Upon seeing Nagokin board the DarkStar command ship, Han Xiao knew that the enemy commander was doomed.
With the command ship in danger and the DarkStar Fleet not turning back to rescue it, Norcap would most likely fall into Nagokin's hands, and the DarkStar Fleet was powerless to stop it. The next level of fleet officers urgently took over command, carried out Norcap's previous retreat orders, and, taking advantage of the command ship drawing the attention of the Goddora escort fleet, led the fleet to break through the spatial interference range, accelerated into streaks of light, and jumped away.
Meanwhile, the DarkStar Commando also broke free from the forty Goddora warships and escaped in other directions.
The DarkStar Fleet abandoned the Bloody Gaol command ship and fled, leaving the lone command ship trapped deep within the Battet Fleet's encirclement, like a lone wolf surrounded by a pack of hounds.
The Blacklight Stealth hovered not far away. Han Xiao didn't go to join the fun. Nagokin was causing trouble inside the enemy ship, so he didn't need to get involved. He was doing something else at the moment.
"Resta, is it possible to hack into the DarkStar's DarkStar database by connecting the enemy ship's intelligent system to the Dark Star mainframe?"
Han Xiao stroked his chin thoughtfully. All the spaceships belonging to the same faction basically used the mainframe's sub-intelligence, which made it convenient for headquarters to coordinate the overall situation and control all the spaceships. Just like his own mercenary group, Phillip was responsible for controlling more than a dozen spaceships at the same time. As long as the spaceship was equipped with Phillip's replica chip, Phillip could open up a new computing sub-unit.
Sub-intelligence is related to main intelligence. Generally speaking, a DarkStar mothership uses a main intelligence, while its subordinate fleets use the mothership's sub-intelligence. If one can infiltrate along the path of the quantum network, it might be possible to locate the position of a DarkStar mothership and find its coordinates in the vast universe, like picking up a thread and pulling it out. In this way, the physical Stealth state can be broken.
Resta's voice rang out from the cockpit, immediately throwing cold water on the idea. "No, just before its AI was paralyzed, it severed all links with the mainframe. This is a common intrusion prevention measure. Other ships' sub-AIs will detect its identification code and assess its trust level before allowing it to re-establish a link with the mainframe."
"DarkStar is still very cautious." Han Xiao nodded. This method is very simple. For example, if there are two spaceships, A and B, that use the same AI, once A detects an intrusion, it will automatically disconnect from the host and will not be able to share the host's data. In turn, the host will not be able to control A's location, status, or other information.
Once A escapes the intrusion, if it is within B's data transmission range, B's sub-intelligence will automatically evaluate A's sub-intelligence. Once A is confirmed to be safe, B will send feedback to the host, and the host will then reconnect to A's sub-intelligence. Meanwhile, the isolated Bloody Gaol command ship will be completely disconnected and unable to continue its intrusion, thus eliminating the possibility of the host being compromised.
DarkStar took this measure to protect the fleet's coordinates. There are many virtual mechanics in the universe, not just Master Han, and DarkStar has always been wary of this.
Although he felt a little disappointed, Han Xiao wasn't too disappointed. If it were that easy to locate DarkStar, DarkStar would have been smashed into a pulp by Goddora long ago.
The entire process of paralyzing the command ship didn't take long. Han Xiao's own virtual technology hadn't yet reached the point where he could easily infiltrate a DarkStar command ship. Resta was an important helper. This AI life form had extremely high computational efficiency, many times higher than Phillip, which greatly enhanced Han Xiao's skill judgment.
Unfortunately, Resta is a free agent... well, a free AI, not his own. Han Xiao doesn't know when he can upgrade Phillip to Resta's level. He scratched his chin and thought... perhaps Resta could help Phillip level up?
After all, the one who understands intelligence best is intelligence itself. The way the Resta race grows is by exchanging data and upgrading each other's programs. Resta should be able to help Phillip optimize the computational structure.
Jinda and Sylvia exchanged bewildered glances. These two women, one a gunner and the other a mechanized warrior, suddenly felt quite ignorant listening to a mechanic exchanging ideas about artificial intelligence technology with an AI life form.
Sylvia felt like she had forgotten something. She tilted her head, thought for a while, and then suddenly realized—she had been too shocked to think about it. She should let her throw up for a while.
After waiting a while, Nagokin finally sent word that everything was in order. He had taken control of the command ship and docked with the fleet. Han Xiao and Battet the Bloody Gaol and met Nagokin in the command room, along with a large group of DarkStar members he had captured, including Norcap.
"Well done! As expected of the renowned Nagokin." Battet was overjoyed.
Nagokin waved his hand calmly and said, "This is not my achievement. It's all thanks to Black Star. If he hadn't disabled the enemy's ship, I wouldn't have had a chance to play a role. He is the biggest contributor."
Battet laughed, "Haha, you're right, Black Star lives up to his name."
"It's nothing, just some trivial work." Han Xiao remained noncommittal.
After exchanging a few casual words, everyone got down to business, taking stock of the losses and gains.
Goddora lost fewer than ten warships but destroyed a similar number of enemy ships. In the end, they also captured a DarkStar command ship and its crew, including the commander. They kept them alive to extract information and find out about DarkStar's operational plans. Overall, they made a profit. If you add the dozen or so DarkStar assault ships that Black Star dealt with, then it's a huge profit.
After suffering so many losses, Goddora has finally achieved a positive result, and the War Bureau can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Norcap glanced at the group, his eyes unreadable. Battet? A radical commander, being led around by the nose by him; he didn't take him seriously. Nagokin? A long-established high-ranking officer in the War Bureau, powerful, but not a key factor in this battle.
Finally, Norcap's gaze fell on Han Xiao, as fixed as a nail... This person would decide the outcome of the battle!
Norcap believed that his defeat stemmed from misjudging Black Star's strength. If the intelligence hadn't been flawed, the fleet would have already attacked Planet Aquamarine and left, allowing him to escape unscathed.
He never expected to be caught here.
"One wrong step leads to another..." Norcap's eyes dimmed, his expression one of defeat and resentment, knowing he had no chance to make a comeback.
Three minutes after the DarkStar Fleet fled, news of the fleet's defeat and Norcap's capture quickly reached DarkStar headquarters. This was the first unsuccessful attack, which immediately attracted the attention of the higher-ups.
The battle was short-lived, and the high-ranking officers remaining at headquarters quickly learned of the situation. At this time, the highest commander at headquarters was the deputy leader of DarkStar, another veteran with the same seniority as Anur, named Degulish, who was stern and imposing.
"Black Star again!"
Degulish frowned, his tone displeased. After the Anur incident, DarkStar harbored a high degree of hostility towards Han Xiao. However, at the time, due to the critical juncture of the plan, he did not carry out revenge. After all, Han Xiao had Dragon Calm's backing, and even DarkStar was unwilling to provoke Ames.
The image of a DarkStar mothership being smashed to pieces by Ames throwing an island at it is still vivid in my mind; just thinking about it makes my mouth dry.
But now, Black Star has once again thwarted their plans. Degulish is not as shrewd as the DarkStar Leader DarkStar Leader, who is currently personally carrying out secret missions outside, while Degurish is in charge of headquarters. Degulish's style is that of a hardliner.
"He has opposed us time and again. It's time he understood what kind of being he's provoking. I will make him pay for his actions." Degulish said in a deep voice, "Ha, he's fighting to protect his homeland, isn't he? Send two DarkStar motherships and blast Planet Aquamarine into a nebula!"
"Deputy Chief, this doesn't fit our plan. We shouldn't destroy a disaster planet," the intelligence chief said.
"I remember Ashes always advised us to destroy Black Star at all costs. Perhaps there's some truth to that. We have over a dozen disaster planets; destroying one would have little impact on the overall situation," Degulish said in a deep voice.
If Ashes were here, he would probably wholeheartedly agree, but unfortunately, he didn't attend the meeting.
To be precise, many high-ranking officials were absent from the meeting and all went out to carry out their missions as planned. The attack on the disaster planet was only the DarkStar's apparent operation; however, behind the scenes, most of the high-ranking officials were doing things that no one knew about.
The intelligence chief shook his head. "But that's only if we can kill him; otherwise, it's just a waste of our fleet. He has a Blacklight Stealth we don't know where he got it from. It's a high-end product of the Federation of Light's technology; we simply can't capture it."
Degulish frowned and said, "He can run, but Planet Aquamarine can't!"
The intelligence chief shook his head. "If Planet Aquamarine is truly his weakness, destroying it like this would be such a waste."
"Waste? What are your thoughts?"
"Black Star is essentially just a mercenary. Based on my observation, he has always been against us, mostly because Goddora hired him or we attacked him first. Of course, this is not to excuse him. Whatever the reason, he still has to pay the price."
The problem is, if we destroy his only known weakness, he will have no scruples and will be wholeheartedly hostile to us, even seeking Ames's help for it, which would be detrimental to us.
Degulish said coldly, "Since when did it become our turn to fear others? I could crush three mechanics of Black Star's caliber with one hand. So what if it's the Dragon Emperor? Can she even find us?"
"What I mean is, since Black Star is protecting Planet Aquamarine, it means he cares about this planet." The intelligence chief narrowed his eyes. "Destroying Planet Aquamarine would be as easy as turning our hands, so why not keep this leverage and threaten him at the right time... That way, he'll truly regret it, and might even be forced to be used by us."
Upon hearing this, Degulish's expression changed; he realized there was some truth to it.
"My men will continuously gather intelligence on Black Star. Black Star is under the Dragon Emperor's command, and if we can utilize him, it might be surprisingly effective. The infiltration team left on Planet Aquamarine is constantly monitoring his movements. Although Goddora's military radar can break through our Stealth mode at a certain distance, the infiltration team has long since shut down their ships, only maintaining the Stealth equipment. As long as they don't start the ships, they won't be exposed. Moreover, I plan to plant spies within Black Star Mercenary Group. They're just a bunch of mercenaries; as long as they can afford it, they have no morals. By planting our people within him, we can monitor his every move."
The failed attack served as a catalyst, prompting DarkStar to take Han Xiao more seriously. Since force wouldn't work, they would resort to underhanded tactics; after all, they had plenty of options.
Degulish thought for a moment, then nodded. "We'll do as you say."
"Then I suggest we don't attack Planet Aquamarine too frequently during the planning phase. As you said before, it's just a disaster planet, not a big deal. Besides, with Black Star around, attacking Planet Aquamarine would likely come at a much higher cost, making it a losing proposition."
The group returned to Planet Aquamarine. The Blacklight Stealth landed at the Sanctuary. At this time, nine DarkStar Assault Ships were parked outside the Sanctuary; these were the ships captured by the mercenaries.
Thirty DarkStar assault ships attacked. Some were blown up in mid-air or crashed to the ground. In the end, less than ten escaped, and the rest were captured by the Black Star Mercenary Group. All of them were more or less damaged, especially the internal damage, but the basic functions could still be operated.
Han Xiao was in a good mood. Nine small assault ships—this was a decent haul. If calculated at cost price, the total value was over a million Enas. The most valuable parts of this type of conventional spaceship were the energy core, warp drive, spaceship-shaped shield, and shipborne ion cannon. Removing these components would reduce the cost by 70-80%. If the core components of the crashed ships weren't damaged, some materials and parts could be salvaged, which would be quite valuable and considered an extra bonus.
This attack not only didn't cause him much loss, but he also made a profit. With these assault ships, his fleet's firepower would be greatly enhanced. Han Xiao was quite happy and wished that the Dark Lords would come to visit more often, giving him more opportunities to sustain the war effort through combat.
Just as Han Xiao was preparing to board the ship to inspect the captured assault ship, Battet also landed.
Battet glanced at them, stepped forward, nodded solemnly, and said, "Black Star, you did a great job. My men will be here soon to take over the spoils. Thank you for your hard work this time."
Han Xiao paused, staring at Battet's matter-of-fact expression, his eyebrows gradually rising.
"Ha?"