Red Hair concealed the warship within the dense nebula, activating the console telescope to watch Bai Lanxue's fleet advance deeper into the uncharted sector, frowning. "No, this isn't like Bai Lanxue."

Ziye sat in the co-pilot's seat, observing them through a different set of binoculars.

In truth, the Wolf's Den’s silver-signal transmission had successfully integrated with the electromagnetic waves of the uncharted sector, allowing for normal communication and system operation. However, the technology was still too unfamiliar, so the two had abandoned the silver-signal in favor of telescopes.

Ziye, however, didn't quite understand. "How is it unlike her? Isn't Bai Lanxue always this swift, accurate, and ruthless?"

Red Hair placed a hand over her cigarette case, intending to pull one out, then paused, withdrawing her hand, and readjusted the telescope. "Would Bai Lanxue be so foolish as to think we'd be deep in the uncharted sector?"

Ziye instantly grasped it.

The Legion had initially intended to exclude Ziye from this duel between Red Hair and Bai Lanxue.

To keep Ziye out of it, the Legion's high command held a vote, with over ninety percent opposing Ziye's participation. Their main argument was that Ziye should dutifully remain in the Xilian Galaxy to oversee the exhibition, leaving the bloody work to Red Hair.

However, Red Hair believed Ziye needed the baptism of war to grow more perfectly. While outwardly persuading Ziye to stay in the Xilian Galaxy, she had covertly brought Ziye to headquarters, sneaking into the uncharted sector together to play a game of hide-and-seek with Bai Lanxue's fleet.

After Bai Lanxue's warships disappeared from view, Red Hair mused, "Since Bai Lanxue isn't that reckless, she must already know about the confusion of the two fleets ahead; she wouldn't knowingly walk into a dead end."

Ziye's eyes widened. "You mean, she already found us?"

Red Hair nodded. "Even if she hasn't, she can guess. Retreat immediately!"

The two swiftly stowed their telescopes and engaged the warp drive, pulling back.

Just a few minutes after they sped away, Bai Lanxue's fleet circled around to the area where they had been hiding. They ostentatiously opened their turrets and bombarded the nebula with relentless fire.

Their new hiding spot wasn't far from the nebula. Ziye watched them expend ammunition so carelessly and gasped, "You know each other so well."

Red Hair glanced sideways at her. "Don't you think you've focused your sentiment in the wrong direction? I thought you'd be commenting on how utterly ruthless she is."

Ziye shrugged. "Hasn't she always been ruthless?"

Red Hair smiled slightly and nodded. "The cat-and-mouse game. It officially begins."

They steered their nimble escort ships straight out of their hiding spot, charging toward Bai Lanxue's fleet.

The Captain shouted, "They're coming out!"

In a flash—so fast it was almost unreal—the two minds synchronized, executing a perfect drift that brushed the edge of the fleet, swiftly slipping into another nebula.

Bai Lanxue was consumed by rage, but she remained rational, issuing no immediate order to pursue, instead commanding, "Maintain formation, surround them from all six sides. Leave no survivors!"

The fleet's greatest advantage was its rigorous training.

Ziye watched the warships surge in from above, below, front, back, left, and right, breaking out in a cold sweat. Damn, if we get hit, we're certainly finished.

Bai Lanxue's assault was far more savage than she had anticipated.

In contrast, Red Hair looked quite relaxed, chuckling heartily. "Let the warships come harder!"

Ziye: "..."

She truly felt incapable of matching the boldness of a ferocious pirate queen.

Red Hair’s expression turned serious. "This type of siege formation is one of the Grand Legion's favorites. It looks fierce, but it's actually riddled with flaws. Space has no shortage of gaps; there's always a way through."

Ziye deeply agreed.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself. Opening the control system, she immediately noticed something. "The angle to the lower right is the best for breaking through. That warship is moving just a fraction slower than the others."

Red Hair gave her an approving look; her eyesight was sharp.

Specifically, it was 2% slower.

Normally, such a small variance wouldn't matter much. But at this moment, neither side's warships were within firing range. Once the other five warships entered range, that single slower ship would become the breakthrough point.

Red Hair snapped her fingers and pointed directly at it. "Three, two, one—break!"

The instant she shouted "one," Ziye activated the micro-warp thrusters, propelling the escort ship two hundred kilometers straight in that direction. Entering the mutual firing range, before the propulsion finished, Ziye activated the turret launchers, immediately firing six torpedoes toward the warship on the left as soon as they were in range.

Red Hair, meanwhile, kept her focus entirely on the trajectory, surging at full speed toward the warship that hadn't yet entered range the moment the torpedoes were launched.

In space combat, few dared to use such a life-risking maneuver.

The outcome of two fully propelled warships colliding head-on was singular: neither would survive.

Interstellar history was replete with examples of ship-to-ship collisions, all universally taught as negative case studies.

A direct collision meant the captain died, the co-pilot died, and the control console would be destroyed by the immense impact. Once the console was destroyed, the ship might drift like a headless fly into other vessels, or the hull could fracture, or, most likely, the entire ship would explode.

Who would dare employ such a vicious tactic?

The captain of that warship broke out in a cold sweat, terrified by Red Hair's suicidal move, and instinctively shifted position, clearing a path. Red Hair shot through unimpeded, slicing out of the encirclement with a whoosh.

Ziye watched with wide eyes, sweat dripping from her temples. "You’d risk playing a game like that."

Red Hair glanced at the star map on the console, setting the warp drive toward a safe vector, completely at ease. "Little sprout, this method in the cat-and-mouse game has always worked. Know why?"

Ziye blinked. "They cherish their lives?"

Red Hair flashed a smile. "Our Wolf's Den's advantage over them lies exactly here."

The lot of ruthless individuals in the Wolf's Den would stop at nothing to achieve their goals. In contrast, this group from the Interstellar Federation had lived in comfort for too long; against the desperate people of the Wolf's Den, they could only suffer defeat after defeat.

Bai Lanxue was genuinely infuriated by the sight of Red Hair escaping the encirclement.

"Why the evasion? If you hadn't dodged, she would have died in our grasp!"

The Captain kept his head bowed, not daring to utter a sound.

When a massive warship charges toward you, even the calmest person can easily forget they are also piloting a vessel. They were overcome by the terrifying visual effect, assuming that failing to evade meant instant obliteration.

The Captain knew he was at fault, yet he felt no regret for his action.

He simply could not imagine his own body being crushed into pulp by such a tremendous impact...

After venting her frustration, Bai Lanxue commanded, "If a situation like this happens again, you all need to snap out of it. Even if we have to sacrifice a warship, we will drag her down to hell with us!"

The response was a unified, resounding, "Yes!"

However, her words did not win much popular support.

Everyone knew this method could drag the enemy to hell, but what about themselves? Could they simply disregard the lives of everyone aboard their ship? Was the consequence of serving their leader faithfully to become collateral damage for the enemy?

The Captains were unhappy hearing Bai Lanxue's words, and the officers and crew aboard the warships felt equally uneasy.

One sentence had erased the very meaning of their existence.

After years of facing death together, it turned out they meant less than a single enemy.

No one refuted Bai Lanxue on the spot.

But in the subsequent cat-and-mouse game, signs of apathy began to emerge more and more frequently.

Surrounding Red Hair became like tackling a game level—if they succeeded, great; if not, oh well. Who wanted to risk their head serving the leadership?

Water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize it.

Now, the water wanted to churn.

During the pursuit, Red Hair and Ziye found themselves increasingly in their element, weaving through the various warships without pressure.

Bai Lanxue glared furiously at the Captain. "Have you all not eaten?"

The Captain stood up, head lowered. "Yes, I have not eaten yet. Please allow me to go eat first." With that, he unhesitatingly left the captain's chair and headed toward the mess hall.

Bai Lanxue glared fiercely at him, speechless for a long moment.

"A bunch of useless trash!"

Bai Lanxue kicked the Captain aside and sat in the command chair herself. "I'll do it myself!"

It had to be said, Bai Lanxue's ferocity had not waned over the years.

Ziye felt the warship's movement patterns change and immediately warned Red Hair, "The warship ahead has a new pilot. Be careful."

Red Hair replied, "I know. It's Bai Lanxue. Every time she pilots a ship, she makes adjustments first. She just altered the angle by over ten percent. That’s one of her habits."

Ziye: "..."

She once again felt that Red Hair truly didn't need her at all, which made her quite sad.

She lowered her head, activated her personal terminal screen, and began working on the true purpose for which Red Hair had invited her to the uncharted sector.

Since arriving in the uncharted sector, Little Sprout had been under high-intensity calculation. The entire little sphere looked as if it had fallen into a deep sleep, but its two eyes appeared exceptionally bright.

"Coordinates Gamma 477, Phi 4225, Epsilon 0300," Little Sprout rattled off a series of coordinates casually.

Ziye was momentarily bewildered. "What is this?"

Little Sprout ignored her and sent the coordinates directly to Red Hair, who exclaimed, "Eh? Where is this?"

Little Sprout glanced at Red Hair and said to Ziye, "I thought Red Hair would be smarter; I didn't expect her to be as dense as you."

Ziye: "..."

Red Hair: "..."

Ziye stared at the coordinates for a few seconds, then suddenly smacked the screen. "I get it. Muster the fleet and force Bai Lanxue to those coordinates!"

Red Hair completely lost composure. "Where are these coordinates? Stop messing with me!"

Ziye opened the star map of the uncharted sector, which was a vast expanse of white. She used a computational method to locate the point where the coordinates lay, touching it lightly with her finger. "Here."

Red Hair let out a heavy "Hmph" through her nose and began deploying forces.

While they were busy chatting, Bai Lanxue's fleet caught up right behind their stern.

Bai Lanxue activated the full-system projection screen, gazing at Red Hair on the display, and sneered, "Long time no see."

Red Hair, busy with maneuvering, replied casually, "Yeah, surprisingly, you're not dead yet."