44: The mess left behind

"Enemy cruiser signal lost."

After four CAS066 intervened, the battle was quickly decided.

The Giant Stone Group fleet, which had just been so arrogant, instantly fell into chaos,

running away miserably under the barrage of Massive Cannons and torpedoes.

Aboard Deng Zhuo's "the rock,"

the communication channels kept ringing,

with the screen full of distress calls.

"Bang!!"

Suddenly,

the floor beneath his feet shook violently,

followed by a piercing alarm:

"Total depressurization in Zone F of our Warship!"

"Artificial gravity system about to shut down!"

"Fifty percent power loss!"

They were hit!

Looking at the chaotic Bridge,

Deng Zhuo roared loudly,

trying to get the uninjured personnel back to their battle stations,

but he clearly overestimated the military literacy of corporate combat personnel:

normal employees were merely aboard for their salaries,

let alone these patrol teams from humanity's core regions!

They were all people placed here to gain experience!

Deng Zhuo's shouts not only failed to restore order in the Bridge,

but instead intensified the chaos.

Dozens of people shouted and screamed as they jumped off their workstations,

rushing toward the dedicated escape Shuttle on the Bridge—

as if it were their last hope of survival.

"Damn it!"

Deng Zhuo watched this absurd scene,

cursing fiercely.

Didn't these bastards know that,

under the level of firepower outside,

an escape Shuttle like this wouldn't survive three seconds?!

the rock hadn't reached the point where they needed to abandon Warship!

"Bang!"

Suddenly,

a gunshot, whose origin was unknown,

completely ended Deng Zhuo's rage.

The gunshot brought the frantic people in the Bridge to a momentary halt,

Coincidentally, at this moment,

another ZX-16 Armored Cruiser drifted past the Bridge of the rock:

The scorched and twisted armor plating,

the hideous and terrifying holes,

and—

the countless humanoid figures floating out of the Warship, who hadn't fully lost their vital signs

and were still struggling and writhing,

were all displayed before everyone in the Bridge!

Sanity was completely shattered.

The desire for survival caused the animalistic nature to fully erupt.

The order briefly restored by the gunshot was completely gone.

In order to enter that escape Shuttle,

dozens of people squeezed into the hatch designed for only two people,

shooting, shoving, crushing, biting.

At this moment,

the Bridge was like a living hell... Watching the last enemy Warship disintegrate before his eyes,

Xi Hai's taut nerves slowly relaxed.

The firepower of the four 066 hadn't even been fully deployed,

yet the enemies before them had collapsed on their own.

Honestly,

it was quite difficult to ensure that the entire scattered and fleeing fleet was left behind.

Just now, he almost let a Shuttle that was swerving left and right get away.

Fortunately, the ruby's shell was slightly faster.

After pausing for a few seconds,

suppressing the fingers that were slightly trembling from the adrenaline rush,

Xi Hai ordered into the microphone:

"Organize the remaining fleet,"

"and quickly sweep the battlefield!"

After a moment's thought, he added,

"Be sure to recover the debris of our damaged Warships!"

..."Miss,"

"a large number of distress calls just appeared on the public channel."

"Most of the sender locations are at the starting point of Route 21."

The void route node of Order Seat V01.01,

inside the port of the "Navigation" Space City.

The Giant Stone Group members who had initially followed Xi Hai away returned to the space station.

At this moment,

an employee from the Group's headquarters handed a tablet to Da Wei Dai Er.

"Hmm,"

"Are those patrol fleet guys doing a poor job?"

"They even let the other side send out distress calls?"

"Never mind,"

"We'll discuss their punishment when they return,"

"Tell them to swiftly sweep the battlefield,"

"and then leave behind some evidence that can be used to frame the opposition,"

"and quickly withdraw!"

The employee swallowed, looking at the displeased Da Wei Dai Er,

wondering if he should tell this Miss,

that those distress calls were actually sent by their own fleet?

"Uh..."

"Well,"

"Miss..."

Da Wei Dai Er turned her triangular eyes toward him,

staring fiercely at the employee,

"If you have something to say, say it!"

"What are you hesitating about?!"

The employee shrank his head,

"All those distress reports were sent by our own people."

"They... might have already become part of what's being swept away on the battlefield."

"Smash!"

Before he finished speaking, the tablet in Da Wei Dai Er's hand was instantly crushed.

Her stout arm quickly grabbed the collar of the trembling employee beside her,

and she roared loudly:

"What did you say?"

..."Area reached."

Bei Xinghen was a major in the Joint Patrol Fleet.

He was born in the Social Public Rearing Pod of Order Seat,

graduating from the United University's Fleet Command Department.

That year,

with outstanding results—first in Sand Table Simulation and first in theoretical classes—

he was directly assigned to the Joint Patrol Fleet of Order Seat V01.01.

Initially,

he thought it was time to achieve great things.

However,

his performance seemed too dazzling.

As the saying goes, Heaven envies the talented.

History's attitude toward geniuses

is to let them spend the first half of their lives in glory,

and then strike them down when they are at their peak.

Bei Xinghen was a victim of this situation.

Order Seat V01.01, where the Joint Patrol Team was located,

was the core area of all humanity.

The outer ring here was even safer than the core areas of some remote star regions.

Military merit?

There was none here.

Experience?

In front of those who relied on family power to come here for a gilded career,

this thing was useless.

On the contrary, because his performance was too outstanding,

he was promoted in name but demoted in reality, transferred to the Outer Ring Quick Reaction Fleet.

Here, all he did was patrol routes, patrol routes,

and his station was just a small Outpost,

without even a decent bed.

Just like this,

he was shelved here for five years.

Bei Xinghen always felt that,

if he kept getting stifled like this, he would eventually grow mushrooms.

Just as the sharp ambition in his heart was being smoothed away day by day—

On the 800th Anniversary of the Reboot Day, a mission found him... "Arrived at target area!"

A report from the officer beside him woke Bei Xinghen from his memories.

—After a large number of distress calls were sent to the public channel,

—The Joint Patrol Team Outer Ring Command Post of Order Seat V01.01 immediately determined that

—a battle had occurred in the area.

—Subsequently, they dispatched the Quick Reaction Fleet located on Route 21.

"Captain,"

"A large amount of Warship debris has been detected ahead!"

As they continuously approached the signal source,

the fragments and remnants drifting past the Bridge gradually increased.

Bei Xinghen's brow gradually furrowed,

"That's cruiser debris!"

Suddenly, the radar operator next to him reported loudly,

"Displaying visuals..."

The bad feeling in Bei Xinghen's heart intensified.

The moment he clearly saw the battlefield footage projected onto the command console,

his stomach immediately cramped—

On the massive wreckage, there was clearly the emblem of the Joint Patrol Team!

The intensity and complexity of the situation here greatly exceeded his expectations!

"Report immediately!"

"This is no longer a situation we can handle!"

Ignoring his stomach pain, Bei Xinghen immediately looked at the communications officer beside him,

and gave the order in an extremely urgent voice.