He had seen his commander speak in the coldest manner, and this time, he was turning into something completely unnatural.

“I’m feeling great!” said Jiang Fei.

As soon as he said that, the black smog spread throughout the bridge. In time, all members on the bridge had black goo contaminating their uniforms.

“What is this…?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Everyone that got the black goo on them were surprised, but they immediately found that the black stuff was not doing them any harm. A few seconds later, as the black matter slipped past their uniforms and touched their bare skin, they froze stiff. Their eyes glowed in the same manner as Jiang Fei’s.

All of them turned at the same time, looking at Jiang Fei with revere-filled eyes. Their gaze was different from how one would usually look at someone who was worthy of being revered. This kind of look was how a devoted religion practitioner would gaze upon the god they worshipped!

…

Shots were fired, signalling the start of a civil war between the traitors and the loyalists. Those still loyal to Jiang Fei fired everything they had. Meanwhile, because they were not heavily armed, the small fleet of Azure-Class Cruisers were being covered by the other Hypercruisers.

“Contact all ships that are still serving me. Tell them to retreat to a safe distance. I will personally handle the rest,” said Jiang Fei.

The second-in-command replied in a most enthusiastic manner, “As you command, my master!”

His eyes glowed faintly with black light as he followed Jiang Fei orders down to the letter. Clearly, his conscience had been influenced by Jiang Fei.

All ships loyal to Jiang Fei were instructed to promptly leave the battlefield. Oddly enough, the traitors followed suit and chose to leave as well. They wanted to stay alive for as long as possible, in order to make contact with the Alderaanian force. Truth be told, they were in a worse situation as they were severely underpowered.

Entering the bridge with the other girls, Nina asked, “Fei? Are you alright?”

“Husband? Where are you?” said Isabella.

When the girls entered the room, Jiang Fei was in his Umbral form, completely cloaked in darkness. In a flash of black light, he vanished instantly. Even the black smog that lingered about while he was still in the bridge was gone.

“WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?!” howled Isabella desperately.

“There!” said the second-in-command, pointing to the main screen.

The small red dot representing Jiang Fei zoomed across space, heading towards a cluster of red dots that represented the fleet of Azure-Class Cruisers and the traitor Hypercruisers.

…

Jiang Fei zoomed across the void of space with nothing but his powers. His eyes flashed with black light as he set his sights on the fleeing ships.

“What do we do now? There is no way we can fly like this.”

“Divert power from all systems to the impulse engine. That will give us some edge against Jiang Fei!”

“Alright. I’ll go and deactivate all the mines!”

…

Concurrently, the traitors were discussing how to get to the Alderaanian forces as soon as possible. They failed to notice Jiang Fei’s incoming pursuit. Then again, he was just a man, not a ship. It was incredibly difficult for a ship’s proximity radar system to detect a lone person.

“Pitiful bugs. Enjoy your final breaths before I end your life!” muttered Jiang Fei.

He was at least several hundred kilometers away from the fleeing ships, and space was technically in a state of vacuum. By right, his voice should not have been able to travel, yet everyone in the fleet could hear his voice echoing as if he was standing right next to them!

“What the hell?”

“Who was that?”

“Did you hear it too?”

“Is it not a ship-wide broadcast?”

“Dammit! Who’s playing with the broadcast system?!”

Panic ensued throughout the ships. However, the chaotic scene lasted only for a fleeting second. There was no reason for them to be worried as there was nothing they could do!

Jiang Fei sent out a pulse. Even from a close distance, that pulse of energy was incredibly faint. If the second-in-command hadn’t zoomed in optically with ultra-enhance focus, Isabella and the girls would not have noticed it.

The pulse of energy spread out far and wide, covering all the escaping ships. A split second later, as the pulse of energy was travelling at close to the speed of light, a complete silence fell over the entire fleet.

…

“What did he do?” asked Isabella worriedly.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t look like anything is happening.”

…

The girls waited. And they waited even longer. They waited for such a long time, and yet the battlefield remained unchanged. The ships were still flying in a straight line. It made Jiang Fei’s pulse of energy seem useless…

As everything was quiet, no one suspected anything. But that was the key point. There were no signs of activity in or around the escaping fleet of ships.

If only Isabella had asked the bridge crew to access the traitor ships’ surveillance cameras, she and all the girls would have felt sick at the sight of dismembered body parts strewn everywhere.

More than ten ships were in a complete state of silence. Every single living being onboard had been terminated in the most gruesome manner⁠—killed via spontaneous explosion.

After the massacre, Jiang Fei quickly zoomed away. He was not heading back to the main command ship, but towards Turandot, where the enemy fleet was detected.

“Follow him!” ordered Isabella.

“I’m afraid not. Without the master’s order, this ship will remain here!” said the second-in-command with a certain solemnity.

Isabella bellowed with rage, “I said, follow him! Or I will end your life right now!”

Jiang Fei was quickly heading out of the ship’s optical system’s maximum range, and would soon be completely out of sight.

“Kill me then! I shall never disobey the master’s order!” said the second-in-command with a straight face.

“GAH!” Isabella grunted but she was not giving up. “In that case, send an observation drone! I just want to make sure my husband is safe!”

The second-in-command obeyed. “Very well.”

A single observation funnel was deployed immediately and it flew towards Jiang Fei. Even though the funnel was light, it could barely keep up with his speed. Super strong beings like Jiang Fei and Theon could travel fast, but their speeds were somewhat limited when compared to a ship. That is why even they relied on ships with warp capabilities.

Sometime later, the drone’s sights were activated and everything it saw was transmitted back to the ship. Jiang Fei was now floating in space without a suit or any armor. From where he stood, the funnel could pick up faint silhouettes of the enemy fleet.

…

Since the traitors had deactivated all the previously-deployed mines, the enemy was making huge progress in pursuing Jiang Fei’s fleet. That was the last thing they managed to do before Jiang Fei killed them all.

To think that they had actually betrayed him, only to die not five minutes later.

…

“Commander, we have detected a Trade Federation observation drone!”

“Capture it if possible.”

…

Just as the funnel detected the enemy, they too detected it in return. Jiang Fei remained undetected even though he was closer to the enemy than the funnel was. In a way, the funnel played a good role in distracting the enemy.

“Where is Fei going? What is happening to him?”

Isabella and the other girls were paying close attention to Jiang Fei’s condition. The black smog was only growing thicker. He was like a black figure with clouds surrounding him, like an Umbral god…