Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Chapter 979 - 845: The Death of Balrog

Unable to keep up with the chase, four main battleships are heavily damaged, and two small ships are in terrible shape, with one unable to move at all.Small ships run faster than main battleships, but even if this one speeds up a bit, it might fall apart.

As for the two main battleships that joined later, one has to guard everyone while cleaning up the battlefield.

The only remaining main battleship, trying to clean up the surrounding stragglers, really needs quite some time.

At this moment, Qu Jianlei is scouting around to see if there are any previously unnoticed lurkers nearby, wrapping things up.

This kind of thing is really not uncommon, just like the old saying, "Talking by the roadside, someone in the grass is listening."

In the past, he had experienced many Star Wars, never having similar worries, but this is not due to low vigilance before.

Ultimately, most of the encounters he experienced before were skirmishes, with smaller scale battles, who would be idle enough to eavesdrop?

Actually, the saying "someone in the grass is listening" rarely means unintentionally eavesdropping; it’s mostly intentional.

And with the scale of battle now, the number of people wanting to get information first-hand is unknown.

Thus, even in a suddenly erupting ambush, it’s hard to ensure no one is secretly watching.

After all, many forces on the Gem Blue Star Body likely already guessed about this battle between the two sides.

Even Qu Jianlei being ambushed, those in the know are probably more than just one or two, otherwise where did the two armed merchant ships come from later?

More alarmingly speaking: Is this great battle really over, what if the opponent has more tricks?

Perception in space needs cooperation from Little Lake, but Big Head Butterfly is a bit despondent.

It finally seized control of the Digital Battleship, but the ultimate goal was not achieved: The artificial intelligence inside actually self-destructed.

Qu Jianlei can only comfort it with a couple of words, "The opponent should be from the military, self-destruction for confidentiality is normal."

Little Lake, hearing this, felt a bit better, starting to search around to see if there were any invisible starships nearby.

The various invisibility abilities of starships should not be underestimated, previously Qu Jianlei was careful enough, yet still stumbled into the ambush circle.

Thankfully, discovered relatively early, if found any later, they would have been more passive.

can secretly follow, having enough invisibility ability; however, Omen Ship’s invisibility ability is somewhat poor, trailing behind.

warship actively explores invisibility, turning the equipment power to maximum, even Balrog piloting the small ship felt it.

In an instant, he was furious, daring to treat him with such disregard? Thus, he flashed the signal light.

"Want a duel?" Qu Jianlei saw the light signal, and he thought, perhaps the opponent wants more than just ship-to-ship dueling.

He doesn’t think he would lose one-on-one, but why bother? "Focus fire this guy."

If the opponent were to signal surrender, he might consider accepting, after all, they could get some information from the opponent.

But at this point, still wanting a duel with him, that truly is unrepentant.

Are the people from the Anomalous Management Division feeling so superior? Or has this guy cultivated Spiritual Attribute, driving himself insane?

Anyway, towards such reckless people, Qu Jianlei has no interest in indulging them.

Under the focus fire of numerous starships, that small ship was thoroughly destroyed.

Balrog rushed out from the wreckage, yet with an indifferent face, simply gesturing towards 8384’s direction with a finger.

Paranoid’s voice came through the public channel, "Is this guy seeking death?"

"I’m really too lazy to deal with him," Qu Jianlei casually replied, meanwhile, Little Lake controlled the artillery to attack Balrog.

However, Balrog’s spiritual perception is really exceptionally strong, his body technique is also excellent, dodging several attacks in succession.

But this is only 8384’s attack; under the focus fire of multiple starships, escaping is impossible.

At this moment on the Customs Enforcement Warship, Flower Scorpion is clearing the weapon system’s malfunctions while deploying ammunition.

Paranoid in the control room, Big Head Butterfly appearing on the main control system’s screen, "Can you deal with this guy?"

Paranoid was stunned, being ordered by an artificial intelligence? "Can’t you control the focus fire?"

"It’s such a waste," Little Lake replied softly, "We suffered heavy losses in this battle!"

A battle of such magnitude, and now we’re saving a bit of ammunition and Energy Blocks? Paranoid feels this artificial intelligence might be out of control.

"Is the boss really short on money?"

"We still have to buy larger computing units!" Little Lake responded confidently, "Only then can I be more helpful!"

Paranoid hearing this, was utterly speechless.

If before he underestimated Big Head Butterfly a bit, the strength it showed in this battle truly earned his respect.

The battle that happened just now... actually, until now the battle is not completely over, leaving a deep impression on him.

Facing the overwhelming small ships, the pressure was truly intense, even the Supreme would find it hard not to be affected.

If without cooperation from Little Lake, the result of this battle... would really be unimaginable.

Even if they had more than three people, but fully staffed five main battleships, plus six small ships; victory would still be challenging.

The opponent fleet’s configuration fundamentally and effectively countered a normal starship team.

Even with an additional three hidden starships, achieving victory... well, at least it wouldn’t be so straightforward.

Paranoid could only ask, "Are you sure the boss wants to eliminate the opponent rather than recruit them?"

He wasn’t very familiar with Qu Jianlei’s style of action.

Granny Jia’s involvement was understandable, but as for the Mountain Fortress, he really couldn’t comprehend—was it just because of the good relationship with Youyou?

But Youyou was only a B-level, and still a common Wood Attribute.

On the other hand, although Balrog was unruly, he was a rare Spiritual Attribute.

Big Head Butterfly’s antennae twitched twice, dismissively stating, "Ha, this kind of stuff can catch the boss’s eye?"

"You just make sure," the Paranoid flashed into the passage.

He wasn’t adept at operating starships, and during the recent space battle, he didn’t get any chance to act.

Slammed by a multitude of starships, he had been frustrated and seized the opportunity to vent.

The confrontation between Paranoid and Balrog didn’t have many noteworthy moments.

He knew the opponent’s Spiritual Power was strong, so he specially prepared some defensive powder, thinking it would be enough.

And indeed it was, Balrog’s Spiritual Attack felt very weak to him, even inferior to Qu Jianlei.

Latter, during the review, everyone estimated Balrog’s strength shouldn’t have been limited to that.

There’s a big possibility he had expended too much while helping the Logic Fortress with defense and later controlling the small ships.

Anyway, Paranoid exchanged several moves with him and killed him with the Golden Wheel.

While scavenging for spoils, Balrog wasn’t even completely dead yet.

But Paranoid, having once reached above the Supreme, didn’t bother with the dying guy—how long could he last in space?

At least he scavenged a Space Pouch and a Space Ring, which satisfied him.

It’s an effective supplementation since he only had one durability-free Space Equipment.

Upon returning to the starship, he informed Qu Jianlei and muttered, "The other Supreme is missing."

Qu Jianlei remembered that the Supreme was called Cartel, so he arranged for Little Lake to search carefully.

Big Head Butterfly searched for a good while and reported that they couldn’t find the person.

An hour later, the fleeing crew members who scattered were all captured—those not captured were dead.

In total, there were over thirty captured crew members, among them was an A-level Awakened.

When tallying the gains, they found that several of the opponent’s main ships were also severely damaged.

The most complete ship was the Digital Battleship which was the first to be attacked, but unfortunately, it was hit in the power system.

Meaning, it was the least worth repairing.

The other five warships, actually, didn’t have much repair value either.

Whether the Space-Air Carrier, the fire support ships, or the frigates, they were military-specific starships, inconvenient to use even once repaired.

If they were to be repaired, the workload wouldn’t be simple.

As for the Digital Battleship, it’s even less mentioning, as even the military rarely uses it.

The fire control and other systems on the main ships could be taken down and used a bit, but dismantling is quite troublesome.

Overall, they are jobs that have more trouble than benefits. In normal times, Qu Jianlei would likely just leave.

But this time is different; the losses on their side were too severe; not compensating it would mean huge losses.

Additionally, their side also had four starships severely damaged, requiring great repairs, making him feel even more downhearted.

Moreover, there’s an armed merchant ship obtained through extortion that had no repair value at all.

For Qu Jianlei, these repair tasks are not only complicated, requiring much time, but also require a relatively stable place.

And choosing an Abandoned Mine Star Body is not an option; it’s monotonous, and more importantly, obtaining various materials is too troublesome.

However, there is good news: they harvested sixteen intact small ships this time.

Additionally, there are eight small ships with minor damages that are relatively easy to repair.

These starships aren’t conspicuous and don’t sell for too high a price, making sales relatively easy.

But even so, they can only sell them slowly; otherwise, selling too many at once easily attracts attention.

Besides, there are some issues: these small ships are all paired with the Digital Battleship.

This is something that must be changed; the user-interface isn’t friendly is a minor issue, but the key is not to let buyers be suspicious, right?

Also, Little Lake hopes to be left with more than ten small ships—it thinks they’re convenient to operate.

All in all, although they won the battle and it’s a Pyrrhic victory that leaves Qu Jianlei quite frustrated.

The troubles aren’t limited to the present; there are still quite a few aftermaths to handle.

While he was pondering how to deal with the aftermath, Paranoid called Qu Jianlei again, "There’s something strange here, come take a look."

He was referring to a sealed cabin on the frigate.

When clearing the battlefield, he had been searching for Cartel’s trail and finally found something amiss.

(Update to, call for monthly votes, subscription, and recommendation votes.)