When Fang Senyan heard the news, he gasped sharply. As the saying goes, no one is perfect, and Fang Senyan knew he wasn't particularly skilled in piloting, let alone aerial combat. Furthermore, this Wasp-class craft was nothing more than an escape vessel, completely devoid of weaponry! This fact undoubtedly amplified the pressure he felt.

Then he heard General Mongo’s gravelly voice: “We are currently utilizing maximum energy for communications suppression against the Krell. It appears to be highly effective. Moreover, the vessel you are piloting is a specially modified Defender-class ship, possessing inherently formidable stealth capabilities. Coupled with the fact that your attackers are unmanned combat drones, these three factors combined mean it won't be easy for the battlecruisers to even locate you!”

“So, as long as you exercise caution, stay hidden, and evade detection, successfully returning shouldn’t be difficult! Remember, surviving is guaranteed once you escape the asteroid field, because the other forward operating base, the Sydney, has already arrived. Those Krell curs will certainly not dare pursue you out there, otherwise, they’ll just be pulverized into space fireworks by concentrated fire from the Fortress Cannons!” Although the Krell technology surpassed human capabilities, the gap was only within the same technological era. Under normal circumstances, a starship would struggle against a fortress that had sacrificed maneuverability, especially when two terrifying fortresses were lined up side-by-side. The concentrated fire from those formidable Fortress Cannons could even shatter planets—it was akin to a battleship engaging an earthbound coastal fortress; under the same tier, the battleship would always suffer a severe disadvantage.

Hearing General Mongo’s intelligence report, Fang Senyan had no choice but to be forced into action, literally putting the cart before the horse. He braced himself and fought for his life. Decisively, he pushed the engine to maximum. Thanks to the formidable physique of a Contractor, even though the cockpit lacked the necessary damping systems, the G-forces only caused him slight dizziness and ringing in his ears. But for an ordinary interstellar resident at this moment, they would have likely already had their eyes pop out and their internal organs ejected through their mouths.

Before him, the asteroids were dense, seemingly endless, completely obscuring the path ahead. This feeling of being surrounded above, below, left, and right by space debris was profoundly unsettling; it seemed even the starlight struggled to penetrate the blockade. More critically, some asteroids were relatively stationary, while others were moving at incredible speeds. The environment was utterly chaotic. If he slowed down, the asteroids would actively collide with him; if he sped up, they became immense obstacles relative to the static debris.

It was no wonder that previously, even with the combined might of the entire combat sector, penetrating the planet Eplos had proven so difficult.

Suddenly, Fang Senyan received another communication from General Mongo: “Be careful. We’ve just detected electromagnetic anomalies. It seems the enemy has pinpointed your general location and is deploying countermeasures, but we don’t know the specifics of their deployment yet.”

Fang Senyan stared at the screen outside the viewport and gave a wry smile. “I think I know… You mentioned earlier that the Eplos Asteroid Field was originally set up by the Krell, right? These bastards are actually… they’re actively forcing the acceleration of the asteroid field! That’s it—that’s the Meteoroid Tide described in the data our Artificial Human No. 1 intercepted from the Krell!”

Frankly, this tactic by the Krell was savagely vicious. If the asteroid field was initially like a slowly churning mass of thick gruel, the Krell had just used a massive stirring rod to violently agitate it, turning it into a rapidly spinning vortex! With even a moment’s inattention, the rapidly accelerating meteors could directly smash the Wasp craft to pieces, let alone having pursuers right behind him!

The Krell’s own starships were constructed from materials far superior to human vessels, not to mention the vast difference in size between the ships. Therefore, this level of Meteoroid Tide posed no existential threat to their craft.

As for the deployed unmanned combat drones, since they were explicitly unmanned, they were clearly nothing more than expendable cannon fodder; achieving mutual destruction with Fang Senyan would be considered a victory for them.

Now faced with the suddenly accelerating Meteoroid Tide, Fang Senyan had no choice but to reduce his speed, focusing completely on navigating slowly. Even so, despite the enhanced reflexes of a Contractor, every moment was fraught with peril.

Precisely at this juncture, the ship’s radar indicated the appearance of two new red dots behind him—clearly the two unmanned combat drone pursuers.

This was the first time Fang Senyan had encountered such a deadly situation. However, he soon noticed something peculiar: the two combat drones moved forward a certain distance toward his position, then inexplicably reversed course and flew in the opposite direction, bouncing around aimlessly like headless flies!

Seeing this, Fang Senyan immediately understood: the Xuan-coating on his ship's hull must be taking effect. The base’s jamming was operating at full capacity, limiting the Krell's detection technology to perhaps sixty percent effectiveness. Combined with the powerful capabilities of Fang Senyan’s Xuan-coating, they could only perceive his approximate location, not lock onto him precisely.

With this realization, Fang Senyan steeled his resolve. He understood clearly that whether the enemy detected him was their problem; fretting over it was useless. All he could do was execute his own maneuvers flawlessly. As distracting thoughts cleared, he focused entirely on piloting the ship, and indeed, his speed picked up noticeably.

However, the Krell ships were not merely aimlessly flailing as Fang Senyan had presumed. Once they realized they could only achieve a general lock, they adopted a hunting strategy to locate Fang Senyan, maneuvering their two combat drones in an ‘8’ pattern search path to maximize the probability of detecting any trace of their prey.

As Fang Senyan pushed forward, he gradually reached the periphery of the asteroid belt where the debris thinned out. Naturally, his speed increased as the obstacles lessened. But conversely, fewer asteroids meant fewer targets for the enemy’s sensors to filter through, and soon, the two unmanned combat drones aggressively closed in on him.

This time, however, Fang Senyan felt no anxiety. After he skimmed past a massive asteroid, the scene ahead instantly caused his already taut nerves to completely slacken.

Because within the asteroid field ahead, there was a clearly defined open zone. In this area, the space was densely packed with human combat vessels! The two Krell unmanned fighters had just poked their noses out when they were hit by concentrated fire and instantly vaporized into cosmic dust! Exploding with a violent flash!

Following that, hundreds of combat ships flew out, escorting Fang Senyan’s Wasp craft into their center as they slowly retreated. Fang Senyan noticed that even now, near the outer edge of the asteroid belt, over a dozen escort vessels were destroyed during the withdrawal, turning into stellar remnants. This demonstrated the incredibly heavy price they must have paid to fight their way in and carve out that battlefield!

After successfully landing at the Little Hawk forward operating base, Fang Senyan immediately received a highly ceremonial welcome: a military band, a red carpet, and the entire command staff assembled to greet him. This reception was incomparable to his previous treatment.

The moment he landed, he first rushed to open the rear hatch and release Ronny, the human stick who had been tormented nearly to death. He then summoned specialized personnel from the base to repair Artificial Human No. 1.

Fang Senyan had only taken a few steps when he saw the Krell sub-vessel parked in the base hangar below. He paused slightly and immediately asked the accompanying officer, “Who returned on that ship? Was it Aldaris?”

Accompanying Fang Senyan was Archer, who had been promoted to Captain. He immediately nodded, “Yes, sir. Your mission was truly perilous. Twelve people went in, and only three returned. I doubt any others made it out.”

Fang Senyan nodded, smiling faintly, “As expected, the one who escaped was that bastard Aldaris. Where is he?”

Archer offered an awkward smile. “To be honest, among those who survived, Lieutenant Colonel, you are the healthiest. Mr. Ronny is second, and Mr. Aldaris sustained the most severe injuries.”

“Of course I’m the healthiest; it’s expected that idiot Ronny is seriously injured… What!!! Aldaris’s injuries are the worst?” Fang Senyan asked, astonished. “Worse than Ronny, who is practically half a man?”

“Mr. Ronny has suffered limb loss. Such injuries can be repaired through limb cloning and regeneration once he returns to Alpine Base Seven—though the procedure is quite expensive. However, Mr. Aldaris suffered severe trauma to his brain, caught in the residual energy wave of a high-energy laser. Preliminary estimates suggest only about two-thirds of his brain tissue remains. It is remarkable he survived at all.”

Fang Senyan shrugged. “As long as he’s alive, that’s what matters. Space is omnipotent; direct repair is possible.”

Just then, a Major and two guards approached, saluting Fang Senyan. “Colonel, the General requests your presence for a discussion.”

Fang Senyan looked stunned. “Colonel?”

The Major stated respectfully, “Yes, sir. You have successfully completed your mission and have been officially awarded the rank of Colonel.”

Fang Senyan quickly checked his status attributes and found his rank indeed changed to Colonel (501000). Upon seeing the accumulated merit points, Fang Senyan instantly felt that the distance between him and a Major General was equivalent to N light-years!! He could only sigh, utterly speechless.

However, in truth, the jump from field officer ranks to general rank was a massive promotion. Usually, in peacetime, unless one possessed extraordinary renown coupled with the three killing instruments—opportunity, money, and connections—an ordinary officer’s career would likely cap at Colonel.

To achieve the rank of a regular Major General, completing official missions set by the Empire was usually mandatory. Fang Senyan’s achievements on this mission were technically enough for promotion to Major General, but… who could blame him for only having held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before this?