859 Return Gift!
More and more dynasty fleets were being gathered, and the desolate universe belt outside of the Dawn Star Cluster was starting to be locked down. The encirclement was forming, and the gaps for the Arcane Church fleet were slowly closing.
With the aid of Han Xiao’s coordinates, the dynasty managed to capture even more battleships. After Rogue ordered for a million divisions to be formed, these divisions no longer had the ability to break through after being discovered by the dynasty and could only be wiped out or captured.
Not too long later, tens of thousands of battleships fell into the hands of the dynasty, and the Arcane Church members on board the battleships could only become captives.
However, Rogue’s method had indeed slowed down the dynasty’s speed greatly.
If they wanted to hide something, the best method was not to lock it up in a safe but to hide it within a sea of bait. This was the situation that the dynasty was facing.
In the main flagship, Tarrokov was having a virtual meeting with Han Xiao and the others to analyze the situation.
“According to the statements of the captives, the enemy commander Rogue adopted the method of abandoning their forces to confuse us. Furthermore, half of their battleships have disconnected from the network and escaped from our surveillance. They are now lone armies trying to escape in the dark. We have managed to capture the Glorious Sun Grade flagship but were unable to find Rogue and the others. They should be hiding within the fleet that’s cut off from the network.”
Han Xiao stroked his chin and said, “It seems like they noticed my infiltration and chose to cut off their tails to escape. Heh, this commander is somewhat capable.”
“Black Star, do you have any ideas?”
“As long as those troops connect to the quantum network for even an instant, their locations will be exposed.” Han Xiao shrugged his shoulders.
When he left behind the infiltration software, he had not learned [Virtual Creator] yet and was restricted by the firewall. If he had his current standard back then, it would not be as simple as infiltrating their system. He would have been able to bypass their defenses and use a virus to control the artificial intelligence of the enemy’s battleship. Even if the enemy cut off connection from the network, he would have been able to force the enemy’s artificial intelligence to reactivate it.
“I can try to tell their fortunes,” Ravenlaude said. “However, the Arcane Church has two Mages, and they have definitely set up a force field to block their destiny lines and prevent others from spying on them.”
“Just give it a try since it doesn’t require money.” Han Xiao raised his brows.
Ravenlaude snorted, and a purple light appeared within his palms. A light blue crystal appeared in his palm with a gray cloud within it.
The crystal then floated in front of him, and Ravenlaude tapped his forehead. Indigo light then flashed in the crystal, and an image gradually appeared in the gray cloud.
Everyone then stretched their necks to take a look, and Ninjia’s face appeared within the crystal. He then looked at Ravenlaude as though he had noticed something.
Ka-cha!
The next moment, the crystal, which was not cheap, split in two.
“It was blocked indeed,” Ravenlaude said with resignation.
Everyone then looked at him as if him being a disappointment was expected.
Ravenlaude had thick skin and even asked if he could claim his losses.
Tarrokov decided to ignore him temporarily.
“The enemy has chosen to split up their forces with every division being much smaller than before,” Heber said with a deep voice. “Rogue’s fleet is probably the only one capable of breaking through our obstruction. The moment a Beyond Grade A takes action, they will be discovered by our people. However, we have not had any such reports, which means that they have not met our troops.”
“They are truly lucky.” Beyoni snorted.
Eh? Luck... Han Xiao then blinked, and an idea came to his head. He then turned around to look at Feidin with a burning gaze.
“Feidin, if I asked you to choose, which direction do you think Rogue would escape in? You are pretty lucky, and your guess may be right.”
Feidin did not know whether to laugh or cry.
“Black Star, it is one thing for you to tease me usually, but how can you do so in front of outsiders? You shouldn’t joke about this, right?”
“What are you talking about? I am not joking at all,” Han Xiao said seriously. “You can also see that we are facing a huge problem that cannot be solved. Why don’t you give it a try? Who knows what will happen?”
Seeing Han Xiao’s insistence, Feidin could only helplessly point at a few spots on the star map casually.
“Hey, don’t blame me if I am wrong.”
Han Xiao chuckled and said, “Chief commander, why don’t you search the few directions that he pointed out? We may really be able to find Rogue.”
“This is too childish!” Aurora could not help commenting.
However, she looked up and realized that Tarrokov and the other Beyond Grade As had calm expressions on their faces as though they did not find it strange.
“I see,” Tarrokov said. “Relying on instincts isn’t a bad choice right now.”
Milizaus and the others nodded in agreement.
They were all experts with a great deal of experience and believed in intuition as well.
Luck was a part of strength!
...
Rogue’s fleet only had ten or so small spaceships, and after cutting themselves off from the network, they had lost contact with the other divisions. They did not know how many of their divisions had been captured and could only choose to escape.
“We aren’t too far from the secret stargate, and we haven’t met with any dynasty fleets,” Rogue said, looking at the star map. “As long as we go past the barricade set up by the dynasty, we will be able to arrive at the stargate.”
“Looks like our luck isn’t bad,” Taylor said.
“It isn’t entirely luck,” Rogue replied. “We intentionally misled the dynasty’s fleet about our direction, and thus, the lockdown in this direction is thinner.”
Sagman nodded slowly and replied, “According to our current speed, we will be able to...”
Whoo!
Before he could finish, the alarm suddenly went off.
“Alert! Radar scan detected. Our disguise has been seen through. Please prepare for battle!”
Everyone nodded and saw a dynasty fleet approaching them from the radar.
“Dammit!” Rogue slammed the control panel.
Their concealment mode could hide their location, but the enemy radar would still be able to pick them up at close proximity. A dynasty fleet that was in detection mode had just gone past them and thus detected their presence.
Rogue then turned around and shouted at Sagman and the others, “The enemy has fifty battleships. Please get rid of them quickly!”
Although the battleships of the Arcane Church were slightly faster, the Crimson Dynasty’s technological skills also belonged to the Universal Civilization grade and would not be thrown off so easily.
If they tried to continue their escape, the surrounding dynasty fleets would also detect their location. Therefore, they had no choice but to wipe out this fleet that had spotted them.
Sagman and the others nodded solemnly.
Aided by the five Beyond Grade As, Rogue’s fleet easily wiped out their enemy but also revealed the existence of Sagman and the others.
“The dynasty already knows that we are in this direction and will definitely attempt to prevent us from escaping. We must escape before the enemy Beyond Grade As arrive...” Rogue clenched his fists tightly.
...
Because their location had been exposed, Rogue’s fleet had to endure many layers of restrictions and could no longer attempt to escape stealthily. They could only forge a bloody path out and were extremely pathetic.
They originally wanted to speed up but ended up being slowed down by the layers of battleships.
Tarrokov, Han Xiao, and the others received news and immediately changed direction to give chase.
The distance between both parties was decreasing as they approached the stargate.
This time, Rogue and the others were charging straight toward the location of the secret stargate, and the dynasty’s fleet had finally discovered the secret stargate. Thus, an intense battle broke out with the Arcane Church fleet that was stationed at the stargate.
Rogue and the others eventually managed to arrive at the stargate by relying on the strength of the five Beyond Grade As.
The Arcane Church fleet was currently engaged in an intense battle with the dynasty fleet, and reinforcements were coming from the other side of the stargate endlessly.
From afar, Rogue and the others witnessed the battle. Hope of their escape was right before their eyes, and they could not help but grow excited.
Rogue connected to the quantum network again and contacted the fleet stationed by the stargate. Following which, they then charged straight into the rear of the dynasty’s fleet and joined the battle to kill their way to the stargate.
However, Tarrokov led the main fleet and arrived at this moment. Han Xiao and the others immediately spotted Sagman’s group of five, who were trying to use their strength to break through the dynasty’s formation.
“Do it!”
Without any hesitation, Han Xiao’s group of five left the spaceship and charged straight toward Sagman.
Rogue was the first to notice this, and his face turned ashen.
The Beyond Grade As still had a chance to escape into the stargate with their strength, but he had no way of escaping!
He had even abandoned his fleet mercilessly, but he still was not able to escape‽
The powerful energy reaction attracted the attention of Sagman and the others, and their expressions changed greatly.
“They caught up!”
“We cannot be tied down by them!”
Sagman’s group of five did not even dare turn around to fight back and sped up toward the stargate. They only wanted to arrive at the stargate before Han Xiao and the others could catch up to them.
They knew that it would be impossible for them to escape from the Flickering World once they were tied down by experts of the same level.
Five brilliant rays of lights were escaping with five chasing behind them.
“Attack the stargate!”
All those who had long-range attacks in Han Xiao’s party began opening fire at the stargate.
Various Beyond Grade A attacks bombarded the stargate, and cracks appeared on the protective shield covering the planet. It would not last for long.
Sagman and the others gritted their teeth and took the initiative to block the long-range attacks. They would rather get injured to reduce the damage of the stargate and borrow the strength of the attack to speed up their escape.
It was now the Arcane Church group’s turn to protect the stargate, and they were in an extremely pathetic state.
The mechanical army caused the greatest damage, and Mercer was the most pathetic. He was not like the others and did not have any long-range energy shields. He could only use his own body to endure the attacks, and his speed was gradually slowing down.
Sagman and the two Mages were the fastest and charged straight into the stargate first. Psyker followed close behind them, and he used his psychic energy to receive a wave of attacks from the mechanical army, spitting out blood as he entered the stargate.
Four of them escaped through the stargate, and only Mercer was left on the battlefield. Han Xiao and the others finally caught up when he was not too far away from the stargate.
Heber charged forward and held onto Mercer. They then tangled with each other, and Mercer’s flying trajectory was thrown off course by Heber’s intervention. He smashed into the weakened protective shield and crashed into a corner of the stargate.
Han Xiao then waved his hands, and a portion of his mechanical army charged into the stargate as scouts.
The next moment, he lost contact with the mechanical army, and it was destroyed.
The whirlpool in the stargate then disappeared, and it was shut from the other side.
Upon seeing that, Milizaus snorted. “The four who escaped destroyed the other end of the stargate. Humph, it seems like they have abandoned Mercer.”
“At least we caught one,” Ravenlaude said with a smirk.
Everyone then turned around to look at Mercer. He was currently surrounded in all directions and had no way to escape.
Heber was currently locked in a fierce battle with the crazed Mercer.
Upon noticing their gazes, Heber said with a deep voice, “This is my prey. Don’t intervene.”
Since it was impossible for Mercer to escape, they did not mind watching a one-on-one fight to observe both of their strengths.
Han Xiao then cheered, “How energetic, Little Ty-Ty.”
“Stop calling me that!”
Heber decided to just ignore Han Xiao and focus his attention on dealing with Mercer.
After finally getting a chance to capture a Beyond Grade A, he would not give it up.
The stargate had already been destroyed, and the enemy did not have any way out. This battle was already as good as over.
At this moment, Tarrokov joined in the conversation and announced with a satisfied look, “Four escaped with one left behind. Rogue has also been captured, and our results aren’t too bad. Even if Sagman’s group of four can escape from the Flickering World, they will still have to face another wave of attacks.”
Escaping from the Flickering World did not mean that they would be safe.
The Crimson Dynasty arranged for troops to block them in the Shattered Star Ring. The Black Star Army, Bloodshed Land, Klent, and all the other allies of the dynasty had also made their move, not to mention the restless Federation of Light.
Their life of escaping had not come to an end, and they would still have to go through the vast Shattered Star Ring.
Upon hearing that, Han Xiao said, “I just infiltrated the database of the stargate and obtained coordinates of the stargate on the other side.”
Tarrokov’s eyes lit up.
“This way, we will be able to uproot this secret stargate for good, and it will be much easier for us to lock onto their location. Black Star, good job!”
Han Xiao smiled and turned around to look at the battle between Heber and Mercer.
Capturing Mercer was only a matter of time.
Heaving a sigh of relief, a cold light flashed past Han Xiao’s eyes.
This was the second Beyond Grade A captive that they had caught!
Would the Arcane Church be satisfied with his return gift?
...
At the same time, in some part of the desolate universe belt was the exit of the Arcane Church’s secret stargate.
Sagman’s group of four looked at the stargate that had been destroyed by them and fell silent.
“Mercer... wasn’t able to escape...”
Sagman gritted his teeth so hard to the point his teeth almost cracked.
If they had succeeded with their mission and gotten rid of Milizaus, Beyoni, and Black Star, the dynasty would only have had three Beyond Grade As left, and they would have been able to escape easily.
But now...
They had lost the entire battle because of a moment of carelessness!
“We can’t stop here,” Ninjia said. “Black Star will definitely be able to find this location. Hurry up and leave.”
Sagman then snapped back to his senses and said with a dark expression, “Let’s go. We must take the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter back.”
It had been a long time since they were reduced to such a pathetic state!