A Core Ship From The Start-Chapter 836 - 585: Drive Away_2

If Duanmu Huai were a Judge from the Istvan Faction, he would surely actively intervene in the war between the Earth Federation and PLANT.

On the contrary, the Amalthean Faction believes that strength is obtained through unity and thus aims to unify all the forces that can be united, to maintain the stability of law and order as much as possible.

Duanmu Huai adopted some of these practices, but he didn’t adopt them all. In fact, he did the same in other worlds. For example, in Duel City, he generally wouldn’t interfere in the conflict between Seth, Lisas, and Herman’s Three Kingdoms until the Demon invaded, and then Duanmu Huai would take action.

It could be said that, from this point of view, Duanmu Huai is half of the Radical Faction and half of the Puritan Faction.

"... All hands, please report to the bridge immediately."

Just then, a hurried announcement came through the broadcast, and both Duanmu Huai and the man with sunglasses lifted their heads.

"What’s the situation?"

"It must be some problem with Captain Talia. Didn’t she represent PLANT in negotiations with Oub recently? Looking at the current situation, things might be dire."

As it turned out, the man with sunglasses’ guess was correct.

"Oub has rejected PLANT’s request and wants us to leave immediately."

Captain Talia looked weary and quite frustrated.

"On what grounds?"

"They suspect that PLANT orchestrated the colonial satellite’s fall..."

"What? But wasn’t it us who stopped the colonial satellite from falling? And at that time, Oub’s representative... Miss Cagalli was also with us!"

Hearing this, Yaz complained with dissatisfaction.

"But the current leader of Oub, Yuna, believes it’s all an act staged by us at PLANT. In reality, we wanted to use this method to gain Oub’s gratitude and trust, and then deceive them into cooperating with us..."

At this point, even Captain Talia was at a loss for words; the other side did not have any evidence, yet they insisted it was their doing...

"If I had known, we might as well have let the satellite fall and kill those bastards!"

Hearing this, everyone else was fuming with anger. After all the life-and-death effort, to have it thrown back in their faces with suspicion was infuriating for anyone.

However, at this moment, Ann spoke up.

"I think there’s more to it than that. Captain Talia, it’s just my personal opinion, but I think we should prepare for battle."

"Miss Ann?"

Everyone turned to look at Ann in surprise after hearing her speak.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Although I’m not very clear about the situation in this world, from a diplomatic and political viewpoint, it’s very rare for someone to be this rude to an envoy, even going so far as to expel us directly. I think... Oub has likely given up its neutral stance and has allied with the Earth Federation."

"What?"

At these words, everyone was greatly shocked, while Duanmu Huai slightly raised his eyebrows. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"So as long as we leave Oub’s territory, the Earth Federation will come knocking, right?"

"Exactly, and it’s possible that Oub will turn their guns on us as well. All we need to do is see if they send an escort when we leave."

"Indeed, the Minerva is still wanted by the Earth Federation, if I remember correctly. Oub’s calculations are really clever – getting chummy with the Earth Federation and then handing us over as a token of allegiance would be quite delightful for them..."

Duanmu Huai and Ann chatted away, one after the other, causing Captain Talia’s face to go pale as she overheard their conversation.

Indeed, not only was this possibility real, it was also highly likely!

Thinking back, the attitude of Oub’s current leader during their meeting was indeed somewhat unusual. However, at that time Talia’s main concern was explaining that the falling of the colony satellite had nothing to do with PLANT, so she hadn’t paid too much attention. Now, recalling the situation, it was indeed illogical for them to be rushed away just upon their arrival. Moreover, the absence of Oub’s representative, Miss Cagalli, was indeed quite strange...

Of course, for Duanmu Huai and Ann, the situation was much less pressing – after all, they were not Minerva’s crew, just guests. Oub’s troubles had nothing to do with them – of course, if Oub were foolish enough to lay a hand on them, Duanmu Huai wouldn’t mind calling in the Tribunal Warship to blast them into smithereens.

While Duanmu Huai enjoyed the spectacle, Captain Talia was sweating bullets. She hurriedly ordered all crew members to return to the ship and promptly set sail. Indeed, just as Captain Talia sought clearance from Oub to depart, they said they would dispatch a fleet to see them off. Before hearing Duanmu Huai and Ann’s warnings, Talia might not have been overly concerned, but thereafter, she realized – Oub really was up to no good!

At this point, Captain Talia had no other choice, although she wanted to find an excuse to decline. However, Oub was extremely "hospitable," insisting on giving a grand send-off. Considering any further hesitation might arouse Oub’s suspicion and provoke them to take action within their borders, which would be even worse, Captain Talia had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

Then, the Minerva set forth from Oub, heading beyond its borders.

"Is Oub really going to attack us?"

As they neared the edge of Oub’s territory, Amari, looking somewhat worried, turned to Ann, who nodded.

"Probably. After all, if I’m not mistaken, Oub must have already contacted the Earth Federation, and they would have informed them of our departure. If we were to move too far, we could just head straight into space after leaving Oub. That’s why I think the Earth Federation will definitely send troops to stop us..."

"A large number of MS signals detected!"

True enough, before Ann could finish speaking, the communication officer immediately reported this unfortunate news. Everyone looked up at the screen, seeing that on the other side of the vast sea, Earth Federation warships and several MS Teams had indeed surrounded the area, ready to begin their assault as soon as they stepped out of the national borders.

What to do next?

As Talia pondered this question, the communication officer relayed another message.

"Captain, we’ve received a message from the Oub fleet behind us. They want us to immediately leave Oub territory."

Well, that’s quite blunt, isn’t it!

Talia clenched her teeth. If she hadn’t heeded the warnings from Duanmu Huai and Ann, she might still believe that the other party didn’t want the trouble, but now that she had guessed Oub might be in cahoots with the Earth Federation, she had a plan!

With that thought, Captain Talia issued her command.

"Full speed ahead, target Earth Federation fleet! All hands, prepare for combat!"