Huaya Nini looked at the battlefield before her, where the fighting raged.
She frowned, watching the battlefield with worry.
She had never thought she would be so unlucky.
They had only just completed the universe jump, and had not been stopped at the destination for more than a few minutes, when large numbers of unknown interstellar warships surged up all around them.
And without a word they opened fire.
At the same time there seemed to be communication-jamming equipment around them too; they could not reach the other interstellar transport fleets either.
They could not call for help, nor know how the other interstellar transport fleets were faring now.
"Lady Huaya Nini, things don't look good for us. The enemy's interstellar warships are very many: interstellar warships great and small, at least 50,000 of them. Most of them are T2-grade interstellar warships, true. But as things look now, there are at least a thousand-odd T5-grade interstellar warships, and possibly even one T6-grade interstellar warship. T4-grade interstellar warships, three to five thousand. The rest are all T3 and T2-grade interstellar warships. Going by how they fight, there are regulars and some mercenary legion fleets too. By the look of it, they came prepared." At this point the male commander on the far side of a video window said this, looking at Huaya Nini.
Huaya Nini said seriously, "In other words, we can't break out with the 30,000 interstellar transports here?"
"Impossible," the male mercenary commander said, flat and blunt.
"Then if we give up some of the interstellar transports and break out with the rest, how sure can we be?" Huaya Nini went straight on.
The male mercenary commander thought a moment, then said slowly, "Going by my Ranger-Hunter Mercenary Legion Fleet's situation, I can cover 5,000 interstellar transports breaking out at most; any more would only be a burden. And they'd have to be high-grade interstellar transports fast enough to keep up with our interstellar warships."
Out of 30,000 interstellar transports, only 5,000 could be kept.
Most would be lost at a stroke.
The other side would very likely give back the prisoners then, but the goods they seized they certainly would not give back; to get them back would cost an extremely high ransom.
Some greedy ones even demanded ransom for the Flower-Fairy prisoners they held.
But as things stood now, failing to decide when one must decide only invites worse trouble.
"Good; we break out with 5,000 interstellar transports!" Huaya Nini decided without hesitation.
"Good; I'll make arrangements on my side. In ten minutes we look for a chance to break out!" the male mercenary legion fleet commander said at once.
At the same time Huaya Nini passed the plan down too.
Aboard every interstellar transport was a Flower-Fairy representative traveling with the ship.
These Flower-Fairy representatives, learning that the interstellar transports they were on would be abandoned, were somewhat afraid, but felt no anger at all at being abandoned.
For when they took this job, they had been told that in carrying out transport tasks they might face just this.
The head of the task would take whatever course got the most value.
Even abandoning them when it had to be done was understandable.
Of course, Huaya Nini told them too that once her part of the interstellar transports had broken out,
the interstellar transports left behind could surrender outright, to cut their losses.
The ten minutes of preparation were done.
This Ranger-Hunter Mercenary Legion Fleet at once broke out in one direction, guarding 5,000 interstellar transports!
The attackers naturally noticed these interstellar fleets trying to break out; the task they had been given was to stop these interstellar transport fleets by every possible means.
Not one interstellar transport was to reach Gold-Mountain Shire safely!
That was their task.
They naturally could not stand by and watch these interstellar transports get away safely.
The attackers' interstellar fleets at once split in two: one part went on surrounding and attacking the interstellar fleets left behind, and the other went after the fleeing interstellar transport fleet.
In this chase of one pursuing and one fleeing,
the two sides were tangled together, and the attackers clung very close, so that Huaya Nini and her people's interstellar fleet could not shake them off at all.
Just as they were about to be caught again and surrounded by the enemy,
suddenly!
Engine glows appeared one after another in the distance!
At the sight,
Huaya Nini's heart broke.
Damn it!
Where had these attackers got so many interstellar warships?
It seemed this transport task really was going to fail.
For now only their one interstellar transport fleet had been attacked, true, but the other interstellar transport fleets were likely in no better shape.
Of the ten interstellar transport fleets, how many would reach Gold-Mountain Shire safely?
The chance was slim indeed.
If so, this order would count as failed.
If the order failed, their Bailan Interstellar Trade Group would lose everything, and if the Lord of Gold-Mountain Shire survived this disaster,
their Bailan Interstellar Trade Group would owe him a penalty for breach of contract too.
That would be enough to crush the whole Bailan Interstellar Trade Group utterly.
"Sister, I'm sorry. Nini didn't get done what you trusted her with." Huaya Nini closed her eyes in guilt.
But just then the Flower-Fairy beside her cried out: "That doesn't look like an enemy fleet. I half remember that fleet crest…… it's…… it's…… it's the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet we hired this time!"
At her subordinate's words, Huaya Nini's eyes flew open.
She looked at the outlines of those distant interstellar warships caught on camera, and the fleet crest that could be faintly made out.
It truly was the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet that had taken this escort task!
Delighted at heart, Huaya Nini was puzzled too: wasn't this Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet supposed to be guarding Bailan Interstellar Transport Fleet No. 6?
Why would it appear here at this moment?
Could it be……
Her heart was full of countless doubts, but at least it was good news for Huaya Nini and her people.
At this point the Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet's interstellar warships that had arrived began to attack too,
firing toward Huaya Nini's fleet.
In that moment Huaya Nini and her people were stunned.
But then they found that these interstellar warships' shots, passing between their interstellar transports and interstellar warships, struck precisely the attacking interstellar warships chasing them.
"Holy hell, these fellows must be lunatics!" The commander of the Ranger-Hunter Mercenary Legion Fleet was startled himself at the sight.
Anyone who did not know would have thought the other side had turned coat.
But firing through the gaps between friendly ships at so close a range truly was extremely risky; calling them lunatics was no exaggeration at all.
At least at first sight, to them these shots looked as though they were coming at their own interstellar warships!
Once Huaya Nini had calmed down, she said at once, "Contact their commander."
"Yes." A subordinate at once tried to contact them.
What had been jammed before was long-range communication; now that the two sides were so close, communication was naturally normal.
Very soon a video window opened and appeared before Huaya Nini.
It was the man and woman she had seen a few times in the video before.
Before, she had only glanced at them, enough to remember their looks.
This time Huaya Nini sized the two of them up properly.
Before, it had always been the woman with the black pattern on her face doing the talking, but Huaya Nini could tell that the man behind her in the mask was the one in charge.
She had heard before that no one had ever seen the face of this Villain-Envoy Mercenary Legion Fleet's commander;
he always wore a mask.
By the look of it, this was the man!
"First, thank you for your support. But I want to know why you're here?" Huaya Nini put her question.
Lilith said outright that because they had been unable to reach Huaya Nini's Bailan Interstellar Transport Fleet No. 1 before, they had worried they had been attacked,
and so had split their forces in two and come to support them.
They had never thought they would really find them here.
Huaya Nini frowned slightly.
Before she could speak,
Lilith said first, "I know that by doing this, we of the Villain-Envoy have gone somewhat against your earlier orders. But in this situation, if there's really anything to discuss, I don't think here is the place. If we go on wasting time here, it will affect the handover of the goods, and there's some risk too."
Hearing Lilith, Huaya Nini held back the doubts in her heart for now.
"You're right. Then let's get away from here quickly," Huaya Nini said.
"Not us; you," Lilith said with a smile.
Huaya Nini looked at Lilith in surprise; for a moment she did not understand what the other meant.
Lilith pointed in one direction, the very direction Huaya Nini and her people had fled from.
"If I'm not mistaken, over there are more than 20,000 interstellar transports that need rescuing. Boss, take the interstellar transports here and withdraw first. We of the Villain-Envoy will get those 20,000 interstellar transports out first."
"What? You're going to rescue those trapped interstellar transports?" Huaya Nini was astounded.
A voice came from beside them too: "Hey, hey, hey, don't think that because you came to help in time you're some kind of savior. Over there the enemy has tens of thousands of interstellar warships, and thousands of T5-grade interstellar warships. And you? If I'm not mistaken, you have fewer than two thousand interstellar warships here. Go over there to help now, and you're moths flying into the flame, asking for death! Don't say we didn't warn you."
Hearing what the other side said,
"Who says we can't rescue them?" Lilith could not help laughing; the corners of her mouth turned up slightly in a look of challenge.