Liang Xue's Crisis

Wood had one foot inside the ship when he slowly turned his head and saw Liang Xue questioning him.

"Deputy Liang, this was requested by the research lab to be sent to headquarters. I don't know what it is!"

"Nonsense. The research lab is always under Level 3S security. If they were sending something out, I would know about it, and I certainly wouldn't have you delivering it!"

"Deputy Liang, I really don't know about this. Why don't you check what it is yourself?"

Seeing Wood's wronged expression, Liang Xue was also confused. Could it be that the research lab really was sending something out? Logically, she should know about it.

Although Liang Xue was confused, the key was that Wood's expression was incredibly deceptive. Without much suspicion, Liang Xue walked into the transport ship.

"Wood, is this the box?"

"Yes, it's this one. As for what it is, I really don't know. You'll have to ask the research institute."

Seeing that Wood didn't seem to be lying, Liang Xue reached out to open the lid of the box, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck and lost consciousness.

After knocking Liang Xue out, Wood immediately closed the cabin door.

"Damn woman, you came to me yourself. You can be my human shield just in case."

"Your Highness Duolun, you can come out now. Thank you for your hard work!"

After Wood opened the box lid, his expression immediately turned fawning.

"Why didn't you kill her?"

Duolun had heard everything that happened from inside the box, and it had almost made him think his escape plan had failed.

Now that he was out, he wanted to immediately get rid of this human woman who had made him so scared.

"Your Highness Duolun, please calm your anger. This woman is very useful. She's Liang Xingchen's daughter! She can serve as our human shield along the way, just in case!"

"Hmm? Liang Xingchen's daughter?"

"That's right! She's very useful."

"Fine, let's keep her then. Can we leave now?"

"Yes, we'll depart now! Your Highness, please follow me."

The group arrived at the bridge. There were nine people on the bridge, but one of them was lying in a pool of blood. It was the original captain of this transport ship.

After dragging away the deceased original captain, Duolun sat in the captain's seat, with Wood standing beside him. As for Liang Xue, she was securely bound and thrown onto the floor.

"This is Transport Ship, serial number 0287. We have completed our supply transport mission and require permission to return."

"Transport Ship 0287, your return mission has been confirmed. Permission to depart granted!"

Everything went as planned. The transport ship was scheduled to return at this time according to its mission, so the control console had no suspicion and directly granted clearance.

As the engines roared to life, the transport ship slowly departed the spaceport, heading towards the Mars Base headquarters. However, after traveling some distance, it suddenly changed course and flew towards the Asteroid Belt.

At this moment, Lin Fan was in his office processing documents when suddenly the entire spaceport's alarm blared!

Simultaneously, Lin Fan's communicator rang. Lin Fan looked and saw it was his Chief of Staff, Will.

"Will, what happened?"

"Reporting, Commander. Duolun, who was imprisoned, has escaped. Two guards were killed, and in the spaceport's monitoring room, four crew members were also murdered!"

"What? Have you retrieved the external surveillance footage?"

"Reporting, we have checked. The surveillance shows that 20 minutes ago, Staff Officer Wood and two others, carrying a box, left the guard room and eventually boarded a transport ship numbered 0287 in the spaceport. It has now departed."

"Prepare the fleet for departure!"

"Yes! Commander, there's one more thing I need to report!"

"Go on!"

"According to the port surveillance, when Wood and the others were loading the box onto the transport ship, they were stopped by Deputy Liang. Afterward, Deputy Liang entered the transport ship and hasn't been seen since..."

"What?"

At this, Lin Fan was truly enraged. Liang Xue was his absolute soft spot. How dare Wood lay a hand on Liang Xue!

"Will, assemble the fleet immediately. I want departure preparations completed in the shortest possible time."

"Yes!"

After cutting off the communication, Lin Fan walked out while contacting Liang Xingchen.

"Lin Fan, what's going on over there? I received a notification that your spaceport has sounded a Level 1 combat readiness alert?"

"Commander, Duolun has escaped! Wood Scott assisted him. They are currently on Transport Ship 0287, less than ten minutes out of port."

"What? Damn the Scott Family! I've arranged for so many people to monitor them, how could this still happen?"

"Commander, there's one more thing. According to the surveillance, Liang Xue was also taken onto the ship by them!"

"Say that again, who did they take?"

"Commander, it's Liang Xue!"

"Lin Fan, listen to me. No matter what it takes, you have to rescue Liang Xue."

"Understood, I will definitely rescue her. But Commander, I hope the entire Fourth Fleet will be ready for departure. Since the Scott Family is linked to the Oakes Empire and they've rescued Duolun, I believe Adams will definitely arrange for a rendezvous in the Asteroid Belt."

"Well, you're right. I'll arrange for the entire fleet to prepare for departure immediately. You go chase after them and stop them!"

"Yes!"

Three minutes later, Lin Fan arrived at the port and entered the Uranus.

"Fleet, depart immediately! Will, report the current position of the transport ships."

"Reporting, the transport ships are currently heading towards Sector 016. The maximum speed of this type of transport ship is only 1000 kilometers per second. At our fleet's speed, we can intercept them in about half an hour."

"Transport ships are this slow, they won't be without a backup plan. Sector 016 is on the edge of the Asteroid Belt. I suspect the Oakes Empire has arranged for reinforcements within the Asteroid Belt. Adjust course and have the fleet head towards Sector 027."

"Commander, Sector 027 is not in the same direction as Sector 016."

"Issue the order immediately!"

"Yes!"

Lin Fan knew very well that the fleet coming to escort Duolun would not be just a few hundred warships. If he charged directly towards Sector 016, with a large number of warships emerging from the Asteroid Belt, his fleet of just over 100 ships would have no chance of winning. At that point, even if his entire fleet was wiped out, he wouldn't be able to save Liang Xue.

Therefore, Lin Fan needed to take a detour, and he needed Liang Xingchen's cooperation.

Lin Fan didn't directly communicate this plan to Liang Xingchen, as he didn't know if the Scott Family still had informants. Thus, Lin Fan drafted a plan and transmitted it to Liang Xingchen's private communicator.

At this moment, inside the transport ship numbered 0287.

"Reporting, we've received information from our inside source that the Fourth Fleet has been fully mobilized and is expected to intercept us in 40 minutes!"

"Heh heh, 40 minutes? Too late. We'll rendezvous with Lord Adams' fleet in 30 minutes. However, I am curious, why isn't Lin Fan chasing after us immediately? Or is she not that important to him? What do you think, beautiful Liang?"

Wood looked mockingly at Liang Xue, who was bound and gagged, awake, and glaring at him with wide eyes.