Lu Shi proved that the asteroid belt wasn't uniformly riddled with the poisons of Dinis’s doctrine. Yang Ying dispatched four hundred machine gunners, arrayed in a perfect square formation before the gates of the Wildfire Mercenary Corps headquarters, with tanks lined up behind them. Several massive robots advanced to negotiate, and the Deputy Commander of the Wildfire Mercenary Corps quickly chose surrender.

This outcome was entirely within Yang Ying’s expectations. Of course, Dinis must have also anticipated this result, yet he still chose death—a death so utterly meaningless.

On the other side, Commander Xie’s mercenary group proved far easier to handle. Commander Xie himself had already taken a few trusted confidants and set off for Earth. If things went quickly, the transfer agreement could be finalized within thirty-six hours.

At this moment, Commander Xie had ordered his mercenaries to lock down their base, awaiting further news.

Yang Ying adopted the policy of annexation because he wished to avoid excessive bloodshed within the mercenary ranks. In the future, the Teran Mercenary Corps would need to use the existing mercenary structure as a foundation to rule Gray Harbor; therefore, cultivating a good reputation would be quite useful.

According to the calculations of the Censorate Department, Yang Ying planned to establish an external organization for the Teran Mercenary Corps within Gray Harbor. This had one distinct advantage: it would allow control over Gray Harbor with fewer troops, freeing up manpower for more critical areas. As the territory expanded later, this principle would only become more important—one could not afford to divide forces everywhere, lest one grow weaker with every engagement.

The newly established external organization was tentatively named the Gray Harbor Garrison. It would be centered around the former Gray Harbor Operations Office and would absorb ordinary Gray Harbor mercenaries to bolster its strength. However, the two existing medium-sized mercenary corps in Gray Harbor possessed their own established networks of contacts. Yang Ying needed to integrate these networks into the Gray Harbor Garrison, preventing the necessity of rebuilding them from scratch later. This approach would maximize the inheritance of the power base held by the original Gray Harbor mercenary faction.

It could be said that Yang Ying’s actions against Dinis and Commander Xie were primarily aimed at securing their respective contact networks. As for the soldiers under them, they were merely insignificant cannon fodder; combined, both factions couldn't stand against the original Gray Harbor Operations Office.

Conversely, Yang Ying showed no such leniency toward the pirates. Previously, Gray Harbor held about ten thousand true pirates. In the ensuing battle, over four thousand pirates were killed. The remainder either went into hiding or surrendered to the Teran Mercenary Corps forces. Yang Ying deployed ten squads of Phantom Agents and one hundred squads of machine gunners to maintain order throughout the city and to hunt down the hidden pirates.

On the other side of the city, a single Phantom Agent, leading a small squad of machine gunners, marched down the pirate district streets, escorting over a dozen prisoners dressed as pirates.

“I surrendered! Why must you still pursue total annihilation!” a pirate of medium height, his face sallow, shouted loudly.

The leading Phantom Agent replied coldly, “Don’t use terms like ‘total annihilation.’ What you sow is what you reap. You have committed too many crimes outside, accumulating numerous arrest warrants; you are all wanted men. We are merely collecting the bounties on your heads.”

“How can you treat those who surrendered like this? Better to exile me from Gray Harbor—I swear I will never return!” pleaded another, fatter pirate.

The Phantom Agent’s heart was like stone; he was unmoved. “You surrendered unconditionally, which means you forfeited the right to set terms. How you are handled is up to those above; you have no right to object.”

“Hmph, it’s only because you don't accept conditional surrender. Everyone who proposed terms was killed by you,” the sallow-faced pirate gritted out.

“Frankly, whether you surrendered or not made little difference to us. How long could you have held out against our firepower? Proposing surrender terms under those circumstances was simply inviting death, and it had nothing to do with anyone else,” the Phantom Agent stated mercilessly. “The only reason you are still alive is because you surrendered unconditionally. Think of those who died because they tried to negotiate or delayed their surrender. You should be grateful for your current situation.”

“What sophistry!” the sallow-faced pirate exclaimed loudly.

The Phantom Agent snorted, “Sophistry? I don’t think so. Delivered to the outside, you will at least receive a fair trial. There is no death penalty on Earth now. At the very least, you have survived.”

“While there’s no death penalty, the substitute sentence of permanent freezing isn’t much better. Rumor has it that if they aren’t awakened within two hundred years, the chance of revival drops below fifty percent!” the sallow-faced pirate muttered.

“Are you dissatisfied?” The Phantom Agent suddenly grabbed the sallow-faced pirate by the collar, drew his pistol, and pressed it to the man’s head. “Perhaps we should just treat this as if you never surrendered and I shoot you now to end all your troubles. How about that?”

“Calm down, everyone calm down.” A thin pirate quickly pulled the sallow-faced man back, pasting a fawning smile on his face, and asked the Phantom Agent, “Sir, regarding those among us who don't carry bounties on their heads, how will you be dealing with them?”

“Confiscate all their property and put them to hard labor to pay for their sins,” the Phantom Agent said, unafraid to share this information—it was no secret.

“Making pirates work? It’s already a miracle they aren’t causing trouble, this is laughable,” the sallow-faced pirate seemed determined to antagonize the Phantom Agent, forcing himself to speak again.

“Of course, making them work isn't easy. Therefore, we have employed certain measures to ensure they bring their full enthusiasm to the labor,” the Phantom Agent finished, letting out a long string of cold, chilling laughter. “Heh heh.”

The pirates shivered at the sound of the laugh.

The Phantom Agent looked left and right, pointed toward a row of people in the distance, and said, “There, look over there. You’ll understand when you see them.”

The captured pirates stopped and widened their eyes. They saw a line of men dressed almost identically to themselves, all in pirate garb; however, every single person in that line wore a thick collar around their neck. The inner ring of the collar was perfectly sized to grip the human neck, making removal impossible.

The fat pirate suddenly shouted, gesticulating wildly, “You devils! You even exploit pirates! Installing these remote-controlled, tamper-proof explosive collars around people’s necks—this is sheer…”

“You are pirates, and you lecture me on human rights?” The Phantom Agent slapped the back of his head, cutting him off, and sneered, “These collars are quite excellent; they have more than just remote control and anti-tampering functions. This model can also restrict a person’s range of movement. For example, we can confine a pirate to only remain within Sector Alpha. If he steps one foot outside Sector Alpha, the bomb detonates. The same applies to the adjacent Sector Beta. This prevents pirates in Sectors Alpha and Beta from secretly coordinating and hatching anti-resistance plans that would waste our energy.”

The sallow-faced pirate instinctively recoiled, touching his own neck after glancing at the collars, but feeling he had shown weakness, he stuck his head out again. “Hurry up and go! Don’t stop!” The Phantom Agent waved his hand, and the machine gunners urged them onward toward the docks.

In order to integrate Gray Harbor’s strength in the shortest possible time and prepare for any potential retaliation from the Pirate Confederacy, Yang Ying employed the simplest method: cutting the Gordian knot with a swift blade. For both mercenaries and pirates, it was a clean sweep—anyone standing in the way was instantly removed.

The key element in this ‘swift-blade’ strategy was ‘speed.’ If the blade wasn't fast enough, it wouldn't cut the knot; instead, it would become entangled.

Inside the Gray Harbor Operations Office building, Yang Ying received reports from various sectors. The mercenary and pirate factions were being pacified rapidly. Most small mercenary groups, upon seeing the strength of the Teran Mercenary Corps, offered no resistance to subjugation. They had always lived day-to-day, and having a powerful entity sheltering them was something they eagerly desired.

All resistance within the pirate faction was met with immediate, merciless execution. Along with this, they confiscated considerable private stashes belonging to the pirates. However, compared to Herman’s massive treasury, these pirate hoards were merely a drop in the ocean, hardly worth mentioning.

Robin returned carrying a document. “Commander, Gray Harbor’s Four Great Corporations have sent an invitation for a video conference, demanding an explanation for the events unfolding in Gray Harbor. How do you wish to respond, Commander?”

Yang Ying took the document, skimmed it quickly, and tossed it onto the desk. “The Five Great Corporations previously held considerable status in Gray Harbor, each maintaining over a thousand security personnel. Herman was the head of the Five, but I’ve removed him, leaving only four. We can ignore them for now. Once all the work is finished—once both the mercenary and pirate sectors are thoroughly cleaned out—you can conduct this tedious video conference on my behalf.”

Three of the four remaining corporations were neutral factions, showing no discernible bias toward either pirates or mercenaries, or their leanings were too faint to matter. The fourth leaned toward the mercenaries, maintaining particularly deep ties with Rubelen, and had often favored the Wildfire Mercenary Corps in business dealings.

Although the Four Great Corporations possessed some private forces, these were intended only for self-protection. They managed well enough when the mercenaries and pirates were in opposition, but now that the Teran Mercenary Corps stood dominant, poised to control all of Gray Harbor, their attempt to intervene now was far too late. With the meager forces they commanded, they would essentially be serving themselves up on a platter.

“Commander, there is one more matter,” Robin continued.

“Speak.”

“The assets seized from Herman’s villa have been fully inventoried. From a ledger found in his vault, we discovered an issue: the energy crystal valued at ten billion did not belong to Herman.” As he spoke, Robin held up an electronic ledger for comparison.

“If it wasn't Herman's, whose was it?” Yang Ying inquired. Regardless of ownership, it was now in the possession of the Teran Mercenary Corps, and there was no thought of returning it.

Robin replied, “Old Barrow! Although the Blood Skull Pirate Fleet suffered devastating damage, Old Barrow had hidden his accumulated wealth throughout various sectors of the asteroid belt. Clearly, Herman’s vault was one of his secret treasuries.”

“Barrow again. It seems he truly refuses to stay buried,” Yang Ying murmured slowly.

Summon the votes!