Chapter 102: The Trap at the Edge of Deep Space

More than five days had passed.

The Klein fleet stayed relentlessly on their heels, closing the gap little by little.

At this rate, they’d soon be close enough to unleash their assault corvettes en masse.

Meanwhile, Lin Yu sat upright in the captain’s chair, eyes on the 3D tactical star map in front of him, watching the shifting positions of friend and foe, and glancing at the streaming data nearby.

“What’s our status?”

Just then, a cool voice rang out behind him.

It was Mu Qingxue.

Back then, using the med bay on Qiongxiao had only been out of necessity.

Mu Qingxue had been gravely wounded at the time, needing immediate treatment and wasn’t fit for travel on an assault corvette.

But once her basic treatment was done and her condition was stable, she’d been transferred to Zhulong.

After all, Qiongxiao had been battered badly; even the medbay equipment had taken damage, and who knew if a Klein warrior might still be hiding somewhere onboard.

“Commander, you should still be on bed rest, shouldn’t you?”

“I’m mostly fine now. As long as I don’t overdo it, I’ll be okay.”

Mu Qingxue waved a hand and turned her eyes to the 3D tactical map in front of Lin Yu.

“Lin Yu, it’s almost time, right?”

“Yes, 335 minutes left.”

“Alright, keep directing. Pretend I’m not here.”

Mu Qingxue gave a nod. She’d only come to observe the final battle, not to interfere with Lin Yu’s command.

And in any case, Lin Yu’s Sixth Experimental Fleet now answered directly to Federation Fleet Headquarters. She had no authority to step in.

Still, since Mu Qingxue was here, Lin Yu wasn’t about to let her just stand around.

But handing over the main captain’s chair wasn’t quite appropriate either.

So with a few quick taps on a virtual panel, he made arrangements.

About a meter to the right and slightly behind the captain’s seat, the floor—usually empty—opened up.

Up rose a second seat, identical to the captain’s chair.

This was standard design for cruisers and up.

They called it the “add-on seat.”

If there was a vice-captain or a fleet executive visiting your ship to command, this seat came in handy.

After all, you couldn’t just make the captain give up his chair and stand aside, could you?

Mu Qingxue nodded, displayed no fuss, and took a seat to Lin Yu’s right.

“So, how do you predict this battle will go?”

“It all hinges on the first strike. Nail that, and everything else falls into place!”

“Yeah, that first strike… It’s really thanks to what the Far East First Research Institute pulled off, giving us this trump card.”

Mu Qingxue dipped her head slightly.

Originally, the plan hadn’t called for the Fifth Fleet to double back. They were supposed to lure the Klein fleet farther out—to Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, maybe even the Kuiper Belt.

“Half a year” was just the minimum time the Fifth Fleet had to win for the Federation—not a hard deadline.

A year, two years, even three would have been better.

After all, once the Asteroid Belt was retaken and the Klein’s war potential—basically their entire colony fleet—was buried for good…

Time…

Would be on humanity’s side.

The longer they dragged things out, the stronger the Federation Fleet would get, while the Klein fleet’s strength would be frozen at the moment their colony fleet was wiped out above Europa.

That was how things were supposed to play out.

Supposed to.

But plans changed.

Because of a new invention from the Far Eastern First Academy of Sciences, the Federation Fleet’s grand strategy shifted overnight.

No more buying time—it could all end right now.

All they had to do was set the trap and have the Fifth Fleet draw the enemy in.

Time might favor humanity, but the sooner the Kleins were dealt with, the sooner they could leap beyond the Solar System and start colonizing the stars.

That’s why Mu Qingxue got new orders to double back toward Jupiter.

Of course, the change in course had let Tumelo spot a gap in the plan, triggering the chain of events that followed.

Otherwise, by the original plan, they’d just keep running ahead, letting the Klein fleet chase their tail lights.

In that situation, Tumelo wouldn’t have a chance to…

Pull off a flanking maneuver.

At the same time…

Aboard the First Fleet’s flagship—Warstar Vellesharana.

“Report! The Sixth Experimental Fleet has passed the trigger point! Klein ships detected 4.22 million kilometers behind; estimated time to the trigger point: 332 minutes!”

“Notify Lin Yu—he doesn’t need to keep towing Qiongxiao. Let it coast on inertia. We’re ready to receive it from twenty light-seconds ahead. Also, order his fleet to enter phase two of the operation—immediately!”

“Yes, Supreme Commander!”

Orders went out fast and the teams jumped into action.

The six warships towing Qiongxiao one by one released their nano-cables, letting her continue on a fixed course via inertia.

Meanwhile, the Sixth Experimental Fleet advanced another hundred thousand kilometers.

Then they began to slow down…

And finally came to a full stop.

They even rotated the whole fleet, facing the enemy like they’d block them at all costs.

Tumelo saw it all unfold.

“Tara, what’s your take?”

“Patriarch, looks to me like they’re dead set on defending that super warship. See? The humans have stopped towing it and are letting it glide forward alone. Around twenty light-seconds ahead, there’s another human fleet. About 150 ships…”

“So you mean these warships are being left behind—sacrificed—just to save that one ship?”

Tumelo wasn’t buying it.

Those were nineteen ships, each on par with a third-tier civilization’s warpower.

Sure, maybe only equal to newly advanced level threes, but that was still formidable.

Trading those nineteen ships just to let that super warship escape?

He would never make such a choice.

That super warship was only a level two in terms of civilization tech; valuable, yes, but nowhere near those nineteen ships.

But if that wasn’t it, what were the humans playing at?

They were in open space here, not the Asteroid Belt. There was no way for an ambush.

And if there was, it’d have to be beyond his fleet’s sensor range.

So then…

What’s the Klein fleet’s detection range out here in deep space?

About forty light-seconds—twelve million kilometers.

So with no hidden fleets and just those nineteen ships up ahead, was he supposed to back off in fear?

No. This was just some human ploy to sow doubt and make him hesitate.

And by the time he realized it, their super warship would be long gone—and those nineteen ships would probably…

Turn tail and run as well.

Hmph. Human tricks like these, Tumelo…

Could see right through them.

“Order the whole fleet to battle stations! And get every assault corvette ready!”

“I’m going to seize this moment and swallow…”

“All nineteen of those human warships!”