Even though the asteroid belt had been thoroughly messed up by Huras, Pirate King Nabbu was still no figure to be dismissed, even if he was in the hands of the Zongcangjing sect of the pirate faction.

If the Caribbean Pirates had just handed over the data on Paradise City without any reason, no one would believe it if they said there was no hidden agenda behind it.

Randolph’s first reaction was naturally disbelief. Li Xuan asked, “How did Nabbu get hold of you?”

“How should I know? Perhaps because our cooperation during the last operation at Gato went rather well,” Yang Ying shrugged.

Randolph certainly didn't believe things were that simple. He ran a hand through his hair, pondered for a long time without grasping any clue, and then, seeing Yang Ying looking completely unconcerned, raised his voice. “Hmph, you claimed your subordinates found this information. You must have enjoyed watching this old man make a fool of himself, didn't you?”

Yang Ying immediately shook his head in denial. “I never said that. You’re just jumping to conclusions.”

“Jumping to conclusions?” Randolph snorted twice, waved his hand, and conceded. “Forget it. I owe you one this time. I won't deny that even though this information was easy to obtain, I won’t fail to acknowledge your help in digging it up.”

“I never thought Uncle wasn't one to keep his word,” Yang Ying said with a smile.

Although there was no immediate need for Randolph’s help, keeping this favor stored away could prove useful for unforeseen circumstances later.

“That’s right,” Randolph said, hands folded across his chest. From his expression, obtaining the intelligence in just one night had clearly surprised and pleased him, and Yang Ying’s earlier little display hadn't registered deeply in his mind.

Yang Ying thought for a moment, then asked, “Uncle Randolph, now that you have this intelligence, will your military send a team to Sin City to carry out a rescue?”

Randolph shook his head. “We can barely spare enough personnel as it is, and Huras and Yego are still missing. What if they’re hiding in Sin City? If we send too few people, we’ll just be easy pickings.”

“Since you aren't sending anyone, why do you need the intelligence on Sin City?” Yang Ying asked, a little curious.

“To give it to the families of the victims who are causing a fuss, of course. And then to point them in the right direction,” Randolph chuckled. “While our military doesn't have the spare manpower, you people do. Just have them issue a bounty through Worrell—hire mercenary groups to go into Sin City and rescue the hostages. Problem solved.”

The major mercenary corps within the Mercenary Alliance had been relentlessly chasing the scattered pirates, leaving them nowhere to run. However, there weren't that many pirates to begin with, and even if all of them were found, it wouldn't be enough to satisfy the mercenaries. Furthermore, the pirates were hiding deeper and deeper lately. Capturing them was becoming harder, and the rate of return for hunting pirates was plummeting.

Therefore, many mercenaries would likely welcome the opening of a new source of income.

Yang Ying understood Randolph’s thinking: sending mercenaries instead of the army to Sin City served two purposes: first, to test whether Huras was there; and second, if Huras wasn't there, they could rescue the kidnapped individuals in passing.

It was true that great rewards attract brave men. Mercenaries were individuals willing to risk their lives for money; trading high risk for high reward was their very definition. Even if they knew Huras might be waiting in Sin City, as long as the client offered a high enough reward, they would get enough mercenaries to respond. After all, some always clung to the hope that Huras might not actually be in Sin City.

Of course, to make the mercenaries overlook the danger posed by Huras, an enormous commission was required, and the families of those trapped in Sin City were certainly not short on funds.

Two days later, Yang Ying received news that a group of wealthy individuals had arrived in Worrell and posted a mission in the Mercenary Alliance with an incredibly high total value: to hire a substantial number of mercenaries to go to Sin City for the rescue.

For the mercenaries, Sin City was already a mysterious and alluring place, and on top of that, the compensation set by those wealthy clients was so high that it was enough to make them gamble with the risk of death.

The fleets of more than ten large mercenary corps converged, heading toward the coordinates of Paradise City provided by the clients. The Blades of Gray Port also dispatched a small team composed of peripheral members to join this large contingent, observing the entire operation.

Two days later, the fleet located the Sin City, nestled deep within the asteroid field, with surprising ease. The city had not utilized backup cloaking routes or other concealment measures, as the mercenaries had expected.

Because there was simply no need.

Paradise City was nothing but ruins. Just like the cities Huras had previously breached, not a shred of atmosphere remained in this city, famous throughout the asteroid belt.

The city’s protective shield appeared to have been ripped open by a massive hand, leaving a gaping hole hundreds of meters in diameter at the top layer. The external armor had not even engaged; the entire city’s air had been sucked out into the vacuum of space through that single breach.

Traces of raging fire were everywhere in Paradise City. The walls were blackened by soot, obscuring any original bright colors. Molten iron coated the ground, cooling into a murky, metallic carpet spread out irregularly. Charred corpses floated in the air, their faces indistinct; to the naked eye, it was impossible to tell their gender. Even for mercenaries, who treated entering battlefields as casually as eating a meal, the devastation of this city would inspire nightmares for days.

After a thorough search, the mercenaries could not confirm whether the incinerated bodies included those who had come to Paradise City for leisure, as the fire had been too thorough, completely destroying any identifying features of the deceased; even forensic analysis would be impossible.

The city’s shelters were also utterly destroyed, leaving not a single survivor. The observers sent by the clients entered the city alongside the mercenaries. Some of them believed the patrons were dead, but others insisted they were alive and had merely been relocated.

Whether those individuals had died in Paradise City or not became an immediate enigma.

Having dealt with the situation at Paradise City, Yang Ying turned his attention to the Outer Solar System.

According to intelligence gathered by the Ghost Special Forces and Kevin during this period, after Huras initiated his offensive, the Ancient Legion seized the rare opportunity to launch an unprecedentedly fierce attack on the front lines. More than ten main fleets from both sides clashed violently in Saturn’s orbit. After several major engagements, both sides suffered catastrophic losses.

However, the losses were more severe for humanity. Due to the lack of support from military bases, the energy and provisions for the frontline fleets were consumed with no resupply; damaged warships could not be repaired, and wounded personnel were difficult to evacuate to the rear because the support lines were too distant. The more advanced the military, the higher its logistical demands.

The destruction of fifty-two bases in one night had the most fatal consequence: the logistics of the frontline forces had completely collapsed. All the main fleets were forced to retreat around Jupiter to regroup, while the Ancient Legion’s fleet clusters arrived just beyond Jupiter.

Although everyone in the know understood that the fleets would starve if they didn't retreat, they could not pull back for one extremely critical reason: several large colonies near Jupiter, housing a population totaling tens of millions, were still stranded there!

When Huras first struck, the military high command received immediate confirmation of the bases' destruction and was instantly terrified. They knew perfectly well that with this blow, the front line would be forced to retreat past the asteroid belt, losing hundreds of millions of kilometers of strategic depth. All colonies in the Outer Solar System would then be under extreme threat.

They dared not suppress such critical news. Li Fu reported the situation to Frank, the President of the Earth United Government.

Upon learning the disastrous news, Frank immediately ordered the evacuation of all colonies in the Outer Solar System.

However, the news of the complete destruction of the frontline military bases was suppressed under the strong recommendation of the military. Ostensibly, this was to avoid sparking widespread panic in the major colonies of the Outer Solar System, as panic would cause unnecessary casualties and make the evacuation efforts far more difficult.

But in reality, there was a deeper reason: it was to cover up the hacking incident instigated by Kevin. Many within the military high command knew about that event. Before the disaster struck, a certain mysterious hacker had infiltrated the Defense Ministry’s strategic office systems and left behind a written warning.

Field Marshal Schmidt, Chief of the General Staff, along with more than a dozen high-ranking generals, held a special meeting to study this warning, and they chose to ignore it. Yet, events unfolded exactly as the warning had predicted. If the outside world learned of this, it was easy to imagine the global condemnation of the military’s incompetence and stupidity; the military’s reputation would suffer an immediate, massive blow.

While the front line was retreating rapidly, the military was already under immense pressure from all sides. If this scandal also came to light, the entire military high command might face a massive purge.

After the incident occurred, all who were aware reached a consensus: they must bury the matter, at least until the new defensive line stabilized and not a single whisper got out.

Nevertheless, the destruction of fifty-two frontline bases was an event that could not be hidden forever. The soldiers in those bases had families and external contacts; the sudden cessation of these links would inevitably alert their relatives.

Despite the utmost efforts by the government and military leadership to keep it quiet, they only managed to contain it for forty-eight hours. As a group of military family members started raising an outcry, the catastrophe was discovered. The entire human society immediately boiled over like water reaching a rolling boil.

Panic spread rapidly, and many adopted a pessimistic view of the war. The war between the Ancient Legion and humanity had lasted half a century, but in just the last six months, humanity had successively lost the Twin King Star defense line and the entire Outer Solar System!

Where exactly had things gone wrong? As panic mounted, the pressure on the government and military intensified. At this juncture, any misstep by the leadership would be placed under a magnifying glass, so everyone trod lightly, terrified of making even a small error that might ignite the public's fury.

And so, the colonies around Jupiter became something they could not abandon.

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