Chapter 44: Counterattack, Section 4

The sensitive Tarot Grand Duke had already realized this was a conspiracy. Meanwhile, on the other side of the universe, Blackhair Li Feng had just arrived at Death Star’s airport, followed by a vast fleet of Leech ships.
It could be said this was Blackhair’s most grand return home since he went to the Moor Empire. The scale of his fleet was even more terrifying than humanity’s largest interstellar fleets—truly a display of returning in glory. Nearly a thousand Leech warships lined up neatly in space, their monstrous appearance making everyone who saw them gasp in fear.
To them, these warships were simply too terrifying.
Although these Leech ships were no larger than the Moor giants Blackhair had brought back last time, they were still three times bigger than humanity’s largest ships. Moreover, their numerical advantage was astonishing—nearly a thousand ships, looking like an ant colony from afar. Their dark hulls reflected a faint cold light. Blackhair might not be aware of it, but Marshal Wick was almost terrified when he first saw these ships.
“Cough… cough…” Marshal Wick finally reached Blackhair’s cloud tower, still recovering from his shock. Coughing, he pointed at the sky outside.
“Kid, where did you get those things?”
“What do you think?” Blackhair smiled at Marshal Wick’s terrified expression, feeling playful. It had been over half a year since he last saw this old marshal, and he still missed him. Though Marshal Wick held great power, he was the only one among Blackhair’s acquaintances who never treated him with prejudice. Even when Blackhair was still a pirate, the marshal had always been polite—partly out of respect for Blackhair’s strength, but also reflecting the elder’s foresight.
Thus, within humanity’s sphere of influence, Blackhair was closest to Marshal Wick. Other nobles, even Grand Duke Poseidon, were merely insignificant figures in his eyes.
Seeing Blackhair’s half-smiling expression, Marshal Wick froze. Then, hesitantly, he made a gesture. “Moorians?”
“That’s right!” Blackhair nodded with a smile, walking over to the bar and grabbing a bottle of red wine.
“Would you like some?”
“Sure. No ice,” Marshal Wick replied. Then, without caring about propriety, he plopped down on the sofa beside him, shaking his head in frustration.

“You kid, I really don’t know what to say about you. Do you have to do something surprising every time you go out? Do you realize I’m an old man with only a few years left to live? If I keep getting scared by you like this, I might die before a successor can take over.”
Hei Ba smiled without saying a word, his gaze toward Marshal Wick filled with mockery. He knew Marshal Wick was originally a very strict person, always serious in front of his subordinates. Using such vulgar words as “die” must have been influenced by him. After not seeing each other for over half a year, this old guy had become even more childlike.
“Actually, it was just a coincidence. You can think of it as me accidentally finding some money while walking,” Hei Ba said slowly after some hesitation.
“What!?” Marshal Wick’s eyes widened instantly.
“Finding money just by walking? How could I miss such good luck? Kid, I’m telling you, don’t lie to me. Tell me in detail how those guys outside got there. It’s been so long—we’d have been stripped of everything if I hadn’t been keeping an eye on the assets. I may not have earned any credit, but I’ve surely put in effort.”
“Mm-hm, I know,” Hei Ba nodded casually and followed Marshal Wick’s lead, handing over the filled glass. He knew the old marshal was relying on his age, but he didn’t feel annoyed at all. The so-called “keeping an eye” was just a joke—with the power of the Death Star, who in the human forces would dare to have evil intentions?
“You still have such a bad temper after all this time.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s my own business. First, explain those things outside,” Marshal Wick, ungrateful at all, pulled up the collar of his uniform, downed the red wine Hei Ba handed him in one gulp, and then said bluntly, “Alright.” Hei Ba really had no patience with this old guy and shook his head helplessly before walking over to the sofa. “Then I’ll explain it slowly. This process is really quite long…”
Time passed slowly until the sun set before Hei Ba finally finished recounting his experiences in the Moor Empire. When he picked up the wine bottle beside him, he realized he had already drunk an entire bottle. Across from him, Marshal Wick, the leader of the most powerful interstellar fleet in human forces, had completely turned into a wooden statue, his mouth wide open with a long stream of saliva flowing out.

“Cough!” The black-haired man coughed lightly, startling the human marshal out of his sleep. After awkwardly wiping the corner of his mouth, he looked at the black-haired man and suddenly started to laugh softly.
“You mean all those warships outside are filled with the emperor of Moor’s subordinates?”
“Mm, and there are also many spies sent in specially. But right now, none of them can send out even the slightest message. Moreover, in the Moor Empire, this fleet has already been listed as lost in battle,” the black-haired man replied calmly, a cold glint in his eyes.
This was his way of dealing with that fleet of leech-like ships. To carry out this plan, he even staged a battle where their fleets met head-on. Duke Soya of the Smo Empire was indeed a formidable opponent, making that battle seem utterly real—artillery fire filling the sky, broken warships—everything seemed like it had happened just yesterday.
But no one knew that Duke Soya’s real ammunition wasn’t the result of the Smo Empire’s research but a gift from him, Viscount Beck. From the day he saw those leech-like ships, the black-haired man had known that only long-range, high-penetrating fusion crystal armor-piercing shells could defeat such ships.
Of course, acting alone wasn’t enough. That was merely the first step to make his own fleet disappear from the emperor’s sight. The second step was to block those spies’ communication channels at the right time. For this, he used the Bakr insect race.
As one of the four oldest races among the inhabitants of Death Star, they naturally had a fierce side. Through their mutants, the black-haired man easily blocked the anti-space communication channels. Without those channels, even if a message traveled at the speed of light, it would likely take until the end of the world to reach the emperor of Moor.
So far, those leech-like ships lurking in outer space around Death Star still had no idea where they were. Their crew might even think it was a specially arranged supply point by their commander. Unaware that their fate had already been decided by the black-haired man, tens of thousands of Blood Wolf warriors were itching to catch their prey.
After hearing this explanation, Marshal Wick was stunned. He had rushed here in a hurry not only to welcome the black-haired man back but also to take advantage of the situation. That’s why he had paid so much attention to those warships outside. But according to what the black-haired man said, he probably wouldn’t gain any benefits for now.

Thinking about it, the warships are all filled with loyal followers of the Moorish Emperor. Besides this Viscount Beck of the Moorish Empire, Blackhair, who else can suppress them? If he dares to make demands, this brat in front of him surely won’t hesitate to make things difficult for him—maybe even send a few leech warships to give him a taste of what’s to come.

With that thought, Marshal Wick no longer wanted to waste time arguing with Blackhair. He never managed to gain an advantage over this kid, and it had even started to affect his confidence. But since he was already here, he didn’t want to go back empty-handed. He could only sigh helplessly.

“Alright, kid. I admit you’re a bold fellow. But this time you’ve also reaped quite a few benefits from the Moorish Empire. You can’t just forget the old man, can you? And you might not know it yet, but during your absence, the Death Star has successfully replicated the massive Moorish warships you brought back earlier. Now, your Death Star too has the capability to build such warships.”

“Oh?” Blackhair was stunned. No one had told him this news. He had just returned when Marshal Wick approached him, and he hadn’t had time to inquire about such things. His face lit up with joy—seemed it was time to reap the rewards. As soon as the old marshal left, he would question those kids thoroughly to find out what they had been up to in his absence.

But for now, he still had to deal with this old man in front of him.

“Oh, really? Don’t act like you know nothing.” Seeing Blackhair’s expression, Marshal Wick glared at him immediately.

“I really don’t know,” Blackhair said, shrugging slightly in frustration. But he still picked up on Marshal Wick’s train of thought. “Then tell me, what’s our production capacity for those massive warships?”

“I’m not sure about that. But five per month is possible. If you allow me to provide resources, that number could double.” The old marshal frowned, choosing his words carefully. Inquiring about others’ production levels was a strict taboo for them. He couldn’t speak carelessly—if he angered Blackhair, even all of humanity combined wouldn’t be enough to match him.

Hearing his reply, Blackhair laughed. Of course he knew what the old man was thinking, so he raised an eyebrow.

“Good. Since you’ve brought it up, it would be rude of me not to respond. Well, I need to discuss the matter of resource sharing with others first. But based on our current production, at least 30% should go to you. How about two warships per month?”

“Is that true?” The old marshal’s eyes lit up immediately. Two ships a month would be more than enough for him to dominate the human territories.
“It’s a deal!” The dark-haired man nodded firmly, though secretly he was laughing so hard his stomach hurt.
What if I gave you all those Moorish warships? I now have a new plan. And once it’s implemented, it’ll surely surprise everyone.