Chapter 284

Chapter 284

Ye He gave Ye Mo access to the light screen, and the screen changed rapidly as he moved his fingers.

"This is our base. These few in the middle should be assigned to us, but it depends on what the other command centers decide."

Ye He tapped several bases, highlighting them.

As he spoke, he quickly integrated the information.

Given the number of participants, there were too many bases, and the territory was way too big.

Probably because the Star Alliance's gear was better than theirs.

Better gear could make up for having fewer people, but that put Grath at a disadvantage.

Because of the troop quotas, although six legions were participating, each legion had been cut down a lot, to the point where losing just a bit more would mess up their whole operation. That meant they had little room for error.

Plus, the base assignments wouldn't come out until most countries were halfway there.

They'd only gone a third of the way. Although they weren't traveling at full speed, it was obvious Grath was at least a step slower than the Star Alliance.

It was tricky.

Even so, Ye He's face gave nothing away.

He channeled his mental energy into his fingers, and a bunch of data flashed onto the screen, changing nonstop.

Ye Mo watched from the side, glancing between Ye He and the screen. He'd never seen Ye He command before—it was amazing.

Ye He knew what Ye Mo was thinking without even looking. If he had time, he'd explain it to Ye Mo step by step.

"It's just a simple trick. You'll get it later. You probably haven't taken command classes yet. If you want to learn, I can teach you later."

Ye Mo started to nod instinctively, then stopped halfway and shook his head. Ye He always kept his word. If he said he'd teach, he'd really do it.

But Ye Mo already had too much on his plate every day.

Besides, Ye He wasn't like Ye Yun. If Ye Mo tried to slack off, Ye Yun would just give him a light scolding and let it slide. But Ye He wouldn't. When he taught Ye Mo to fight as a kid, the lessons were good—he didn't get tossed around all the time—but there was no chance to slack off. Ye He would exactly measure his limits and push him just the right amount.

Ye He let out a deliberate sigh. "No? I thought you kind of liked me teaching you."

Ye Mo had already forgotten about being nervous. He hesitated a moment, then admitted honestly, "Bro, I have a ton of homework."

Ye He smiled—a rare sight. The data on the screen kept changing just as fast, without slowing down at all. "Then let's forget it for now."

He hadn't planned to teach Ye Mo this stuff so early anyway. Ye Mo still had plenty of time to grow.

The data finally stopped. Ye He pulled back his mental energy, and the screen turned into a map showing their coordinates, destination, and estimated time.

All they could do now was wait, then deploy once they reached the base.

...

On the main screen, the star map was still split into sections.

But some areas were lit up—those were the countries that had already arrived.

As time went on, a line of text appeared.

"Kainan has reached the destination."

Then the line vanished, and that area lit up.

Then more and more areas lit up, until finally only Grath's area was still dark.

The moment the first country reached a base, the resource war had already started. Speed was also a hidden competition. The countries that had arrived were probably setting up, and the faster ones had already started racking up points.

But the Star Alliance always waited until every country had arrived before switching the main screen. This time was the slowest.

Whispers were already breaking out in the crowd.

Someone in the audience couldn't help glancing at the Grath leaders' platform.

Norton, sitting high on the leader's platform, was still the same as before, showing no discernible emotion.

As time ticked by, just when even the Star Alliance staff were discussing whether to request an early end to the wait from their superiors and move the main screen elsewhere, the last area labeled "Grath" finally lit up.

The entire star map on the main screen suddenly brightened a few degrees. The image grew brighter, and when it returned to normal, it showed a scene at the edge of the star sector.

The host breathed a sigh of relief and said passionately, "The final piece of the puzzle is complete. Let's turn our eyes to the battlefield!"

The main screen switched again.

The image showed a mother ship descending in front of the base from mid-air, with mechas swarming out of it.

"What's so special about this? Let's go to the base that deployed quickly. Maybe there's already fighting. Why are they deploying mechas when they enter the base? Can't a small mother ship go inside?"

"Wait, this is Base 4-2! This is Grath's base."

"I recall they arrived quite late. What's so strange about that? As for mother ships, the Star Alliance only provides basic technology. It's normal for countries to have different levels, even though arriving this late is a bit absurd."

"The key point is, Grath didn't use a mother ship at all! They just let someone occupy an empty shell base."

A few seconds later, the main screen changed again. The screen split into two parts: one showing the base being occupied, and the other showing a fleet of warships with Grath's insignia on their hulls. Actually, even without the insignia, everyone knew who these warships belonged to.

Only Grath used these types of warships.

The host began, "It seems Grath is a bit unlucky. The enemy has already occupied the base. I wonder if they will give up on this base. Since this base is on the edge, giving up wouldn't be a big problem. Personally, I think giving up would be wiser, since Grath hasn't even started settling down as a whole."

This kind of situation was rare, because countries still needed some time to deploy after arriving at the destination. The competition venue was not particularly far, and the speed differences between countries' mother ships didn't seem that significant over this distance.

"Grath hasn't left. They are getting closer. It seems Grath doesn't intend to back down."

The warship fleet was getting closer to Planet 4-2, and the mother ship also began preparing to ascend, taking a favorable altitude.

The mother ship itself was a terrifying giant cannon platform, a steel beast whose power could not be underestimated.

One warship separated from the fleet, while the rest headed straight for the base.

"A small warship is heading toward the mother ship! The mother ship is starting to ascend immediately! I wonder what Grath intends to do."

The warship rapidly closed in on the mother ship at a speed far exceeding its previous pace. Although it couldn't maintain this speed for long, the speed a small warship could achieve in a short time was terrifying.

The mother ship was still in its initial stage, gaining altitude without having increased speed. The warship's direction was diagonal downward, which further widened the gap between them. The massive size of the mother ship gave it great intimidation, but also made it less agile at times.

In a short time, the distance between them rapidly closed until the two sides of the main screen merged, making the size difference even more pronounced.

The warship was above, the mother ship below.

The warship made its way toward the mother ship.

The tiny warship crashes into the mother ship, which the audience saw as nothing less than a suicide attack.

It was as absurd as an ant trying to shake a tree.

"No, attack with weapons! Fire!"

"Suppressive fire does nothing against the mother ship. The mother ship can withstand attacks from the King Insect for a good while, otherwise how could it traverse space? Unless you deploy mecha."

"Then this attack is pointless too."

The two sides grew closer.

The main camera suddenly zoomed in on Grath's warship.

Despite the high speed, the warship's hatch had opened at some point.

"Grath must have some secret weapon, but for the mother ship—"

The next second, Baide leaped out from inside, without even drawing his sword.

The host's words cut off sharply when Baide appeared.

As Baide leaped out, the warship also changed direction, avoiding the mother ship, carving an arc in the air. The warship was as nimble as a bird skimming the water's surface.

At the same time, Baide descended rapidly, like a big cat lunging at its prey.

As he descended, he drew his sword, adjusted his stance, and stabbed it into the mother ship, using the momentum of his fall to carve a deep gash across its hull.

Then Baide kicked off the mother ship and flipped onto the warship, which had somehow looped back.

This scratch was nothing to the mother ship.

But the mother ship was genuinely rocked by that strike.

The massive mother ship even tilted, its speed visibly slowing down, until it began losing balance, tilting and falling.

Everything happened so fast; the host was still dumbfounded, frozen in place.

"What the hell? Didn't they say even the King Insects couldn't breach its defenses? And such a huge mother ship — how much force would it take to shake it?!"

"Didn't some big shot analyze that Grath's weapons are special?"

On the other side, Baide didn't even turn his head, as if he already knew the enemy's fate the moment the attack ended. "To the base."

The adjutant in the command center of the main ship responded, "Yes, Emperor Baide."

The warship immediately changed course.

The adjutant glanced at the light screen before him; the mother ship was about to crash.

Such a behemoth crashing to the ground, even from a low altitude, would still cause them a ton of trouble.

Mecha had already forced open a passage on the mother ship and were coming out.

Their reaction wasn't too slow.

The adjutant looked up, and the light screen switched to a view of the base.

"Did you contact the fleet to mop up?"

"Already contacted. Some are on their way."

The adjutant grunted in reply, keeping his eyes on the light screen.

Meanwhile, at the base, the fleet had already begun operations. Several warships hovered above the base, their hatches open,

countless soldiers continuously jumped from the hatches, carrying swords, landing on the buildings and ground of the base.

They fought with their bare flesh against the enemies who had already occupied the base.

The adjutant's fingers moved, and the light screen in front of him turned into rows of data.

There were too many bases and they were too scattered; they simply couldn't cover them all.

Grath assigned the bases close to other countries to the powerful Graths, then to legion commanders, then to other fleets, and finally, exceptional but too young ones like Ye He were placed in relatively safer positions.

They knew before coming that encountering enemies was highly probable.

But His Majesty seemed angry.

Baide stood up; the wind blew his hair and his cape whipped behind him.

Flashes of fire and sounds of explosions kept coming from the base.

Through the device on Baide, the adjutant heard Baide's unhurried voice, "They sure act arrogant."