Looking at the bloody Ruminan head behind the image, Yu Lian was a little surprised, but not overly so.
As the saying goes, pirates are an illegal group that kills, robs, and forgets all righteousness for profit; infighting is basically their daily routine.
Those powerful pirates, even the vast fleets of the Empire and the Alliance, were helpless against them. They roamed between the two major factions and various nations, living outside the law, gathering in the wilds, like a slippery loach that had cultivated into a spirit. However, such a carefree underworld life often ended with betrayal by their subordinates.
Yu Lian had seen this situation countless times in the future.
However, it was clear that this betrayal should have been spontaneous. The pirates obviously hadn't unified their stance; some were bewildered, some were fleeing, and some loyal ones wanted to rush to the flagship for rescue, immediately falling into chaos.
Given such a scene, the Commonwealth Fleet was happy to temporarily watch the show and wait for the pirates to sort things out.
Somewhat sadly, the famous Ruminan pirate Morda had less influence than imagined; too few people were willing to fight for him, and he quickly died at the hands of the “rebels.”
Subsequently, it should have been a simple mop-up and pursuit battle.
Logically, the pirate ships were still more than twice their number. If they had decided to flee from the start, it would have been impossible to annihilate them all, and they would have only been able to conduct a hasty, symbolic pursuit, allowing the crew to casually rack up some kills and gain experience.
However, the recent infighting had dealt too great a blow to the pirates, and they were still in continuous chaos for a time. Even when fleeing, they didn't get their direction right, with some even blindly crashing directly into the assault ship's firing net.
In addition, Commodore Markov had released all his fighters early, intercepting enemy ships point-to-point in groups of three, like a flock of eagles preying on rabbits frantically fleeing across a grassland.
Yu Lian estimated that probably no more than a third of the pirates successfully escaped. And these lucky ones all had damaged hulls, and it was unknown if they could still withstand the pressure of a jump.
The senior sister, who had racked up a large number of pirate kills, saw that there were no living enemy ships left within the reconnaissance range, and only then led the entire army to approach the flagship of Morda's fleet, which was said to have surrendered.
Of course, officially surrendering to the Commonwealth Fleet, besides the flagship that had already raised the French… white flag, were three or four small and medium-sized pirate ships.
The person shouting “Don't fire” was a middle-aged human man named Beier, who claimed to be the second-in-command of this fleet. Seeing Morda foolishly come to resist the Earth's Royal Army, for the safety of his brothers, he could only set things right and give his boss a righteous backstab.
“Isn't the second-in-command of the Morda Group a Wolfgang named Dalken?”
“No way! That dog-head was an Empire-sent overseer! He'd bark a couple of times, and Morda wouldn't know where to stick his butt! I was the founder of the legion!” Beier felt that he seemed to have acted too emotionally, and quickly continued with a fawning smile: “Later, later, didn't we hear that the Royal Army was coming? Even the Empire isn't their match, so that dog-head just ran back to Kerna. This, this gave this humble one the chance to set things right!”
This guy clearly knew how to climb the ladder, describing what was simply routine pirate behavior as a righteous act triggered by the arrival of the “Commonwealth Royal Army” and the inspiration of their bravery. From this perspective, even if Mr. Beier didn't pursue the promising career of a pirate, he could have become a great salesperson.
Unfortunately, the heartless senior sister clearly wasn't buying it, directly stating, “We could have achieved a complete victory without your backstab, so why should we accept your surrender? Anyway, pirates like you will betray once and then a second time, so it's better to just kill you here and now.”
Beier immediately began to beg, uttering standard lines like having an old mother to feed and children who couldn't take care of themselves, and also saying things that directly insulted everyone's intelligence, such as becoming a pirate purely out of necessity and being a good person deep down.
“Speaking of which, I was also born on Earth, so maybe I'm even a relative of someone in your military.”
Yu Lian looked at the other party's overly flamboyant fiery red hair and, for the time being, believed that he was indeed an Earthling.
However, as the saying goes, pirates have no human rights and cannot enjoy any humanitarian treatment. Even if they are Earthlings, if they cannot prove their worth, they will, like those hardworking pirate vegetable farmers, turn into dust between the Far Shore Nebula.
And so, Beier loudly said, “I, I… Oh, by the way, the port director of Kerna is my good brother! I can help you.”
Elinore raised her eyebrows, thinking that this guy had finally said something sensible, and only then tentatively accepted his surrender.
And so, under the gaze of all the Thirteenth Fleet's gunports, the remaining pirate ships shut down their shields, engines, and all gunports. Beier himself, along with two trusted subordinates, nervously boarded the Corsica.
Under the imposing gaze of a group of neatly uniformed, capable, and dignified Commonwealth officers, Kerna quickly knelt. However, he remained calm; despite kneeling, he quickly squeezed out a fawning smile at a visible speed: “I, I really am good brothers with Kerna's port director. He's an Empire. Because I also have half Empire blood, we get along very well.”
Indeed, this guy's red hair really couldn't have grown on an Earthling.
“Also, although I grew up in the Empire with my mother, my father really is an Earthling! Earth is also the spiritual homeland that I yearn for…”
“And the Empire is your cultural foster mother, right?” Yu Lian smiled.
Beier thought the Captain's words sounded really good. He instinctively nodded, then immediately shook his head: “No, no foster mother, I only have one homeland in my heart! The Empire was just a place I occasionally lived.”
Yu Lian looked at the other party's gaudy Empire court attire and felt that this “place occasionally lived” really had a significant impact on him.
“…In, in short, this subordinate is friends with Kerna's port director, and I know many high-ranking officials there. If your military truly has any intentions, I am willing to go there and persuade them to surrender, offering a large sum of ransom to you.” He said with a face full of anticipation.
“Ransom?” Elinore raised an eyebrow: “Do you take me for a pirate?”
In this chaotic universe, can you clearly define the line between pirates and the navy? A flicker of awkwardness crossed Beier's face, then he said, “Then… I, this… Eh… But, you surely aren't planning to attack that city, are you? Eh, although Kerna City is still under construction, many facilities have already been established. The first to be completed were the defensive facilities. Shields and turrets were completed long ago, and now they are reportedly laying fortress cannons. Moreover, there are at least two to three thousand security soldiers there, and nearly ten thousand various staff, who can also fight if necessary.”
He looked at Elinore and the others with skeptical eyes, though still smiling, his gaze seemed to contain a hint of mockery: “…This, Commander, I think there's really no need to take risks. Isn't it better to take a ransom? As long as everyone puts on a siege and blockade stance, plus my personal persuasion, they will definitely compromise. After all, Kerna is also a commercial port and cannot withstand a blockade.”
Beier thought for a moment and added, “Yes, it's just a place for us pirates to trade, nothing more.”
Yu Lian understood what this guy meant, and he believed that the senior sister, Yahata, and Feifei also understood.
This Kerna was just an outlaw commercial port. Such “underground” strongholds were common throughout the Milky Way and nothing new, definitely and certainly having nothing to do with the Empire.
Given that, the Commonwealth Fleet had no reason to act. Wouldn't it be better to take a sum of money large enough to make all officers and soldiers happy and leave with a flourish?
“Oh, it has nothing to do with the Empire!” Elinore nodded.
“Yes, it really has nothing to do with it, it just happens to have some Empire-registered staff,” the red-haired pirate said.
“Then, as the glorious Commonwealth Navy, a member of the Galactic Civilization Council, don't we have even more reason to wipe this den of iniquity from the Milky Way?” Elinore's fighting spirit immediately surged: “Mr. Beier, since you want to abandon the darkness and embrace the light, then take action! When we attack Kerna City, I will allow you to be the pioneer of the Royal Army!”
Beier almost burst into tears, and couldn't help but look at Yu Lian with pleading eyes.
He was truly a very discerning person, actually being able to tell that Yu Lian, a mere Captain, also had the authority to make decisions.
“You just said that you have a very good relationship with the people on the fortress?” Yu Lian asked.
The other party nodded, his face full of suspicion.
“You go up there often? You should be very familiar with it, right?”
The other party continued to nod, but in his suspicion, he seemed to realize something, gradually showing a hint of panic.
Yu Lian looked at Elinore and smiled, “…Commander, I now have a bold plan.”
Before Elinore could ask, Beier asked in a panicked tone, “…Commander, you, you wouldn't be thinking of sending a group of elite commandos, hidden in my ship, to directly infiltrate Kerna City, would you?”
“Why not? The Trojan Horse strategy is the crystallization of our Earth ancestors' military Wisdom!” Yu Lian said in a matter-of-fact tone: “I know of a famous general, always victorious, whose tactics were like a Magician's, who used such methods to capture a space fortress. That fortress was known as an impregnable super space city, its scale definitely no less than the Empire's Twelve Palaces Qingtian Fortress, and it was incomparably superior to that small Kerna City.”