Crown, knowing they did not have much time understood that continuing the chase would not truly benefit them much anyway. Kael was already on his way, and he could deal with the Hegemony fleet himself, so why should they care too much about those people now...?

It was far better to focus on salvaging what they could, something that would actually benefit them in the long run and short run against these people itself .

That didn’t mean they weren’t providing any kind of support to their mech and star fighter units at all!!

Constant fire support was being provided by the fleet. More so, Crown was already preparing a grand gift for the Hegemony fleet and helping them kindly contribute to the mission of making space brighter!!

Along the left and right flanks, the sub-fleets had almost directly begun confronting the Hegemony fleet itself.

They rushed in like panthers within the darkness, passing through folds of wreckage like wolves descending upon already crippled prey!!

Opening fire with their weapons, they illuminated the void as their attacks struck against the weakened vessels of the Hegemony fleet.

With each salvo, hulls ruptured apart!!With each destruction, one less enemy remained!!

The collapse of the Hegemony fleet, which had already begun, suddenly shot upward even further as the two sub-fleets joined the fray with full force!!

Pact ignored all of this without even batting an eye. And those who tried to move him with words were either thrown out of the bridge or had their communications cut off entirely while he remained solely focused on escaping!!

"Commander! The FTL drives have been repaired and are able to function once! Before that, we will have to replace the units completely!!"

Hearing this, joy flashed across Pact and the others immediately. They completely ignored all warnings about changing the FTL units, something that could easily be dealt with later without much issue.

"Good! Good! Good!!" the excited Pact exclaimed three times before quickly asking, "How much longer will it take to exit the range of this spatial barrier??"

"Just about to exit it, sir! Just about!" the same officer immediately replied.

"Good, good! Then keep pushing ahead! This gives us even more reason not to stop and to continue moving forward!!"

"Yes! Yes!!" others agreed excitedly, while some chose to keep their words to themselves as they looked ahead through the viewports.

The vice admiral did the same, his face solemn as he felt that something was wrong... or that something would soon go wrong. Because of this, he had no mind to pay attention to the small celebration happening at this moment. And even if he did not have this strange feeling within his heart and soul, he still would not have joined them.

Just then, through his own eyes, he saw a flash of light appear far ahead.

What is that..." he muttered softly.

Without caring for anyone or anything else, relying purely on his instincts alone, he immediately ordered, "Central AI Exterminator! Bring up the optical imaging and focus ahead, quick!!"

"As you command, Vice Admiral," Exterminator replied as the AI focused the optical imaging ahead. A holographic image quickly appeared before the vice admiral...

Meanwhile, many others still had their eyes focused upon Pact, who still carried a happy smile upon his face.

Within that holographic image stood something none of them could possibly mistake for what it was... and what it had already done.

It was the same dark mech belonging to the human fleet, the very one that had been chasing them relentlessly until now!!

Seeing the black mech drifting slowly directly in front of their path, everyone was so stunned that their minds could barely process what was happening.

No... it wasn’t even about what was happening anymore. It was about what they could possibly do now after seeing that mech, one that had engraved a deep level of fear into all of them after taking down their three Genesis Law Realm elders!!

Which raised the same terrifying question in all of their minds...

What about them?

They were not Genesis Law Realm beings themselves. They had no means to defend against something of this level at all!!

And more so in this current situation!!

What should they do now?

That question filled every single one of them.

And unknowingly, the fast-moving Hegemony fleet slowly began reducing its speed until it eventually came to a complete stop several thousand kilometres away from the dark mech, which floated there holding a dark blade in one hand while facing their fleet silently.

At the same time, Pact felt an overwhelming terror... even greater than before. A genuine, true terror unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life!!

"We almost succeeded... we were just there... just about to escape..." he muttered slowly with a shaky voice. "B-but I was still too slow..."

Because at this moment, he felt as if the dark red eyes of that mech were directly focused upon him alone.

Taking a deep breath, he immediately threw a look toward his weapons officer before subtly rolling his eyes clockwise and then counterclockwise, secretly signalling him, before opening a direct communication line toward the mech ahead.

"Tell me, human... what would it cost for me and my fleet, which is still being ravaged by yours, to leave this place? Tell me, and I will give it to you... anything other than our lives."

Kael, who had accepted the communication while leisurely sitting within the cockpit of the Dark Blade, muttered with interest,

"Ohh? Interesting."

"What an interesting offer you give, Commander of the Hegemony fleet. But unfortunately... it doesn’t seem to move me at all."

"Now what should we do?"With a smile on his face, Kael asked directly through the communication channel.

The mocking tone in his voice was clear enough for Pacts and his subordinates to understand exactly what he meant.

Pacts felt his face burn. Many of the higher officers under his command felt the same.

Ignoring it, Pacts tried to speak. "I..."

But the words never left his mouth. Kael continued the moment he made a sound, his tone still as laid-back and amused as before.

"You see, just like how you enjoyed playing hide and seek with my people... and now that you’ve had your fun, it’s my turn to catch you only to let you go?"

He paused slightly before chuckling softly. "That sounds bad, no?"

"And a very big no-no... hmm?"

"You had your fun when you used every resource at hand to harass my people, creating so many problems for me, my fleet, and my people!!" Kael mocked coldly.

"And now that your reckoning has come, you think you can still escape?"

"And as for your compensation, do you really think we are lacking anything while sitting above a region your dog of a boss has already set his eyes upon?"

"Ugh... get your facts straight if that’s the case."

Pact, as if not hearing the last part at all, spoke helplessly, "Why can’t you humans be magnanimous? Why do you have to push me like this? Don’t you know my reinforcements could arrive at any moment now? Would your fate be any different then? Would your subordinates fare any better if that were to happen?"

Pact continued, trying to sound threatening, "Let me tell you straight. No! A big NO!! You won’t even know what hit you, and soon enough you will be in my place begging instead!!"

"So why do this? Why not let both of us and our fleets go our separate ways and survive... instead of dying right here?"

Pact tried to reason with him, believing there was still room for negotiation and that perhaps, through diplomatic means, he could still be let go.

"Ohhh, I’m trembling in fear of you. What should I do? Should I run away?" Kael acted to the best of his ability... which was truly, truly terrible.

If not for the horrible situation they were already in, many people within the Hegemony fleet would have rolled their eyes and said, Dude... why act when you clearly can’t?

Still, they understood the attitude of the person inside the mech. And as if to confirm it further, loud laughter echoed through every communication channel.

"Hahahaha!! You are really funny, Commander of the Hegemony fleet!"

"Do you really think I have no idea your reinforcements are still at least half an hour away from here?"

"Do you think it would take me, or even my fleet, that long to finish dealing with your fleet and your people here?"

"And do you really think we fear them? And that only you can have reinforcements while we can’t have our own?" Kael said mockingly. "Then you have already walked far beyond the realm of delusion!!"

’Hahaha!! ’Saying that, Kael laughed loudly.

Hearing this, Pact instantly lost all colour from his face. "No... they also have reinforcements coming? Then... then..."

Just as he was contemplating this, a low coughing sound came from his right side.