So, after watching the swarms of insects fly off into the distance like migratory birds crossing the cosmos, the Silent moved away from the battlefield, now reduced to a vast field of wrecked warships and pulverized dwarf planets, just as planned. It accelerated into another gravity well.
They remained in a state of partial silence. While traveling at sublight speed, they plotted their course along the outer edges of the system as much as possible, avoiding any surveillance they might encounter along the way—or any other fleets they might happen upon.
As it turned out, every chance encounter was unexpected.
Just four hours after bidding farewell to the insect swarms, a patrol fleet of four destroyers appeared within the Silent's detection range. Needless to say, they were the reinforcements that had been summoned.
Their combat strength was less than a third of that of the allied force that had sent the distress signal, yet they rushed to its aid without hesitation. They had even arrived considerably faster than expected.
Setting aside their abilities and skills, their attitude was certainly commendable.
Their courage and camaraderie were certainly worthy of respect. Besides, four mere destroyers weren't even enough to whet their appetite. Yu Lian decided to let them go on their way.
Twelve hours later, an even larger Imperial fleet appeared within their detection range. It consisted of two light carriers, three heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, six destroyers, and twelve assault ships.
Needless to say, it was clearly an ad hoc force cobbled together from three or four patrol fleets.
What's more, the two light carriers had already launched their fighters, forming a surveillance zone a full astronomical unit in diameter. They looked as though they were on guard against a surprise attack at any moment.
This looked less like a