Chapter 155: What Should I Do?

Andrew just flattered him a bit, and the System ended up rewarding him once. Lei Yaotian felt amused and annoyed by the System’s unpredictable reward methods that had no clear pattern. But after receiving the reward of Integrity Value, Lei Yaotian hadn’t yet seen any clear benefits for himself in the short term.

He also wasn’t really sure what benefits gaining the mercenaries’ friendship would bring. But no matter what, since the System gave this reward, there must be some reason behind it.

Thinking too much wasn’t useful. Lei Yaotian checked the time.

There was only one minute left before the war would begin.

“Gentlemen, the war is about to start. Let’s fight with all our might!”

“Heh, hey!”

Bob and the others raised their hands, made fists, and pounded their chests, responding with low, deep thuds.

…

As the war start time arrived, right across from Lei Yaotian and his fleet, warships began appearing one after another. That was Tad and his fleet, being summoned by the System from the silent space into the battlefield.

“Left-wing fleet, activate stealth devices! Energy shield operation at 50%! Release electromagnetic interference! Mecha squad, stand by!”

Lei Yaotian and Andrew were sitting to the side in the command room, watching Bob and the others along with their crew members constantly checking instrument readings and issuing commands.

“Right-wing, activate stealth devices! Maintain silent running! Circle around to the enemy’s left flank and await orders!” Bob issued another command.

After these two commands were given, Lei Yaotian and Andrew could see from the video feed that the left and right wing fleets began moving into action.

The left-wing fleet gradually vanished from sight, and the right-wing fleet did the same. But unlike the left-wing, the right-wing fleet slowly moved away from its original position, made a small arc, and stopped near the left flank of Tad’s fleet.

Since both the left and right wings were now invisible, Lei Yaotian’s fleet appeared to be only about half the size of Tad and his allies’ fleet.

So when Tad and the others entered the battlefield and saw their opponents had such a small fleet, they immediately felt reassured and thought victory was easily within reach.

Only Hudi and two other Sci-Fi Merchants exchanged glances with changed expressions when they saw the enemy fleet. They could tell that the enemy’s fleet technology was several levels higher than their own.

Even though the enemy had half the number of ships, the overall combat power wouldn’t be much affected.

Without achieving absolute numerical superiority, there couldn’t be a qualitative change. Unless their own fleet outnumbered the enemy’s by ten thousand or even a hundred thousand times or more.

But clearly, their own fleet didn’t have anywhere near that many ships.

On top of that, Tad, in order to save a few Credit Points and pocket them, had bought mostly low-level Dimensional Plane warships that were almost scrapped and couldn’t hold up in a fight.

Hudi looked at the patched-up warships mixed into the fleet and felt full of helplessness and powerlessness.

Then he whispered quickly to the two other Merchants from the Sci-Fi Dimension beside him, “The enemy’s fleet quality is much stronger than ours. I don’t have much confidence in our victory. Also, don’t you think this battlefield is a bit too suitable…”

One Merchant nodded, glanced at the very confident Tad, and then scanned the battlefield space.

“The System randomly chose this battlefield, and it’s actually so suitable for large-scale space combat. I thought it was strange as soon as I came in—it just seems too perfectly matched.”

Another Merchant standing near Hudi also nodded secretly and said, “You’re not the only one feeling this way; I feel the same.”

Then the three looked at each other again, and each saw fear in the others’ eyes.

Hudi pondered briefly, then whispered quickly, “It’s possible the enemy bought this battlefield. If that’s the case, things look very bad for us.” Hudi’s face looked very grim.

The three of them were muttering up front, and Tad had noticed it. But Tad’s mind was completely filled with thoughts of defeating Andrew after the war started, then carrying out his backup plan to eliminate all these Trade Alliance guys and consolidate all the resources for himself—a huge opportunity.

So Tad didn’t bother paying attention to the muttering from Hudi and the other two.

In Tad’s opinion, they were probably discussing some battle strategy.

As Merchants from the Fantasy Dimension, they didn’t have much say in space combat. Even though Tad was the Trade Alliance Leader, he had to delegate command to Hudi, since Hudi was a Sci-Fi Series Merchant.

When it came to space warfare, Hudi had more authority than Tad.

Before entering the battlefield, Tad could use his position as Trade Alliance Leader to pressure Hudi, but once they entered the battlefield, even Tad had to listen to Hudi’s advice.

Although Tad really didn’t like doing this, aside from Hudi, there was no one else he could use.

Obena from the low-level Sci-Fi World might be trustworthy, but that guy was completely hopeless. If he were put in charge of the fleet, surely no one else would agree with that decision.

So Tad had no choice but to give fleet command entirely to Hudi and the two other Sci-Fi Merchants. As for that guy Obena, he could only lead his own fleet from the T-level Dimensional Plane, positioned at the front line to serve as the first wave of attackers and probe the enemy’s firepower coverage.

Poor Obena wanted to refuse this order, but after seeing Tad’s sinister look, he swallowed his words.

“Hudi, it’s all up to you now. I have no other demands—I just want victory! I want to make drinking cups out of the enemy’s skulls. That’s my only requirement!”

Tad and the other two Fantasy Dimension Merchants sat not far away with their subordinates.

Although Tad had given fleet command to Hudi and the others, he wasn’t at all worried about his control over the fleet. After all, he had brought several high-combat-power melee warriors and Mages with him, so he felt confident that he had everything under control.

Hudi turned his head and nodded expressionlessly, then turned back and whispered to the two Sci-Fi Merchants beside him, “Do you two think we can win this war? We’re people who rely on data. Honestly, I don’t have much hope for this battle.”

Actually, all three of them could clearly see the situation on the field—it wasn’t just Hudi.

In terms of warship quality, theirs wasn’t as high-tech as the enemy’s. Even if they had twice the number of ships, what good would it do? It wouldn’t be useful at all.

Moreover, in their own fleet, thirty percent of the warships were T-level. Another thirty percent were almost scrapped. The remaining forty percent were the ships the three of them brought, but even those couldn’t compare to the enemy’s.

After all, their own Worlds were only at E-level Sci-Fi World technology, so even the best warships they brought from their home Worlds were about four levels below the enemy’s warships.

How did Hudi know the enemy had technology four levels higher than theirs?

This was because, after entering the battlefield, the System immediately provided a basic intelligence report to both sides for free. So, as the fleet Commander, Hudi learned about the Andrew side’s situation.

“Our enemy hired mercenaries—A-level Sci-Fi World mercenaries—and also bought this Milky Way battlefield.” After getting this information, Hudi immediately told his two companions. He knew that these two, like him, had long been dissatisfied with Tad.

When the two heard what Hudi said, their faces immediately darkened.

“Let’s not think about anything else. Just the fact that the enemy is four levels higher than us means we can’t possibly have any strategies left,” one of them said with a bitter expression, glancing at Tad who was resting with his eyes closed, then speaking to Hudi and the other.

“Now that we’re in the battlefield and the System just gave us this free intelligence, if we had gotten it before the battle started, it might have helped. But now it’s too late for anything—we have no way out!” Hudi gritted his teeth and whispered to his two partners.

Please get ready. The Dimensional War will officially begin in thirty seconds, 29… 28… 27…

The System’s announcement sounded, warning them that the war was about to start.

Hudi folded his hands over his chest and prayed quietly, “Merciful Salno, I beg you to protect your people through this hardship, let the darkness soon pass…” (Note: ‘Salno’ is a being in Hudi’s World similar to God.)

As Hudi whispered his prayer, thoughts raced through his mind.

He knew this battle was already lost; there was no chance of victory for their side.

The enemy bought this battlefield, meaning they definitely had a terrain advantage. Also, Hudi didn’t know what bonuses the System gave the enemy when they bought the battlefield.

Even though he didn’t know exactly what benefits, Hudi could guess that those benefits would be disastrous for their side.

So, if the enemy bought the battlefield, they surely bought some battlefield features too.

Hudi had participated in a few low-level Dimensional Wars, so he had some understanding of them. Unlike that idiot Tad, Hudi knew some of the rules of Dimensional War.

It was just a shame that Tad wouldn’t listen to Hudi’s suggestions; otherwise, they wouldn’t have ended up so passive.

As the countdown reached the last second, the Dimensional War officially began.

“Order Obena’s fleet to launch a full assault on the enemy!!!”

At this point, Hudi didn’t think about anything else. He immediately ordered Obena, the Cannon Fodder, to lead all his subordinate warships in an all-out attack on Lei Yaotian’s side, hoping to test the firepower coverage and intensity of Lei Yaotian’s fleet.

And also the traps set around the perimeter…

“God Salno, what should I do?” Hudi saw Tad still sitting there relaxed, chatting and laughing with the two Fantasy Merchants as if watching a show. Hudi was so angry he could die.