Chapter 554

The Deep Space Knight sent word that they have already arrived at the target location and will engage the target in 3 hours.

Hmm, good, keep reporting the battle status.

As the little assistant withdrew, Lin Ran, who had been sitting upright, instantly relaxed, putting her booted foot on the console.

Before, the melancholy feeling of missing Zhang Jie, the solemnity—no need to pretend; standing there she was a natural melancholy goddess.

Now it's different. Since Zhang Jie came back, her several-thousand-year-old steadiness and reliability seem to have gone to the dogs, and she's increasingly heading toward the direction of a clueless donkey.

Now she has to rely on pretense every day to maintain her aloof persona; it's exhausting, you idiot!

It's all Lao Zhang's fault!

Lin Ran muttered, taking a fierce bite of the blue-skinned fruit in her hand, feeling that something was off.

Has she been doing a bit too smoothly lately?

Hmm... besides that dead Xiao Jiu lurking in the shadows, Yu Xiaomo and Yunxiao this pair are also quite honest.

The Alliance's development is also normal, and the natural disaster side hasn't caused any trouble.

Hiss... something's off, speaking of which, have I been doing too smoothly lately?

As everyone knows, when everything you do lately goes especially smoothly, you need to be careful—fate might be waiting somewhere with its butt up, ready to give you a whack.

Losing things, getting injured—those are small potatoes; what's scary is that this thing might secretly cook up a big problem.

Lin Ran is currently at this stage, this neither-here-nor-there stage.

No way, I need to check...

Lin Ran launched a major investigation, continually gathering information about recent events through the covert networks she personally set up.

She focused on the people and affairs around Zhang Jie, but after searching all around, she found nothing amiss.

So, this is just weird....

Lin Ran gnawed on the fruit while pondering, and just then a urgent buzzer sounded; she hastily put her foot down.

Come in.

The little assistant rushed in, flustered, not even stopping to greet, and directly said to Lin Ran.

Leader! Something's wrong!

Some civilization, unknown how they learned of the Alliance's current situation, openly declared that the Ring World is theirs! And they want to condemn us!

Lin Ran:...

Alright, look, look—here it comes, huh?

Which civilization?

The Ocean Civilization, Fei'erge.

Fei'erge? Them again?

The Ocean Civilization Fei'erge, compared to the Alliance, is only stronger, not weaker—but that was before Zhang Jie arrived; now it's hard to say.

Fei'erge had previously clashed with the Alliance several times; unlike the Alliance's Star Sea Patrol, Fei'erge is a truly 'absolutely neutral' civilization.

Absolutely neutral, to put it bluntly, means absolute double standards, absolute profit‑first; Fei'erge is a typical case of showing up wherever there's profit, like cockroaches—always popping up.

Fei'erge possesses an extremely formidable fleet, but unfortunately they have no unit that can match Lin Ran's combat power.

Individual combat power is nearly invincible; relying on that alone, even if the Alliance's fleet is far inferior, they can remain unbeatable.

And this Fei'erge, in a battle with the Alliance years ago, was finally subdued after Lin Ran's single Star‑piercing Spear shattered a planet‑sized flagship, and has remained quiet until now.

Now, for some unknown reason, they're stirring up trouble again.

It could also be pure envy, jealousy about to explode.

What do we do, Leader!

The little assistant was near tears; this Ring World was clearly brought by their big shot, yet this civilization dares to claim it as theirs!

Tsk, not easy to handle.

But we're not what we used to be; just pulling out the sapphire would be enough to wipe them out.

There's no Star Sea Commonwealth organization here, and the Star Sea Hall doesn't concern itself with these affairs.

Don't worry, we'll take care of it.

Mm!

Lin Ran told Zhang Jie about it.

Lin Ran: Old Zhang! Let me tell you something!

Alliance big shot:?

Lin Ran: Babababa... (relaying the events).

Alliance big shot: 6, bold.

Zhang Jie laughed angrily, 'Where did this roadside come from? Don't get involved!'

If the Iron Law Star Alliance from my past life were here, they'd surely bring the Ship Life forces to wipe out this jerk without a word.

Unfortunately, no such force unified into the Star Alliance has arisen here yet.

Alliance big shot: Don't worry, I'll take care of it.

Alliance big shot: They're just trying to pressure us through the interstellar network; next they'll probably send troops to attack us.

Lin Ran: Or should I go blow up their homeworld?

Alliance big shot:......

Alliance big shot: Don't! Just leave it to me!

Nice work, but a civilization of that size surely has more than just one homeworld.

Don't let Lin Ran go deep into their territory, get surrounded and fail—that would be a mess.

Hey, I actually have an idea.

Lin Ran saw that Zhang Jie had a method, so she relaxed and put her foot back on.

I originally thought this matter could be left unresolved for now, but I never expected that she would suddenly receive a message from Yunxiao.

Intelligent Machinery Team A189: I can help you resolve this matter, but you have to lend Zhang Jie to me for one month.

Lin Bu Ran: Thanks for the invite, not needed.

"Not even a month—I won't give you a single day!"

She, Lin Ran, is the kind of woman who would sell her partner as a scapegoat? Impossible! Her biggest trait as a stubborn donkey is being a stubborn donkey!

Apart from Zhang Jie being able to smooth her fur, nobody else even dare to think about it!

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Zhang Jie opened the chat box with Yu Xiaomo and sent a message over.

"What's up~"

A seventy-year-old female imp's lazy voice came through; it sounded like she had just woken up.

"Hey, Xiao Mo, has your game business reached a civilization called Fei'erge?"

"What civilization? Never heard of it; I'll have my subordinates check."

The muttering voice came from the other end, and soon Yu Xiaomo got the specific information.

"Got it, the penetration rate of my game there is over 60%."

"What's up, you bad guy?"

Zhang Jie: Abababa (explaining the situation.....)

"Pfft, dying of laughter."

"This is easy to solve; I'll just cut off their servers over there, then send out an announcement—it should most likely work, unless they go all-in."

"But... why should I help you?"

Zhang Jie raised his eyebrows; this little thing is getting ahead of itself?

"If you won't help me, I'll go find Liu Delie to help me."

"Hey, don't, don't, don't!"

Yu Xiaomo became anxious, hurriedly tried to retain her; jokingly, although Liu Delie seemed to lack authority, in reality his power was about the same as hers.

However, Liu Delie is innately unrestrained and loves freedom, dislikes managing these company trifles; even though Yu Xiaomo takes seventy percent of the profits, it's merely hard-earned pay for her.

"You bad guy! As long as you come over to play games with me for one month, I'll help you!"

"That's too long, like work—thanks but no thanks."

"Hey hey hey! Half a month? No! One week!"

"Not going."

"One day! One day should be fine, please!"

Yu Xiaomo whined tearfully; her pitiful look left Zhang Jie feeling helpless.

"Alright, I happen to be resting; I'll accompany you to play games for two days."

"Wu!"

Yu Xiaomo made a strange noise, then hung up the communication, finding it quite amusing.

The poor stubborn donkey, she didn't sell Zhang Jie, but never expected that Zhang Jie would sell her; in short, fate will surely trip Lin Ran up.

Under Yu Xiaomo's operation, Galaxy Dream Company issued a notice.....

(Oh no, I just went to fix a typo, apparently exceeded the posting limit, now can't post any more text, so I can only merge chapters it seems....)

(The following are the merged chapters!)

Galaxy Dream Company silently issued a notice, pointing its sword at the Fei'erge Ocean Civilization.

"Due to the recent inappropriate remarks released by the Fei'erge civilization, Galaxy Dream Company expresses strong disapproval and decides to cease all game operations for Fei'erge IP-certified users in the near future."

"The Vigorous Alliance is our company's important partner; hunting down natural disasters and clearing interstellar routes, they are truly the guardians of the galaxy, and we hope the Fei'erge Ocean Civilization will reflect on its actions."

"Once the notice was released, it immediately caused an uproar; speaking of influence, Galaxy Dream Company's influence is obviously many times greater than that of Fei'erge."

"Because the Alliance previously never responded to them, not even giving them the time of day, this also led many people to just now come across this big scandal."

"As the event escalated, condemnation of the Fei'erge Ocean Civilization began to erupt, with the most frenzied being its own locals."

"Originally living comfortably, playing games and eating feed in their own fish tanks, suddenly a notice came saying they couldn't play—who wouldn't be annoyed?"

"Especially for a civilization that developed through opportunism and vampiricism, internal problems are constant; it essentially relies on cheap entertainment equipment to barely suppress some lower-class voices, and now that Yu Xiaomo has shut it down, it explodes instantly like a powder keg."

"This is also their own problem; if they were like the Alliance or like the Deep Space Knights, shutting down games would be meaningless, as they hardly play them anyway."

"So, when Zhang Jie heard that Galaxy Dream Company's game penetration rate was over 60%, he knew it was basically secure."

"Have to say, Yu Xiaomo's move is brilliant!"

"However, the most puzzled is Lin Ran; she can't figure out why Yu Xiaomo suddenly sent out such a message."

"Could it be...."

"By the time Lin Ran reacted, Zhang Jie had already slipped away! He left her only one line: 'Lin Ran, I'm going out to rest for two days!'"

"Soul-less!!!!"

"Lin Bu Ran: Was the Galaxy Dream Company's notice something you had Yu Xiaomo send?"

"Lin Bu Ran: What price did you pay?"

"Alliance bigwig:?"

"Alliance bigwig: What what price, no price, just previously accompanying her to play for two days, which happened to be a rest."

"Lin Ran never expected that she wouldn't sell Zhang Jie, but he ended up selling her instead!"

"Damn it!"

"Ah, forget it, I trust Old Zhang."

Wasn't it like this last time too? Yu Xiaomo secretly made Zhang Jie run away, and when she found out the news, she almost thought the other side would be eaten, but who knew these guys were just gathered together playing games.

Well, let's first handle the matter at hand.

As the situation escalated, Fei'erge Ocean Civilization was forced to issue an apology statement, but it's likely just a temporary delaying tactic.

Galaxy Dream Company had planned to temporarily restore the other side's operations, but discovered the other side was secretly sending fleets to shift toward the Alliance, so it hastily sent a communication to the Alliance.

The thief's heart never dies.

Lin Ran shook her head; after the Deep Space Knights battled the Wandering Civilization, they continued the Alliance's fine tradition.

Victory! Victory! Still victory!

In the first battle, the Deep Space Knights destroyed the enemy fleet with ease; the Wandering Civilization's fleet couldn't withstand a single blow.

Even if the other side released the cultivated heavenly disaster to counterattack, it was to no avail, and was even transformed on the spot into a Deep Space Knight by Xiao Yi.

The power of idealism is amazing, right?

As for the Fei'erge Ocean Civilization, Lin Ran doesn't intend to let it reach the Alliance's doorstep; the second Alliance giant ship has already grown to youth form, and it's time for this newborn giant ship to undergo its maiden battle!

Lao Zhang's words.... just let him go play! This matter she can handle!

Hmm, can handle it!

With Lin Ran's order, the Alliance giant ship that had grown to youth form began to leave the port; its seven battleship-level gland cannon turrets were already ready, prepared to deploy at any moment.

To prevent a mishap, Lin Ran deliberately sent the Weiniya sisters who were temporarily staying in the Alliance forward; although Weiniya was reluctant, after all the Alliance had granted her a higher rank, she had no choice....

However, Weiniya wasn't so submissive; with her new power, Xiaoanchun's brain had already begun to consider how to turn the tables.

However, her main task now is still to help Lin Ran deal with this ungrateful civilization.

How dare they want to take the teacher's hard work for themselves.

Hmph! You've already invited your own doom!

Weiniya drew a Han sword she hadn't used in a while, casually grinding it back and forth; this time she also wanted to test her new abilities.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Zhang Jie already knew what had happened recently, but he still felt at ease acting as a hands-off manager.

Just kidding, with the strength of five single-body star-shatter level, if that Shenlaozi Ocean Civilization managed to break through, Zhang Jie wouldn't be playing around.

But even if there's no problem now, we still need to consider the future, so Zhang Jie took out his corpse chunk.

Cough, that is, his body when he was a Knight, the sapphire has always been in his stomach, then he came over and vomited it all over the ground.....

Now you can't see any trace of corpse fragments; if not mentioned, anyone would think it's a perfect precious gem.

But the infinite spiritual energy contained within has already revealed its extraordinariness.

It's not surprising that this thing possesses such power, after all, back then he had various strange talents: growing stronger by killing evildoers, growing stronger by following the Knight's Oath, and so on.

But that a Deep Space Knight could develop such a miraculous ability, he never expected; it can only be said to be the magic of time.

Furthermore, his corpse fragment has been nurtured in the sapphire's stomach for so long; when the spiritual energy is abundant, it must be.

It's time to raise the power of the spiritual energy system.

Zhang Jie gripped the spiritual energy crystal in his hand, strands of mysterious power emanated from his palm, flowing deep into his body.