Resurrection Empire

Chapter 1329 - 504: Brandishing the Sword

Two thousand newly refurbished armed battleships are transporting "Void" cargo, slowly crossing the safety boundary of the Nanxiang Star Cluster at a so-called maximum speed of 0.15 times the speed of light, silently yet captivating the attention of everyone along a universally recognized dangerous route.

At this moment, numerous information streams, radar scanning repeatedly from afar or nearby, are observing the armed merchant fleet, while countless eyes quietly watch the two thousand green light points on the star map.

Behind this seemingly inconspicuous long voyage, it symbolizes the Nanxiang Star Cluster, after years of calm, once again facing the secret confrontation between two Earls.

This might be the first open attempt by the outsider Earl of Source Star to shake off the suppression of Nanxiang Marquis.

It could very well be the last attempt.

Many people feel deeply perplexed.

If the Earl of Source Star obediently stayed on South Nine C, at most achieving nothing during the century assessment period, enduring through the days, he would still be a proper Earl, gaining dozens of star systems as his feudal tenure and becoming one of the serene Earls.

The so-called serene Earl refers to such Earls having no control over their own feudal tenure. The actual controllers are officials appointed by the Royal Family, who only need to periodically provide the serene Earl a certain percentage of tax revenue.

The number of such Earls within the Empire is not small. Not every family has a leader of outstanding ability and wisdom. Rather than letting incompetents ruin the family, it’s better to entrust it obediently to officials akin to professional managers, at least ensuring endless prosperity and well-being.

The title of serene Earl might seem disgraceful, but the treatment surpasses that of a Viscount, making it a life of comfort that countless people envy.

But the Earl of Source Star refuses to accept fate and personally leads troops out to do the logistics and merchant transportation typically left to lesser individuals, despite having no successor, voluntarily plunging into danger, truly perplexing.

If the Earl of Source Star dies because of this, the Earl title he just acquired would be lost, rendering his efforts in vain.

The ironic part is, it seems he lacks this self-awareness.

On the other side, Viscount Sosgate of South Nine and the head of special operations in Nanxiang’s Earldom are already elated.

Spies from the Storm Pirate Alliance, using technical advantages, quietly approached the Source Star merchant fleet a billion kilometers range as soon as they set off and are tightly tailing, holding absolute information advantage.

The three major leaders of the Pirate Alliance even personally led elite assault fleet groups from the base, launching a fierce pursuit.

No one knows that within the command ship of the armed merchant fleet, Ren Zhong, along with Zheng Tian and Vincent Fanhuoyi, is thoroughly simulating the Storm Pirate Alliance’s force configurations, warship performance, individual capabilities, conducting exhaustive combat simulations.

A reconnaissance ship from the Storm Pirate Alliance, equipped with information radar technology and basic camouflage stealth technology shared by Nanxiang’s Earldom, utterly fails to maintain invisibility within the merchant fleet’s radar, brightly illuminating like a beacon in the night sky, with its every move fully grasped.

In terms of information radar and ship stealth capabilities, the armed fleet, which has undergone a complete technical overhaul in a very short time and employs precious coatings synthesized from the remnant carcass of a fourth-class Mother Empress reproductive subunit, thoroughly trounces the Storm Pirate Alliance.

"On the surface, I’m in the light, the enemy in the dark. But in reality, the situation is completely opposite. At most, the Storm Pirate Alliance can dispatch a thousand-speed-oriented assault fleet to pursue us. Regardless of force composition or weaponry or even information warfare level, we hold absolute superiority. I have only one request: annihilate entirely, leave no one behind, and ensure not a whisper escapes. Capture alive, if possible, the legendary Storm Trio. Isn’t Liu An curious about our military capability? I’ll let him grasp a little, but not too clearly, keeping him guessing in the clouds."

During the pre-battle discussion meeting, Ren Zhong spoke thus in the command center.

Decades ago, he genuinely feared the pirate forces in the Shattered Star Ring, opting for detours to quietly advance due to the potential threat from the Pirate Alliance.

But thirty years east, thirty years west, the armed fleet now has undergone a comprehensive five-year transformation and upgrade, boosting overall war capabilities more than double.

Moreover, Ren Zhong, utilizing preemptive information collection and comprehensive layout, has confirmed that this time, he faces merely a single Storm Pirate Alliance, rather than a widespread Alliance Army.