Chapter 803: Silver Needle Piercing the Darkness
From the Crimson Scar emerged an army of Chaos, a fleet of corrupted flesh and blood bearing the emblem of a blood-red skull, and marched straight towards the northern border of the Alliance.
The shadow of war suddenly enveloped the alliance's homeland.
The blood-red fleet was discovered by a reconnaissance fleet of the Alliance heading north to investigate the border situation. It consisted of only a dozen patrol ships. Their most outstanding ability was that they were small enough to withstand little pressure when traveling through the astral plane. In addition, their anti-subspace measures that exceeded the standard by many times gave them a relatively high safety factor when sailing.
Of course, this higher number is relative.
If something goes wrong, then it will. A patrol ship only has a few hundred people, and the ship itself is not expensive.
Low cost is also one of their 'advantages'.
In addition, their ship was equipped with powerful communication facilities. It was essentially used to transmit information to the Alliance's homeland. However, when traveling through the three star regions of the northern Swallowing Star Region, they would also communicate with various planets, and naturally convey the Alliance's intentions, persuading them to surrender to the Control Committee.
In this sense, the work done by these dozen patrol ships seems to be similar to that of the Dark Side Expedition - well, it's still far from it.
Since they are not equipped with powerful military means and lack deterrence, it is rare for those planets to bow down to the Alliance upon seeing it.
On the contrary, there are many people who negotiate conditions.
The three star regions of Devouring Star are closer to the Scarlet Scar. Apart from anything else, the inherent problems on their planets are becoming more and more serious under the chaos corruption.
They urgently need the alliance's military force, or a large amount of material aid, to solve the problems on their planet.
These things cannot be provided by a few patrol ships, so naturally there is no way for the Control Committee to recapture these planets.
There are some planets with particularly urgent situations that regard the Alliance's patrol ships as a lifeline. No matter what, they say they are fully willing to accept the management of the Control Committee. The Alliance can do whatever it wants to them, but they just ask for the dispatch of troops and supplies as soon as possible.
What to do?
They really couldn't help, and could only help them report the situation to their higher authorities.
Their superior is the Alliance’s Liaoguang Star Domain Defense Command.
This is part of the alliance's local defense.
They certainly did not belong to the expeditionary force.
However, although it is local defense, the alliance has been on guard for a long time, and there may be risks in the northern area close to the Scarlet Scar. The local defense of the two northernmost star regions, Liaoguang and Gucheng, has been strengthened. The mission is to strictly guard the northern border of the alliance and eliminate external risks.
Against this backdrop, the patrol ship's superior unit, the Liaoguang Star Region's headquarters, did not agree to send troops.
Leaving the alliance homeland and fighting outside is beyond their authority.
They just let the patrol ships inform those planets that want to surrender that the Control Committee has accepted their return, but so far, there is no clear reinforcement plan. They ask these worlds to defend their homeland well and solve the problem by themselves, but at least don't let the problem get worse.
Each of those planets was quite disappointed.
This is crap that the Alliance brought back.
Even if there are some so-called "practical manuals", they are not of much significance. The problems they are facing now cannot be solved by giving advice or thinking of solutions. They really need strong military force and sufficient supplies to solve them.
As for asking them to solve the problem, or curb its deterioration...don't they know that they should do so?
Isn't that impossible?
The disappointed planetary dignitaries, the more decent ones, replied that they would try their best to hold out and hoped that the alliance would be quick.
If it is inappropriate, just make sarcastic remarks or even curse.
What a bullshit regulatory committee, a power struggle. Even if you really want to come, you can’t come!
The alliance is also helpless.
I want to manage it, but I really don’t have the power to do so.
The Dark Side Expedition must be carried out according to the plan. It is impossible to go wherever there is a problem. Blindly attacking is not only extremely risky and easy to be dragged into the quagmire, but the alliance itself cannot bear so many fronts at the same time.
Unrealistic.
There must always be a first and a last, and there must always be someone holding on in the darkness.
But the alliance's patrol ships did not do nothing.
Although the headquarters was helpless and somewhat cruel, the captain of the patrol fleet, Major Gu Ziqiang, was still quite sympathetic towards these isolated island worlds.
On the premise of ensuring that his own reconnaissance mission was not affected, he tried his best to let the dozen or so patrol ships under his command serve as the communication channels between these isolated island worlds.
There is no way for those planets to communicate directly with each other, but they can carry information out through their navigation and bring it to the next galaxy where the patrol fleet goes.
They could even get in touch directly through the transit on the ship.
In this way, they successfully helped a world that had submitted to the Control Committee to link up the eight surrounding worlds with it as the center.
It's not just a communication link, but also a flight connection.
Before the Alliance was "powered up" throughout the territory, it also went through a period of isolated islands. During that period, many worlds in the Alliance also completed a star-field-level grand union through their own efforts.
Although there are some favorable conditions, these worlds in the Devouring Star Universe do not have them. However, the experience of the Alliance at that stage, before the power was turned on, is also valuable.
At least it is worth learning from.
It turns out that things like the layout of the church, the protective force field after the mechanical blessing, the coordination of the choir... are all universal.
However, the situation here is more severe, and this series of measures have to be multiplied. Moreover, safety cannot be guaranteed, and crises during navigation still need to be handled with caution.
But no matter how dangerous it was, at least they had mastered a new method. They could even follow the Alliance patrol ships and be guided by the patrol ships when passing through the astral tunnels, which had become extremely dangerous.
The chaos erosion and corruption that the ships would suffer would still exist, but at least the risk of getting lost was greatly reduced.
As for whether it becomes a normal ship or a bad thing after passing through it, no one knows, and it is not something Gu Ziqiang can decide.
It all depends on their own fate.
Not a bad life.
Although there were some losses during the voyage, overall it was still within the tolerable range.
And from the world called "Alliance Star", some materials that were in short supply from the eight surrounding worlds were successfully transported there, and some of their own things, even military forces, were transported back.
Being able to share what we have with each other can actually solve some problems to a large extent.
At least, it can be solved between these nine worlds.
Things are getting better.
After the relevant report was submitted, it even attracted the attention of the Alliance Central Committee.
This method is worth learning from.
If this model could be replicated in the Dark Side Expedition, it would be of great help.
A few patrol ships can connect an entire area. If several worlds or even dozens of worlds can unite with each other, solve their own problems, and are willing to submit to the Control Committee, it will save a lot of effort.
It is a huge expense to organize a large army for an expedition. But if only a dozen patrol ships are organized as an envoy fleet, the alliance can organize thousands or even tens of thousands of them in a few years!
Even though the success rate of doing so is not high. After all, not every place has the realistic conditions for submission like the Oath Alliance Star, and not every place cares about the will of the leaders of those planets.
But so what?
Low cost!
Even if the success rate is only one percent, when there are 10,000 fleets operating outside, that means 100 star regions will be annexed in this way. The resources and energy saved will probably be cheaper than building these patrol ships.
Moreover, the annexed worlds that united and resolved their own problems could form their own coalition. The Control Committee would provide authorization for them to join the Dark Side Crusade.
This might lead to even bigger surprises!
As for what to do if these annexed worlds really become bigger, the Alliance is not afraid anyway.
First of all, the more worlds that can solve their own problems, the better. Even if they cannot submit, that is a problem of "internal contradictions among humans". At least it will leave more vitality for the human race.
At the same time, it is also easier to clean up a large power group or alliance. After a battle, the ownership of hundreds of worlds can be determined, which saves a lot of effort compared to actually going to hundreds of worlds one by one to take them back.
Of course, if they really grow into a force that controls thousands or tens of thousands of worlds, with a size similar to the Alliance, and can compete with Gu Hang in the Dark Expedition... then Gu Hang can only say, you are really awesome, why don't we save all mankind together.
With such a master, it is better to be a friend than an enemy.
But Gu Hang actually had no hope at all that such a powerful man would fall from the sky.
Even he, without the help of the system interface and the assistance of the emperor, could not have achieved the current level.
I'm afraid the only one who can do this, besides Gu Hang, is the emperor.
In short, with this idea in mind, Gu Hang issued an order to the Dark Side Expedition Headquarters, requiring them to carefully study the "Oath Star Model" developed by Major Gu Ziqiang in the northern border of the Alliance, and try to reuse it.
At the same time, Gu Hang also personally commended Major Gu Ziqiang in his own name, and hoped that he would work hard in the Star-Swallowing Three-Star Domain and continue to do so. At the same time, he asked the Liaoguang Star Domain Defense Command to provide necessary support.
Major Gu Ziqiang - now he should be called Lieutenant Colonel - was ecstatic after receiving the commendation!
Although his military rank was only raised by one level and his position remained unchanged, the extra cash bonus given to his wife and daughter was nothing.
However, after receiving praise from the alliance's top leader and taking on an important position, his future must be bright.
I never expected that, at the age of 47 this year, I would still have the opportunity to move forward.
He originally thought that when he retired at the age of 58, he would be lucky to retire with a colonel's salary. Now, he probably had a chance to earn himself a general's title. Brigadier general was not enough, and it would be best if he could be a major general. In that case, maybe he could save up enough to have a rejuvenation surgery and extend his life.
Just when he was full of motivation and ready to devote his life to the cause of the alliance, the bad news happened in this environment.
He was at the northernmost tip of the Star Devouring Three Stars Domain, actively contacting planets from all over the place, trying to replicate his previous success, when he suddenly ran into a group of demon soldiers who had completed the migration.
At the first moment, he was extremely panicked.
His pupils reflected the boiling scarlet vortex outside the observation window, and countless warp beacons suddenly exploded on the radar screen. The tactical hologram was instantly dyed an ominous red - it was a demon army composed of corrupted battleships, the skull symbol on the bow was oozing liquid subspace energy, and even the starship alloy was twisted and screamed in their tracks.
There is no doubt that with the strength of this demon army, as long as Gu Ziqiang's fleet is discovered, the four patrol ships will be destroyed in an instant.
But fortunately, they have not been discovered yet.
The four patrol ships instinctively went into hiding the moment they sensed something unusual.
Gu Ziqiang hesitated. The order was on the tip of his tongue, but he refused to give it.
He now seems to have two options: either, the four patrol ships flee separately, all in silent mode, which would give him a chance to deceive them and slip away quietly.
But they cannot enter the Star Tunnel and start the jump engine, otherwise they will be discovered and may be intercepted halfway in the Star Tunnel; they can only remain silent, quietly drive the ship to a far place in a conventional way, and then pray quietly that the demon army can pass through before all the supplies on the ship are consumed.
In this way, they can survive.
The other option is to do whatever it takes to open communications and try to contact several other patrol ships that are not in this galaxy, pass on the information, and warn the alliance.
But in that case, they would be exposed and killed without a complete body.
I have just been awarded, and the road to light has just opened before me. Are you going to kill me now?
His daughter had just grown up, and he hadn't seen her get married yet...
Trembling, he took out an amulet of the Emperor's image made from fragments of church stained glass windows. The amulet was getting hot in his breast pocket.
When he recalled the faces of his wife and daughter, his body suddenly stopped shaking.
"Activate the communication protocol at full power."
He opened his collar and the amulet glowed faintly.
The adjutant took a step back in fear: "But..."
No one wants to die, especially when the future is bright.
Gu Ziqiang pulled his adjutant away and started operating the console himself.
The adjutant touched his pistol, but until Gu Ziqiang completed all the operations, he still couldn't make up his mind to draw his gun.
Gu Ziqiang turned around, patted his adjutant on the shoulder, and said nothing more.
The communication equipment, fully activated, shines so brightly.
The Chaos Demon warships that completed the warp discovered their traces at the first moment.
The main guns of the Flesh Battleship began to charge, and the portholes of the bridge seemed to reflect the wails of thousands of wronged souls.
Gu Ziqiang suddenly laughed. He turned on the communication channel and shouted to the entire fleet of more than a thousand soldiers, "We are the silver needles that pierce the darkness! The alliance will be proud of us, and mankind will be proud of us!"
He staked his life, along with the lives of four patrol ships and more than a thousand sailors, in exchange for intelligence to be passed back to the Alliance.
As the demon ship's corrupted beam penetrated the hull, a blue-silver stream of information was escaping along the afterglow of the Thunder Torch - it was a map of death woven with the positioning beacons of four ships, and each coordinate was soaked in the crew's final brain wave memory.
The alarm at the Liaohuo Fire Region Defense Command suddenly sounded.
(End of this chapter)
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