No . . . It was impossible!

Xiao Se forced himself to dig deeper, then suddenly jerked his head up as he finally thought of something .  

"Li Hong, I can finally see sense in it . The X-6 mission was a lure . They have exposed their position to the Zergs, but when the Zergs get there, it will be Samantha's armada waiting for them . "

Li Hong's eyes lit up with realization . "b.a.l.l.s! What a great move and how conniving! This way, she will claim all the credit for herself, and no one would ever be able to challenge her position . "

"What did they say about women and poison? She had distracted us using w.a.n.g Tong the same way as she would the Zergs using the X-6 units . "

"That's right! The dimwitted dark one would never expect to walk into a trap . Let me check their current location of the X-6 units . They are . . . on the other side of Saturn!"

"That's about right . They are luring the Zergs closer while giving Samantha some time to lay the trap . I knew she had something planned . She wouldn't have gotten the admiral position because of her pretty face . "

"Sneaky! What should we do? We can't sit around and let her claim fall the credit . "

Xiao Se heaved a sigh after Samantha's ploy was revealed to him . He knew something was amiss when she acted so out of her character as to directly confront him . It was all for a show to deter them from joining her .

"Well, we are obligated to follow admiral's order . Move out!" Xiao Se announced .  

"But . . . are we risking giving up our influence in the armada and hand it over to Samantha?"

"Li Hong, we are soldiers of the Confederation first . Don't let the faction politics stop you . Samantha has done everything she could for the greater good, and so should we . "

"Haha! Very well! Let's help her . " Li Hong announced with a relieved smile .

Over the years, they had both gotten tired of the political infighting . Sometimes, they wished they were not in such a position in their factions so they wouldn't have to be forced do the things they didn't want to . Samantha's operation had given them an opportunity to fulfill the oath they swore when they first joined the military: to protect humanity .

"Princ.i.p.al, the rest of the fleets are on the move as well . . . Strange!" Lumi put in . She was the head of the intelligence department, and therefore, she was the first person to learn about the movements of the other s.h.i.+ps .

Samantha smiled knowingly, "Ok, noted . "

Lumi didn't press Samantha for more questions, but her confused look didn't leave her face . Samantha said, "Don't worry, everything is fine . Order the soldiers to get ready . "

Li Hong and Xiao Se didn't disappoint Samantha . She never expected the two to stop fighting for their factions; after all, they were just doing what was the best for the people who were loyal to them . However, at this critical moment, they united with the rest of the crew in solidarity . This battle was not going to be easy for Samantha while she commanded only half of her armada . However, with the combined might of all the s.h.i.+ps in the armada, Samantha was confident that she could crush the Zergs .  

The X-6 mission had given Samantha plenty of data to a.n.a.lyze the Zergs' fighting habits . She soon realized that the Zergs' attack units often consisted of no more than one fleet . It was a perfect size for Samantha's armada to deal with . It was just big enough to make the Zergs' feelings hurt, while it wasn't too big to pose a threat to the Confederation Armada .

Samantha was very impressed by Flash and Karl's abilities . They had achieved feats that she had ever dreamed of, a sign that she needed to dream bigger .

"Why are the humans still inactive? I have already risen to their bait . " Zhoudi said . "Are you sure about the route that Patroclus tipped us off?"

"I am . There had been human activities reported along that route . "

"Haha . What does Patroclus want in return?"

"The life of all level immortals . "

"Is w.a.n.g Tong there yet?"

"That chicken-sh*t didn't join the rest of the X-6 until recently . I bet he is afraid of fighting in s.p.a.ce . "

"Haha! Cowardice is human nature . "

"Hehe…In order to play along with his game, we lost over two thousands s.h.i.+ps . Now, they are finally convinced that we have taken the bait and have set up an ambush in the Saturn steroid belt . What a ridiculous idea! Order our fleet to continue our plan…Make sure that the human remains convinced of their victory . "

"Yes, my lord!"

"I have no idea why Patroclus would help us this time, but anyway, I will take it," Zhoudi said .

Zhoudi had ordered his fleet to keep playing along; however, he had moved his entire force behind the fleet that the humans were expecting .

Meanwhile, in the immortals' fleet, captain Maris was listening to the report with a joyful smile .

"If the dark ones still fail to capture w.a.n.g Tong this time, perhaps they do deserve to be eliminated . " Lights ran off his blond hair that tumbled to reach his waist . He was perplexed by Patroclus' decision to help the dark ones . They had carefully installed a spy inside the Confederation fleet, hoping to put him into good use later . However, the most useful information he had collected had benefited the dark ones .  

"I believe the divine lord has something else planned . Perhaps he thinks we need the dark ones . "

"I agree! However, it's obvious that the dark ones have lost control of Mars . Sooner or later, the immortal army will have to swoop in to save the day . "

"You don't say . We have helped them all we could, and the mother supreme no longer should have any qualms about giving us the full power . "

"Yes, we are the real masterminds behind this operation . The dark ones are merely doing our bidding . "

"The thought of those human shooting themselves in the foot makes me want to laugh . "

The immortal generals were all amused by the situation . Maris was in his late thirties, one of the first humans who had willingly joined the immortals . He didn't do it to save his life; instead, he had firmly believed in Patroclus' vision . His loyalty and devotion had quickly helped him rise among the ranks and become Patroclus' most trusted adviser in matters relating to the s.p.a.ce battle . Before he joined the immortals, Maris had already been a renowned fleet commander; and after he became an immortal, he was given the responsibility of commanding the immortals' armada .

"Don't forget that without the spy, even we would still be oblivious about w.a.n.g Tong's plan . We had all been focusing on w.a.n.g Tong himself, and didn't expect his team members to have been quietly set up a trap for us . "

"Even if it is a trap, it would be useless against the immortals' fleet . "

"It's good to be confident, but never conceited . These human fleets are of average strength, but they are very mobile . It's difficult to deliver a solid blow at them before they can slip away . "

"Their scouts are everywhere as well . A cautious bunch!"

"Hehe . . . overly cautious, and that is why they were doomed to fail . "

"Haha! let's toast for our victory!"

"Cheers in the name of our divine lord!"

…

"Haha, Flash, I have beaten you by thirty more s.h.i.+ps!" Karl said with a smug smirk .

Flash cracked a smile . "Get over yourself, please . We have just received the coordinates from the main fleet . We need to move . "

"No problem, but I haven't had so much fun in years!"

"It's time to go . We have a much bigger game to play . " Flash said with a serious face .

Anyone who had seen Karl in action at the c.o.c.kpit would have a.s.sumed that he had split personalities . How could someone so foolhardy, if not outrightly stupid, have such a great sense of strategy and level-headedness?

Many times when the X-6 fleets were surrounded by enemy s.h.i.+ps, Karl was able to steer the s.h.i.+ps to skin through the cracks in between enemy fleets and come out unharmed . Not only were they able to get out of any perilous situation alive, but they had also managed to destroy many of Zergs' s.p.a.ce depots .  

As the X-6 moved toward their final destination, the Zerg fleet was hot on its heels . When the human fleet had lost the Zergs, Karl would stop and wait for his pursuers to catch their whiff again . Slowly but surely, the X-6 units coaxed the Zerg fleet toward the ambush .