Chapter 22: Fortress, Section 6

“A minor trouble,” was Blackhair’s tone, but not many believed it.
They had their own sources of information and certainly knew what the Interstellar Fleet had encountered.
It was a group of eight high-speed reconnaissance ships—Moorish reconnaissance ships!!
Just like those Blackhair had faced before, these reconnaissance ships were equally formidable and eerie. Even worse, the one who encountered them was Sakka, the adjutant sent by Grand Marshal Wick to this star system for training!
Sakka had 200 warships under his command, all veterans who had fought against the Blood Wolf forces. His original purpose for coming to this star system was to seek battle opportunities and strengthen himself. Discovering the Moorish reconnaissance ships suddenly, how could he not be overjoyed? Without hesitation, he launched a full-scale attack.
Following the combat style of the Blood Wolf forces, Sakka had long abandoned the idea of direct, honorable confrontation. The attack came suddenly, with the deployment of warships and mechs reaching their peak right at the start of the battle. Aside from 50 reserve warships in the rear, almost all warships were thrown into the fight immediately. On the surface, this already reflected Blackhair’s combat style.
Unfortunately, however, the Moorish warships were far more powerful than anything he had ever seen.
Though there were only eight of them, and they were reconnaissance ships, they possessed firepower and defense capabilities that even Sakka’s regular warships lacked. Their speed was also astonishingly high. As soon as the battle began, Sakka’s forces suffered a heavy loss—20 warships in the vanguard were instantly destroyed by the Moorish reconnaissance ships, turning into balls of fire amidst a barrage of attacks. In contrast, their weapons had almost no effect on the Moorish ships. Even the heavy main guns of their warships could only create spreading ripples of energy upon hitting the enemy ships.
Seeing this, Sakka was stunned.
He certainly knew that such ripples of energy dispersion were actually the result of a warship fully blocking energy weapons. This meant the enemy ships must be equipped with high-powered energy defense fields, which immediately filled him with anxiety.
After all, warship defense fields were not easy to counter. With the development of the magic civilization, energy weapons had gradually become mainstream, and research into defense fields had advanced rapidly. To date, 15 different factions had emerged, each with near-miraculous protective effects against specific types of energy weapons. Within their respective ranges, these fields could almost render energy weapons ineffective!

To break through a protective force field, there are generally only three methods: first, using high-powered energy weapons to force penetration and directly attack the enemy’s armor; second, relying on continuous attacks to rapidly deplete the enemy’s force field energy, causing it to collapse on its own; third, avoiding the enemy’s defensive zones and using other types of energy weapons or conventional ammunition. Clearly, in this battle, the Saka side could only resort to the second method. The appearance of energy ripples indicated that the enemy’s force field was stronger than the power of their ship guns, making penetration impossible. Moreover, there were very few other types of energy weapons or conventional weapons available in their interstellar fleet, which were not strong enough to serve as the main offensive force. Just based on this, the Saka’s experimental fleet was at a significant disadvantage. Fortunately, they still had over 200 warships, allowing them to deliver an astonishingly intense barrage of fire. After 30 minutes of combat, they finally succeeded in destroying the protective force fields of two Moor reconnaissance ships, leaving them in tatters. Of course, this came at the cost of over 30 of their own warships. By this point, the Saka’s eyes were red with anger; he had long ignored Marshal Wick’s orders to conserve his forces. Driven by fury, he even committed all his reserves to the battle. Eventually, two hours after the engagement began, they managed to capture all eight Moor reconnaissance ships, with one relatively intact ship being brought back to the base for study. As a result of this battle, the Saka’s experimental fleet suffered heavy losses—nearly half of their warships were destroyed, and the casualties numbered an astonishing 20,000 troops. The entire interstellar fleet was shocked. If it weren’t for him bringing back one relatively intact Moor ship, military court would likely await him. As punishment, Marshal Wick scolded him harshly and revoked his authority to lead future attacks. However, the fleet’s composition remained unchanged. Moreover, it’s unclear what agreement Marshal Wick reached with the higher-ups, but soon another 300 new warships were added to the Saka’s fleet. Together with the Second Legion sent to reinforce the 18th Star Region, they formed a massive war machine of 1,000 warships, ready to defend the 18th Star Region!

Undoubtedly, this was the first encounter between the Interstellar Fleet and the Moors. Though they won, it was a costly victory. Just eight of their reconnaissance ships caused them to lose nearly a hundred warships, shocking everyone who witnessed the battle footage. Marshal Wick immediately recalled the warnings from Blackhair and came to trust this cold and decisive young man wholeheartedly. So as soon as Blackhair returned to his room after attending the inauguration ceremony of Thor’s Fortress, a communication request was sent his way right away.

He got himself a glass of red wine at the bar and casually leaned back on the sofa, whereupon an image appeared before him. Marshal Wick’s sharp gaze fixed intently on his face. After examining him carefully for a long time, he finally sighed deeply.

“Mr. Blackhair, how did you know?”

“What? Marshal Wick, I don’t understand what you mean.” Blackhair smiled and took a sip of his wine, his smile seeming casual.

“That fleet… it’s the mysterious race you warned me about. They fought against us. Don’t tell me you weren’t aware of this. Mr. Blackhair, at this moment, I’m not your enemy.” Marshal Wick spoke quickly, but his eyes never left Blackhair’s expression, as if trying to find something there.

But he was likely to be disappointed. From start to finish, Blackhair showed no signs of surprise. Even upon hearing about the battle, he merely smiled slightly, as if he had expected it all along.

Noticing Marshal Wick’s serious expression, Blackhair lowered his head and thought for a moment before setting down his glass.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Of course!! I definitely want to know. That race killed twenty thousand of my subordinates. That’s absolutely unforgivable!! Mr. Blackhair, if you still want to maintain a good relationship between us, I hope you won’t hide anything and tell me everything!!” Marshal Wick was furious, his tone growing more intense.

Seeing his reaction, Blackhair inwardly laughed with joy.

To be honest, he had been waiting for this day for a long time. From the moment he learned of the existence of the Moors, he knew clearly that he couldn’t single-handedly deal with that race. So he urgently needed a comrade. And obviously, in this universe, there was no stronger ally than the Interstellar Fleet.

Although the fleet had its various problems, years of experience were no joke. In terms of overall strength, Blackhair really couldn’t find a better fit in the entire universe.

Of course, pulling such a massive entity onto one’s war chariot wasn’t that simple. So from start to finish, Black Hair only gave one warning.
And now, the time had finally come. After suffering such huge losses, if Marshal Wick could still swallow his pride, he wouldn’t be the renowned great marshal he was.
With this thought, Black Hair stood up and walked straight up to the image. His expression turned extremely serious.
“Alright, I can tell you—actually, it’s like this… this… this…”
“What!? You mean they’re not from this dimension!?”
After hearing Black Hair’s explanation, Marshal Wick was shocked. He also stood up, and the two ended up facing each other.
A different dimension—a concept Marshal Wick understood all too well. Like Black Hair, he immediately realized the severity of the situation.
Simply put, if they were from the same dimension, Marshal Wick could still consider it a local war or a conquest war. But now, his view changed instantly. A terrifying term popped into his mind.
“Invasion!”
“That’s right, invasion. The Mason planet was driven here by them. Now you understand the threat posed by this race, right?” Black Hair calmly watched Marshal Wick’s expression and shrugged.
“I’ve been preparing for this all along. The actions of the Blood Wolf forces these past days were also aimed at this goal.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me earlier!!” Marshal Wick was furious and began to complain.
“Tell you earlier? Would you believe me? And those nobles behind you who live off others’ labor—would they allow you to take action?” Black Hair glanced at Marshal Wick disdainfully, his face full of contempt.
“Forgive me, Marshal, but I’m afraid even now, you can’t control the entire fleet, can you?”
“Well…” Marshal Wick was suddenly at a loss for words, stammering unable to speak.
Black Hair was right. In fact, no matter how impressive Marshal Wick seemed, he was still under the control of the Alliance Council. If Black Hair had told him earlier, he would have been equally powerless.
Realizing this, the old marshal became like a deflated balloon, left speechless. After a long while, he finally sighed deeply, accepting Black Hair’s criticism.
But before he could adjust his mindset, Black Hair’s next words struck him like thunder.
“How about I help you get rid of those good-for-nothing guys??”