The bridge was somewhat strange at this moment.
Liang Xue sat in the captain's seat, still unaware that Lin Fan was standing beside her, continuing to draw on the virtual canvas.
Meanwhile, Lin Fan's entire face had gone dark.
What had he just seen? Liang Xue had actually drawn him?
No, drawing him was nothing. The crucial thing was that Liang Xue had drawn him in ragged clothes, tied to a pillar.
That alone would have been one thing, but she had even given him a mournful expression, shouting, "Mercy, Queen!"
And in front of the pillar, Liang Xue had drawn herself holding a whip and lashing Lin Fan?
Her drawing skills were quite good—damn it, was this really the time to talk about her drawing skills?
This girl had gone too far. She was even smiling—a smile rarely seen in a thousand years—as she drew.
"Your drawing skills are pretty good!"
"Mm, my earliest dream was to become a painter. Since I was little—uh!"
Realizing what had happened, Liang Xue turned her head and saw Lin Fan staring at her with a dark expression!
The atmosphere across the entire bridge became extraordinarily awkward in that instant.
"Your drawing skills really are excellent, but the content of your drawing has a bit of a problem!"
"Sorry, Commander!"
Liang Xue immediately resumed her icy expression, rose to her feet, and spoke.
"Fine, no need to apologize. Go rest for a while and report back to the bridge in ten hours."
Lin Fan waved his hand. He truly had no idea what to do with Liang Xue.
Was he supposed to be like Emma and tell her dirty jokes all day, slowly changing her personality?
But she did not seem completely icy either. At the very least, the smile he had just seen had been genuine.
So was her cold exterior actually a disguise? But why?
"Yes!"
Liang Xue felt terrible at that moment and only wanted to get away from Lin Fan as quickly as possible. After replying, she immediately turned and hurried off.
Yet before she had taken more than a few steps, Lin Fan's voice came from behind her again.
"You should smile more often. You look quite pretty when you smile!"
Liang Xue froze for a moment, then bit her lower lip and quickly walked out.
Listening to Liang Xue's departing footsteps, Lin Fan looked at the still-open virtual canvas before him, at Liang Xue holding the whip, and his face darkened again.
"Sigh, such a nice girl. How did she develop this kind of tendency?"
At the same time, at the Oakes Empire fleet's station near Jupiter, inside an enormous battleship.
"Commander, the reconnaissance fleet we sent out has transmitted a report!"
"How was it? Did they find the Ninth Prince?"
Adams was extremely anxious. If anything happened to the Ninth Prince while he was under his watch, the outcome was easy to imagine.
Who in the entire empire did not know how excessively the Emperor doted on the Ninth Prince? It had practically surpassed his affection for the Empress.
If something had happened, the Emperor might even execute everyone in their entire fleet.
"Commander, the reconnaissance fleet reports that a large amount of wreckage from destroyed warships was discovered at the last known location of the Rex Fleet, where the Ninth Prince was located."
"I don't care about the Rex Fleet. Just tell me whether there are any survivors. Is the Ninth Prince alive or dead?"
"Commander, according to the reconnaissance fleet's investigation, every warship of the Rex Fleet was destroyed. However, no escape pod was found within the wreckage of its flagship. It should have been launched."
"Mm, the Ninth Prince escaped in an escape pod?"
"Yes, that is our assessment. However, we did not find the escape pod in the surrounding area either. We suspect it was most likely captured by the humans!"
"Damn it. Order everyone to cancel their leave. The entire fleet is to prepare for deployment. The Ninth Prince must be rescued."
"Yes, Commander!"
More than ten hours later, the 101st Task Force Fleet had arrived in Sector 498. They deployed Duolun's escape pod and activated the distress signal inside it.
After making all the necessary arrangements, they hid the fleet within a nearby complex asteroid field.
Liang Xue had now returned to the bridge and stood straight beside Lin Fan.
"Adjutant, how long do you think it will take for a fish to bite?"
"At most a day, probably."
"Mm, about what I expected."
0.3 AU away, a tiny fleet of eighteen warships was hiding within another asteroid field.
"Commander, we have received orders from headquarters. All fleets are to return to headquarters immediately."
"Hmm? Did something happen? It has been years since all fleets were assembled!"
"It is likely related to the Ninth Prince's earlier disappearance, but the specific details are unclear."
"Fine, then—"
"Commander, we have received a signal from one of our escape pods. Based on the signal code, it is an escape pod from the Rex Fleet's flagship. Distance: 0.3 AU."
"The Rex Fleet's flagship? Wasn't that the warship the Ninth Prince was aboard before he went missing?"
"Yes, Commander!"
"Quickly, advance at once and recover the escape pod. If it really is the Ninth Prince, we will all be promoted several ranks!"
The adjutant became excited as well and immediately had the entire fleet leave its hiding place and rush toward the signal.
However, because they were too excited, both of them forgot one thing: in only a few days, it would have been impossible for an escape pod to travel here from the previous battlefield.
After all, an escape pod was not a warship. It was very slow.
Half an hour later, aboard the flagship of the 101st Task Force Fleet.
"Commander, we have received information from the scout ship. The fish have taken the bait. Eighteen in total."
"Very good. Have all warships prepare for battle."
"Understood!"
Five minutes later, eighteen warships appeared before Lin Fan and slowly came to a stop not far from the escape pod.
"Move! Inform the entire fleet: I want them disabled, not destroyed. At this distance, have everyone fire precisely."
"Yes, Commander!"
That was right. Lin Fan's ambush position was just thirty thousand kilometers from the escape pod, directly to the side of the Oakes Empire fleet.
Therefore, rather than destroying the enemy, Lin Fan ordered the fleet to use low-power weapons for precise strikes and render them combat-ineffective!
After only one volley, the main guns aboard all eighteen warships had been destroyed.
At a distance of thirty thousand kilometers, for modern warships, it was practically point-blank range. It would have been hard to miss even if they tried.
Thus, the battlefield was left with eighteen reconnaissance warships whose engines and cannons had all been destroyed, smoke pouring from their hulls, yet still barely hanging on.
"Reporting to the Commander: mission complete. The weapons and engines aboard all eighteen warships have been destroyed."
"Good, not bad. Now send the other side a message. The content is as follows!"
At that moment, the Oakes fleet commander was extremely anxious. He had truly had rotten luck. It looked like they had run into a human fleet.
It seemed this escape pod had been specifically used as bait to lure them in. How had they fallen for such a simple trick?
But why had the other side held back? They had only destroyed their weapons and engines rather than directly destroying the warships. It made no sense at all.
"Commander, the other side has sent a message."
"Forget it. We are already meat they can devour at any time. Let's see what they have to say. Read it!"
"Don't move. If you dare move, we'll take you out!"
Before you continue