Chapter 127: Journey to the Divine Glory Empire (3)

At the gap between two galaxies near the Northern Border of the Divine Glory Empire, adjacent to the Barren Star Domain, a patrol consisting of fifteen medium Warships and three Heavy Warships was conducting its routine inspection.

This was the patrol team subordinate to the Third Fleet of the Northern military district.

“Aha, our work here is just patrolling all day. So boring. Is my youth really going to be wasted drifting in this Starry Sky?”

Inside the Command Room of a Heavy Warship, a man with blond hair that made him look about thirty, checked the three-dimensional radar before him, then stood up and stretched lazily. He spoke to his companions beside him.

“Give it a rest, Vicky. Yeah, things might be dull here, but at least it’s safe, right? We’re way luckier than those guys in the Southern military district fighting the Zentraedi. But if you really think it’s so boring, maybe you should file a report, request a transfer to the Southern command, and join the war against the Zentraedi civilization.”

A man who had his legs propped up on the control console in front of him, leisurely sipping coffee, teased the bored guy named ‘Vicky’.

“Hey, come on! Sending Vicky South to fight the Zentraedi? He’d be better off fighting in bed with those beautiful Layr women back at the garrison base. That’s where his true abilities shine.” A big man with a full beard jumped in with his own joke.

“I heard Vicky’s ‘Combat Power’ is quite formidable, oh~ oh~”

“Vicky~ All the pay you get each month must be gambled away under those ladies’ skirts!”

For a while, teasing remarks aimed at Vicky popped up all around the room.

Vicky didn’t mind. He didn’t take any of it to heart.

Life in space was tedious and dull. A little joking around to lighten the mood was perfectly fine. Sometimes Vicky himself would crack crass jokes about others.

So he really didn’t care about his colleagues’ banter.

He glanced at the radar screen, stood up, and moved around a bit to stretch his stiff muscles.

Then he declared loudly, “Do you guys think I’m wrong? Our life is really boring! Of course, I wouldn’t actually go fight. That’s not fun at all. Who doesn’t cherish their own life? I’m not like those fresh kids straight out of the military academy. My hot-blooded days are long gone.”

At that moment, the Captain, seated on a raised circular metal platform at the center, spoke up. “Vicky, complaining again, are we? You always say life isn’t exciting enough. So, how about I order you to establish a Military Outpost in the Barren Star Domain? Oh~ wait, scratch that. If I recall correctly, there is an outpost somewhere out there in the Barren Star Domain. Though it’s abandoned now. Didn’t Kalong take a whole squad of soldiers out there last time and get them all wiped out? Right after arguing with that high-ranking Fleet officer over some woman?”

The Captain looked directly at Vicky.

He was joking too. Though their ranks differed, they were all crammed into the same Command Room. The monotonous patrol through the vast emptiness of space was truly mind-numbing. An occasional harmless joke helped break up the tedium.

After all, this sector of the Northern Starfield was practically devoid of life. So the soldiers of the Northern Fleet could afford to relax a little.

Hearing the Captain’s words, Vicky put on an exaggerated expression.

“Captain! You wouldn’t do that to me! I, Vicky, have never fought you over any woman! Please, don’t dump me in the Barren Star Domain! I don’t want to end up like that unlucky Kalong, dying silently along with his entire squad!”

Evidently, the tragic tale of the unfortunate Kalong was widespread within the Northern military district.

“Okay, okay Vicky, enough of the dramatic act.” The Captain waved a dismissive hand. “Kalong died unfairly, and his squad mates along with him. But what’s that got to do with us? Those who died? To the esteemed Masters in high command, they were nothing more than a line on a report. A statistic. Kalong’s fate just served as a warning: never compete with a high-ranking Commander over a woman when you’re at the garrison base, or you’ll sign your own death warrant.”

As soon as the Captain finished speaking, silence fell over the entire Command Room.

Even the chatterbox Vicky stopped talking. Clearly, most of the junior officers within the Northern Fleet felt genuine sympathy for Kalong’s misfortune.

And thanks to Kalong’s experience, they all probably couldn’t help thinking about applying it to themselves.

Who knew when they might cross a superior? Then a simple transfer order could send them out to die somewhere completely meaningless.

“Don’t get all gloomy, people. Kalong pissed off a Noble. Besides, that particular Noble is heading back to the Imperial Capital Star in a few days. After that, it’s right back to normal—business as usual,” the Captain interjected, trying to lift the mood after the heavy silence.

“Captain, just what’s the deal with that guy? For the past year, he’s turned our Northern Fleet upside down. Not only did that unlucky Kalong get framed to death, but there were even rumors about women from the Military Department disappearing after getting involved with him.”

Vicky’s eyes shone with the intensity of burning curiosity.

He wasn’t the only one wanting to know. The others clearly felt the same way.

“Does our Fleet Commander, Lord Luxiu, just let him do whatever he wants?”

The Captain raised a hand, signaling his subordinates to settle down. He thought for a moment before replying. “That’s not something we should gossip about, so I won’t elaborate much. All I know is he was sent down here to add prestige to his resume before getting promoted to a high position back at the top. That’s why Lord Luxiu tolerates him. Luxiu rose through the ranks from a commoner via military achievement. It’s different from those Noble heirs. He simply can’t afford to offend this guy. Remember, don’t go spouting off carelessly either. Save yourselves the trouble.”

At this point, the Captain very deliberately scanned his crew with a serious look.

“We are nothing in the eyes of those high ranks. Literally nothing. Ponder Kalong’s fate and get it?!”

The lesson was clear. They all understood perfectly well.

“But Kalong was related to Lord Luxiu, right? And he still just got set up to die…” Vicky shook his head sadly.

“Absolutely none of your concern. And keep those kinds of complaints to yourself from now on,” the Captain said sternly, locking eyes with Vicky. “Don’t manage to get all of us marching alongside you to your grave.”

“Surely the guy can’t be that petty?” Vicky said, momentarily focusing back on his duty. He checked the three-dimensional star sector map again, found nothing unusual, then turned back to the conversation.

Other crewmen attended to their tasks diligently, but those with downtime clearly perked up their ears. The scent of a juicy secret was too strong to ignore.

The Captain felt reasonably confident about his crew. They were essentially all in this mess together; their fortunes were linked. So sharing a little harmless gossip wasn’t a huge risk. He didn’t fear any of them betraying him or anything.

Besides, he never shared anything truly sensitive, just minor bits of what he knew.

But today, a bit of harmless boasting, revealing a small secret, might just boost his standing.

“‘Not that petty’?” The Captain smirked. “How else would Kalong have gotten axed? Simple oversight?”

His subordinates nodded in agreement.

“There’s another little tidbit you folks probably don’t know about, right?”

The Captain asked mysteriously.

“What? What is it?” Vicky played along perfectly.

“Remember Alenna from the Military Department’s Strategic Planning Headquarters secretariat?”

“One of the top ten beauties in our Northern Fleet? Who doesn’t know her! But she got kidnapped by a gang of country bumpkins from some low-tier civilization while she was shopping. Wasn’t she… assaulted… and died? That caused a huge stir across our whole Northern Fleet! Ended with them getting hanged? Lord Luxiu even sent out a formidable force to utterly wipe out that entire civilization, right?”

The Captain rolled his eyes at Vicky as if implying, “You naïve idiot.”

“That’s the public story. There was something much messier underneath.”

Vicky and everyone else instantly became completely focused. This was the first time they’d heard there was more to that awful incident.

Seeing his crew’s eager, gossip-hungry expressions amused the Captain. “But I can’t actually tell you. Loose lips sink ships. Bad for us all. Just understand… it ties back to… that guy.”

“Ooohhhhhh~~”

A collective sigh of understanding filled the Command Room.

Vicky sucked in a breath through his teeth. “That guy has massive guts. Alenna’s Father was an official in the Empire’s Finance Department! He dared to do that, and still walked away without a scratch? Unbelievable.”

The Captain let out a cold laugh and shut down his own three-dimensional star map display.

“We all know the kind of backing that guy has. A mere junior Finance Department official? Worthless. They just pinned it on that unlucky low-tier civilization to take the fall. Sacrificed a whole civilization. Honestly, that place? It was barely getting by as a first-tier civ, a few lousy Planets under its belt. Probably just trying to curry favor with the families involved. Getting annihilated for it? Not one bit surprising.”

Just as the Captain was getting deep into his gossip extravaganza, the crewman next to Vicky, who was also monitoring the star-sector map, suddenly shouted in alarm.

“Detecting intense energy spikes! An object initiating jump approximately… one light-year ahead…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the three main screens in the Command Room flickered violently.

Then…

A giant Warship, gleaming with blindingly brilliant silver-white light, radiating streaks of afterimages, completed its faster-than-light transition…

And appeared right out front.

The Captain gasped sharply, sucking in a terrified breath.

Forget gossip. Forget politics.

He was reacting purely to the sight before him on the screens.

Because the ship simply dwarfed anything they knew.

The standard Heavy Warship of the Divine Glory Empire was approximately five kilometers long and one kilometer wide. These configurations represented the Empire’s most colossal vessels.

But this behemoth materializing on their three-dimensional screens…

Shattered all their expectations.

“It’s huge!”

They could immediately tell its sheer volume surpassed the combined mass of every single ship in their entire patrol Fleet.