"All right."
Pan Zhen crushed the orb of light in his hand, scattering crimson-gold specks through the starry sky like a swarm of dispersing fireflies.
Although he had not secured everything he wanted, with the Taotie joining as fresh reinforcements, Lieyang's ability to deploy forces on Blue Star had at least doubled.
As for something as nominal as command authority, as long as the Taotie stood in his camp, wouldn't he still have the final say over deployments on the actual battlefield?
He turned and flew toward the Lieyang flagship.
Before disappearing through the hatch, he turned his head and gave Sno one last look.
"Three days from now, I'll wait outside Blue Star's atmosphere for your fleet to rendezvous with us. Don't be late."
The hatch closed, and the Lieyang flagship's main engines reignited, their crimson-gold exhaust carving a scorching trail through the starry sky.
Dozens of escort ships followed close behind, heading toward Mars in orderly formation.
Sno stood where he was, coldly watching the golden specks recede into the distance.
"Lord Sno..."
Feng Lei spoke cautiously.
"Shut up!"
A faint trace of anger simmered beneath Sno's voice. "Go back and prepare. We depart in three days."
He turned and stepped into the Space Wormhole beside him, his figure vanishing instantly.
Feng Lei and Xiong Lu exchanged a glance. Neither spoke as they silently turned and headed toward the bridge.
Quiet returned to the starry sky.
Only the low hum of the Taotie Fleet's engines and the light of distant stars flowed silently on.
Deep in the darkness behind a meteor, a pair of unseen eyes quietly watched it all, then silently closed.
The Shadow Realm, Research Hall.
Tara stood beside Zhi Xin and gave a concise account of everything that had happened in the Solar System.