If You Dare, I'll Kill You

The bridge was eerily quiet right now.

Liang Xue sat in the captain's chair, still oblivious to Lin Fan standing beside her, engrossed in her work on the virtual drawing board.

But Lin Fan, standing next to her, had a darkened expression.

What had he seen? Liang Xue had actually drawn him?

No, no, it wasn't just that she drew him. The crucial point was that Liang Xue had depicted him with torn clothes, tied to a pillar.

And that wasn't all; she'd even drawn him with a sorrowful face, shouting, "Queen, spare me!"

In front of the pillar, Liang Xue had drawn herself, whip in hand, lashing at Lin Fan?

Although her drawing skills were excellent—pshaw, was this the time to talk about drawing skills?

This girl had gone too far. She was even smiling, a smile that hadn't been seen in ages, while she drew.

"Your drawing skills are quite good!"

"Mm, my earliest dream was to be a painter, ever since I was little, uh!"

Liang Xue, realizing what was happening, turned her head and saw Lin Fan looking at her with a darkened face!

The atmosphere on the entire bridge became incredibly awkward at that moment.

"Your drawing skills are truly excellent, but the content of the drawing is a bit problematic!"

"Apologies, Commander!"

Liang Xue immediately resumed her icy demeanor, stood up, and said.

"Alright, no need to apologize. Go rest for a while. Report back to the bridge in ten hours."

Lin Fan waved his hand. He really didn't know how to handle Liang Xue.

Should he, like Emma, tell her a few dirty jokes every day to gradually change her personality?

But she didn't seem entirely like a block of ice. At least the smile he'd seen earlier was genuine.

So, in reality, was her cold exterior just a disguise? But why?

"Yes!"

Liang Xue felt terrible at that moment, wanting nothing more than to get away from Lin Fan. After responding, she immediately turned and quickly left.

But 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 beautiful when you smile!"

Liang Xue paused, then bit her lower lip before quickly walking out.

Listening to Liang Xue's departing footsteps, Lin Fan glanced at the virtual drawing board that was still on, showing Liang Xue wielding a whip. His face darkened again.

"Sigh, such a good girl, why does she have such tendencies?"

At the same moment, inside a massive warship at the Oakes Empire's Jupiter garrison.

"Commander, the reconnaissance fleet has sent back a message!"

"What is it? Have you found the Ninth Prince?"

Adams was extremely anxious. If anything happened to the Ninth Prince while he was in charge, the consequences could already be guessed.

Everyone in the empire knew how doting the Emperor was on the Ninth Prince, even more so than on the Empress.

If something were to happen, the Emperor might even execute everyone on their entire fleet.

"Commander, the reconnaissance fleet reports that the Rex fleet, where the Ninth Prince was located, had a large number of destroyed warships found at its last known location."

"I don't care about the Rex fleet. Just tell me if there are any survivors and whether the Ninth Prince is alive or dead?"

"Commander, according to the reconnaissance fleet's investigation, all warships in the Rex fleet were annihilated. However, no escape pods were found in the wreckage of its flagship. It's likely they were launched."

"Hmm, the Ninth Prince escaped in an escape pod?"

"Yes, that's our assessment. However, we haven't found any escape pods in the surrounding area. It's presumed they may have been captured by humans!"

"Damn it! Order everyone to cancel their leave. Prepare the entire army 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 its distress signal.

After making all the necessary arrangements, they had the fleet hide within a complex asteroid field nearby.

At this time, Liang Xue had already returned to the bridge and stood straight beside Lin Fan.

"First Officer, how long do you think it will take for a fish to bite the bait?"

"Probably within a day at most."

"Mm, that's about what I expected."

0.3 AU away, a small fleet of 18 warships was hidden within another asteroid field.

"Commander, we've received orders from Headquarters. All fleets are to return to base immediately."

"Huh? Did something happen? It's been years since we've had a fleet-wide assembly!"

"It's probably related to the Ninth Prince's disappearance earlier. The specifics aren't clear."

"Alright, then..."

"Commander, we've received a signal from a friendly escape pod. The signal encoding matches, it's an escape pod from the Rex fleet's flagship, approximately 0.3 AU away."

"The Rex fleet's flagship? Wasn't that the warship the Ninth Prince was on before he disappeared?"

"Yes, Commander!"

"Quick, advance immediately and retrieve the escape pod. If it really is the Ninth Prince, we'll surely be promoted several ranks!"

The adjutant, also excited, immediately ordered the entire fleet to leave their hidden position and rush towards the signal.

However, in their haste, both of them forgot one thing: it was impossible for an escape pod to have traveled from the previous engagement point to here in just a few days.

After all, escape pods weren't warships; their speed was very slow.

Half an hour later, aboard the flagship of the 101st Task Force Fleet.

"Commander, we've received information from a scout ship. The fish have taken the bait, 18 in total."

"Excellent. Have all warships prepare for combat."

"Understood!"

Five minutes later, eighteen warships appeared before Lin Fan and slowly halted not far from the escape pod.

"Execute the plan! Notify the entire fleet, I want them incapacitated, not destroyed. We're this close, everyone fire precisely."

"Yes, Commander!"

That's right, Lin Fan had set up an ambush 30,000 kilometers away from the escape pod, positioning them on the flank of the Oakes Empire fleet.

Therefore, Lin Fan had ordered his fleet not to destroy the enemy, but to use low-power weapons for precision strikes to incapacitate them!

After just one wave of attacks, the main cannons on all 18 warships were destroyed.

At 30,000 kilometers, the distance was practically close-quarters combat for modern warships; it would be difficult to miss.

The battlefield was thus filled with 18 scout ships, their engines intact, their cannons destroyed, smoking all over, but still clinging to life.

"Report, Commander, the mission is complete. The weapons and engines on all 18 warships have been destroyed by us."

"Good, excellent. Now send a message to them with the following content!"

Meanwhile, within the Oakes fleet, the commander was extremely anxious. He felt like he'd had the worst luck imaginable, it seemed they had encountered a human fleet.

It appeared this escape pod was merely a tool specifically designed to lure them into a trap. How could they have fallen for such a simple ploy?

But why did the enemy hold back? They had only destroyed their weaponry and engines, not the warships themselves, which was completely illogical.

"Commander, the enemy has sent a message."

"Forget it, we're already like meat that the enemy can devour at any moment. Let's see what they have to say. Read it!"

"Nobody move. If you dare to move, we'll kill you!"