Chương 624: Tactics and Reactions.

After the ship collapsed and everyone inside got exposed to the harsh environment around them, death messages popped up in Liu Shu's eyes one after another.

"Wow~, so many messages!" Liu Shu quickly checked for any 0 EXP ones and noticed a few. This confused her.

'What are Level 10s and 20s doing on the ships?' But after thinking for a bit, she came to a conclusion.

"The soldiers probably need cooks, people to clean the ship, gardeners for the artificial gardens inside, etc., right? There are always those in the process of learning as well. Unlike an army on land that gallops with just soldiers, traversing space poses many more technical difficulties. I guess some of these were also crafters and experts who could help repair and check the ship's integrity." While it was a shame, Liu Shu's heart would not soften for something like this.

She shook her head and spoke to the System.

"Don't show me the 0 Experience messages. Just show me the lowest Level from which I can earn experience currently. And a few other reference points. Use averages." [Understood] [Congratulations on defeating <Eclipse Human Level 74 (A- Rank)>. You've gained 54 Experience Points.] [Congratulations on defeating <Eclipse Human Level 75 (A- Rank)>. You've gained 927 Experience Points.] [Congratulations on defeating <Eclipse Human Level 99 (A- Rank)>. You've gained 7, 322 Experience Points.] [Congratulations on defeating <Eclipse Human Level 100 (A- Rank)>. You've gained 13, 771 Experience Points.] [Congratulations on defeating <Eclipse Human Level 125 (A- Rank)>. You've gained 40, 357 Experience Points.] [Congratulations on defeating <Eclipse Human Level 149 (A- Rank)>. You've gained 83, 917 Experience Points.] Liu Shu exclaimed, stunned.

"Wait. A thousand to seven thousand Experience Points for <Fourth Energy Cycle> beings? Is there something wrong?" [While Tianlian Liu Shu's strength is far beyond those beings, the system calculates Experience Points through existence ranking. Tianlian Liu Shu is a Level 101 A+ Tier World Tree. Usually, a being of this level would have some difficulty defeating beings at these levels in large numbers. Hence, the reward.]"..." Liu Shu's face turned strange.

"Can't I totally abuse this?" [The System does not discriminate against beings who gain their strength through combat with near-leveled people.] This made Liu Shu think. She asked, curious.

"So… How much experience did this one Moon-Type ship give me? [Calculating… Tianlian Liu Shu has gained 10, 866, 400 Experience Points!]"Ten million?" Liu Shu checked her accumulated Experience before that.

"13 million Accumulated Experience Points… I just earned almost that amount after defeating one of the 35 Moon-Type ships?" Her worldview was honestly shaken. [Wisdom: You can fight against beings much stronger than you. Therefore, your ability to earn Experience Points has always been excellent. That is one of the most important qualities that has allowed you to beat the odds time and time again.]"I understand that… I understood it in my head. Still, seeing it reflected with numbers is really stunning."

As she was speaking with Wisdom and the System, she noticed that the ships had taken a turn.

"Hm? They've turned around?" Liu Shu squinted, not having expected this.

'So… They do not mindlessly charge forward, chucking in their losses as part of terrain casualties. I didn't expect this.' If she knew that, Liu Shu would've stolen more than one Moon-Type ship.

'It can take extra work, but I can take down two without expending excessive resources.' The problem that Liu Shu now faced was how to hide the shipwreck.

'I could keep this subdimension. Nevertheless, if they have ways to find it, they will find my energy trace. With that as a reference, checking their surroundings and noticing my roots won't be a big problem. So, the best I can do now is not actively hide it, but reveal it before they begin sweeping seriously.' Her Eternal Essence rippled, and all the phenomena maintained by <Eternity Strand> stopped, dissipating into the void of space.

'Unless they come out personally, they shouldn't be able to find anything odd.' She was honestly hoping. After all, her knowledge of Nexus technology was derived from Cael, Elyne, and the other envoys. While Liu Shu was sure that she knew about most of their superficial weapons, there were some tricks that were bound to take her by surprise. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Meanwhile, Altherion and the rest of the fleet activated their long-range scanners.

"Any signals?"

"Yes, sir. We've spotted the location of Moon-Type 34."

"Hm?" Altherion blinked, confused.

"How is that possible? Did it just pop out into our scanners?" The person checking the radar data nodded, his face equally puzzled.

"That's the case. Moon-Type 34's signals had become apparent, as if it was released from a confined space."

"Confined space… Some <Astraelis> are able to create natural jamming auras. Has a star beast swallowed the Moon-Type 34 as we've expected?"

"Unable to confirm, Star Lord. Once we approach, we will be able to check more in detail. We can also ask survivors of the ship."

"Understood." Altherion nodded and ordered.

"Speed up. There might be gravely injured people who need hasty medical attention." Vaarn's and Altherion's World-Type ships accelerated, enhancing the Moon-Types around them to keep up with them.

"Be attentive. We don't want to lose another Moon-Type in the same manner." A few minutes later, all 36 ships arrived at the location. Altherion ordered.

"Zoom in and maximize the images. Let us see what happened." Everyone held their breath until a translucent image appeared in the middle of the ship. The ship reflected in the image was broken beyond what anyone expected. It didn't even resemble a Moon-Type ship, but more like a chewed-up and scorched pile of metal. Such a disastrous appearance evoked gasps from most crewmembers, and even Altherion's face became solemn.

"Any survivors?" Around five people were scanning the area, their hands manipulating all their life sensors. After a minute of silence, the leader of the scanning group sighed and shook her head.

"None, Star Lord. Nothing survived. Not even Sir Valith." A communication request reached Altherion from Vaarn's ship. He took it, already expecting what was about to come.

"Altherion! What is the meaning of this!? Didn't you say that this was a quick journey to a remote Solar System? Why has a beast able to chew up a Moon-Type in a few minutes appeared? Something like that must be at least Level 180!" Altherion heard the furious man's tirade and didn't refute it. In all honesty, he never expected to lose a ship before they even arrived near Ceperet. Altherion was sure that this journey would be like a stroll in the park.

Even then, he was hell-bent on treading things carefully, even suggesting a rest on the nearby planet named Nualis. Yet, even with his cautious approach, a little over 2% of the army was gone, just like that.

"I am also unsure of what is happening, Vaarn. Do you think that I wanted this to happen? My men were there as well." Vaarn's anger was not placated, though.

"Who knows if those weren't some sacrificial pawns!? Were you jealous that Valith was about to become Level 150, giving me an extra general? You suggested dividing the ships with half my people and half yours, but the ship commanders are still our confidants!" Altherion sighed.

'I invited this hot-headed bastard because he is easy to convince. His current rank is half his strength and half his shamelessness in taking all easy jobs and inflating his merits. Who knew that his fuse was shorter than that of an archaic dynamite stick?'

"Vaarn, I will compensate you when we return. So, for now, let's quickly complete our mission and return. Once we arrive back at Eclipse World, we can settle things properly." Vaarn snorted.

"Whatever. Since this area is that of those Covenant bastards, I'll release my anger on them. There must be some envoys on that planet, right? Give them all to me for torture, and I will forget about this matter." Altherion waved his hand.

"Whatever. I do not have those twisted wishes of yours. I am also not starving for a few Experience Points." He then added a warning.

"While I understand that you hate them, as you were once part of the Covenant, control your urges. I don't want to have harsh Experience Point penalties because you created an extinction-level event."

"Relax. Do you think I am stupid or something?"

"No, but you are short-tempered." Vaarn couldn't really refute that. So, instead, he answered dismissively.

"Anyway, I understand. I'll control myself." Altherion noticed the communication cutting and frowned for a second. After a while, he sighed.

"I am starting to regret asking Vaarn instead of Kairis. While I would've needed to pay a greater favor to that ambitious woman, at least I can be at ease in terms of competence." Marisella spoke with a faint smile.

"Star Lord Vaarn's enthusiasm is something to be envious of."

"Good one." Altherion snorted, his silver-colored eyes glancing at the shipwreck once more.

"Take whatever can be saved and set course to Nualis. Land in one of the poles to not bother the natives."

"Understood, Star Lord."

Liu Shu glanced at the fleet, planning her next steps. As she did things, she was also communicating her actions to Elyne and the others. Cael nodded at Liu Shu's achievements.

"You managed to get one of the Moon-Types. That's probably around 2-4% of their army gone. If you can do this five more times, we'll reduce their strength by more than a tenth."

"But now they are alerted. It won't work again." Cael agreed with that.

"However, the fact that they returned confirms some essential information." Elyne blinked her purple eyes.

"Which is?" Cael smiled faintly.

"Their motives. If they were prepared for war, losing one Moon-Type would warrant them turning around. They are here as an Expedition group. I am more than 90% sure that the leading Star Lord is here with a guise to take revenge on Liu Shu due to personal reasons." Veyra agreed as well.

"Our hypothesis is basically confirmed." Hearing them, Flor was still confused.

"How does this help us? Aren't we still being targeted by a rather large army?" Ignatia tapped Flor's head with a finger.

"Silly girl. If they are here with the pretext of exploration, do you think that they've come ready to bear sacrifices? Losing one Moon-Type is already too much. Were they to lose another, they would most likely make a U-turn and go back to wherever they came from." Liu Shu didn't wholly agree.

"Your logic is great. But what if they use this opportunity to fight us? Losing one can be accidental, but losing two means that there is an actual threat. If they fight us and lose half their army, we are justifying their journey to 'eliminate a hidden threat.' Aren't we?" Cael sighed.

"Sadly, you are right." Then, he squinted his eyes.

"Still, we are not without options."