Both sides held an unyielding fighting will. It must be said that the Pirate King truly was... a terror, capable of inspiring such fear that it fostered a last-stand mentality in Chancang.

Yang Ying was currently in the main control center of the Kussen Brigade Base, watching the real-time images transmitted by the Allied Fleet. This was a rare opportunity to witness the command artistry of other mercenary groups, an opportunity Yang Ying certainly would not decline.

Seated beside him were Mayor Kussen and Christina. Neither of the latter were combat personnel, so they remained behind. They were anxiously scrutinizing the battlefield video, analyzing the progress of the battle based on the unfolding situation.

Lehai’s bald man sat expressionless in a corner, guarded by two Kussen Brigade soldiers. Although his appearance was somewhat haggard, sporting dark circles under his eyes, there were no signs that he had been mistreated. His presence here was the result of a deal struck with Mayor Kussen: Lehai would join the Kussen faction to jointly oppose Boss, but the Lehai fleet had to be commanded by Lehai himself.

The bald man refused vehemently to relinquish command of his fleet because he knew that without it, his value would diminish to nothing, leaving his life and death entirely in the hands of others.

Far away, outside Boss City, the Allied Fleet had already engaged Boss. Both sides committed their full strength. Beams of light streaked across the pitch-black expanse of space, painting the entire star sector in vibrant, shifting colors. Every spark represented the explosion of a fighter craft; every fireball marked the sinking of a warship.

Judging by the deployment of the warships, Kussen was clearly using Lehai's fleet as cannon fodder. They positioned themselves behind the Lehai forces, leaving all the high-visibility, enemy-attractive spots to Lehai.

Around the periphery of the battle, over a dozen small warships were scattered in various directions—spies sent by the major powers to observe the engagement. The outcome of this battle would determine which faction would be pushed into the pirate alliance.

Shortly after the fighting began, Lehai suffered heavy losses: two destroyers and four or five frigates were sunk, with over ten medium and small warships sustaining damage.

More than a thousand fighters from the three factions were locked in a deadly entanglement around the capital ships, making it impossible to distinguish friend from foe. In the fierce combat, losses mounted rapidly; soon, half the fighters were obliterated, dissolving into cosmic dust.

After about an hour of intense fighting, over a hundred small craft suddenly launched from the Boss fleet, charging toward the Allied Fleet with terrifying momentum.

“Damn, those are boarding pods!” the bald man exclaimed, recognizing them instantly. It was clear that these pods were filled with suicide troops; Boss was throwing everything he had into destroying the Allied Fleet.

At this moment, the fighter craft of both sides were tightly locked together. A dozen Allied fighters abandoned their current targets to intercept the boarding pods. However, the Boss fighters they had been pursuing immediately wheeled around, latching onto their tails and refusing to let them pass to the interdiction line.

As the pods drew nearer to the Allied Fleet, the warships opened fire with their secondary batteries. Though the pods were fast, they were struck repeatedly by the concentrated fire and exploded into fragments. Still, about twenty managed to latch onto the capital ships.

Their targets were exclusively medium-sized warships and larger; they disdained the smaller vessels. Lehai’s light cruiser, the Lehai, was one of their primary objectives; at least three boarding pods adhered to it like aquatic frogs.

In the main control center, five or six communications officers were closely monitoring the exchanges between the Allied Fleet. Suddenly, one officer shouted, “Report! Lehai reports that the Polson Guard has boarded their vessel!”

“What! The Polson Guard?” Mayor Kussen’s mind flashed an image of elite special forces clad in black powered armor, possessing superhuman agility.

“Tell them to hold on, lock down all internal routes! Even if they have to stall, drag it out until the battle ends. Do not let the Polson Guard seize the Lehai before the fighting is over!” Mayor Kussen commanded the bald man in a firm tone.

The bald man frowned and shot him a look, clearly dissatisfied with the issuance of orders, but he had no choice. He gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement.

A communications officer handed him a microphone while Kussen’s soldiers drew their weapons and pressed them against his back.

“At a time like this, are such measures truly necessary?” the bald man asked coldly.

“Absolutely. The more critical the moment, the more caution is needed. Relay the order to the Lehai now!” Mayor Kussen snapped.

The bald man sighed and repeated the command into the microphone.

A little while later, the Lehai reported back that the Polson Guard’s assault capability was too strong; they were melting through the alloy doors and could not be stopped.

Mayor Kussen frowned, glancing toward Yang Ying, hoping to see what countermeasures he might suggest.

But Yang Ying shook his head; he had no solution either. The disparity in combat power was too great; they could neither block the attack nor overpower the enemy. Besides throwing away lives, there was no other way.

Mayor Kussen frowned again and turned to the bald man. “Order them to use every heavy weapon they can find... against the Polson Guard. Never mind personnel losses or internal ship damage...”

“You!” The bald man shot up from his seat, his face flushed scarlet with pure rage.

“Sit down,” the Kussen soldier behind him roughly shoved him back into his chair.

“Hmph, the crew of the Lehai might not obey such reckless orders!” the bald man snarled through clenched teeth.

“Issue the order, or you will,” Mayor Kussen stated, unwavering.

Colonel Tu Tou let out a cold snort but still picked up the microphone and transmitted the command. After all, his life rested in Mayor Kussen’s hands, leaving him no way to resist.

Christina clenched her fists. Though she disliked the situation, she saw no better alternative and maintained her silence.

Just then, a sudden cheer erupted in the main control center. A brilliant flash of light erupted on the screen: Boss’s newly acquired, aging light cruiser had suffered a catastrophic explosion!

“Yes! Excellent! Haha!” Mayor Kussen was overjoyed, feeling suddenly lighter, almost euphoric.

At that moment, a voice sounded in Yang Ying’s ear: “Sir, I have a situation.”

Yang Ying coughed once to acknowledge hearing it and allowed Randall to continue. Randall had accompanied him to Kussen but had remained sequestered in the hotel. Yang Ying had tasked him with monitoring intelligence from the observers.

“Boss’s observers have detected a large fleet lurking two hundred thousand kilometers away from the engagement zone,” Randall reported. Randall was not present; his voice came through a micro-earpiece that Yang Ying wore in his right ear. Thanks to stealth technology, there was no fear of discovery.

“How many ships in the fleet?” In this highly advanced technological society, Yang Ying had myriad ways to communicate unnoticed. He had affixed an invisible sound dampener to his neck, which he activated telepathically. As he spoke, it emitted inverse sound waves to neutralize his voice, ensuring no one else could hear it. Yang Ying merely needed to cover his mouth with his hand to mask his lips. In the tense atmosphere of the control center, few people paid attention to anything outside the main screen.

“The fleet consists of three heavy cruisers and thirty destroyers. Externally, they appear to be standard Earth Alliance main battle ships. The heavy cruisers are armed with six Level-Five rapid-fire cannons, and the secondary armament distribution is highly optimized—far more mature and advanced than the mainstream equipment in the Asteroid Belt!” Randall stated gravely.

“A fleet composed of main battle ships appearing here?” Yang Ying was astonished. While main battle ships existed in the Asteroid Belt, they were rare.

“Sir, according to intelligence, only the three super-mercenary groups, the two super-pirate groups, and the Ninth Fleet formerly stationed here have access to military main battle ships. The Ninth Fleet is currently orbiting Saturn, and the observation vessels from the Caesar, Gezi Army, and Nine Dragons mercenary groups are already positioned outside the battlefield; they wouldn’t send an entire fleet to duplicate efforts. However, the Caribbean and Somali pirate fleets are possibilities, as the battle involving Boss affects the new distribution of interests within the pirate alliance. Yet, neither of those two groups has a presence among the external observers.”

Randall could see the images returned by the observers, giving him more information than Yang Ying possessed. The screens in the control center couldn't pick up vessels tens of thousands of kilometers away.

“Ignore them for now, continue observing. If that main fleet intended harm to the Three-City Fleet, they would have acted already. With their power, a single synchronized volley could wipe out the entire Three-City Fleet. But they haven’t, suggesting a different purpose for their presence. Besides, we can do nothing about it. A few Valkyrie frigates sent over wouldn't even absorb one full broadside from their main cannons, and the distance is too great—even if they left now, they wouldn't arrive until tomorrow evening.”

Yang Ying shook his head slightly. Until the battlecruisers were built, the Tran Mercenary Group could not participate in top-tier contests.

Meanwhile, on the control center screens, after losing one light cruiser, the Boss fleet saw several medium destroyers consecutively sunk. The Boss fighter wing, disadvantaged in numbers, began to collapse due to a lack of reinforcement, and the wind of victory suddenly seemed to blow in favor of the Allied Fleet.

Most people in the control center relaxed, except for the bald man.

Lehai remained the primary target for both the Boss fleet and the Boss city defense cannons. Almost every few seconds, a Level-Three Uranium beam struck one of the Lehai fleet’s ships, causing the bald man to twitch; these were his assets, the guarantee of his livelihood.

To make matters worse, the Lehai sent a communication stating that the Polson Guard had broken through to the corridor outside the bridge. Casualties were heavy, and they could no longer hold them off.

In a matter of mere breaths, contact with the Lehai was lost.

Then, the light cruiser disengaged from the formation and began heading toward the Boss faction.