※Inferring from intelligence reports, Yang Ying learned of the movements of the Vicious Fang fighter squadron, and the gray fighter leading the vanguard was also spotted by the observers. According to military intelligence sourced from the military database, that gray fighter was confirmed to be the personal craft of Master Weng Shale.

Howard stood up, approached Yang Ying, bowed slightly at the waist, and said, “Sir, I have something to report.” Yang Ying nodded. “Speak.” Howard stated gravely, “The objective of this operation has been achieved; we have both relieved pressure on the right flank and incidentally destroyed the reinforcement fleet.

Engaging Shale head-on now is purely a war of attrition, with the outcome not justifying the cost. I recommend a strategic withdrawal.” As Yang Ying listened, a look of clear agreement crossed his face.

“Indeed. The nearly ten thousand Vicious Fang fighters led by Weng Shale are fundamentally different from that reinforcement fleet.

A retreat is the wise choice.” When the reinforcement fleet was attacked, the enemy was completely unprepared, which is why a decisive advantage was established immediately with the guided missiles. The remainder was merely mopping up the battlefield, thoroughly eliminating the disabled enemy.

However, Weng Shale’s unit consists entirely of fighters, making them far more agile, and they are further supported by five Ape Master-level fighters. With the firepower of Master-level experts’ mecha and Master-level fighters, destroying incoming missiles is trivially easy.

Even the Vicious Fang fighters piloted by high-ranking Apes possess a high hit rate against dead objects like missiles, meaning the locking-on tactic is unlikely to be effective against them. Furthermore, among those nearly ten thousand Vicious Fang fighters, besides Apprentice-level high-ranking Apes, there are also stronger ones—Low, Mid, and High-tier, and even Quasi-Master level high-ranking Apes—plus five Masters and one Peak Master.

To contend with them, the mere few thousand Ghost fighters currently visible are absolutely insufficient. At the end of the day, Yang Ying commands only one primary body and eleven clones—twelve Quasi-Masters.

To overcome a luxury lineup of one Peak Master plus five Masters seems like sheer delusion. This meant that once the fight commenced, more Ghost fighters would need to be summoned from the Floating Continent, and even if victory were ultimately achieved against Weng Shale, the Ghost fighter contingent would suffer severe losses.

Even if attrition warfare could crush the Vicious Fang forces by disregarding casualties, Weng Shale, being a Peak Master, could simply escape if he could not win. Can an army stop a Master, let alone a Peak Master?

Based on Yang Ying’s understanding of Peak Masters, the probability of retaining Weng Shale with the current strength of the Terran Mercenary Corps was infinitesimally close to zero. Finally, once this battle occurred, news would certainly reach the ears of the Earth Military.

Knowing the upper echelons of the military and the Council as he did, winning this fight would not please them all; it would only deepen their wariness of the Terran Mercenary Corps. Therefore, Yang Ying agreed with Howard’s suggestion, ordering the fleet to detour, moving away from the flight path of the Vicious Fang fighters.

“The route from Jupiter to this location is blanketed with the eyes of our observers. Every move Weng Shale and his Vicious Fang fighters make is under our surveillance.

However, conversely, even the reconnaissance systems of Master-level fighters have limited detection ranges, so evading them shouldn’t be difficult,” Howard explained. Aside from dedicated reconnaissance craft, most fighters' radars only cover a range of a few hundred kilometers.

This is sufficient for fighter dogfights occurring in space, as larger radar systems consume excessive energy and are rarely useful in actual combat, so they are omitted for efficiency. Guidance work beyond this range is normally handled by battleships or specialized reconnaissance aircraft.

Yang Ying shook his head. “I hope so, but I remain deeply worried about this fellow Weng Shale.

Peak Masters are individuals who defy common sense. Who knows if Weng Shale’s sixth sense might guide him toward our position.” Howard also looked troubled.

The psychic world is one of the hardest things to fathom; making accurate deductions is exceedingly difficult. Forty-five minutes later, the two forces brushed past each other at a distance of one hundred thousand kilometers—a range exceeding the maximum detection capability of reconnaissance aircraft, only reachable by ship-based radar.

Yang Ying’s fleet had by then shut down all reconnaissance systems, relying solely on the Observers for all scouting duties. After all, battleships cannot become invisible like Observers; their presence is far more pronounced.

Weng Shale could sense the Observers' observation, but not their exact locations. However, with ship-based radar, detection of location might be possible.

“What is the reaction of Weng Shale’s unit now?” Yang Ying asked. During the detour, this moment was when the two sides were closest, and thus the most dangerous.

If they managed to remain undetected now, the rest of the path would be safe. “They are still maintaining a straight advance, with no abnormal reactions,” the Chief of Staff replied.

Good, if we avoid detection this time, it’s a victory. Yang Ying nodded, resting an elbow on the armrest, his hand clenched into a fist beneath his chin, his slow breathing nearly inaudible, waiting for the moment of danger to pass.

... However, matters were beginning to trend in a disastrous direction.

One hundred thousand kilometers away, inside the cockpit of the gray fighter, Weng Shale felt a flicker of intuition. He tilted his craft slightly, looking upward, precisely in the direction of Yang Ying’s fleet.

“There should be something there,” he murmured to himself, his voice almost imperceptible. “Sir, what is it?” An Ape Master, flying closely behind Weng Shale, asked via telepathic link upon seeing the commander slant his fighter.

“You all proceed ahead. Wait for me.

I will catch up.” As Weng Shale finished speaking, he maneuvered his fighter sharply, pointing its nose toward the faint target. A golden halo ignited behind the tail, and tiny specks of pale gold light spewed from the thrusters, flexibly jumping within the halo, as if caught in a violently swirling vortex pushing in reverse, furiously converging onto the halo.

When the light specks concentrated to a certain degree, the entire halo flared brightly. Bang!

The halo flashed violently, instantly expanding tenfold. Within the ring appeared a pattern composed of regular and intricate geometric shapes—like a Mandala—continuously spewing intense golden particles backward!

In that very instant, the gray fighter transformed to gold, vanishing in a flash, leaving behind a luminous trail composed of golden particles, stretching like the tail of a shooting star, straight into the depths of space. “Every time I see this spectacle, I am filled with awe,” thought the Ape Master flanking Weng Shale, watching the golden path.

“‘Meteor Halo.’ System, accelerate instantly to one-tenth the speed of light and become a meteor rushing into the distance. To withstand such pressure, he truly deserves to be Peak Master Weng Shale.” “Not good, we’ve been discovered!” The moment the golden halo appeared, Yang Ying saw it in the optical feed transmitted by the Observer, and his brow immediately jumped.

He inwardly cursed his bad luck. The Meteor Halo was a high-speed engine created by the Kustar civilization—a psychic weapon that placed extreme demands on its user.

It could instantly boost a fighter’s speed to one-tenth the speed of light, which is thirty thousand kilometers per second. This system was equipped with an inertia control system to mitigate the damage caused to the pilot by the instantaneous, extremely high acceleration.

The law of inertia is one of the universe’s truths; it can only be suppressed, not eliminated. Ultimately, only a Peak Master could pilot a fighter equipped with the Meteor Halo, as even a Master would sustain injury when initiating the Meteor Halo system.

Seeing Weng Shale deploy the Meteor Halo, aimed directly at him, Yang Ying immediately knew the fleet had been discovered. “Sir!” Howard turned sharply and shouted.

Yang Ying’s mind raced. At this speed, the fleet could not possibly escape Weng Shale’s fighter traveling at one-tenth light speed.

The entire fleet comprised three Pacific-class battlecruisers and ten heavy cruisers. Since they were not manufactured on the Floating Continent, they could not be spirited away with a flash of golden light.

However, there was still one method. Objects not produced on the Floating Continent could also be sent there, though the process was more cumbersome: they required direct physical contact to be pulled across.

Time was critical; Weng Shale would cross the hundred thousand kilometers in just over three seconds. Yang Ying felt fortunate; there were exactly thirteen warships here.

The ten light cruisers were carrying auxiliary personnel and were kept out of this engagement for security reasons. Without time to answer Howard, Yang Ying slammed his hand on the armrest.

With a flash of golden light, the surrounding staff, equipment, consoles—the entire bridge, and even the whole battleship—vanished without a trace. The entire Pacific-class battlecruiser was pulled into the Floating Continent.

Yang Ying hovered in space, summoning eleven clone bodies, and simultaneously commanded his dispersed clones to drop everything and converge on these bodies immediately. The twelve small bodies, spiritually linked, simultaneously used the technique of Shifting Earth, racing toward each warship—one for each clone.

Yang Ying’s target was the nearest ship, the first he could reach. He reached out, touched the hull of a warship, and with a flash of golden light, pulled it into the Floating Continent.

Just then, another clone touched a fighter. Yang Ying’s primary consciousness immediately entered that body and pulled that warship into the Floating Continent as well.

Soon, the other clones arrived sequentially. Yang Ying transferred his consciousness rapidly between the various bodies based on the order of their arrival, pulling the touched warships into the Floating Continent one by one.

One ship, then another. Warships vanished at an astonishing rate.

Three seconds passed. The last clone reached the farthest warship.

With a final flash of golden light, everything was completely retrieved! As soon as the task was complete, Yang Ying and his eleven clones instantly used the Invisibility technique, their forms blurring as they vanished into the void of space.

In the next instant, a golden meteor, carrying boundless momentum and a brilliant flame-tail, shot past within the field of vision.