Chapter 1440: Chapter 543: My Turf, My Rules (Part 2)

The surviving pirates feared that even if they managed to escape back to the base, they would still face endless pursuit from the Red Blade Clan’s army.

There was no doubt whether Earl Red Blade could achieve this.

He definitely had the capability.

Currently, more than a quarter of the Shattered Star Ring’s territory was already under the control of forces commanded by Earl Red Blade. Pursuing pirates was even easier for him than for the Nanxiang Marquis, as he only needed to reactivate the First Expeditionary Army’s territory, continue suppressing strong pirate forces, win over the small and scattered pirate populations in various settlements, and naturally push everyone to a dead end.

This was exactly how the First Expeditionary Army had operated back then, slowly nibbling away at the Seven Seas Under the Earl until it was completely destroyed by the emerging power.

It’s just that in recent years, the forces under Earl Red Blade have slightly restrained themselves.

Now, with the arrival of the Second Expeditionary Army, and with Earl Red Blade, an Imperial Earl, personally in command, combined with the momentum of completely thwarting the Nanxiang Marquis’s plot,

they would undoubtedly restart their expansion efforts.

So even if they escaped now, they would eventually be found out.

But knowing all this, what could they do?

Perhaps fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, these individuals quickly found their worries dissipated.

Because they unexpectedly received a voice communication from Earl Red Blade himself.

Perhaps the Information Flow Interference Bomb had finally expired, or perhaps Earl Red Blade had unveiled a new counter-interference communication technology, but these details no longer mattered. In any case, the threat from Earl Red Blade had ended their troubles.

They were clearly informed that the Red Peak Army was accepting surrenders.

If they surrendered now, they and their respective pirate civilizations could become non-regular citizens under Earl Red Blade, enjoying the same treatment as other pirate forces in the Shattered Star Ring that had already submitted to the Red Blade Clan.

Of course, they could also refuse to surrender; after all, no one could stop a person from choosing to die.

Those who refused to surrender would be regarded as mortal enemies of Earl Red Blade and would face endless pursuit.

This was the Nanxiang Star Cluster, a frontier area of the Empire, with very few colonizable star systems outside the cluster. As defeated dogs, there was nowhere else to go.

So, without much hesitation, numerous pirate ships unanimously halted their retreat and, instead, with inexplicable anticipation, turned around to surrender.

These people never felt loyalty to the Nanxiang Marquis; they only joined the battle because they had no other choice and were drawn by the promises and bright prospects offered by the Nanxiang Marquis.

Now having been defeated, they found an opportunity to become non-regular citizens of a Red Blade force whose rise was unstoppable, and their treatment would not be much worse than the promises of the Nanxiang Marquis, leaving them overjoyed.

This group of people thought silently to themselves, if they had known it would turn out like this, what was the point of initially resisting?

Why didn’t we choose to submit to you from the start?

If only you had told us earlier that you had this power and laid out these terms, would we not have submitted then and there?

Why did so many people have to die?

Especially among the remnants of the Five Elder Clan’s middle and upper ranks, they were almost so frustrated they could vomit blood.

Of course, such things were only thoughts.

In fact, everyone was well aware that even if Ren Zhong had announced his surrender policy from the start, without proving his strength, the Pirate Alliance would never have chosen him.

It’s somewhat strange, but the time taken for the surrender process was actually longer than the time both sides spent in formal combat.

Five whole standard workdays passed before the Second Red Peak Expeditionary Army completed the reorganization, and then continued their slow advance towards the Shattered Star Ring.

The reason the surrender process took five full days was due to the change in attitude of the Red Peak army.

When both sides were still enemies, they fought ruthlessly, making the Pirate Alliance feel the coldness of an autumn breeze, with devastating and lethal tactics.

However, once the surviving pirates expressed their clear intention to surrender through means such as information flow communication, radio waves, and light flash signals, the positions of both sides changed, and enemies turned into allies.

The Red Blade Clan’s army immediately transformed from a cold autumn breeze into a warm spring day.

No matter if it was the pirate ships forced to stay in place or those that had fled and returned to surrender, most had suffered some damage.

Some pirate ships were so severely damaged that even their life-support systems had stopped functioning.

There were also several pirate ships whose main structures were damaged, barely safeguarding another part by using emergency sealing devices placed at various internal connection points to create partitions.

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