Presently, it was February 14th, Galaxy Common Era, a truly wonderful day.
A fiercely fought battle, yet one with no real twists in its course, had just concluded.
The victor of the battle was Colonel Elinore Bonaparte, commanding the Blue Star Commonwealth's New World Thirteenth Guard Fleet, a detached force of a detached force.
The defeated party was Hongkuzi Wansha's pirate fleet, which was currently ablaze.
Almost all of their warships were burning, having lost all combat capability.
As for the two Buckwheat armed merchant ships of cruiser tonnage, they had now become the Earthlings' spoils of war.
Naval Colonel Elinore Bonaparte had once again achieved victory.
Her so-called bold plan was truly quite bold!
She entrusted the assault ship to Lieutenant Colonel Kong Qingyu and Lieutenant Colonel Lapeng, hiding them in the Asteroid Belt of the Targa star system.
Then, she had the sole fletcher 211 painted with the Black Hat Pirate Group's emblem, and retrieved the Black Demon dragon ship's figurehead that was floating in space, attaching it to the bow.
Before Hongkuzi Wansha arrived in the Targa star system, they swaggered out in front of the Buckwheat merchant ships.
"Good merchandise!" Black Hat Shan Mengzhi said to the Buckwheat Birdmen leader.
"Your ship is..." The Birdman was somewhat suspicious.
"Hehehe, we encountered the Earthlings' guard fleet!
Just three measly ships dared to attack us!
But their new ships are really formidable; we lost quite a few brothers, and my Black Demon King was finished.
But this ship is my new Black Iron Mason!" Shan Mengzhi's face was filled with smug satisfaction, then he added, "Good merchandise!"
Then, the camera turned to a group of dejected human military "captives."
The most conspicuous among them were two beautiful and moving young female Earthling officers.
They clung tightly together like sisters, seemingly in fear, huddling for warmth, yet they held their heads high, trying their best to maintain their unyielding pride.
"Good merchandise, right?" Shan Mengzhi asked.
"Indeed, it's good merchandise!" The Buckwheat Birdman's eyes lit up.
Humans, young, beautiful, and officers—these were the highest-grade goods in the entire universe!
In this human-supremacist Galaxy, even many alien races subconsciously adopted human aesthetics.
And for a professional Buckwheat merchant like this, human beauties certainly wouldn't arouse his sexual (meow) urges, but he had enough knowledge to determine whether the other party was truly beautiful.
"You're lucky, Shan Mengzhi!" The Buckwheat Birdman said.
"So, can I trade first?"
"Heh, that won't do.
Red Hat and I have been trading partners for many years.
And I don't have cash on hand; I need to sell these first, then..."
"Who doesn't know what kind of business you're in!
You don't have cash on hand?"
In short, after some mutual probing, they finally reached a trade agreement.
Yes, these two Buckwheat merchant ships did just that.
They transported goods needed by pirates and the black (meow) market from the Galaxy Native Land, and in turn helped the pirates launder their money.
Everyone benefited mutually, and business was booming.
The most profitable "contraband" among these was slave trading.
Whether they were New World natives, laborers and travelers from the Galaxy, or even regular soldiers who had been captured, all were part of these goods.
The Buckwheat Birdman thought of Shan Mengzhi and their many years of business dealings, considering him a man of integrity in the trade, and decided to bring his ship closer, preparing for the handover.
They truly never imagined that the "goods" would directly pull out shotguns and blast them in the face on the spot!
Elinore, unarmored, once again took the lead, pulling out her Z17 shotgun and instantly blowing away the ship's chief security officer who came to inspect.
Ina, meanwhile, raised her sniper rifle from among the crowd, firing ten shots within half a minute, killing all the security personnel who looked most capable of fighting.
In the first minute of the two ships' encounter, the handover passage was completely occupied.
Immediately after, the assault team members, fully armed and wearing exoskeletons, who had been hidden within the fletcher 211's internal cabins, charged into the Buckwheat Birdman's ship.
This 100,000-ton armed merchant ship, flying the Sea God Fleet's flag and named "Alvi," had only about 200 crew members and quickly lost its ability to resist.
Her sister ship, the "Sabay," originally on standby over 4,000 meters away, was stunned for nearly half a minute by this scene.
However, as she prepared to withdraw, an electromagnetic cannon shell slammed into her engine.
The Sabay's engine immediately went offline.
The Buckwheat Birdmen on board suddenly realized that a distance of over 4,000 meters in space was no different from being face-to-face.
Although the opposing destroyer was only one-third their size, its firepower was much fiercer, and its main guns were clearly fully activated, capable of knocking out their vital points before they could even fire.
The Buckwheat Birdmen folded their wings and crossed their arms over their chests to indicate surrender—this was their race's surrender ritual.
And so, Elinore's small fleet, again at a negligible cost of one lightly wounded person, converted two 100,000-ton Steel Feather-class armed merchant ships and nearly 500 Birdmen into prisoners.
Elinore, engrossed in her "fishing," still had no intention of stopping while she was ahead.
She left with the fletcher 211, while she personally led a portion of her forces to guard the bridges of the two armed merchant ships.
When Hongkuzi Wansha's pirate fleet finally arrived, the two Buckwheat armed merchant ships approached with a smile, feigning a peaceful business demeanor.
When they were very close, they immediately unleashed a volley of cannon fire.
Although they were merchant ships, with the prefix "armed," they still had some firepower, at least much better than most pirate ships.
Hongkuzi Wansha and his pirate companions truly hadn't expected to be attacked by their old customers.
This feeling was akin to a dead fat otaku going to the milk tea shop downstairs to buy milk tea, and the Miss from the milk tea shop, with whom he greeted daily, not only didn't smile—which was the only smile from a three-dimensional girl this dead fat otaku ever saw—but suddenly pulled out an Uzi from under the counter and gave him a full clip.
It wasn't until he had already endured three rounds of artillery fire that the pirates finally reacted.
But by then, it was all too late.
The Franz 211 and all the assault ships had swooped in, quickly concentrating their fire to sink the Red Sand, the most heavily armed ship in Wansha's pirate fleet.
Pirates had no such spirit of sinking with their ship.
Wansha quickly moved to the nearest armed freighter.
But by this time, his own side had almost no ability to resist.
Because the opposing ship broadcasted the following: "Capture the officers on your ship who have bounties on their heads; as for the ordinary sailors, I will let bygones be bygones!"
One cannot expect pirates to have any integrity.
When they had the upper hand, they often fought better than regular navies, but when things went against them, they were probably worse than the security guards on regular merchant ship cruise liners.
In short, a few minutes later, all the pirate ships surrendered.
Wansha was at his wit's end, especially when he noticed that some sailors on his current ship were looking at him with ill intent, which made him even more frustrated.
Fortunately, Wansha had been a pirate for so many years and still had some loyal cronies, and he himself possessed some courage, so he managed to gain control of this ship.
It was then that he noticed the Commonwealth Navy emblem on the opposing ship's hull.
The Earthlings aren't attacking because we're trading with the Bakerville people, are they?
But what do your countries' squabbles have to do with an old free pirate like me?
Hongkuzi Wansha didn't want to surrender.
He knew that with the bounty on his head, surrendering to the authorities would certainly not end well.
As he was burning with anxiety, he saw the "true goods" on the ship and, in a fit of despair, came up with a desperate, ill-conceived plan.
"This ship still has 2,000 slaves—no, hostages!
They are all innocent civilians!
Let, let me go!
Otherwise, I'll make them die with me!
This ship also has your Commonwealth citizens!
And humans!" He threatened the Commonwealth Navy Commander on the other side, appearing hysterical and mad, but his thoughts were still quite clear.
Now, he could only gamble that the other side was a knight with integrity.
In fact, having been in the New World for so many years, he knew quite a few such people, always escaping by relying on the other party's conscience, and even counter-killing.
Being a pirate, how can you not gamble? Wansha thought.
He didn't notice, however, a figure with a restraint collar around her neck slowly receding to the very back of the crowd, pressing into the shadows of the wall, gradually disappearing from sight.
Even the sharpest eyes could only vaguely perceive a faint wisp of air current, slowly creeping along the bottom edge of the wall, little by little, towards Wansha on the communication screen.
"I can't let others control my destiny!" Shali, who had already entered stealth mode, told herself.
I can kill this pirate and pretend to be a passing rogue!
Anyway, there are plenty of spiritual energy users without identities in this universe!
Even if the Earthlings over there are suspicious, they won't immediately become my enemies; then I'll find an opportunity to escape..."
Shali made up her mind, slowly unfurling the bone blades on her back while in stealth.
But just then, the Earthling female officer on the screen let out a sneer: "Fire!"
Hongkuzi Wansha was stunned, and Shali, of course, was also stunned.
"It's international common sense not to negotiate with pirates and terrorists!" Elinore Bonaparte said seriously.
"Besides, I'm a soldier, not a police officer.
I have no obligation regarding your lives or deaths."
Her command was absolute within this fleet, and the old veteran, Deputy Commander Lieutenant Colonel Kong Qingyu, also strongly agreed with this idea.
The fletcher 211 immediately fired an orbital cannon shell, aimed directly at Wansha's bridge position, with a trajectory as precise as a bullet from a sniper rifle.
Who was operating the gun, then, goes without saying, doesn't it?
"May the universe spirit bless your souls." Elinore Bonaparte made a practiced gesture across her chest.
The orbital cannon shell directly sheared off an entire level of the merchant ship's bridge.
Hongkuzi Wansha, his cronies, and over 50 selected hostages within the bridge were almost instantly vaporized.
"We are not the universe spirit; we cannot achieve perfection," Lieutenant Colonel Kong Qingyu said, trying to reassure Elinore, fearing she might feel psychological pressure.
"Commander, you didn't kill over 50 innocent people; you saved over 1,900 others," Lieutenant Colonel Lapeng added.
Elinore smiled and nodded to her older subordinates in thanks, but in truth, she felt no psychological pressure at all.
Her lowest expectation was for that ship to be blown up, with all 2,000-plus slaves perishing.
The current result was almost perfect.
"Ina, excellent marksmanship!"
Ina Hilika stood up from her position on the second level of the bridge and nodded to Elinore.
Truly the era of Valkyries!
Kong Qingyu and Lapeng, the two old veterans, exchanged glances, both feeling that they had truly followed the right person this time.
What they didn't know was that a "human girl" who looked very much like a human, but could travel through space with her physical body, had not been vaporized.
Instead, she was flung into outer space by the shockwave generated by the orbital cannon.
She was battered and broken, like a doll ravaged by a mischievous child.
She immediately lost consciousness, drifting and floating, sliding into the distant void.
As for when she would wake up, or when she would recover, only the universe spirit truly knew.