Proxima Centauri's northern star field, E-18 White Hole region.

This empty star field is the frontier of Proxima Centauri, and it is also the entrance for foreign ships to enter the Federation. Further north in the White Hole area of E-18, it only takes two hours to travel at sub-light speed to reach the outer periphery of the Ultra Nebula, which hides countless comets and mysterious celestial objects, and there, the chaotic land of the Free People, the Ultra Nebula Mine.

Prior to President Dawson's decree to open the Northern Space, the E-18 White Hole was the most chaotic place in the entire Federation. The free people who lacked resources were like pirates in the old days to loot the cargo ships entering the Federation, and even if the Federation political axe stationed a large number of fleets in the customs, it still could not stop the free people from bursting out of madness due to hunger, and at least nearly a thousand cargo ships were looted by these hungry interstellar pirates every year.

It wasn't until the decree to open the northern star field that the poor law and order situation in this star field was improved. The advent of the Hermes spaceport, an open trading platform, allowed poor freedmen to begin to gather rare substances to feed themselves, and attacks on merchant ships, although occasional, were not as rampant as they once were.

However, in the recent past, the crime rate of the freedmen, which had gradually subsided, has risen again. In just one month, there were as many as 160 armed robberies. Moreover, compared to before, the current group of free people has obviously formed an organized pirate group, and even has the ability to threaten large transport ships of more than 10 million tons.

This was absolutely unthinkable before. In the past few years, the Free Men lacked financial and technical support, and most of the ships they piloted were old ships left over from the Great Voyage Era, and with the ability and armament of these ships, it was difficult to pose a threat to the transport ships of the new era. So even if they were to commit a robbery, they would only be able to threaten the smaller logistics companies that also used old-fashioned ships for transportation.

But now, through the trade in rare substances, the freemen have amassed a considerable fortune in the course of several years. The ships they are piloting have basically been upgraded, and they have made a qualitative improvement in terms of hardware equipment alone.

And Bloody Harry's entry into the Ultra Nebula Mine also indirectly contributed to this result, due to the failure of the attack on Martina, the Bloody Mercenaries who were caught became the primary purges of Police Governor Brandon, and issued a territory-wide wanted warrant for the Bloody Mercenaries, so that Bloody Harry had to leave the Federation with his people and live in the Ultra Nebula Mine that lacked survival resources.

On the other hand, Elliott's failure in commercial competition has also greatly reduced the trading volume of rare substances in the Hermes spaceport. Depriving the Free Folk of their source of funding for their livelihoods, and with the instigation of Bloody Harry, a large organized and disciplined pirate regiment was quickly established. Driven to the brink of desperation, Bloody Harry hopes to solve his problem of insufficient supplies through this plunder.

Judging by the results so far, it is clear that Bloody Harry's change has worked wonders.

As Kimberly said, on the road to the pursuit of wealth, grabbing is always faster than earning. Relying on the huge force at his disposal, Bloody Harry instructed his interstellar pirates to launch an armed attack on every ship that lacked armed protection.

This predatory looting allowed him to loot a large amount of resources in a short period of time, and quickly solved the problem of the supply of bloody mercenaries. Moreover, the freedmen who have tasted the sweetness seem to have been inspired by this success. Their actions became more and more rampant, and even without the Bloody Harry's instructions, they began to act selfishly and sought protection from the uncrowned King of the Chaos Lands, the Bloody Harry, by handing over half of the loot to the Bloody Mercenaries.

Before you know it, a pirate empire is gradually being built. The E-18 White Hole area became a hunting ground for pirates to hunt freely.

At this moment, in the dark and empty star field near the E-18 white hole, a strange ship painted with a skull was silently moored, like a predator hidden in the dark, with a murderous, blood-devouring gaze, locking on the E-18 white hole that seemed to be empty.

Unlike black holes, which have gorgeous scenes and produce visual collapse, as a companion of black holes, white holes cannot be detected with the naked eye, and only at the moment when the ship leaves the four-dimensional space through the white hole, people can observe the distortion and deformation of the surrounding space due to energy jets.

In addition, since the four-dimensional space is a negative energy world, the ships in the four-dimensional space passage are completely isolated from the world. They were unable to detect the situation outside the White Hole through space radar, and they were completely unprotected at the moment they left the White Hole. Therefore, those interstellar pirates who attempt to attack only need to ambush near the White Hole in advance, and they can use the advance to launch a surprise attack when the opponent is unprepared.

Right now, the strange ship moored near the E-18 White Hole and converted from the Beetle-1 is clearly planning to do just that.

The 600-ton Beetle-1 spaceship and the 8,000-ton Beetle-7, used by Lieutenant Chebman to escort prisoners of war, belong to the same series of products produced by the same company. As a spaceship known for its comprehensive surname, the 'Beetle' series has a high reputation among small ships and micro ships. Like the helicopters of the old days, it can be used for a wide range of purposes, so in the purchase orders of the federal military, MK produces a large proportion of the "Beetle" series.

The freedmen who often haunt the complex terrain also prefer the Beetle-type spaceship, like the Thomas brothers, the ship's owner. The twin brothers spent almost all of their savings from trading rare substances in the past few years to buy the Beetle-1, the smallest tonnage in the 'Beetle' series. However, after buying the ship, the collapse of Elliott Trading Company immediately put the brothers in a difficult situation after spending all their savings. So, forced to make ends meet, the twin brothers, who have Middle Eastern roots, have to take the risk and choose to pay asylum money to Bloody Harry and become a member of the interstellar pirates.

After following Bloody Harry on his adventure to complete two group raids, the Thomas brothers were also given a lot of the stolen goods as participants. Although they only received a fraction of the share compared to the Bloody Harry, who had the lion's share, it inspired the murderous hearts of the Thomas brothers. So, they used the wealth obtained from the previous two times to carry out a large-scale modification of the Beetle-1 and added a 460 mm caliber ultra-high-power plasma cannon.

Most of the plasma guns with a caliber of more than 120 mm are the main guns in the army's equipment, and they can carry out precision strikes against large enemy targets at long distances. But in space warfare, energy weapons of this caliber are rarely used.

This is because in terms of the ultra-long combat distance of space warfare and the complex and changeable energy environment of space, although energy weapons have the advantages of fast launch speed and high accuracy, the fact that they are easily interfered by external environmental factors is also infinitely amplified. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the energy weapons equipped with spaceships often do not exceed 120 mm caliber, and the main purpose is to use fast and accurate attacks to intercept shipborne missiles and enemy space shuttles, which is an active defense means in attack mode.

The Thomas brothers' whimsical use of the army's main artillery as the main attack weapon in space warfare was actually their helpless move. Because compared with ship-based missiles with better effects, the use of charged plasma bombs is undoubtedly more cost-effective. After all, even if a ship-based missile passes through the black market channel, it will cost at least tens of thousands of federal coins, and if you add the supporting launch system, then this figure is definitely beyond the reach of the Thomas brothers. Energy weapons such as plasma cannons are different, with current energy technology, ships can use the collected solar energy to accumulate enough energy, and this energy that can be used to charge plasma cannons does not cost anything, so, as poor interstellar pirates, they can only choose to fight lower-cost large-caliber energy weapons.

And a 600-ton miniature ship with an exaggerated 460 mm caliber super-power plasma cannon, this completely mismatched combination model makes Thomas Brothers' ship look extremely strange. In addition, the 'Beetle' series itself is designed with the Beetle as the original shape, and their ship looks like a unicorn fairy that has been magnified countless times.

"Captain, there is an energy fluctuation reaction in the White Hole area! ~" Inside the Beetle-1's messy bridge, a scruffy little radarman suddenly screamed in his duck voice.

"The prey is finally here." The big Thomas, who was playing cards in the cabin, threw away the cards in his hand and shouted at the sloppy crew members around him: "Cheer me up, after this ticket, we can return to the capital of chaos in style." ”

"Hey! ~ You pig, I'm about to win. As soon as the Great Thomas finished speaking, the big man on the other side of the table who looked exactly like him yelled dissatisfied.

"It's nothing compared to prey. My good brother, when I go back, I'll take you to the girl, and I'll pay for it! ~" Big Thomas patted his strong chest, pulled the little radarman in front of him, and asked, "What kind of ship is coming?" ”

"Judging from the value of space energy fluctuations, it should not be less than 100,000 tons."

"100,000 tons! ~Hahaha...... I'm really going to get rich now! Big Thomas pushed the man away, sat in the gunner's seat and rubbed his big fan-like hands, and sneered: "My darling, you are not easy for me to load on the ship, but you have to fight, you must not be crooked......"

In a whisper like self-hypnosis, Big Thomas could clearly see through the gunner's scope the distorted and rippling spatial fluctuations like water waves, and the bow of a huge ship appeared in his eyes like a whale breaking through the waves.

Rumble! ~ The plasma shot from the muzzle of the gun pulled out a shiny straight line in the darkness like a fire water gun, but due to the energy fluctuations generated by the space distortion, the large-caliber plasma bomb turned around in mid-air and exploded violently in the open area on the left side of the giant ship.

(To be continued)