248: How did they arrive so quickly?

As a minor power within the Order Alliance, the Saint Blade Group had always maintained a very clear understanding of its own position:

It was merely one of the many high-grade consumables under those six big shots.

Influenced by this "sensible and pragmatic" mindset,

every single one of The Corporation's high-level executives had achieved great heights in the art of "selling out":

Tariffs? Resource development rights? Citizens?

Sell! Sell everything!

Hand over control of tariffs to others; if a piece of territory was coveted, lease it out immediately; if there was a labor shortage elsewhere, sell their own people; if there were reparations to be paid, distribute the burden to the local levels and pocket a series of kickbacks.

In any case, as long as the profit from occupying them was lower than the cost, The Corporation would, in all likelihood, remain safe.

As for the buildup of their military forces, the executives were even more savvy:

It was enough as long as they could suppress rebellions, crack down on disobedient smugglers, and hold their own in small-scale skirmishes with neighbors.

What if a neighbor of similar strength suddenly wanted to start a high-intensity conflict?

In that case, it would most likely be a proxy war. They didn't need to worry because once the team fight starts, they would naturally be matched with allies—

After all, The Corporation's network within the Order Alliance was relatively healthy.

Consequently, the Saint Blade Group's fleet consisted only of a bunch of small, purchased Frigates and destroyers—

However, even a fleet like that was not something a group of workers, who had just finished an uprising and hadn't even secured all the vital facilities on the planet, could defeat.

"The enemy fleet entered the Gravity Conduit eight hours ago! We failed to detect any Lane Generation Devices!"

"According to calculations... they should be arriving very soon..."

In Wei Lai's temporary command center, the holographic projections of several regional heads gathered around a small table. They stared gloomily at the web of projected flight paths calculated by the data personnel, caught in a dilemma.

"By the way, when will our reinforcements arrive?"

One of the heads scratched his hair irritably and looked at Wei Lai.

Wei Lai shrugged and replied,

"There seems to have been a slight mishap with our planned support; it's been delayed by half a day."

"As of now... it should be about another hour."

As he spoke, he rubbed his temples to soothe a sudden headache—

He had heard that the fleet intended to provide covert support and cover for Tu and his group had apparently miscalculated their Void Coordinates, suffering a momentary 'lost' state during Void Navigation.

Fortunately, this displacement was only spatial and did not involve time.

However, they were still nearly twelve hours behind their estimated arrival time.

How could this happen?

Why did it have to be this specific team? Why did the accident have to happen to them?

Moving his fingers up, he tugged at a lock of hanging hair.

Wei Lai scratched his head and suddenly looked at the head of the Liu Shi City region.

"By the way, have you taken down that Sanatorium in the suburbs yet?"

The person being watched lowered his head and said nothing, but his expression said it all—

Clearly, they hadn't.

"Actually, it's expected that we haven't taken it down; after all, he's the young master of the Saint Blade Group."

"If this young master were caught so easily, I'd have to doubt whether he's even valued at all."

At that moment, a holographic projection broke the awkward silence and tried to smooth things over—it was the head of the orbital space station.

This man was currently floating in low Earth orbit; if the enemy ships arrived, he would undoubtedly be the first to face them.

"Fine,"

Wei Lai sighed, lowering his hands from his hair.

"Can you bring the Orbital Defense Platforms down?"

"No," the head said. "While they're floating in the sky, they're at least somewhat useful. If they come down, it means we've completely given up on resisting."

"I'll have those willing to stay remain, and then I'll drop them down—"

"We still have a small batch of remote-controlled 'Driftwood' missiles. In any case, I'm going to fire them all off first."

Wei Lai was silent for a moment. After replying "I understand," he looked back at the head of Liu Shi City.

"I know that place is hard to take, but take it we must."

"That kid being protected is the biological son of the Saint Blade Group's chairman."

"If we can capture the young master alive before The Corporation's fleet gets in our faces, if nothing else, we can at least buy some time—"

"I've heard that he cares a great deal about his son."

"But," someone beside him interrupted, asking in confusion,

"what if The Corporation's fleet doesn't care about that young master at all? What then?"

"Then we'll just have to call it bad luck!" Wei Lai spread his hands. "Do you really think we can stand against a fleet with just a few Orbital Defense Platforms and those Ground-based Defense Weapons we still haven't figured out how to use?"

"To put it bluntly, we're dead either way. Capturing that young master to buy some time at least lets us take someone down with us, doesn't it?"

The man thought for a moment and continued,

"Then can't we all just run to the suburbs? That would also serve to buy time."

Hearing this idea, Wei Lai sneered, instantly shattering his illusions:

"It's useless. How far could we possibly run? How large is the blast radius of an orbital bombardment?"

"A single missile can wipe out everything within hundreds of miles!"

This planet had undergone planetary terraforming; most of the land had been converted into vast plains, supplemented by several legacy Localized Weather Control Facilities.

"In the city, there are at least some buildings to act as buffers, but if we go outside... you wouldn't survive even if you were a superman."

"Understood!" The projection of the Liu Shi City head gave a military salute on the spot and shouted,

"I will lead the assault personally! In the next attack, I will definitely capture that damned young master!"

With that, his projection shut off with a "beep," leaving only a fleeting flash of blue light.

"Sigh—"

Watching the man's impulsive behavior, Wei Lai sighed softly.

He felt an ominous premonition rising in his heart.

I hope everything goes well... Just as he was thinking this, a communicator used only for emergencies began to "beep-beep-beep—" loudly. The sharp, ear-piercing sound felt like an awl suddenly stabbing into the hearts of everyone present.

As soon as Wei Lai picked up, he heard a piece of bad news that made his heart stop—

"Report! Enemy fleet signals detected in the satellite orbit of Planet Three!"

"Estimated engagement in twenty minutes!"

Wei Lai's pupils instantly constricted to pinpoints, accompanied by a violent tremor—

The Corporation's fleet had arrived much faster than he had imagined!

bu hao!