116: Contact with the Empire

(The next chapter is a Warhammer joke I saved, the kind posted at the end of each chapter.)

(Accidentally posted it, can't delete it. It's been under review, so just skip it.)

Watching the cans on the monitor charge forward with unstoppable force, ruthlessly crushing every living thing that stood in their way, Gould knew—he was doomed.

The dashboard of the Warship was bathed in red light, with only the Void Shield status remaining a conspicuous green, as if mocking him in silence.

"Commander, we should consider what to do."

"Even if we could stop those guys who jumped up, we can't escape."

"If you are unwilling, there is still 2ML of void energy in the canister over there. I will go ignite it, and everyone will offer their loyalty to His Excellency the Marshal along with you."

The First Mate walked to Gould's side, breaking his silence.

Watching the red-marked cabins getting closer and closer to the Bridge, watching another airtight door being violently breached on the screen, and looking at the sincere-looking First Mate before him, as well as everyone on the Bridge—especially the gazes cast by the several Political Commissars—Gould seemed to understand something—

Having lost his only son serving in Ursa Major V12.22, he had no family left in The Consortium, meaning he had no worries left.

The people here, excluding those Political Commissars, were mostly the team he had brought up along the way. Now, their lives were in his hands.

After thinking for a few seconds, he finally spat out those words with difficulty—

"Surrender."

"See if they are willing to accept it."

"Yes! At your command!"

Seeing Gould nod, the First Mate immediately rushed to the communication console to adjust the channel. Meanwhile, Gould stood there, watching the First Mate frantically fumbling with the communications, and the three Political Commissars who had pulled out small notebooks and were walking toward him.

He felt all his strength drain away—first his shoulders slumped, then his legs began to tremble, and finally, even breathing became difficult. The world before his eyes spun rapidly and went black, until the image faded completely.

Political Commissar A: "Fainted? Still recording?"

Political Commissar B: "Record! If he doesn't take the blame for this, we will!"

Political Commissar B: "Just write: Lieutenant General Gould used his authority to coerce the surrender of the entire ship, and the Political Commissars on board were unable to prevent it..."

"The enemy surrendered?"

"What do you mean the highest-ranking person on the other side fainted?"

"What do you mean by capturing a computer made of people?"

Listening to the report sent back by Gunnar, Xi Hai found it increasingly strange. Especially when he heard about the computer connected by people, he didn't know where to start complaining—

If you say it's advanced, it uses people; if you say it's not advanced, it can connect a long string of brains to become a computer, and even maintain the operation of a Warship. This technology tree is truly twisted all the way to Mars. (Binary sound: Protest! This is a blatant frame-up!)

No wonder night lamp, which had never been defeated in electronic warfare, was like a rookie when facing their missiles, detectors, and central control room. It turns out the enemy was using a carbon-based motherboard!

It's no wonder it couldn't hack into their brains.

Anyway, this sneak attack fleet has been dealt with.

Xi Hai turned his attention to the fleet still lying dormant on the side, which had been used as bait.

They had basically been stripped of their weapons and engines by the combination of mistral and vesta a021, and were just floating there, looking like a little loli stuck in a tree hollow, full of vulnerabilities.

Looking at the Warships that had become space iron coffins, Xi Hai thought for a moment and said to the communicator next to him:

"First, convey to the various frigates: collect the wreckage of the enemy ships, keep some samples for research, and re-smelt the rest into resources."

"Also, help me tell Gunnar and the others to clean up the mess over there as soon as possible and organize the prisoners."

"Ask if the flagship over there is willing to surrender. If they aren't, let Gunnar go and gut them."

The communicator noted them down one by one, and just as he was about to send the message, the sound of an incoming transmission suddenly came through his headset. As he listened, his expression grew increasingly strange—

"Commander, uh... we just received a transmission."

"The other party claims to be the Deputy Minister of Military Affairs of the Lakere Interstellar Empire. He hopes to discuss with you... methods to deal with the subsequent actions of The Consortium?"

Ten minutes later, on the Bridge console of storm, a blue holographic projection lit up—it was Kelaifu, wearing his military dress uniform.

After confirming the intelligence provided by night lamp, Xi Hai was convinced that the hatred between the Empire and The Consortium was truly profound.

The two of them, aside from when they were working together to embezzle funds from the Military Alliance, were either sabotaging each other or causing trouble for one another at every other turn.

The reason was quite simple. Previously, The Consortium had coveted a void energy extraction plant left over from the second era in the Empire's border star cluster, so they came up with a terrible idea—to incite the Empire's people in that region to rebel.

They directly propagated anti-autocracy and anti-cult rhetoric there, and then promoted The Consortium's "managed democracy." It was only after the Empire bombed three star systems that had announced their secession from the Empire to join The Consortium that they realized it was The Consortium playing tricks.

The two sides immediately drew their blades and prepared to fight, but at that moment, the Military Alliance stepped in, saying, "I am holding the front line out there, and you two idiots are fighting in your own backyard over a bit of economic interest?"

"If you two actually start a war, then I'm not holding the line anymore, and everyone can just die."

The two of them backed down, leaving only infighting outside of large-scale hot wars.

So, when an Imperial citizen intends to discuss with you how to work together to take down The Consortium, there's a 90% chance they are serious. The other 10%? That's because they didn't wait for you and charged in to finish the fight themselves.

"Hello, respected Minister of Military Affairs. I am the Commander of this fleet."

"I apologize for conducting this conversation in such a state."

Looking at the connected figure, Xi Hai said.

Kelaifu looked around the Bridge of storm, unable to hide the satisfaction in his eyes. He refocused his gaze on Xi Hai—

"Hello."

"Your Warship design is quite interesting."

"Layouts and parts I've never seen before—though this simple and efficient layout is quite similar to the style of the Third Epoch."

Xi Hai looked at the shadow on the stage, unable to see the projection clearly,

"Do you have research on Warship design?"

Kelaifu put his hands behind his back, shook his head, and said:

"I haven't dabbled much in that."

"I'm just curious: to be able to annihilate the Empire's 228th Mobile fleet and the Cloud Consortium's 19th Mobile fleet with fewer than two thousand Warships,"

"Which era are your Warships relics of?"

Kelaifu deliberately exaggerated the results, staring at Xi Hai's reaction, but Xi Hai just smiled,

"Whichever era you think they come from, they can naturally bear the mark of that era."

Kelaifu returned a smile,

"An interesting statement."

"But—"

Immediately afterward, he changed the subject, obviously wanting to cut straight to the point,

"Tell me, what lesson do the guys behind you want to teach The Consortium? Do you need the Empire's help?"

Xi Hai waved his hand,

"Us? We are just a passing pioneer team. After being blocked by the Void Turbulence, we inexplicably received an attack from The Consortium fleet. It was merely a forced counterattack."

A pioneer team? No backing? A forced counterattack? Why couldn't he believe it?

(Ultramarines A: Disaster! The Chapter has been looted by the Blood Ravens!)

(Ultramarines B: Calm down, brother. What did they take?)

(Ultramarines A: The Emperor be praised, they stole the Primarch's Emperor's Sword!)

(Ultramarines B: Hiss—report to Lord Karl Garner immediately. The Blood Ravens must give an explanation this time...)

(Ultramarines A: And his Armor of Fate!!)

(Ultramarines B: ????)

(Ultramarines A: And, and, and...)

(Ultramarines B: ??? What else? Tell me quickly!)

(Ultramarines A: And the person inside the armor!!!)

(Guilliman: Where did this bring me? It's full of holy relics from other Chapters.)