Chapter 27: New Nobles, Section 4

Request for a call?
The commander of the opposing support fleet was clearly stunned. At this critical moment of conflict, why did they ask to speak? Not only him but even Xue Tong on Black Hair’s side was confused and quickly pressed for an explanation.
“Boss, what are you talking about with them?”
“A call, just normal diplomatic procedure,” Black Hair replied nonchalantly. Xue Tong also heard the sound of lighting a cigarette over the channel, causing a drop of sweat to appear on his forehead.
“I… I know it’s a request for a call. But why? Aren’t we fighting them right now?”
“Nonsense,” Black Hair cut him off irritably, clearly frustrated. “Even though we’re fighting them, it’s time to use diplomatic channels now. Tell me—what kind of relationship do we have with them? Are we two enemy countries?”
“No… not exactly,” Xue Tong replied hesitantly.
“Then are we mortal enemies?”
“Also… not really.” Sweat began to drip from Xue Tong’s forehead.
“Then are we colleagues?”
“Yes… that’s right.” Xue Tong had to admit that Black Hair’s reasoning was rather erratic.
“Then it’s settled, right?” Black Hair snapped his fingers, a sinister smile on his face. “Since we’re colleagues and we’re Miss Wei Li’s escort fleet, there’s no reason for hostility between us. Our mission is to capture traitors, not to conquer the Grand Duke’s space station. Do you think they’ll reject such a reason for a ceasefire?”
“But… but Lord Locke, whom we killed, was the person they were supposed to rescue!” Xue Tong became anxious. By Black Hair’s logic, wasn’t this battle unnecessary?
Hearing his frantic defense, Black Hair gritted his teeth. If not for the vast distance between them, he would have smacked Xue Tong in the face. “Are you stupid? How would they know Locke was killed by us? As for rescue—can such betrayal be done openly? Besides that, what reason do they have to rescue Miss Wei Li’s subordinates, especially in front of our escort fleet?”
“Ah… ah?” Xue Tong was completely dumbfounded. He finally understood Black Hair’s intention. Yet, the feeling of fighting in vain still troubled him. Although they had gained a significant advantage, seeing his angry expression, Black Hair finally fell silent.
“Xue Tong. Please use your brain. Why are we fighting this battle?”

“Why? Ah… our loot!!” Blood-Pupil was shocked and turned around abruptly. But the Lord Locke’s massive Moor ship, which should have been right behind him, had vanished without a trace at some point. It disappeared silently, and he, focused on fighting, hadn’t even noticed!

At this point, Blood-Pupil gave in. He chuckled sheepishly and stopped what he was doing.

Yet in just that short time, the enemy fleet had suffered enormous losses—five massive Moor ships and over 200 mechs had become prey for the Blood Wolves. On the Black-Haired side, only three Blood Wolf mechs had suffered varying degrees of damage, all minor at that.

It proved that the elite mechs meticulously crafted by the Black Prison faction were truly formidable. Even against the Moor tribe, for whom war was a way of life, they held their own without hesitation. The Blood Wolves, of course, fought with great enthusiasm, shouting in delight.

In contrast, the commander of the enemy’s support fleet was furious.

“What the hell is this? You claim to be a comrade and ask to communicate—apply right away! It’s already been half a day of fighting. My fleet has taken heavy losses, and now it’s time to fight to the death, and you pull this stunt. Isn’t this obvious sabotage? How can anyone be so despicable? What kind of person are you?”

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, spitting out blue blood. His eyes burned with fury, yet he couldn’t think of any reason to refuse.

Although the Moor Empire advocated the rule of the strong, it still didn’t go so far as to allow a refusal even to a request from one’s own fleet. Black-Haired’s actions had struck at his weakest point. Not to mention him, a mere fleet commander—even if the Grand Duke of Darkness were here, he’d be forced to swallow his grievances in silence.

With no choice, the commander, sighing at his misfortune, reluctantly agreed to the communication, forcing himself to swallow another gulp of blue blood while cursing inwardly.

As a Moor, when had he ever suffered such humiliation? And to make matters worse, the other party was just a lowly Pole. Upon returning, he would definitely complain bitterly to the Grand Duke of Darkness. That damned Pole, Beck—even if you make it into the military, I’ll make sure you can’t move an inch!

But though there was backbiting, normal communication proceeded as usual. With Black Hair’s deliberate emphasis, this conflict was framed as an accidental injury due to unclear circumstances. And since he was part of Miss Veri’s guard fleet, it naturally fell on Miss Veri to bear the blame for this “accident.” Even if given the courage, he wouldn’t dare accuse the Grand Duke Taro of favoring his own daughter. He was resigned to taking this silent loss.

On the other hand, also due to the identities of Black Hair and the others, this poor commander couldn’t even explain his purpose. He surely couldn’t say in front of their master that he was there to rescue his traitorous subordinates. So in the end, he could only use the excuse of routine patrols to cover up. Regarding this conflict, he stubbornly insisted on retaining the right to appeal out of pride.

On the way back, almost all of his subordinates, including those octopus people, were laughing wildly. Even when they arrived at Star Station 763, their smiles never faded.

Because they were all members of a subordinate race, while that commander was a pure-blooded Moor. Normally, their statuses were not even on the same level. Now that they could see firsthand the members of the dominant race suffer such a great humiliation, how could they not be happy? Those octopus people who had experienced this returned to their own tribe, acting as if they had won a huge prize, describing the whole incident as if they had witnessed it themselves. They puffed out their chests, as if they themselves had caused the other side to suffer.

Of course, such a hilarious incident couldn’t be hidden. So when Black Hair went to see Miss Veri, this thin as a bamboo pole “beauty” said the first thing…

“I heard you made that annoying Sabelli suffer a huge loss? I’ve already heard about it. Well done, truly impressive. Father says he wants to reward you generously!”

“Ah!?” This time it was Black Hair who was stunned. He never expected that a simple deception would cause such a big reaction. How could even Miss Veri’s father, the Grand Duke Taro, be aware of it? And yet, his reaction was to reward him generously?

Of course, he had no idea about the relationship between the Grand Duke of Tarot and the Grand Duke of the Black Hand. In fact, the two were old rivals who fought fiercely every time they met. In terms of military strength, the Grand Duke of Tarot was slightly inferior to the Grand Duke of the Black Hand, which is why he had suffered many losses in the past. This time, Black Hair made the Grand Duke of the Black Hand’s subordinates suffer a setback right in front of him. The Grand Duke of Tarot was overjoyed at this and truly felt relieved. At the same time, he developed a favorable impression of this Pole he had never met before. He sent a message to his daughter, insisting that Veli must reward this talent properly.

Thanks to her father’s support, Miss Veli now had more confidence. When she met Black Hair, the reward she proposed was almost astonishing.

“A promotion to lord, commander of the Third Fleet directly under the Grand Duke of Tarot? Stationed at the 76-Three-Star Station?” Black Hair was stunned.

Wasn’t this reward too generous? Given his achievements, he certainly didn’t deserve such a high position. And although he was now highly regarded by Miss Veli, he was still just a newcomer. Wasn’t this reward a bit excessive?

Suddenly, Black Hair felt dizzy. His gaze toward Miss Veli also changed, as if he were looking at a madwoman.

Yet he knew very well that Miss Veli must have put in a lot of effort for this appointment. But this kindness left him in a difficult position.

Indeed, his current plan was to quickly gain access to the higher ranks of the Moor Empire in order to understand the ins and outs of this vast empire. The problem was that he didn’t have any achievements worthy of such a reward this time.

What was most important in the Moor Empire? Military achievements!! Although his actions had won the favor of the Grand Duke of Tarot, they were nothing more than chasing down a traitor. There was no mention of military achievements at all! It was clearly inappropriate to exchange such meager results for the position of fleet commander. As a result, even if he reached this position, he would likely face many troubles in the future.

Still, Black Hair didn’t intend to refuse.

Simply put, he really needed this reward.

With his abilities, he didn’t need to care about others’ opinions. As long as he could get this promotion, his future plans would proceed more smoothly. Besides, he didn’t plan to stay in the Moor Empire for long. What did a little gossip matter?

With these thoughts, Black Hair bowed respectfully to Miss Veli and accepted the appointment letter.

This move immediately caused a sensation at Station 763! The story of a descendant from a fallen noble family winning the favor of the Grand Duke of Tarot with just one mission and rapidly rising to become a direct fleet commander quickly became the talk of all races. The entire station was filled with excited, flushed faces. The name Beck was soon on everyone’s lips.
Merchant Beck of Por… a newly risen noble who rose by leaps and bounds!!