A sudden volley struck, destroying two warships of the Gean Empire fleet, plunging them into momentary disarray.

The commander of the Gean Empire fleet reacted swiftly, ordering the frigates nearest the Mercury to intercept. He then commanded the remaining warships to consolidate their position against the suddenly arrived enemy.

To surround Vol Station, all the warships were dispersed around the perimeter, and time was needed to regroup them.

The commander of this fleet was a recent, hastily promoted appointee lacking practical combat experience. In its aggressive expansion across the Omi star system, the Gean Empire had promoted many such commanders whose inexperience was evident.

However, these novices were intended for engagements against mid-level civilizations, where the technological disparity between the fleets meant they couldn't inflict any meaningful damage. Even the most inept commander wouldn't lose in such a matchup.

Who could have foreseen that when climbing the mountain, one would run into a tiger—specifically, encountering the scourge known as Zhong Yun.

This commander was a political appointee, a princeling whose family held immense power. He was currently incandescent with rage, dressing down the reconnaissance personnel with a torrent of abuse.

How could the enemy close this near without being detected? Aside from their own colossal oversight, what other explanation could there be?

Losing two warships instantly was enough to provoke such a furious outburst. Up to this point, every report from the front lines confirmed the Gean Empire’s fleets had been utterly victorious, with zero casualties reported. To think the first loss would come from the ships under his command—this was a major stain.

He ground his teeth in hatred for the enemy responsible for tarnishing his promising career. He issued a single order to all ships: take the enemy alive.

He had not taken the invading enemy seriously, especially upon learning they possessed only a single starship.

To him, mid-level civilizations were benighted backwaters. Their inhabitants were like ants, easily crushed with a mere flick of the finger.

The seasoned Chief of Staff, however, felt a prickle of danger. Even if the reconnaissance personnel had been negligent, the detectors were constantly active and programmed to sound an automatic alarm. For the enemy to be discovered only at such close quarters suggested their warship possessed exceptionally advanced stealth capabilities.

Moreover, to destroy an entire warship with a single shot—that level of destructive power seemed utterly inconsistent with a mid-level civilization.

Synthesizing these points, he suspected the adversary might be commanding a "Quasi-Planetary" class, or perhaps even a "Planetary" class warship.

The commander's demeanor sobered upon hearing the Chief of Staff’s assessment. He wasn't a fool to have reached this position; it was merely the inertia of prejudice—underestimating the fighting capacity of mid-level powers.

Just then, the Mercury was rapidly closing the distance toward them.

Instead of alarm, the commander and his staff were secretly pleased. For a single vessel to challenge an entire fleet head-on, unless it was of the "Super-Planetary" echelon, it was certainly doomed to be swarmed and destroyed.

Hearing the suggestion of a "Planetary" class warship, the commander's greatest fear was that the enemy would engage in guerrilla tactics, relying on superior speed to remain untouchable while raining down fire.

In the span of moments, the Mercury entered the firing range of the four intercepting frigates. All four vessels unleashed their weapons simultaneously.

A sheet of silver-white light enveloped the Mercury. The energy beams struck it, causing only ripples to spread before sliding harmlessly away.

Before the enemy could fire a second volley, the silver glow around the Mercury vanished. It fired a single shot that struck the foremost enemy ship dead center, turning it into a vast fireball.

The Mercury demonstrated its power once more before swiftly slamming into the core of the Gean Empire fleet. As it passed the remaining three frigates, its hatches burst open, disgorging countless mechs that swarmed toward the three ships like ants.

From Zhong Yun's initial surprise attack, only a few minutes had elapsed. On the Gean Empire vessels, barely one-fifth of their mechs were on active duty, kept ready for contingencies.

In those brief minutes, the remaining mech warriors could not possibly reach the launch bays in time.

These three frigates were "Satellite" class warships, each equipped with one hundred thousand mechs and one hundred thousand fighters. Caught unprepared, the roughly one hundred thousand deployed mechs faced the viciously surging enemy mechs and crumbled upon contact.

Although the Gean Empire's mechs were technologically superior, their numbers were smaller, and the enemy fought with an all-or-nothing ferocity. These Gean pilots had never experienced such brutal combat; they were instantly cowed, and their resistance collapsed after only a few exchanges.

Once enemy mechs breached a warship, that vessel’s destruction was virtually sealed.

The Gean Empire's mech warriors were even less capable than Zhong Yun had anticipated. Lacking major battle experience, even with high-grade mechs, their fighting will proved distressingly fragile.

The Mercury ignored them, driving straight toward the main Gean fleet.

The fact that the Mercury broke through the four-ship interception so easily made the Gean fleet commander’s heart skip a beat. The enemy's fighting style was too ferocious. His campaign thus far had been smooth sailing; he had never encountered an adversary this relentless.

His subordinate ships had not yet fully assembled, leaving their formation too dispersed. If the enemy managed to break through the center, it would spell disaster.

"Prepare for engagement," he finally commanded. He had graduated from a formal academy, after all; he knew the standard procedure for responding to such a situation.

Zhong Yun watched the approaching enemy vessels, running calculations in his mind. The enemy possessed fifty-seven warships in total. He had destroyed three, and three more were currently entangled with his mechs, clearly doomed.

This left fifty-one enemy ships. He had deployed two hundred thousand mechs earlier, with one million eight hundred thousand remaining in reserve. The main cannon’s recharge cycle was ten minutes. The enemy fleet would take about an hour to fully consolidate. However, even a cluster of a dozen enemy ships could pose a massive threat to him.

These figures cycled through Zhong Yun's mind repeatedly.

The safest strategy would have been guerilla warfare, using superior speed and range to slowly bleed the enemy dry. But he did not have that kind of time.

Vol Station, as the capital of Dawa, hosted three spatial jump points connecting it to the three most critical administrative planets. Reinforcements from the Gean Empire could arrive in a matter of hours. At that point, the situation would devolve into countless enemy vessels hunting him down.

He had to annihilate this fleet before reinforcements arrived if he was to buy enough time to breach Vol Station and rescue the individuals he sought.

Therefore, Zhong Yun had to take this risk.

Admittedly, Dawa owed him a debt, but he had long regarded it as his second homeland. How could he stand aside while his adopted nation was in peril? He might not be able to save Dawa as a whole, but he could save a few lives.

The Mercury, still glowing with silver light, plunged violently into the heart of the Gean fleet. Dozens of energy beams struck it simultaneously, distorting the silver-white shield.

Zhong Yun glanced at the main screen. A total of eight ships were targeting the Mercury—main and secondary batteries firing in concert. While visually spectacular, this barrage posed little real threat.

He calculated silently. Once the main cannons of those eight ships had fired, he abruptly ordered the shield retracted. Half of the secondary batteries opened fire, concentrating their power on three of those ships. One struck a vital spot and instantly exploded into a massive ball of fire. The other two sustained heavy damage, lost directional control, and drifted away.

While the Mercury's secondary cannons were vastly inferior to its main cannon, they still packed a lethal punch against ships two full classes beneath them. These three enemy ships were instantly neutralized.

The enemy retaliated with their energy beams, but those smaller shots merely caused irrelevant impacts on the Mercury.

The ships rapidly closed distance. As the Mercury zipped past, a massive wave of mechs poured out again, sweeping toward the remaining five enemy frigates.

Zhong Yun left thirty thousand mechs to occupy them, maintaining full speed as he flew toward the next wave of targets.

The Gean commander’s skin crawled. In less than a few minutes, nine of his ships were gone. The sheer ruthlessness of the enemy's tactics shocked him.

The Mercury was not directly engaging his flagship, but he understood the enemy’s strategy: eliminate the flanking forces first.

Yet, he felt a measure of relief. Recognizing the enemy’s ship class was superior, he knew if the Mercury had targeted him first, the outcome would likely have been dire. This current situation was preferable—letting his available ships wear down the enemy’s strength. He refused to believe one enemy vessel could shatter his entire fleet.

"Should I request reinforcements from headquarters?" the Chief of Staff whispered.

The commander shot him a sharp, controlled glance and stated firmly, "No. We can handle this."

The enemy only had one ship. Requesting aid now would certainly paint him as incompetent to his superiors. Asking for help was a greater admission of failure than losing a few ships.

The Mercury, like a tiger released from its cage, tore through five waves of enemy ships in just half an hour, destroying twenty-three vessels in total and tying up fifteen others with its mechs.

The Mercury itself suffered only minor damage in a few places, and all its mechs had now been deployed.

But the remaining Gean warships had finally consolidated, now charging toward the Mercury.

Zhong Yun took a deep breath. The most difficult phase had arrived. Annihilating this consolidated force of nineteen warships would require a substantial sacrifice; he might very well be destroyed here.

Faced with the immense bulk of nineteen ships arrayed against him, the Mercury did not retreat but advanced, adopting a suicidal posture.

The Gean commander was teetering on the brink of madness. Over half his fleet was gone, and the enemy still commanded only a single ship. He could already foresee his own demise. Not only would he lose his command, but if he failed to destroy the enemy, he would likely face a military tribunal. Thanks to his powerful family, his life might be spared, but his entire future would be ruined.

"Damn it, I refuse to believe you can wipe out my entire force!" the commander roared, his face contorted with rage. Those beneath him were struck silent. "Charge! Blast it into dust!"

The silver luminescence around the Mercury ignited once more. Once within range, hundreds of energy beams lashed out, forcing the silver-white barrier to warp violently.

In the main command center, the emergency alarm lights blazed red. Zhong Yun ignored the warning sirens, focusing intensely on the main screen where the shield energy level was plummeting rapidly.

"Five, four, three…" Zhong Yun counted silently. "Two, one. Enough." As he reached one, only a sliver of shield energy remained.

With a final thrum, the silver shield around the Mercury finally failed. A massive cheer erupted from the Gean flagship. The commander leaped up in ecstatic triumph, roaring, "Fire! Fire! Shred it to pieces! Hahaha! Without shields, let's see how you deal with me!"

Under the commander’s urging, the fleet's firing frequency increased dramatically. Dense energy beams rained down upon the Mercury like heavy hail.

The Mercury shuddered violently, alarms blaring louder and louder. Zhong Yun sat motionless at the command console.

The Gean commander jumped and shrieked as the Mercury was engulfed in fire, "Explode! Blow up for me!"

Just then, a reconnaissance officer sprang up. "Report! Unknown enemy vessel detected behind us, already within one thousand kilometers…"

Before he could finish, four symbols representing Gean warships vanished from the main screen.

"What?" The commander’s fury mixed with panic, and he slumped weakly into his seat, his face ashen white. Only one thought occupied his mind: It’s over.

The enemy appearing behind them threw the entire fleet into chaos. This exposed their critical vulnerability at the worst possible moment. The frigates closest to the rear quickly turned their arcs, preparing to engage the new threat.

This maneuver instantly disrupted the entire formation.

The pressure on the Mercury instantly eased by more than half. In that brief moment of distraction, the Mercury tore into the remaining Gean formation, closing to point-blank range—the nearest enemy vessel was less than one hundred kilometers away.

Zhong Yun shot to his feet and bellowed, "Full Salvo—FIRE!"

Every cannon on the Mercury, large and small, flared to life. The massive hull seemed to transform into a colossal porcupine, unleashing tens of thousands of energy beams in all directions indiscriminately.

A chain reaction of explosions erupted. The leading warships took the brunt of the blast. At such close range, even the less powerful secondary batteries became fatal weapons. Though the smaller cannons had limited individual power, their sheer quantity inflicted devastating damage.

This single volley instantly annihilated eight warships—all struck by secondary fire directly on critical systems. Five were heavily damaged, on the verge of exploding at any second; four sustained lesser, but crippling, damage, losing all maneuverability.

Only two, having suffered the least damage, retained any combat capability.

Zhong Yun narrowed his eyes and transmitted a message to Xiao Ling on the Mars.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!" one of the still-operational ships—the flagship—screamed. In the blink of an eye, nearly the entire fleet was neutralized. The commander, having lost everything, was now utterly insane.

He shrieked the order for the remaining ship to ram the Mercury.

The Mercury, flying purely on momentum, was defenseless. The intense battle had pushed its energy converters past overload, and the final, massive, all-cannon salvo had completely depleted its remaining reserves.

Now, unable to supply power, the Mercury couldn't even initiate a directional change.

As the largest enemy warship bore down on it, the Mercury was utterly incapable of evasion.