Chapter 22: The Fortress, Section 3

They’ve gone too far… really too far…
Although Koko’s words always carried a tone of respect, her actions were extremely ruthless. In less than half a day, an urgent notice was sent to all clients who had done business with the Creek Commercial Association. “Due to certain force majeure factors, the Creek Commercial Association will no longer be able to operate from Silver Star. All orders will now be handled at the Death Star in Sector 31.”
Boom—like an earthquake, this notice immediately caused a huge uproar. Almost simultaneously, all the parties affected began urgent communications among themselves.
It should be noted that these were no ordinary entities. Through the Creek Commercial Association’s long-term operations, they had reaped unimaginable benefits. Valuable resources like Centimex ore could only be obtained through the Creek Commercial Association across the entire universe. How could they ignore any changes in this association?
Under the joint pursuit of these forces, the so-called force majeure factors were soon revealed. When they learned that it was actually due to pressure from the lord of the sector where Silver Star lay, almost everyone sent letters questioning this lord! Soon after, a crisis of distrust toward Silver Star’s business model swept across the entire universe!!
Sure, wasn’t it obvious? Even a massive commercial organization like the Creek Commercial Association was forced to leave because of the words of the lord’s nephew. The smaller commercial associations were even worse off. For a time, the people of Silver Star were in panic, and business exchanges came to a standstill!!
It was at this moment that the mastermind behind this whole affair—our great young master Jack, the lord’s nephew—realized things were going wrong. He rushed to his uncle to complain.
In his account, he described the Creek Commercial Association as a violent organization that committed every kind of evil, bullying men and women alike. It seized markets, used force to force other commercial associations to obey, and exterminated those that resisted, acting in a bloody and cruel manner. He even described the association’s branches and shipping points across the universe as military bases, claiming they hid sinister intentions.

It’s hard to tell whether this young master is lucky or his uncle, the lord, is unlucky. His uncle is actually a complete fool and incompetent. Years of aristocratic life had long deprived him of sound judgment. When he heard the reports, he had just returned from a hunting expedition and had not yet received any condemnations from various forces or updates on the situation at Silver Star. In high spirits, he immediately flew into a rage upon hearing the news. Without even investigating the details, he issued an order to launch a pincer attack, ordering fleets from twenty nearby planets centered around Silver Star to jointly attack the relocation fleet of the Creek Merchant Association!

The order was given instantly. Chaos ensued as hundreds of warships of various types roared into the sky and headed toward Silver Star from all directions. This operation could be considered the largest in that star system in nearly a century, naturally drawing tremendous attention. Although the warships’ defenses had become lax due to long periods in a safe zone, the simultaneous departure of hundreds of warships could not be hidden from anyone. That’s why Keko received the news right away.

“Bang!” The wine glass in her hand shattered on the floor. Upon hearing the news, Keko’s face turned ashen. She stared at her butler and demanded urgently, “Is this true? They actually plan to use force to attack us?”

“Yes, my lady,” replied Butler Ganluoxing, who was diligent despite being naturally timid. He was terrified by the news but still answered shakily, “It is said that the order to mobilize these fleets came directly from the lord himself. Based on the distance, they should arrive in about two days. My lady, you should prepare early.”

“Slap!!” She slammed her hand hard on the table, her face twitching with anger.

She had seen shameless people before, but never like this… First, they provoked her, then threatened her. Now that she was leaving, they even resorted to force. Did those aristocrats with their filled heads of nonsense really think the Creek Merchant Association was still the same as before? Or had the long-term weakness of the people of Ganluoxing made them believe they were the most powerful in the world?

“Fine! Since they’re so unkind, don’t blame me for being ruthless. Butler, go and give the order right away—tell those vermin it’s time to act. This time, I won’t restrain them. Let them go all out against me. I’ll leave them two warships as backup. Don’t worry about retreats!”

“Yes, my lady.” The butler trembled, clearly frightened by Keko’s murderous aura. He quickly turned around and fled the room like he was escaping for his life.

“Bang!!” The door closed.

Koko took several deep breaths. A fierce expression suddenly appeared on his small face as he reached down to press a red button under the table. Soon, a huge holographic image appeared before him. Black-haired figure was leaning back in the sofa, smiling at him…
………………
Things were heading in an increasingly bad direction. When continuous explosions suddenly erupted on Silver Star, Koko knew that this time, it was a fight to the death.
It was truly ironic—what started as an unpleasant meeting, a normal “exchange” between merchants and nobles, had turned into such a situation, something neither the parties involved nor anyone else had anticipated. Yet, it was often the seemingly insignificant causes that drew worldwide attention.
Ultimately, it was because these nobles were simply too unpopular.
Whether they were permanent merchants on Silver Star or ordinary traders, they had long been accustomed to being exploited by the nobles. Behind every successful business deal, they had to give away one-third or even more than half of their profits to these vampires in exchange for a decent business environment. In a sense, Koko’s rebellion was the result of long-standing grievances.
Of course, the only ones happy about this were those “bedbugs.”
These so-called bedbugs were actually the criminal gangs that Baroque had suppressed on Silver Star in the past. After Black-haired left for the Thirty-One Star Systems, these armed forces came under the control of the Creek Commercial Association. Hidden in the shadows, they specialized in doing things that couldn’t be done openly. When Koko bribed officials on Silver Star, these bedbugs played a crucial role.
The people of Ganluo Star were timid and cowardly, not suited to be warriors by nature. Koko was probably the only exception. So when he gained control of these armed forces, he was truly delighted for a while and invested heavily to reorganize them. Now, these bedbugs were nothing like before—each small group received substantial financial support, and their weapons were incredibly advanced. Not only were military weapons available to everyone, but there were also standard mechs in abundance. At Koko’s command, these bedbugs began wreaking havoc on Silver Star. Tons of crystal bombs were planted, plunging the entire planet into a sea of flames.
With the continuous explosions, Koko had already gathered everyone from the Commercial Association and boarded the thirty warships prepared in advance, ready to leave the planet.
However, before leaving, he still needed to wait for a signal.

A signal representing freedom, fearlessness, bravery, victory, and invincibility.
The signal of the Blood Wolf First Assault Fleet.
The starry sky was vast, seemingly endless. As time passed, batches of silver-white floating ships gradually appeared around Silver Star. These ships seemed familiar and quickly gathered together. When there were about three hundred of them, these fleets reorganized into a net-like formation, encircling Silver Star completely. Their dark gun barrels were aimed at the giant planet beneath. The area near the spaceport was layered with a deadly atmosphere.
Perhaps due to too many peaceful days, the commanders of these fleets didn’t realize that a completely black fleet was rushing toward them from hyperspace. By the time the ripples of spatial transition reached behind their fleet, it was already too late.
A full hundred dark warships, like demons from hell, suddenly appeared behind the silver-white fleet. Their dark hulls were covered with scales-like panels that rotated in waves, revealing honeycomb-shaped weapon systems before everyone’s eyes.
Without declaring their identity or giving any warning, a battle erupted in the outer space around Silver Star.
Compared to the silver-white fleet, numbed by a comfortable life, the dark warships were like true hunters. They didn’t give their opponents any time to react. Almost as soon as they emerged from the transition state, blinding lights sliced through the quiet starry sky like arrows. In just one encounter, the silver-white fleet suffered heavy losses. Cries of pain and screams filled all the channels, leaving the commanders of the silver-white fleet stunned.
But this was just the beginning. As the fire from the dark fleet intensified and more and more silver-white warships fell, countless equally dark mechs, like ghosts in the night, surged out from behind the dark fleet and rushed at the silver-white fleet. The mechs skillfully dodged the enemy’s counterfire and quickly penetrated the center of the silver-white fleet. Then, beams of deadly light shot from their hands, piercing into the nearest ships like venomous snakes.
Massacre! A true massacre! The 300 warships of Silver Star’s lord were weaker than children in the face of this dark fleet. In just a short while, they lost nearly a hundred ships under the combined attack of gunfire and mechs, while the enemy suffered almost no damage.

Of course, the commander of the Silver Fleet could never have imagined that the warships surrounding this fleet of black ships were actually the new type of warships created by the Blood Wolf faction—“Thunderbolt,” which possessed nearly invincible defenses against energy weapons. And those mechs were elite-grade, only available to squad leaders. So when he saw such a huge disparity in combat results, he turned pale with fear and, without the slightest hesitation, immediately ordered a retreat.
As his fleet slowly retreated, on Silver Star, a beautiful crystal in Koko’s hands finally emitted a bright white light.
Seeing this light, Koko smiled…