Counterfeit Hero

One sleek battleship after another elegantly traversed past a colossal white planet under the gleam of a Constant Star.

A streak of Flowing Light glided from the bow of one battleship, across the hull’s hard, cold external armor, the long auxiliary gun barrel, and the rotating radar atop the ship bridge’s information tower, flowing to the stern, and moments later, reappearing at the bow of the next battleship.

The battleships went from sparse to dense, increasing in number and size. All elegance vanished without a trace in this endless emergence.

The entire white planet seemed covered by these overwhelming shadows. They were like a swarm of cold steel locusts, ominously looming over this patch of starry sky, bringing a chilling cold.

”Where has the forward reconnaissance ship reached now?”

Hanfrey pulled out a cigarette with a long blue filter from a black leather cigarette case, flicked his fingers, and ignited it with a flame that appeared at his fingertips like Magic. A lover of Magic since he was seven, he had learned the craft under a Magic master and never abandoned it.

”Duke, reconnaissance ship one has already approached the Jump Point in the Longbow Star System,” replied the aide standing next to Hanfrey, bowing. He was long accustomed to the flame dancing at Hanfrey’s fingertips.

Referring to him by his title rather than as General was a Hanfley Family tradition. It’s an old noble family of the Binart Empire. Three hundred years ago, Duke Hanfrey and the Binart Emperor were as close as brothers; three hundred years later, the family still enjoyed unceasing favor. Among the ten dukes in the Empire, Duke Hanfrey ranked third, highlighting the family’s grandeur and strength.

For centuries, the Hanfley Family had already fused with the Binart Empire. Be it politics, economy, or military, the family’s presence was everywhere.

Finance Minister, Defense Chief, Royal Guards Commander, First President of Defense University, First Foreign Affairs Officer... These prestigious positions have all witnessed the presence of the Hanfley Family. However, these alone don’t signify the family’s prominence. What truly makes the Hanfley Family feared is the two Royal Elephant-class Fleets they command—the Feiling Fleet and the Feiyu Fleet!

There are twenty Elephant-level Fleets in the Binart Empire. Although these fleets are all Royal forces, and all officers and soldiers are required to pledge their utmost allegiance to the Binart Royal Family, for centuries, the chief commander of eight fleets has always been held by the Clan Leader of four families respectively. And Tom Hanfley is the current Clan Leader of the Hanfley Family, a hereditary duke, Imperial Admiral, and also chief commander of the Feiling Feiyu Fleet.

Calling the Feiling and Feiyu Fleets the private army of the Hanfley Family wouldn’t be inaccurate. Except for the Imperial Family having the means to control these fleets, no one else could entertain any notions about them. It’s important to know, all officers in these fleets are members of the Hanfley Family. Many of them have served the family over successive generations.

Hence, on these two fleets, Hanfrey is addressed only as Duke, not as General.

Hanfrey gently twirled the cigarette with his slender fingers, his eyes never leaving the interstellar map before him. The interstellar map was densely marked with arrows, data, and circles. In Hanfrey’s eyes, these symbols were like planets, routes, nebulae, and asteroid belts...

Dougla... Hanfrey silently mulled over the surname.

Few people knew, many years ago when Hanfrey was still a Major, he had met Dougla during a multinational military exchange. At that time, he didn’t consider Dougla his opponent. His focus rested on the Feiyang Republic’s great general Leefer. Until in the final military exercise, the battalion led by Dougla halted his troop which had been unstoppable and showed off from the start of the exercise.

In that battle, the young Dougla was in charge of blocking. Back then, he was just a fledgling junior officer, who, despite having achieved some accomplishments and showed some talent, was unremarkable in the talented Feiyang Exchange Group. In the live combat confrontation, he was placed on the Red Army’s side flank defense line, tasked with defending against Blue Army’s sneak attack from this direction.

At that time, Hanfrey was already a rising star. As the heir to the future Duke Hanfrey, even though he was still a Major, no one dared to undervalue him. Prior to that, his combat achievements had already made many realize that he was an unstoppable future giant.

The exercise, from the onset, seemed to affirm this notion.

Hanfrey commanded the Armored Group, utilizing the time gap between the opponent’s changeover and a gap on the map, first charging from south to north into the Red Army’s defense circle, then turning west in a big circle, lured and shook off the pursuit and blockades of three Red Army Main Force Groups, took down a Red Army logistics base, then directly struck the Red Army main force’s rear and flank. Once this strategic plan succeeded, the Red Army, engaged in a strategic showdown with the Blue Army, would collapse due to the right-wing defense’s breach, more seriously, the Red Army headquarters might be wiped out by Hanfrey’s Armored Group in one swoop.

In such a case, the Feiyang people’s fun would be grand.

At the time, Hanfrey lightly commanded his formidable troops, aiming to put the Feiyang people at a disadvantage. For him, this had nothing to do with humiliation; it was entirely a very interesting game.

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