According to Feifei, she took a ship to the outermost planetary orbit of the Luna Star System to photograph the spectacular sights of the Far Shore Nebula.
“Doesn’t the Alliance Academy of Sciences have a prediction? The red giant star F878 will completely engulf its neighboring dwarf star K776 in a thousand years. Now, they have already begun to merge. Such an astronomical spectacle is quite rare and absolutely cannot be missed,” Feifei said.
This was also very understandable. As a special correspondent for the military newspaper, what kind of material she wanted to collect was truly up to her.
So, Feifei went to a small monitoring station located in the outer orbit of the Luna Star System. That was also a military facility belonging to the Distant Shore Defense Fleet. Its public purpose was a semi-automated scientific space station for collecting astronomical information about the Far Shore Nebula, but it also bore the function of monitoring the national border—however, considering that smugglers and pirates often swaggered through the Luna Star System, this function was indeed debatable.
In addition, that space station also had some secret communication channel terminals that outsiders could not monitor, allowing for intelligence gathering.
“Then, from there, I received a signal from a smuggler captain and got some subtle news,” Feifei said.
“Wait… why did you get involved with a smuggler captain?” Captain Yu Lian couldn’t help but ask.
“Hmm, doesn’t Yu’er know? Reporters like me, who have military officer status, actually receive a salary from the military intelligence agency! We are essentially semi-public spies, and this is an unwritten rule in the international community.”
…It seemed that this was indeed the case. Yu Lian’s expression immediately stiffened a bit.
“Don’t worry. Espionage work is indeed dangerous, but half-baked spies like us with public identities are actually quite safe, at least as safe as diplomats.”
To put it bluntly, whether it was diplomats or political and economic journalists stationed abroad, they all had the duty of intelligence gathering. This was also an unwritten rule on the diplomatic stage.
“Furthermore, black (meow) dao figures with a bit of influence and reputation are bound to have official backgrounds; some are informants, and some are direct black hands of a certain country. This is also common international knowledge!”
This is not absolute! There are still many free people like this hero in his previous life who lived carefree, although their final days were not too good. Being wanted by various nations was commonplace.
“In short, that Captain was indeed an informant for the military intelligence agency. Although my main job is a reporter for the propaganda department, I am also registered with the intelligence agency and receive a subsidy. When I encounter intelligence that comes my way, I can’t just ignore it.”
Of course, this was all Feifei’s account. She did indeed show up at that small observation station and took many photos. It was well-organized, logically complete, and had both human and material evidence, making it sound particularly convincing.
The fact was that after the unexpected skirmish, and after confirming that the unidentified intruder had completely lost all signs of life, Feifei, now in her Black Moon Earl persona, proceeded as planned, continuing her journey towards the Far Shore Nebula aboard the famous smuggler ship, the millennium falcon.
As we all know, the Far Shore Nebula only has two stable jump routes: the Luknar Corridor and the I Earl Star Gorge. This does not mean they are the only two essential paths, but rather that they are the safest, most stable, most efficient, and shortest-duration superluminal routes.
However, in the Far Shore Nebula, which is full of supergiant stars, variable stars, and dwarf stars, and is as unpredictable as the sea during a storm, there are still some unstable routes that are not recorded in the “official database.”
Otherwise, how do so many smugglers and pirates get through every year? You know, the Commonwealth’s Distant Shore Defense Fleet has those two routes sealed off tightly.
However, in reality, red giants, variable stars, and dwarf stars are also stars, and of course, they also have gravity wells. Although unstable, although the course always deviates, and although they cannot accommodate massive artificial objects, they do exist.
In addition, in this colorful, dreamlike, uninhabited nebula, it is said that there are indeed some stars in their prime, like scattered islands in a vast, turbulent ocean. Although there are no known naturally habitable planets, in this Universe era, as long as there is a celestial body, and as long as it is indeed within a stable, prime star system, then semi-permanent strongholds can be established.
In short, it is already a consensus in the trade that the Far Shore Nebula indeed has “long-standing” routes. Although large fleets cannot pass through, they are sufficient for smuggling or escaping.
However, these dangerous routes, which connect to the path of freedom, are naturally unknown to the court’s hounds raised by their masters. Only “free people” who have roamed the Universe their entire lives and are rich in experience can know and master them.
At least, most people in the trade firmly believed this.
the millennium falcon thus passed through the alert network set up by the Distant Shore Defense Fleet and entered this magnificent yet deep nebula.
Captain Hanford was a very professional individual. What the famous Black Moon Earl intended to do, and with whom she was trading, had nothing to do with him.
Even so, when they actually passed through the dangerous area and reached the trading location—an unknown, prime star system trembling in a cluster of supergiant stars—the well-traveled Captain was still startled, and couldn’t help but stroke his splendid, smooth long beard.
“You actually have connections with these people!” he said to the Black Moon Earl in surprise.
“You should also have some connection with them, shouldn’t you?” the Black Moon Earl chuckled.
“I’ve done a few trades before,” Captain Hanford had already returned to normal, still speaking with a somewhat sighing expression: “It’s just that I never thought someone like you would have connections with them!”
The trading party’s ship was roughly the same size and tonnage as the millennium falcon, with a dark gray coating, resembling a perfectly square geometric shape with distinct angles. However, the front of the ship had three gunports, giving it a somewhat “fly on a cannon” look.
In short, the overall style of this ship was overly rough and tough, and it was clearly a battlecruisers.
The battlecruisers itself was fine, but the broken bloody hand hanging on its side was a very big problem.
That was the mark of the Raiders, the nomadic people of the Milky Way who were based in the Silver Heart and roamed all over the Universe, also considered public enemies of the All-Galaxy by the Galactic Civilization Council.
Of course, while referred to as a single race, Captain Hanford knew that the Raiders were a loose organization formed by a clan-tribal alliance system, not even qualifying as a nation. They were also not a unified race, differing greatly in appearance and ecological structure. They were originally composed of thirteen Wisdom races, but their origins, heritage, and even the location of their home planets and native lands have been buried in the vast history of Universe exploration.
The major civilized polities within the Milky Way only knew that these brutal and tyrannical races were enemies, plunderers of wealth and life, and destroyers of civilization and order, nothing more.
Furthermore, as the long river of Milky Way Civilization history continued to flow, the composition of the Raiders also constantly increased and decreased.
Desperate criminals, defeated deserters who dared not face military law, scholars who could not find opportunities for development, children of powerful figures who had lost everything in political struggles, and even anti-establishment transcendents—all of these were sources for the Raiders to strengthen themselves.
This time, the Black Moon Earl was trading with the Ero, one of the earliest thirteen tribes of the Raiders. This was also a bipedal humanoid race, but their physique was quite robust. They had reddish-brown skin like sandstone, large red eyes like brass bells, a collapsed nasal bridge, flared earlobes, an underbite, and sharp fangs like a predator, giving them a very fierce appearance.
And they were indeed very fierce. These creatures, who looked like hungry ghosts from human legends, also possessed the combat power of hungry ghosts. Whether it was piloting a ship, firing cannons, shooting guns, or cutting people, they were all skilled, and among the Raiders, they were the most formidable combat race, far superior in quality to the so-called combat races like the Kaitai who boasted about themselves.
Two Ero boarded the millennium falcon to conduct the handover with the Black Moon Earl. Both had the fierce appearance and demeanor of red-skinned hungry ghosts, yet they behaved quite courteously.
“These are the goods for this transaction,” the Earl led them to the cargo hold. “You can open the boxes and inspect them now.”
“Your reputation has spread throughout the Milky Way; there’s no need for us to go to such lengths,” one Ero said with a smile. “Before we arrived, the payment had already been deposited into the anonymous account at Libra Bank that you designated.”
“Transaction successful!” the Black Moon Earl nodded.
“Yes, the cooperation was very pleasant,” the other Ero added.
Even in the underworld, such clean and swift transactions were rare! Captain Hanford, who was observing, felt a pang of emotion, thinking that if all transactions in the Universe were so straightforward, the world would surely be much clearer.
At this moment, that Ero added, “Also, on our way here, we discovered an Imperial cruiser.”
The Black Moon Earl quickly suppressed the astonishment that rose in her heart and nodded noncommittally.
“They didn’t discover us! But we can confirm that it’s a newly launched Clear Sky-class, and it’s equipped with enhanced detection equipment. It should be the Type V deep-space probe that the Empire just developed.”
Captain Hanford, observing, really wanted to ask the Ero how they could determine the ship type and its latest equipment, but this was likely a Raiders trade secret, so he ultimately held back from speaking.
“Its jump direction is unknown, but…” The other party didn’t explicitly say it, but the meaning was clear: the Far Shore Nebula is bordered only by the Commonwealth and the Empire’s sphere of influence.
“Consider this a bonus for you,” the fierce-looking Ero, resembling a hungry ghost, squeezed out a friendly, businessman-like smile on his face: “For us, what better trading location is there than the Far Shore Nebula? I truly hope the status quo here can be maintained.”
After the transaction was completed, the Black Moon Earl bid farewell to the Raiders and also to Captain Hanford of the millennium falcon. However, before leaving, she used a terminal on the ship to send a message to the deep space probe station in the Luna Star System.
The Captain did not stop her at any point, only asking afterwards: “After this deal is done, can I convey the information about this place to the Alliance government or the Guerrilla Association?”
Captain Hanford also had an informant identity with the Alliance intelligence agencies, but this was not surprising.
Because this intelligence was given to the Black Moon Earl by the Ero, he still knew to ask about it. What a meticulous person!
“The Empire has acquired new special detection equipment and is secretly probing the Far Shore Nebula. This can be said. As for my transaction with the Ero, it doesn’t exist.”
The Captain nodded. Although he was a smuggler, he was also a man of integrity, rules, reputation, and loyalty, otherwise, he wouldn’t have made such a name for himself.
The above was the Black Moon Earl’s transaction process this time. Except for the unexpected battle with the unknown monster at the beginning, everything went very smoothly.
Of course, this is the story of the legendary rogue Black Moon Earl. What does it have to do with Miss Fina C. Li, a Lieutenant in the Commonwealth Navy?
She was merely fulfilling her duties as a military journalist and unofficial intelligence agent, relaying the intelligence she had obtained to Central Special Envoy Captain Yu Lian.
“So, Imperial battlecruisers have appeared in the Far Shore Nebula?” Central Special Envoy Yu Lian nodded thoughtfully, feeling in his pocket. Not finding a lollipop, he instead put a beloved lao dao (old blade) into his mouth, only for Feifei to snatch it away and crush it immediately.
“Yu’er, you don’t seem surprised at all.”
I was waiting for the Empire’s ship, but it’s really not good to say such things. Yu Lian thought.
“...I was just thinking that the existence of smuggling routes in the Far Shore Nebula is no secret. These unstable gravity wells cannot accommodate behemoths like battlecruisers and above, but cruisers can still slip in and play around. It’s not strange for Imperial battlecruisers to appear. If they could really carve out a path wide enough for a fleet to pass, it might just allow the Commonwealth to launch a surprise attack!”
Feifei frowned.
“The Empire, if nothing else, certainly has many dogs! They have indeed mastered new detection technology, but the Far Shore Nebula remains one of the most dangerous areas in the Milky Way. Given this, why wouldn’t they send the Buckwheat Birdmen, or the Jehetans and Tanns? How could the glorious and noble Imperial Royal Navy do something as ungraceful as treading on mines? But now, an Imperial battlecruisers has actually appeared in person. This is illogical.”
Feifei nodded: “Then what do you think, Yu’er?”
“...Anyway, there must be something fishy about this!”
It’s a pity, one of the saddest things in this world is when only you understand a meme. Feifei completely missed Yu Lian’s humor and still said worriedly, “I’ve already sent this intelligence to the Far Shore Command HQ. I hope they take it seriously.”
The Distant Shore Defense Fleet had always been quite attentive to any stirrings from the other side, but they had no good solution for this situation. After all, there was always the saying, “a thief can be a thief for a thousand days, but one cannot guard against a thief for a thousand days.”
Moreover, this time, that Imperial cruiser was probably there for another purpose.
Hmm, it’s a pity there’s no detailed information or crest for that ship, otherwise it could be completely confirmed.
“In short, don’t worry about her for now!” Yu Lian said.
“Oh?” Feifei drawled, staring directly at Yu Lian until he started blinking rapidly.
“I heard that Eleanor’s fleet has been reorganized!”
“No relation. Besides, that’s not Eleanor’s fleet; it’s the Commonwealth’s newly formed Thirteenth Fleet, fully named the New World Cruise Strike Fleet. The current Commander is Commodore Markov, a very formidable old man.” Yu Lian shrugged.
“I also heard that they are preparing to conduct a period of formation training in the nearby star sector.”
“No relation.” Yu Lian continued to shrug. You intelligence people are really well-informed.
“I also heard that they are preparing to conduct a live-fire exercise with the Distant Shore Defense Fleet.”
“What do the affairs of the Navy Fleet have to do with me, a Central Special Envoy with unclear responsibilities?”
“Also, when I came just now, I also went for a stroll around the General Headquarters in the Western Hemisphere. It seems they are preparing to trap the enemy.”
“Fortifying strongholds and fighting dull battles is also a very good choice; at least it shows that the Commander is clear-headed and self-aware!”
“So, what should we do now?”
“There’s nothing to do! Uh… or rather, just focus on our own work. Feifei can make a big news story about Red Maple Factory, and as for me… Red Maple Factory is also a military industry, so this is also part of my responsibility.”
Since Yu Lian was of this attitude, Feifei said no more, only extending her fair, slender finger to tap Yu Lian’s forehead: “I ‘borrowed’ some ingredients from the detection station’s storeroom. I’ll cook tomorrow…”
Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly seemed to remember something, turned her head, and smiled faintly at Yu Lian: “Oh, I forgot to mention one more thing, it’s not too important though. Yu’er, I’ve awakened too!”
