As Ziye choked the pirate ship, Redhead stole a command cruiser belonging to the Angelic Domain from the dock of the Galen Space Station, tearing out of the Conglomerate's stargate with only a message left for Lan Li: "Borrowing your command cruiser, come get it back yourself!"

At that moment, Lan Li was chairing an internal meeting in the Angelic Domain. Seeing the message, he couldn't help but twitch the corner of his eye and dispatched another ship to retrieve An Junlie.

However, this time, Lan Li couldn't quite fathom Redhead's intentions.

Why go to such lengths to steal a command cruiser from the Conglomerate? To provoke him? Impossible!

Because the command cruiser brought to the Conglomerate for meetings wasn't a battlefield command vessel, but a fleet command vessel, tasked with directing the fleet protecting An Junlie en route to the Conglomerate.

Lan Li frowned, sensing something amiss, but he dared not easily leave the Legion.

The period of the Legion Congress was the most dangerous time for every Legion; leaving their territory would be dereliction of duty.

He activated his optical computer screen and searched for Redhead's location.

It was an immense distance from the Angelic Domain; even a single jump drive sequence would take an entire day. He tapped the desk lightly with his finger, "Intelligence Bureau, help me contact the personnel in that sector. Capture the woman who stole our command cruiser—alive!"

A moment passed without response.

He looked up to find everyone staring at him. Not feeling any unusual blush on his face, he calmly stated, "Objections?"

Those present: ……

Vice Commander, oh Vice Commander, could you be any more capricious?

Just a few days ago, you were chasing her across the universe, and now it's 'capture alive'? Were your feelings all fake?

Lan Li ignored their thoughts and smiled enigmatically, "What? Anyone unwilling to work, speak up now."

The crowd immediately scattered like startled birds.

All sympathy for Redhead vanished into thin air.

In truth, Lan Li had another calculation.

Redhead seemed reckless, but her actions were always meticulous; catching her in a mistake was never easy, and capturing her alive was nearly impossible.

He believed Redhead must have a compelling reason this time.

Moreover, he harbored a sense of unease—he felt Redhead was embarking on something extremely dangerous!

If there were any way to stop her from falling into danger, the most convenient and swift method would be to apprehend her. Even if he couldn't stop her from risking herself alone, he could prevent others from targeting her.

Lan Li was famous for being able to plan strategies within the tent and secure victory a thousand miles away. Even though he wasn't on site, he was absolutely confident.

Not a single route leaving the Conglomerate was safe.

Redhead deliberately chose the most perilous of the two available paths, leaving the slightly safer one for Ziye.

Redhead's route was plagued by pirates, and several of the star systems along the way were disputed border regions between neighboring Legions, rife with continuous conflict. In just one week, she had charged straight into a war zone.

The Angelic Domain fleet command cruiser’s maximum cruising speed was 140m/s, and its jump speed was 6.5AU/s—not particularly fast, nor overwhelmingly powerful. Fortunately, as a fleet command vessel, it was equipped with an unparalleled shield system.

Redhead sat alone in the captain’s chair, activating the single-pilot system, delegating all tasks usually performed by the executive officer to the automated system, and deploying two specialized robots to serve as gunners.

During combat, the command cruiser was meant to provide strong assistance and support to the fleet; its inherent destructive power wasn't high, and Redhead wasn't a skilled modifier, unable to overhaul it in a short time. Her only option was to shut down all non-essential systems and focus all power on the weapon emplacements.

At this moment, she couldn't dwell on the fact that she was piloting a command cruiser, as it was the best ship she could obtain under the circumstances, and for that, she was quite content.

She violently destroyed the Angelic Domain's identification markers, making the vessel appear as an ordinary, non-Legion command cruiser.

The only remaining objective could be summed up by one phrase: In a narrow path, the brave shall prevail!

When Redhead stole the command cruiser, she was inadvertently spotted by An Junlie's escort fleet. The fleet immediately split in two: one half pursued Redhead, while the other notified the Conglomerate to set up an interception.

Bai Lanxue, who had been monitoring the Conglomerate's movements, noticed a fleet heading in the exact opposite direction of Ziye and instantly understood the situation. She immediately ordered a fleet comprising stealth bombers, frigates, and battleships to pursue.

What had been a relatively straightforward path instantly became complicated due to the involvement of multiple factions—so complicated that few in the entire galaxy had ever witnessed such a scenario. That interstellar route, once dared to be traveled by no one, suddenly became as bustling as a marketplace, with ships coming and going...

Redhead's thoughts were exceptionally meticulous. She adjusted the optical computer's "Proximity" setting to 5AU. The command cruiser possessed powerful network efficiency, capable of scanning everything—stargates, space stations—within 5AU, and keeping track of all vessels within 1000KM.

Upon exiting, she initiated a maximum-speed warp jump.

A large string of pursuers followed her jump.

The ships varied in speed; frigates and stealth bombers were faster, while the battleships lagged behind.

After this group of tails warped sequentially, Redhead had long since vanished. Seeing the ships ahead of them, they inadvertently mistook the vessels in front for the enemy.

This situation was quite natural.

People always tend to view those immediately visible ahead as enemies, while those who have already disappeared become irrelevant—who knows who they are or where they are going?

Leading the charge ahead was An Junlie's escort fleet.

Upon sighting the fleet ahead and recognizing them as hostile vessels, Bai Lanxue's fleet opened fire without a word, dispatching stealth bombers to launch a few torpedoes.

Boom—

The sound of the explosion, accompanied by fierce sparks and thick smoke, enveloped the expanse of space.

One frigate from the Angelic Domain was struck instantly, its rear erupting in raging flames.

The blaze illuminated the dark silhouette of the stealth bomber, which resembled a shark deep in the abyss, savagely carrying killing intent.

This contingent of the Angelic Domain's escort fleet was An Junlie's personal guard. Not only were they highly disciplined during training, but their combat experience was also profound. They unanimously turned back, the first ship firing a Stasis Entanglement Beam, using micro-energy flow to reduce the maximum speed of the opposing vessel, thus immobilizing the attacking stealth bomber and preventing it from moving. The second ship deployed several heavy drones to circle the stealth bomber, blocking any other ships from rendering aid. The third launched heavy missiles.

Three ships operated simultaneously. Stealth bombers were notoriously fragile.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

It only took ten seconds.

Boom—!!!

The stealth bomber exploded in space, becoming the most spectacular fireworks display.

The Conglomerate forces arrived and, upon witnessing the brawl, immediately fired warning shots while activating their public address system: "This is the Conglomerate's Enforcement Fleet. All vessels, stand down your weapons, stand down your weapons!"

Before the message was even finished, their hull shuddered violently. The Conglomerate personnel were furious. Looking at the screen, they saw a line of pirates bursting forth.

Pirates nowadays were simply too audacious.

The Conglomerate personnel were so angry their noses flared; daring to attack the Conglomerate—did they have no regard for their lives?

Redhead fled desperately, warping an unknown number of times, until she finally shook off the tail behind her. She let out a sigh of relief, pulled out a slice of Jihu jerky, and stuffed it into her mouth to replenish energy.

The Galactic Federation had not yet made a move, which brought her some comfort, yet simultaneously stirred unease.

Why hadn't the Galactic Federation acted by now?

Just then, her comms unit suddenly chimed.

Redhead instinctively tensed her body. Seeing it was a communication request from Ziye, she quickly answered, "Little Brat, are you alright now?"

Ziye's voice sounded somewhat fatigued: "I'm fine. I'm hidden. I estimate I can hold out for five minutes."

Redhead's expression turned grim: "Truly?"

Ziye replied: "Truly. I will leave as soon as possible; don't worry. Check the galactic news; I suspect the Galactic Federation has already made its move."

Redhead detected something wrong in her voice and immediately switched her optical computer to the news channel.

Upon seeing it, Redhead was so enraged she nearly threw things.

In the end, they were one step behind.

On the "Expert Focus" segment of the galactic news, a so-called super expert had appeared. Redhead didn't know what kind of expert he was, but she heard him say: "Twelve Legions have applied for sovereignty during this Conglomerate Legion Congress. Among them is one we are not unfamiliar with; its name is Wolf's Lair, established less than half a year ago."

The expert was still laying the groundwork; the main point hadn't been delivered yet, but Redhead already sensed what he was about to say. She jumped up: "He must be stopped, absolutely stopped!"

Ziye spoke rapidly, finishing her sentence in less than a second: "I am trying. The distance is too great; it's very difficult."

As soon as her voice fell, the expert smiled faintly and delivered the next line: "Perhaps everyone is unaware, but the vast majority of Wolf's Lair's members were once notorious galactic prisoners!"

Redhead’s face turned pale. She trembled slightly and slowly sat back into the captain's chair, feeling as if all her strength had been drained. Little Bean had ultimately let it slip.

Wolf's Lair, and those who had worked so hard in the Silver Seal, would instantly lose everything because of this statement.

All their efforts, all their struggles to shed the identity of prisoners, all their striving for the ideal life—all turned to dust in that instant.

From now on, the majority of them would have to return to hiding, living lives like mice, never seeing the sun.

Redhead clenched her fists tightly, letting out a soul-shattering roar: "Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Ziye was stunned into silence at that moment as well.

The comms link remained open. Through it, she could completely and truly feel the heartbreaking cry Redhead let out. She steadied herself by gripping her chair and grabbed Little Sprout like a drowning person grasping a lifeline: "What should we do?"

Little Sprout was still fighting a hacker in the network who was video-conferencing with the protection expert. Hearing Ziye's question, the small sprout on its head curved into a question mark: "Let me calculate."

Ziye had no time for pleasantries. Her eyes were locked on the screen, filled with chilling coldness.

At this moment, everything else seemed to cease to exist; only one conviction remained in her heart: This person and she could not coexist under the same sky!

But what method could possibly remedy those words that had just been spoken?

Ziye stared at the expert's face until her gaze felt like it could bore holes through him, and then, a flash of inspiration struck—she had found a way!