Counterfeit Hero

Several times, the fleet encountered gravity traps, meteor swarms, and even black holes. Countless times, after long and arduous journeys, the jump points they crossed proved to be dead ends, forcing them to turn back.

Back at Longbow Base, Congress had already cut off their supplies. After a life-and-death battle, the Longbow Fleet was riddled with scars. Food was scarce, repair parts were scarce, and all the energy had been exhausted. The fleet now had barely enough power to move with small thrusters, let alone fight.

If it wasn’t for encountering that pirate ship by chance, and then following the trail to their base, Fang Xiang wouldn’t have known where she would lead the fleet... At that time, she was on the verge of collapse!

Only because of that little bit of hope, the last string in her heart didn’t snap.

To seize this pirate base and secure the necessary supplies, Fang Xiang ordered all the remaining solid compressed energy blocks to be concentrated on a cruiser that retained most of its combat capability. This was her final effort; if the cruiser failed, everything would be over.

”Major General!” The voice of the liaison officer interrupted Fang Xiang’s thoughts. She turned around and saw the officer urgently staring at her in front of the fleet’s only power-supplied coded communicator: ”The Valor Battleship has sent a message. The defense at the pirate base is weak, but the external environment is extremely harsh. The Valor Battleship couldn’t break through in time. Now, the main pirate fleet has returned and is attacking the Valor Battleship.”

”How many enemy warships are there? What types and equipment?” Fang Xiang’s face remained unchanged, but her heart was tightly clenched.

She knew the Valor Battleship was the cruiser she had sent to attack the pirate base. When drafting the battle plan, they had observed the pirate base for a long time. Confirming that the base did not have enough strength to resist a cruiser attack, Fang Xiang ordered the all-out attack.

Of all the scenarios considered, the appearance of the pirate fleet was the one Fang Xiang least wanted to see. Although the Longbow-class heavy cruiser didn’t fear ordinary pirate ships, if its rear propulsion system was damaged during the siege, it would be over.

”Eleven armed merchant ships, eight escort ship-class raiders, eight torpedo boats, and...” The liaison officer’s face turned pale, his eyes avoiding Fang Xiang’s gaze: ”...two decommissioned Desic Empire Phoenix destroyers, and... and one Desic Empire North Star-class cruiser.”

When hearing about the armed merchant ships, escort ships, and even the decommissioned Phoenix destroyers, Fang Xiang was only tense. But upon hearing that the pirates had a North Star cruiser, the hearts of Fang Xiang and all the officers present sank into despair.

”Deploy the automatic space telescopic satellite and activate the central computer.” Fang Xiang walked to the command platform, sat down slowly, looked around at the silent officers, and gave a sad smile: ”Gentlemen, ladies, please look up. Let’s witness our fleet’s last battle!”

In the starry sky, a small piece of armor on the top of the floating Napoleon Battleship silently moved aside, revealing a small circle on the hull. The circle slowly rose, and a cylindrical telescopic satellite extended its solar panels, detached from the hull, and flew towards the side of a distant planet. Minutes later, the battlefield images were transmitted to the virtual screen of the bridge’s main control platform via the satellite’s lens.

The image zoomed in on the lights entangling in the distance,

revealing the black Longbow-class heavy cruiser. How beautiful it was; everyone stared in fascination. The lights from the cruiser’s portholes dazzled like an opera house’s stage lights in the dark starry sky. The flashing of its main energy cannon, secondary cannons, and rotating turrets glittered like fireworks.

It prowled, fighting tenaciously... though it was a battle destined for failure.

Beside the Valor cruiser were dozens of pirate warships of different sizes.

These pirate warships, like drooling hyenas, had the Valor surrounded tightly. They darted up and down, left and right chaotically through the starry sky, intermittently approaching and quickly retreating from the Valor. Fierce artillery fire assailed the Valor from all directions. The Valor’s energy shield flickered under the barrage. It was like a lion trapped in a hyena pack—battered, yet majestic.

The hyenas were wearing down its patience, its will, and its strength. The most daunting was the fierce beast of equal size vigilantly eyeing it among the hyena pack.

The North Star-class cruiser! In the past, the Valor could undoubtedly tear this outdated Desic counterpart to shreds. But now, with less than half of its basic energy reserves left and under siege by scores of warships, the Valor could only fight a desperate battle.

”Even if they fail.” Fang Xiang gazed at the image and whispered, ”They are still our warriors, aren’t they?”

Choking sobs echoed around her.

Tears streamed from Fang Xiang’s eyes. Clutching the seat’s armrest tightly, her tear-filled eyes focused on the scene of the Valor’s valiant battle, and she seemed to see Old Tolstoy’s figure. The old man, with a tightly clenched fist, was shouting, ”Long live Saleria...”