The Second Asteroid Belt War (1)

On the edge of the Asteroid Belt, Sector 016.

All of the Fourth Fleet's remaining 15,000 warships, excluding those on active missions, had gathered here.

The transport ship hijacked by Wood was now within sight, but the Fourth Fleet had to stop.

This was because the Oakes fleet, hidden within the Asteroid Belt, had revealed itself and was blocking their path.

A full 30,000 warships had passed through the Asteroid Belt, and Mars Base had been completely unaware. It was worth noting that the Federation had deployed a large number of detectors on the Asteroid Belt side.

"The Scott Family."

Inside the Fourth Fleet's flagship, Liang Xingchen gritted his teeth and said hatefully.

Such a large fleet had managed to evade all of the Federation's detectors in the Asteroid Belt. If there wasn't an inside man, Liang Xingchen wouldn't believe it even if he were beaten to death. Coupled with Wood's rescue of Duolun, it was natural to assume that the Scott Family must have pulled some strings.

"Commander, we are still outside the Asteroid Belt. If we fight the Oakes Empire's 30,000 warships here, our chances of winning are slim!"

Liang Xingchen's adjutant, Jiang Hai, said with some concern.

"I understand, but at this point, it's no longer about interception and rescue. If we can't defeat them here, the Oakes Empire can continuously send reinforcements, and then the Federation will truly be finished."

Liang Xingchen saw things clearly. Although he didn't know how the Scotts had interfered, the fact that the Oakes Empire had only sent 30,000 warships indicated that the interference from the Scott Family wasn't enough to allow the entire Oakes Empire's fleet to pass through the Asteroid Belt undetected. 30,000 was likely the limit they could sneak through.

Even so, the Oakes Empire's fleet was no longer hiding, which meant subsequent fleets could pass through the Asteroid Belt without hesitation to provide support.

Based on the Oakes Empire's fleet's travel speed and the current distance between Jupiter and Mars, Liang Xingchen immediately calculated that the enemy's follow-up fleet would arrive in 42 hours.

This meant that the Fourth Fleet had to defeat the fleet before them within 30 hours to have enough time to enter the depths of the Asteroid Belt and set up an ambush, to grasp a sliver of hope!

If they were currently inside the Asteroid Belt, Liang Xingchen would be quite confident in defeating the Oakes Empire's fleet of 30,000 within 30 hours.

But their current position, as Jiang Hai had said, wasn't very promising. Even if they won, he would be severely depleted, let alone setting up an ambush for the enemy's follow-up fleet.

But could he retreat? Clearly not. Once humanity lost the Asteroid Belt, there would be no more defensive positions, and the Federation would only face extinction.

It had to be said that Adams had played this hand beautifully, achieving two objectives with one operation: not only could the Ninth Prince be rescued, but the stalemate that had lasted for seven years could also be broken.

"Jiang Hai, have the First through Fifth Fleets form an assault formation and turn towards 010! I want a full breakthrough!"

"Commander, but that direction is!"

Jiang Hai's eyes widened as he looked at Liang Xingchen in disbelief. What was in that direction? It was the direction of the transport ship where Wood was.

As Liang Xingchen's adjutant, he knew that the Commander's beloved daughter was on that transport ship. A full breakthrough with 5,000 warships made it difficult to guarantee that the transport ship wouldn't be harmed.

"Stop talking. Is this the time to worry about my daughter? Execute the order!"

"Yes!"

After speaking, Liang Xingchen closed his eyes in pain and whispered in a voice only he could hear.

"I hope the Ninth Prince's importance is truly that great."

This was a gamble, but for Liang Xingchen, wasn't every war against the Oakes Empire a gamble?

Their equipment was inferior, their numbers were inferior, and they could only rely on the Asteroid Belt, using various tactics to fight against overwhelming odds!

At the Presidential Palace of the Earth Federation, the emergency incident at Mars Base had already reached Lin Zhen.

"Bang!"

In his office, Lin Zhen slammed his hand heavily on the desk!

He had initially thought that the Scott Family's infiltration of the Fourth Fleet was merely to seize greater power, but now?

"Ade, arrest all members of the Scott Family immediately. Find out what they did to allow the Oakes Empire to bypass all our defenses and pass through the Asteroid Belt within 30 hours."

"I'll go right away!"

"Remember, any means are permitted. The sooner they talk, the greater our chances of overcoming this crisis."

"Understood!"

Seeing Ade walk out, Lin Zhen fell into deep thought. There were still many suspicious points in this entire affair.

The most puzzling aspect for Lin Zhen was that if they were going to act, why did the main members of the Scott Family remain on Earth? Waiting to be arrested?

It seemed he would only know the answer after bringing them back and forcing them to talk.

However, Lin Zhen was unaware that the Scott Family was in complete chaos at this very moment!

Clearly, they, who had significant influence in the military, had also received relevant intelligence.

But they had only arranged for Wood and some trusted confidantes to create an opportunity for Duolun to escape, and then planned to frame Liang Xingchen, ultimately ousting him and replacing him with someone from their own faction.

How did things escalate to Wood personally rescuing Duolun and escaping with him?

Furthermore, the interference they had arranged with the Asteroid Belt detectors was purely to allow Duolun to escape smoothly. When did it become betraying the Federation and guiding the Oakes Empire?

"Could it be Wood?"

Harvey Scott, the head of the Scott Family, finally hit upon the key point. The entire plan had been proposed by Wood, and Wood was responsible for its execution.

Following that, Harvey recalled another event from seven years ago, and a more terrifying guess entered his mind.

"So that's how it is, Wood. Hahaha, I never thought my Scott Family would be ruined by my own son, hahaha!"

"Bang!"

As everyone watched the Patriarch suddenly burst into mad laughter, completely bewildered, the doors of the Trister Family estate were smashed open!

"Hands up, nobody move!"

A large number of fully armed personnel rushed in, quickly taking control of everyone from the Scott Family.

"Harvey, look at the mess you've made!"

Upon entering, Ade immediately threw a punch at Harvey!

"Ade, if you think I did this, would I still be here waiting for you to arrest me? I want to fight for power, but I would never betray the Federation or humanity!"

"Are you saying it's fake that Wood rescued Duolun, kidnapped Liang Xue, and lured the Oakes Empire fleet to invade?"

"No, I'll tell you the whole story right now. I hope it's not too late?"

"Hm?"

Ten minutes later.

"That's the whole story. I haven't held anything back!"

"Then how do you explain Wood's actions? And how do you explain the Oakes fleet using your arrangements to deliver thirty thousand troops directly to our side?"

"I only figured out this problem just now! Do you remember how Wood returned to the Scott Family all those years ago?"

Upon hearing Harvey's words, Ade's eyes widened sharply, and a chill ran down his spine!

"Could it be that what happened seven years ago was actually...?"