Chapter 159: Waiting

“Your Majesty, the entire corps has now silenced all electronic devices. When do we strike?” asked a sergeant in black armor with a black helmet, addressing a tall figure wearing similar gear. These beings looked almost exactly like the stormtroopers from a certain movie in Lei Yaotian’s former world—if Lei Yaotian had been there, he would have exclaimed, ‘Aren’t these the stormtroopers from Star Wars!’

Indeed!

Their outfits were nearly identical to the stormtroopers from Star Wars, but unfortunately, Lei Yaotian was unaware of these beings’ existence and had no way of seeing them.

The tall figure addressed as “Your Majesty” by the sergeant gazed through the large floor-to-ceiling window at the distant battlefront near Obena. Because of the great distance, he could only vaguely make out the intermittent flashes from exploding warships far beyond their own fleet.

“How beautiful. That’s the light of a unique ‘flower’ blooming in the universe,” His Majesty remarked dreamily.

As a ruler of a high-level Sci-Fi Dimension, he well understood the meaning behind those distant, flickering lights.

“As a mercenary corps, it is best for us to wait until the employer gives the clear command to engage,” the man told the sergeant beside him.

“But Your Majesty, the situation for our employer’s allied forces is not good. According to the intel from our scout ships, the vanguard has already lost thirty percent of its strength in the enemy’s first wave of attacks. If this continues, the Vanguard Fleet will soon collapse,” the sergeant reported.

“It’s not at all surprising. Our enemy is an A-level Sci-Fi Merchant, meaning his warships are at least equipped with A-level technology. Meanwhile, the vanguard commander is only a T-level Sci-Fi Merchant—his fleet’s equipment is capped at T-level tech. Given they’re not on the same technological level, it’s no wonder they’re being crushed like this,” His Majesty stated calmly.

“But if the Vanguard Fleet is wiped out, it’s better for us. That way, there’ll be less trouble when we strike. I actually hope the enemy destroys our employer’s entire fleet—that would save us a lot of trouble.”

Hearing this, the sergeant beside him asked curiously, “But why would our employer want to eliminate his own Trade Alliance members? Having them around would strengthen his forces, right? Even though his Merchant Rank is low now, as a merchant, he’ll need allies in the future. If he even kills his own allies, who will trust him then? That won’t do him any good in the long run.”

It appeared that His Majesty’s deputy officer had some understanding of the Dimensional System. It was just unclear why His Majesty chose to share such important matters with this deputy.

“Kakarot, you don’t see it, do you? Our employer is actually a very selfish guy. He wants to eliminate his allies to seize all their resources. After we defeat his enemy and take out his Trade Alliance companions, just imagine—all the Magic Fruit resources will fall into his hands alone.”

His Majesty saw things clearly and understood Tad’s ambitious plan well.

“Intelligent life forms are so hard to figure out. Good thing I’m just an intelligent butler given life by the System. Honestly, though, I really despise a merchant like our employer from the bottom of my heart,” the deputy officer quietly grumbled to His Majesty.

So this deputy officer, like Wangcai beside Lei Yaotian, was an Intelligent Butler randomly assigned by the System to Dimensional Merchants.

In the Dimensional System, not every merchant could have an Intelligent Butler, so it seemed His Majesty had fairly good luck to possess one.

“It’s no use disliking him. After all, he’s our employer. We may have to continue dealing with him in the future. As mercenaries, we depend on clients like him to earn Credit Points, don’t we?” His Majesty gave his Intelligent Butler a slight smile.

“But he’s so stingy—he only paid us thirty billion Credit Points. I wonder what he’s thinking. Doesn’t he know the going rate for mercenaries?” the Intelligent Butler continued muttering.

“Kakarot, what our employer gave is actually quite acceptable. Although it’s only thirty billion, we also get 30% of the integrated Magic Fruit’s revenues,” His Majesty revealed Tad’s true offer. “I calculated carefully—30% of the net revenues is a huge amount. After this war mission, even if we sit back and do nothing after, we’ll still receive large sums of Credit Points every month. That’s much better than struggling for every life-and-death payment. Besides, this enemy isn’t that dangerous—just an S-level Fantasy Merchant.”

“But Your Majesty, please don’t forget: according to intel, the opponent seems to have assistance from a Sci-Fi Merchant of unknown rank. Also, they hired a small Mercenary Corps, and their tech level is A-grade,” Intelligent Butler Kakarot reminded His Majesty, hoping he wouldn’t underestimate the opponent.

“Kakarot, don’t worry. I’m not an idiot; I won’t underestimate any opponent. Even though their technology is a level below ours, I don’t think their Combat Power is that weak. Only if they were three or four levels beneath us would I not take their fighting ability seriously.”

His Majesty smiled at Kakarot as he said this.

Outside the enormous window, in the dark Starry Sky beyond, golden sparks burst forth continuously—the scenes of Obena’s warships being destroyed and breaking apart.

From Kakarot’s perspective, the distant battlefield looked like a fireworks display during a festival. Yet each time those lights flashed, tens of thousands—even hundreds of thousands—of lives vanished.

“Your Majesty Likoom, has our employer sent any messages yet?” Kakarot inquired.

His Majesty Likoom slowly shook his head. “No messages from him yet. It seems it’s still not our time to act. What’s wrong? Getting impatient?” Likoom glanced at his Intelligent Butler.

Hehe!

Intelligent Butler Kakarot gave a silly laugh. “Honestly, I think we don’t need to be so cautious. This employer should order all his fleets to charge in and engage the enemy. That would deplete both sides’ warships. When they’re exhausted, we could easily mop them both up.”

Then Kakarot looked toward the distant battlefield and said slowly, “But who knows what this employer is thinking? His warships are stuck in that Planetary Belt, not charging forward—just sitting there waiting to be hit.”

Kakarot couldn’t understand Obena’s predicament at all.

Likoom turned his gaze back to Obena’s front. Hearing Kakarot, he said, “Kakarot, you’re my Intelligent Butler, but you’re a finance-type steward, not a warfare or combat type. So you wouldn’t understand war tactics. Our employer has his reasons for not committing all his warships now. I wouldn’t do that either, let alone him.”

Kakarot adopted a listening expression.

His Majesty Likoom continued, “Anyway, for now, let’s just wait for the employer’s message.”

Since his Master said so, Kakarot didn’t press further.

Then both fell silent, continuing to watch the distant battlefield.

…

“Commander! The Leader has dispatched a corps to assist. Our front can hold now!” A deputy officer who had just returned from the rear hurried into the Command Room and reported to Obena.

While the deputy was reporting, Eron led one-third of the total fleet, advancing into Obena’s already faltering battle lines.

“Fire! Fire! Unleash everything—destroy the Planetary Belt ahead!” Eron shouted from the command deck of his Flagship.

Hundreds of thousands of A-level Sci-Fi Dimension warships fired simultaneously—the spectacle was overwhelming, blotting out the sky and dimming the stars.

Eron’s fleet was on an entirely different level from Obena’s; their technology far exceeded Obena’s by several grades. The firepower of their warships was truly formidable.

Outside the silver warships, the air around the thick cannon barrels distorted—a sign of energy gathering and concentrating.

“Energy Output at 60%, power operation at full capacity. Heavy Cannons ready! Fire!”

On every warship, Heavy Cannon operators each gave their reports. Then millions of warships began their assault on the Planetary Belt. Vast swathes of dark blue, destructive energy shot from the cannons toward the distant planets.

The black expanse of space was tinged with a faint blue glow.

Each Giant Planet was struck by hundreds of thousands of thick energy beams. As the energy hit the planets’ surfaces, each Giant Planet trembled violently and shrank rapidly—then it swelled up as if being inflated.

The result? The planets exploded…

Because of the terrifying destructive substances produced by the planetary explosions, the entire Space seemed to compress and collapse. Even the surrounding Space visibly distorted from the blasts.

“Activate protective measures! Brace for impact from Planet Fragments!” Eli knew that after the planets exploded, their fleets would face the impact of planetary debris.