“Am–nes–ty?” (TL: 招安=offer amnesty and enlistment to rebels)
Inside the flagship of the space bandits, Red Dragon first paused, then shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.
“Ha, hahaha…You really dare to think, disabled human. Amnesty, that’s interesting. Do you still remember how that old woman surnamed Lin got the knife in her hand?”
Below the golden throne, a row of space bandits immediately raised their fists and roared like a group of frenzied black chimpanzees, with the words ‘fight to the death’ almost written on their faces.
On the other side of the communication, Jiang Jianming calmly said, “The matter of the slaughter thief can be discussed.”
Bei Man’er was surprised and called out softly. “Colonel!”
“Unless the empire can extract the old chief of Lava alive from the crystal particles.” Red Dragon grinned fiercely, “How about it? Want to let Black Shark Base give it a try?”
“Why would Lava want to cooperate with the Crystal Cult?”
Jiang Jianming remained unflustered, “Our last meeting was hasty; we didn’t have a chance to talk properly… To strike against the empire, you would rather cooperate with a heretical organization that intends to destroy all of humanity?”
Red Dragon didn’t answer immediately. He tilted his head and looked at Jiang Jianming for a while, then revealed that cruel yet naive look in his eyes.
He suddenly said, “Disabled human, I actually quite like you.”
“Space bandits like rare things, and you, you are a very rare disabled human.”
The starship continued to race through the vast universe. On the golden throne, Ryann lazily stretched his waist, “If you’re willing to surrender, I’ll spare your life. I’ll just shatter your kneecaps so you can kneel every day to feed my cat.”
He beckoned, and his pet black cat jumped down from somewhere, nestling on its master’s lap and meowed.
“So,” Red Dragon scratched the back of the black cat’s neck and suddenly brought his face close to the communication screen, coldly joking, “considering you’re quite rare, I can specially tell you ‘why’.”
“Lava’s only principle of action is—”
The young man stuck out his tongue. “Lao Zi do as I please.”
“It seems Lava has no intention of negotiating.”
Jiang Jianming sighed; he regretfully adjusted his military coat, “But I also don’t fancy spending the second half of my life kneeling to feed cats, so we’ll have to forcefully ask you to leave the fortress.”
With that said, he reached out and cut off the communication; his final glance towards the opposite side was chillingly cold.
Red Dragon’s face was a mix of dark and light shades, just beginning to sense that something was amiss when suddenly the ship violently shook!
At the same moment, the Lava Space Bandits’ fleet was traversing this dead and desolate old battlefield of the universe,when dozens of missiles appeared out of nowhere. Before anyone could react, they plunged into the speeding starships, igniting a series of bright explosions.
Using the cover of space debris, the Empire’s military mechas burst out of this universe like specters, unleashing a barrage of high-damage long-range weapons as if they cost nothing.
“Damn it—”
Red Dragon nearly slid off his seat. The space bandits on either side were already thrown into disarray. Crude curses, the terrified yowls of black cats, and the grating sound of metal friction rose almost simultaneously with the enemy attack alarm!
A burly space bandit burst in from outside. “Boss, it’s an ambush!”
Red Dragon looked up sharply. “Where!?”
Space Bandit: “On, on our right rear side…”
“Idiot!” Red Dragon kicked the space bandit in the chest, roaring, “I’m asking for our fleet’s current coordinates!!”
His eyes bloodshot, he turned his head and glared at the darkened communication screen, veins throbbing on his forehead. “I’ll slaughter you…”
It was clear as day; that disabled human had tricked him again.
Red Dragon leaped from his chair, bellowing, “Old Black Sheep!”
The tall space bandit who always followed him responded with a muffled sound. Red Dragon grabbed several pieces of true crystal ore, “Drive Hephaestus out, follow me!”
Unfortunately, the S-class mech Hephaestus couldn’t engage the enemy. Zheng Yue strictly followed Jiang Jianming’s instructions to hit and run, even more bandit-like than the space bandits themselves.
By the time Lava’s men clambered onto their mechas ready for battle, the Imperial army was already just a shadow. They could only swallow their anger and return their mechas to their starships.
“Boss,” said the space bandit who came to report, still dazed, “our fleet is moving too fast! Those Imperial dogs are cunning. Should we slow down to search for them?”
Red Dragon was so furious he stomped his feet and shouted. “A bunch of cowards! Slow down your mother’s speed, open your dog eyes and see if there’s anywhere along our path where mechas can ambush us!”
Under the coercion of their young chief, the space bandits continued at full speed. Just as they boldly approached Beta Alien Star, they were bombarded into disarray again.
—There were indeed no places left where mechas could ambush them. Unfortunately, Zheng Yue and his men had set up micro crystal particle sensor bombs codenamed “Thundercloud” during their retreat here; there were at least three to four hundred of them.
Red Dragon’s handsome face nearly turned as red as his hair with rage. With no other choice, he gritted his teeth and ordered the fleet to proceed cautiously.
But there were no more ambushes after that. By the time Lava’s main force arrived at Beta Alien Star with trepidation and prepared to fight—
A beam of light shot up into the sky.
Atop the pitch-black Silver Big Dipper fortress, energy and heat rapidly converged. The second and third beams pierced through heaven and earth, burning through clouds to create massive holes.
Just one minute before, the fortress’s heavy cannons had finished charging.
…….
“Colonel!”
In the command room of the Imperial fleet, Bei Man’er stood up excitedly. “The space bandits are retreating.”
“Hmm.” Jiang Jianming still sat in his command seat in that same posture. He took a sip of water to moisten his throat before blinking and saying. “Not bad. Let them go through an opening.”
By this time, more than an hour had passed since reinforcements arrived at the battlefield. Most of Lava’s mechas hovering over Beta Alien Star had been shot down; those remaining either surrendered or fled.
The Lava Space Bandits’ starships had been hit by several blunt blows along the way, and now they had no will to fight, scooping up their surviving mecha soldiers and fleeing. The Imperial Army did not pursue, allowing the space bandits to slowly withdraw from the Beta Alien Star.
Jiang Jianming reduced the scale of the three-dimensional star map by ten times, confirming the retreat route of Lava Space Bandits’s starships, then asked, “Has Old Zheng returned?”
Just as Bei Man’er responded, the automatic mechanical door behind them opened at that moment. Zheng Yue entered with a flushed face and heavy breaths, striding in. “Colonel!”
Jiang Jianming spun his command seat backward and tilted his head. “How did it go?”
“It was exhilarating.” Zheng Yue wiped off sweat and also tossed down his Golden Sun Wheel military cap, holding it in his hand, “I’ve never fought such an exhilarating battle… With less than two thousand mecha soldiers, we beat those Lava Space Bandits’ large starships senseless. On the way back, we counted almost zero casualties.”
“Almost zero casualties?” Bei Man’er was surprised on the side, thinking to herself that Major Zheng Yue really had a knack for leading mecha soldiers. Even in guerrilla warfare, it was quite difficult to fight starships with mecha without casualties.
“Yes. Now, those Golden Sun Wheel soldiers who were nervous about interstellar combat are no longer afraid, and the rumors about Colonel Jiang’s lack of experience have been silenced.”
Zheng Yue spoke non-stop with excitement, “I won’t lie to you; I was worried before whether it would work out! Now that we’ve won the first battle, when we reach the second fortress, even General Jin will surely look at you differently.”
Jiang Jianming smiled noncommittally; he was pondering over the matter of ignoring General Jin’s communication…and quickly determined it was a problem but not a major one.
While he humored Zheng Yue’s excessive praise, he took out a pair of black gloves from his military coat pocket and put them back on.
There was no need for deception now, but they would still save him a lot of trouble. Even without this layer of benefit, for him who lacked crystal bones, protecting his hands was still necessary.
Jiang Jianming said, “Lava has already left the Beta Star System. Prepare for the entire ship to land and dock. Zheng Yue, go confirm that the mecha soldiers return to the ship; Bei Man’er, contact the second fortress to open their port to receive our starship.”
Both replied in unison. “Yes!” “Understood!”
Before standing up, the black-haired officer took one last glance at the star map.
Suddenly, as if he saw something interesting, he lightly hooked the corner of his eye.
But Jiang Jianming did not speak out; he quickly concealed his smile, casually adjusted his Silver Big Dipper uniform, and walked out of this command center.
****
On another end of the cosmos.
Inside the flagship White Jade, Major Rita Liu stood anxiously below the bridge.
“Kaios…His Highness Prince Ryann,” this change in address almost made the female adjutant bite her tongue, but she had no time to care about her gaffe, “Forgive my bluntness, but we must change our course.”
The Crown Prince sitting at the head stroked the virtual command screen with one hand. His platinum curls bounced as he turned his head to look down at Major Rita Liu with piercing emerald eyes.
“Must we?”
“Yes,” Rita said urgently, “The Silver Big Dipper forces at the first fortress are already exhausted and their morale has plummeted to rock bottom. If we continue in this direction and encounter Lava Space Bandits retreating from Beta Alien Star, the consequences would be unimaginable!”
“Is that so.”
Ryann turned his face away again. “Major, first tell me.”
“Why are you exhausted?”
“And why has your morale plummeted to rock bottom?”
“We…” Rita was at a loss for words; she stared blankly above. After many days of fortress defense battles, the female officer wearing electronic glasses had lost much weight.
Of course she could give reasons. They were exhausted because the first fortress suddenly suffered an attack from Crystal Cult; they had higher technology that could control intelligent alien life forms and even cause crystal particle disturbances using real crystal ores leading to widespread crystal disorder.
And since their main commander was away and more than half of their starships along with many key figures were taken by Xie Yuduo; without external reinforcements and managing to hold on until now was already not easy; they were naturally exhausted.
Despite their efforts, they still failed to hold the fortress. After the Holy War, Alpha Alien Star, which had never been lost, was abandoned. The Stele of Heroes, buried with the bones of the comrades, was left to the enemy. The shame of the frontline’s defeat and the disgrace of a routed army weighed heavily upon them, naturally plummeting morale to an all-time low.
But are these reasons truly justifiable?
It’s the historians’ job to not judge heroes by success or failure. For soldiers, on the battlefield, where is there room for so many reasons beyond victory or defeat?
“Without Xie Yuduo, has the Silver Big Dipper First Army fallen to such a state?”
Ryann tapped on the command console and said indifferently. “What if he dies one day? What if this expedition results in total annihilation?”
“Will this fortress on Alpha still stand? If it can’t be defended, does the Silver Big Dipper First Army still exist?”
Rita’s heart skipped a beat.
She looked up in shock at the handsome prince and suddenly realized that indeed, something was different about His Highness.
The former His Highness Garcia was aloof and indifferent, too lazy to bother with anything. He had stayed at the first fortress for three years, like an eagle soaring alone through the snowstorms of Alpha Alien Star, only occasionally resting his wings at the fortress.
Therefore, when news came from the empire that Prince Garcia was just an alias after the Crown Prince’s feigned death, Rita always felt something was off.
She always felt that Prince Garcia was different from her impression of Ryann, the Crown Prince of yesteryear.
In fact, Rita knew that Prince Garcia did care about the fortress. He would single-handedly clear out alien creatures others dared not touch for the sake of the fortress and would accept the most dangerous missions with an indifferent tone. But never like today.
Only Major General Xie would scold them like this; those sharp and sarcastic words were not meant to insult subordinates but were pointed reminders out of tough love.
But now, Prince Garcia…no, Crown Prince Ryann started to care about them. This realization filled Rita with disbelief and surrealism.
If the past three years weren’t a disguise, what changed this man? Was it the long-lost empire, the turbulent times, or…another person?
“…”
On the command seat of the bridge, Ryann’s eye twitched. He was scolding someone, and they dared to daydream…
Never mind, perhaps it was resistance developed from being scolded by Xie Yuduo too often. The Crown Prince gave up pursuing it further and set the fleet’s course to collide head-on with Lava.
Finally startled back to her senses by fear, Rita exclaimed. “Your Highness! We still can’t engage in battle…”
Ryann said impatiently. “Shut up and watch.”
Rita protested. “But!”
Ryann lowered his voice impatiently. “Major, follow orders—I said watch.”
His tone left no room for doubt and carried an authority unique to those above. Rita suddenly found herself speechless; all she could do was watch the star map in trepidation as the entire ship began to accelerate under the command of the Crown Prince.
……..
“Boss! Imperial fleets have appeared ahead!”
“There are quite a few of them; one or two thousand…”
Inside the space bandits starship, that unfortunate soul stumbled in for what seemed like the umpteenth time.
Red Dragon’s face twitched violently, and he shouted in despair, “Again!?”
After sudden reinforcements, ambushes, and bombs… following the delaying tactics of suspicion, they were greeted by fortress heavy artillery.
Now that they had chosen to retreat, the path of retreat was unexpectedly blocked by a fleet of Imperial starships!
Every step was a trap; it was as if they were calculated to death by that disabled human and the Imperial monster. Red Dragon unwillingly punched the wall, “Don’t go head-to-head with the Imperial ships, change course, everyone retreat!!”
Space bandit: “—Alright! We’re retreating, we’re retreating!”
Thus, an incredibly comical scene was born.
In the unofficial histories of the Empire that would circulate later, this battle would be described as follows: Having struggled to withdraw from the encirclement of the Crystal Cult, the completely debilitated remnants of the Silver Big Dipper’s First Army Corps staggered and barely managed to—chase Lava Space Bandits’ fleet out of most of the star system.
It sounded like a dark joke.
Along the way, Red Dragon even tried to salvage something. Sadly, as soon as L-Hephaestus was deployed, it collided head-on with the Crown Prince who had also come out in his mecha.
Without that fragile and easily killed disabled human by his side, His Highness could be more unrestrained in battle. The clash of crystal bones stirred up surrounding crystal particles like raging waves. Twenty minutes later, L-Hephaestus was sent flying backward first, crashing into a starship at its waist.
The latter exploded into flames and thick smoke that shot straight into view, while metal debris clattered against the mecha’s body.
Red Dragon dared not linger in battle. He let Old Black Sheep control the mecha to get up and run, finding an opportunity to slip into a starship and never came out again.
Major Rita left behind on the flagship was stunned.
This…this worked…!?
The space bandit group had always been rascals who would slip away if they couldn’t win a fight, causing years of frustration for the Empire. Who would have thought this characteristic would be exploited?
The rascal was tricked by another rascal; this time, Lava Space Bandits were thoroughly deceived by the Imperial fleet’s bluff…
Beep beep—
In front of the empty command seat, suddenly a communication window started flashing.
With His Highness Ryann absent, Rita hesitated for a moment but worried about missing important military intelligence. She still went up and clicked to connect.
A young man with black hair and eyes appeared on the other side, his tone gentle and smiling.
“Your Highness, too much is as bad as not enough. It’s about time to—Major Rita?”
Rita was surprised and quickly saluted. “Little Excellency Jiang!”
“Oh,” Jiang Jianming on the other side peered around at the empty command seat. “His Highness has gone off to fight? No problem. Chasing after the space bandits is a way to relax a bit. The morale of Silver Big Dipper should also recover somewhat.”
Chasing space bandits to relax…Rita’s mouth twitched at this choice of words.
But… she couldn’t help but shiver with excitement thinking: But this way of putting it is just too cool!
On the other side of communication, Little Excellency Jiang remained as calm and composed as ever. There seemed to be no significant change in him; even that subtle air of slyness and high status mystique remained unchanged:
“But it’s about time now. I’ll make a private call on my wrist device and call His Highness back. Please order the fleet to stand down Major, and meet up at Beta Alien Star as soon as possible—”
At that same moment, black military boots stepped onto Beta Alien Star’s red soil.
Jiang Jianming walked down from the starship. He squinted to avoid the glaring sunlight overhead and finished his last sentence before hanging up. “I await everyone at the Second Fortress.”
Sunlight fragments illuminated a sign he passed by with powerful inscriptions: Silver Big Dipper Second Fortress, Number One Starship Port—
