"Your Excellency, forgive me, but I cannot obey such reckless orders!"
Soon,
over the fleet's internal communications channel,
the captain of another battleship in the punitive fleet refused outright.
"Do as you please.
All ships of the First Detached Squadron, heed my command.
Shut down your main engines and prepare to abandon ship!"
Xia Longque couldn't be bothered to argue.
Of the punitive fleet's only two battleships, one was his flagship. The other belonged to a local noble who sided with Grand Duke Seaton.
These opportunists had never been part of the Grand Duke's inner circle.
If they insisted on digging their own graves, he had no reason to stop them.
Xia Longque still commanded enough respect.
A short while later,
more than half the warships in the punitive fleet shut down their main engines.
These belonged to Grand Duke Seaton's directly controlled fleet.
Then, of the remaining half, another half obeyed Xia Longque's order.
These were requisitioned warships belonging to several local nobles who sided with Grand Duke Seaton.
Only about a quarter of the fleet, led by the other battleship, remained on high alert for combat.
Inside Rose Fortress,
as the course of the Guardian of the Mountains grew increasingly clear,
and it made no attempt to conceal its identity,
the upper and middle ranks of the Blood Rose Earl's Territory soon figured out who it was.
"It's the Black Stone Kingdom's Star Destroyer, the Guardian of the Mountains!
Why is it here?
And from the looks of it, is it coming for us?"
An Dingbang exclaimed in shock.
The others present looked just as uncertain.
A Star Destroyer was so far beyond their world that its existence felt almost unreal.
So when one suddenly appeared before them, seemingly here specifically for their sake,
they had no real