Chapter 364

Click—click—bang!

The outpost's metal gate suddenly twisted and deformed on its own, and finally it was as if it had been pinched into a ball from afar and then thrown far away.

The gate swung open, allowing Sarah and the Wild Wolves to easily walk into the outpost's open courtyard.

"Thud, thud." The magnetic boots' steps on the metal floor were especially loud, instantly drowning out the humans' muffled 'uh! uh!' sounds.

In front of the open field stood the barracks, mess hall, Command Center, and communications room, and also more than ten hardheaded soldiers who couldn't control their bodies, lying motionless on the ground.

And the 'uh! uh!' sounds came from this group in the open field, as well as the hardheads lying in the same posture against the wall, struggling.

It seems these soldiers have lost not only control of their bodies, but now they can't even speak.

And the female soldier lying in front of the communications room, not wearing a helmet, with golden wavy hair, is likely the Floss that Rui Ge mentioned, responsible for repairing communications.

Sarah glanced at Floss, then scanned the area, and quickly locked her gaze on the lieutenant above the wall who had a Mediterranean hairstyle and was nearly bald.

Then Sarah raised her right hand again and released Spiritual Energy enough to envelop the entire outpost; as she released her Spiritual Energy, all the hardheads floated up in the air and then each landed in the central open field of the outpost, forming two rows and two columns, neatly crawling on the ground.

Only the lieutenant was placed in front of Sarah and the three company commanders.

At this moment, Sarah snapped her fingers again, raised her voice and said, "All right, everyone, stand up now~!"

As she spoke, all the hardheads stood up straight as she said, but they had not regained freedom at all, only able to look up at a group of veteran Wild Wolves.

As for the lieutenant standing at the front, he was level-eyed with Sarah, his expression filled with anger, as if ready to throw caution to the wind.

However, Sarah paid no heed, directly using Spiritual Energy to read the lieutenant's memories, and while doing so she muttered to herself: "Lieutenant Lerezakh… an Earth native, huh? The fleet is about to arrive? Not bad, that's a useful piece of information."

Having said that, Sarah seemed to relax her Spiritual Energy control a bit, causing Lieutenant Lerezakh and all the hardheads to stop bulging with veins; immediately after, Sarah put on a full‑on mocking expression, her tone slightly raised, and deliberately said:

"Turns out you're a bunch of grunts abandoned by your superiors, tsk tsk, it'd be a pity to kill you, old buddy—call the formation to take these poor fellows along."

Sarah placed her hands on her hips and turned her head toward the company commander of the 13th Battalion.

"Hey! Little girl, what are you saying?! What does that mean?!" Upon hearing Sarah say that, the 3rd Battalion's company commander immediately became displeased.

"Exactly! It seems the credit for this first battle has already fallen into the hands of your 13th Battalion!" The 9th Battalion's company commander went on pointing and commenting.

It was obvious that Sarah's remark was clearly taking the first‑battle credit onto her own 13th Battalion.

"What the hell?! You're not satisfied? Wanna fight?"

"Hey, you ugly thing, stop pointing at our little sis, or I'll beat you up!"

In an instant, the entire Wild Wolves of the 13th Battalion began backing Sarah up, completely disregarding their fellow brothers, determined to seize the first‑battle credit for themselves.

…

Lerezakh, Rui Ge, Floss, Chang Lian, and the hardheads' gazes and expressions lost a bit of anger, while confusion and fear gradually increased.

They were confused about where these giants had come from, and feared that any internal strife among the giants might spill over onto them; some even wondered what a brawl between the giants would look like.

"Brothers." At this moment, the commander of the 13th Battalion stepped forward, his tone slightly solemn, and advised: "This time we owe it to our little sis Sarah for being able to directly obtain vital intel, and moreover we've killed about as many bugs as usual, and…"

The commander of the 13th Battalion continued, turning his head to look at the nervous hardheads, and said: "There's also a group of clueless compatriots watching; it's not appropriate—let's wait until the later expedition to settle the score, how about that?"

"That makes sense." The 3rd Battalion's company commander expressed agreement.

"All right." The 9th Battalion's company commander nodded in agreement.

The Wild Wolves are pretty straightforward; since they already had a way out, they weren't going to argue further, and besides, the Wild Wolves themselves hadn't prepared to actually come to blows—it was just that having the first‑battle credit snatched away left them a bit unhappy.

Once everyone's opinion was unified, they called for transport service, and were picked up by the Astate‑exclusive Eagle Cry and Thunder Transport Plane, leaving the outpost.

And before leaving, the Wild Wolves took everything of value from the outpost, including beetle and flying insect carcass samples, as well as all the hardheads that Sarah had been controlling.

Soon, the accompanying Viking fighters completely destroyed the outpost and escorted the transport formation carrying everyone away from the outpost, heading straight for the vessels in near‑Earth orbit.

At the same time.

Inside the bridge of the Totem Glory.

Standing beside the main console, Rus had been continuously organizing various information since their arrival in the Starship Troopers universe, intending to quickly sketch out a detailed 'sand table' of this sector.

However, the reality is that Hong Hou helped Rus process half, or rather more than half, of the work—she was using the information and data to draw the star map, and at this moment she was projecting her own image onto the other end of the main console, 'standing' opposite Rus.

After all, compared to his other brothers, Rus was weak in management and troop deployment, so Sui Bian wanted to take the opportunity to train this son of his, but… he never felt completely at ease, which is why, after the wired communications base was built, he specifically had Hong Hou come to provide assistance.

At this moment, Hong Hou casually gestured, locking the reduced‑scale map onto the 'right side' of L‑03 planet (the planet where the Space Gate is located), and then reminded Rus:

"According to the latest intelligence sent back by the 13th Battalion, the Earth Citizen Federation's Third Fleet is expected to finish its warp travel in 43 minutes and arrive in that area."

"Oh? The Third Fleet?" Rus instantly perked up, raised his left hand to pinch his chin, imitating Robert's steady demeanor, and said: "Hmm, that should be the Federation's elite fleet; I wonder what kind of shock wiping out such an elite force in one go would have on their regime."

"Hong Hou!" Rus, looking at Hong Hou standing opposite him, asked: "If we let you infiltrate the Federation's military network, how long would it take?"

"I can't estimate." Hong Hou spoke frankly; after all, L‑03 planet is quite isolated, she can't directly invade the Federation's military network from here, but she then added: "If you could capture one, or several, intact Federation warships, I could lay bare all the dark deeds of the Earth Citizen Federation, and I think that would also help you quickly undermine their rule."

"Exactly!" Rus raised his left hand, stuck out his thumb, and clenched his fist in strong agreement: "You're right, that's exactly what I was thinking!"

"…" Hong Hou showed no expression.

"Hehe…" Rus chuckled again, no longer bothering to keep up appearances, then turned his head to the ship's crew and ordered: "Notify all battalions to get ready—we're going to seize the Federation's Third Fleet!"

"Yes, sir!"

———————

…

Forty minutes later.

A vessel roughly two kilometers long, similar in style to the warships used by Umbrella and the UNSC, but painted dark gray with a purplish tint, and it is a Federation carrier‑class ship currently undergoing warp travel.

At the same time, the carrier is surrounded by over two hundred 1,200‑you‑class cruisers, over four hundred 900‑meter‑class destroyers, and two thousand 500‑meter‑class escort ships.

This massive fleet, with over a hundred million personnel and soldiers, is leisurely, in a 'carefree' manner, heading toward the Ligoya star system where L‑03 planet resides, preparing to capture the insectoid horde hiding on L‑03 and, in passing, purge the entire star system of its bugs.

Furthermore, for the navy this operation is just a way to 'rake in military merit,' while being used as bait are the elite hardhead companies?

Come on, it's just a company of over a hundred people—if it's gone, it's gone; who would care?

Moreover, elite? Hardheads like these are cannon‑fodder elites, and the Federation military has literally countless such units; sacrificing a company like this is practically routine, so one could say that, for the Third Fleet right now, the only thing they need to worry about after catching the brain worm is how to entertain themselves and have fun.

Insectoids?

Not worth mentioning.

Inside the aircraft carrier bridge.

A captain in his early fifties, with a gelled-back hairstyle and well-maintained skin, sat at the center of the bridge, looking energetic, gazing through the porthole at the bubbling, winding expanse of space.

This captain's insignia, chest plate number, name, and the medals he wore all indicated that he was the supreme commander of the Third Fleet, Admiral Luosen Bolun.

"Admiral Bolun!" suddenly, a communications officer interrupted the captain's pleasant mood, loudly reporting: "We have completely lost contact with Lieutenant Rang Lazak!"

"Hmm, okay, I got it." Bolun lazily waved his hand, then, familiar with the routine, ordered: "Mark all the Hard Bones as killed in action, then edit their uploaded infantry footage to portray them as heroes who fought bravely and sacrificed."

"Yes, Admiral, but there's one more thing worth noting."

Hearing the communications officer chatter on, Bolun grew a bit impatient, but still kept a smiling face and continued asking: "What is it?"

"We... we have also received an extremely unfamiliar communication request." The communications officer hesitated slightly, saying: "And it has been confirmed that the source is L-03."

"Oh?" Bolun finally stopped being lazy, adjusted his uniform and sat up, his expression also turning somewhat solemn.

After all, if the entire Hard Bones unit has been wiped out, then L-03 should be a forbidden zone for humanity—so who is sending this communication request now?

Bolun never considered the possibility of Hard Bones survivors, since a hundred people resisting the insect swarm wave would only last a few minutes, at most ten or so minutes; therefore, some other force must be intervening.

Although Rosén Bolun appears unreliable, seemingly—or rather—having risen to this position by relying on the power behind him, he still possesses some ability; his tactics and strategic vision are not bad.

After a few seconds of thought, Bolun said in a low voice: "Approve the request; I want to see who gets to L-03 first."

"Yes, Admiral."

Having received the order, the communications officer immediately opened the channel; then, a holographic screen appeared above the bridge, displaying Rus maintaining a faint smile.

?!

Upon seeing Rus's Wolf King armor, and noting the contrast in physique and height between Rus and the crew behind him, Bolun sprang to his feet, his expression becoming extremely solemn.

Because neither his personal troops nor the Federation's finest elite units possess powered armor that combines technology and aesthetics like the Wolf King armor, let alone Rus's terrifying five-meter height and sturdy build!

"You are..."

"I am the heir of the Master of Humanity, the Wolf King of the Space Wild Wolves legion, Rus!" Without waiting for Bolun to ask, Rus turned the tables, cutting him off with an unrefusable tone, and, rare for him, without uttering damn or fuck, he proclaimed:

"You have thirty-five seconds left before your warp flight ends! So! You have thirty-five seconds to consider whether to surrender; if you insist on resisting, we will employ forcible means—hope you make the right choice!"

??

"Heir of the Master of Humanity?"

"He demands surrender right off the bat?"

However, Bolun did not become angry; given Rus's calm and confident demeanor, there are two possibilities: either he is arrogantly overconfident, or he truly possesses the power to wipe out their Third Fleet.

Regardless, Bolun could never choose surrender; at that very moment, his aircraft carrier and the entire fleet finished their warp transit, and outside the bridge porthole lay a desert L-03, with a fleet of merely seven hundred warships faintly visible to the naked eye.

"Time's up—surrender or fight?" Rus reminded, still wearing a faint smile.

"No—"

"Alright, please get ready."

Rus again interrupted Bolun's words and proactively ended the holographic communication.

"This guy is absolutely insane!" a colonel exclaimed, extremely displeased.

"Admiral!" another colonel shouted loudly: "Please issue the order so we can wipe out those arrogant bastards in one fell swoop!"

Just as these officers were petitioning en masse, preparing to show their prowess, outside the porthole, in the distance, an intensely dazzling blue light began to flash.

Immediately after…

Whoosh—!

Countless tungsten alloy pellets shot out, tracing similarly dazzling blue trajectories, tearing through the cold void between the two sides, then carrying out a massive slaughter within the Federation's Third Fleet formation.

As for the carrier flagship carrying Rosén Bolun and the other officers, it was locked onto by the electromagnetic cannon array of the Totem Glory, therefore…

Boom!!!!

Bolun and the senior officers of the Third Fleet only remembered being engulfed in blue light, and the violent explosion that pierced their eardrums; after that… after that, they could no longer perceive this world.

Outside the ship.

The expeditionary force's electromagnetic cannons fired in salvo, inflicting severe damage on the Third Fleet; having lost its flagship, the Third Fleet also fell into command disarray, and most critically, the Third Fleet could not mount a counterattack because the expeditionary force's area…

... exceeded the range of their warships.

At this point, the expeditionary force had already dispersed its spacing, forming multiple directions for a 'three-dimensional' encirclement, and released tens of thousands of transport aircraft preparing to execute a boarding jump.

(End of chapter)