Chapter 283

Chapter 283

As the teams lined up by the passageway filed out one after another, the venue gradually emptied, and soon it was the turn of Grath.

They swiftly crossed the grounds, entered the Grath passage, and arrived at the Grath warship's docking area.

The ship's hatch opened, and Grath's soldiers, as if during battle preparations, boarded the vessel in an orderly fashion, all in position within a minute.

Soon, only a few Grath members remained outside. Deenlie and Herli were absent; their absence was a significant loss for Grath. Grath's commanders had debated whether to exchange them for other Grath members or simply cancel the aid for this round.

But in the end, they ultimately did nothing. They first determined that there was no need for personnel transfers—the difference in strength among Grath members was significant internally, but when facing the Zerg, that difference wasn't as pronounced. Similarly, in battles between humans, it had little impact.

The only option left was to cancel the aid, but the procedure was complicated and not guaranteed to succeed. Plus, they didn't want others to perceive that Grath took this competition too seriously, which would make them look weak.

Baide turned his head slightly, looking at Ye Mo. He gave Ye Mo a gentle push on the back, pushing him toward a warship. "That's the main ship you're heading to."

Ye Mo glanced back at him. Baide just gave a slight chin lift, urging Ye Mo to hurry over.

Ye Mo turned back and quickened his pace. The ship's hatch was already half-retracted, and a soldier by the hatch reached out to pull Ye Mo aboard. The soldier was a short-haired youth who smiled at Ye Mo. "Commander Ye He is inside, Your Highness."

Ye Mo thanked him and glanced back at Baide and the others.

Baide still had that carefree look, casually waving at Ye Mo, even finding time to tease him, "Forgot your hug, little baby?"

Ye Mo quickly pulled back, and the hatch slammed shut.

Once Ye Mo's figure disappeared, Baide turned to the other Grath members. "Focus up, do a good job, kids. Don't let me catch you slacking off."

They weren't enemies they knew like the back of their hand, nor the Zerg they could slay blindfolded.

Baide didn't say the next part aloud. In the channel, his tone turned deadly serious.

"This is a completely different kind of battle. Don't just rush ahead blindly. Always watch out for the legions backing you up from behind."

"Don't let them think we're lambs to be slaughtered. Make them think twice."

Arnold and the others answered far more seriously. "Understood."

This competition was also a key indicator for various countries to measure Grath's overall strength. If they thought Grath was just a paper tiger with only a few Grath members worth worrying about, it would be disastrous. Too many troublemakers would come, and even if Grath wasn't just for show, they couldn't fend them all off.

Grath's goal this time was to show their full strength with as few losses as possible.

The Grath members responded together, then quickly separated to board different main ships.

Soon, the Grath fleet lifted off and, like the other mother ships, exited the port.

As the venue emptied, the main camera view cut away from the opening scene.

The other camera angles were also cut.

The same star map appeared on all screens, divided into several roughly equal sections, each marked with a number.

"One to ten are all near the edge. I hope the country I like isn't unlucky enough to draw one of those numbers among so many."

"Each country has thirty bases—so many. No wonder the participant limit is so high this time. It's been a while since we've seen this scale."

"No way around it. The chosen venue is exceptionally vast this time, so the number of bases had to increase accordingly."

"Previous venues were in the inner regions of the Star Alliance's territory. The damage was probably too great. As countries' technology improves year by year, last time's command battle destroyed eleven habitable planets. After that, it was decided that future venues would be placed in more remote areas."

"Now that everyone has withdrawn, the random land allocation should begin. I've been nervous for a while."

…

Ye Mo was led to the command center. This command center was unlike Norton's. Ye He sat there, with a circle of people around him. Ye Mo hesitated for a moment, then chose to lean against the door and wait.

Ye He looked up, glanced at him, then turned back. "That's about it. Don't act rashly without my orders. Report any changes in the early stages to me."

After he finished, the others picked up their documents and dispersed to their respective positions.

Ye He stood up and walked toward Ye Mo.

The command center was crowded but quiet.

Ye Mo straightened up and whispered, "Brother."

Ye He studied him for a moment, then brushed off a bit of white fluff that had somehow landed on Ye Mo's shoulder and straightened his collar.

Ye Mo felt a bit embarrassed but quickly looked up. The silence made him instinctively lower his voice. "Brother, do I have any tasks?"

Ye He answered in a normal tone. "Not yet."

"Then I—"

Ye He sighed and cut him off. "Don't be impatient."

He took Ye Mo's hand and led him inside, speaking unhurriedly. "Don't worry. I'm a decent commander."

He brought Ye Mo to a sofa in the corner, poured him a drink, and pushed some snacks toward him.

Ye He picked up a file from the coffee table and began flipping through it while slowly speaking to Ye Mo. "Our role is overall rear support. We should be placed in the central area, the least vulnerable spot. But that doesn't mean we won't encounter other forces. If there's a breach and other units can't be mobilized in time, we'll need to step up temporarily."

"Most of the time, though, we'll be waiting. If everything goes smoothly, we probably won't have much else to do."

This part of the mission has a high tolerance for error, so the soldiers assigned here are mostly younger—including Ye Mo and Ye He himself. They're both very young, which is also Grath's way of protecting its youth.

Ye He's tone was calm and steady, and Ye Mo gradually relaxed.

At some point, Ye He placed his hand on Ye Mo's back, stroking it as if petting a fluffy cub, one gentle stroke after another. "Relax, Ye Mo. No need to be so tense. Everything is under control."

What was Ye Mo nervous about? Was Grath's equipment insufficient, making him uneasy?

That shouldn't be the case.

Ye He turned another page of the file, covered in dense data and text.

Grath should be stronger.

Ye He felt a stirring inside him, a sense of eagerness and impatience—an impatience to conquer this unfamiliar star domain.

Even a lone wolf accustomed to solitude would become unusually sensitive when caring for a cub. The cub's unease made him aggressive.

His fangs and claws itched, making him want to tear and shred something.

Even if the owner of this territory seemed difficult to deal with.

…

After leaving the port, the participating nations rushed toward the competition venue.

The competition hadn't started yet. The Star Alliance temporarily disabled their detection equipment, only providing them with the route forward. The troops of each nation were scattered, unable to see each other.

When most nations were halfway through the journey, the star map on the main screen suddenly changed.

The original numbers on the star map disappeared, replaced by the flags of each nation.

At the same time, each nation received the star region assigned to them.

Ye He looked at the large screen at the front of the command center, which highlighted Grath's star region in a conspicuous color.

The original numbers on it had disappeared, but Ye He frowned with a glance. That area was originally Zone Four, close to the edge.

The Star Alliance had not provided a map for the areas beyond the edge; if they had extra resources later, they would need to explore.

Ye He quickly went back to his usual work mode. He called up a light screen in front of him and found Zone Four among a pile of files—this was the plan they'd prepared in advance for each star region.

From Grath's side, their attention was on Baide. Baide showed no reaction to the result, still acting the same as before, merely glancing at it and making some useless remarks such as preferring Zone One before ordering his adjutant to pour him tea.

Grath's various command centers only paused briefly at this sudden news, then continued operating smoothly. They had prepared contingency plans and even backup plans for every possibility.

"Out of ten zones, we got one. Damn!"

"I wanna see how the little prince is doing. I can't take this."

"Stay calm. As long as Emperor Baide is still unreliable, I feel at ease."

"That makes sense, but it doesn't stop my anxiety."

In Grath's capital, Sylvia had forgotten the cup in her hand and watched intently.

Ye Yun and Mrs. Ye were also at home. Ye Yun placed his hand on Mrs. Ye's, staring at the light screen, not sure if he was comforting Mrs. Ye or himself, he said: "It's okay, Mom, so many Grath soldiers are there, and the legions are all Grath's finest."

Mrs. Ye remained worried: "I wonder if Little Mo will be scared."

"No need to worry. Ye Mo is with that guy Ye He."

Outside the arena.

Norton still sat high on the Leader's platform, his mental energy not locked onto Ye Mo.

The distance was a bit too far, and Norton's mental energy was highly aggressive. Without deliberate control, passing through clouds could cause thunderstorms. Combined, these factors made it easy to detect him, even with Norton's control.

Only Theodore knew this.

Norton's mental energy was connected to the Star Network. After the competition started, the Star Alliance would open holographic feeds for commentators to enter. Once connected, Norton could easily track Ye Mo just by receiving the data.

At any sign of change, Norton's mental energy could respond instantly; to his mental energy, this distance was nothing.

But it was best if such a situation didn't occur.

In the virtual world, Theodore carefully avoided Norton's vast mental energy.

This mental energy processed data roughly—absorbing all data it encountered, then picking out the needed parts.

It was crude, yet it easily digested massive amounts of data.

In this regard, Grath was even smarter than some AIs.

Theodore paused for a moment, then voluntarily stepped forward and passed along the data about Ye Mo.

Norton accepted his goodwill.

Author's note:

Theodore: Sharing, don't crowd me.