The clue that they received was quite a shocker especially since it upended everyone’s expectations previously. Apparently, the captive that was forced to spill the beans had spoken of a much larger plot against the Forever Pirates. There was yet another unseen force, much smaller in size, but much more powerful nearly at the borders the Forever Pirate territory. He knew this information because his brother was stationed to fight in one of those ships.

It was impossible for this fleet to have set out recently as even Zheng Zhi Long had could not have done it in this short amount of time. This could only be explained by one thing, they had left a long time ago, perhaps even at the same time as the first fleet that was used as a feint.

Once again, they had been thoroughly playing right into the hands of their enemies. However, this was not the time to act idly. Every second counted and a radio conference was set up between Zheng Zhi Long, Elder Gu, Baron, Second husband and a couple of other important figures that were inside their range. While it was being set up, the 3 of them began discussing what action was best.

(SH) “This is not good,” Second husband said in a very annoyed manner, “Elder Gu, even if you Zheng Zhi Long, and Baron set off now to catch them, it won’t be enough time to catch them. Not to mention the massive fleet you are already dealing with. How did we get into such a predicament?”

(EG) “The issue here isn’t the fleet in front of us, it’s the fleet that has somehow slipped past all of our eyes in the sea! How did this happen?” Elder Gu was also speaking in a grave tone.

“We had received a few reports of a few small clashes with the small groups patrolling our rear, but as it was so small, I didn’t bother reporting it.” A random voice spoke up.

(ZZL) “How many?” Zheng Zhi Long was still rather skeptical.

“At least half of our patrols, the others haven’t reported much at all.” The same voice was now fearful for his life as he could feel the enmity of others.

(BM) “Esteemed pirates, now is not the time to fight between ourselves. Zheng Zhi Long, elder Gu and I have discussed how to deal with this matter and we have decided that elder Gu would stay here to take care of the rest of this fleet. Meanwhile, Zheng Zhi Long and I will go chase down the others as our units are quite a bit faster than what you guys have in your arsenal.” Baron laid out the plan in front of everyone.

(SH) “This…” Second husband hesitated.

(ZZL) “Worry not, with the reinforcements already coming to our position, elder Gu should not have a problem dealing with a second rate fleet. It may have a lot of ships, but it certainly can’t compare to even a fraction of our fleet!”

(SH) “Baron, Zhen Zhi Long, you are forgiven from disobeying orders since this plot was uncovered, however, I'm still not sure about this plan of yours. Are you sure about this?”

(ZZL) “With all due respect, we can’t sit idly by can we? The defenses in our territory is top-notch, but the Vesper faction must have already taken note of this and made appropriate preparations.”

(SH) “Very well, you two make haste and go, the rest of us will take care of matters here. I expect good news by the time we finish arming the island to our satisfaction.”

(BM) “You have our word.”

After this line, both Baron and Zheng Zhi Long left to go back the way they came. Even though their force was small, it was both powerful and fast. Especially the nearly indomitable F-35’s that Baron was in control of, not to mention all the other hidden aces that he had yet to reveal.

The conversation continued on a bit after their departure, but it wasn’t very interesting. Just some matters of the fast-approaching reinforcements, a plan to take care of the small skirmishes that were blocking their intel, and a few others.

The distance that the two had to traverse was close to about 5,000 kilometers. As such, even going all out, they had to take just over a week to get back to their own territory. Even though they couldn’t see their enemies yet, they could still contact the main base to see what the situation was like.

From what one of the senior elders told them, the offensive from the Vesper faction had been going on for about two weeks. So far, they have been kept at bay, but this was not to be the case anymore. Just a few days before, another similar strike fleet from the Sun Alliance had come out of nowhere and immediately broke through the first line of defense. This new force was much smaller than the Vesper fleet, but they didn’t seem to be any weaker. Perhaps, even a tad bit more dangerous.

Madam Zheng got the intel that Zheng Zhi Long and Baron were back and made an instant decision for these two and their forces to go engage with the Sun Alliance fleet as they were more of a threat at the moment. There was no reason to refuse their leader, so both of them made their way to nip at the heels of the Sun Alliance fleet. Baron had his unit refuel one last time from the small aircraft carrier that they had been allowed to take with them and they sped up to their destination. Completely leaving Zheng Zhi Long and his ships behind.

The reason Baron didn’t do this before was that he feared he wouldn’t be able to refuel and restock if he just forewent everything and came to the battlefield as fast as possible. It was better to be safe than sorry.

As for the Vesper fleet, Madam Zheng personally took to the field to show her dominance in her natural element.