It was difficult to describe the Bishop of Destruction’s feelings at that moment. He looked at the wormhole as if staring at a demon in the mortal world, his gaze filled with shock.
How could such a massive wormhole suddenly appear above Alpha Alien Star!?
Thoughts raced through his mind: A diversion? An illusion?
The First Fortress would fall in a few days… Could it be that the Empire wasn’t planning to welcome the return of the expeditionary fleet today, but their true objective was to recapture the First Fortress?
Su suddenly turned back, staring intently at the star map: No, this was impossible. The Empire’s starships were clearly still arrayed in the universe domain where Beta Alien Star was located. How could they possibly have additional forces to recapture the First Fortress!?
“Your Excellency Bishop!”
The Crystal Cult members beside him were also frightened by the wormhole. “What should we do—”
Being questioned by his subordinates, the Bishop of Destruction’s expression gradually became calm.
He glanced again at the Empire’s formation on the star map, then relaxed his brows and said with a cold smile. “It’s merely a feint.”
“The Empire is attempting to frighten us with the wormhole, forcing us to recall our fleet heading to Beta Alien Star. This way, they can easily achieve their goal of protecting the expeditionary force’s return… Hmph, an empty fort strategy.”
The Crystal Cult members suddenly understood. They all looked at him with admiration, feeling fortunate for the Bishop’s wisdom.
Su waved his hand. “Keep an eye on this wormhole. We can prepare defenses, but there’s no need to worry about it until something comes out.”
Indeed, an empty fort strategy, or rather an empty wormhole strategy. The Bishop’s gaze wandered as he mentally counted the Empire’s forces.
They were all here. The Empire had no additional troops in reserve. There was bound to be nothing on the other side of the wormhole.
Look, the Golden Sun Wheel reinforcements brought from Aslan were mostly in formation, with only a hundred ships led by Jiang Jianming to contain the space bandits; two-thirds of the Silver Big Dipper’s Second Army was guarding the fortress, unable to dispatch more troops; the remnants of the First Army were almost all in formation… Of course, they had to escort their own commander…
Suddenly, the Bishop of Destruction’s eye twitched.
Wait.
…
“—Wait!!”
In the Beta star system, the Crystal Cult’s fleet commander suddenly shouted sternly, “Fleet—slow down!”
That wormhole…!
The commander stared intently at the wormhole. Something was wrong. No, it wasn’t the wormhole that was wrong, but rather—
The starships coming out of the wormhole were problematic!
At some point, the group of expeditionary starships that had just emerged stopped moving.
With the enemy attack imminent, they should have been racing against time to get the main force through the wormhole and rendezvous with the Second Fortress.
But now, not only were those lead starships not charging forward, they were retreating!
They simply moved sideways and reversed, without even turning around. As if teasingly provoking: Hey, we weren’t actually planning to return to the fortress, we’re just playing around.
The commander was burning with anger. He felt he had been fooled.
But in the next second, the commander heard the Bishop’s hysterical roar through the communication channel.
“—Pull back!!!”
****
Alpha star system.
The Crystal Cult members were all looking up, shadows falling on their pale faces.
His Excellency the Bishop of Destruction had said moments ago that the Empire’s second wormhole was a feint, that nothing would come out of it.
But now something had.
The massive spherical wormhole was slowly pulsating, the universe flowing around its outer layer like a colorful glass painting. From within, the bows of starships began to emerge.
The warships’ colors were dim, covered in cracks and crystal clusters, but the Silver Big Dipper’s military emblem was still clearly visible.
All their main and secondary gun ports were open, energy converging into intense points of light, like a group of returning angry dragons.
A Crystal Cult member waved his arm, the cannon light illuminating his features, his voice breaking the silence. “Enemy attack!! It’s the expeditionary fleet—”
“The Beta Alien Star wormhole was the diversion, they’re trying to recapture the fortress!”
Bishop of Destruction’s face contorted as he shouted. “Open fire! The expeditionary fleet’s numbers can’t be large, shoot them down!!”
In the next moment, both sides opened fire simultaneously. Energy beams broke through alloy glass, flames exploded mid-air, and countless fragments of starships flew in all directions across space.
When the intense light dissipated, a pale green defensive shield had risen around the expeditionary ships. They dove under the barrage of fire, directly plunging into Alpha Alien Star’s dark clouds!
Su gripped the command console in disbelief. “High-energy shields…They still have enough energy to activate shields, after opening two large-scale wormholes!?”
On the bridge of the expeditionary force’s flagship sat a general.
The general was young and handsome, with a small ponytail, his legs crossed. A unique aura blended aristocratic charm with an alternative roguishness.
However, when he saw the fortress standing precariously in the wind and snow.
The collapsed watchtower, the scrapped mechas, the lingering gunsmoke.
A cold smile lit up the corners of Xie Yuduo’s eyes and brows.
“You petty criminals, your Young Major General Xie has returned.”
He grinned, drawing out his words. “Won’t you obediently hand over my fortress with both hands—”
His voice, amplified by the starship’s speakers, carried from the clouds to the ground.
Xie Yuduo raised his hand, two words leaving his lips. “Open fire.”
The light at the starship’s gun ports had just gathered to its peak. In the next moment, hundreds of light beams, like a reversed meteor shower, rained down on Alpha Alien Star’s frost-white land.
****
A sudden change also occurred in the Beta star system.
“—Retreat, retreat, all ships fall back!”
The fleet commander was furious, kicking the command console.
As a member of the Crystal Cult, he was unexpectedly overwhelmed by human emotions he despised most.
Originally, his fleet was supposed to break through the Empire’s spherical formation to destroy Xie Yuduo’s expeditionary force.
The Crystal Cult didn’t fear death. If they could complete the mission, a few more sacrifices didn’t matter.
But who could have imagined that the Imperial army would feint, directly using the expeditionary ships as the vanguard to recapture the fortress? They had been led on such a wild goose chase, fooled from start to finish!
Calm down, calm down… The commander gritted his teeth, bloodshot eyes gleaming.
Once they returned to Alpha, crushing that small, exhausted expeditionary force would be easy. It was just a matter of time.
“Quickly pass through the wormhole, defensive systems at maximum power, watch out for possible attacks from Imperial ships!”
The Crystal Cult carefully turned back.
Unexpectedly, the opposite side didn’t give chase.
It seemed that from the beginning, the Imperial army had been ignoring this Crystal Cult fleet that had jumped from so far away.
And now, the Imperial ships began to change formation. Their spherical array collapsed inward in an orderly pattern. One by one, starships disappeared into the wormhole, leaving only traces of azure trails.
“!?” The Crystal Cult commander was dumbfounded.
This should have been the wormhole for the expeditionary fleet to “come out”.
Now it had become the wormhole for the Imperial army to “go in”.
This scene was ridiculous to the extreme. Two mortal enemies, close enough to see each other’s cannons with the naked eye, yet turning their backs and running into their respective wormholes!
The commander was stunned for a full four or five minutes before his whole body shook.
Belatedly, he understood the mechanism behind it.
“Your Excellency the Bishop, Your Excellency the Bishop…”
He trembled as he rushed to the communicator, his eyes bloodshot, “This wormhole, these two wormholes—”
“They’re connected on the other side. The Empire planned to attack Alpha Alien Star with their main force from the start. We’ve been deceived!”
……
Further away from the three alien stars, in the near Crystal Nest universe domain where Xie Yuduo’s expeditionary force had docked.
Two massive spherical wormholes stood relatively stationary at opposite ends of the domain.
Imperial starships continuously emerged from one wormhole, plunging into the other on the opposite side.
A flagship remained stationary in the center. Jin Min sat in the command room, the Lieutenant General overlooking the army flowing past like a torrent, letting out a long sigh.
Wormhole superposition.
This trick combining illusion and reality had finally succeeded.
“Lieutenant General Jin.”
The screen in front of Jin Min flickered, showing Jiang Jianming’s figure.
“The Lava Space Bandits have promised not to send troops this time. Of course, we still need to be wary of them trying to profit from the situation after the battle is settled… I’m heading over right away. How are things on your end? What about His Highness?”
Jin Min: “Very smooth, everything is going according to plan. His Highness the Crown Prince has already passed through the superposed wormholes first, heading to Alpha Alien Star to support Major General Xie.”
Hearing this, Jiang Jianming finally felt relieved. He leaned back in his seat, showing a slight smile.
That day… he had insisted that Ryann say something outrageous, trying to use His Highness’s fearless attitude to think outside the box.
Then Ryan thought for a moment and asked him: Couldn’t they just deal with the two troublesome matters of the expeditionary fleet’s return and recapturing the First Fortress together?
Xie Yuduo was greatly surprised and said: Your Highness, what a beautiful idea. Why don’t you simply let this official lead people to recapture the First Fortress before returning?
—This joke had become reality.
On that day, the plan proposed by Jiang Jianming shocked everyone.
The plan was divided into the following parts:
First, Xie Yuduo had to consolidate resources within the expeditionary force, selecting a batch of soldiers who still had strength and ships with sufficient energy.
Then, at an agreed time, open the first wormhole connecting the near Crystal Nest domain to Beta Alien Star. The injured and sick who were unable to fight would pilot the heavily damaged starships, serving as bait to lure away the Crystal Cult’s main force.
Next, open a second wormhole connecting the near Crystal Nest domain to Alpha Alien Star.
The Crystal Cult, having made the first misjudgment, would inevitably assume that the second wormhole was a useless feint and wouldn’t recall their main force for it.
Waiting for them would be Xie Yuduo’s surprise attack.
What would the Crystal Cult do next? With the expeditionary fleet attacking Alpha Alien Star, whether for defense or to complete their initial objective of destroying the expeditionary force, they would choose to immediately recall their main force.
The trap was set precisely here.
The Imperial starships would move right under the Crystal Cult’s noses, first passing through the Beta Alien Star – near Crystal Nest wormhole, then through the near Crystal Nest – Alpha Alien Star second wormhole.
Fifteen hundred starships would directly charge into Alpha Alien Star, attempting to forcibly recapture the fortress.
“To be honest, Lieutenant General… Last night, I actually felt a bit of regret,” Jiang Jianming said wistfully inside the starship.
Jin Min smiled, “I heard from His Highness that you didn’t sleep well. I thought, so even the Little Excellency has moments of unease.”
Jiang Jianming also smiled helplessly, then shook his head. “Of course I was uneasy, it’s so risky. Any mistake in any part could cause massive losses.”
“Even now that the plan has succeeded, I’m still worried. With so many starships committed to the front line, if we lose, it’s equivalent to losing the main forces of both the First and Second Fortresses over there.”
Saying this, he quietly looked back.
In the distance behind him, the soldiers had forgotten protocol and were talking excitedly.
They were talking about crystal particles, about the Crystal Cult; some were showing off their crystal bones, as if seeing this part of themselves for the first time; others spoke of the White Bird Plan, of the founding emperor; some young recruits were crying out “Long live the Empire.”
They also spoke of the success of the operation, of the imminent recapture battle, of victory and the future.
“But at dawn today, watching the rising sun, I felt—”
Jiang Jianming didn’t disturb the soldiers’ outpouring. He sat alone in the quiet command seat and said softly, “Since the Black Wave radiation outbreak, we’ve been walking step by step towards life in the face of death to get where we are today.”
So in this gambit, he was willing to take the risk.
