He took a deep breath.
Speaking slowly, he said.
"I will bear all the responsibility!
Consider it my fault, Wu Qianqiu, for letting those brothers down!
After the war, whether it's facing a court-martial or a direct sentence, I will shoulder it alone!"
Upon hearing this.
Xue Shaogong fell silent!
In the next moment, a blinding white light flashed past the viewport of the Dragon Spring.
All warships along its path were completely engulfed, whether they belonged to the Empire or the Federation.
On the Bridge of the Ares.
Slate stared at the blazing white beam shooting from the direction of Third Star on the tactical screen, his pupils slightly contracting.
That beam traversed the void, cutting straight through the chaotic airspace where friend and foe were locked in a deadly struggle.
Wherever the beam passed, clusters of red Imperial markers and blue Federation markers simultaneously vanished from the screen.
He was stunned.
On the communications screen, Thatcher's voice erupted, carrying an indescribably complex emotion.
"The Federation really is ruthless!"
He paused, his tone a mix of awe and something indefinable.
"Killing their own allies without hesitation!"
Slate said nothing.
He simply stared at the dissipating beam, at the cleared airspace, at those two rows of extinguished red and blue markers.
After a few seconds of silence.
He took a gentle breath and murmured.
"Ruthless indeed..."
Thatcher's voice sounded again, this time with a hint of painful reluctance.
"General Slate."
He paused before continuing.
"Shouldn't we withdraw now?"
Slate's gaze shifted away from the tactical screen.
Thatcher went on.
"Since this was a covering operation, those few strikes just now."
He reached out and tapped the screen, indicating the directions of First Star and Third Star.
"Should be enough to make those Federation fellows start overthinking."
His voice lowered slightly.
"If we press the attack further, what if we push too hard..."
"It might actually expose our true weakness."
Slate was silent for a second.
Then he slowly nodded.
"You're right."
His voice regained the steadiness of a Commander.
"Our current losses are already substantial enough."
He turned and issued an order to the communications officer.
"Transmit the order..."
"Entire fleet, retreat."
The command swiftly spread throughout the fleet.
The Imperial fleet group fiercely assaulting the directions of First Star and Second Star began a gradual withdrawal.
Meanwhile, the Imperial warships locked in combat with the Federation Fleet near Third Star started to disengage.
One by one, they turned around, heading back into the void from whence they came.
The artillery fire on the battlefield gradually thinned.
The two ionization afterimages spanning the void were still slowly fading.
In the distance, the three fortresses remained silently suspended.
Their radiator fins were still deployed, their internal lights still flickering.
But no one charged toward them anymore.
In the days that followed.
The Pandora Fleet and the Ares Fleet were like two wolves that had caught the scent of blood.
They prowled along the edge of the Alnitak Fortress Cluster's firing range, occasionally lunging in to take a bite.
Not the all-out, desperate assaults of before.
These were harassing raids.
Strike once, then withdraw.
Withdraw to a distance, then return.
A cycle repeated over and over.
The officers and crew of the Vault Fleet scarcely had a moment to close their eyes.
The ships that had just repelled one wave of attack would barely have time to catch their breath before the alarm sound would blare once again.
Those areas that had just completed damage control repairs would always have new beams and missiles landing on them.
Over sixty thousand starships.
Under such continuous attrition, they decreased one by one.
Five thousand.
Ten thousand.
Fifteen thousand.
Twenty thousand.
A week later, the remaining capital ships of the Vault Fleet numbered just over twenty thousand.
Those three fortresses still stood, still silent.
But the airspace around them had become terrifyingly quiet.
Wanshi Star Sector Theater Command.
Wen Tingtao sat behind his desk, holding a piece of paper intelligence that had just been delivered.
The intelligence was thin.
Only two pages.
But as he looked at those two pages, the color drained from his face bit by bit.
His body swayed.
Then he slumped into his chair.
His back leaned against the chair back, and the intelligence in his hand slipped onto the desk.
Wen Shiheng stood to the side, stunned by what he saw.
Having followed Wen Tingtao for so many years, he had never seen him like this.
"Commander?"
He tentatively spoke, his voice very low.
"What's wrong?"
Wen Tingtao did not speak.
He just stared at the ceiling, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath.
Wen Shiheng's gaze fell on the intelligence on the desk.
"Could it be..."
His voice carried a hint of tension.
"Have the three Canopus Fortresses been breached by the Imperial Fleet?"
Wen Tingtao shook his head.
The shake was so slight it was almost imperceptible.
He reached out and pointed at the intelligence on the desk.
Wen Shiheng quickly stepped forward and picked up the intelligence.
With just one glance.
His pupils suddenly contracted.
That one glance froze him completely.
There weren't many words on the intelligence.
But each word was like a nail, hammered into his eyes.
[Top Secret · FCB Rose]
Confirmed, the battle situation in the Bushman Star System and surrounding star sectors is as follows:
1.
An ultra-large volume black hole has appeared near the B-380 Warp Point where the Stargate is located. The black hole is still expanding and has already swallowed all matter within tens of millions of kilometers around it.
2.
The Marbas Joint Fleet and Abaddon Joint Fleet stationed at the Stargate, totaling over thirty thousand warships, have been confirmed as total losses. No survivors, no possibility of wreckage recovery.
3.
The Duke-class Blood Locust Fleet was annihilated in the Danube Star Sector. From Fleet Commander General Knight down, twelve hundred warships, not a single survivor.
4.
The previously dispatched Duke-class Angel Fleet, after warping from the P-375 Warp Point to the B-380 Warp Point, has completely lost contact. Suspected to have been swallowed by the black hole, no signals received to date.
5.
As of now, the Empire's cumulative starship losses in the aforementioned campaign: over thirty-five thousand.
6.
The whereabouts of the Federation Fleet responsible for the above losses are unknown.
Wen Shiheng finished reading the last word.
His hand began to tremble.
The intelligence shook slightly in his hand, the paper making a faint rustling sound.
He looked up at Wen Tingtao.
Wen Tingtao still sat in his chair, staring at the ceiling.
The office was deathly silent.
After a long while.
Wen Shiheng finally withdrew his gaze from the intelligence.
He looked up at Wen Tingtao, who still sat in his chair staring at the ceiling, his voice carrying an indescribable complexity.
"Commander..."
He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"All of this... could it possibly be the work of the Pluto Fleet?"
Wen Tingtao did not speak.
Wen Shiheng continued, his speech slowing more and more, as if he was sorting out his thoughts as he spoke.
"Marbas, Abaddon, Blood Locusts, Angels..."
"Thirty-five thousand starships."
"One stargate."
"One black hole."
He took a deep breath.
"If all of this was done by Senior Colonel Qin Bei Wang..."
He did not finish.
But Wen Tingtao knew what he meant to say.
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