Qu Jianlei had already decided to gamble big, but that didn't mean he would quietly await the arrival of the opponent's transport ship.

He dug a hiding cave on the ground; it wasn't very comfortable, but it didn't need to last long. He could make do for a while.

On the third day, the weapon system was indeed completely dismantled.

The Gao Fang warship landed on the ground, collected the last batch of equipment with its robotic arm, and took off once more, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

Two days later, Titan Group's transport fleet arrived.

The main force consisted of two heavily loaded merchant ships with considerable firepower, accompanied by two heavily armed merchant ships with strong firepower.

The fleet brought a large amount of production and living supplies, of which Energy Blocks were just one part.

The refinery had also produced a lot of crude materials, and the heavily loaded merchant ships started their return journey with the cargo.

However, the two armed merchant ships stayed behind; they were to protect the Mine.

After all, the crude materials loaded on the heavily loaded merchant ships weren't particularly valuable, and they had strong protective capabilities themselves, so they no longer needed an escort.

During these days, Titan's people, through interrogation, also figured out where the armed merchant ship harassing them came from.

But how to deal with the situation next was another matter, not worth elaborating on.

The two armed merchant ships also had no plans to be permanently stationed; their orders were to garrison for three months.

The long-term defense of the Mine would mainly rely on ground systems, with some air forces being sufficient.

During these three months, they were to assist the Mine in fortifying its defenses, to prevent coveting by other forces.

During this process, the Mine would also improve and enhance the ground weapon systems.

After three months, even if the integration of the Star Thieves remained incomplete and the order remained chaotic, the Mine's self-defense capability would see a significant upgrade.

In addition, the two merchant ships had another important task: to find out who exactly robbed them.

Initially, the Mine didn't put up resistance due to sheer inability, one crucial reason being the shortage of Energy Blocks.

On this Star Body, ensuring the baseline of living supplies was a very important matter.

Moreover, the other party had helped them defeat the harassers, which could be considered a favor to the Mine, so being robbed was acceptable.

In fact, the four Attack Ships Qu Jianlei abandoned had a value far exceeding thirty million.

Of course, this calculation couldn't be simplified as such, since the Mine also participated in the battle.

Besides, the force harassing the Mine was significant, one capable of arm wrestling with Titan.

Two major forces sitting down to talk, with bargaining chips and interests at play, made the situation with the four small Attack Ships uncertain.

One way or another, the Mine felt their side didn't lose out, but the entire Titan Group didn't share this view.

Especially after the two armed merchant ships arrived, holding powerful weapons stirred up a desire to kill, and that needed no further saying.

The Mine didn't even have the qualification to object; the two merchant ships were following the orders from above.

The Group demanded: the robbers must be shown some consequences.

However, if the other side didn't appear within three months, the merchant ships wouldn't wait any longer, and there would be other ways to address the matter by then.

Nevertheless, the Gao Fang warship didn't disappoint them, appearing boldly just ten days later.

The battlefield commander, seeing this, couldn't help exclaiming, "This is... indeed arrogant."

Little did they know, someone was feeling wronged, thinking: I'm not really arrogant, it's just... the other self is too far away from Little Lake.

It all made sense that the return of the Gao Fang warship was merely the warship returning with cargo.

Qu Jianlei filled the entire warship, allowing Little Lake to handle the piloting, while he lay low.

The Imperial central control system could allow cars to drive automatically, so there was no reason Little Lake couldn't handle automatic piloting of a Starship. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

It didn't need to engage in combat and could take a detour on its journey, with a complete early warning system and decent invisibility ability.

Big Head Butterfly enthusiastically accepted this task, sending a clone to pilot the warship.

Its main body remained hidden in Qu Jianlei's mind, but unfortunately, the clone was too far from the main body to communicate effectively.

Qu Jianlei hid in the Iron Shavings Star Body, naturally intending to observe the opponent's next move.

If their plan was too malicious, he wouldn't hesitate to intervene mid-way, breaking in forcefully to kill.

Qu Jianlei was also aware of the mission brought by the newly arrived armed merchant ship, which overall wasn't too excessive.

After reaching the scale of Titan Mining, who wouldn't want some dignity?

If given a choice, Qu Jianlei wouldn't actually want to confront them head-on; he could just drag it out until after three months.

He was rather curious about what the opponent's follow-up measures would be if they couldn't find him.

However, it was quite unfortunate that Little Lake's clone returned, unloaded the cargo as planned, and then automatically rushed over again.

By the time Little Lake could communicate with its clone, the warship was already too close to the Iron Shavings Star Body.

In fact, when the parties established communication, Titan Group hadn't yet discovered the warship's arrival.

But running a trip for nothing was clearly unwise, and Qu Jianlei didn't believe the opponent had the strength to make him run in vain.

The clone quickly transmitted the relevant data; during its return trip, it did indeed encounter other Starships.

However, it was quite cautious, avoiding them early on, and returned to the abandoned Mineral Star Body without incident.

Unloading the cargo encountered no surprises and didn't take much time.

The reason for arriving so late was that it spent four days on the abandoned planet, doing an inspection of the warship.

The inspection was necessary, but not the focus. The main reason was that Qu Jianlei did not want the other party to determine the distance.

Two armed merchant ships, one patrolling in the air, the other on standby on the ground.

Upon discovering the Gao Fang warship, the patrolling merchant ship approached against the wind, moving very stealthily.

The ground merchant ship also issued commands for the relevant combat personnel to board the ship quickly.

However, the Gao Fang warship was more ostentatious than they imagined and quickly descended to the ground as soon as it appeared.

The protective shield was fully activated, but it was clear that the warship did not mind the changes on the ground.

The patrolling merchant ship had already encircled, locking onto the warship from above.

The ground command center issued a voice message, "Warning 3344, deactivate the protective shield and land at the designated location!"

"Warning 3344, deactivate the protective shield and land at the designated location!"

"Otherwise, you will bear all the consequences. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!"

A soft voice came from the Gao Fang warship, "Hehe, warning… you think you can warn with just two pieces of junk?"

The voice was indeed pleasant, but what was being said was truly unbearable.

Anyway, the ground commander couldn't stand it, "Warning shots!"

He ultimately kept his composure and didn't order precise shooting from his side—such an action could easily become unmanageable.

The Gao Fang warship dodged agilely, but the opponent's barrage was too dense, and it was inevitably hit.

Fortunately, the protective shield was already at maximum, and the warship was unharmed.

However, Youyou was genuinely angry, "We have already promised not to rob a second time. Is this how you show respect?"

Yet, although it was speaking harsh words, it still sounded flirtatious.

"Who can't boast?" The commander remained unfazed. He was specifically sent by the group, a true veteran of the battlefield.

Moreover, he had sufficient authority, "Please reveal your identity. If you are really strong enough, what if we let you rob again?"

He did not believe that the other party's strength could surpass the Titan Group. Near the asteroid belt, there was no such force!

At worst, everyone is equally matched in strength, and he didn't believe you would have the face to rob a second time!

Then he issued new instructions, "In ten seconds, start a saturation attack, start a saturation attack!"

This was no joke. If the other party couldn't quickly demonstrate their abilities, he wouldn't hesitate to shoot down the warship.

The asteroid belt truly doesn't pursue extermination, but it does attack immediately, with casualties left to fate.

"Alas," a soft sigh echoed hauntingly in the violent storm, deep yet crystal clear, as if omnipresent.

Subsequently, an oppressive force appeared, majestic, thick, ancient, and boundless.

"Ice Seal~"

In an instant, the temperature around pit number three plummeted, originally minus one hundred and ten degrees, now rapidly dropping further.

The armed merchant ship preparing to take off experienced anomalies before all personnel had boarded, and the entire ship sprouted fur!

It wasn't actual fur, just ice crystals forming on the ship's surface and rapidly growing.

Next, the voice spoke faintly, "Saturation attack? You can try!"

The voice wasn't loud at all, yet it was so clear, as if spoken directly at the ear, extremely penetrating, sending chills down one's spine.

"It's actually a Supreme!" The commander was momentarily shocked and immediately issued the command, "Cease attack preparations!"

It had been barely five seconds since he issued the last command.

Then he took a deep breath, "Ice Attribute Supreme… May I ask how I should address you, sir?"

Qu Jianlei snorted coldly, "Do you even deserve to know who I am?"

The commander responded with grim silence, trying both intimidation and persuasion, only wanting to know which power the opponent belonged to.

However, unexpectedly, the other side did not follow the usual logic and directly revealed a Supreme.

It would be one thing to face a Supreme, but the crucial problem was that this Supreme had the ice attribute!

The Iron Shavings Star Body was perpetually cold, and the mine had paid a high price to operate normally in low temperatures.

To be blunt, if the average temperature were one degree lower, costs would skyrocket.

In fact, an Ice Attribute Supreme may not stand out in everyday life, but in space, combat power increases significantly.

Especially troublesome was that the opponent's Ice Attribute Supreme was not on the warship, but had landed on the star body.

If this Supreme decided to attack, the equipment and personnel on the ground would hardly stand a chance.

A Supreme can't resist a warship? That's under normal circumstances, not including now!

Moreover, what we have are merely armed merchant ships, not warships.

Though their firepower is formidable, when it comes to attack and defense balance, their weaknesses are as evident as their strengths!

However, after much contemplation, he finally sighed lightly, "Sir, our Titan Group is not lacking in Supremes either!"

(Updated to summon monthly tickets, advance subscriptions, and recommendation tickets.)