Chapter 47 - Target Selected

Chapter 47: Target SelectedDakan III was a barren planet, with pirate bases scattered across its skies. This was the main stronghold of the pirate faction. Even the orbit of its moon, Dakan IIIa, was filled with numerous bases, occupying almost all orbital resources.

Dakan V was a gas giant, with the frozen asteroid Dakan Va as its moon, serving as the main base of the rebel faction. The dense array of rebel bases nearly covered the entire sky above the planet.

Using these two planets as the sources of their conflict, approximately every year, the pirate faction and the rebel faction would engage in a large-scale decisive battle in the asteroid belt between Dakan III and Dakan V!

“This star system is quite interesting. The orbits of Dakan III and Dakan V bring them closest to each other about once a year. This time point often marks the beginning of their major battles!” Lin Ke remarked in amazement.

“Using the asteroid belt as the central battlefield, the fighting can occur anywhere in this star system. Over the years, both sides have grown to their limits, yet they maintain a balance, with neither side achieving a decisive victory.”

“You’ve overlooked a crucial point: the Redor Fortress is constantly monitoring the entire star system,” Lin Zhichen said with a slight smile. After this reconnaissance, the situation of the entire star system had become clear.

If one were to think that the situation within the Dakan star system was completely unnoticed by the Redor Fortress, it would be underestimating Admiral Sigrid. In fact, the long-standing opposition between the two factions within the star system was orchestrated by her.

As an excellent fortress commander, without such tactics, the Redor Fortress would not have remained so peaceful for so long.

“Big brother, where should we set up a base?” Lin Ke asked, looking at the full map of the star system and pondering. “The asteroid belt between Dakan II and Dakan III?”

“It’s hidden enough and also lies in the area where pirate and rebel forces intersect. The constant battles between the two factions make it chaotic enough.”

“What do you think about Dakan I?” Lin Zhichen pondered without directly stating his opinion.

“Dakan I?” Lin Ke was momentarily stunned, then quickly looked at Dakan Ia orbiting Dakan I and suddenly understood. “You mean to directly attack the pirate base there? It’s hidden enough, but won’t it alert the pirate faction?”

Wild NPCs have characteristics different from normal intelligent life. For instance, no matter how fiercely they fight each other, when facing intelligent life, their attitude is surprisingly consistent—they join forces to drive out natural humans.

According to information on the star network, there have been factions that tried to develop quietly like Lin Zhichen was suggesting, then eliminate both factions in one fell swoop. However, the results were often less than satisfactory.

“It’s different. If you look closely at the development of those factions, you’ll see that initially, they weren’t fully besieged by the two factions. They only faced small-scale harassment. It was only when they grew and started encroaching on the territories of both factions that they faced total annihilation,”

Lin Zhichen explained, stroking his chin with a smile: “We want to set up a base here for secrecy and peace. Are we really going to expand our territory right under the nose of the Redor Fortress?”

Lin Ke nodded. If that was the case, it might be feasible.

At the very least, setting foot on Dakan I would mean not having to worry about large-scale attacks from major factions within the Federation. Otherwise, the first hurdle would be the pirates and rebels.

“Let’s go, we’ll check out Dakan I first.” Acting on his decision, Lin Zhichen quickly maneuvered the psionic warship “Qinyuan” to head towards the inner star system.

They evaded four or five pursuing wild NPC fleets along the way, drawing ever closer to the star. Through the porthole, a blazing sun loomed larger, its intense light illuminating the entire “Qinyuan.”

“Big, big brother, slow down a bit. Don’t crash into it,” Lin Ke said, feeling increasingly anxious as the gravity and brightness intensified.

This was a mental pressure, a growing sense of crisis, as if a blazing sun had appeared in his inner world, making his heart tremble.

“You see, your sudden rise in power has left your state of mind unstable,” Lin Zhichen chuckled. The “Qinyuan” traced an arc in space, orbiting the star. Soon, a lava planet appeared in the distance.

Due to its proximity to the star, the planet’s surface appeared crimson from afar, a result of boiling magma.

Orbiting Dakan I was a much smaller micro-planet. Against the backdrop of the sun, these two crimson planets were almost negligible.

As they drew closer, Dakan I became clearer, revealing some dark-toned backgrounds that were vaguely indistinct.

Lin Zhichen knew those were space bases orbiting the planet.

“Not good!” The sense of threat suddenly intensified, as if being stared at by a man-eating beast, a shiver running through his body like an electric shock.

Fortunately, he had never let his guard down. The moment he sensed danger, he immediately maneuvered the “Qinyuan,” accelerating the ship to sub-light speed within a second, tracing an arc through space.

A second later, dozens of beams of varying thickness pierced through space, completely enveloping the position where the “Qinyuan” had been.

“Whoo~” Lin Ke exhaled deeply, finally relaxing. Just a moment ago, he had felt the breath of death.

“Quick reaction,” Lin Zhichen remarked, already seeing a large number of pirate warships launching from the two lava planets, heading towards the “Qinyuan.”

“Big brother, there are space fighters!” Lin Ke warned.

In the sunlight, hundreds of tiny light points appeared in space, reflecting off the metal hulls of the fighters.

“And battleships,” Lin Zhichen noted, maneuvering the warship to drift and trace another arc. Several beams of light spears pierced through space, disappearing into the darkness in an instant.

“The fleet has roughly a thousand ships, including battleships and carriers. Their warship configuration is complete, and their combat power is strong.”

In an instant, Lin Zhichen had assessed the pirate fleet. The “Qinyuan” traced an arc, accelerating to 50% light speed in a moment, then abruptly decelerating to 1‰ light speed within three seconds.

In those three seconds, they traversed hundreds of thousands of kilometers, advancing to the flank and rear of the pirate fleet.

Using radar to measure the distance accurately, they then performed a sub-light speed assault to reach a critical position in a very short time and launched an attack.

Any mistake in this process would result in crashing into enemy ships or even planets, leading to the destruction of the ship and the death of the crew. Only with strong psionic perception could the probability of such accidents be minimized. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴøᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

At this moment, the pirate fleet had not yet moved out of the base’s cannon range, while the space fighters had already flown into the depths of space, heading towards the void.