"Take off, Shield Number!" Xu Lanzhou commanded the warship, which had just deactivated its cloaking mode, to take off and engage in battle.
This escort ship of the Magvina people was not a large warship; it was only over 170 meters in length and 45 meters in width, and its firepower was relatively weak. But after all, this was a warship of a high-level civilization.
Xu Lanzhou named this escort ship after the Destiny Artifact, a family heirloom, always reminding himself of the knight's mission and vowing eternal loyalty.
When Shield Number took off from a stretch of yellow soil and revealed its figure, the menacing members of the Blood Skull Society were stunned.
"What is that?! A warship! Damn it, since when did Sumer Star have such a warship!"
As a haven for criminals and adventurers, Sumer Star didn't have many space-faring vehicles. This dwarf planet, due to its relatively harsh environment, couldn't even produce its own food, and often relied on supplies brought in from outside.
The reason the Wilds of the Galaxy is known as such is because this area lies at the intersection of three great star zones, or spiral arms of the galaxy. There isn't much civilization nearby because there aren't many planets around. There are even various charged nebulae with strong disturbances, frightening astronomical tides, and even multiple rogue black holes (a group of black holes).
The Wilds of the Galaxy once became the graveyard of powerful civilizations. Many civilizations have tried to clear this polluted spot in the galaxy, but large-scale fleet operations seem to always encounter problems in the Wilds of the Galaxy. Despite the lack of their own fleets, whenever other fleets arrived, they would suffer heavy losses even before reaching their destination, either due to a neutron star eruption or miscalculations in their routes, leading them into the embrace of black holes, never to return.
When Xu Lanzhou and Han Jiaxue entered the Wilds of the Galaxy, they too were extremely cautious, even facing dangers themselves, but ultimately they successfully entered this "shelter of the galaxy."
Indeed, there were some forces in the Wilds of the Galaxy that possessed spacecraft, but the numbers were small, not to mention owning a warship of a high-level civilization. The Blood Skull Society might have been a big player on Sumer Star, but they were still essentially a terrestrial force—in the Wilds of the Galaxy, they resembled more of an organized crime labor export organization. They had some military reserves, but owning a spacecraft was beyond their wildest dreams.
"Damn it, who told me that we were dealing with just two humanoid females? Do two humanoid females have a warship?"
"Retreat! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"
In fact, it was already too late. These brothers of the Blood Skull Society used levitating motorcycles or even more antiquated gasoline engine four-wheeled armored vehicles as their means of transport, outfitted with some basic weaponry, from ordinary electromagnetic acceleration weapons to chemical energy weapons. Although they looked formidable, their power was limited.
However, what Xu Lanzhou was piloting was a highly autonomous warship of a high-level civilization. Although its firepower was weak compared to warships of the same level of civilization, it posed no problem in wiping out a criminal organization like the one on Sumer Star.
Perhaps when the Magvina people built the Shield Number escort ship, they had considered its use for near-surface public order suppression operations. Therefore, Xu Lanzhou chose a group of ground suppression strike weapons. The underside of the warship immediately popped out an array of weapons of various sizes.
Xu Lanzhou did not choose the most powerful type but selected the smallest caliber orbital cannon and bombarded the Blood Skull Society's position with a barrage of fire.
These orbital cannons were designed for continuous shooting against flying objects, firing tens of thousands of rounds per second with ease. Even though the caliber wasn't very large, each shell contained an explosive warhead. When hundreds of shells fell to the ground, the area above the members of the Blood Skull Society was completely engulfed by explosions and smoke.
After Shield Number flew past, there was not a single survivor on the ground.
Xu Lanzhou was not surprised by this outcome; the disparity was so vast that even describing it as worlds apart seemed an understatement.
Through the visual sensors in the bridge, Xu Lanzhou could see that the people in the town seemed shocked by the complete annihilation of the Blood Skull Society's men. Of course, the Blood Skull Society still had members left, but no one would come out to meet their death.
Xu Lanzhou frowned slightly, "I originally wanted to keep a low profile, but it seems that won't be possible."
Han Jiaxue smiled at her and said, "The situation on Sumer Star is different from Earth and Iridium Star. There is no order here, and as two girls living alone, we'd probably just become targets for others to bully. The moment we arrived on Sumer Star, we demonstrated our strength, and it's a strength that others can't contend with. This will be helpful for us living here."
Xu Lanzhou nodded her head. Although Han Jiaxue often seemed more like a vase, Xu Lanzhou could feel that this beautiful girl was actually very intelligent. Moreover, she was very diligent in her studies, especially when it came to interactions within interstellar civilization. Han Jiaxue, an Earthling, possessed more skills and knowledge in this area than Xu Lanzhou, a former space fleet commander.
"I hope the Star Alliance does not trace us here," Xu Lanzhou said softly.
As she spoke, Xu Lanzhou felt a tinge of sorrow. Perhaps she wasn't like Bai Zhongqi; she wasn't born on Earth and didn't have a deep attachment to Earth's civilization. But it was the civilization of her and the Chancellor, the one she had fought for over the years and had come to identify as her own. And now, she and Han Jiaxue had become fugitives and targets of pursuit by that very civilization, forced to leave the Star Alliance behind and live like other fugitives and adventurers in the Wilds of the Galaxy, nameless and forgotten.
Han Jiaxue looked at the dwarf planet, which could indeed be described as ugly, and said, "If Bai is still alive, then he will definitely come back for vengeance. The Wilds of the Galaxy might be a barren land, but it is home to well-informed intelligence brokers and mercenaries of various skills. Perhaps someday these people could prove useful to us."
A gleam sparked in Xu Lanzhou's eyes, and she said, "You're right. Although we alone are not capable of creating a civilization that could oppose the Star Alliance, the Chancellor surely can, perhaps even bringing a great force from Iridium Star. If we could provide him with help, that would be ideal."
As if finding new resolve and motivation, Xu Lanzhou exclaimed with a fist raised, "That settles it. Let's build the most powerful mercenary corps in the Wilds of the Galaxy right here on Sumer Star!"
Han Jiaxue smiled, "Then we'll need a name that rings out."
"Vengeance Mercenary Corps, I think that's a good name."