271: The fisherman's profit, the end of the civil war

The starry sky had turned into a meat grinder.

The fleet of Mad Blade and the Black Skull's personal guard fleet were like two Vicious Beasts driven into a desperate corner, crazily tearing at each other in the most primitive and tragic way.

The light of the psionic artillery fire made this cold Universe flicker between light and dark.

Every second, starships disintegrated in explosions, turning into burning wreckage.

Every moment, countless pirates were torn to pieces amidst desperate roars, their Divine Souls extinguished.

The camaraderie of the past had long been completely submerged by blood and hatred.

Inside the Main Control Room.

Lin Fan sat calmly on the captain's throne, resting his chin on one hand, quietly admiring the bloody feast on the light screen that he had personally directed.

In his consciousness, the ability of "Heavenly Calculation" was running at an unprecedented speed.

To him, the entire battlefield was no longer chaotic; it was a vast and precise chessboard.

Every starship's flight path, every trajectory of artillery fire, and even every pirate's dying curse turned into clear threads of Karma, flowing and intersecting within his perception.

He could clearly see that Mad Blade's left-wing fleet would completely collapse in thirty-seven breaths due to insufficient spiritual energy, after being focused by three guard ships.

He could also see that the Black Skull's flagship guard, the "Ghost Face", had a tiny flaw in its No. 3 shield generator, which would overload after one incense stick of time during the high-intensity bombardment.

To him, this war held no secrets.

"The timing is still a bit off."

Lin Fan's fingertips tapped lightly on the armrest.

Although Mad Blade was fearless, his raw strength was ultimately a notch weaker.

The guard fleet was well-equipped and well-trained; if it continued to fight like this, Mad Blade's destruction was only a matter of time.

That did not maximize his interests.

He needed a tragic war of attrition between evenly matched sides, not a one-sided slaughter.

He stood up slowly and walked to a corner of the main console.

The "Myriad Forms Mask" obtained from the System rewards floated quietly in his palm.

It was a silver mask without any facial features, smooth as a mirror.

With a thought from Lin Fan, the mask gently adhered to his face.

A cold sensation came, and the next moment, his figure, bones, aura, and even Soul fluctuations began to change drastically.

Just a few breaths later, a pirate wearing the Black Skull guard uniform, with an ordinary face but eyes revealing a trace of shrewdness, appeared in place.

This was a messenger by the Black Skull's side, named "Li Si", who had just been blown to ashes by stray bullets in the melee.

A perfect identity that would not arouse anyone's suspicion.

Lin Fan's figure left the Main Control Room silently, piloting an inconspicuous fast assault boat, like a ghost, quietly blending into the chaotic battlefield.

...

Inside the bridge of the "Mad Blade".

Mad Blade was covered in blood, his single eye filled with bloodshot veins, roaring crazily as he commanded the fleet to make its final stand.

"Right flank! Right flank, hold the line! Tear open their formation for me!"

"Damn it! Our ammunition is running low!"

"Big Brother! We can't hold on much longer!"

An atmosphere of despair permeated the bridge.

Just then, an urgent communication request forced its way in.

On the light screen appeared a face that Mad Blade was extremely familiar with.

"Li Si? The messenger by Black Skull's side?"

Mad Blade was stunned.

The "Li Si" on the screen looked anxious, lowered his voice, and said quickly: "Lord Mad Blade! The leader asked me to give you a message!"

"The leader already regrets it! He knows he fell for that monster's treacherous scheme!"

"Now, he has ordered the guard fleet to feign an attack. You must immediately lead the fleet to break through from the 'Meteorite Belt No. 3' coordinates! He will meet you there to regroup, and together we will kill that monster to avenge our fallen brothers!"

What?!

Mad Blade and all his trusted aides were stunned.

Black Skull... regrets it?

Wants to meet them for a breakout?

This sudden turn of events made everyone feel a trace of unreality.

But "Li Si's" anxious expression, along with his status as Black Skull's confidant, made them involuntarily harbor a glimmer of hope.

"Is this true?" Mad Blade asked with a hoarse voice.

"Absolutely true! The leader's guard fleet's firepower has already weakened by thirty percent! This is the signal! You must go quickly! It will be too late if you wait any longer!"

After saying this, "Li Si" hurriedly cut off the communication.

Mad Blade suddenly looked up at the battlefield.

Sure enough!

The guard fleet's storm-like offensive really did show a momentary lag!

This last straw completely crushed the suspicion in his heart.

The desire to survive overcame everything!

"Pass on my order!"

Mad Blade grabbed this only chance of survival tightly and roared with all his strength.

"All fleets! Target, Meteorite Belt No. 3 coordinates! Break through at full speed!!!"

...

Half a quarter of an hour later.

When Mad Blade's remaining fleet charged into that silent meteorite belt full of hope, what greeted them was not Black Skull's support.

But the dozens of main cannons that had long been lying in ambush there, flickering with the light of death!

Boom—!!!

Destructive artillery fire engulfed this fleet, which was already at the end of its rope, from all directions.

Before dying, Mad Blade's single eye was filled with endless bewilderment and... bone-deep regret.

In the end, he had trusted the wrong person.

...

Inside the flagship's Main Control Room.

Lin Fan's figure had already returned quietly, and the mask on his face had faded away.

He looked at the Star Domain on the light screen that had been completely cleansed by artillery fire, and nodded with satisfaction.

A perfect ambush.

Now, the balance of the battlefield had been broken again.

It was Black Skull's guard fleet's turn to hold the absolute advantage.

"It's time to add some ingredients to the other side."

Lin Fan put on the "Myriad Forms Mask" again.

This time, his figure changed, turning into the appearance of "Ah Hu", Mad Blade's deputy who had just been confirmed dead in the ambush.

Also piloting a damaged assault boat, he carried the flames of "revenge" and charged resolutely toward the rear of the Black Skull fleet.

His target was not those powerful warships.

But an inconspicuous-looking transport ship responsible for providing psionic crystal supplies for the entire guard fleet!

"Avenge Big Brother!!!"

Accompanied by a tragic roar, "Ah Hu" piloted the assault boat and, in a suicidal manner, precisely crashed into the energy core storage area of the transport ship.

Rumble—!!!

A firework, even more brilliant than the previous ambush, exploded in the rear of the fleet!

The mountain of psionic crystals detonated violently!

The violent energy storm instantly swept through several surrounding warships, dragging them into the vortex of destruction!

Black Skull's guard fleet was completely thrown into chaos.

Losing their logistical supplies, they became water without a source, a tree without roots.

The victory that was about to be in hand instantly turned into a bubble.

A civil war that should have ended quickly was forcefully dragged into a bloody, fight-to-the-death war of attrition.

Both sides were blinded by killing, both thought the other had used some treacherous scheme, and both wished they could grind the other into dust.

No one knew.

The direction of this war was completely played in the palm of an invisible "director".

...

A day and a night passed.

In the starry sky, the roar of artillery fire could no longer be heard.

Only deathly silence remained.

Looking around, there was wreckage and debris of warships everywhere, like a huge steel graveyard.

The main fleet of the Black Sail Pirate Crew, which once roamed the sea of stars and made countless forces tremble with fear, now had less than ten percent of its warships left, barely maintaining a floating state.

Every surviving ship was covered in scars.

Every surviving pirate was like a defeated rooster, their eyes numb and exhausted.

Did they win?

It seemed they won.

They survived.

But looking at this tragic scene around them, no one could feel even a hint of joy.

Right in the center of this dead graveyard.

That ferocious skull flagship, the "Black Skull", which had not been affected in the slightest from beginning to end, moved.

Its deep muzzles slowly lit up with a heart-palpitating psionic light.

A calm voice, through the amplification magic array, spread throughout the entire battlefield ruins, clearly reaching the ears of every survivor.

"The show is over, it's time to clear the stage."

In that instant.

All the pirates who had survived the disaster, whether they were Mad Blade's remnants or Black Skull's confidants, suddenly raised their heads.

On their faces, a kind of despair mixed with horror, confusion, and sudden realization appeared simultaneously!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The flagship's main cannons, secondary cannons, and thousands of muzzles roared at this moment!

Indiscriminate, destructive artillery fire, like a storm of steel, covered all the surviving units on the battlefield!

The final wails were submerged in the light and flames of the explosions.

The bloody civil war finally came to an end.

The fisherman began to pull in his net.

Inside the Main Control Room, Lin Fan quietly watched the light points on the light screen being cleared one by one, with no ripples on his face.

His gaze swept over the warships that had been completely destroyed, and finally, it stopped on a few functional starships that had lost power but still had intact hull structures.

One was the pirate crew's Alchemy ship.

One was their smithy.

And another was the library ship storing countless Cultivation Techniques and classics.

These were all things he had intentionally "missed" during the "clearing" just now.

Future spoils of war.