(Thank you to Zhanwu, who loves dry-fried fresh mushrooms, for the donation and bonus chapter.)
After exiting the Webway entrance at minimum speed, Li Qinwu's fleet arrived at a densely packed Asteroid Belt.
The asteroids in this belt were incredibly dense, and some of them were still moving, making it extremely dangerous.
The main issue was that Li Qinwu's fleet contained plenty of ramshackle Armed Merchant Ships. If they were struck by these asteroids, their hulls could easily be damaged.
Li Qinwu, aboard the Cambridge, immediately issued an order to every vessel over the comms:
"All ships, heed my command. Maintain no more than one kilometer between vessels. Run conventional engines at minimum power and follow behind the Fortune. We'll inch our way out of the Asteroid Belt."
After saying that, he nodded to the captain. The captain immediately gave the order for the Fortune to take point, smashing aside the asteroids ahead and leading the fleet out bit by bit like a caterpillar procession.
The Fortune's prow ram was made from a single massive block of Adamantium. It charged ahead, crashing wildly through the asteroids and carving out a path.
The smaller ships followed closely behind it, practically pressed against its stern.
It took roughly three days for the fleet to slowly grind its way out of the Asteroid Belt. Then they spread out by distances ranging from hundreds to thousands of kilometers, formed up at safe intervals, and flew toward Macragge at full conventional-engine power.
As the capital of the Five Hundred Worlds, Macragge was every bit as prosperous as Terra.
When the fleet was about five days away from Macragge, it was intercepted by a patrolling frigate.
A holographic projector lit up on the Fortune's bridge, displaying the face of a local Macragge naval captain.
"Honored Inquisitor,