Unable to accept such a thing, I frowned. This cannot go on. The Black Star Fleet will find my place sooner or later. I must think of something and fast.

Suddenly, Landon which had been silent yelled, “Go to the Star Relay! That’s the only place we can escape!”

Hmm…? Ah… Speaking of which, ATHENA said that the Star Relay was made by Professor Landon.

“Okay. ATA, direct the ship to the Star Relay at full speed and maintain the absolute invisible mode!”

[As you command.]

Since the spaceship’s generator was a Cold Fusion Reactor — no longer a normal Fusion Reactor, more energy was being produced each second. Thus, maintaining a full thruster speed while in absolute invisible mode was an easy task to do.

Before long, the Star Relay was within sight. There were hundreds of patrol ships of varying sizes guarding it. I wasn't scared though since the absolute invisible mode was still on. Still, there was one crucial problem with the Star Relay. Now… How am I supposed to activate it?

"Professor Landon. Since you were the one who made and proposed me to use the Star Relay, you must have a way to use it, right?"

“Hmph. I wouldn’t have suggested you go there if I didn't have any cards in my sleeve. But I'm impressed that your ship has such an advanced concealment technology. This could help us went through the Star Relay more ea—”

“Hurry! spill it out! My patience’s limited!” I was a bit mad at him after dragging me to this.

“Okay-okay… As long as you can establish a connection with the Star Relay, I can do the rest.”

Connection, huh? It should be quite easy with ATA's capability. No wait, this isn’t against space pirates like before, but the military equipped with advanced technology. Guess, I could only take the risk for now.

Afterward, I had ATA tried to establish a connection secretly, and luckily it worked. Still, if there was any big movement made by her, it would be detected in an instant.

“Now, the rest is up to you.”

“Just leave it to me,” Landon said as he controlled the holo-screen in front of him.

Fleet Commander Smith’s Perspective

"Hmph! Did they think that using a simple swarm of toys is enough to escape? Pinpoint their location and use the interception missiles!" A middle-aged man with a tough face commanded with a straight face. He was, of course, Commander Smith.

“Yes!”

“Commander… They seem to have a very advanced concealment technology and our new sensor isn’t able to detect them.”

“Hmm? Interesting… Anyhow, they won’t be able to escape since I have set the Hyperspace Interrupter. However, just to be safe, calculate where their possible escape route with the computer!”

“Yes!!”

Later, Commander Smith received the report, raising his brows in contemplation. The only way for them to escape is either by destroying the Hyperspace Interrupter or manually went out of the range, but… there’s another escape point without diving into Hyperspace…

“Tell the operators on the Star Relay to not let anyone enter their Star Relay!”

“As you command!”

The Operators’ Perspective

Within the control center of the Star Relay, dozens of operators were busily maintaining the place. They had just received a message from the S.S.S. that someone important had escaped; thereby, raising their vigilant for any approaching ships that might enter the Star Relay. The A.I. did the heavy calculation on the main quantum computer, but some simple manual things still needed to be taken care of.

“Sir. The A.I. calculated that if the escaping ship was to go to this place, they'll appear anytime soon."

“Hmm?” The head operator observed his holo-screen and said, “Commander Smith from the Black Star Private Fleet said that the escape is only one Frigate-class spaceship. With 500 ships guarding the Star Relay, they won’t be able to escape anyway. Still, the Black Star Company will owe us one with this.”

“Indeed.”

Unbeknownst to anyone, a slight flicker appeared on the main holo-screen before disappearing. Shortly, the Star Relay which been dormant got activated and power began to gather to the center of the ring-shaped Star Relay. Initially, it appeared as a giant spark of electricity before evolving into a mystic glow of light.

“S-sir… for some unknown reason, the Star Relay got activated!”

“What?! How’s that possible? Hurry up and turn it off!”

““Y-yes!!”” All the operators replied in unison.

However, no matter what they did, the Star Relay couldn’t be deactivated.

No… How can this be? There’s someone with the highest access forcefully opening it up. Wait… Professor Landon… How could I be so stupid? The head operator thought in his heart and started to regret not thinking this deep enough.

Looking at the intensely working Landon and the Star Relay that began to get activated, I couldn't help but ask, “Did the Star Relay work?”

“Yup! And the endpoint shouldn’t be far from Sector 837,” Landon said with a smug smile but he continued, “Still, that place is just too far, and there’s just too little time for me to accurately pinpoint the place.”

“Well, that’s enough for now. Other things will be handled later.” With that said, I swiftly directed the ship into the Star Relay.

The moment the ship touched the mystic glow of light in the middle of Star Relay, it got absorbed and the view of space disappeared, replaced with a long-winding tunnel. I realized that the Star Relay was surprisingly very similar to wormhole in Sector 837, just that it didn’t have a strange disturbance of space and time.

“Haha! How is it? This is my invention that I’m so proud of. It took me, a genius, a decade to figure out the science to make this thing.”

Looking at him boasting with a smug smile, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It was him that dragged me into this situation, but it was also him that gave the escape route. Truly a double-edged sword or person in this case.

“Doesn’t matter, but how long would we need to traverse this tunnel?”

“Since I had maximized its range into 1,000 light-years, it should take an hour. Although…"

“Although what?” Wait, why am I having a bad feeling about this?

“There isn’t any Star Relay on the other side, so this will be the first time a spaceship went through it without any. Well, outside of experimenta—”

“What?! Are you insane?!” I glared at him, really wanting him to be ripped into pieces. This crazy bastard! Now, this is no different than escaping the wolf's den only to enter the tiger's mouth. Hah…

“Wa… Calm down for a bit. At least I can guarantee that we’ll be safe from my calculation.”

Calculation? Calculation your head!

Not bothering with him further, I began to think about my next course of action. Since I couldn’t practice the knight breathing technique, guess it’s the right time to test out the Virtual Chamber. I want to train on using the Ever-Changeable MRS in the simulation pod.

Subsequently, I stood up and was about to get out of the control room when Landon noticed me and asked, “Where are you going, lad?”

“Professor Landon, you watch over the ship. I’ll be going to the Virtual Chamber for the time being.” I'm not scared that he'll be doing anything funny since there's the 'Contract Collar.' There's also no reason for him to do something like that, anyway.

“Hmm…? Just call me Landon. For some reason, it feels weird when you act so formally to me.” Landon continued to browse through his holo-screen without minding me.

Right away, I went to the Virtual Chamber and started the training.

The Marching Razel Army’s Perspective

Within the expanse clearing of a forest, a big army consisting of 20,000 strong were marching in an orderly fashion. They were each equipped with a dark-colored armor that covered their whole body, looking like cold-blooded soldiers from afar. Thanks to their heavy steps, the atmosphere they brought were enhanced multiple times.

Still, all their cold-bloodedness paled in comparison to someone sitting inside a mystic looking magic carriage in the back. Inside was a black-robed, white-haired, haughty man with a monster skull staff on his side. He was none other than Head Court Magician Arnold.

Suddenly, he opened his closed eyes and revealed an abyss looking pupils that could suck anything inside. "Now, it should be either to attack the Brightmoon City or… No, this will be more effective…" Head Court Magician Arnold mumbled to himself.

He then emitted a black shadow from his palm before it vanished to the surrounding. If anyone else were to see this, they would think that this was just a magic trick. Only he knew that it was a way for a Dark-Elementalist like him to communicate with someone from afar.

Hmm… Better strike the source in one go. However, I must act very cautiously. For one to have a legacy of the past and able to obliterate an army with golems, he shouldn’t be simple at all. Information like this will be crucial later.