And once that happened, things would only become more troublesome. Something Kael had no intention of allowing. So acting now was only natural… especially when his fleet was already prepared…

“This is how we will attack…”

“Listen carefully, all of you…”

Kael spoke through his command channel, laying out his plan to his admirals and battle group officers… so they could lead their platoons and soldiers according to his orders…

Only after a few tens of minutes did Kael’s briefing end… and soon, under the leadership of the higher-ups, the fleet began to prepare for their moment.

Since they were already in formation, the fleet didn’t have to do much other than synchronizing their FTL drives with the flagship…

Other than a few tweaks here and there… like the mech squads and the fighter squadrons… pilots already rushing toward their mechs and fighter jets for quicker and faster deployment…

All the weapon systems within each ship in the battle group—be it the main batteries or the secondary batteries with longer charge times—were already charging their weapons to the maximum, with none holding back at all…

Just like that, a few pieces of information popped in front of Kael’s eyes…

“[Battle group FTL drive is synchronised with the flagship…]”

This was followed by a soft chime from the central command AI of the flagship Requiem, carried across every command bridge within the battle group…

From Requiem, a faint blue holosphere began to expand outward and quickly encased every ship within the battle group—from the core formation where the battleships and battle carriers lay… to the inner circles where light and heavy-class battlecruisers held position… and finally to the outer circle where frigates and destroyers stood…

The chaotic fluctuations caused by the FTL drives of the Requiem quickly calmed down and settled as each ship in the battle group synchronized with it using their own FTL drives, smoothing everything into a single unified waveform…

And successfully, they managed to do something that the Obliterator does on its own—though to a lesser extent… still, a success. This was new technology, still in its experimental phase by the Imperial R&D department, allowed to Kael under his own request…

“[FTL phase lock is successful and at one hundred percent… all parameters are stable under unified waveform!!]”

“[We are ready to make the hyper jump, Grand Admiral… awaiting your command and authorization!!] said Crown, the central AI of Requiem…”

Hearing that, Kael nodded, battle intent laid bare… excitement evident on his face. Not bothering to control or hide it, he spoke sharply—

“MOVE OUT!!”

The instant the words left his mouth, the Requiem shuddered for a moment as its propulsion engines roared into overdrive, pushing the ship forward… and under the direct manipulation of Crown, the other ships followed at the same speed…

And then—vanishing through the unknown star system as though they had never been there at all…

Somewhere near the boundary of the Land of the Lost sector, within a massive star system stretching nearly sixteen light-years in diameter… a region that also lay close to the territories ruled by the orcs…

An enormously large battle fortress stood there.

From a single glance, it was obvious—it was ancient… its surface worn with age. Paint had peeled away in multiple places, and rust clung stubbornly across sections of its vast hull…

Had it not been for the sheer grandeur of the structure, one could have easily dismissed it with a passing remark—”Oh, look at that piece of junk floating there…”

But this was no junk.

Around the battle fortress, many similarly aged ships drifted in loose formation… some enormous—stretching easily over 100 kilometers in length… and a few even surpassing 200 kilometers… silent giants suspended in the void…

Beyond them, countless other ships filled the surrounding space—ranging from lighter vessels of barely a kilometer… to larger ones reaching up to 260 kilometers in size…

The space around the fortress was anything but empty.

Mercenaries… pirates… ragtag fleets barely holding together… and even small, concealed contingents of elite forces—each moved carefully around the fortress and its massive carrier-like ships…

Some arrived, slipping into formation or docking within the shadow of the giants…

While others departed the star system altogether… vanishing into unknown routes, bound for destinations known only to them…

While others were being disbarred from the star system entirely, forced to move toward unknown regions, this one remained strangely untouched…

A major, even crucial, star lay unoccupied. No one claimed it. No one dared to.

The reason was simple. The influence of the Land of the Lost Internal Powers. They never allowed any system near their borders to be accessed by outside forces, denying anyone a direct path toward them.

And then there were the orcs…

They had always desired this star, drawn by the rich resources hidden within it. But every time they tried, the Land of the Lost intervened. Again and again, they were pushed back. Because of this, the system remained untouched for ages. And yet now…

This once unknown and nearly barren star system was teeming with ships. Fleets filled its void. People from the Land of the Lost were there. Orcs too. And even forces from beyond the outer rim of the galaxy had arrived.

They were all here under a single agreement.

An agreement forced into existence under pressure from a dozen Tier One powers. Former enemies now stood side by side, collaborating for one purpose — to harass the recently conquered systems of the Void Humans.

And the rewards…

They were immense. Be it cultivation resources to Advanced technology and even ships — up to high-grade Tier One — were promised to anyone who reached the required contribution status…

All of it was being provided by Tier One powers, operating from the shadows under the name Dimension Rules — a ragtag force each of them had quietly formed.

They used retired ships of every class, patched together into something usable. Even the operators were outsiders, mostly loosely cultivated individuals who existed beyond the formal structure of any major faction. That way, if anything went wrong, no one could be held accountable.

As for the ships… they had all been written off as “stolen.”

In a time like this, it was believable enough. The entire galaxy was already slipping into chaos — conflicts everywhere, and in some regions, outright war.

Of course, the main contributor was the Star Empire.

They had deployed a legendary Tier One, super-grade battle fortress — easily five to seven thousand kilometers in diameter. Alongside it came an arsenal of star-killer weapons. Outdated, yes. Inefficient by modern standards. But still more than powerful enough to matter.

Together, these contributions became a massive draw.

And that was what pulled everyone in… not loyalty, not unity — but pure, undeniable profit.

And with stronger backing, many were daring to fish in troubled waters… Even though the danger was immense, the profit was there. All they had to do was cause trouble for the newly famous, up-and-coming super tier-two power, or at least a quasi tier-one power.

And by doing that a couple dozen times, they could all potentially get a lower-grade tier-one type ship, even of the destroyer class… which only added to their excitement and resolve. While there were others who were there just for the sake of fun…

And for almost two months, these groups made of pirates and mercenaries and others kept on doing that. While their losses were immense, their profits were no less… in fact, they only grew bigger and bigger.

Letting them all fall into a frenzy of recruiting, and then going for harassment attacks once again… And by that, even those who were watching all of it couldn’t help but feel a pang in their hearts and join in…

Today was no different. Pirates and other forces kept on taking missions and leaving the system, moving toward the void—toward human-ruled systems…

Everything was as usual today around this super big star system… Many from the ragtag forces known as the Dimensional Hegemony were reporting to their real leaders, full of excitement… as they were all but succeeding…

Don’t look at how much resources they had been putting into this for two months… for all of it was basically trash they couldn’t wait to discard… and this was all but using that trash to frustrate their enemy…

And it was only because of that that these powers, known as the vampires of the galaxy, were seemingly “bleeding”…

But before they could even properly relay or change communication, the whole fleets of ships were suddenly thrown into chaos…

Throwing them all into panic at once!! Not sure what had happened at all… not until they saw a barrage of beam attacks, some big, some small, rushing toward their ships…

And before they could react, or even raise their ships’ defenses… they were all struck by energy beams or kinetic attacks… which either blasted the ships apart in boundless flames…

While others were simply fragmented under the immense force of kinetic strikes…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep