Him and their stars

The old general's tone was as if he was explaining his last wishes, and that was indeed the case. Deng Zhengqing was not on the Xiaguang, but on a patrol cruiser, Zhiyuan 015.

In fact, Brigadier General Bazin had already started preparations after the failure of the last attempt to sneak into Shengyuan in Jijiang. He dispersed his headquarters and staff members to all cruisers to ensure that each large ship would have an excellent and prestigious officer and would not lose command at any time.

Lieutenant Colonel Deng Zhengqing is the youngest and the one Brigadier General Bazin favors the most.

Then, the Xiaguang turned around and rushed towards the Imperial warships that were rushing towards her. Although she was already covered in wounds, she was still a powerful heavy cruiser, a replica of the "Clear Sky Class", which was considered the most perfect cruiser in history. Her counterattack even caused the Imperial Army to lose consciousness for a short time.

Twelve minutes later, the Xiaguang, which had sunk an Imperial destroyer and seriously damaged another destroyer in a desperate counterattack, was hit in the rear cabin and lost power.

Three minutes later, a sublight-speed missile launched by an Imperial Falcon-class destroyer pierced the bridge dome of the Xiaguang. All the survivors of the commerce-breaking fleet also lost contact with the commander at that time.

The first ship of the Xiaguang-class heavy cruiser died with a perfect record and resume. She finally fell into complete silence at 16:27 galactic standard time.

This happened on March 26, 834 AD.

"So, Brigadier General Bazin actually died in battle half a year ago?" Although Yu Lian had already prepared himself mentally for this matter, he still couldn't help feeling sad.

Another veteran of the War of Independence, a veteran whom Yu Lian respected and admired, had passed away.

Feifei nodded slightly: "This matter has been confirmed. The Empire updated their battle results information table on August 30, which was last week, and the name of the Xiaguang is indeed on it."

The Imperial Army is composed of a group of arrogant and cruel war maniacs. They have never been noble saints, but overall they still attach great importance to the sense of honor of warriors. Since the battle report has been certified by the Privy Council and can be verified by the entire universe, there is no possibility of falsification.

In other words, the reason why the battle report was not officially released until nearly half a year later was that it had undergone rigorous verification.

There were seven other communist warships that perished in that galaxy along with the Xiaguang. After they were sure that they could not escape, they launched a decisive counterattack against the imperial warships that besieged them.

The remaining ten warships, including three light cruisers of the Patrol class, two of the County class, and five destroyers, finally seized this fleeting opportunity. They used the best-preserved "Aachen 12" as the spearhead and rushed directly to the jump coordinates. The only ones blocking them were the two light cruisers that were speeding in front of them.

Major William Banner, the first officer of Aachen 12, took over the fire control system himself. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression suppressed his ferocity and anger, and his huge body was even trembling. However, it was his body that was trembling, while his arms were steady and full of strength. His state was like an angry bull, but his movements were like those of a precise and efficient robot.

Aachen 12 continuously bombarded the Imperial destroyers that were maneuvering in the direction of its own fleet with fierce pulse fire that far exceeded the safety index.

In just half a minute, this battleship, which must have undergone some crazy modifications, erupted with crazy firepower comparable to that of an entire fleet, and tore an Apocalypse Eagle-class battleship into pieces on the spot.

The other Gladiator-class ship showed obvious cowardice and made a flexible reverse maneuver, which distanced itself from the Earth fleet and gave up its defensive position.

The captain of this destroyer should receive severe punishment. Objectively speaking, his actions were equivalent to withdrawing his last line of interception.

Immediately afterwards, three more "Hunter-class" destroyers that were accelerating from other airspace also stopped advancing.

Their alloy armor and shields trembled violently in the sudden explosion, as if they were mounted on the wall. This was the result of the mines that Deng Zhengqing had deployed in advance.

In this way, the Imperial Fleet could only watch as the afterimage of the Community Fleet disappeared behind the gravity well, and the four battlecruisers never made a move.

Afterwards, Deng Zhengqing analyzed that perhaps the imperial fleet’s target was not him, and the two sides just met by chance.

But no matter what, this Polish fleet still exists.

On the hulls of the ten Community warships that eventually escaped, every square centimeter was engraved with scars left by Imperial artillery fire, but their reactors were still singing as they stubbornly moved forward towards the star field at the edge of the Imperial cantilever.

The above is the report of the last battle of the Bazin fleet. After that, they seemed to have disappeared.

"So, what does this matter have to do with the Flame Pirates?" Yu Lian asked.

"It's time for heaven and earth to join forces!" Feifei said unhappily, "The Flame Pirates have an imperial background, you know that."

Of course Yu Lian knew about it. He could even declare that no one knew the great pirate better than he did, not even himself, so he nodded and smiled, "Firebeard is a relative of the Duke of Poyi."

"When the anti-trafficking fleet was entering the Diamond Nebula and finally got rid of the pursuers, they encountered members of the Flame Pirates when they were about to enter the territory of Duke Bo Yi." Feifei pondered for a moment and continued, "To be precise, it was a smuggling ship that the Flame Pirates used specifically to trade with their master. It was a legal merchant ship registered with the Imperial Ship Management Institute. Mr. Edward happened to be on that smuggling ship at the time."

"...Haha, he is really bold."

"You also said that he is a relative of the Duke of Bo Yi, not the Emperor."

The Duke's family of Po Yi is, of course, one of the forty-five ducal families founded by the Dawn Dynasty of the Galactic Empire. Their ancestors are naturally quite prominent, and have produced such great figures as the Chief of the Privy Council, the Prime Minister, and the Imperial Marshal, as well as important colonial military governors of newly conquered star zones such as Count Potincha.

Of course, such a glorious and prosperous family has been a bit declining in the last few hundred years, and it has not shown its presence in the core of the Heavenly Realm for a long time.

Yu Lian also carefully recalled the Duke of Po Yi on that virtual timeline, and it took him half a minute to dig out a little information from a certain groove in his cerebral cortex:

Since it was a famous family with a long history, of course it was an important member of that so-called "Allied Forces of Nobles". The Duke and a large number of core family members died in the Battle of Luyuan, and the only things left were naturally the three-piece set of excommunication and demotion of the entire family to the level of commoners.

And that was all. He was just one of the people on the list of Yu Lian and Brunhilde's achievements in the strategic simulation gal game. He really didn't seem to have much of a presence.

However, they were at least much better off than the Sobek family, which had already been reduced to the citizen class, and luckier than other families that had even lost their heirs. At least they still had their titles, their nobility, and even their local territories and armies. They were also powerful lords.

At least when eating at the "Border Lord" table, you can still sit in the C position.

Of course, their territory had actually been replaced. Three hundred years ago, during the era of the "Immortal Dragon" Emperor Ivenya, they moved from their ancestral home in the prosperous Gaolun star region in the heart of the empire to the border between the Helots and the Syrmaeus star regions.

...At least, the territory has expanded.

Regardless of whether this behavior is equivalent to exchanging 100 acres of developed paddy fields for 200 acres of saline-alkali land, just tell me whether the territory has expanded.

Under such circumstances, it would be a bit difficult for the Duke family to continue to abide by the law. In fact, they not only had connections with the underworld bosses in Da Zi Zai City, but also had exchanges with the opposite alliance through Pirate City.

The ancestors of Edward "Firebeard" once worked in the imperial colonial government. They were the confidants of the then Governor, Earl of Pottingha, and thus had a relationship with the Earl's family. Later, it was natural for them to become the hereditary retainers of the Duke of Pottingha.

It is actually a very routine operation for the Duke to select a promising young man from among his own sons, teach him, cultivate him, invest in him, and make him his black glove.

Thus, the Flame Pirates came into being.

They even built a secret airport on the edge of their territory, specifically for the Flame Pirates to dock and conduct private transactions.

After all, it is just a border vassal territory sandwiched between two outer ring star regions, and many inspections are just formalities, so there is naturally a lot of room for maneuver.

Anyway, isn't it the same for the other border lords?

This is true for all the border lords in the Feimo Star Region, the Cloud Tower, and the Kaitai direction. Since they are given territories and called lords, it is equivalent to giving these border nobles of the empire a certain degree of autonomy.

The border princes all have their own armies, so it is reasonable for them to support other teams doing private work.

There is no way, administration has its limits. As more and more stars are conquered, the country becomes larger and larger, even the powerful dragon kings like the Dawn Royal Family can only try to bring the core star regions under the unified management of the Prime Minister's Office. Administrative power and public security power will be vacuumed in the outer star regions, so there will always be a need for border lords of all sizes, and the country will have to pay attention to tolerance.

Don't you see, the opposite alliance is also the same? They have member states, and there is such an abstract existence as "king of member state and citizen of alliance".

In comparison, the Galactic Empire at least has a very unified style.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

In short, the ten Earth warships that were already in a desperate situation encountered a merchant ship, Perkin 23, belonging to Duke Bo Yi on April 7. Edward, the "Firebeard", who happened to be on that merchant ship, extended a helping hand to Deng Zhengqing.

Feifei said, "Mr. Edward said that because we are from the same Earth. He also told me that the more resolute our resistance is and the more brilliant our results are, the more respected we, the Earthlings who have settled in the Empire, will be. He also told me that this was his own decision and had nothing to do with the Duke. And the Duke never interferes in the management of the border starport."

"Did he really not inform Duke Po Yi? Was he really just acting on his own?" Yu Lian pondered.

Feifei shrugged, "It doesn't matter. Firebeard Edward is a five-ring psychic. Even if he is really a loyal son of the Duke's family, reality will change their relationship from subordinate to cooperative."

Indeed, in most cases, status comes from power, and power comes from violence. If the Duke thought that he could make a five-ring psychic, a giant (cat) chief of the underworld who had made a name for himself in the abyss, bow down to him just by relying on his status, then he was too naive.

As naive as a female channel.

Of course, considering the history of the Duke of Poyi's family, we cannot expect them to be loyal to the Galactic Empire.

Yu Lian nodded slightly: "The Duke may have his own plans, and Fire Beard must also have his own ambitions."

A psychic with five rings is a scarce talent wherever he goes in the universe. Even if he goes to the Celestial Realm to show his loyalty to the Emperor, he will surely be awarded a respectable hereditary title - it is hard to say how many generations it can be passed down, but aristocrats are aristocrats, so why bother being a pirate?

Feifei nodded. "I even feel that this was not an accidental encounter, but an initiative that came to him. He is a high-level psychic, and the Diamond Nebula is his home turf. He will find a way to find Zhengqing and the others before the Imperial Army's pursuit."

However, these are just Yu Lian and Feifei's guesses after all.

The fact is that Deng Zhengqing accepted the kindness of Firebeard and led the fleet to rest in this inconspicuous and remote starport for two months. The starport provided ship materials, supplies, energy and some ammunition, and Deng Zhengqing also gave Aachen No. 12 to Edward as a life-saving payment.

This battleship had undergone a rather crazy transformation at the New Shuntian Shipyard, which greatly enhanced its firepower. During the Battle of the Diamond Nebula, Banner's crazy (super) crazy (god) operation killed an Imperial battleship with random guns and successfully broke through, but it also completely destroyed the main gun function of the bow.

But even so, it is a good ship that is difficult for a group of pirates to get.

"Firebeard" Edward said with emotion that Commander Deng was indeed a decent man, and even if he was a gangster, he would sooner or later become a godfather-level boss.

He decided to convert Aachen No. 12 into his flagship, so he brought it to the Great Freedom City and spent a huge amount of money on a comprehensive repair. He replaced it with small international brand naval guns and gravity tractors, and it became more and more like a pirate ship.

I have to admit that the Great Freedom City is indeed a gathering of heroes. In such a short time, they transformed the damaged light cruiser into the shape that the pirates love most.

Of course, the original 4-linked gravity accelerator was a good thing that could not even be found on the black market in the city, so naturally they were reluctant to dismantle it. This is why Yu Lian's subordinates noticed it at a glance, and then it evolved into a subsequent situation.

Of course, this is all in the past.

So he provided Deng Zhengqing with a star map, which showed the route into the Xumoe star zone along the edge of the Dukedom of Poyi, as well as a base hidden in a remote galaxy.

"This is a secret base that our old master used to run... Hey, it was abandoned after the current master ascended the throne. However, the port and base are still there. The berth is spacious, and there is a half-built energy array and a small arsenal. You can take shelter there temporarily."

It can be seen that after Duke Bo Yi was moved to this marginal star area by Emperor Ivenya, they were really unwilling to accept this and wanted to do something.

However, whether it is indignation, resentment or hatred, they are all fragile in the face of the torrent of time.

After Emperor Ileser ascended the throne, they also stopped their small actions. Of course, they dared not continue to build secret military bases and arsenals.

As for whether to accept your fate or lie low, only you know how it is.

After all, they just stopped the construction but did not destroy the original site, let alone report it.

In short, the Duke had left a relatively intact secret base in the information hidden in the cracks of the vast territory of the empire, which was enough for the remnants of the anti-shipping fleet to hide. If they were lucky, they might be able to activate some sealed equipment to repair the ship.

Edward the Firebeard told Deng Zhengqing that due to the great uprising on Danhur last year, the entire Xumoe star region was in a state of considerable turmoil. As we all know, the more turbulent the area, the easier it is to hide. This is another concept of "hiding in the city".

In addition, on the planet Danhur, such a chaos might directly affect the Helots and even the mainland.

By that time, the commerce-breaking fleet might be able to find a chance to escape.

Of course, they are more likely to be found by the pursuit troops of the Imperial Army. This depends on the will of the Spirit of the Universe.

The above is the entire transaction between the Flame Pirates and Deng Zhengqing.

However, up to now, no one has received any news that the remnants of the commerce-breaking fleet have been found, so it is very likely that they are still alive.

"Live towards death. They did it." Yu Lian said.

"So, what are you going to do?" Feifei stared at Yu Lian, her eyes filled with thousands of words.