"

The two powerful fleets began to clash head-on at this moment.

With the same "Suppressor Generation One," the design featuring up to one hundred and twenty cannons per ship left almost no room for evasion in the entire starry sky.

Boom, boom, boom!

In just an instant, dozens of starships in the front ranks of both sides were blown to pieces by the overwhelming firepower.

The tactical value of this kind of frontal assault was no longer significant; what mattered was the control of details, adjusting the fleet's position in time, and minimizing damage to the shields as much as possible.

"They actually started fighting?"

A flash of joy crossed the eyes of the "Gale" leader, Morsa.

His current position was the most advantageous; adjacent to "Blaze" and "Heavy Mountain," and furthest from the core battle zone, he could sit back and watch the tigers fight.

"Could it be that I can get first place this time?"

But just as Morsa was lost in his fantasies, the Commander beside him suddenly changed expression and shouted: "Oh no, the Heavy Mountain fleet is coming towards us, it's the main fleet!"

"What! What do they want? Help me connect the communication with Hetok."

Morsa was shocked and hurriedly gave orders.

"Boss, they rejected the communication request."

"Damn it, a bunch of brainless things, then kill them all! Do they really think my 'Gale' is easy to bully!"

Upon hearing this, Morsa's face suddenly darkened.

On the other side, the leader of the "Heavy Mountain" Pirate Group, Hetok, naturally had his own considerations.

Apart from "Blaze," they had the fewest kills and the second most negative effects.

If they learned from "Gale" and sat back to watch the tigers fight, the next round of negative effects would fall on them; but if they joined the battle, they would easily be dragged into a quagmire, suffering heavy losses and benefiting "Gale" for nothing.

It was better to just muddy the waters completely and let everyone rely on their own abilities.

"The chaotic battle has finally begun."

Outside the chaotic battlefield, Zhang Huaiyuan activated True Sight, staring intently at the projected holographic images.

These were all opponents he would need to deal with in the near future, so he might as well take this opportunity to see their true capabilities.

"By the way, Asroth, is the abnormal situation you mentioned still in the plan?"

"Perhaps you should make some preparations in advance."

The voice in the light screen carried a hint of a smile and did not answer directly.

"Hmm? What kind of preparations?"

"Preparations to receive a huge fortune."