Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 286 - 205: The Art of War

Chapter 286: Chapter 205: The Art of War

Before this, Duan Mingyuan had never participated in a fold jump battle; he had only seen this method of combat in some virtual works.

As Earth Wolf Twelve put it, mastering fold jump battle was the basic literacy of every Interstellar Warrior in this era. Universe Company and the Chamber of Commerce had both established military academies on their respective governed planets, and fold jump battle was a compulsory course every term. It was also the quickest path for soldiers to earn promotions and nobility.

Almost every fold jump battle master he knew had eventually become an officer, while those who failed to leave their names were nearly all dead during the process of fold jump battles.

That’s because it was one of the tactics with the highest mortality rate on the battlefield.

To throw flying vehicles desperately onto the enemy’s ships, the boarding soldiers were no different from suicide squads—in unknown environments facing the enemy’s elite, engaged in a desperate struggle in narrow quarters, not only required extraordinary individual combat ability but also tremendous courage.

"The Admiral" mentioned in "The Art of War" that fold jump battle was the game for the brave.

This book was found by Duan Mingyuan on Mocking Pigeon’s flagship "Spirit Box," and was also recommended by Mocking Pigeon as an introductory book to fold jump battle. It depicted over thirty fold jump battles experienced by the Admiral and his troops, their opponents including Cosmic Pirates, rebels, and even mutated ships from Dead Star, such as Leviathan-like aberrant creatures.

She admired the Admiral greatly, calling him a living legend on today’s battlefield.

One of Mocking Pigeon’s life goals was to engage in an earth-shattering fold jump battle with this legendary foe, to determine who was the true expert of fold jump battle between the company and the fierce people of the Eastern Battlefront.

It was just unfortunate that after being granted the title of "Admiral," this battlefield legend was recalled back to headquarters by Iron Guard Consortium. His last battle dated back to over twenty years ago, when Mocking Pigeon’s fleet was not yet powerful enough to confront him directly.

As for the current Iron Guard Consortium...

It had rotten to the core.

When recommending "The Art of War" to Duan Mingyuan, Mocking Pigeon mentioned a recent battle between the United Front and Iron Guard Consortium where, despite being at a complete disadvantage in terms of manpower and equipment, they defeated Iron Guard Consortium’s pride and joy, Falcon Fleet.

"It’s really disappointing. The Falcons of today have become nothing more than a place for company officers to gild their credentials, with no real skills to speak of,"

Mocking Pigeon said with feeling, pausing briefly before explaining to Duan Mingyuan, "Falcon was an elite force founded by the Admiral himself. The original Falcon developed from a vanguard boat on the front lines to its current size. In the Admiral’s golden age, the reputation of Falcon was known to everyone. But now, they’ve become a group of cowards who can only win by overwhelming force, with commanders who even retreated during a fold jump battle."

Time unknowingly drifted into the late night, and the chaos of Gear Hotel finally quieted down. Before boarding "Spirit Box," Earth Wolf Twelve ramped up the hotel’s patrols and imposed a curfew, instructing every board member and their entourages to stay in their rooms and not to go out.

Duan Mingyuan could see that Mocking Pigeon was extremely disappointed with Iron Guard Consortium; she almost made today’s company fleets sound worthless, which perhaps was the truth.

News of Iron Guard Consortium’s retreat on the United Front spreading across the universe had once again embarrassed the company.

And Mocking Pigeon and her fleet took less than a month to drive Iron Guard Consortium out of the Star Zone where the United Front was located.

People from various planets gradually realized that Universe Company’s rule was waning, with recent news all unfavorable to them.

"I heard you’re new to fold jump battles, so I told you all this,"

Mocking Pigeon said on the eve of departure, coming to the waiting room, "’The Art of War’ has all the techniques about fold jump battles, but on the real battlefield, only the fearless can win."

That is the crux of the problem with Iron Guard Consortium today.

The new generation of Falcons, while individually selected from various planets and systematically trained in a vast amount of knowledge, had never truly fought in any real wars.

Not to mention launching fold jump battles fearlessly at the enemy, the mere presence of rebels boarding their home field was enough to throw them into complete disarray.

"Only courage can keep you alive."

"Interstellar Cowboys fear nothing."

Earth Wolf Twelve checked his revolver and said casually.

The Ranger had earned his reputation through interstellar wars; he certainly wasn’t a rookie.

Therefore, the two men’s gaze settled on Mingyuan, who was still buried in his book even as the fold jump approached, filling Mocking Pigeon with worry for their future—reading on the battlefield was no different from those new recruits in the Iron Guard Consortium who liked to theorize about war on paper.

"I’ll do my best."

Mingyuan gave the same response.

After all, this was his first combat jump, and he was immersed in his studies to ensure he wouldn’t look like he was there for comic relief.

"Let me borrow this book, I’ll return it to you after I come back."

Mingyuan packed away ’The Art of War’.

The Spirit Box was equipped with the most advanced space fold jump device of its time, a technology originally belonging to Universe Company, but which had become a war trophy during an interception battle.

The advantage of space fold jump technology is that it obviates the deployment process. ’The Art of War’ mentioned that the majority of casualties in combat jumps occurred during the fold jump; in past wars, it was considered a success if half of the ten launch bays managed to board the enemy’s ships smoothly.

Under Mocking Pigeon’s guidance, he and Earth Wolf Twelve entered the space fold jump sequence. As the transportation device began to operate, the space in front of them twisted, everything in sight appearing to be sucked into a vortex.

The downside of this fold jump was that it induced a brief dizziness upon "landing."

Luckily, the security personnel aboard the Laurel had not noticed their arrival; no one was on the other end of the ship "guarding the corpses" when the fold jump was completed.

When his vision cleared up, Mingyuan could finally make out the entirety of the Laurel.

They found themselves in a dark corridor.

The moment they boarded, a sense of foreboding enveloped them.

"18th, the 18th one."

A man’s murmuring came from the darkness at his side.

This was not the luxury vessel of high society Mingyuan had imagined, but more akin to a prison.

Flanking them were the locked cells.

"This place is eerie."

Earth Wolf Twelve switched on his portable lighting device, not having expected to find such a place aboard the Laurel.

"Shit!"

He shone the light towards the source of the murmurs, and upon seeing the murmuring object, he couldn’t help but curse.

Imprisoned in the cell was not a human, but a device.

Within the device was a head, and only a head remained.

The device forced the head’s eyes open, and although it was bloodshot, the head couldn’t blink.

Those bloodshot eyes stared at them fixedly, incessantly repeating the same phrase, "18th, the 18th one. You are the 18th."