Saying that, he turned around and moved back into the flagship battle fortress. The others looked at each other before shouting loudly, "Yes, commander!!" Nodding their heads, they too followed him back and headed toward their own dedicated ships or fortresses.

Not long after, small contingents of ships moved toward the wreckage-filled area and boarded the ships which were relatively intact. Some began to check to find if there were survivors, knowing deep down there were none, while others moved toward the data centers, hooked up their devices, and began the data transfer.

Just when the transfer was about to complete, a sharp, immediate voice rang across the channels: "No! These are detonating devices planted across the wreckage! Everyone escape! Escape immediately!!"

Everyone was puzzled for a moment and stunned, but as the voice rang out again, they felt a tinge of dread within their bodies! Whatever they were doing, they paused and ran as fast as they could for their dear lives.

But before a few could even exit the wreckage field and destroyed ships, the planted gifts left by the 4th battle fleet went off.

Beep! Beep! BEep BEEp! BEEP! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

Numerous explosions happened at once around the whole wreckage field where the former hegemony fleet was stationed, swallowing everyone and everything that was there or nearby!

Leaving none alive—even those who had managed to escape, since they were still within the perimeter of the shockwave, were also dealt with.

In the biggest fortress, the leading Genesis Law Realm being—who was also the commander of the reinforcement fleet—watched the massive explosion just ahead. The shockwave even affected his fortress, causing it to shake. He clutched the armrest of his command seat hard... crushing it into small particles!

"Dammnnn youuuuuu humansssss!!"

Meanwhile, back onboard the 4th battle fleet flagship, Crown reported, "Master, the detonation devices that we planted across the remaining wreckage of the hegemony fleet were triggered just now!"

"Ohhh, looks like we made it in time, huh?" Kael, hearing this, sighed in relief. While he feared no one in his realm other than his Imperial Commander and comrades, his fleet was a different case altogether. If they were outnumbered by a huge number, defeat was all but confirmed, no matter how powerful they were!

Looks like I need to get my fleet upgraded and expanded quickly!

Thinking that, he asked, "Oh, didn’t we install recording devices? Did you capture anything?"

"Unfortunately, no, Master. Our transponder was also taken down by the blast the moment it was triggered, giving no time for the recording to be transferred back to us." Shaking her head, she sighed with regret.

"Oh, whatever!" Saying that, he leaned back into his command seat, closing his eyes for a short nap.

He had no worries at this point, for their next destination was straight to Outer Defence Zone Number 4, and from there, they headed toward the Inner Circle star system, Anvil, dumping all the salvaged resources along with the half-built fortress.

Only after doing this would the fleet leave for the capital star system!

Soon, four hours passed and the fleet finally exited from hyperspace just around where the 4th Defense Zone legions were stationed!

Kael, who had just woken up from a good sleep and recovered most of his energy, was stretching when Crown came near him and said, "The commander of the 4th Defense Zone, Kevin, has reached out to us and wants to talk with you! Shall I connect him?"

"Umm, who?" Kael asked confusedly, to which Crown just shrugged her shoulders.

"Just think about the name a bit and you will know," she said, rolling her eyes.

Kael was left speechless by this, but he did as he was told and remembered this person, who was also a fellow member of the initial fleet at the very beginning!

It was just that Kevin seldom talked with anyone, which was why Kael couldn’t remember him off the top of his head.

"Yeah, do connect him!" Thinking of that, Kael readily agreed.

And just as the words left his mouth, a projection of Kevin appeared. He had the appearance of a man in his early thirties with sharp eyes, full of a spark of life and battle spirit!

Seeing the massive change in the person, Kael for a moment felt that somehow another person had accidentally connected to the channel. He immediately threw a look at Crown!

Crown, as if knowing exactly what his thoughts were, said in a low voice, "He is the same person, Master," and facepalmed.

"Is he?" Kael muttered in shock.

Hearing this, Kevin laughed and said, "Is it that hard to realize it’s me, Grand Admiral?"

"Of course, Commander Kevin! You have completely changed! So much so that it is hard for me to connect you with your former self! You were so reserved back then... and yet, look at you now, commander of a whole defense zone!"

"This aura, the battle spirit... everything about you is different, but in a good way!" Kael added.

"Hahaha!! Things happened, and I had a realization which led me to become this! It’s something I’m quite proud of! For now, I’m contributing to our fleet—and soon to our empire—to the best of my abilities, unlike before," Kevin said with a smile.

"Don’t say it like that, Kevin! Even back then, you were a proud soldier and family to us all! Though you rarely talked, you made up for it in your own way.

And let me say this—these might not just be my own thoughts, but the Imperial Commander’s as well! He always knew the potential of each of us.

And now, through your hard work and effort, you have reached the ceiling as well!" Kael said warmly. "I’m quite happy about it, frankly! For now, I have one less thing to worry about regarding our people and their safety with you taking this position!"

"Haha, now, now, don’t embarrass me by saying that! I’m not that worthy of your praise yet!" Kevin said modestly, his tone appreciative, before changing the topic. "Seeing you all back, and with the things you are carrying, I guess the mission was a huge success, huh?"

And like that, they engaged in a lot of small talk, which expanded to half an hour before they stopped, as the 4th Battle Fleet was ready to move!

"Well then, Commander Kevin, see you around next time," Kael gently said, formally saluting.

Kevin followed suit, saluting as well. "Yes, until we meet again, Grand Admiral!!"

With that, they both closed the communication channel.

Kael looked at Crown. "We shall get moving. We have lots of things to do now."

"That we do," replied Crown, as she led the fleet to enter into hyperspace, moving toward the Anvil star system!

Five minutes later, the fleet re-entered normal space into the Anvil star system, which had a massive star at least a thousand times bigger than the sun of Earth itself!

There were about sixteen planets in total, of which four were gas giants, while the others were hard-surface planets. Two of them were Tier 4 living worlds, while the rest were resource-rich planets.

The whole system was heavily guarded, with a total of four fleets and one battle star present! Meanwhile, planets number 4 to 8, which were dead planets, were surrounded by big rings that served as shipyards.

Planets number 1 and 2, which were nearest to the sun and were lava worlds for the most part, also housed ring-like structures around them; these were refineries that supplied thousands and thousands of individual shipyards situated within the planetary rings with dedicated resources!

As soon as the fleet appeared in the system, various ships—mostly cargos—moved toward them and linked with the vessels that were carrying salvaged resources. Other ships, which were rather small, tugged the half-destroyed fortresses.

At the same time, Kael was talking with the person in charge here, Rick, who was asking him, "Quite a treasure hunt you had, huh, Grand Admiral? Bringing so many resources back! Though they are from a lower tier, it is still a great amount!"

"Oh, don’t talk about it," Kael said, his smile fading. He added with deep regret, "That was a mere twenty percent of what we were able to get, Rick! The rest had to be left behind because of a lack of time!!"

"Oh, sad to hear it!" As if feeling the regret himself, Rick added in sadness.

After talking back and forth for a bit, Rick asked, "What should we do with the fortress? Seeing how hard you worked to bring it back, it looks like you want to do more than just smelt it for its materials, no?"

Nodding his head, Kael said, "I was just recently made aware that following our Empire’s Founding Day, in no more than a month, it will be the Azura Imperium’s Foundation Celebration Day! And since they are our first allies, shouldn’t we present something great? right ?