With the restoration of communications in and around Ash Port, the news of the Ash Port Ambush Battle swept through every corner of the Asteroid Belt, causing such a tremendous stir that even the Inner Solar System took notice.

Of the ten famous pirate fleets in the Asteroid Belt, only eight remained.

The news of the complete annihilation of the Blood Skull Pirates and the Shark Pirates left countless people distraught, unable to sleep for nights.

The ten great pirate fleets were renowned and radiated a palpable aura of menace. Ever since Pirate King Nabu established the Twelve Cities Tribute Act, these ten favored fleets had become the trendsetters of the Asteroid Belt, representing the strongest power within the pirate faction.

Since then, there had never been an instance where two major pirate fleets were simultaneously wiped out, with no survivors left.

The major cities within the Asteroid Belt were deeply astonished by the outcome of this battle.

This was because pirates had always been the group most adept at escape; if they intended to flee, few could stop them.

Previously, when the combined forces of the Somali and Shapo Lang pirate groups ambushed the Blood Skull Pirates’ fleet, despite holding an absolute advantage, they still allowed Old Barrows and some warships to escape, failing to achieve total annihilation.

Yet, this relatively unknown Tran Mercenary Group managed to accomplish such a feat, and in the process, they took down the Shark Pirates, along with three other large mercenary groups, a host of medium and small mercenary groups, and pirate fleets.

The combined fleets of these large, medium, and small forces slightly surpassed the strength of the Blood Skull Pirates at their peak!

Many people in their hearts posed the same question: Could the ambush capability of the Tran Mercenary Group exceed the combined capabilities of the Somali and Shapo Lang joint fleet?

To this end, all available data regarding the Tran Mercenary Group was dug up—such as their elimination of an ancient Legion Triceratops-class destroyer, their alliance with Kussen and Lehai, and the ins and outs of their feud with Herman.

However, these records showed no indication that the Tran Mercenary Group possessed the capability to achieve such a monumental feat.

Numerous factions dispatched scouts to Ash Port, eager to investigate the entire process of the battle to understand the reason behind the Tran Mercenary Group's victory.

To their disappointment, these scouts probed Ash Port for a long time, but the information they gleaned was pitifully scarce.

During the battle, Ash Port’s external armor remained completely sealed; nothing could be seen from the interior. Coupled with communication failure, those inside the port became deaf and blind throughout the fight, knowing nothing of the space battle outside, except for some details concerning the ground combat within the city itself.

The battlefield outside the space city had already been utterly devastated. The black boxes of the warships and fighters were all destroyed, making any discernible traces impossible to identify. Robin had sold their wreckage to the Waste Merchant Association.

Because various conflicts frequently occurred in the Asteroid Belt, damaged warships and fighters easily clogged the shipping lanes, leading to all sorts of safety hazards. To prevent these accidents, and to make rational use of the armor plating, parts, and rare metals still viable in the wreckage of these vessels, the specialized Merchant Association for recycling space junk had been established.

The Waste Merchant Association acted swiftly, deploying dozens of sweeping vessels. In just three days, they cleared the shipping lanes outside Ash Port, towing away all the space debris.

The scouts who arrived late didn't even catch sight of this useless warship wreckage.

Nevertheless, the major factions managed to deduce something from the limited intelligence they received.

It was clear that the Tran Mercenary Group possessed superior technology. Every single soldier was clad in power armor, and their combat skills were exceptional, rivaling the most elite special forces of the military. Furthermore, they must possess a formidable fleet, which included at least one large warship equipped with an advanced jamming system.

This was enough to force everyone to reassess the strength of the Tran Mercenary Group.

No one doubted whether the Tran Mercenary Group could hold Ash Port anymore; it would be strange if such a powerful mercenary group shared its base with others.

In the days following the battle, Yang Ying dispatched three more detachments, targeting three other space cities. One was Rubeiren, the stronghold of the Giant Mercenary Group; the other two cities, Hamer and Naef, were also industrial hubs, though far weaker than Rubeiren. The mercenary groups in these two cities had also sent fleets to join the encirclement of Ash Port and were annihilated.

Some ground forces remained in the three space cities, and not all high-ranking officials perished in the space battle outside Ash Port; some foundation of leadership still existed.

However, the reactions of these surviving high-ranking officials to the stationing of the Tran Mercenary Group varied. Some advocated for fighting to the bitter end to avenge their fallen comrades, while others believed the Tran Mercenary Group was at the zenith of its power, and resistance was simply a path to destruction; only surrender offered a way to survive.

The friction between the Resistance Faction, the Surrender Faction, and some neutral parties who remained silent intensified before the three detachments could even land in the three cities.

Kalia’s subordinates detected this situation. Li Xuan devised a countermeasure: before the three detachments landed, they liberally distributed money to buy off the high-ranking figures in the Surrender and Neutral Factions within the three mercenary groups, significantly bolstering the voice of the Surrender Faction.

With the backing of overwhelming military force, the power of money was greatly enhanced, leading the vast majority to make their decision.

Yang Ying and Kalia both understood clearly that guns and cannons could not solve everything; sometimes, the power of money surpassed that of firepower, capable of resolving issues that weapons could not.

However, the Resistance Faction still held considerable influence, especially in Rubeiren, where Isaac’s prestige was unrivaled. The Surrender and Neutral factions combined could not stand against them.

Therefore, the detachment Yang Ying sent to Rubeiren was the strongest of the three.

Upon arriving at Rubeiren, this detachment, aided by the receiving Surrender Faction, seized the port and immediately engaged the ground forces of Rubeiren. The remaining members of the Resistance Faction were all staunch supporters of Isaac. Upon receiving news of Isaac’s death, they became soldiers fueled by grief.

Every street, every building became a barricade against the Rubeiren detachment.

They resorted to suicide bombing attacks to strike at the Rubeiren detachment.

Under this frenzied assault, the Rubeiren detachment suffered considerable casualties. Had it not been for the medical personnel following the troops to provide treatment, a significant number of soldiers would have been unable to return to base.

Fortunately, the fierce fighting within Rubeiren city subsided after only two days. This was because all the high-ranking figures of the Resistance Faction were assassinated by Ghost Agents. The Resistance Faction was left leaderless, allowing the Rubeiren detachment to exploit the chaos and defeat them one by one.

Then, the industrial city of Rubeiren fell into Yang Ying’s hands.

As for the other two cities, Hamer and Naef, their mercenary group leaders had all died outside Ash Port. Moreover, the cohesion of these two mercenary groups was far inferior to that of the Giant Mercenary Group, and the influence of the two deceased leaders was vastly inferior to Isaac’s.

Under the "Silver Bullet Offensive," the surrender faction in both cities gained the upper hand, even seizing the power of the resistance faction before the two detachments landed. The two detachments occupied the cities easily, suffering no casualties.

As for Yang Ying, after handing over the work of occupying the cities to his subordinates, he had nothing more to do. He traveled to the Floating Continent and plunged headlong into cultivation, putting all external matters out of his mind, confident that the General Staff and Kalia would handle everything.

At this time, with the continuous proliferation of the Zerg, Yang Ying’s psychic power was growing substantially every day. He needed to familiarize himself with this growth, as even a slight excess or deficit of strength during combat could result in a devastating outcome.

Just a few days after the great battle, Yang Ying’s psychic power broke through the barrier of four thousand daxiao, just one thousand shy of the realm of a Lower-Grade Psionicist.

With deeper psychic power, some simple spells came naturally. Conjuring a burst of flame or frost, or an air cannon, was now as effortless as breathing for Yang Ying.

He had not deliberately practiced these minor spells. However, under the impetus of robust psychic power, a few trials were enough for him to master them.

Currently, the power of the Psychic Storm Yang Ying unleashed was nearly on par with that of a Templar Warrior, and he could conjure two illusions simultaneously.

However, Yang Ying was not satisfied. He was only able to manifest these spells by possessing psychic power double that of a Templar Warrior; there was still room for improvement.

He had inquired with a Templar Warrior and learned that when a Templar Warrior reached Yang Ying's level of cultivation, they could completely double the power of a Psychic Storm and cast four illusions at once.

Of course, this output could be modulated. If one felt that casting four illusions simultaneously was too wasteful, they could use half their mental energy to conjure two illusions. The Psychic Storm was similar; within the user’s capacity, they could freely determine the power and range.

As for why Yang Ying could not exert the full potential of two spells, the Templar Warrior explained it was due to insufficient focus.

This greatly astonished Yang Ying regarding the Templar Warriors' capacity for focus.

In fact, he had never slackened in his practice of concentration. The three-by-three cube practice was no longer providing him any further progress; he could effortlessly lift a scrambled cube with his psychic power, instantly calculate the fastest way to restore it in his mind, and then solve it in a few swift motions.

Now, Yang Ying was practicing with a four-by-four cube. Each face had sixteen smaller cubes, and the difficulty increased geometrically.

This level of focus practice was already at the standard for a Psionicist. It meant that although Yang Ying currently possessed only Apprentice-level psychic strength, his concentration ability had already graduated from the Apprentice level.

With his current level of focus, Yang Ying could now cultivate psychic power through shallow meditation. While this was inferior to the deep meditation practiced by Masters, it was far more effective than his previous method of exhausting his psychic energy through fatigue-based training.

This cultivation method was not mentioned in the Psychic Power Tomes, clearly because the Psionic Temple did not want these techniques to leak. However, this method was recorded in the book Knowledge of Psychic Power, making it perfectly suited for him.

Yang Ying remained in seclusion on the Floating Continent for a week before returning to the real world.

The Mercenary Alliance had finally reacted to the Ash Port Battle. They dispatched an official to Ash Port, inviting Yang Ying to Vorel, the location of the Mercenary Alliance headquarters, to discuss the matter of upgrading the Tran Mercenary Group to a Large-Scale Mercenary Group.