The Milky Way hangs upside down, stardust falls like waterfalls, and somewhere in the front lines of the Kunde Race, a surviving main force of the Kunde Race is slowly drifting through space.
Not long ago, this fleet, codenamed "Sea Flag," experienced a fierce battle, being ambushed by an Imperial general. The command ship and escorts fought desperately to break through the encirclement and escaped by cutting off their tail.
Now only about twenty escort warships remain alongside the command ship; the other warships have either been annihilated or scattered.
The Sea Flag Fleet belongs to the Kunde Race Third Space Corps. The commander of this fleet is the renowned general of the Third Corps, Olilt, who is hailed as the rising star of the Third Corps. A few years ago, the marshal of the Third Corps had reached retirement age, and Olilt was regarded as the first candidate for the position of marshal of the Third Corps.
However, due to the receipt of data on the crashed spaceship several years ago, the higher-ups made a decision to mobilize for war, delaying the retirement of all officers and conscripting them all, which delayed the matter.
At this very moment, the Sea Flag Fleet, having just suffered a defeat, Stealth moved forward while awaiting further instructions from command.
The atmosphere on the bridge of the command ship was silent and dejected, everyone immersed in the grief of defeat and the loss of comrades.
Olilt stood silently at the foremost porthole, leaving only his the Sight of Father's Back to all the operators and adjutants in the room, his armor a mixture of sorrowful green and angry red.
In the battle just now, he was almost led by the nose by the enemy commander, and the defeat was partly his fault.
Everyone knew that the commander was under the most pressure, so no one dared to go up and disturb him.
The adjutant hesitated for a long time before finally mustering the courage to walk to Olilt's side and whisper, "Sir, we..."
"No need to say anything."
Olilt turned around, his body gradually returning to its calm blue, and slowly said, "This is not my personal defeat, but the defeat of the foundation of civilization. I lost not to my opponent, but to the entire civilization of the enemy."
Olilt knew that his command abilities were inferior to those of the imperial generals, but he believed that it was not just a matter of personal ability, but also stemmed from the depth of their civilization.
During the encounter, he made the most meticulous operation and decision-making he had ever made. He believed that his performance could even be used as an important case study in the military academy. However, what shocked him was that the enemy's reaction was incredibly fast. They saw through his plan almost instantly, as if they were playing chess and the enemy could see through his carefully laid plan ten moves ahead at a glance, as if they had memorized the game.
Encountering such an opponent is a heavy blow to a commander's confidence.
This doesn't mean that Olilt is incompetent. In fact, he is already considered a renowned general by the standards of the Kunde Race. The superficial reason for this situation is that the abilities of the imperial generals far surpass his, but the deeper reason is the difference in the depth of their civilization.
The rise of the Three Universal Civilizations was accompanied by the cries of countless races. They emerged step by step from the flames of war, and all the war cases were written in the curriculum of the military academy. Therefore, officers could come up with corresponding solutions instantly no matter what situation they encountered, and their thinking was more flexible.
The Kunde Race have experienced far too little interstellar warfare, and their war experience is far less than that of the Empire. All the tactics used by their officers are outdated, having been discarded years ago Explored Universe. This is the difference in their foundation.
After engaging in actual combat, Olilt was pessimistic. He saw no possibility of winning a local war, and the gradual defeat of each fleet was the best proof of that.
In fact, he wasn't the only one. Unlike the radical views of the Kunde Race's high-ranking officials, the soldiers fighting on the front lines were generally pessimistic about the war.
They were indignant that their homeland was coveted by the enemy, but they did not believe that the sacrifices in this war were necessary. However, military orders are absolute, and the instructions from the higher command are the will of the soldiers.
With a sigh, suppressing his pessimistic emotions, Olilt looked at his adjutant and asked in a deep voice:
"Have the orders from headquarters arrived?"
"Uh... it just came over. He told us to stay here, recapture the scattered fleet, and then rendezvous with the main fleet of the Third Corps to plan an attack on the enemy stargate."
Upon hearing this, Olilt slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Nonsense! Aren't we retreating now? Has command gone mad?!"
We've only just been scattered, and now we have to stay in this dangerous area to find our old comrades? Won't the enemy Pursuit?!
And with the main fleet already in such a state of collapse, are we still going to force a rendezvous and attack the enemy's stargate? Are we just sending ourselves to our deaths?!
The officers in the room all felt that there was something wrong with this tactical arrangement, but they dared not speak out and all stared at Olilt, waiting for the commander's decision.
Olilt paced back and forth a couple of times, suppressing his anger as he spoke, "Contact the Marshal for me. I want to ask him personally what's going on with this decision!"
The adjutant nodded and immediately took action. A communication interface popped up on the virtual screen. After a few seconds, the call was connected, and the figure of the marshal of the Third Corps appeared on the screen.
"Olilt, I heard you were attacked. Thankfully you're still alive."
"There's a chance of luck involved," Olilt said calmly. "I received orders from command that we're planning an attack on the enemy's stargate?"
"Yes, this is an order from headquarters."
"Don't you think there's a problem? The battle has deviated from the original plan. We shouldn't continue fighting now; that will only result in more unnecessary casualties."
"I know, and I also think it's time to retreat. We're negotiating with higher-ups. Until then, just follow orders."
Upon hearing this, Olilt fell silent and hung up the call.
The adjutant asked cautiously, "Sir, what should we do now?"
Olilt glanced at him and suddenly asked, "How many warships do we have left?"
"Uh, twenty-four ships."
"Gather all the captains and put them on the communications channel."
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately sprang into action. Olilt stood there with his hands behind his back for a while, and then a series of avatars appeared on the screen, representing all the remaining captains.
At this moment, Olilt made a gesture and slowly spoke:
"Remember, I'll only say this once..."
He gave a long, uninspiring speech of encouragement and repeated the orders from headquarters, all while making various hand gestures. All the captains watched him intently.
"Alright, that's all for now. Let's get started."
Finally, Olilt lowered his hand, ending his speech.
One by one, the captains' portraits on the screen went dark.
Just then, the adjutant glanced at another command screen and exclaimed, "Sir, all the captains have shut down their AI cores and blocked all external information. We can't contact them!"
Olilt, however, had anticipated this and calmly nodded. "Very good. Go and shut down the intelligent core of our spaceship as well."
Everyone was immediately startled, then suddenly realized what was happening, and some couldn't believe it.
Does this mean... he's going to desert?!
"This, this..."
The adjutant was stunned.
"Aren't you going yet?!" Olilt glared, her tone suddenly becoming stern.
The adjutant hesitated for a moment, but then went to make the arrangements and quickly ordered the command ship's smart core to be shut down.
In this way, the remnants of this Sea Flag Fleet became a ghost fleet cut off from the outside world.
Olilt finally let out a slow breath, looked at the puzzled crowd beside him, and explained, "I'm sorry, all of this was out of caution. If I'm not mistaken, our quantum network has been completely infiltrated by the enemy."
Everyone was taken aback by these words.
After glancing at it, Olilt slowly said, "I know the Marshal very well. He is a rigid soldier who never questions orders from higher-ups. Although these are extraordinary times and everyone can change, we cannot overlook any suspicious points. I suspect that the person just now was not the Marshal at all."
The enemy has likely infiltrated our command system. You all understand the consequences, so I don't need to elaborate. The war is over. I can no longer act on their orders; now we must save ourselves. My hand gesture just now was a special code, known only to a select few. I'm having all captains sever all communication links. From this moment on, we are on our own."
Everyone was stunned by these words, unable to process such a large amount of information, their minds went blank.
The adjutant gritted his teeth and mustered his courage, saying, "Sir, this is desertion!"
Olilt, however, remained unperturbed, merely glancing at him indifferently.
"This is a battle we can't win. No matter what you think, I won't send my remaining men to the battlefield to die. Deserters? No, perhaps we are the last survivors of the Kunde Race."
"Where should we go now?"
"The farther away from here, the better."
Olilt looked out the porthole, his gaze fixed on the depths of the starry sky.
"I think there might be a problem with the flight path."
In a narrow, cramped spaceship room, several plainly dressed Kunde Race sat in a circle.
This is one of the immigrant fleet's ships, carrying civilians. Most of the people on board are filled with anxiety and uncertainty about the future, and the atmosphere is somber.
Because of the large population, each spaceship was filled with a group of civilians crammed into one room, and those living in the room were all brothers born in the same litter, related by blood.
"Big brother, what did you find?" a short brother asked.
The eldest of these brothers was a burly mantis shrimp, speaking in a low voice:
"I have a friend who's a crew member on the guide ship, and he told me some inside information: according to the plan, the fleet was supposed to reach a planet for a short rest yesterday, but they didn't encounter any planets yesterday; the fleet has been moving the whole time."
"Could they have changed their plans? Why don't you ask your friend again?"
"I can't get in touch with my friend, I can't find him anywhere," the older brother said in a deep voice. "I think something might be wrong."
"Brother, are you being too sensitive? If there's a problem, the higher-ups will definitely notify us."
"I have a bad feeling, but I can't quite put my finger on it," the older brother shook his head.
"Hey, why think so much? We can't help anyway. We'll just follow the fleet's orders," one of the brothers said casually.
Just then, the youngest henchman suddenly spoke up, "Big brother is right, the fleet's course has gone wrong, we're heading back the way we came."
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at him.
"Don't talk nonsense, how did you find out?"
The younger brother pointed to the porthole, and everyone looked over. They saw simple graffiti on the porthole, with a series of circles drawn, their diameters increasing from small to large. At that moment, there was a planet outside the window, perfectly fitting into one of the circles in the middle.
Upon seeing this, everyone's expression changed.
Living in the same house, everyone had no secrets. Some time ago, a planet appeared in the fleet's field of vision, and the younger brother used a paintbrush to outline the planet's shape on the porthole every day. The circles grew from small to large and then from large to small, changing every day to represent the distance.
At this moment, the planet's outline actually overlapped with that of several days ago, and everyone understood what this meant.
"I'll go ask!"
Seeing this, the eldest brother couldn't sit still any longer, and the others hurriedly followed behind.
The group hurried through the crowded aft cabins, which resembled refugee camps, and arrived at the middle cabin passageway. They approached several soldiers on board and reported the situation.
"You're saying there's a problem with the flight path?" A soldier picked at his ear, saying impatiently, "That's none of your business. Why are you worrying about this?"
"It's true, I can show you the evidence, I..."
"Alright, alright." The soldier waved his hand. "The guide ship has a star map. If it really deviates from its course, it will adjust immediately. Just go back and wait patiently."
Left with no other choice, the eldest brother led his group of brothers back to wait.
However, after three days of continuous observation, they stared at the graffiti on the portholes and discovered that the fleet was still returning the way it came, without making any adjustments.
The older brother contacted the friend who had revealed the inside story every day, and it wasn't until the third day that he finally got in touch with the other party. However, the other party's response chilled him to the bone.
"You said we deviated from the course? No, no, no, our star chart shows the route is perfectly correct... Didn't we encounter the supply planet I mentioned? Oh, that was an error in long-distance observation; the star chart wasn't very accurate. We've already reported it to our superiors, and they've updated our star chart. It's fine now... What graffiti record? Hmm, you might be mistaken. Those are new planets marked on the updated star chart, not the ones we saw before. Anyway, my navigator shows the route has been moving forward the whole time."
With a cold expression, the older brother turned off the communicator and remained silent for a long time.
Suddenly, as if he had made up his mind, he asked, "Do you believe me, or do you believe the people above?"
The brothers exchanged glances, somewhat hesitant.
"What do you want to do?" the younger brother couldn't help but ask.
"My intuition is growing stronger; there's definitely something wrong here. Maybe the people up there are sending us into a fire pit," the eldest brother whispered. "I don't want to stay on the spaceship anymore. I'm going to steal supplies and escape pods, and we'll escape on our own."
"Are you crazy?!"
Someone exclaimed in astonishment, "This is suicide! The fleet will definitely capture us and bring us back. Even if we succeed, the stolen supplies will eventually run out. What will we do when we run out of food and fuel? And do you even have a star map? If you don't know a star map, how are you going to escape?"
"I can get the star map and escape pod access from a friend. As for supplies... the medium-sized escape pod has complete facilities. Once we reach that planet, we can use the onboard collectors to replenish our fuel reserves, enough for many years. Solving the food problem requires greenhouse cultivation boxes, crop seeds, and nutrient paste makers. These things can be obtained on the ship, and we can use cryogenic chambers to hibernate while cultivating crops." The eldest brother said in a low voice, "I've been considering our backup plan for the past three days. This isn't a decision I made on a whim."
Everyone shook their heads repeatedly.
A few individuals, having broken away from their tribe and joined the main force establishing a new home, ventured into the unknown universe to survive.
Just thinking about it makes this plan seem insane!
"I'll go with you." At this moment, the younger brother stepped forward, shrugged, and said, "Big brother, you know me. I don't like being bound by rules. Now that I've left my home, I don't plan to continue living that kind of stable, conformist life. The universe is so big; I want to see it for myself. Call it adventurous or thrill-seeking, but count me in."
The eldest brother nodded and looked at the other brothers. "I know you all have concerns. The universe is too vast. If it's just the few of us, it will touch the deepest loneliness and fear in our hearts. Perhaps in the end, I will be the one who is wrong, but I am not willing to wait passively. I will not force everyone to come with me."
The second brother hesitated for a moment, then steeled his heart and said, "Big brother, I'll go with you. You're the person I trust most, and I believe in your judgment."
Upon hearing this, even more people wavered.
Someone shook their head helplessly, "Sigh, forget it, let's go. From the moment I left my home, I considered my life dead. What's a little more risk? We're brothers, we can't be separated."
These brothers had grown up together and were used to sticking together. After some deliberation, they all finally agreed to their eldest brother's plan. Surprisingly, once they made up their minds, their previous hesitation and unease disappeared, replaced by unparalleled excitement and anticipation.
"Brother, I have a suggestion. We should at least bring a woman along."
Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter, the tense atmosphere dissipated, and the room was filled with a joyful air.
"That's right, we shouldn't just bring one; we should bring several more."
"Haha, maybe we'll become a nomadic civilization someday."
Over the next few days, the group of brothers split up and used their connections to secretly make preparations. Since the immigrant spaceship carried a large amount of daily supplies, they could find what they needed on the ship. The only problem was how to get their hands on it.
With courage, money, connections, and a bit of luck, the group managed to gather most of the necessary supplies through various means and complete the reconnaissance.
The day of action arrived quickly, and progress was smoother than expected. Based on the intelligence gathered from reconnaissance, the group quietly infiltrated the life pod drop-off point, boarded a medium-sized life pod, deactivated the intelligent core, and switched to manual control mode.
The older brother's hand hovered above the launch button, but he hesitated to press it.
"Have you thought this through? Once you press this button, there's no turning back. If we're caught, we'll be treated as prisoners."
"We're not much different from prisoners now. The higher-ups probably see us more like a bunch of laborers," the younger brother chuckled nonchalantly. "It's just a different name, now called 'Population Resources.' I've wanted to get rid of this identity for a long time."
"Nonsense." The older brother shook his head and chuckled, then slammed the button down.
laugh--
The escape pod plummeted and shot into space.
Once off the spaceship, everyone instinctively turned to look out the porthole, only to suddenly freeze in shock.
They saw that the other ships in the immigrant fleet also launched scattered life pods, which dispersed like scattered sparks.
More than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.
At another border of Kunde Race territory, the Kunde Race command center's core fleet leaped out of the stargate, then turned and reclaimed the evacuation stargate.
"Alright, we've arrived at the target area. As per the coded command issued last time, all surviving fleets will converge in this area."
In the command center, the Kunde Race high command gathered to review messages sent back by other units before the last network connection was lost.
"The Scorched Earth Unit have reported that the Psionic Energy has been successfully detonated in various locations, and the plan has been completed... Other fleets outside have reported that they are retreating to our designated positions. Phew, the situation is alright."
The Kunde Race leader breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing this, everyone's spirits lifted slightly.
The situation is finally gradually getting back on track.
Fearing intelligence leaks, the command dared not maintain long-term communication, so it abandoned real-time communication. At the same time, it dared not transmit orders normally for fear of being intercepted by the enemy, so it changed everything to special codes.
However, before everyone could catch their breath, the radar suddenly sounded an alarm!
"Attention! Attention! Unknown large fleet spotted ahead!"
Everyone was suddenly horrified.
"How could we encounter a fleet here! Is there an ambush?!"
"Quickly check if it's an enemy?!"
The high-ranking officers hurriedly relayed the orders, and just a few seconds later, the captain sent a report.
"Distinguished leaders, we have confirmed that the other side is not the enemy, but our own fleet."
Upon hearing this, many high-ranking officials breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if they had almost had a heart attack from the fright.
"That scared me to death, turns out it was one of our own."
"The troops that received the order to assemble must have arrived ahead of schedule; they were even faster than us."
Just then, the captain spoke again, his tone becoming extremely strange:
"You've misunderstood. The other side isn't our armed fleet, but rather an immigrant fleet that we dispatched a long time ago. For some reason, they've all come back!"
After he finished speaking, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.
All the high-ranking officials present were stunned for a second, and suddenly their minds were thrown into chaos!