September 10, 2508 AD
Long Feng, Long Yu, and Long Huo stood in a triangular formation in the main control cabin of the newest Xingtian-class assault ship.
After three years, Long Feng's height had exceeded two meters, with flowing long hair cascading past his shoulders. His broad shoulders, tapered waist, and long legs formed an impeccably handsome physique, while his sharply defined, chiseled face featured large, slightly narrowed eyes that emitted a soul-piercing cold gleam.
Long Yu and Long Hu were slightly slimmer in build compared to Long Feng, but both possessed a strikingly handsome appearance. Over 95% of the female military personnel in the main control room had their fiery gazes fixed on them. As for Long Feng, despite the warm smile perpetually gracing his face, the chilling intensity in his eyes deterred most from looking directly at him, naturally earning him less attention from the women.
Long Yu swiftly issued commands: "Turn left thirteen degrees, proceed in glide formation. Release all attack craft from the right bay. All special forces personnel, stand by."
The N-1 Xingtian-class assault ship—measuring 4,500 meters in length, 300 meters in width, and nearly 200 meters in height, with a hull as sleek as a massive dolphin—shut down its engines. It glided forward silently on momentum, deploying 300 Solar Flare-class attack craft from behind the cover of nearby asteroids. These craft were entirely black with rugged, minimalist lines. Meanwhile, 5,000 fully armed special forces troops inside the ship stood ready at the assault boat hatches.
A pretty radar operator suddenly exclaimed, "Just like before, the pirate ships have completely vanished without a trace."
Ahead, visible through the massive fifty-meter-high viewport, was a vast asteroid belt. According to signals received by the sensors, it was filled with electromagnetic interference. The two pirate ships, which had been continuously monitored by particle radar, suddenly lost all feedback signals upon entering this asteroid belt.
Long Huo said irritably, "These scum from the New Sun Empire, why do they always pull this trick? Over the past decade, they've evaded countless raids just by hiding in this asteroid belt."
Long Feng said calmly, "No matter. Scan the range of the asteroid belt."
A delicate-looking control room operator wearing large glasses immediately reported, "It's 300,000 kilometers long and 200,000 kilometers wide, irregularly circular. The density of asteroids on the periphery is much sparser, so it doesn't affect our radar."
Long Feng hummed in acknowledgment and suddenly asked, "Xingtian One, how much firepower would be needed to completely destroy this asteroid belt?"
A menacing mechanical synthesized voice responded, "One assault fleet—thirty assault ships. A single coordinated volley would disrupt the normal trajectory of this asteroid belt, causing them to collide and destroy each other."
Long Feng ordered: "Location of the nearest attack fleet. Relay orders for them to arrive immediately."
Long Huo grunted in acknowledgment, quickly walked to the console, checked the signals, and replied: "Boss, the nearest one is two million kilometers away—a large attack fleet preparing to return to the Orion Sector. It consists of 370 warships, commanded by Major General Ouyang. Should we request their assistance?"
A faint cold smile appeared at the corner of Long Feng's mouth: "Excellent. Send the request directly in the name of the Operations Committee of the Supreme Command. Demand their arrival here within five minutes."
The order was transmitted, and a reply signal soon came from the fleet. Two minutes later, guided by the spatial buoys deployed by N-1, 370 large warships silently jumped into position. Their flagship was a massive vessel over ten thousand meters long, equipped with three conical launch ports on each side.
Following the calculations of the Chiyou One main control computer, the 370 warships simultaneously unleashed a full-firepower salvo toward the asteroid belt. High-energy lasers, high-energy rays, antimatter missiles, and high-explosive crystal mines rained down like a storm upon two hundred designated target points.
Faint glimmers of light appeared in the densest region of the asteroid belt. Powerful shockwaves disrupted its orderly motion, and over a dozen asteroids with diameters exceeding two hundred kilometers could be clearly seen colliding with each other, triggering even more intense explosions.
Major General Ouyang, with a fierce expression, glanced at the chaotic asteroid belt and asked with lingering excitement: "Lieutenant Colonel Long Feng, shall we fire another volley? Let's just blast them to pieces inside."
Long Feng smiled and said: "Thank you, Major General Ouyang. I believe they can no longer continue hiding inside. You may return to base now. I will submit a report about this incident."
Major General Ouyang clearly wanted to fire another volley and said very reluctantly: "Oh, alright then. Goodbye."
The 370 large warships slowly departed. A small, 200-meter-long speedboat, with one of its engines completely shattered, suddenly burst out from the asteroid belt.
Three hundred attack aircraft swiftly surrounded it.
Long Hu estimated the damage to the pirate craft and chuckled: "About half of its four engines are destroyed, its speed is at most 40% of before—there's no way it can evade our attack aircraft's encirclement. Probably another one has already been finished off."
Long Feng grunted twice and issued a calm order: "Special forces may stand down. Deploy two hundred combat robots to board the pirate ships."
The pirate ships rushed around chaotically for a while, only to be forced back each time by the attack aircraft's relentless firepower. Two hundred combat robots slowly flew to their hulls, their massive alloy arms plunging into the cabin walls, tearing through the thick alloy plates, and drilling inside.
From the live video feed returned by the robots, several large men over 220 centimeters tall wearing simple spacesuits could be seen staring in terror at these giant human skeleton-like robots emitting a white glow.
Long Yu fiercely tapped on an electronic notebook and said: "It can be concluded that even ruthless pirates who have killed countless people still experience strong psychological impact when facing military robots. It is recommended to design the combat robots' appearance to be more intimidating, which could further enhance combat performance."
Long Huo muttered while tapping on the keyboard, "When dealing with small-scale pirate harassment tactics, large-scale main fleet attacks are highly feasible within specific time and space constraints. This isn't like ancient Earth's medieval era; given the instability of star domains, small fleet harassments can no longer pose significant trouble to large fleets."
Long Feng said very dissatisfied, "You can write these reports after returning. Since you're so enthusiastic about report writing, you'll be responsible for negotiating with higher-ups about this incident of deploying the main fleet to attack two small pirate ships."
The two were dumbfounded. Long Yu opened his mouth: "Boss, the cost of that volley fire could buy at least thirty such pirate ships… There's no way to negotiate this."
Long Feng snorted coldly: "I don't care about all that. After the prisoners are brought up, you'll accompany me to get their confessions. Today—today I want to know where their headquarters is located."
The two resignedly lowered their heads, fiercely typed the last few characters, and stood up.
At this moment, the pirate ship had all its power systems destroyed by combat robots and was towed under the belly of N-1, docking with a hatch. Over three hundred special forces members quickly filled the compartment, monitoring as more than eighty pirates from the New Sun Empire were escorted inside. The attack aircraft outside only slowly returned to their hangars after all pirates had been transferred to the warship.
A sealed, small compartment without any surveillance systems, approximately ten meters wide, ten meters long, and five meters high, containing only a few simple lightweight alloy tables and chairs.
Several special forces members roughly pushed a pirate through the door and kicked him to the ground. Long Feng slowly walked over, nudged the pirate's head with his glossy high-top leather boot, and said coldly, "You know, according to unwritten international rules, pirates aren't treated as lawful citizens. You have no right to demand humanitarian treatment. I just need to know where your headquarters is. Tell me, and you can be repatriated through special channels. Otherwise, you'll suffer—badly."
The large man, over 230 centimeters tall, muttered something in Japanese, the gist being that he didn't understand Chinese.
Long Feng grinned viciously as he took a steel rod, five centimeters in diameter and one meter long, from a special forces soldier. He brutally jabbed it into the pirate's abdomen and said with a smile, "Don't understand Chinese? Then how did you say 'hand over all the money' when you were robbing? In today's human society, the only ones who don't understand Chinese are newborn babies, right?"
The pirate clutched his stomach and groaned on the floor for a long time before suddenly looking up, his eyes flashing with ferocity. Two special forces soldiers quickly rushed over, slamming the heavy butts of their high-energy particle guns viciously onto his shoulders. The sound of bones cracking echoed as his right shoulder was shattered. The pirate let out a agonized scream, his left hand trembling as he clutched his right shoulder.
Long Feng raised the steel rod in his hand and smashed it brutally onto the pirate's neck, completely shattering his cervical vertebrae. He coldly said, "Drag him out and bring in the next one." Several special forces soldiers casually grabbed his ankles and dragged him away.
One after another, and then another… Over twenty pirates were dragged alive into this compartment, only to be dragged out dead or broken.
Another pirate was dragged in. His face was pale, and he trembled so violently that he nearly collapsed onto the floor the moment he entered.
Long Feng's eyes emitted a chilling light that seemed almost tangible. He crouched down, grabbed the pirate by his short hair, and slammed his head hard against the floor. Then he lifted the pirate's head and said coldly, "Where is your headquarters? Tell me, and you can return to your country alive."
The pirate trembled all over, looking into Long Feng's eyes as if he had seen a ghost.
Long Yu gently approached and said, "Boss, the intelligence officer reported that they've decrypted the flight records from their ship and located their headquarters. It's in a star system near the New Sun Empire—a small asteroid about 2,000 kilometers in diameter, roughly one light-year away from us. It's only ten million kilometers from one of the New Sun Empire's space fortresses."
Long Feng sneered and said to the pirate in his grasp, "Friend, should I address you as a pirate or as a comrade-in-arms of the New Sun Empire's military?" Surging internal energy burst from his hand, shattering the pirate's brain structure to pieces. The pirate collapsed to the ground like a sack of broken flesh.
Long Feng, Long Yu, and Long Huo entered the compartment where the pirates were being held. The special forces team leader, a major, saluted Long Feng and asked clearly, "Colonel, how should we handle these people? Should we lock them in the bottom compartment or send them back to the base on a transport ship?"
Long Feng swept a glance over the pirates huddled together in fear ten meters below, sneering coldly: "You've been genetically modified for centuries, yet you still haven't shed the trashy temperament of your ancestors. When things go your way, you're more arrogant than anyone—just look at how you've harassed China, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of America into utter chaos. So impressive. And now? Now that we've caught you, after a few of your comrades were killed, you're acting as shy as a little girl who's just been violated. Trash…"
He issued the order: "Lock them in a self-piloting transport ship, set the program to return to base, and send them back. The Science Academy happens to need data. Might as well do that old bastard a favor." The major acknowledged the order and began driving the prisoners out with his team.
Striding onto a transport vehicle, the three of them, along with over a dozen special operations soldiers, quickly made their way to the main control cabin.
The shrewd-looking intelligence officer sat upright at his station, speaking rapidly: "We've already decrypted the information in their navigation device. Strangely, the encryption pattern matches that used by the Neo Japanese Empire's military."
Long Huo roared angrily: "Everyone knows these pirates are semi-military personnel—it's just that no one wants to say it out loud. According to the Neo Japanese Empire's racial classification standards, anyone over 220 centimeters tall is a specially cultivated warrior…"
Long Feng interrupted Long Huo, ordering: "Notify headquarters of the intelligence. We'll jump near that asteroid and directly attack their headquarters. Prepare all weapon systems, have the special forces ready for deployment, launch attack craft from both port and starboard bays, and recharge all combat robots. We jump in ten minutes."
The combat officer in the main control cabin questioned: "What if the warships from that New Sun Empire space fortress intervene…"
Long Feng said coldly: "They wouldn't dare open fire on us. Attack the pirate headquarters directly, record all footage, and provide it to the United Nations. If they do open fire, counterattack with full force while calling for reinforcements." Several officers nodded simultaneously as piercing alarm sirens began to wail. Special forces members boarded assault craft while combat robots returned to their storage compartments for recharging.
According to the universally recognized star coordinate chart, n-1 calibrated the jump coordinates. The entire vessel flashed with blue light before disappearing. From its previous position, a fifty-meter-long transport ship rapidly flew out toward its destination - the base on Sagittarius's second planet.