Chapter 1131: No Schemes Here (1/2)

After the warships had receded over the horizon, a series of cargo and troop transports took to the air, slowly falling into formation before flying off into the distance.

The cargo and troop transport airships moved in squadrons of ten as they meandered toward a distant assembly point.

This squadron stretched fairly long—it was only noon when the first batch took off, but the last batch was still on the landing pad at midnight. Compared to the awesome spectacle of the warship fleet, the supply transports were vastly inferior. Almost all of them were civilian use airships with very mediocre take-off and flying speeds.

But that was also quite normal. If the neutral lands could produce an elite fleet for logistics, then it wouldn’t be just the heavenly monarch’s residence being restless.

No matter how organized such fleets were, it couldn't really make up for the lacking performance of each individual airship. This was doubtlessly the biggest fat sheep in the pirate-infested neutral lands. Countless people began to stir, relaying this information in every direction and to every dark corner of the neutral lands.

Pirates normally didn’t dare to take action without careful thought. When the riches in question reached a certain threshold, however, some desperate people would decide to take the chance.

These people took off under public eyes, but they quickly disappeared and were never heard from again.

Qianye and Song Zining were traveling behind the transport squadrons. The plan was prepared for the people from the heavenly monarch’s residence, but all it raked in were some pirates.

The journey wasn’t without losses; three cargo vessels were destroyed by pirates, and one sank due to malfunction. The damage was almost negligible to the massive fleet, but none of the attacking pirates were left alive. No matter how clever they were at piloting, they simply couldn’t escape from the clutches of the Empire’s cutting-edge battlecruiser.

Some pirates fought to the bitter end, while others surrendered in desperation. This journey back and forth added more than a dozen pirate ships and over a thousand captives. According to the rules of the neutral lands, these pirates would be used as cannon fodder and released onto the battlefield as the first wave. Only the survivors would be truly pardoned.

In the command room, Song Zining and Qianye had assembled all the commanders to announce the battle plans.

According to the Empire’s overall plan, the airship squadrons would assemble at a designated location to establish connection with the Imperial fleet. They would then move to their assigned battlefields at the right time to fight the Evernight forces.

Such a mission didn’t sound too dangerous and it was also in line with Dark Flame’s high-mobility. Hence, there was really no reason to refuse.

The mission assignment brightened up the faces of Dark Flame’s commanding officers. A war between daybreak and Evernight would always affect the neutral powers around the battlefield, forcing them to join the fight whether they were willing or not. As veteran mercenaries, the mercenaries of Dark Flame had experienced this situation more than once.

In this kind of war, they were most afraid of being sold out unknowingly and becoming expendable cannon fodder. Now that the missions were assigned according to their strength, it seemed fairly reasonable. There was also nothing to complain about since they were in a position to both attack and retreat.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Song Zining ordered everyone back to their posts.

Moments later, six Imperial corvettes, a battlecruiser, and a warship that could barely keep up with the squadron left for their objective.

On the bridge, Qianye and Song Zining were gazing out at the boundless void. The former said, “Is this enough? Do you want to use that?”

“Let’s observe the situation first.”

Qianye frowned for a moment before saying, “There seems to be no scheme going on, at least from the current battle plan.”

Song Zining sighed. “Seeing no scheme in this stage worries me even more.”

“Let’s play it by ear, step by step. There’s no use thinking about it. We’ll just solve the problems as they come up.” Qianye’s voice was calm.

“True.”

In the depths of the void, a massive airship fleet was slowly moving toward the void continent. The two battlecruisers at the van were exceptionally eye-catching. The fleet was made up of six battleships and a mothership, almost like a fortress floating in the void. The stifling feeling it gave off was almost indescribable.

On one of the battleships, there stood an elegant man. He looked quiet and gentle, but there was a suppressive might around him that resembled the mountain ranges. This was the Minister of the Right who held great power in the Empire. It was just that the man was fairly reserved, gentle, and even looked weak. He rarely ever raised his voice, even when he was furious. Only today, on this warship, did he reveal a side of him that no one had seen before.

Those on the bridge were the minister’s trusted aides. Everyone was quiet and trembling under the great pressure.

It was the Minister of the Right who ultimately broke the silence. Muttering to himself, he said, “So this is the taste of war and murder. Heh! No wonder those generals care little about people from the Imperial court.”

Those standing nearby exchanged glances, not knowing what his words meant. From what they knew, the minister was never one to speak meaninglessly. Since his words were usually of great significance, the crowd began to meditate on what he said in an attempt to decipher the meaning.