Heras's Pirate Coalition Fleet swept through the asteroid belt like a wolf among sheep. Their lightning advance caught many factions completely off guard, and for a time, no one could halt their assault.

Panic spread throughout the entire belt. Most space cities ignited their engines and fled, racing toward the inner solar system for refuge. Hundreds more sought sanctuary around Ceres, the last remaining base, hoping for protection under the Thirteenth Fleet.

As the first of the beleaguered space cities—those belonging to the Caesar Mercenary Corps—arrived near Ceres, the Earth military issued a curt declaration, announcing that any space city within a 300,000-kilometer radius of Ceres would receive the protection of the Thirteenth Fleet.

After ten days of Heras’s relentless slaughter, no lone space city remained unassailed.

The Pirate Coalition Fleet could no longer achieve the easy territorial gains of the previous days; every target they could attack had already been breached.

The four space cities under the Tran Mercenary Corps—Greyport, Rubelen, and Hamer Xiaonaifu—also arrived near Ceres, joining the nearly one hundred other cities arranged within the designated 300,000-kilometer sphere of airspace.

However, the base itself had not moved with the space cities. Instead, it had relocated deep within an asteroid field, concealing itself entirely.

Back at the base, the installation of various infrastructural components was complete. To mobilize the facility, fifty massive thrusters had been engaged. While they couldn't make the base fly faster than a warship, they certainly propelled it at a far greater velocity than any space city.

The entire relocation process had taken a full three days. This was because Greyport, serving as a major transit hub, lacked any substantial nearby asteroid clusters, necessitating a long journey to find a suitable new location.

It was crucial to remember that stray asteroids frequently careened through these fields, and with thousands of established flight paths around Greyport, a single collision could spell total devastation. An aircraft hitting a bird on Earth can cause a catastrophic crash; spaceships, traveling hundreds of times faster than aircraft, would suffer unimaginable damage from impacting an asteroid, which possesses infinitely greater density.

In the command center, Yang Ying, clad in a white clerical robe, and Fontelina, in a white dress, stood side-by-side by the viewport, observing the endless, swirling masses of grey-brown meteoroids outside.

Their rotation had never ceased over eons measured in billions of years, as the vacuum of space offered no resistance to halt their motion. This ocean of rock, set against the backdrop of the stars, was a stark contrast to the boundless star fields they had viewed previously.

"Sir, Kalia's voice sounded from behind them.

"Any new intelligence?" Yang Ying pulled his gaze away from the stone sea and turned around.

"The observers we dispatched have located the Pirate Coalition Fleet. To avoid detection, they are trailing the fleet at a distance of one hundred thousand kilometers. Even if Heras is a Peak Master, he would never sense mechanical equipment monitoring him from one hundred thousand kilometers—that’s one hundred million meters," Kalia said with a slight smile.

Kalia’s face looked drawn, and dark circles under his eyes betrayed several sleepless nights. For a Ghost Agent to appear so exhausted meant the task he had undertaken was exceptionally difficult and intricate.

"They've found them? Where are they?" Yang Ying instantly felt a surge of relief. The strength of Heras's surprise attack lay entirely in its stealth. Once their fleet's location was known, the initiative would shift, granting them complete freedom of movement and response.

"They are in the Island Reach Star Sector, twenty-nine hours away from Ceres, and they are heading directly toward the Ceres base," Kalia replied, his voice steady and strong despite his apparent fatigue.

Yang Ying frowned. "Why would the Pirate Coalition Fleet head to Ceres? Besides the Thirteenth Fleet, over a hundred space cities have gathered there—fifty or sixty major mercenary groups, and countless smaller ones. The combined strength of that fleet contingent easily surpasses the Pirate Coalition Fleet by fourfold. Moreover, Master Merlin from the Psychic Temple has already arrived at Ceres."

Randolph had recently delivered the news to Yang Ying: to counter the pressure from Heras, the Psychic Temple had dispatched a Peak Master named Merlin to Ceres to take overall command of all operations against the pirates. Yang Ying recalled reading about Master Merlin in several historical accounts; the man had been renowned a century ago, having rendered significant meritorious service during the wars against the Ancient Legions.

Yang Ying pondered the situation but could not grasp Heras’s motive. He instructed Kalia, "Keep monitoring them. Once you have a firm tail, do not lose it. Send eleven more observers to form a full squadron; prepare in case they decide to split their forces."

Kalia nodded. "They have already been sent. They cover all possible vectors and directions from every angle."

Katerina offered a slight smile, followed by a sigh. "That is good. Now I can sleep soundly without worrying that we will wake up to find the Pirate Coalition Fleet suddenly upon us. What happened in those cities the pirates attacked... it was too dreadful," she said, her tone growing heavy, her voice seemingly saturated with sorrow.

"Don't dwell on it, or you'll start crying again," Yang Ying said, taking Katerina’s hand and gently consoling her. "Those scum will face retribution. If no one else deals it out, we will."

A few days prior, the military had issued a mission to mercenaries: enter the vacuum cities sacked by the pirates to investigate how the attacks succeeded and to search for survivors. Yang Ying had also dispatched a squadron of Ghost Agents into several space cities to investigate, retrieving video data.

The cities were filled with the dead—men, women, and children. Since there was no air, their bodies had not decomposed; their facial expressions remained frozen in the moment of death, etched with terror and grief. In a vacuum, without external pressure, any wound would cause the body's internal pressure to violently expel all blood through the injury. The result was a grotesque, rarely seen spectacle: countless floating corpses and spheres of blood suspended in the air. Many nude female corpses, drained of blood, had turned stark white, drifting like spectral women—a truly chilling sight.

As time passed, some survivors were located, hidden in basements, bunkers, or other shielded facilities, kept alive by standard environmental suits. However, these survivors rarely showed vitality in their eyes; they were dull, almost mindless, obeying commands mechanically after being rescued, like the living dead.

"Now, when I close my eyes, I see that hellish landscape. Those pirates deserve death for aiding the Apes in slaughtering their own kind!" Katerina sobbed.

"Believe me, they will die. I guarantee it," Yang Ying said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, then leaning close to her ear. "And I have a feeling that opportunity will come very soon."

"I trust the Commander's intuition," Katerina whispered.

"The pirates at the lower ranks may not even know they are serving the Apes. Intelligence suggests the direct controllers of the major pirate fleets are the Emissaries of the Apes," Kalia interjected.

"That still isn't an excuse for pirates to be so cruel to their own kind!" Katerina retorted.

Yang Ying glanced at Kalia, seemingly looking for an explanation.

"They certainly have no justification for such an atrocious crime. If and when we capture any pirates, I want to personally execute them, shooting them one by one with Gauss pistols until I can no longer lift my arm," Kalia stated immediately, making his position clear. He did not want Yang Ying to mistake him for someone sympathetic to the pirates; his own hatred for them was second to none.

"That would be an enormous undertaking," Yang Ying laughed. "For you to shoot until you can no longer lift your arm, the result would likely be a river of blood."

"Letting them bleed rather than innocent people is the better outcome," Kalia asserted.

"You are right," Yang Ying nodded. "If there is nothing else, you may retire now. Get some proper rest; you look utterly exhausted."

"Yes, Commander." Kalia nodded and left the command center.

Yang Ying returned to the viewport, gazing at the star-strewn void and the endless sea of rock, remaining silent for a long time. Countless stones continued their ceaseless rotation, seemingly unaffected by the brutal war being waged between humans and Apes.

Katerina waited a moment, seeing Yang Ying remain quiet, and asked softly, "Commander, are you troubled by something?"

Yang Ying shook his head. "Nothing worth fretting over. The problems we face now, though difficult, will eventually yield to time. It is only a matter of when. I only wish time would move a bit faster."

"If time moves faster, the Drifting Continent can develop to a higher level," Katerina surmised, guessing Yang Ying's true concern.

Yang Ying nodded, then stamped his foot lightly. A window ledge rose from the floor. Yang Ying leaned his hands on it. "Peak Masters are truly formidable. But according to Boketana and Glimomren's calculations, even someone at Heras's level is only around one million units of psychic intensity. If I break through the Master bottleneck, I could contend with Heras, especially with a million Zerg assisting me."

"However, all of this requires time. Given enough time, I can defeat Heras. With even more time, even Boketana and Glimomren might be able to surpass him!"

It should be mentioned that Yang Ying had currently reached the level of a Mid-Tier Psionicist.

Katerina sighed, walked to Yang Ying's side, and placed her hands on the sill as well. "Then we shall wait, Commander. Let the Tran Mercenary Corps remain peaceful until the day you can stand equal against Heras."

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