Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 318 Pursuit of the Fleet (3k)

Unsurprisingly, the three fleets quickly discovered the defection of these ten warships; those ten warships, which had transformed from golden light into fiery meteors, were simply too dazzling.

In the emergency meeting room, the five commanders gathered.

This includes former European Commander Vitalis and former Americas Commander Serantin, who are temporarily leaving their posts.

In addition, there were a small number of senior military officials, totaling no more than twenty people, all of whom participated in the meeting directly through holographic projection.

On the screen, holographic images of ten defecting spaceships were displayed in the center of the star chart, with their names floating above each spaceship.

Asia: Natural Selection, Wanhu, Infinite Frontier, Stardust
Americas: Lexington, Antarctica, Einstein
Europe: "Foggy Horn", "Aristotle", "Greece"
The fleet command system has marked these 10 targets as red, indicating they are part of the opposing faction. As of now, the Solar System Fleet has sent messages to these 10 warships, but has received no response.

“This shouldn’t be happening.” Grant’s holographic image trembled. “Although I’ve only just taken office, I’ve already reviewed the data on those three warships belonging to the European Fleet. Two of those warships’ captains haven’t been inoculated with the Thought Imprint. The other captain, who had contact with the Thought Imprint facility, has been temporarily quarantined and replaced by a member of the ship’s own crew. Neither of them has been inoculated with the Thought Imprint. Why did they escape?”

The European Military Commission scoffed: "The fact that the people of the Common Era participated in the escape shows that they are not reliable either. Weren't the 'Natural Selection' and 'Aristotle' both commanded by people of the Common Era? And what happened? I now demand the immediate abolition of the commanding officer system, the reinstatement of the original captains, and the stabilization of the situation."

"That would be even riskier!" the Asian Military Commission retorted. "It's a fact that the 'Identification Imprint' system has identified the 'Identification Imprint Clan.' Are you trying to turn the escape of 10 warships into a mass escape of hundreds or thousands of warships?"

The American Military Commission sighed, "I really don't understand... Why would they flee when they have such a favorable situation? The Trisolaran fleet only sent a few probes, and those probes just happened to be relatively small, so they evaded our detection. These few small things scared ten warships into fleeing for their lives? This is simply a joke."

The three fleet commanders exchanged glances, unlike the other high-ranking officials present. All three had received the information transmitted back by Luo Qing through the light cone telescope.

They were among the very few people in the entire human world who knew that the solar system was about to be greeted by a "large number of alien fleets," so their feelings about the escape of these ten warships were very complicated and hard to describe.

However, the two former commanders are still unaware of this news.

Former Commander Serantin spoke up: "Of the ten warships that left, three belonged to the American Fleet. Their situation was slightly different from that of the European Fleet. None of the captains of the three American warships had access to the thought imprinting system. However, two of the vice-captains had, but they had already been suspended from their duties. Therefore, I believe that this act of defection has little to do with whether or not they are from the Common Era."

The American Military Commission: "Could it be that the Imprinted Clan has a new mind imprinting facility? Are they secretly abusing mind imprinting, resulting in many soldiers who actually received mind imprinting not being recorded?"

Asian Military Commission: "This is unreasonable. Many people have been under the fleet's surveillance since the thawing. For example, Zhang Beihai of the Asian Fleet, who was a combat hero in the expedition against the Great Ring. Would such a hero defect? ​​I would rather believe that he was kidnapped."

The Earth Military Commission representative said with a wry smile, "Thought imprinting facilities that are not under our control definitely exist. Look at the appearance of these 10 warships, they are as fat as pigs. They are just short of carrying the Earth on their backs."

Grant chuckled upon hearing this, but quickly became serious again after realizing the awkward atmosphere.

Indeed, the exteriors of these ten warships have undergone obvious changes, clearly indicating that they were specially modified during the spaceport upgrade, but they had not noticed it.

The holographic projection of the European Military Commission slammed its fist on the table: "Commanders, you should immediately order the arrest and interrogation of all space workers who participated in the warship conversion!"

Asian Military Commission: "The escape has already happened, and interrogating them is meaningless. This escape involves a much wider range of people than we do, and is not limited to the Space Force."

Former Commander Vitalis said, "Gentlemen, the most urgent task is not to arrest them, nor to investigate the reasons for their defection, but to find a way to stop them immediately."

Vitalis's expression and tone gradually hardened: "I suggest that we immediately activate the weapon systems in Jupiter's orbit to intercept! Qian Mengjian, go and notify the Jupiter defense officer to initiate orbital interception!"

Qian Mengjian ignored him.

Old Deng should retire properly and stop interfering.

Regarding whether to initiate orbital interception, the Central Military Commission members successively expressed their opinions, but at the crucial moment, Grant suddenly said:

"Gentlemen, these ten warships lack an Iron Curtain system. Using laser interception weapons rashly would directly result in casualties among the space force personnel inside. I believe this is a defection orchestrated by a minority; most space force soldiers are being manipulated. Therefore, we cannot resort to forceful interception." The American Military Commission retorted, "You're just a temporary commander. What do you know? Are you just going to stand by and watch these ten warships leave the solar system?"

Grant retorted sharply, "I am the interim commander, that's true, but I also served as president for a few years, and your great-grandfather was an official under me! I've seen plenty of these hostage situations! Using force rashly is definitely not a good choice! The most urgent thing is to establish communication and negotiate to stabilize the other side first."

In the midst of this brief but heated argument, someone suddenly asked, "What do these ten warships have in common?"

Qian Mengjian, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up: "Has no one here noticed that these fleets are all warships carrying out advance operations?"

As the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary fleet, Qian Mengjian was naturally very familiar with the names of these ten warships.

"You mean, of the twelve warships in the vanguard fleet that made great contributions in swallowing the Great Ring, ten of them have followed suit?" the Military Commissioner asked in shock.

Another member of the Central Military Commission, after verifying the information, exclaimed in astonishment: "...This is unbelievable! These ten warships are indeed from those twelve heroic warships. They are the glory of the Solar System Fleet, and have even been awarded the title of hero. Why would they do this?"

The American Military Commissioner said anxiously, "Where are the other two hero warships? Quickly check if there are any extra fuel tanks installed on the outside of the other two warships. If so, board them immediately and stop them!"

Qian Mengjian said, "I have already checked, and there is no such thing. Those two heroic warships are right at the edge of the parade formation, and they are not carrying any more fuel tanks. If they wanted to run away, they would have moved together just now."

Vitalis said, "There's always a reason for defection. We must act quickly and pursue these defecting warships immediately."

Grant and Qian Mengjian had no objections; pursuing was better than intercepting by force, at least there was room for maneuver.

This received unanimous approval from the military committee members.

The Earth Military Commission representative looked bitter: "But the problem is... can we catch up?"

The members of the Military Commission fell silent as they watched the ten raging fireballs.

Vitalis's face was grim: "Sacrificing maneuverability and combat capabilities to add propulsion and fuel reserves is indeed a ruthless move, but no matter what, the pursuit must continue. Send the latest star-class warships to pursue them. With their performance advantage, we can outmaneuver these warships and look for opportunities."

Furthermore, the new generation of warships equipped with Iron Curtain devices will be stronger in combat than the defector fleet. Even if the enemy were to fight to the death, the pursuing fleet could still maintain an overwhelming military advantage over the defector fleet.

Grant looked at the latest news: "Among the three fleets, some warships have already applied to become pursuit fleets. The four new generation warships, 'Blue Space', 'Deep Space', 'Enterprise', and 'Ultimate Law', have all submitted applications, with 'Blue Space' being the first to apply."

Suddenly, a member of the Central Military Commission asked, "Should we tell Luo Qing about this?"

Qian Mengjian: "There's no need. Besides, he has divine sense; he can definitely perceive what's happening here. Commander of the Asian Fleet, what do you say?"

Then everyone noticed that the commander of the Asian Fleet was silent, but staring at the name 'Natural Selection', seemingly lost in thought.

"Do as you say, dispatch the pursuit fleet," the Asian Fleet commander decided.

Qian Mengjian: "'Paradox Engine' is my confidant, let them join the pursuit fleet as well."

Soon, 40 advanced star-class warships, including the "Blue Space" and the "Paradox Engine," set sail. This pursuit fleet of 40 warships was enough to give them an overwhelming military advantage over the ten fleeing fleets.

Moreover, these pursuing warships were also fully fueled, and more fuel tanks were temporarily installed to take into account the return journey. The space dock always had a need to install fuel tanks, so not much time was wasted.

At this point, 34 minutes after the escape began, the pursuit fleet set sail.

(End of this chapter)