Chapter 804 - Main Body (1/2)
A couple of days later, in the desolate universe belt, the small spaceship with Han Xiao and the others on it approached a large Crimson Dynasty fleet. This fleet belonged to the dynasty’s border defense army, the 36th Division. This was the team tasked to eliminate the Fallen Ark. They were waiting to rendezvous with the dynasty’s Beyond Grade As.
After checking the various passes and confirming their identity, the small spaceship entered the fleet’s formation and connected with the square Soldier Grade Heavy Main Ship that looked like a coffin.
Whoosh!
The path opened, and Han Xiao and the rest entered the main ship’s cabin. Officers were there to welcome them.
“Your Excellency Black Star, Your Excellency Incineration, and Your Excellency Dragon Emperor. I’m Commander Murraky’s deputy, here to welcome you guys,” an officer said respectfully.
Although Ames was not the dynasty’s ally, she was a neutral Beyond Grade A who had followed Han Xiao there, so the dynasty would not treat her badly.
Han Xiao nodded. The group followed this deputy. After walking for a while, they realized that they walked into the resting area, not the command room.
“Is the commander not meeting us?” Beyoni wondered.
The deputy smiled apologetically and said, “The commander means to let you guys rest first. He will take care of the strategy, so you guys don’t have to worry.”
Han Xiao raised his brow. “Doesn’t he want to discuss it with us?”
“The commander is currently busy discussing with the staff. You guys will be notified once the strategy is complete. The enemy might escape any time. We can’t stay on standby for too long. We will be departing and engaging the enemies very soon. Please rest well. We will need your strength then.”
Han Xiao and Beyoni exchanged looks and both shook their heads. It was clear that this Commander Murraky was not willing to let them interfere with the strategy planning, not even discussing with them.
“Then we shall rest.” This was the first time that Han Xiao had marched into battle with the dynasty’s army. Seeing that Beyoni did not say anything, he did not oppose the arrangements.
Seeing that the three Beyond Grade As did not have any objections, the deputy looked relieved. He then told his subordinates to make sure that Han Xiao and the others were settled before bidding farewell. He headed right back to the command room.
It was quiet in the command room. The commander, Murraky, stood before the enormous star map and observed it with his hands behind his back. The staff sergeants around him were all silent.
The deputy approached and reported, “Commander, the three Beyond Grade As have settled down.”
Without turning back, Murraky said, “Did they have any objections?”
“No.”
“Hmm, good. I don’t like people who object.” Murraky nodded faintly. “Announce to the entire fleet that we will depart immediately.”
He was responsible for this elimination. His troops waited for a very long time for the Beyond Grade As of the dynasty arrived, which Murraky was very displeased about. However, the Beyond Grade As’ position was very high, and they were not soldiers of the dynasty, so there was nothing he could say.
He did not like those Beyond Grade As who did not directly belong to the dynasty. As the commander of the fleet, he looked at matters from a strategic point of view. In his eyes, despite those Beyond Grade As having very high positions, they were just powerful destructive tools on the battlefield without their National Pillar titles.
Murraky did not want those Beyond Grade As to share his commanding power. The dynasty had given those tools to him, so they were for him to use. Therefore, he did not think that there was a need to waste time discussing strategy with the Beyond Grade As.
No matter how high their position was outside, one fleet could only have one commander—the Beyond Grade As just had to follow and obey his orders.
He had told his deputy to meet the Beyond Grade As because he was too lazy to give them a perfunctory welcome. He did not even want to see those Beyond Grade As step into his command room.
Under Murraky’s command, the fleet started moving. They turned into streams of light dashing across the desolate universe belt and headed in the enemies’ direction.
…
Inside the cabin, Han Xiao, Ames, and Beyoni were casually chatting.
“The commander of this fleet doesn’t seem to like us.” Ames shook her head.
Beyoni neither agreed nor disagreed. “The dynasty’s military takes discipline extremely seriously. The Beyond Grade As, however, usually don’t obey orders unconditionally. The words of the commanders are usually not taken seriously at all, so there have always been some dynasty officers who don’t like to let us Beyond Grade As interfere with the overall strategy.”
After a pause, Beyoni then said unhappily, “Despite all that, this guy named Murraky is way too arrogant. He doesn’t even want to come to welcome us personally and even told us to just wait for his orders. Does he think us National Pillars are his soldiers?”
If it were an outsider who dared to act so arrogantly in front of some Beyond Grade As, he would have been killed easily. However, this guy was a soldier of the dynasty, and they could not do anything to him, which Beyoni was very displeased about.
Han Xiao, however, did not mind it too much. He waved and said carelessly, “He’s the commander, after all. It’s understandable for him to want to uphold his authority. One army can’t have two commanding voices. Although our positions are high, there’s nothing wrong with him treating us like the others. If we’re just allowed to casually make suggestions, he won’t be able to deal with them easily. Therefore, he simply divided our tasks clearly from the start so that we don’t interfere with his command.”
Beyoni glanced at him. “You really don’t think of yourself as a Beyond Grade A.”
Han Xiao shrugged.
Some senior Beyond Grade As were used to being high and mighty, not allowing the slightest disrespect. His attitude was different; he did not have such unnecessary pride.
After all, Murraky was a professional commander, so he was not willing to be told what to do by amateurs. Nonetheless, Han Xiao also felt that Murraky was indeed arrogant.
No matter what, it would not be asking too much for him to at least respect the strongest bunch of people in the universe. Never mind if he did not want to woo them, did he need to act so disrespectfully? Did he think he was the dynasty’s marshal?
Shaking his head, Han Xiao did not want to bother about it anymore. They would most likely meet EsGod’s main body this time, so he needed to think.
EsGod deliberately attracted the dynasty’s army. He definitely intends to test me.
EsGod had once proposed to do one thing for him unconditionally in exchange for the use of the Evolution Cube. Han Xiao had to admit that he was tempted, but after careful consideration, he realized that this was not a pit that he could jump into.
EsGod was not a kind person—the deal itself was already a trap. Given the fact that anything that had to do with EsGod was a sensitive topic, if he really agreed to the deal, he would have left a weakness for others to possibly exploit. Since EsGod could live in between the three civilizations right under their noses, Han Xiao absolutely did not believe that EsGod had no connections with the three civilizations. If he agreed to EsGod’s request, EsGod might expose this to the dynasty.
After EsGod finished using the Evolution Cube, he could disobey the agreement anytime he wanted. After all, he had never been known for having integrity. The uncertainties were too severe. Even if EsGod does live up to the promise, he would have plenty of ways to force Han Xiao into the opposite side of the Lawful Factions. EsGod was not afraid to do bad things, so it would be way too easy for him to drag Han Xiao down.
Han Xiao had another worry—EsGod had stolen the Evolution Cube from Psyker, exposing the fact that he had information about the Evolutionary Civilization, and now Han Xiao could use the Evolution Cube too, so it would be very easy for people to assume that they might have some sort of connection. People had definitely started to suspect him long ago. The Crimson Dynasty did not question him about this, so it might be because they had secretly investigated him and decided to trust him. However, if EsGod really wanted to drag him down and did something, it would affect him.
He would not be able to delay this matter forever. EsGod would not be willing to keep waiting, so he would definitely act once his patience ran out. If he was not in the Central Galaxy at that time, it would be very difficult for him to prove his innocence.
Being an ally of the dynasty would give him long-term benefits, so why risk it? He had made up his mind and decided that some things had to be made clear. He was certainly not going to jump into this pit. Since EsGod would not let him go, he was going to make it crystal clear that EsGod was his enemy!
Some things might look tempting and delicious, but inside, they were poisonous!
…
“Your Excellency EsGod, we have detected that the Crimson Dynasty’s fleet has appeared behind us. According to our current speed, they will catch up with us very soon. Should we accelerate and get rid of them, or turn around and fight?”
Inside the main ship of this Fallen Ark fleet, the EsGod doppelganger listened to the report from his subordinates and waved his hand.
“Turn around and engage.”
The very reason he had ordered this fleet to loiter around the dynasty’s border was to attract the dynasty’s army. Of course, he was not going to flee.
The Fallen Ark consisted of tens of millions of spaceships, and there were still many hidden bases in the desolate universe belt making new spaceships. Using one fleet as bait was not significant to EsGod at all.