Chapter 612: Chapter 612 Bad News
I have a good impression of the female commander of the privateer group nad Bonnie.
Don’t get any wrong ideas. Although she could be considered quite the beauty with exotic alien traits, my hands are already full with non-human sisters accounted by the legion, so what I truly admire about her is a certain spirit and an aura of authority.
A young woman, leading a privateer group of several thousand and providing shelter to tens of thousands of “ordinary folks,” surviving in a universe fraught with danger and incessant battles, living each day on the knife’s edge, sotis quite frugally—yet her people follow her willingly into this kind of life. Sure, privateers are rough around the edges, a bit fond of taking small advantages, accustod to engaging in petty theft, but within their ranks, there is a genuinely touching atmosphere, and all this can be attributed to Bonnie’s leadership and personal charisma.
Just as Lilina said, most privateer groups, in order to survive, are more cunning than pirates and greedier than robbers, but Bonnie’s group, in my view, is more like a large family of refugees. They engage in “business” that the self-righteous scoff at, never truly harming anyone—a lasting impression from half a day’s interaction with them.
Regardless of what others think, I find her to be a woman worthy of admiration.
In this universe, there are many admirable people, even generals as staunch as Pandora Visca pay them respect. Figures like the old man Roland Gale and other elder leaders from different factions who nearly sacrificed everything to keep their nations alive—they are heroes that move people’s hearts, great figures whose nas should live on through the ages. But, on the other hand, the “small folk” also have their resolve and tenacity, like Bonnie and her privateer group.
To many, they seem insignificant, just minor characters surviving on the scraps of the battlefield amid the power struggles of nations. The re freedom to live is their entire fortune, but these small folk, led by a woman who is one of them, band together. Despite the turmoil outside, they support each other to maintain a peaceful ho—even if it’s just a rundown space station. This is the valor of the small folk, no fanfare or grand deeds—their sole achievent is living happily to the fullest.
In this universe, that’s no easy feat.
Besides, they’ve helped us a great deal. Although Lilina’s prior threats played a part, Bonnie indeed helped us make contact with the Holy Temple Army, contributing directly to a major operation of the Imperial Army. Inside the Xyrin Apostle, she might even be awarded a dal for such services.
Therefore, to show respect and sincerity, I dispatched an Eternal-class Mother Ship and a small escort fleet to jump beside Bonnie’s “Ark” space station for the eting ceremony. According to Imperial customs, this is the minimum scale of envoy deploynt when officially interacting with the leader of another faction. It’s unprecedented to treat a group of privateers as a formal faction, and all this was done to show respect to Bonnie. After all, an invitation from the formidable behemoth that is the Imperial Army leaves little room for refusal. We’re already suspected of being overbearing—if we had simply sent a small ship to forcefully drag her over for that dangerous mission, it could seem like an insult.
But now it seems the imposing Imperial fleet has frightened them…
Among those we grandly invited were Bonnie and her dozen or so trusted subordinates. Most of these folks, who had never seen more than fifty warships assembled for a battle in their lifetis, were dumbfounded when they suddenly found dozens of formidable warships appearing next to the space station. A few months ago, when Lilina’s Holy Temple Army operated near the “Ark” space station, they dispatched less than ten warships, which was enough to sweep the entire planet clean. But now, the sa model of massive ships and a colossally oversized mother ship, totaling over eighty vessels, parked right under their noses. As a result, the privateers nearly scrambled their lifeboats. Learning that the Imperial Army’s top command wanted to invite the privateer group leader to discuss military plans, Bonnie, and every second-in-command, third-in-command, fourth-in-command… were virtually dizzy as our special envoys brought them back.
Then, after the space transmission concluded and the privateer executives had barely co to their senses, they turned to witness an even more magnificent sight: the universe’s most powerful interstellar fleet arrayed in outer space, stretching millions of kiloters, creating an imposing sight with a dense array of ga warships overwhelming any civilization’s flagship, protecting the grandeur of the Interstellar Coalition Flagship in the array’s center like a Pantheon.
They were shocked—was this ant to destroy the world?
Strictly speaking, this fleet had the capability to do so.
The scale of the Imperial Admiral exceeded most imaginations. Excluding specialized units like the Planet Fortress, the Imperial Admiral could be considered the most majestic among “standard warships.” Even Bonnie’s “Ark” space station could be packed and stuffed into the Imperial Admiral’s warship docking bay. When the shuttle approached the boarding port of the Cross Starship, the scene was like rushing toward a towering mountain peak.
The corridors within the Imperial Admiral were genuinely grandeur spaces. As Bonnie rode the shuttle across the “sky,” passing above, she saw many things that, theoretically, were impossible to find inside a warship: research bases, weapon factories, residential towers, central gardens, open-air sports grounds, shopping streets, Spring Flower Flower Kindergarten, the bold signboard of a taxi company, and two city managent enforcent posts. If it weren’t for the distant sight of the warship’s alloy walls, no one would imagine they were inside a spaceship.
“The place… it’s so vast…”
Sitting in her seat, Bonnie was practically pressing her entire body against the porthole, her face full of admiration.
“It’s just a regular warship; our Planet Fortress couldn’t be transported to this universe,” I said nonchalantly while playing with Dingdang, who was crawling around on my lap, sitting next to her. It’s quite sothing for the Imperial Leader to personally co to the docking area to welco us, think how much face that gives us—yet from the mont she boarded, her attention has been pretty much concentrated on the view outside the window, not giving the Leader any respect at all!
But it’s not as if she can be blad—a Leader who had to check the odoter nervously after a harrowing trip here, even if he was followed by a ceremonial squad from a reinforced battalion, wouldn’t put anyone on edge…
“The planets… so impressive…”
A few minutes later, the shuttle steadily docked in the “Bridge Area”. Due to the special design of the Imperial Admiral, what is called the bridge is only a conventional term; strictly speaking, it is a large-scale integrated command center located in the center of the warship, maintaining a thirty-layer isolation from the battle armor, utterly secure. In the era of cosmic warfare, no one would be foolish enough to leave the bridge of a Mother Ship-level spaceship exposed.
The privateer group officers who ca with Bonnie were only accompanying her and had nothing to do with our mission, so they were directly sent to the guest rest area. I’m sure the comfortable environnt there will satisfy them, while Bonnie and I went straight to the bridge core, into the command hall.
Upon entering this double-decker hall, which can be regarded as the very heart of the Imperial Army, Bonnie imdiately fell silent: there is sothing in the world called “atmosphere”, an elusive concept that can make even the dullest person shiver—except for Qianqian and Silvia—the gravity and orderliness in the command hall were conjured by the thousands of Imperial Officers and countless strategic control consoles. In this place, even the “comic relief force field” and “morale-eclipsing halo” that are inevitably around are compressed to a critical point, losing the effect of these two reassuring artifacts, the group leader Big Sister imdiately felt enormous pressure.
The weight of a concept nad “Imperial Headquarters” bore down on every inch of her scalp, making this normally carefree privateer group leader keep grimacing.
“Relax, the Xyrin Apostle actually isn’t too concerned about formalities in inter-species exchanges—just spare your own buttons,” I said.
Bonnie wasn’t wearing the faded leather jacket we saw last ti; she had donned a brand-new Commander’s uniform—this style of garnt is very popular among pirates and privateer group leaders in the East Sky Region. It doesn’t represent any army or bear military rank insignias; it’s only seen as a statent of identity and strength by those people. And from our last engagent, I gathered Bonnie was not one to fuss over trivialities. The “faction leader”, who walked around in a leather jacket, indistinguishable from an ordinary warship maintenance crew mber, loudly reprimanding her own designer in her room. Today, she specifically wore this attire, which shows how much she valued this invitation, but how should I put it…
It really doesn’t match her. This Big Sister with an exotic and wild beauty suddenly donned a solemn service dress, and maybe even got an ion perm or sothing, she was clearly not suited for it—I felt uncomfortable, and she must have been fidgeting with her clothes all the way.
At this mont, Sivis was on the officer’s platform delivering a battle situation report, pontificating in front of a huge holographic star map, a commanding and spirited figure in Imperial Commander attire. Add to that the confidence and efficiency in his deanor, here stood a true soldier. Stealing a glance, I noticed Bonnie almost couldn’t hide the envy on her face when she saw Sivis—what’s a woman got to envy about that?
“Hey, boss, you’re here!”
Lilina was the first to see the guards saluting this way, and she promptly jumped up excitedly. Sivis’s tactical report was putting her to sleep, but now seeing was like seeing a savior.
I led Bonnie onto the officer’s platform: “Sivis, pause for a mont; this is Bonnie, the direct executor of the next step of action.”
The Deputy Officer imdiately snapped a salute our way with her every word as forceful as pellets. “Yes, Your Majesty—Commander Bonnie, I am glad you accepted to be a part of the Empire’s next military operation, this is a supre honor. I am Sivis, an Elite Level High Order Commander of the Xyrin Empire, and I’m delighted to et you.”
“Ah, hello,” Bonnie was startled by the greeting, returning a salute from so other world just as awkwardly, then looked at in shock, “She called you ‘Your Majesty’?”
“Pointless talk,” I was more surprised than she, “Didn’t I say it already? Since our first eting, to the road we just took to get here, I’ve ntioned it to you, haven’t I?”
“I thought you were just joking. I figured at most you were here to pick up soone, at worst a middle manager…”
Bonnie had let slip what she was thinking without a filter, and before her words had even settled, a cacophony of tallic clanking erupted around us, as a squad of Royal Guards, each one’s rifle now loaded.
“Put it down, put it down. She’s my friend,” I hastened to wave to those around us, trying to calm the guards who nearly took “commander’s honor equals life” as a natural truth and who were now the only ones not yet corrupted by the Empire’s immoral high echelon. Then with a grave expression, I looked at the female commander, whose complexion had turned pale, “You can’t just say anything, you know. From a political perspective, what you said just now was criminal.”
Though I lectured her, my heart was bleeding and crying. What’s wrong with a pedestrian face? Who did a bit-part aura offend? Ever since I, Chen Soone, got my ID, I’ve been nothing but this Mr. X, a face in the crowd of K-city, not even morable enough for my high school teachers to rember my na. Is that so wrong…
I desired a leader’s radiant majesty like Sandora’s, the unforgettable gentle aura of Big Sister, or the kind of individual thinking like Qianqian’s that one would rember for a lifeti after just a few words of conversation. Unfortunately, thus far, I am recognized as the least noticeable among the Empire leadership. Not to ntion, that bastard Sicaro has even secured the No. 1 spot in the hall of fa in the piracy world, turning heads with his freakish face and bag of mockery, able to send half the city’s urban managent team scurrying with just a five-minute walk on the pedestrian street. Compared to that guy, soone like , whom a high school classmate wouldn’t rember even after staring for twenty minutes, is downright pathetic.
“You seem to be smiling, but you look completely exhausted. Are you alright?”
Bonnie steadied herself and noticed sothing was off with my expression, imdiately asking with concern—quite fitting for a leader of a scavenging team who dealt with salvaging scraps from battlefields to sell for steel plates, her nerve system was indeed robust.
No matter what, though, it seed Bonnie was now beginning to adapt to this strange atmosphere: a group of soldiers so solemn it was hair-raising, and a bunch of leaders so unpredictable it was frustrating. The Imperial Emperor, who had been rumored to be like the Horror Demon King, was such a character. Who could have imagined this? If this were also sold as core intelligence…
You’d earn money but wouldn’t live to spend it—after glancing at the Imperial Soldiers ard to the teeth around us, Bonnie ca to a conclusion.
“Alright, now let’s talk about the mission…”
Big Sister finally rembered to discuss serious business. As soon as she began speaking, Bonnie instantly tensed up, her expression turning solemn.
She wasn’t stupid. A very simple principle: the bigger the reward, the greater the risk. Working for the powerful Imperial Army was enough to send a reckless middling hero cold from head to toe. Accustod to eking out a living and snatching food from the jaws of danger, Bonnie was very sensitive to such hazards. The mont she realized even the Empire’s mighty Fleet had to enlist her help, she rembered sothing: so deals, if botched, would cost you your head.
But this was a mission she absolutely could not refuse, for the sa reason above.
“With your information network, you must be very aware of sothing: we are dealing with the Angel Pirates.”
The other party nodded, indicating understanding.
“But they possess the ability to summon the Rebel Army—that is, the enemies of the Empire—making our military operations perpetually sluggish. Now, we have finally broken through those pirates’ defenses. The single military target before us is this: Extre East Paradise, the ho planet of the Angel Pirates. We need an absolutely sudden strike that can snuff out that planet within twenty-four hours. Rumor has it, you have the ability to enter Extre East Paradise under the current circumstances. That’s why we’re looking for you.”
Extre East Paradise, under absolute military control, had not completely closed off. It still allowed two types of people in: supply transports from within the territory of the Angel Pirates, and informants who kept abreast of the Empire’s military movents and were trusted by the Angel Pirates. Bonnie belonged to the latter.
I didn’t know what the female commander in front of had thought of, but her face changed suddenly.
“Deliver a super weapon into the fray, that’s your mission, with no allowances for any entourage, move light and fast,” Vis ordered, looking up at Bonnie. She seed to hesitate for a mont before stepping back, “You can refuse. It’s not difficult to collapse the entire territory of the Angel Pirates, but my brother needs sothing they have, so we ca to you.”
“Deliver one… weapon in, a bomb… sothing like that, right…” Bonnie’s face turned a bit pale, and she seed a little helpless, but she still nodded, “Alright, I’ll do it, but my people, those privateers…”
“Hey, you’re not misunderstanding sothing, are you?”
I finally guessed what the other party had just imagined, “Rest assured, as long as you don’t make a big mistake, you personally are not in danger. Even though we’re asking you to transport a doomsday weapon, we’re not sending you to your death.”
That was the crux of the problem: Bonnie thought we didn’t want to risk our own people, so we found her, an unlucky one, to carry out a death mission. This is not uncommon in this universe, and about half of these are asking you to transport a bunch of doomsday weapons to go down together with the employer’s arch-enemy, just like our mission. That’s how the misunderstanding occurred.
Hearing my explanation, Bonnie was stunned for a mont, then blinked and looked around, realizing everyone was serious and finally felt sowhat relieved.
“Then… it would indeed be easier for to sneak in, I’ve had ‘dealings’ with several of the upper echelons of the Angel Pirates, but if that weapon is too big, I’m afraid it will be discovered?”
I pushed Lilina to the forefront: “Here, this is the weapon you need to transport. You know her, although the process might not have been too pleasant.”
Bonnie: “…”
“What are you looking at! Believe it or not, I’ll plant sothing else on you!” Lilina bared her teeth and made gestures at the other party, “And boss, what kind of description is that! Lilina is such a cute little loli, yet you described her as…”
Regardless of Lilina’s protests, the matter was essentially settled. Due to the urgency of the mission, we imdiately set about arranging for Lilina and Bonnie to depart. As for more things they needed to be aware of, it was left to Lilina to slowly explain to the latter on the way.
“Now we need to think about our next move,” after Bonnie had left, I had Sivis reopen the star map, “Even if we capture the debris fragnts from the Angel Pirates, Taville will need ti to analyze it. Now the rebels in the East Sky Region have diminished in number after our continuous strikes, but they can still obtain a steady stream of reinforcents from the Big Nebula, which indicates the enemy hasn’t been critically injured yet. We need a large-scale battle to test the rebel’s limits, taking advantage of those launchers we control to set a trap…”
“Buzz… sizzle…”
Suddenly, a noisy sound echoed in the command hall, interrupting .
Sivis imdiately pressed his hand on the commander’s sword and moved to the edge of the officer platform, “What’s happening?! Rebel signal interference attack?”
“Please wait, Commander, a high-intensity signal that spread out at infinite speed suddenly appeared in the background radiation and has interfered with the flagship’s antenna array, we are analyzing… wait, we’ve received an ergency ssage from the Western Heaven. Ergency level… fatal!”
“Red Giant Ghost Energy collapse out of control, experint failed, Red Giant Star Fortress has been exposed!!” (
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