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Chapter 122: Stiletto-class?

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

“Stay where you are right now; my fleet will warp to your coordinates in about seventeen minutes forty-six seconds.” Jansen sighed.

Stunned, Xia Fei’s brows furrowed further. “What do you mean? Do you know me?”

Jansen hesitated for a moment. He lightly ruffled his golden locks first before answering, “You don’t know me, but I know you. I’ve seen the recording of you during the Adjudicator Union’s crisis grade assessment.”

Xia Fei chuckled and did not say anything else.

He appeared perturbed by what was happening, but his fingers had been rapping lightly on his control console, adjusting the autopilot short warps into the furthest long-distance warp.

The indicator lights displayed that the warp engine had been sufficiently charged for the next jump, so Xia Fei soundlessly ended the video transmission with Jansen and rapidly transited Vampire into warp travel mode.

Xia Fei did not trust that Jansen person at all.

From how he had sent a message to verify his identity, there was nothing suspicious about Jansen’s identity. If Jansen had any ill intent toward him, he would not have a need to hail or inform Xia Fei about the time it would take his fleet to reach him.

Xia Fei had no doubt about all these, but he remained obstinately skeptical. At the end of the day, he was still in the Wild Star Region, where anything and everything could happen. If anyone wished to survive in a place like this, they could only depend on themselves.

The Black Mamba 130 engine was far more outstanding than the average engine out there, capable of traveling a full 61,450 lightyears in a single warp, and this let him leave Starlink Corporation’s First Fleet in his proverbial dust.

It was only that such large-scale warping would create a huge energy signature. If any nearby pirates were to pick up on it, they might very easily follow his trail, and that would be extremely dangerous for Xia Fei and company.

Starlink Corporation’s First Fleet, lead ship.

Jansen stared dumbfoundedly as Xia Fei slipped away without warning, not even saying a word of goodbye.

He was initially taken aback but soon understood why it happened. Xia Fei did not trust him.

With that thought in mind, Jansen barked a series of orders. “Immediately search for traces of that warship. Additionally, initiate our extreme long-range communicator and connect us to the missus’s residence.”

Tidying his uniform, Jansen stood up straight and waited for the other party to establish connections.

It took a long time for the extreme long-range communicator to establish a connection and several minutes for a man in his sixties to appear before the screen.

“Old Pang, is the missus there?” Jansen respectfully bowed.

“The missus has just turned in for the night. Why, is something the matter?” This elderly man, who had been addressed as Old Pang, shot this question back with annoyance. Judging from his tidy black uniform, with a pair of white gloves, it seemed that he was a butler of a distinguished family.

Jansen cracked a smile. “Old Pang. I’ve found Xia Fei!”

The elderly man jolted with a start, an inexplicable smile appearing across his face. “Have you really located him? Where is he?”

Jansen slightly proudly replied, “I’ve led the first fleet on a grueling search over the last few months, almost turning the entire Wild Star Region upside down.”

The elderly man stared, slightly sternly saying, “I don’t wish to hear your complaints; cut to the chase.”

“Okay.” Jansen nodded his head repeatedly, seemingly somewhat cowed by Old Pang. This was strange, considering that it was a fleet commander who was showing fear at the moment toward an elderly caretaker with graying hair.

“We found him in the Wild Star Region, somewhere 730,000 lightyears away from Alliance space,” Jansen reported.

“Immediately escort him back to the Pan-Human Alliance with your fleet; don’t tell him anything else. At the same time, inform our seventh and twelfth fleets to return. There’s no need to continue searching,” Old Pang ordered imposingly and in a dignified manner that no one would dare to question.

Jansen’s expression turned pained. “The problem is that Xia Fei has gotten suspicious of my identity. He’s warped quite far from his previous location, and I’ll need some time to get a lock on his new coordinates. What do we do if he doesn’t comply?”

Old Pang burst into laughter all of a sudden, muttering softly, “That Xia Fei sure is cautious.”

“I don’t care how you do it; just make sure that you have Xia Fei escorted safely back into Alliance space. If you can’t even get this small task done, you can forget about being a fleet commander.”

“Understood.” Jansen gave Old Pang a military salute. “I will ensure the completion of this task. Is there a need for me to report this to the missus? She did once instruct me to inform her at once the moment I have information.”

Old Pang waved him off. “The missus has finally just fallen asleep after making a din the whole day. I’ll wait for the missus to wake up and tell her about it myself. Just do as I instructed you, and you’ll do fine.”

The screen went black, and Jansen poured himself a glass of red wine as he lounged in that comfortable captain’s chair. “Just what exactly is the relationship between Xia Fei and the missus’ for the corporation to make such a big deal over his disappearance?”

For him to have become a fleet commander for Starlink Corporation at the age of twenty-four, Jansen was of course no fool. It was only that no matter how hard he wracked his brain over this, be it the missus or the company, there just did not seem to be anything to link Xia Fei, that commoner located tens and thousands of miles away, with either; they were simply on different planes, and their lives would hardly intersect.

Nonetheless, it was because of that seemingly small character that Starlink Corporation had mobilized three out of its twelve fleets to search for him. In fact, if the other nine fleets were not stationed too far away from the Wild Star Region, they might have been sent out en masse as well.

According to the information he got after, in order to search for Xia Fei, the company’s technical department had even begun looking into the possibility of expanding the interplanetary internet to include the whole of Wild Star Region. In the end, it was dismissed because the time to construct the necessary infrastructure would take too long.

It must be stated that the interplanetary internet was made up of countless communication systems and positioning satellites. Increasing the coverage by a star region required an astronomical capital—an expenditure that the average person could not even begin to imagine.

The conclusion that Jansen could draw from all these was that he must not provoke Xia Fei no matter what. There were too many things about the person’s background that he did not know, so it was best if he approached this with caution.

This was when a beautiful lady who was working the radar called, “Commander, we’ve located that ship you asked. It’s currently 64,000 lightyears away from us.”

Jansen was stunned. “Are you sure? He traveled over 60,000 lightyears in that one warp just now?”

“That’s right.”

“Good lad... to cover over 60,000 lightyears in one warp only means that Xia Fei’s ship has a top-grade warp engine. It’s a good thing we’ve got a Stiletto-class aboard, or else we’d lose him this time.” Jansen smiled as he thought to himself.

Xia Fei, who had just evaded Jansen’s fleet, headed straight to the Pan-Human Alliance via high-speed warping.

Because this was the dangerous Wild Star Region, Xia Fei did not let his guard down even once. Over the next hours, he did not leave the command deck, remaining in a vigilant state from start to finish.

At this time, not one pirate or mob attempted to stop Xia Fei. As he got closer and closer to the Pan-Human Alliance territory, the security level of the space also increased.

A ship was inexplicably trailing after Xia Fei’s, maintaining a ten-thousand-kilometer distance from Vampire. According to the information his radar system had picked up, this ship was a Stiletto-class interceptor made by Mittal Manufacturing.

This was the first time Xia Fei had heard or seen an interceptor, and from the analysis of its signal strength, it should be about the same size as a frigate, but why would it be called something different if it was a warship similar to a frigate?

“Interceptor? Do you know anything about that sort of warship?” Xia Fei asked.

Phantom shook his head. “This is also the first time I’ve heard of it. It doesn’t seem to be any different from a frigate based on its outward appearance.”

That was when the Stiletto-class suddenly accelerated, engaging in high-speed cruise maneuvers while it orbited around Vampire as if it was opening a path for Xia Fei.

“It has 14,000m/s.” Xia Fei saw the number displayed on the radar and was surprised.

Its speed was twice that of Vampire with its Black Mamba 130 warp engine, and that was simply too inconceivable.

Xia Fei and Phantom exchanged glances, their eyes filled with shock.

Vampire was fitted with an energy-draining device, so he was not afraid of the Stiletto attacking. It was just that its speed was simply too astounding. To think that there would actually be such a warship capable of high speeds in this universe... just how did it reach those extreme speeds?

The Stiletto-class interceptor seemed to be intentionally publicly propagating its signal without reservations. Xia Fei learned from this that the ship belonged to Starlink Corporation’s first fleet, with its registration information and spaceship number listed.

It seemed to be doing this in an attempt to let Xia Fei know that it meant well.

As time passed, Xia Fei realized that this ship did indeed pose no threat to him. It was even acting as a bodyguard, carefully following him at a distance that was neither too near nor too far.

“Could that guy really have no ill intention toward me? Why would he send someone to tail me, then?” Xia Fei wondered about it hard, unable to make sense of what was happening.

Sarah and Allen were also very nervous. Both of them were quietly hovering outside the command deck, afraid to go in and disturb Xia Fei. From time to time, Sarah would serve Xia Fei a cup of tea and wait outside the door until he was done with it. She would then fill another cup and send it in, taking away the newly emptied cup while she was at it.

Snuffing the cigarette in his hand, Xia Fei decided to establish contact with that Stiletto-class interceptor e shadow, silently following him, impossible to shake off.

This situation persisted until he was within the borders of the Alliance. The temporary wormhole slowly opened; Xia Fei only needed another warp, and he would be in the Alliance space.

This was when that Stiletto-class interceptor, which had been faithfully shadowing him this entire time, sent a message over: “All the best, friend—it has been an honor for the first fleet of Starlink Corporation to escort you safely back into the Alliance’s fold.”

This parting message was Jansen’s wise-ass decision. Since he reckoned that Xia Fei was not someone he could afford to offend, he figured that it was an excellent chance to curry favor and establish a good rapport with the latter. There was no telling if there would come a time when he could use Xia Fei’s aid.

Xia Fei chuckled and composed a simple reply: “Thank you; I won’t be seeing you off.”

About ten minutes later, Vampire successfully appeared in Alliance territory, and Xia Fei heaved a long sigh while he sat in his seat. “I’m finally back.”

Sarah and Allen were also abuzz, having been waiting outside the door the entire time.

Turning on his microcomputer to connect to the interplanetary internet, Xia Fei was anxious to learn if Xiaoyu was inside that insectoid warship he had disabled before.

Just as the link was established, Xia Fei was abruptly inundated with an innumerable number of images one after another, which nearly caused his screen to explode, leaving him completely dumbfounded.