"Area clearance complete. Signal jamming complete. Phantom subship ready for sortie. Beginning deployment..."
Where the Sea Wolf lay, the living plant fibers in the middle of the Long-Lived One's enormous body writhed apart, revealing a cavity.
Inside the cavity, an oddly shaped, pitch-black artificial object rested silently.
It was only about fifteen meters long, with an extremely slender body and a mirror-smooth surface that seemed to have been molded in one piece. Its tip was exceptionally sharp, giving it the shape of a straight steel needle.
Without any visible propulsion system, this uniquely shaped little spacecraft, which Nie Yun had named the Phantom, slowly rose, then gradually turned transparent amid shifting light and shadow.
A moment later, a glasslike phantom flashed and vanished. The Phantom instantly accelerated to an inconceivable speed, disappearing into the starry sky in the blink of an eye...
The outskirts of the Shattered Star Region.
"My lord, the fleet has finished regrouping. However... one squadron, ten warships in total, failed to return."
"Failed to return? Why?" Viscount Ironwall frowned.
Did they have the bad luck to run into that monstrosity?
"Well... according to those who escaped, they encountered a pirate patrol from the Shattered Star Region. Since they had no transit permits and refused to pay the outstanding protection fee, fighting broke out. They were outnumbered... and captured..."
Viscount Ironwall: "..."
"But the other side said that as long as we pay a ransom..."
The adjutant couldn't finish, because the veins on Viscount Ironwall's forehead were already bulging.
The mighty Iron Wall Fleet was being extorted again and again. Had he somehow run afoul of "protection fees" lately?
Did everyone think they could squeeze some money out of him?
He took a deep breath, barely suppressing his frustration and fury.
"Use our connections and arrange