The people of Fetani made a huge fuss, and John used this situation to keep pressuring Wilkesa to hand over Jing Yang.
Denanfry had already reached a consensus with all of the senior leaders in Wilkesa that they would never agree to give Jing Yang back to Fetani. After understanding the history between them, they agreed with Denanfry helping Jing Yang expose John's real face, with the condition that Jing Yang had to remain in Wilkesa for good.
So John made a huge fuss on his side by himself, and Denanfry and the rest didn't respond or pay attention. But this was all only temporary, and when they seized some evidence, they would naturally fight back.
The first mecha designed and manufactured by Jing Yang himself had been completed. Then, according to his design, the mechanical team of the First Fleet created a whole batch of new mechas under his supervision.
After a period of testing, Denanfry announced publicly that he would conduct the first real-life test of the mechas on the most powerful pirate gang in the universe, the Poison Wolves.
In the other countries' view, this was a very bold and risky decision. And even the people of the Wilkesa Empire found this decision irrational.
The Poison Wolves had roamed the universe for so many years, they naturally had their own strengths. They were not only proficient at group attacks but also very good at cooperating to escape. Every time they hijacked a passenger ship or cargo ship, they only wanted goods and not lives, and they would only kill those who fought back. As long as they didn't resist, the Wolves would not take lives. And they even said that the things they robbed were used to relieve poor, less developed planets, so they also called themselves benevolent pirates.
But robbery is robbery, and crime is crime. No matter how well the Wolves painted themselves, they couldn't change the fact that they violated all property rights. What they called relief for poor planets was actually just for the benefit of having those planets to cover for their escape. Even if they really did act to help save those less developed planets, those who were robbed by them didn't owe those people anything. Their poverty and lack of development wasn't created by those people who were robbed, so for what reason should the property that belonged to them be robbed in the name of being a benevolent pirate.
There are many countries in the universe that hate the Poison Wolves, especially those with abundant resources but not enough technology or mechanical ability to capitalize on the trade in resources. Because they are the Poison Wolves' key robbery targets, every year they lose a significant amount of resources to the Poison Wolves, so they could be considered to have a bitter hatred for them.
One of the most important reasons why the Poison Wolves have still not been annihilated after so many years is that the location of the planet they occupied was very special and was the type of planet that had a natural geography that was easy to defend. Even though there were no resources on the planet, no property, and no development, it was extremely suitable for these pirates who robbed for a living.
There was another important reason why the Poison Wolves were able to roam the universe for so many years. Jing Yang let Denanfry wait until he seized the evidence for it after annihilating them before making this evidence public.
~
"I hear that Wilkesa's First Fleet is going to attack the Poison Wolves?" Avery asked John.
"No mistake, the information I received is that they have already set off." John responded.
"I also heard that their new mechas were made by Skien, and they're going to test the combat effectiveness of the new mechas on the Poison Wolves?"
"Yes." John nodded.
"Ridiculous!" Avery sarcastically sneered. "He manufactured two mining equipment and actually really regarded himself as a mechanical genius. He actually dares to be so arrogant, using a mecha that hasn't even been battle tested before to attack the Poison Wolves. That Kinlock is also retarded, actually believing him. It's simply a bunch of madmen!"
"This is also an opportunity for us." John squinted, his eyes full of calculation. "The Poison Wolves' planet is easy to defend and hard to attack. For so many years no army has been able to penetrate their defenses, and along with the mechas that you modified for them, Wilkesa definitely cannot win. We can take advantage of this opportunity and give the Poison Wolves a bit more fighting power and let Wilkesa lose a little more miserably."
"Hah!" Avery coldly sneered. "This is really a good opportunity to hit them. Let's just take advantage of this chance to destroy all of their previous arrogance. With this defeat, I want to see whether those people in Wilkesa will still be as protective of Skien Kossa. When the moods of the people of the Wilkesa are fanned, and we force them to hand Skien over, I must torture him mercilessly and kill him!"
"Report, General, we are in front of the Yuekan star cluster."
The Poison Wolves' planet was just behind the Yuekan star cluster. The distribution of the Yuekan star cluster was very special, like a natural barrier. It could protect the hidden Poison Wolves and make it difficult for outsiders to attack them. And for the Poison Wolves, they could defend themselves very simply, and also made it very easy for them to attack those outside.
~
Denanfry opened a live broadcast for the anti-Poison Wolves operation. This was not the first time there was a live broadcast when attacking pirates in the universe. Because there were many countries who deeply hated pirates, often there would be a national live broadcast of the process of attacking the pirates so that the people could vent their anger in that way.
However, usually only when they had a good grasp of the situation and were very sure that they would be able to annihilate the pirates would they show a live broadcast. In this case, everyone knew that their mechas were experiencing real combat for the first time, but they still opened a live broadcast. So those who hoped for them to win felt somewhat worried, and those who just wanted to watch for fun felt that they were being too arrogant and would definitely suffer.
"Prepare for combat!" Denanfry commanded. "Initiate Plan C!"
"Yes!"
All of the combatants on the ship began to prepare. Denanfry would personally participate in the battle this time and test the mecha that Jing Yang had specifically made for him.
Before setting off for battle, Denanfry crouched down in front of Jing Yang and raised his hand to stroke his face. "Give me a kiss for blessing, and I will come back in triumph."
Jing Yang cupped his face and bent slightly to kiss him.
Denanfry pressed the back of Jing Yang's head closer and deepened the kiss. Their tongues entangled for a long time but were still reluctant to part, like they could never kiss enough.
Denanfry stood up, bent over and gave him a heavy kiss on the forehead. He looked at Jing Yang for a while before turning and leaving the hangar.
After Jing Yang saw his back disappear, he steered his wheelchair to the command module to watch the battle. He already had a profound experience of the mood of sending his loved one to the battlefield. Even if he knew that Denanfry was very strong, he still couldn't control that worry from welling up. So all he could do was to do his best to support him from the back, to increase his fighting power and reduce the chance of unnecessary accidents.
The live broadcast on the ship had begun. Everyone connected to the Federation Star Network could see the battle.
The Poison Wolves had already received the news and had long been prepared to fight. The head of the Wolves, Chat, had received a message from John a few days ago that if they could cause Wilkesa's First Fleet heavy losses this time, they would be given an extra batch of weapons in addition to the mechas and weapons that they had sent over to help them.
Chat was able to become the head of the Poison Wolves and naturally was not an ordinary man. He knew how powerful Denanfry and the First Fleet were and did not want to just go face to face with them casually. But John told him that this time Wilkesa was using their newest mechas and had come with the purpose of using them to test out the mechas. This really looked down on them too much. So along with John's promise to him, he was willing to put his all into the fight, and even if he couldn't beat them, he could run away. He didn't believe that Wilkesa's First Fleet would be able to catch them.
The Wolves' ship had also reached the inner perimeter of the Yuekan star cluster and was ready to fight.
After leading the troops out of the ship, Denanfry did not rush directly toward the other side, but gave instructions to the deputy captain in the command module.
"Interfere with artillery fire!" The vice-captain ordered as instructed by Denanfry.
The five ships of the First Fleet each fired ten or so shots, creating a large area of golden dust and fog in a flash with a visibility range of less than half a meter. Those who wanted to watch the battle could only see the yellow dust and nothing else.
Sitting in the command module, completely ignoring the yellow dust interfering with artillery fire, Chat calmly ordered, "Turn on the ship's unobstructed perspective device."
"Yes." Chat's men immediately followed his orders and turned on the device, but there was only yellow sand on the screen and nothing else. He repeatedly turned the device on several times and still couldn't see anything, so he panicked and reported, "Report leader! Unobstructed perspective device has no effect!"
"What?!" Chat immediately stood up. "Impossible! It was always working before, how could it suddenly be useless?! Quickly go check and see what is wrong, and solve the problem as fast as possible!"
"Report leader! All of the mechas' unobstructed perspective devices are not working, we can't see anything!" The captain of the Poison Wolves' combat unit relayed urgently.
"How could this be?!" Chat instantly became nervous. Fighting completely blind was very dangerous and gave them no chance of winning. Even though they didn't know whether the other side could still see, this time it was best for them to first hide. "Immediately return to the ship! First retreat to outside the yellow sand, and after the yellow sand disperses, we can continue to fight!"
And Denanfry and his men, of course, could see very clearly. The vision obstruction shells they fired were made from Jing Yang's newest research, and the usual unobstructed perspective equipment was completely ineffective against it. Even if the Wolves' equipment had been modified by Avery, it was still useless.
"General, they're retreating in a mess and obviously can't see a thing. Let's take the chance before they can retreat to rush forward!" The captain of the combat unit suggested.
"Keep a proper distance and immediately retreat after a quick attack. Attack under cover of the ship's guns, don't be greedy." Denanfry ordered.
"Yes!"
The combat soldiers of the First Fleet rushed up, each locked a target and settled them quickly, then retreated under Denanfry's orders.
In the command module of the Poison Wolves, a succession of screams and explosions rang. Chat could only watch the signal lights that represented the condition of the mechas go out one by one.
"Quickly retreat! Hurry!" Chat yelled. "Artillery, provide cover, quickly retreat!"
"Leader! None of our men have been able to withdraw. Now, we can't see anything in front of us, artillery cover will likely attack our own men!"
"We can't care about that much! All of the combatants retreat as far as possible, and the ship needs to retreat immediately, or the other side's artillery will soon…"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Chat hadn't even finished speaking when the first round of artillery from the First Fleet had struck their three ships. The attack was extremely accurate, and all three rounds struck, so now they clearly understood that the other side could indeed see.
The fleet's fire was so intense that the Poison Wolves' ships that had been hit repeatedly started to shake and a lot of the equipment began to fail.
"Retreat now! Fast!" Chat steadied himself and loudly shouted. "Don't stop shooting!"
The netizens watching through the star network involuntarily became nervous. They could only hear the mechas firing and attacking and the ships' artillery attacks, and completely could not see a thing.
Sounds of fire melded into a cacophony. It was clear that both sides were attacking each other, but the people watching didn't know what was going on. Who was being attacked more seriously? They all really wanted to know.
Translator Notes:
[1] Yuekan – 月坎星群, moon pit?
Random Notes:
A little less than an hour: 9:30 am – 10:15 am, for 3.7k characters to 2.2k words.
Sorry for the delay everyone! A lot of schools kicked students out by the end of the week, so there were a lot of logistics that went into moving and leaving campus. Updates should be back consistently.