“Alright.”

Seeing how confident Hopka was, Antilo and the other man said no more.

“Depart!”

Colonel Hopka immediately gave the order.

The operators began their procedures.

The Azure Blue sealed all its external hatches, activated its ignition sequence, and slowly pulled away from the Omro planetary fortress.

“Activating cloaking device.”

…

The entire Azure Blue slowly blended into the pitch-black cosmos, heading for the Guangxiao Star Sea.

A little over two hours later.

The Azure Blue arrived at the edge of the Guangxiao Star Sea.

In the star-filled expanse ahead, triangular mechanical detection devices floated about. Patrol ships and Starglory fighters from the Third Legion could also be seen from time to time.

“Report, we are about to enter the Guangxiao Star Sea and have reached the Third Legion’s defensive perimeter.”

An operator reported to Hopka.

“Set the cloaking device to maximum power and slip through the edge!”

Colonel Hopka immediately gave the order.

“Yes, sir!”

The operator carried out the command.

Hearing this, Long Ming’s eyes narrowed. He looked at Colonel Hopka and asked,

“We’re entering the Third Legion’s territory. Shouldn’t we report to them?”

“Hmph. Since when does the Second Legion need to report to the Third Legion?”

Colonel Hopka replied irritably.

“Is it that we don’t need to, or that you don’t want to? There’s a big difference. Aren’t you afraid they’ll spot us and start a conflict? After all, the Third Legion’s current situation is anything but orderly.”

Long Ming seemed to enjoy calling Colonel Hopka out.

It was obvious Colonel Hopka was hiding something from them. They were likely wary of the Third Legion, and might even suspect them of having secretly taken their ship.

“This is none of your business. Also, I am your superior officer. Don’t get that backwards!”

Hopka retorted, annoyed.

“My esteemed officer, I’m just giving you a kind reminder. It’ll be too late for tearful regrets once you’re in hot water.”

Long Ming replied airily.

“Bullshit!”

Hopka was about to explode with rage at Long Ming.

“Captain, control yourself!”

Woperi quickly reminded Hopka.

“Hmph!”

Hopka snorted coldly and said no more.

Long Ming didn’t provoke Hopka any further, either. Instead, he turned to quietly watch the virtual projection.

…

Time passed.

Soon, the Azure Blue had navigated to the region of space behind Guangxiao Planet.

On the scanning radar screen, green and red dots appeared continuously.

The optical imaging device kept displaying a series of images.

The images showed Third Legion ships and Starglory fighters flying at high speeds, with scattered flying insects occasionally flitting past.

“Captain, we’ve entered the edge of the target star sea.”

Woperi said to Hopka.

“Activate the CSW Emergency Pulse Signal Monitoring Device. Begin searching for the missing Ocean!”

Colonel Hopka then issued the command to Woperi and the others.

“Yes, sir!”

Woperi and the team began the search.

Long Ming walked over to a nearby observation deck and watched quietly, hoping the search mission would be completed smoothly.

This mission could be simple, or it could be a huge pain. It all came down to luck.

…

「Three days later.」

The Azure Blue navigated cautiously through the starry expanse.

In space, the troops of the Third Expeditionary Army were busy cleaning up the flying insects that had broken through.

BOOM! RUMBLE~

Brilliant fireworks bloomed one after another.

Voices crackled across the public communications channel.

“This is Sharp Arrow Squad! We’ve spotted a Type III Elite Black Thorn Insect! Requesting support!”

“Acknowledged. The Lookout is en route to provide support.”

…

In the central control room.

Long Ming frowned as he watched the gridded optical images displayed before him.

Hopka, too, had a frantic look on his face.

“Damn it, what’s going on? Where the hell did the Ocean go? How have we been searching for so long and found nothing?”

“I don’t know.”

Woperi was also completely baffled.

“Woperi, double-check if the last signal source was from here. Make sure we’re not in the wrong area.”

Hopka said, a hint of worry in his voice.

Woperi verified the mission intelligence again, then replied to Hopka.

“It’s correct. This is the star sea!”

“Expand the search area!”

After hearing Woperi’s words, Hopka immediately gave the order.

“Understood!”

Woperi replied with a grave expression.

…

「Two days later.」

Woperi swallowed hard and reported to Colonel Hopka.

“Captain, we still haven’t found any sign of the Ocean.”

“Damn it, where the hell did that blasted ship go? Even if it were sunk, there should be some wreckage!”

Colonel Hopka was on the verge of losing his mind.

Long Ming and the others stood to the side, their expressions grim. No matter how difficult a mission was, they could always come up with a plan.

But if you couldn’t even find a shadow of the ship, then they were powerless.

After all, searching for a ship in the vastness of space was infinitely harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

“I don’t know. We’ve searched every planet in the Guangxiao Star Sea where it could be hiding or could have crashed, and we can’t detect any signal at all.”

Woperi also felt that this was incredibly strange.

“No, we have to find it!”

Colonel Hopka said, his eyes bloodshot.

Just then, Antilo spoke in a dark tone.

“Do you guys think the Ocean might not be in this star sea at all?”

“How is that possible? The final distress signal pointed right here.”

Colonel Hopka replied with absolute certainty.

“Then do you think it was sunk and then dragged away by the Insect Race?”

Antilo continued.

At his words, everyone on the bridge fell silent.

If that was the case, what was the point of searching?

“Captain, what do we do now?”

Woperi and the others looked at Colonel Hopka hesitantly.

Colonel Hopka’s expression shifted constantly before his eyes hardened with grim determination.

“I have an idea!”

“What idea?”

Antilo and the others all looked at Colonel Hopka.

“Since we can’t find it here, we can cross the defensive line and search the outer cosmos!”

Hopka proposed to the group, his words stunning everyone.

Woperi and the others stared at Captain Hopka in shock. They wanted to say something, but the words caught in their throats, and ultimately, they remained silent.

At that moment, Chen Hong said to Colonel Hopka with a cold sneer,

“Hopka, we may be lunatics, but we’re not idiots. Crossing the defensive line means entering the Insect Race’s territory. Isn’t that just a suicide mission?”

“Chen Hong is right. Besides, we only have one Level 4 battleship. If the Insect Race finds us, our chances of survival are practically zero!”

Antilo added coolly.

“Do you all think the consequences of failure will be light?”

Seeing everyone object, Hopka said, furious.

He had personally guaranteed the General he would succeed, thinking this mission would be a piece of cake. He never expected that he wouldn’t find a single trace.

Hopka didn’t even dare to imagine the consequences of failure.

“Hmph, don’t try to scare us. We aren’t afraid of the mission, nor are we refusing it. It’s just that your idea is as stupid as you are!”

Chen Hong retorted with disdain.

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