"Sir?" Lilya turned, her gaze questioning Yang Ying. "You are the Captain; proceed as you see fit.

Do not concern yourself with me," Yang Ying reiterated, refusing to comment on tactics and placing full authority in Lilya's hands. "Rest assured, sir," Lilya promised Yang Ying before turning back to the observer.

"Calculate the time until contact." The observer typed several commands into the console, and the computer quickly yielded results, which she reported aloud: "We will encounter the enemy's first wave of fighters in thirty-eight minutes." "Understood. Listen to my orders next.

In thirty minutes, dispatch Ghost Fighter Squadrons One and Two to intercept the enemy's first wave. Neutralize them completely if possible, but scattering them is acceptable; they can flee if necessary, just ensure an immediate return upon mission completion.

Ignore their second wave." Lilya's goal remained minimizing conflict, thus focusing the attack on the initial wave of carrier-borne aircraft. Given the capabilities of the Ghost Fighters, engaging two targets simultaneously was well within their capacity.

If the pirates lacked the first wave to delay them, the second wave alone would never catch this small fleet. The reason for the thirty-minute launch delay was to increase the distance between the enemy's two waves, making it harder for the second wave to reinforce the first.

Furthermore, this spacing would facilitate easier mutual support between their own deployed Ghost Squadrons. The communications officer relayed the orders to the Ghost Fighter commanders.

Quentin was assigned to guard the base and did not deploy this time. After confirming that all Ghost Fighters had received their instructions, everyone spent the next half hour refining the plan while they waited.

The moment the time arrived, the two Ghost Fighter squadrons immediately broke formation and accelerated toward the incoming enemy. Qingniau reacted quickly.

Noticing the sudden departure of the majority of their escort fighters, she immediately suspected something was amiss and sent a contact request to Valkyrie. "Mr.

Yang, may I ask why those fighters departed? Is it related to the Shark Pirate Gang?" Qingniau's speech was rapid, tinged with anxiety.

"No need to worry. Just some minor turbulence we’ll resolve shortly," Yang Ying replied with a dismissive tone, genuinely unconcerned about the Ghost Fighters failing.

He had memorized the specifications of the pirates' common carrier-borne aircraft; they were vastly inferior to the Ghost Fighters, not to mention the Ghost Fighters possessed the ultimate advantage—stealth. On the other side, the dispatched Ghost Fighters split further.

Squadron One engaged stealth mode and moved ahead, while Squadron Two slightly reduced its speed. Soon, the stealthy Squadron One transmitted a signal indicating enemy contact.

Following the pre-arranged plan, the first squadron did not immediately attack but instead bypassed the enemy formation and shadowed them from behind. Half a minute later, bright spots indicating the presence of Squadron Two appeared on the pirates' radar.

Since this area was relatively sparse in asteroids, false positives were highly unlikely, making the radar readings extremely reliable. The leader of the fifty carrier-borne aircraft was a one-eyed man who could genuinely see with both sockets—one eye was functional, while the other socket housed an electronic replacement.

He licked his lips and shouted into the comms, "Boys, business is calling! Twelve enemy fighters ahead!

That’s an average of four against one—a great omen for our opening day!" A cacophony of roars erupted over the comms, all sharing a common element: intense, barely contained excitement. "Did you hear the sound of toasting?" the one-eyed man roared louder.

"We heard it!" the pirates bellowed in unison. "Did you see the beautiful ladies waving at us?" The one-eyed man’s voice scaled even higher.

"We saw them!" the pirates’ voices rose in response. "But this all costs money!

Where is our money?" The one-eyed man’s pitch rose so high that the last few syllables warped dramatically. But the pirates paid no mind; that very distortion ignited the fervor in their hearts.

"Up ahead! Our money is up ahead!" A rush of heat flooded the pirates' faces, as if banknotes were waiting there for the taking.

"Charge! Go destroy them..." The one-eyed man screamed with raw madness, dragging out the final syllable in a long, tearing sound.

BOOM!!! A continuous series of explosions ripped through the void.

A volley of missiles shot out from behind the pirate fighters, striking twenty-four of their craft simultaneously. Twenty-four balls of fire detonated in sequence, stunning the pirates.

(Although sound cannot travel in the vacuum of space, fighting without sound is dreadfully dull, so we shall treat this as an audible engagement.) The one-eyed man had yet to finish drawing out his final vowel when this catastrophe struck. It felt as if a heavy, blunt club had slammed into his skull, nearly choking the air from his lungs.

The missiles had been launched by the stealthy Ghost Fighter Squadron One. Under unified command, they had closed to point-blank range behind the pirates.

Each Ghost Fighter fired two missiles at the exact same moment, targeting two different pirate fighters. Furthermore, through coordinated allocation, no target was duplicated, resulting in all twenty-four targeted pirate craft being struck.

The moment the missiles were launched, the Ghost Fighters disengaged stealth mode to prevent revealing their cloaking capability. Thus, when some pirates frantically turned to locate their aggressors, they were astonished to see twelve other enemy fighters silently positioned behind them—they had no clue how they had arrived.

The on-field situation was now twenty-four against twenty-six; the disparity was no longer significant. The one-eyed man had narrowly survived, not having been selected for the first batch to be eliminated.

He regained his composure, swallowed hard, moistening his dry throat. He looked back to see a Ghost Fighter already locking onto him and immediately shouted into the comms, "Scatter!

The enemy is too close!" The pirate fighters immediately dispersed in all directions. At that moment, the Ghost Fighter Squadron Two also arrived, each selecting a target and beginning pursuit.

The one-eyed man executed complex rolls and sharp directional changes with practiced skill, trying to shake the Ghost Fighter following him. However, the Ghost Fighter pilots were natural aces; their flying techniques were ingrained in their very marrow, deployable without conscious thought, akin to pure reflex.

Ultimately, a Ghost Fighter locked onto the one-eyed man’s craft and fired a missile. The pirate deployed a swarm of decoys, but the missile ignored them, infuriating the one-eyed man.

He frantically slammed an emergency button, causing his fighter to split in half. The external rear engine detached, was destroyed by the missile, and the one-eyed man then reignited a reserve engine, resuming his frantic maneuvers.

The one-eyed man was certainly cunning, even deploying his detachable engine, but this measure would only prolong his existence by a short while.