Chapter 170: Startling the Snake, But Don’t Scare It Away

"Enough!" Yang Hui silenced the excitement of the group. "What are you all so happy about? Have the enemies been wiped out? Have we returned to Federal territory? Move closer to the rendezvous unit!"

"Yes!" they responded in unison.

"Beep beep…"

"Captain, the rendezvous unit is requesting communication!"

"Patch them through!"

"Yes!"

On the screen, a stern middle-aged man appeared and immediately saluted Yang Hui.

"General! Commander Flaman Nada of the Ninth Fleet, here to assist the Celestial Being unit! We request that the Celestial Being unit retreat. The enemy forces will be handled by us—"

"Commander Nada, once your fleet joins with the Baize, move to the rear together."

"But the pursuers—"

"After chasing us for so long, how can we let them leave so easily?"

Seeing the ruthless smile on Yang Hui's face, Commander Nada was momentarily stunned but quickly understood his intent, though he still had concerns.

"But, General, your supplies—"

"The three Gundams are fully operational and ready to deploy at any moment."

"…Understood. May fortune favor you, General!"

After ending the communication, Yang Hui addressed the group. "You all heard the orders. Carry them out!"

"Yes!" they responded.

…

Three days later, under the protection of the Ninth Fleet, the Baize safely returned to Federal territory, arriving at the Colony Alias. Due to the Baize being a specially designed ship with extensive damage, the facilities and spare resources at Alias couldn't handle major repairs. After some basic repairs and patching up the holes, the ship headed to the Big Ring base.

After five days of travel, the Baize safely arrived at the Big Ring base. The moment they saw the base, everyone finally felt they had truly come home.

At the base, under Flit's leadership, all officers and staff had spontaneously formed orderly lines at the port to welcome them back.

Seeing the countless craters, scorch marks, and holes on the Baize had a far greater impact than viewing the footage. The images had felt like watching a movie, but witnessing the damage firsthand made the intensity and danger of the battle all too real.

"Salute to the heroes!"

"Snap!"

As Yang Hui and the others disembarked, they were greeted by the uniform salutes of the officers, welcoming their return. The synchronized sound of hands rising and feet clicking echoed through the corridor.

Yang Hui and the others were momentarily stunned. They had already learned during their return journey from the Ninth Fleet and the people of Alias that their battle had been broadcast live. They quickly understood the reason for this reception and solemnly returned the salute.

Normally, after returning the salute, everyone would disperse and return to their posts, but they remained in their saluting positions, their eyes burning with admiration as they gazed at Yang Hui and his team.

Seeing this, Yang Hui smiled wryly and shook his head before stepping forward to give Flit a light hug.

"Since when did you start liking this kind of thing?" Yang Hui asked Flit.

"Boosting morale, but this wasn't my idea," Flit replied, shrugging and glancing at Argreus.

"…Ah, Argreus?"

"Reporting, General! This was organized spontaneously by everyone!" Argreus explained loudly.

"Yes! Welcome home, Celestial Being unit!" they all shouted in unison.

The members of the Celestial Being unit were deeply moved, feeling that the dangers they had endured were not in vain.

"Yes, we're back," Yang Hui nodded to the group, then turned to Argreus. "Dismiss them. With such a large base, who's going to keep things running if everyone's here?"

"Yes!"

At Argreus's command, the orderly lines disbanded, though many were reluctant to leave. They wanted to chat with the Celestial Being members or ask for autographs, but…

"Alright, everyone, disperse! The Celestial Being unit just returned and needs rest," Flit interjected. No one dared to disobey, and they turned away with disappointment and regret, though many kept glancing back, like worried wives seeing off their husbands.

"We'll be staying at the Big Ring for a while, but… some of you aren't working hard enough, which troubles me…"

"Whoosh!"

Before Yang Hui could finish, everyone scattered, rushing back to their posts at breakneck speed, as if pushing their bodies to the limit, faster than any Olympic sprinter.

Watching them scatter, Flit smiled wryly. "Your orders are more effective than mine now, the Commander-in-Chief."

"Your brother's just that good!" Yang Hui gave Flit a thumbs-up.

Flit's mouth twitched, but he quickly composed himself and led Yang Hui, Graham, Yurin, and Argreus to his office. As for the rest of the Celestial Being unit, Yang Hui had given them leave. After their first experience of a life-and-death situation, they needed some proper relaxation.

"Did you find anything during your investigation in Solen City?" Yang Hui asked Flit.

"Yes. Solen Tech has always been a lapdog of VEGAN. We've already cleaned them out. As for their assets…" Flit paused and looked at Yang Hui, "…I contacted Yang Corporation to handle it."

Yang Hui remained calm. While Solen Tech couldn't compare to Yang Corporation, it was still a significant conglomerate. The only entity capable of absorbing it was Yang Corporation. As for the Asuno Family…

They were influential in the military but lacked the capacity to swallow a major corporation.

"As for the Federal officials in Solen City, many were implicated. But strangely, including the head of Solen Tech, everyone's records were clear. They weren't spies sent by VEGAN but had defected later. Such a large-scale betrayal couldn't have been spontaneous. There must be someone behind it, but during interrogations, they refused to talk, only admitting it was their personal decision," Flit said, frowning. While there were some tough individuals among them, most weren't the type to easily betray. Yet, after being caught, they all showed unusual courage, willing to take full responsibility. Why? Could someone be protecting them?

Impossible. Betraying the Federation and colluding with VEGAN was a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment. No one could protect them. That left only one possibility…

"They're being blackmailed, perhaps through their families," Yang Hui added.

"That's what I thought. I've already sent people to investigate. We should have results soon."

"And what about the live broadcast? The military's firewall was written by me. It's not something hackers could easily breach."

"There was a spy at the Big Ring base. They hacked into the central database and took down the entire military's communication system. As for the Earth side… we couldn't pinpoint the exact location."

"Are you sure?" Yang Hui, Graham, and Yurin were all taken aback.

"Yes, we couldn't trace the exact location…"

When had the Federal Army's intelligence division become so incompetent? Unable to locate a few hackers?

"I see."

The Federation's intelligence division couldn't possibly be useless. That left two possibilities: either the hackers had high-level protection, making them untouchable, or this was an inside job by the intelligence division itself.

"What about the spy at the Big Ring base? Did they reveal anything during interrogation?"

"Yes. According to the spy, they were directed by a certain councilman. I investigated this councilman and found numerous issues. He could be arrested immediately. With this evidence, he won't be able to escape," Argreus said confidently.

"No, don't rush the arrest. Apply some pressure first," Yang Hui advised.

"The General means… gently startling the snake?" Argreus quickly grasped Yang Hui's intent.

"Exactly. There's likely more than just him within the Federation. If we arrest him directly, we'll scare the others into hiding. Finding them later would be much harder."

"…Commander."

Argreus agreed with Yang Hui's reasoning, but his superior was Flit, the person he respected and admired most, so he needed Flit's approval.

"Yes, proceed as Yang Hui suggested, Argreus."

"Understood."

Argreus left to oversee the Big Ring base's daily operations and arrange the plan to "startle the snake."

"I've received your mission report. They really went all out this time," Flit said grimly. He knew the intelligence had issues, but he hadn't expected it to be this severe.

The X-Rounder research data was an undeniable lure. With such intelligence presented to Flit and Yang Hui, they would investigate despite knowing the risks. In a sense, the intelligence was accurate—the target location did house a VEGAN X-Rounder research facility.

Moreover, the intelligence explicitly stated that the details couldn't be fully confirmed, so the intelligence division couldn't be blamed.

This was a well-prepared trap, a blatant scheme.

"Cutting off someone's livelihood is akin to killing their parents. We're used to it by now."

"Mr. Grudick has made new progress. Soon, we'll be able to completely cleanse the Federation," Flit said seriously.

"Perhaps," Yang Hui didn't fully agree with Flit. He understood the saying, "Too clear water breeds no fish." Corruption was an endless cycle—removing one batch only led to the emergence of new ones. It was an unshakable law of societal development.

But the current batch of corrupt individuals had grown too powerful and needed to be dealt with. After being targeted so many times, failing to retaliate would only make them think they could be pushed around.

"We're heading out now. This mission really took it out of us."

"Alright."

"Oh, Flit, remember to delete the records of Ezelcant's statements. If those words got out, it would demoralize the troops," Yang Hui reminded before leaving.

"Don't worry, I know what to do."

"Good."

After Yang Hui and the others left, Flit pulled up the mission records of the Celestial Being unit and split the file into two parts. However… Flit didn't delete the latter half as Yang Hui had instructed. Instead, he saved it in an encrypted personal database, believing it might prove useful in the future.

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