I Only Wanted A Class In The Apocalypse

Chapter 1880: The Toranksʼ Huge Mistake Is Revealed!

”Weʼll keep pushing ahead now. By the time we arrive, the other fleets will be at their primary targets.”

”Other fleets?!” Olanaʼs laughter died instantly, replaced by a look of sheer bewilderment. ”What fleets are you talking about? We already accounted for the twenty scattered detachments and the five armadas currently in transit.”

”Fleets exactly like the ones that were just surrounding us,” Hye said. He blinked twice, a slow realisation dawning on him. ”You never even guessed it, did you? If someone as sharp as you didnʼt see it coming, then I can rest easy knowing that no one else in this sector has a clue either.”

”I havenʼt seen a single unidentified hull signature on long-range scanners, and none of my intelligence channels have reported unknown movements,” Olana countered, her professional pride clearly wounded.

She turned back to her terminal, her fingers flying across the keys as she opened dozens of sub-channels and examined high-resolution heat maps of the surrounding star clusters.

She searched for any anomaly, any ghost signal that didnʼt belong, but the display remained stubbornly consistent.

Watching her struggle to uncover his hidden forces made Hye let out a genuine laugh. If even his closest strategist couldnʼt find the breadcrumbs heʼd left, then his enemies were sailing blindly into a storm.

”Youʼre lying!” Olana finally snapped after an hour of fruitless searching. She slammed her palm against the console. ”There isnʼt a single report of unknown fleets in the entire quadrant, and I havenʼt spotted a single abnormal blip!”

”Who said the fleets would move as a united front in the first place?” Hye laughed to his heartʼs content, feeling a brief flicker of empathy for her frustrated expression.

”Donʼt bother trying to find a massive cluster of ships, Olana. My vessels are scattered individually over a massive area. Even if a sensor happens to catch one, theyʼll simply be mistaken for lone spies or scouts from the other countless forces in the area. They are hiding in plain sight, waiting for the signal to converge.”

”But…”

”Iʼll show you,” Hye interrupted, moving the map to focus on a specific, high-value coordinate in the sector.

The image zoomed in on a lush planet that had lost its protection only moments ago. A swarm of ships was already gathered around the world, creating a defensive perimeter. ”Oh, look at that. We have a courageous race trying to plant their flag early.”

”They must have paid a hefty price and negotiated some very lucrative trade deals to acquire those ships,” Olana remarked casually.

Hyeʼs amusement evaporated instantly. He turned toward her, his expression shifting into something cold and terrifying. His voice was dead serious. ”Is it common for new kingdoms like them to be able to acquire warships through trade deals?”

”Well…” Olana hesitated, feeling a sudden, inexplicable threat radiating from him. ”You can trade for almost anything in this universe, Hye. As long as you have something of equal value to offer, even the big races will sit at the table with you.”

Hye went silent, but the air around him seemed to grow heavy. A deep, burning rage began to simmer in his chest.

He remembered his early dealings with the Toranks; he remembered how they had looked down on him, and specifically how they had flatly refused to exchange ships with him.

He had assumed, at the time, that such a refusal was a universal standard—a rule that the supreme races never shared their technology with ʼlesserʼ newcomers.

To hear now that it was a common practice—and to see a new world amassing enough ships to form a functional fleet right in front of his eyes—made his blood boil.

He realised that the Toranks hadnʼt just been strict; they had been intentionally suppressing him, treating him with a level of disrespect he had only now begun to fully fathom.

”Ahem… letʼs get back to what you were saying about the scattered ships,” Olana prompted, trying to break the heavy silence.

Hye didnʼt answer. He remained perfectly still, his eyes locked onto that part of the sector as if he had a personal blood feud with every soul on that planet. His silence was far more unnerving than his laughter had been.

”Iʼll show you in a minute,” Hye finally whispered, his eyes never leaving the display. On the screen, the first shots of a brutal battle were being exchanged between the newly arrived invasion forces and the stationary defenders. He watched the destruction with a dark, focused intensity.

Olana didnʼt immediately grasp the full scope of what Hye meant, but she leaned forward, her eyes narrowing as she turned her full attention toward the planet on the primary monitor.

The battle raging around its orbit was a chaotic swirl of light and debris, a typical sight in this sector. However, before Hye could utter another word of explanation, she spotted it—the slight, discordant shift in the rhythm of the engagement.

”There!” she shouted, jumping off her seat with an energy that almost knocked her console over. She pointed a trembling finger at a specific quadrant of the skirmish.

”You sneaky bastard! You didnʼt send fleets to engage them head-on as you said. You scattered your Soulers around the different forces and let them infiltrate their ships from the inside out!”

On the screen, the intense battle that had erupted between the desperate world owners and the arrogant invaders was suddenly being disrupted by a third-party involvement that defied traditional naval logic.

Hye had spoken casually about involving his fleet, but Olana realised now that ”fleet” was a misnomer for the horror he had actually unleashed.

”Hahaha! Do you think I have an endless supply of ships? I had to improvise,” Hye laughed, the sound echoing through the bridge with a mix of amusement and predatory pride.

He watched the screen with a relaxed posture, his eyes dancing as he watched dozens of high-tier ships suddenly lose all power. They flickered out, their engines dying as they began to float through the vacuum like giant, dead rocks.