Chapter 28: A Bloodshed Triggered by a Stone – Section 1

The Third Fleet was anchored in the vast, endless airport of Station 763. When Black Hair and Blood Eyes arrived, numerous crew members were busy at the docks like ants. Black Hair also saw those spider-like creatures he had encountered earlier… the Worm-Slayers. These massive beings each carried loads several times their size without showing any sign of strain. Their six-legged limbs moved at incredible speed, shuttling back and forth ceaselessly. Their terrifying strength, which allowed them to lift heavy weights with ease, left Blood Eyes in awe.
“They… are actually the lowest-class race here? With such strength, they should be the best combat auxiliaries, right?”
“Hehe, this isn’t some barbaric ancient war. Combat depends on courage, spirit, and skill. What’s the use of just strength? Don’t be deceived by the warriors of the Moor race,” Black Hair said with a smile as he patted Blood Eyes’ shoulder before heading toward where the fleet was anchored.
As they walked, despite being prepared, Black Hair still couldn’t help but marvel at the strength of the Moor Empire. Before him lay a glimpse of what this so-called fleet directly under the Grand Duke was like.
The warships of the Third Fleet were all Moorian giants. But unlike those Black Hair had seen before, these Moorian giants were significantly larger in both appearance, decoration, and exposed weapons. The length of a single warship could reach an astonishing 70 kilometers!!
It is well known that larger warships aren’t necessarily stronger. Although gravity and friction have minimal negative effects in space, their size gives them no advantage in speed or agility compared to specialized smaller warships. But…
Larger warships have greater storage capacity, allowing them to equip more massive weapons and thicker physical armor. Physical armor is the only means in space that can provide full protection regardless of the type of attack. Moreover, the firepower of giant warships is more than ten times that of ordinary warships. While the maximum firepower density of a normally designed giant warship might not compare to that of an entire fleet, its peak firepower intensity far exceeds that of an entire fleet combined!!

In Black Hair’s understanding, aside from the Mason Planets he had encountered and the Death Star, which had just been completed as the Thor Fortress, there was no larger interstellar weapon than the Moor Giant Ships. But the problem was that there was only one Mason Planet, and he had no intention of building another Thor Fortress. Yet the Moor Empire’s giant ships… seemed endless! Just this third fleet under a grand duke in front of him already had an astonishing number of ten ships! Ten Moor Giant Ships—was this the standard military configuration of the Moor Empire? The more Black Hair looked at it, the more astonished he became. He rubbed his brows and inadvertently exchanged a glance with Blood Pupil beside him; both saw the unusual expression in each other’s eyes. It seemed Black Hair’s theory was correct. With such terrifying scale and technological level of warships, humanity simply had no chance of engaging in a direct fleet battle against the Moor Empire. The only possibility of victory lay in following Black Hair’s advice—to develop more advanced mechs to the greatest extent possible! Then, using this new form of warfare—mech battles—to find a weakness in the Moor Empire. Time, efficiency, resources, talent—except for time, the Death Star had none of these in short supply! In an instant, both Black Hair and Blood Pupil understood the meaning in each other’s eyes… If that was the case, they would have to fight for time on their own. Even if it meant shedding blood, they were willing to do so. The arrival of the third fleet’s commander at the scene immediately caused a stir at the airport. By the time Black Hair and the others reached a huge Moor Giant Ship, many people were already waiting there. Black Hair quickly counted them—over three hundred. Most of them were the octopus-like beings he had seen before, but the first few were skeletal, skin and bones, clearly of the Moor race—probably the captain of this fleet. With that thought, Black Hair walked toward them with an expressionless face. But compared to his calmness, the few Moor captains opposite him were in a completely different state of mind. They had heard much about Lord Baker’s fame these past few days. He had succeeded in winning the favor of Grand Duke Tarot just through one mission and instantly became the commander of the entire fleet. Although the third fleet had grown to its current size by incorporating the remnants of Lord Locke’s original fleet, it was still excessive, wasn’t it? What annoyed them even more was that this famous lucky guy turned out to be a Pole!

“Damn it. The Porls are just a vassal clan, right? When did they become so powerful as to rise above them and become the dominant clan? At the thought of this, the Moorish captains were extremely resentful. They truly despised the black-haired Porls’ appearance.”

That’s why, despite greeting the black-haired man according to Moorish etiquette, they showed not a hint of respect. In sharp contrast to the obedient octopus-like creatures behind them, their attitude was utterly dismissive.

The black-haired man and Blood-Eyes noticed this all. A cold glint flashed in both of their eyes, and a sinister smile appeared on their lips before vanishing instantly. They exchanged a glance and put on an indifferent expression.

“Are you Lord Beck, the new commander of this fleet? I’m Clark, the captain of the Flag Cloud. Welcome.” As the black-haired man approached, the Moorish man at the front of the group stepped forward, sized them up, and spoke in a bland tone. Though his actions were polite, his tone was filled with contempt.

Hearing his words, the octopus-like creatures around them immediately became agitated, but the disturbance soon subsided. The dominant clan’s contempt for vassal clans was nothing new to them; they were accustomed to it, their expressions remaining lifeless as before.

Seeing this, both the black-haired man and Blood-Eyes felt a surge of anger. It was one thing for these captains to be domineering, but if their subordinates were in such a state, it spoke volumes. Such apathy could only stem from years of oppression—a sign of hopelessness. If a fleet couldn’t even maintain its crew’s vitality, how could it be expected to fight? In the black-haired man’s view, if a fleet was in such a state, all its captains deserved to die!

Perhaps only these hormone-secreting octopus-like creatures could maintain the fleet’s combat strength. Ordinary crew members would have long collapsed. How could the Moorish fleet have such serious flaws?

But wasn’t this perfect? For the black-haired man and Blood-Eyes, the more corrupt the Moorish fleet, the better. They had no intention of dealing with it.

With that thought, they suppressed their displeasure. The black-haired man stepped forward and handed over the stone piece given to him by Miss Veli. “I am Beck. This is proof.”

“Haha, no need to look. Everyone knows about the story of that lucky Pole who suddenly caught Miss Velly’s attention and quickly rose to become a fleet commander. Lord Baker, we hear your name every day. To be favored by Miss Velly, you must be a ‘talent’ too…” The Moorish man didn’t even glance at the stone piece handed to him by the black-haired man and laughed recklessly. The few Moorish captains around him joined in the laughter, completely ignoring the black-haired man, their intent to insult him clear as day.

Under such circumstances, the black-haired man casually withdrew his hand from the air and carefully put away the stone piece. But this action caused another problem.

Seeing him take back the stone, the Moorish captains, as if in agreement, somehow produced a device that resembled a wristwatch and held it in front of the black-haired man. Each of them wore a mocking smile.

“Please, Commander, unlock the ship’s control lock.”

Ship’s control lock? What was that again?

The black-haired man was stunned. He exchanged a glance with Blood-Pupils, only to see confusion in their eyes as well. His heart sank immediately.

Though he had never heard of this term before, it wasn’t hard to guess what it meant. To his surprise, why hadn’t Miss Velly mentioned it? Did she not trust him enough? But if that were the case, why give him the title of Third Fleet Commander?

In fact, the black-haired man was wrong to blame Miss Velly for thinking this way. It was true he hadn’t yet earned her full trust, but it wasn’t entirely the case that she trusted him at all. The reason she hadn’t told him about the control lock was because it shouldn’t have been opened by him as a commander at all!

To prevent ships from being exploited by outsiders, every Moorish giant ship was equipped with a control lock unique to the Moors. Only their specific genes could unlock it. If another race served as captain, they had to obtain a special key from their superiors. This was a well-known secret among the Moorish fleet. But since the black-haired man wasn’t in the military headquarters, how could he possibly know? Of course, using the authorization stone in his possession could still unlock the lock. But the problem was that these captains should have done it themselves. By making the black-haired man do it, they were taking advantage of him as a newcomer from another race, wanting to see him fail!!

Was it that amusing to make fun of the black-haired man?

The Octopus Men around didn’t know, nor did Captain Moors. But Blood Pupils, who was by Black Hair, understood better than anyone. Seeing the arrogant expressions of those Captain Moors in front of him, he stood silently until… Suddenly, Black Hair revealed that familiar cruel smile. “Bang!!” With a lift of his right foot, that arrogant Captain Moors was instantly flung away like a scarecrow…