Zhuang Zhixuan stood there, watching them, then turned her gaze to Qin Beiwang and suddenly smiled.
Yes.
A long-range raid.
Penetrating deep into enemy territory across a star system.
Destroying a stargate.
Creating a black hole.
Annihilating thirty-five thousand Imperial warships.
Traversing the entire Bushman Star System.
Returning alive.
And along the way, ambushing over fifty thousand Imperial warships at two warp points.
And also annihilating the eight thousand Imperial starships responsible for defense.
Such military merit.
How could it not deserve a Three-Luminaries Salute?
She gently straightened her collar and stood tall.
Her gaze passed through the viewport, settling on the three-colored light.
The two fleets began to converge.
The Pluto Fleet slowly sailed through the gap between the Army Breaker Fleet and the General Slayer Fleet.
Qin Beiwang stood before the viewport, his gaze passing through the glass to rest on the most massive flagship.
City-Crusher.
Through the viewport, he could clearly see the situation on the command seat of that warship.
A tall, middle-aged man stood there.
Broad-shouldered, with a straight back.
Even across the void, one could sense the aura unique to a seasoned veteran emanating from him.
His gaze was directed through the same void, looking toward them.
Their eyes met.
Qin Beiwang slowly turned around.
He raised his right hand, fingers together, touching his temple.
A standard military salute.
On the other side, the middle-aged man also raised his hand.
Returning the salute.
The motion was crisp and clean, without a single unnecessary movement.
The communications officer's voice rang out on the bridge.
"Report, Commander!
The Army Breaker Fleet flagship City-Crusher is requesting communication!"
He paused, his voice tinged with barely suppressed excitement.
"Fleet Commander Admiral Chen Song sends his greetings!"
A faint smile lifted the corner of Qin Beiwang's mouth.
"Put it through."
The communication screen lit up.
A rugged face appeared on the screen.
Thick eyebrows, a square jaw, eyes sharp as an eagle's.
The corners of his mouth held a hint of a smile that seemed both appraising and teasing.
That powerful voice exploded across the bridge.
"Finally got to meet you!"
Admiral Chen Song's voice was rough, bold, carrying the confidence unique to an old general.
"I've always wanted to see if our Federation's hero had three heads and six arms..."
He paused, then laughed.
"...to be able to send those Imperial barbarians running scared time and time again!"
Low laughter rippled through the bridge.
Qin Beiwang stood there, a faint smile on his face, saying nothing.
Chen Song's eyes swept over him from head to toe.
Then he nodded.
"Hmm, not bad looking."
His tone carried the scrutiny unique to an elder.
"There's a bit of your old man's bearing in your brow."
He paused, then shifted his tone.
"Just a bit too skinny!"
Qin Beiwang was taken aback for a moment.
First, he chuckled.
Then he replied.
"Although the Imperial barbarians excel in strategy..."
"...their tactics are rather crude."
"That's how I've managed to win so many battles."
The bridge fell silent for a second.
Then Chen Song burst out laughing.
"Good!"
He slapped his thigh.
"Bold enough!"
"Truly Qin Qianfan's son!"
His laughter gradually subsided, his gaze turning serious.
He looked at Qin Beiwang and slowly began to speak.
"I previously risked being ridiculed by my colleagues by launching fierce assaults on the L-7 and N-12 Jump Points."
He paused, his tone carrying a hint of the cunning unique to seasoned veterans.
"I wonder how Senior Colonel Qin Bei Wang..."
"fared at the Z-78 and S-22 Jump Points?"
The Bridge instantly fell silent.
Qin Bei Wang naturally understood the implication behind those words.
A full Admiral accepting a Senior Colonel's suggestion, risking the chance of enemy forces on the front line warping away, only to blockade two jump points.
If certain individuals found out,
it would likely be twisted into Qin Bei Wang deliberately acting this way to steal credit.
Thus, the other party needed a result.
To reassure himself, and also to reassure his subordinates.
Qin Bei Wang stood there, his gaze calm as he looked at Chen Song on the communication screen.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it was clear as if carved into everyone's ears.
"Our fleet, a total of 312 warships."
He paused, then continued.
"At the S-22 Jump Point, annihilated 4,123 defending forces."
"At the Z-78 Jump Point, annihilated 4,000 defending forces."
"Annihilated enemy forces that warped back from the front line."
His gaze lifted slightly.
"A total of over 50,000 vessels."
The Bridge was quiet for a second.
On the other end of the communication screen, Admiral Chen Song's eyes instantly widened.
He stared at Qin Bei Wang, his lips moving, emitting a whisper he himself didn't even notice.
"What..."
Then his voice suddenly rose, exploding across the Bridge of the City-Crusher.
"What?"
"Over 50,000 vessels?"
He stared fixedly at Qin Bei Wang on the screen, his voice filled with disbelief.
"How many did you say, kid?"
Qin Bei Wang looked at him, not repeating himself.
He simply stood there quietly.
Chen Song took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
But his heartbeat simply wouldn't slow.
Over 50,000 vessels.
Their two joint fleets, Po Jun and Zhan Jiang, with over 40,000 warships, fought for nearly ten full hours.
And they only eliminated a little over 20,000 Imperial regular fleet vessels.
Yet this young man before him.
Leading less than three hundred starships.
In the enemy rear.
At two jump points.
Took out 50,000.
50,000.
More than double what their two joint fleets combined had achieved.
Chen Song stared at Qin Bei Wang, at that young, calm face.
He had no reason whatsoever to doubt this number.
The Marshal's son.
What those four words meant in the Federation, everyone knew.
That was true military lineage.
Utterly disdained falsifying Military Merit.
Chen Song murmured.
"50,000..."
"Three hundred vessels..."
He shook his head, as if mocking himself.
"I've fought for forty years, and this is the first time I feel like I've wasted all these years."
Then he looked up at Qin Bei Wang, the light in his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
His voice rose again, carrying a kind of irrepressible excitement.
"I knew it!"
He slammed a fist on the Command Console.
"I knew you were something else, kid!"
"Listening to you back then was absolutely the right call!"
The corner of Qin Bei Wang's mouth lifted slightly.
Chen Song continued.
"Tell me quickly!"
He leaned forward, like a curious child.
"How did you take out so many enemy forces?"
His gaze was full of anticipation.
"Even if they were in an unguarded state for a short time after jump completion..."
"To annihilate 50,000 Imperial warships with less than three hundred starships..."
"It must be extremely difficult, right?"
Qin Bei Wang looked at him and remained silent for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"Actually, it's quite simple."
Chen Song raised an eyebrow.
"Simple?"
Qin Bei Wang nodded.
"The Empire dispatched eight thousand civilian-converted military starships to garrison Z-78 and S-22."
He paused briefly before continuing to explain.
"We sank all eight thousand of them."
"And then we towed all their wreckage into the warp point."
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