Chapter 33: The Best Hitman of This Century, Section 3

The consequence of this was the fury of the nobles. Perhaps due to the rise of the Blood Wolves and Marshal Wick’s takeover, the powers of the nobles had been reduced to the bare minimum. Aside from ruling their own territories, they had lost their prior rights to new lands, their authority to wage wars against other races, and even their right to exploit unclaimed planets outside their territories. Such outcomes clearly brought unprecedented humiliation to the noble class.

Without priority rights, they could only choose the leftovers; without the ability to wage wars, they could no longer acquire new slaves. And with the exploitation of unclaimed planets prohibited, their sources of resources were cut off! How could the nobles, who had always lived in luxury, accept such treatment? Thus, the disappearance of Black Hair naturally became their best opportunity. In their minds, they could use this chance to pressure Old Wick into stepping down through public opinion and then seize control of the interstellar fleet immediately—so that even if Black Hair returned, it would be of no use.

The once-powerful nobles would remain in power, while those who tried to get rid of them and failed to adapt would surely be abandoned.
Pretty nice, isn’t it? Yet they never expected that despite losing their “soul,” the Blood Wolves without Black Hair still possessed ferocious bodies. Especially with the appearance of the Blood Moon and the Setting Sun, all the nobles were thoroughly terrified, paying a heavy price for the emergence of this new form of warfare.

But if the nobles could be dealt with so easily, they wouldn’t have been able to rule tyrannically for thousands of years.
So when the reports of this local conflict reached Marshal Wick, he received another astonishing piece of news: All the nobles had unanimously agreed to reactivate the Supreme Court of Nobles located on the planet Toric.

As for this Supreme Court, most people might not be familiar with it, but Marshal Wick knew it very well. It was from his childhood—back when human destiny was almost entirely controlled by the nobles, and the interstellar fleet served as their tool of oppression. The Supreme Court was where the nobles displayed their power. Though called a court, it held astonishing authority, able to intervene in both major and minor matters, and its decisions had to be enforced. Even more absurdly, its scope extended not only to humans but also to all unknown creatures.

Simply put, it’s like a noble passing by a planet and taking a liking to its minerals or other resources, allowing him to plunder them without restraint. If the inhabitants resist and he can’t handle them alone, he turns to this Supreme Court. The Supreme Court then easily invents false charges against these alien beings it has never met, followed by an invasion by interstellar fleets. It’s a simple logic of banditry—but this is the true nature of the Supreme Court. In those times dominated by nobles, the Supreme Court played a significant role in enabling their rule. But as civilizations developed, this organization that stripped people of their rights eventually declined due to conflicts among the nobles themselves. It’s quite ironic. Yet now it’s back—what does that signify? Amidst the mist, Marshal Wick’s gaze was cold. He seemed to see again those times dominated by nobles, when they seized resources through cunning yet under the guise of legality—planets burning, corpses scattered everywhere, the bloodshed inherent in primitive capital accumulation. Unluckily, it’s now the Moors who are eyeing us. Marshal Wick was furious. Why do these ignorant nobles always show up at the worst possible times to cause trouble? They’ve made no effort for human progress and only hold things back. If he could, Marshal Wick would immediately send his fleets to crush this so-called Noble Supreme Court. But he can’t—because of the Moors, almost all his fleets are deployed outside, forming a layered defense around human territories. Perhaps he could ignore the fate of those nobles, but he can’t neglect the commoners living in their lands. After the last Moor attack, he no longer trusted noble armies at all. Those rotten to the core would only serve as the nobles’ tools, excelling at oppressing the commoners. But against the powerful Moors, they’re no different from cowering dogs. Marshal Wick could only rely on his own fleets to provide protection for the lowest strata of society. Perhaps this protection isn’t very solid, but it’s the only thing the commoners have to rely on. Still, Marshal Wick felt somewhat relieved—as far as he knew, the establishment of this Noble Supreme Court didn’t involve Duke Poseidon.

It is said that Grand Duke Bosisi also received this notice at that time. Given his status and strength, he should have been more than enough to become a judge of the Supreme Court. Other nobles also hoped that someone as capable as him would join to add depth to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, after receiving the notice, Grand Duke Bosisi merely gave a perfunctory response before declining on the grounds of poor health. Clearly, this excuse was flimsy, but the other nobles didn’t care. The reopening of the Supreme Court meant reuniting the currently fragmented noble forces, who once again had a massive fleet at their disposal. After appointing two other, already declining dukes as judges, the Supreme Court held its first session. The target of this trial was undoubtedly the leaderless Blood Wolf faction. The Supreme Court passed a resolution to attack the Blood Wolves with unanimous approval, like never before. Soon after, a large fleet of 2,000 ships set sail from Toric Planet, aiming straight for Death Star.

I forgot to mention that these 2,000 warships did not include the huge supply fleet. The nobles lacked strategic prowess but had unprecedented enthusiasm for internal strife, so their anticipation for this campaign was also at an all-time high. In their eyes, even if Death Star, now without its black-haired leader, remained powerful, it would hardly be a match for such a massive fleet.

And that was indeed the case.

Baroka and Monkey were the first to hear the news. Yet, looking across Death Star, they could only muster 3,000 Blood Moon and Sunset ships, along with 200 Storm ships—this was their entire force. Of course, this only counted armed ships; the combat strength of the alien races was not included. With such forces, Baroka and Monkey were confident they could fend off the nobles’ attacks. But the problem was that they could no longer maintain the low losses achieved under the black-haired leader’s rule. The Blood Wolves were strong, but they still needed a formidable leader. Baroka and Monkey were at best excellent warriors, but far less calm and ruthless in strategy than their predecessor.

So they had to deploy every available force, patrolling the outskirts of Death Star day and night, while also sending some troops to the Twins to prevent a surprise attack by the nobles. What started as a simple act to avenge the black-haired leader turned into a massive retaliation by the nobles, something Baroka and Monkey never could have imagined. But now, they had no choice but to bear the consequences.

If only there hadn’t been that sudden halo appearing outside Death Star…

It was a sudden, unexpected halo that appeared right on the path the noble fleet had to take. Unluckily, at that moment, the vanguard of the noble fleet had also arrived. Upon seeing this halo, they immediately launched an attack without hesitation.
Because no one could be unfamiliar with such a halo—it was the distinctive phenomenon caused by space jumps.
Tens of thousands of rays shooting out into space created a dazzling, extremely intense glow, even illuminating distant stars. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, no matter how fierce the gunfire, it vanished without a trace once it entered that halo. It was as if a stone thrown into the sea didn’t create even the slightest ripple. Soon after, a huge figure, resembling a planet, appeared before everyone.
The reactions of the warring sides to this massive figure were completely different.
The Blood Wolves were first stunned in unison, then erupted into deafening cheers. Meanwhile, the crew of the noble fleet seemed paralyzed, as if struck by paralysis.
With its enormous size, densely packed gun turrets, and gyroscopic shape, along with its shiny metallic surface and cold gun muzzles—if there was anything in this universe that could intimidate them beyond the Moorish giants, it was this colossal entity.
It was none other than the Death Star’s most powerful weapon: the Thunder God Fortress!!
An absolute force capable of annihilating even the Moorish fleet with a single shot. The nightmare of all nobles—the Thunder God Fortress!!
Damn it, how could it appear at this time!? Was that damned black-haired man also inside the fortress?
The noble commander could hardly believe his eyes. But he had no time to doubt, for at that very moment, the Thunder God Fortress had already attacked the noble fleet. It… fired a signal flare.
A… signal flare??
The noble commander thought the black-haired man must have lost his mind. In this era of unprecedented technological advancement, who still used signal flares to identify targets? Moreover, with the Thunder God Fortress’s power, it could have simply attacked its own side—why go through the trouble of using such a gimmick?
But soon, the commander understood the purpose of the Thunder God Fortress’s action.

Because right after that flare appeared, a rust-colored brown hue also showed up behind Thor’s Fortress, within that massive halo. Before the commander could react, those brown objects quickly grew larger and multiplied. In just a moment, they formed a fleet as vast as an ocean. Then, those fleet-like formations, resembling arrows, rushed forward like mad… drowning everything in their path.