“An hour, or maybe two, and during this time, we can draw out all the forces intending to target us, and then wipe them out in one fell swoop,” Yang Ying said while communicating with Robin.

As soon as the news that the Trand Mercenary Group had bowed to Old Baro spread, turbulent undercurrents immediately surged beneath the calm surface of Grey Harbor. Intercepted communications revealed that the Four Great Syndicates were each holding internal meetings to analyze the current situation in Grey Harbor. They concluded that the Trand Mercenary Group was nearing its end and decided to wait for the pirates to attack, then coordinate an internal and external assault within the city, hoping to share in the spoils afterward.

Despite this, there was no communication between the Four Great Syndicates, likely due to fear of betrayal.

While the standoff was ongoing, Yang Ying had already brought his fleet to a position one hundred thousand kilometers outside Grey Harbor.

Grey Harbor was a transportation hub, and the surrounding five hundred thousand kilometers were almost entirely clear of obstructions. No asteroid fields could be found, making a stealthy approach from within one impossible. However, leveraging the vast vision provided by the Observers, this fleet successfully evaded all pirate radar detection, maneuvering into a blind spot in the radar network.

For this operation, Yang Ying had prepared one Valkyrie-class frigate as the flagship, supported by a staggering one hundred squadrons of Ghost fighters for the assault! This accounted for nearly the entire complement of Ghost fighters; only one squadron remained at the base for patrol duty.

In the bridge of the Valkyrie frigate flagship, Liffia sat in the captain's chair and asked Yang Ying, “Sir, with so many pirates present, will the Giant Mercenary Group still show up?”

“Of course, they will,” Yang Ying chuckled. “The Observers I sent to Rbelun have already spotted their fleet. They set off immediately upon hearing that Old Baro had arrived, clearly hoping to benefit from the fight between the clams. However, ever since we showed weakness, Grey Harbor has been seething with hidden tensions, and all the factions that were observing will now make their move. If they want to strike only after others have acted, how can they compete with so many people? If they don’t attack early, they won’t even get the soup, let alone the meat.”

Yang Ying knew the force he brought was sufficient to handle every contingency. Today was a day for reaping rewards and a day for a great slaughter—to eliminate every force with designs on Grey Harbor in one sweep!

Indeed, just over an hour after the display of weakness, the main body of the Giant Mercenary Group arrived on the outskirts of Grey Harbor. Isaac’s voice boomed over the public channel:

“Because the Trand Mercenary Group brutally killed Mr. Nannis, a loyal ally of the Giant Mercenary Group and my personal friend, during their destruction of Grey Harbor’s neutrality the day before yesterday, I hereby declare war on the Trand Mercenary Group on behalf of the Giant Mercenary Group!” Isaac announced with a resonant voice.

“Hmph, squabbling among yourselves within the mercenary ranks—Isaac, you’re truly getting more foolish with age!” Old Baro’s voice sounded over the public channel.

“Old Baro, I heard you barely escaped with your life recently. What, are you looking for a second round?” Isaac mocked in a threatening tone.

“Hmph, with just your paltry fleet? You’re not even fit to polish my boots!” Old Baro scoffed.

“Then come closer. Circumstances change. Today, I don’t hold your meager forces in any high regard,” Isaac replied coldly. This time, he had brought all three of the Giant Mercenary Group’s heavy cruisers, brimming with confidence. While their overall numbers were fewer than the entire pirate contingent, they held a distinct advantage in the quantity and quality of large warships over Old Baro’s cobbled-together Blood Skull Pirate Group, a motley crew boasting only one heavy cruiser and two light cruisers.

“Gentlemen, our target is Grey Harbor and the Trand Mercenary Group. Why waste time arguing amongst yourselves here? It only makes us a laughing stock,” a new voice interjected.

“Who!”

“Who!”

Isaac and Old Baro exclaimed simultaneously.

“You don’t even recognize me? It’s me, Shark Pirate,” the new voice declared triumphantly.

“Three-Eyes!”

“Three-Eyes!”

They both shouted again.

“My Shark Pirate Group also has grievances with the Trand Mercenary Group. They killed my men and blew up two of my destroyers back then. Today, I’ll settle the score with them!” Three-Eyes declared loudly.

The arrival of the Shark Pirate Group’s three light cruisers shifted the balance of power again, putting the pirates at an advantage. However, Old Baro realized he was losing control of the situation. With the arrival of the Giant Mercenary Group and the Shark Pirate Group, the Blood Skull Pirate Group no longer held an absolute majority among the forces surrounding Grey Harbor. Following this, the pirates Old Baro had previously forced away returned to the encirclement as the waters grew murky. Several new small and medium-sized pirate groups also rushed over upon hearing the news. Old Baro’s initial three stipulations had become meaningless.

On the mercenary side, after the appearance of the Giant Mercenary Group, two more large mercenary groups arrived, hoping to pick up scraps. They came from nearby space cities. Although the two groups combined only had two light cruisers and one heavy cruiser, when added to the Giant Mercenary Group’s own three heavy cruisers, the mercenary faction regained the advantage in the number of large warships.

Only then did Old Baro realize that the three hours he had promised were far too long, allowing so many large forces to appear and compete for the prize. If the Blood Skull Pirate Group had been at full strength, even if all these newcomers combined forces, they would have been no match for him. But now, any one of them was a major threat.

Old Baro desperately wanted to renege on his promise and launch the attack immediately, but he managed to restrain himself. The Energy Lock was not yet in hand; if he attacked rashly, once the Energy Lock was seized, it would inevitably become spoils to be divided among the crowd. It was better to wait the three hours until Robin handed over the Energy Lock, allowing him to seize it solely as his private property.

The public channel was filled with shouting, sarcasm, curses, insults to relatives, and all manner of unfriendly banter. The leaders of the various factions were not anxious, seemingly convinced of the three-hour general attack deadline. Before that time elapsed, they maintained a fragile equilibrium, with no one daring to strike first and risk being the scapegoat used by others.

As for the Trand Mercenary Group’s opinion, it had been completely forgotten. In their eyes, the Trand Mercenary Group was like a child walking through a den of bandits while clutching gold, completely helpless for them to manipulate. This mindset was rapidly approaching that of the initial disorganized rabble.

Listening to the cacophony erupting on the public channel, Yang Ying smiled faintly. “Excellent. Everyone has arrived.”

Time passed slowly amidst the waiting.

The three-hour deadline arrived, but Robin did not send out the Energy Lock. Within fifteen minutes, Old Baro contacted Robin repeatedly, severely reprimanding him for his slow movements and threatening to attack and seize it directly if the Energy Lock was not dispatched immediately.

However, Robin always returned the same excuse: internal disagreements prevented unification, asking Old Baro to wait a little longer.

Finally, after the third attempt, Old Baro erupted in fury, shouting over the comms, “Insolent fools! Wasting my time! Since you refuse a toast and insist on a forfeit, don’t blame me for losing my temper!”

After cutting the transmission, Old Baro immediately ordered the launch of the landing troops. Hundreds of landing craft, already prepared aboard their various warships, surged out from their hulls, heading towards Grey Harbor.

Simultaneously, the other major and minor factions also launched their attacks. In an instant, a dense swarm of landing craft rushed towards Grey Harbor!

“It’s finally starting,” Robin said in Grey Harbor, giving the order: “Activate the armor shield.”

Instantly, outside the transparent protective shield of Grey Harbor, a ring of claw-like steel walls rapidly materialized. Thick armor sections, narrower at the top and wider at the base, extended upwards along the shield, finally meeting seamlessly at the apex, resembling petals tightly wrapping a flower’s stamen. As a result, those inside Grey Harbor could no longer see what was happening outside the city.

In the Valkyrie fleet.

“Full jamming initiated!” Yang Ying commanded all Observers to disrupt communications across the entire battlefield and an area extending over a hundred thousand kilometers beyond it.

Yang Ying addressed the holographic projection of the battlefield. “Beginning now. Everything that happens here will remain unknown. The Ghost fighters, the true force against capital ships, will now reveal their might!”

Before the dense swarm of landing craft could even reach Grey Harbor, a volley of missiles suddenly shot out from the void, targeting the landing craft! These missiles were silver-gray, appearing incredibly mysterious in the faint sunlight. They appeared in pairs, attacking two landing craft simultaneously, totaling sixty pairs of missiles.

They struck their targets with extreme speed; the time from appearance to impact was less than a second, leaving the landing craft pilots no time to react. After all, their objective was Grey Harbor; how could they anticipate missiles launching from the empty void beside them? Even if some pilots noticed the silver-gray trajectories in the void, they could not immediately alter the landing craft’s course.

Consequently, in that single instant, one hundred and twenty landing craft exploded into fireballs, and over three thousand troops within them were reduced to cosmic dust.

“How is this possible?” Old Baro jumped up, crying out in shock.

“What just happened?” Isaac frowned, appearing confused.

“Could it be mines? Are the Trand Mercenary Group insane enough to deploy orbital mines around a transportation hub city?” Three-Eyes was stunned.

Because the event was so brief, most people failed to grasp the sequence of events, only noticing that a large number of landing craft exploded simultaneously, or that one hundred and twenty small radar signals abruptly vanished, leading to widespread suspicion.

The incidents were not over. Those five squadrons of Ghost fighters had already been positioned inside Grey Harbor’s docks, standing by. Having just taken off, cloaked, and deployed, they certainly wouldn't stop after just one barrage. Another one hundred and twenty missiles materialized from the void, targeting one hundred and twenty individual targets. The fire control systems of the Ghost fighters were highly advanced, allowing them to distribute fire in the most optimal way; since one missile could neutralize one landing craft, they wouldn't waste two on the same target.