Chapter 181 All-Out Pursuit

Streaks of hyperspace radiance slashed across the dark, deep universe. The wrinkled traces left by the retreating Void Spirit Religion fleet awakened one imperial space monitoring buoy after another along the way, not concealing their route at all.

Inside the bridge of the Glorious Sun-class flagship, Sagman, Sisko, and the other five Beyond Grade As were gathered, all looking solemnly at the fleet commander, Rogge, whose gaze never left the star chart.

"Beacon Star is located at the edge of the Dawn Star Cluster, bordering the Desolate Universe Belt. If we maintain full speed, we can quickly escape this alert zone," Rogge said in a deep voice.

The propagation of energy and light takes time. The spatial scale of the universe is vast, and many long-range detection methods have a certain latency. Detection buoys that use quantum communication to transmit real-time information are a relatively common early warning method. However, the universe is too large, and the empire cannot deploy monitoring buoys in every inch of space. Alert zones generally extend outward from stronghold planets, with the density of monitoring buoys decreasing with distance.

The Void Spirit Religion had already escaped to the outer alert zone of Beacon Star and was heading deep into the Desolate Universe Belt. Every second counted at this point, and clearing the space buoys was pointless; they would still be located. Rogge didn't mind being monitored by the empire within the alert zone, after all, he wasn't really stupid enough to head straight for the secret Star Gate location.

The plan was to enter stealth mode in the Desolate Universe Belt, where space buoys were sparse, thus shaking off direct imperial surveillance. Then, they would split into dozens or even hundreds of units, maneuvering to the secret Star Gate.

In this way, a considerable number of the units would be decoys. When their fleet set out, the location of the secret Star Gate had already been moved. The original secret Star Gate coordinates were already scrapped, but the star chart had not been updated with this information. Only Rogge, the Beyond Grade As, and a group of confidants knew this. This was to prevent the units from revealing the location of the secret Star Gate after being captured by the empire.

Of course, these units were not completely abandoned. They were merely a smokescreen. Only when Rogge and the core forces of the Beyond Grade As had escaped the Flickering Star Stream would the true location be revealed to these units. By then, even if the secret Star Gate was exposed, the impact would be much smaller, and the Star Gate could be destroyed at any time to cut losses. At worst, these units could traverse back from the Desolate Universe Belt; their time was not valuable.

"Hurry up. Every minute we stay in the Flickering World increases our risk," Sagman said solemnly.

"If all you can say is such obvious nonsense, then don't speak. Thanks to you, the risk we're suffering now is meaningless!" Rogge was not polite at all, his tone carrying a hint of anger.

He had just reported the results of the battle to the Bishopric and had been scolded severely. Thinking of his bleak future, he couldn't help but feel angry and didn't want to give these Beyond Grade As, who had caused the operation to fail, any pleasantries.

Being blamed for everything, Sagman's face tightened. After thinking about it, he still didn't flare up. The turning point had appeared on the Beyond Grade A battlefield, and they were indeed at fault.

The other four turned a deaf ear. Everyone was in the same boat now, fleeing in disgrace through imperial territory. No one cared about Rogge's disrespect.

Sisko, on the far side, had the ugliest expression. Thinking of his friend Dillon being captured by the empire, his mood was extremely bad, and he couldn't be bothered with others.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Rogge snorted and said sullenly, "The empire is definitely mobilizing troops to block our escape route, but don't worry too much. This is just a fake route for misdirection. Moreover, most of the empire's available fleets nearby have gone to support Beacon Star. It will take time for fleets to be dispatched from more distant strongholds, so even if we encounter an interception, we can easily annihilate the enemy... The only thing to worry about is the imperial Beyond Grade As chasing after us. Based on the current situation, Tarrokov will wait for reinforcements to act together. Too bad, I originally thought there was a chance to lure the enemy and counter-kill..."

While Rogge was analyzing, Sagman and the others were also privately discussing through telepathic communication.

"With the scale of the fleet, even if we split up, we'll still be conspicuous. Perhaps we should abandon the fleet and travel in smaller ships, which would be more stealthy," Taylordi said.

"We can consider it. Let's talk about it after the main force splits up."

When escaping in stealth, the survivability and stealth of Beyond Grade As acting alone were far superior to following the fleet. As individuals who possessed great power, they were not afraid of the harsh environment of the universe and were extremely small targets. They could hide on any desolate planet, and no one would find them.

Especially Nija and Taylordi, who mastered secret arts, their teleportation techniques were unpredictable.

Rogge was worried about being pursued by imperial Beyond Grade As, so he wanted to keep Sagman and the others by his side. Little did he know that Sagman and the others were also considering using the main force as bait to attract the empire's attention.

...

In another direction, the Fallen Ark's fleet was also retreating at full speed.

Due to the last-minute split, the Deity Race's fleet had lost contact with the Void Spirit Religion and had no intelligence channels. With disaster looming, everyone was fleeing for their own lives, each taking care of their own escape.

However, they had one advantage: they had forcibly attacked from the outer alert zone, consciously destroying many space monitoring buoys along the way, forming a scattered blind spot, which was conducive to escaping.

In the main ship's command room, Hakison shifted his gaze from the star chart and turned to look at the Deity Race clone beside him.

The Deity Race's main body had already found a secret room to evolve, and it was unknown how long it would take. Before he began to evolve, he had deliberately separated some clones to protect himself and monitor the fleet's movements.

The Deity Race always harbored suspicion toward everyone, even his capable assistant Hakison, who had been with him for hundreds of years. In his most vulnerable state, the only one he truly trusted was himself.

"Still doesn't trust me..."

Hakison's barbed tongue was like a thorny, serpent, licking the blood-red metal mask that covered the upper half of his face, scraping out a tooth-aching friction sound. He exhaled a hissing stream of air from his nostrils, like a cold laugh.

In front of the Deity Race clone, Hakison raised his four withered, old-branch-like arms. A wisp of purple mist seeped out of his deep-purple skin, condensing into a ball of mist in mid-air, restrained by some kind of power, like a pearl.

Then, he found a subordinate and handed the pearl in his hand to the subordinate, faintly instructing, "Empty a normal warship, remove the energy core, intelligent system, and other components inside, leaving only an empty shell. Put this pearl into the ship, then abandon the ship, letting it drift along the path we're taking, so that the imperial troops chasing us will find this ship."

The Deity Race clone turned to look at him, coldly asking, "What do you want to do?"

"Hehe..." Hakison laughed strangely, "I'm going to contact the empire..."

Bang!

As soon as he finished speaking, the Deity Race clone suddenly grabbed his neck, lifted him up forcefully, and slammed him against the wall.

"You want to betray me?"

With his neck being strangled tightly, Hakison was not afraid at all. Instead, he laughed louder and louder, "Hahaha, I'm preparing to cooperate with the empire. If they can provide us with information about the Void Spirit Religion, we can send out some troops to intercept the Void Spirit Religion—anyway, those subordinates are just cannon fodder. We are the closest troops to the Void Spirit Religion. With our help, the empire can more effectively stall the Void Spirit Religion."

"There's no need to do that," the Deity Race clone said faintly.

"No, it's very necessary. Compared to the Void Spirit Religion, the empire definitely wants to deal with the latter more. They have several Beyond Grade As over there, which are of greater value. If they can capture them, the Void Spirit Religion will lose nearly half of its Beyond Grade A combat power. With such an opportunity to strike at the enemy, the empire won't let it go. When the empire focuses on the Void Spirit Religion, Your Excellency Deity Race, your pressure will be lessened, hehehe."

Hakison's tone was full of mockery and playfulness as he continued, "This time, the Void Spirit Religion has also resented us for running away at the last minute. When we return to the Central Star Sea, we will face the double blow of the Crimson Empire and the Void Spirit Religion. Doing this can not only reduce the empire's anger toward us, but also weaken the Void Spirit Religion, reducing the number of Beyond Grade A enemies you will face in the future. Moreover, if the Void Spirit Religion suffers such a huge loss, perhaps they will not have time to deal with us in the short term."

The Deity Race clone remained noncommittal, "How do I know you're not going to sell out my location?"

"Heh, if Your Excellency Deity Race is worried, you can let a Deity Race clone stay on that empty ship to supervise my communication with the empire. If you think I've sold out your location... hehe, I'm right here, you can kill me at any time."

The Deity Race clone was silent for a while, then suddenly said, "You don't need to handle this matter. I'll send a clone to stay behind and negotiate with the empire. I don't need you to interfere."

Although he felt that Hakison's actions were abrupt and strange, they did make some sense. If he could negotiate with the empire, it would be beneficial to him. Anyway, it was just a clone, and it wouldn't matter if it was destroyed.

"Hehe, that's fine too."

The hand strangling his neck loosened, and Hakison landed on the ground, rubbing his neck. He called for his subordinates, dispersed the mist ball he had just created, absorbed it back into his body, and continued to observe the star chart as if nothing had happened.

The metal mask, the color of which was like fresh blood, was branded on the upper half of his face. No one could see the look in Hakison's eyes hidden under the mask, and no one knew what he was thinking at this moment... Besides, no one knew how he could see things with his eyes covered.

...

The fierce battle on Beacon Star came to an end, but the incident was far from over. Under Tarrokov's orders, the empire's fleet in the Flickering World launched a pursuit of the Void Spirit Religion and the Fallen Ark.

On the forums, the legion players who had been watching the situation relayed by Meatbun's post had not yet calmed down from the various emotions of surprise, shock, and curiosity. At the same time, a new mission popped up on everyone's panels.

Before this, the Black Star Army players only knew that the imperial outpost Beacon Star had been attacked, and there had been a chaotic battle of about ten Beyond Grade As. Corps Commander Black Star was one of them. As for the identities of the attackers and the cause and consequences of this incident, they knew nothing and were completely confused.

This mission happened to explain everything and brought even greater shock to many players.

[【Crimson Empire Mobilization Order - Full-Scale Pursuit】]

[Mission Description: Due to coveting Black Star's Evolutionary Cube and in order to provoke conflict, the Void Spirit Religion, in conjunction with the Fallen Ark, launched a surprise attack on the empire's outpost in the Flickering World. The enemy had a total of seven Beyond Grade A combatants. However, with the help of the empire's allies Black Star, Milizaus, Beaon, and Austin, the foreign aid invited by Black Star, we successfully repelled the attacking fleet! Now, these two fleets are fleeing within the territory of the Flickering World. Therefore, all forces are mobilized to hunt down the invading enemies and maintain the dignity of the empire - Tarrokov, Commander-in-Chief of the Crimson Empire Exploration Army]

[Mission Requirements: Track the fleets of the Void Spirit Religion and the Fallen Ark that attacked Beacon Star, discover their whereabouts as much as possible, and kill their personnel]

[After completing the mission, rewards of varying degrees will be given based on your performance evaluation]

Upon learning the ins and outs, the Shattered Star Ring section of the forum instantly exploded.

"The Void Spirit Religion attacked the Crimson Empire? Is a galactic civilization about to start a war?!"

"No wonder there was such a large-scale chaotic battle with eleven Beyond Grade As. So that's what happened. Is the Corps Commander alright? He didn't die, did he!"

"Their target was the Corps Commander's Evolutionary Cube, so was the Corps Commander the one who caused this incident?"

"Damn, being targeted by a galactic civilization and still managing to drive them away, that's impressive!"

"Our Black Star Army is an ally of the Crimson Empire, does that mean the army is also hostile to the Void Spirit Religion?"

"I feel like something big is about to happen!"

This time, Meatbun had seized first-hand information. Countless players flooded into his post, building the thread at a rate of dozens of floors per second, making him as excited as a monkey...

Following Black Star was indeed the right choice. Out of the blue, he would come up with an explosive piece of news!

After the shock, many players became excited. Having experienced three versions, they had also figured out the rules. Events in the Star Sea were connected and influenced each other. It was an orderly system. Based on the information and news from various regions, they could actually use logic to deduce some possible future events.

And this incident involved three great civilizations, so it was definitely not a small matter. If the two sides were to fight, it would definitely not be a minor storyline.

Many people came up with a guess... Perhaps this attack was a sign of a future main storyline?

Maybe this was the main storyline for the next version?

It wasn't impossible.

As this theory spread on the forum, someone else put forward a different suggestion, arguing that this was not necessarily a main storyline, but could also be an event during the version update, appearing in the next version as background information. This theory was also recognized by some people.

Due to Han Xiao's consistent behavior, the Chinese players in the Shattered Star Ring had developed the habit of guessing the main version storylines. The old Russian and Australian players from the Star Cluster Corridor also joined in the guessing, integrating into the excited atmosphere of the forum.

Various conjectures abounded. The Black Star Army players weren't just arguing on the forum. They all turned around and participated in the pursuit.

Although many people were too far away and might not be able to make a contribution, the army players were already used to collectively participating in large-scale faction missions. Moreover, this mission had no failure conditions, so symbolically chasing after them might also earn them a minimum reward.

The Flickering World was still in a state of information lockdown, not fully connected to the explored universe. Apart from the parties involved, other external forces currently knew nothing about the disturbance in the Flickering World.

However, the player community was the first outsider to learn of this secret news. The army players were hotly discussing in the Shattered Star Ring section, and players from other sections were also calling their friends and gathering to the Shattered Star Ring section to watch the spectacle and eat melons out of curiosity.

This time, the forum exerted its unique intelligence advantage. While the outside world was still unaware of the matter, the player community had already become almost universally aware of the Beacon Star disturbance!

The forces of the three great civilizations were spread throughout the explored universe, with a wide range of influence. The movement of one could affect the whole body. No matter which Star Field the players were in, they felt a sense of tension that a storm was coming from this incident, secretly anticipating the great turmoil that would be caused after this incident was transmitted to the outside world!

...

On the other side, Tarrokov's main force set out from Beacon Star to pursue the Void Spirit Religion. Han Xiao, Milizaus, Beaon, Heber, and Ravenlaude, five Beyond Grade As, rarely joined forces and traveled together.

Not long after setting out, the high-level official in charge of the empire's logistics contacted Han Xiao at Ulan Riel's request, giving him enough face to personally ask him what Ultimate Knowledge he wanted to exchange for.