82: Chapter 82 Strange Movement! A Sudden Arrival

A theoretically safe star system, approximately 3.7 light-years from the Watcher Legion's escort fleet.

At least, yesterday's star chart still marked this as a 'Class 2 Safe Corridor'.

A grand chase was currently unfolding there.

Leading the chase was a light feather class super-warp spaceship, pure white in color, with elegant and smooth lines, and golden wing patterns adorning both sides of its hull.

Hmm! It was the same model as the previous Azure Feather.

Based on its appearance alone, this ship was a work of art, perfectly embodying the Holy Alliance's design philosophy of 'beauty is divinity'.

The exhaust flames from its thrusters were adjusted to a soft, milky white glow, and the spatial distortion field it emitted scattered faint energy feathers.

It was as if it wasn't undertaking interstellar travel, but rather a religious procession.

However, at this moment, this 'artwork' was fleeing frantically at approximately 115% of its design limit, with its hull occasionally sounding overload alarms.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" In the captain's chair, a middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed short beard and a crisp white-gold trimmed uniform—Captain Raphael Saint Clement—was ungracefully clutching his hair.

"How can there be Zerg here?! And so many of them! Do those good-for-nothings in the Holy Violet Legion, whose brains are filled with holy paste, not clear the borders normally?!"

The adjutant cautiously reminded, "Captain, according to yesterday's updated star chart, this area is indeed within the jurisdiction of the Holy Violet Legion's Third Patrol Detachment, rated as 'low risk'..."

"Low risk?!" Captain Raphael pointed at the dense, locust-like red signal points behind the main screen. "You call this low risk?! The number of leviathan motherships chasing us is almost as many as my grandmother's collection of communion cups!"

"Precisely two hundred forty-seven, Captain," the navigator added. "They can typically flatten about 70 standard stellar systems."

"Thank you for your precise count!" Raphael rolled his eyes. "What I need now is a solution, not a Zerg census!"

Just then, the communications officer suddenly shouted, "Captain! We've received a 'harmless passage and area control alert' from a large human fleet in nearby airspace! Signal source identified... it's the Blazing Dragon Federation's Watcher Legion escort fleet!"

The entire bridge fell silent for a second, then erupted into an even greater clamor.

"A fleet?!"

"From the Blazing Dragon Federation?"

"The Watcher Legion? They're tough nuts to crack!"

"Who cares whose it is! Send a distress signal! Quickly!"

Captain Raphael slapped the control console. "What are you waiting for?! Immediately send a distress signal with the highest priority! State that we are being pursued by a large Zerg Swarm, and the situation is critical! Wait..."

He abruptly lowered his voice and added to the communications officer, "In the distress message, don't mention 'Primarch' a single word. Replace it with 'important diplomatic materials'! Understand?"

The communications officer nodded vigorously, fingers flying across the control panel, leaving afterimages.

Raphael sat back in the captain's chair, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and prayed frantically in his heart: "Holy Radiance above, please bless the Blazing Dragon people to be righteous, and don't ask too many questions... we're really just an ordinary diplomatic ship transporting some 'special sacred artifacts'!"

...

At the same time, on the bridge of the purple subtlety dijiang-class star cruising battleship.

The massive curved main screen displayed fleet formations, star charts, and various sensor data streams. Officers performed their duties, communicating in low voices, everything exuding the professionalism and composure of the Blazing Dragon Federation's main fleet.

Until a slightly astonished report came from the communications station:

"Captain! We've received a highest priority distress signal from an unidentified vessel! Signal source identified as... a light feather class super-warp spaceship!"

The air on the bridge subtly froze for a moment.

Major General Zhao Yu, sitting in the central command seat, raised an eyebrow slightly, as if he had heard an illogical joke.

"light feather class?" He repeated, his voice steady. "A diplomatic ship or flagship of a high-ranking official from the Holy Alliance. If they're in distress, shouldn't their first call for help be to their own Holy Violet Legion?"

The Holy Violet Legion, the Holy Alliance's main force stationed in this strategic direction, faced off against the Blazing Dragon Federation's Watcher Legion across a buffer star system.

On the surface, they were allies who watched out for each other, but secretly, they often competed.

Unlike the Watcher Legion, which focused on a 'metal and energy' hardcore tech style, the Holy Violet Legion took a more... mystical approach.

Their main forces were Caesar-class Radiant Battleships and Minerva-class Gleam Cruisers, with their tech tree focused on bio-enhancement, psionic sensing, and the esoteric concept of probability.

In short, they were a group of tech-priests who believed in 'divine guidance' and 'tides of destiny', but their combat power was indeed not to be underestimated; they were undoubtedly elites.

Major General Zhao Yu rubbed his brow. "Reply to them, ask for specific details, and advise them to immediately contact the Holy Violet Legion."

The order was given.

A few seconds later, the communications officer looked up, his expression even stranger: "They... did not respond to the suggestion. They continue to send distress signals and maintain their current course.

Based on their course speed and the trajectory of the Zerg Swarm behind them... in approximately seventy-two hours, the Zerg vanguard will enter the warning range of our outermost sentinel planets."

A few suppressed 'tsk' sounds echoed on the bridge.

A young operator couldn't help but mutter, "Damn it, people from the Holy Alliance love to stir up trouble like this. They don't look for their own legion, but run to us instead. What's this? Out-of-area insurance?"

Another veteran chuckled, "Maybe they think our Watcher Legion's shields are thicker, better for taking a hit."

Major General Zhao Yu ignored his subordinates' complaints, staring at the distress signal's straight path towards his fleet's defense zone on the star map, and the terrifying red Zerg Tide behind it, silent for about ten seconds.

After ten seconds, he sighed, a sigh full of the resignation of 'I knew this would happen'.

"Notify the entire fleet, all units, enter Level Two combat readiness."

"The command ship, try to establish stable communication again. At the same time, connect me to buzhou mountain and Kunlun Hill to report the situation."

"Adjust our fleet's overall course and speed, and move forward to engage."

He paused, then added the most crucial sentence:

"No matter what schemes those Holy Alliance mystics are up to, or how many tricks they have... letting those hundreds of Leviathan rush into our national territory is not an option. It seems this burden has fallen directly on our heads. Prepare to take the blame—ah, no, prepare to engage the enemy."

...

Inside the buzhou mountain ruler-class planet battleship, observation lounge.

Li Yuan, like the other cadets, was peering through the massive observation window, marveling at the Stellar Furnace core, which was confined within a huge spherical space and glowed with a deep blue light.

Laya was practically pressed against the glass, her small face bathed in a brilliant blue, unconsciously letting out a soft "Woah..."

Elia, meanwhile, stood with her arms crossed, seemingly calm, but her ice-blue eyes also sparkled with awe.

Chu Xinghe had just finished explaining, in his unique, somewhat casual tone, how the Nibelungen system 'skipped' enemy attacks like skipping a stone, leaving the cadets yearning to find a target and try it out immediately.

Just as Aria was trying to secretly calculate on her personal terminal 'how many tiers it would take to freeze a layer on the surface of the Stellar Furnace using Moonlight Condensing Ice'—a suicidal question—

"Beep—beep—beep—!!!"

A sharp, urgent, and highly penetrating alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire observation platform, even spreading to every corner of the battleship through the broadcast system!

The cadets, who had just been immersed in the sci-fi spectacle, collectively jolted.

"What's going on?"

"Fire alarm?"

"Is this an drill?"

"My stomach doesn't make that much noise when I overeat at breakfast!"

Chu Xinghe's expression changed almost instantly. His casual demeanor vanished completely, replaced by a sharpness and seriousness the cadets had never seen before. He raised a hand to the communicator by his ear and listened intently for two seconds.

"Attention, all!" he commanded. "Combat readiness alert! This is not an drill! All cadets, immediately stop sightseeing, return to your respective docking bays according to your original groups, and pilot your fighters back to the purple subtlety mothership! Repeat, act immediately!"

"Com... combat readiness?"

"Enemies?!"

"Zerg? Isn't this the Ruined Star System, where there are few Zerg?!"

The cadets erupted into chaos; some were panicked, some bewildered, while others, like Sai Wei and Luo Lan, had flames of battle intent instantly ignite in their eyes.

Li Yuan grabbed Laya, who was still staring blankly at the Stellar Furnace. "Let's go!"

Laya let out an "Ah" and quickly followed, her eyes still reluctantly glancing out the window. "But that little sun..."

"Next time! We have serious business now!" Li Yuan dragged her away. Elia also quickly followed, her steps still steady, but her speed was by no means slow.

Chen Jingyi's fingers slid rapidly across her personal terminal, already pulling up the battleship's internal passage guide map to plan the optimal return route for the squad.

The corridor immediately became a scene of chaos. The cadets, like a flock of startled rabbits, sprinted through the wide internal passages of the ship.

Fleet officers responsible for guiding and maintaining order shouted commands to prevent stampedes.

"Keep left! Keep to the left!"

"Third squad, your docking bay is in Sector B-7, you're running the wrong way!"

"That silver-haired female student! Don't use your ice slide! Using talent skills to travel is forbidden here!"

"Whose personal terminal is this?! Oh, don't pick it up, just run!"

The scene was at once chaotic and comedic.

...

As Li Yuan's squad scrambled into their Lin Xiao Fighter Jet cockpits, buckled up, and followed the guidance signal out of buzhou mountain's massive launch tunnel, Chu Xinghe's voice was already echoing on the public communication channel.

Compared to his previous seriousness, his voice now carried a hint of helplessness and a sense of resignation, as if to say, 'what's coming will come'.

"Are you all breathing steadily, rookies?" Chu Xinghe's voice crackled with static. "A quick situation report: approximately 3.7 light-years ahead of us, we've detected signs of large-scale Zerg fleet activity, numbering between two hundred forty and two hundred fifty leviathan motherships."

A collective gasp echoed through the channel. Over two hundred Leviathan? One of those things could overwhelm a frontier outpost star!

Li Yuan was very familiar with these things; it took him a lifetime's worth of energy to defeat one. Now there were 200 of them, wouldn't he soar if he got all the essence?!

"At the same time, a Holy Alliance light feather class spaceship is being pursued by this Zerg Swarm and has sent us a distress signal."

Chu Xinghe continued, "For some possibly absurd reasons, they seem unable or unwilling to accept aid from their own Holy Violet Legion, and are fleeing towards our defense zone."

"So," he paused, "the higher-ups have ordered the fleet to advance and intercept the Zerg Swarm."

"Repel the enemy beyond our borders!"