Him and their stars.

Chapter 1724: An Unexpected Meeting
Wayne's judgment was of course reasonable. However, even he couldn't come up with a specific strategy for what he could and should do next.

"Let's do some more reconnaissance. If the Empire really takes the New World Highway to threaten Nantianmen, we are also obligated to determine the approximate size of their fleet." said Michelle Kent.

This is a conclusion that is at least not wrong. After all, everyone's mission is to investigate.

However, at this point, it would be increasingly difficult to continue the reconnaissance mission. Wayne even thought that compared to playing hide-and-seek in the Dawn Star Region, reconnaissance on the New World Highway was even more dangerous.

The fleet was originally planning to follow the Vulcan Airan all the way, but just as they arrived at the Iris Cross System, they suddenly discovered that a high-speed strike fleet composed of dreadnoughts, armored assault carriers and battlecruisers was on standby here and undergoing routine maintenance.

Needless to say, the outpost space station built by the Community here during the War of Judgment had already fallen for a whole year and had been converted into a dry dock and hangar.

The assault ships and purple lightning dragon fighters patrolling the galaxy were wandering around like hounds, exuding a loyal and cruel aura.

The Wayne Fleet said "Excuse me" and retreated back the way they came, taking a different route and hiding for several days. The most dangerous time was when they were surrounded by enemy fleets that were three times their size.

Fortunately, most of these enemies were the Imperial Army, so coordination was still a problem. When the Wayne Fleet showed a desperate momentum, ignoring the surroundings and only charging forward, the encirclement was quickly torn apart.

Even so, the fleet still suffered considerable damage. A light cruiser was sunk, and a seriously damaged destroyer could not be rescued during the transfer and had to be abandoned.

The flagship, the Victory, was also hit by several shells. The most fatal one was an explosion that caused an earthquake on the bridge, and Wayne, the captain and commander, fell and got a bump on his head.

However, as I said before, dancing within the enemy's control range is always a life-threatening task.

After all, Horatio Wayne and his comrades managed to shake off the enemy's pursuit while retaining most of their combat power.

But then, they discovered that they were actually getting farther and farther away from New Lushun, and were actually getting closer to the Empire's Gate of Glory colony.

Unfortunately, under the surveillance of the Imperial Fleet, which was already on guard, they had almost no chance of returning to the main channel, so they had no choice but to continue exploring forward.

However, it is certain that since the enemy has deployed heavy troops here, it is easy to guess that they are indeed preparing to use Xinyumen as a springboard to attack Nantianmen. This also proves that Wayne's guess is indeed correct.

Moreover, the person in charge of the operations in this direction must be Marshal Farrell on the Vulcan Aeran.

In addition to the Vulcan, there were at least two more dreadnoughts responsible for the attack on the South Heaven Gate. This was what Wayne and his team saw with their own eyes in the Iris Cross System.

"You said that the New World Highway cannot sustain a large fleet," Wayne said.

"Compared to the six Titans of Said, this is indeed not a large fleet." Michelle said: "I still firmly believe that the combat power of the Imperial Army in the direction of Nantianmen is actually relatively balanced with Nantianmen."

"Relatively...right?"

"It's actually hard for me to imagine that Marshal Farrell is a reckless and stubborn person. Maybe he has some brilliant plan."

In the year-long guerrilla warfare in the Dawn Star Domain, the Imperial Army, which had an absolute advantage in manpower, certainly performed very poorly, but Yang Xiyi had a high opinion of him. In this long game of hide-and-seek, the Imperial Army did suffer losses, but important nodes including the Ring of Miracles were always firmly controlled by the Empire, and the action space and combat capabilities of the Yang Fleet were indeed being compressed little by little. If it weren't for the Tower of Babel, the consequences would have been disastrous.

Yang Xiyi also believed that if the person in charge of the Dawn Star Domain was not Marshal Farrell, he might have already recovered the Ring of Miracles.

...Of course, this was just empty talk, and it was not like Yang Xiyi's style at all. It was probably the result of quoting out of context and spreading rumors. However, in the minds of everyone in Yang's fleet, Marshal Farrell was indeed an image of a shrewd and powerful enemy.

Yang Xiyi himself is indeed a master who likes to use strange strategies to manipulate people's mentality, but who can guarantee that his opponent is not the same?

Therefore, for a period of time afterwards, the Wayne Fleet could only send its reconnaissance reports to the Dawn Star Region in the form of encrypted gravitational waves. They didn't know whether Yang Xiyi would receive the message, whether the Imperial Army would intercept or even crack the message, and of course they were even more uncertain whether they could get a response and the next step.

At this point, all we can do is do our best and leave the rest to fate.

While anxiously waiting, the only thing that could give Wayne some comfort was probably the occasional hunting.

Watching the Empire's transport ship disintegrate into space junk in the void, Horatio Wayne always managed to make himself laugh, and this time was no exception. Perhaps because of the successful sneak attack, the fleet seized a considerable amount of supplies from this fat and strong Anmang transport ship, and even captured three prisoners.

This was probably the most cost-effective hunting operation in recent times, and he himself did feel a little relieved.

If Michel Kent hadn't come to remind him that even with this seizure, the ammunition and energy reserves would only be half left, he would have been more relieved for a longer time.

"It looks like we need to increase the frequency of hunting?" Wayne mused.

"That will only increase the possibility of us being surrounded." Kent smiled carefreely, as if he had reconciled with the filth and bloodiness of the entire universe.
"But it's no big deal, we have done the best we can."

"Can you please stop showing such a heroic face? I also feel that sooner or later, I will become a martyr, but it must not be today. It definitely cannot be today!" Wayne said unhappily.

Kent laughed, this time with a lively tone instead of a casual one, and then replied, "This Anmang transport ship called Chiya 41 is not heading to Xinlushun. This can be confirmed from the captured survivors and the captured logbook."

Wayne immediately became interested. During this period, the transport ships intercepted by his fleet were basically running back and forth between New Lushun and the Gate of Glory. This time, he had a new experience.

"What do these Anmons monkeys want?"

"There is a place called Lanza Galaxy? Do you remember it?" Kent asked back.

Wayne was slightly startled, and then fell into deep thought. It took him nearly ten seconds to dig out a bit of information from a certain groove in his cerebral cortex: "I remember that it was before the War of Judgment. It was an exploratory operation before we launched the siege on the Plunderer's Devil's Throat Fortress. Was it a joint operation between us and the Empire?"

Kent nodded. "Of course this is the official version, and there are a lot of inside stories. Lan refers to Master Lan, and Sad refers to Duke Sadulan. However, the real organizer is actually Boss Yu Lian, and it also involves the Enlightened Ones' treasure and the battle between the Transcendents. I heard that the decisive battle between Master Lan and Duke Sadulan almost took place ahead of time."

"Ha, the Lanza galaxy!" Wayne laughed.

"Of course, the final result is that the two countries will jointly manage it. They say that they will shelve the disputes and jointly develop the project." Kent spread his hands.

"The Duke of Saduran is dead, but the Empire hasn't thought about changing its name."

"They are not so reduced to the point of having to use this method to erase the enemy's presence."

At this point, both of them suddenly felt a little sad.

Once upon a time, the Blue Star Community and the Galactic Empire had actually been close friends. In fact, even these two soldiers had envisioned the two countries jointly developing the Dawn Nebula and bringing "a generation of peace" to the entire universe.

Kent even really considered going into politics after retirement. Yu Lian's comment that "you are qualified to be prime minister" had a great impact on him. He was still naive and never thought that Yu Lian had said the same thing to many people.

"I seem to have heard that there is more than one habitable planet in that galaxy, but only the Interstellar Development Corporation is doing the preliminary work?" Wayne said.

If this kind of rich galaxy was discovered in the Milky Way, it would definitely be big news that year, and at least a dozen countries would jump out and use various reasonable or ridiculous reasons to claim sovereignty. Of course, in the end, they still had to act according to the colors of the Alliance and the Empire.

But no matter what, the country that discovered it would definitely invest the greatest human and material resources in the development of the galaxy. Even if large-scale immigration is not possible, it will definitely build space facilities that can represent sovereignty as soon as possible.

This is the New World, and because of the Dawn Star Region, which is considered the essence of the universe, the Lanza Galaxy has suddenly become an outdated internet celebrity, and can only allow private companies to conduct preliminary exploration.

"Yes, the Empire doesn't know. On our side, it's the North Wind Planet Development Company...well, it's an interstellar development company controlled by the Human Union." Kent's expression was quite complicated.

Horatio Wayne was naturally even more shocked: "This, was this also within his expectations?"

Kent spread his hands to indicate that he could not answer, and then said, "When the war started, the people from the North Wind Company were still on the planet, but later they lost contact."

"What a bunch of pitiful people..." Wayne expressed humanitarian sympathy to these strangers, and then asked suspiciously: "Wait, you don't want to go over there to take a look?"

Kent smiled. "We have seized new route information from the Anmons people. It is easier to travel than the one we took during the joint exploration. It is probably discovered by the Empire during this period. This may be a way out. The Anmons prisoners said that the Empire has built a space outpost and planetary forward base in the Lanza system, but the garrison there is almost negligible. The transport ship only comes once a week. If we really run out of ammunition and food, we can hide in that system and become savages."

"...Hahaha!" Wayne felt that the joke was still a bit stiff, but out of support for his friend, he still tried to make himself laugh.

"I have experience in building bases. The holy planet of Lanza is better than the underground caves of Watheim." Kent added.

Wayne wasn't sure if this was a joke anymore.

However, he was not a stubborn old man after all. After a little thought, he said, "Anyway, the route of the New World Highway is blocked. We can indeed explore in that direction."

Kent reminded again: "According to the captured logbook, if the Empire's transport ships to Lanza really come once a week, we may encounter the returning ships."

"Just kill him while you're at it," Horatio Wayne said casually.

Anyway, the fleet really had nowhere to go. Now that they had new star maps and route information, it was inevitable that they would start to have fun, just like a hamster wandering in a maze that suddenly broke through the paper wall and discovered a new path.

As for people like Horatio Wayne, they even started to go berserk.

They guessed the beginning, but not the end.

Two days later, in an unknown galaxy temporarily named "Lansa Channel" by the Empire, the Victory encountered a strange small ship.

It was an ordinary triangular interstellar cruise ship. Its exterior outline had a slightly imperial style, but it was packed with too many irregular accessories, making the overall appearance of the ship suddenly very civilian.

The terrifying thing was that the Victory was not discovered until it was within a safe distance of the other side, which scared everyone on board.

However, it had no intention of avoiding, and while approaching us at a constant speed, it actively communicated, revealing the face of a tall and muscular purple-skinned beauty.

"I'm Agnes, an ordinary adventurer who happens to pass by." She said seriously.