"Thump thump thump."

The urgent and hurried knocks on the door made the army's Chief of Staff feel somewhat annoyed.

"Come in."

The Chief of Staff also did not know what the matter was that caused his subordinate to be so anxious.

"Chief of Staff, I have bad news. The Rebellion Army seems to have gained new means. The three dimension-level warships we've sent from Yamei Fortress to encircle and suppress the Rebellion Army are now under their control by unknown means. Now, they have four dimension-level warships. Their strength has greatly increased!"

"What? The dimension-level warships are under their control?"

The Chief of Staff was dumbfounded. He found it difficult to understand how the dimension-level warships were controlled, so the adjutant handed the information in his hands to the Chief of Staff.

After reading it, the Chief of Staff's expression finally became grim.

"They had controlled the three dimension-level warships without any damage. There weren't any traces of a battle. The situation is quite strange. It wasn't surprising that the Rebellion Army still dared to fight us with what little strength they had. Could it be some new network or communication virus that can control all of the warships' systems at one go?"

The Chief of Staff immediately thought of that method. It seemed that it was the only possible explanation for the Rebellion Army to quietly control the three dimension-level warships without opening fire.

"Chief of Staff, our analysis also believes that the three dimension-level warships and those empire-level warships were attacked by new viruses, which led to the warship system to be completely controlled."

This was an extremely serious matter. The Chief of Staff was evaluating if the Rebellion Army could be eliminated by other means. Now, it seemed that mobilizing more warships would only strengthen the Rebellion Army instead.

"Immediately order all fortresses to be on alert. It's best if they cut off all network and communication links. Fortresses have a manual mode, right? Cut off the system immediately and let the soldiers operate the fortress cannon manually."

The Chief of Staff immediately issued an order. These were just remedial measures. He also knew that the Atlan civilization had been systematized a long time ago. Everything relied on systems to operate. Although the fortresses could be operated manually, there were only a few soldiers who could operate the fortress cannon.

Furthermore, there was no comparison to be made between manual operation and system operation. Neither reaction speed nor attack precision could be compared to when operated by a system.

"Right, where did the Rebellion Army go, and what's their target?"

The Chief of Staff asked a very critical question.

"Uh… We've also analyzed and found that the Rebellion Army's direction is toward our hopeship. Therefore, we made a bold guess that their objective might be the hopeship."

"The hopeship?"

The Chief of Staff laughed. The Atlan civilization had been fighting for a long time. The battles had been severe but there was nothing that could threaten the hopeship.

Now, the Rebellion Army's target was the hopeship?

"No matter what their goal is, we can't take it lightly. This matter isn't something that I can solve myself anymore. I'll report this to the army immediately!"

The Chief of Staff immediately stood up and walked toward the military conference room. Along the way, he also got in touch with several leaders in the army.

Soon, some people gathered outside the military conference room. There were more than a dozen people, and were all powerful figures in all aspects of the army, and controlled the forces of the entire Atlan Federation Army.

Furthermore, as the war was ongoing in the Void Zone, even the military department had the right to mobilize for war. They were already faintly equal to the Senate, and in some aspects, even the Senate would have to give in.

"Chief of Staff, what exactly happened for you to call us so urgently?"

Unless there was a very important military situation, the military conference would not be held easily.

"It's something very important. A few days ago, I heard the news that the Rebellion Army was moving, so I sent three dimension-level warships which took several empire-level warships to encircle and suppress them. However, I didn't expect that the Rebellion army would easily control the three dimension-level warships without even opening fire. As of now, the Rebellion Army has four dimension-level warships, and are currently heading toward our hopeship."

The Chief of Staff spoke simply regarding the Rebellion Army. These military leaders were overwhelmed by the matters in the Void Zone but now, there was another problem regarding the Rebellion Army.

"Perhaps those rebels have obtained some advanced technology. Could it be the technology left behind by the Vestigial Tribe? If that's the case, then it'll be troublesome."

One of the marshals said with a frown.

In the Atlan Dimension, the Vestigial Tribe left something everywhere. Maybe someone had accidentally met with the remnants of the Vestigial Tribe and obtained some benefits. The crystal wall recorded most of the knowledge regarding the Vestigial Tribe but that did not mean that there was nothing left in other places.

Maybe this time, the Rebellion Army had obtained some advanced Vestigial Tribe technology by accident. There was no other way to explain how they could silently control three dimension-level warships.

"It's indeed somewhat troublesome but they should never be allowed to approach the hopeship. I also think that for now, we shouldn't send warships to encircle and suppress them because no matter how many we send, they'll be gone forever and used to enhance their strength. If they want to come to the hopeship, why would we be afraid of them with the defenses we have? Moreover, we can even capture them alive, and the advanced technology of the Vestigial Tribe that they acquired might be beneficial to manufacture our void-level warship."

These army Marshals appeared very confident. They did not worry about the Rebellion Army attacking the hopeship at all. With the Rebellion Army's strength, no matter how many dimension-level warships they had, it was no threat to the hopeship at all.

"Indeed, we don't have to worry. Even the fortresses along the way won't need to care about them. If they dare to approach the hopeship, it's a good thing."

Many army Marshals all supported this approach.

The Chief of Staff also smiled. He shared the same sentiment in his heart. Besides the army and the Senate, no one truly knew how terrible the hopeship was.

...

The mighty Rebellion Army fleet was now quickly approaching the hopeship. Strangely, there were no Federation warships that stopped them.

Merlin had expected such a situation. As long as the Federation could not crack the method Merlin had used to silently control the warships, they would not send any more warships because that would only increase the strength of the Rebellion Army.

"How far is it from the hopeship?"

Merlin asked softly.

"Not far."

Before the words were spoken, a light flashed from the screen, layering and overlapping together. It was incomparably huge, and almost several hundreds of times larger than an ordinary starship.

"Is this the hopeship?"

Merlin was also shocked. His Mind Power had extended out. Different from what could be seen on the screen, Merlin's Mind Power saw a huge cannon muzzle hidden within the layers of light. It was full of the stench of death.

This was a fortress cannon that could crush a dimension-level warship with one shot. Furthermore, it was not just one or two. There were tens of thousands of cannons densely packed that surrounded the entire hopeship.

Besides the fortress cannons, the countess dimension-level warships that were stationed outside the hopeship had disappeared without a trace.

It seemed that the army on the hopeship had already known about the arrival of the Rebellion Army, and had concealed the dimension-level warships in advance. After all, they still could not deal with the methods that the Rebellion Army had to easily control dimension-level warships, so they could only hide the warships.

Even so, Merlin did not dare to let the fleet continue onward. Otherwise, they would enter the fortress cannon's attack range.

"Halt!"

Merlin stopped the warships in the name of Leader Medrick and the three Commanders. Immediately, the Void Zone seem to grow quiet.

Merlin's Mind Power could already see the densely packed fortress cannon muzzles aiming at the Rebellion Army warships. Once they had entered their attack range, the other party would not hesitate to open fire.

"Fortress cannons? Isn't there anything else they can do?"

Merlin frowned. These fortress cannons were controlled by systems, unlike warships. There were many Atlans inside, so they could be easily controlled by Merlin.

Moreover, even if there were people in the fortress, they did not operate the fortress cannons but some other weapons instead. Even if it was controlled, it would have little effect.

"In any case, it'll cause confusion. Only by causing confusion can I seize the opportunity to secretly control the entire hopeship. Now, I can only sacrifice a few warships."

Many ideas flashed in Merlin's mind. A confrontation would not do him any good, so he could only cause some chaos. At least it would seem like a large battle.

Thus, Merlin immediately ordered the three captured dimension-level warships as well as hundreds of empire-level warships to open fire at the hopeship without locking it in.

"Boom boom boom."

Suddenly, a huge beam of light began to shine. The three dimension-level warships in the lead slowly moved forward, and the huge beam of light mercilessly collided with the hopeship.

However, a huge defensive energy shield appeared on the hopeship, and easily deter the dimension-level warships' attacks.

As the Rebellion Army opened fire, the fortress cannons on the hopeship also roared. Although they could not be locked in a specific position, they could be fired at a general position.

As a result, all the cannons were fired, and beams of light shone brilliantly, illuminating the Void Zone as if it was day. Even Merlin felt palpitations from that terrifying force.

"Black cat Didimoss, now! Remember, it's best to be quiet and not make too much noise."

On Merlin's shoulder, the black cat Didimoss' eyes flashed with excitement. It was finally time to act after such a long time. Even Merlin was afraid of these fortress cannons that could easily kill a Lord. However, Didimoss was not afraid. To it, that was all energy that it could devour.

"Gulp gulp gulp. Haha, there's too much energy…"

The black cat Didimoss flew out of the warship. It did not show its true body but instead, fused into the darkness. The many beams of light that hit it all eerily disappeared and were devoured by the black cat Didimoss.

Under Didimoss' cover, Merlin finally flew close to the hopeship. His Illusory World completely shrouded the hopeship.

"Illusory World!"

Merlin pointed lightly, and immediately, the vast Illusory World silently surrounded the hopeship. Even such a large hopeship was easily enveloped by Merlin's expanded Illusory World.

Once shrouded, Merlin's control over the Atlans on board the hopeship would no longer be difficult.