The Insect Race army followed the predetermined plan and entered the Moyun Galaxy to meet Talimo's attack head-on.
Naturally, they never encountered Talimo's fleet at all. As for Gegenu and the other races hoping to swoop in from the flank and reap the rewards...
Under Talimo's ferocious bombardment, those races' warships had no way to fight back. Gegenu's command blunders made matters worse, causing the retreating warships to collide and inflicting even heavier losses.
The utterly one-sided battle barely lasted any time before Mimipa's Allied Forces were defeated and forced to withdraw from the Moyun Galaxy.
Zhang Fan led the Insect Race in covering the Allied Forces' retreat, earning the goodwill of quite a few races.
Under the Insect Race's protection, all the Allied Forces retreated to the Shuyun Galaxy. Gegenu immediately called a tactical review meeting, intending to make the Insect Race take responsibility for the defeat.
Zhang Fan had known what he was planning all along and refused to attend. Instead, he sent envoys to invite the other races' commanders to Kronos for a war council of his own.
This blatant break with him sent Gegenu into a towering rage. He stormed into the hall where Zhang Fan was holding his meeting...
"Zhang Fan, do you have a death wish? How dare you hold a war council at the same time as mine! Are you trying to rebel?"
Zhang Fan said coldly, "Gegenu, you think far too highly of yourself."
"You... you... You're dead!" Gegenu reached for his gun, but Zhang Hongjun gave him no chance. One punch sent him flying out through the doorway.
Zhang Fan immediately reassured the other commanders. "The man's a useless fool, good for nothing. If he hadn't refused to listen to me, would we all have suffered such terrible losses?"
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