Chapter 225: A Line Crossed in the Stars

In the Drac Empire, the title of Fleet Marshal is held by none other than the Emperor himself.

Directly beneath him are the Seven Grand Admirals, a fixed rank. Nick Vanleven happens to be one of these seven.

As for the fleet’s structure, the Empire currently fields 22 fleets in total. Each is supposed to consist of 50,000 warships, though some are under-strength. So for now, they command an actual force of 920,000 ships.

The Thirteenth Fleet, which Nick leads this time, is a fully staffed main fleet and also the direct fleet of the Vanleven family.

This deployment alone—

—has drawn the attention of every level-four civilization across the entire Milky Way.

Almost all of them have dispatched ships, trailing the Imperial fleet on its march.

One month later.

The entire fleet finishes assembling and prepares to advance. After a series of continuous jumps covering 4,800 light years—

The Drac Empire’s Thirteenth Fleet finally arrives in a star system just 11 light years away from Ross 248.

Of course, at this moment, they have no idea where the Federation is exactly. Little do they know, they’re already knocking on the Federation’s front door.

“Admiral Nick, why do we have to drag these flies along with us?”

The adjutant stared at the observation screen, baffled, watching a dozen or so oddly-shaped ships tailing the Imperial fleet.

After all, if we simply hide our route from them, how could they possibly follow us all the way here?

So why does our Admiral insist on sharing the coordinates with these ships before every jump?

“We don’t have a choice. It’s part of the deal His Majesty struck with the other level-four civilizations.”

“Since they’ve sworn to observe the Level-Four Civilization Agreement, and not interfere militarily, we need to at least show them some respect.”

“You have to remember, our Empire is the weakest among the 17 level-four civilizations. That’s a fact we can’t ignore. So as long as their requests aren’t too much, there’s no need to make trouble for everyone.”

“They’re just here as military observers—just act like they don’t exist.”

Nick said this with a smile.

Just as he said, unless someone threatens the core interests of the Empire, Daan isn’t about to offend the others for no reason.

The adjutant seemed to want to say more—

“Admiral, we’ve received a warning message. It’s from someone calling themselves the Human Federation!”

“The Human Federation… What civilization is that?”

Nick froze in surprise.

He couldn’t remember anything about such a civilization.

Besides, what power in the Orion Spur would even dare send a warning to the Imperial fleet?

“What did the message say?”

“It says we’re approaching the territory of the Level-Four Civilization known as the Human Federation. They demand we immediately identify ourselves and state our intentions, forbidding unauthorized entry. If we cross the border, they’ll destroy us.”

“Absurd!”

Nick shot up from his seat, fury written all over his face.

In the Orion Spur, who has the guts to try and threaten the Drac Empire’s fleet?

And they’re calling themselves a level-four civilization?

A civilization stuck out in a barren region could qualify as level four? Don’t make me laugh.

That patch of space doesn’t even have the resources needed to support a real civilization—let alone a level-four. Who are they trying to scare?

Anyone can claim to be a level-four civilization with a loud enough voice—doesn’t mean the rest of us have to tremble.

Can we trace the signal’s origin?

“Admiral Nick, what’s our plan now?”

“Hmph. As soon as the jump engines finish dissipating residual radiation, we move out at once. I want to see for myself what this so-called level-four civilization is really made of!”

“Yes, Admiral!”

Meanwhile—

The observation ships from the other level-four civilizations received the very same message.

But, unlike Nick, they were also sent a second, separate transmission.

It basically said: If the Empire’s fleet ignores the warning and pushes into Federation territory—then…

The Federation will annihilate the entire Imperial fleet. All other observer ships are advised not to follow, to avoid getting caught up in the carnage.

Everyone was stunned after reading that. “Unbelievable,” was all they could say.

That is the whole fleet of a level-four civilization. Even if the Federation really is also level four, to wipe out 50,000 warships in one go? That’s just not possible.

After all, every fleet has energy shields. Even level-four energy weapons aren’t easy to use against those.

In other words—

War between level-four civilizations is nothing like conflicts at lower tiers. Even on battlefields of the same size, it takes several times longer to determine the winner.

Simply put: energy shields are just that tough.

Even if you spend ages gaining the upper hand, there’s no way to wipe out the enemy entirely.

Because—

Everyone not only has energy shields, but also jump engines.

If the enemy decides to retreat, there’s nothing you can do to stop them.

That’s why, after hearing the Federation’s threat, Nick didn’t hesitate. He ignored any talk of ‘what ifs’ and prepared to break through by force.

After all, even if the Federation really is a level-four civilization, so what?

Worst case, his fleet just retreats again.

So there was nothing to consider, and nothing to fear.

Just charge straight in.

Still, even if the other sixteen level-four civilizations’ observer ships didn’t take the Federation’s warning seriously,

They weren’t about to stick with the Imperial fleet like before.

After all, a real battle could break out at any moment. Jumping over alongside the fleet could land them right in the crossfire.

So…

After weighing their options, they decided to hold back and contact Nick again after his fleet crossed the border.

Then they’d decide whether to follow, and how.

——

More than half an hour later.

The jump engines finally finished burning off residual radiation.

“Admiral, what coordinates should we set next?”

Unlike before, when they just kept heading in the right direction and jumped the maximum distance every time,

Now the fleet was likely right up against the Federation border.

Which meant—

From here on, every jump had to be carefully planned.

“We’ll jump to one star system at a time.”

“Understood!”

The adjutant nodded and relayed the orders at once.

“Admiral, coordinates have been locked in and distributed. All ships report ready for jump!”

“Then let’s not waste time. Begin the jump!”

“Yes, Admiral!”

With fifty thousand warships jumping at once, the sight was beyond breathtaking.

Especially when the jump engines fired up, and the surrounding void seemed to collapse in on itself. That effect, multiplied by fifty thousand, was truly a sight to behold.

In a blink, all fifty thousand warships vanished from their positions.

But almost instantly, just as they disappeared, they reappeared in the exact same spot. Not a single ship had changed position.

The only difference—every warship now looked as if it had been twisted up like a braided rope.

Then, just as suddenly, every last warship exploded in unison.

As for the sixteen observer ships that hadn’t left—everyone aboard was utterly dumbfounded.

No one knew exactly what had just happened, but one thing was clear—

The Imperial fleet, just as the Human Federation warned,

Was utterly wiped out in an instant. There wasn’t a single survivor to find.