Are your family and friends well?

Seeing that all the enemy mecha and fighter jets in the vicinity had been swept clean, Zhong Yun turned his gaze back to the initial battlefield. Miraculously, the two heavily damaged warships had neither exploded nor attempted to flee.

The main ship, pierced entirely through its hull by the primary cannon, drifted silently without a single sign of life, resembling a ghost ship that had wandered the void for ages.

The other warship, unlucky enough to take a direct hit from the main cannon just as its energy reservoirs were fully charged, had a massive crater blown into its side. Zhong Yun guessed that the explosion had affected the vessel's power room or engines, as it attempted to ignite a few times, sputtering and coughing before dying out completely again.

"What are you howling about?" Zhang Haokun bellowed aboard the Davor warship. "The enemy isn't dead yet."

The commanding officer and his staff snapped back to reality immediately. They shifted the video feed of the original battlefield onto the main screen and breathed a collective sigh of relief upon seeing that the two damaged enemy ships were still there.

"Move out, go collect our spoils of war," Zhang Haokun commanded with a wave of his hand.

"Commander, um... what about that side?" the chief of staff stood up and asked.

Zhang Haokun glanced at the egg-shaped spacecraft, shook his head, and replied, "Let's clear out the remaining enemies completely first, then go over and express our gratitude."

Seeing the Davor warships flying toward the original battlefield, Zhong Yun understood their intentions, but he had no desire to compete with them for the loot. Although those warships possessed fairly impressive performance specifications, he did not want them.

First, his coin purse was lamentably deflated, completely lacking the funds required to repair them. Given the extent of their damage, the maintenance costs would undoubtedly be astronomical. Second, he could not find anyone capable of piloting them; for the group of youngsters on Qiyun Star to mature into qualified astronauts would take nothing short of a decade or two.

In truth, Zhong Yun was currently hesitating over whether he should quietly slip away. Yet, the moment he considered that the other party had already laid eyes on his true appearance, he realized fleeing was pointless. With panoramic photographs in their possession, uncovering his identity would be effortless.

It was truly a thoughtless oversight. At the time, his mind had been entirely occupied with saving them, completely forgetting the crucial matter of concealing his identity. Now, he was utterly dumbfounded. The Mars would likely remain impossible to keep under wraps.

How could he possibly explain this? A high school student possessing such an advanced spacecraft—he could already imagine the carpet-bombing barrage of interrogation he would face in the future.

Zhong Yun felt as though his head was swelling to twice its normal size.

Should he simply silence everyone here?

The sudden thought made him chuckle dryly at himself. If he intended to kill them, why go to such great lengths to rescue them in the first place? He needed to think of something more constructive.

After turning it over in his mind, Zhong Yun concluded that he had no choice but to fabricate a story. He had already told more than one lie anyway; a sheep cares not for the weight of its fleece, and a few more fleas make no difference. Raising the banner of an advanced civilization carried the risk of being exposed, true, but it would likely reap substantial benefits as well.

One only had to look at Yu Daoqing's status to understand. In the past, he could never fathom how Zhao Tingjian, born of humble roots, managed within just a few decades to build the Yidao Group from an obscure little company into the nation's premier conglomerate, holding its own against the Yang family's Giant Mech Corporation without falling behind. No matter how exceptional one's capabilities were, achieving such a feat without sufficiently powerful backing was impossible.

Later, upon learning of Yu Daoqing's true identity, he had an epiphany. To the ruling hierarchy of Davor, she functioned as an unofficial and irreplaceable diplomat. According to hints dropped by Vincent of the Shata Empire, the Universal Floral Exhibition had been secured entirely through Yu Daoqing's personal efforts, demonstrating her immense clout.

Zhong Yun reckoned her standing within Davor was probably no lower than that of Old Marshal Yang Tianlie; it was simply that she naturally maintained a low profile, and the government intentionally diluted her influence among the common folk, preventing her exploits from appearing in the media.

Once he claimed the background of an advanced civilized nation, he figured very few would dare to provoke him. Consequently, his parents' social standing would also soar dramatically, and flagrant plots to usurp his family's company, like the ones in the past, would likely never happen again.

From this perspective, perhaps this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Thus, a narrative took shape in his mind. He racked his brain, continuously refining and patching up the falsehood.

By the time the Davor forces—having secured the two half-dead enemy ships—approached, Zhong Yun had almost figured out how to make his story watertight.

Five hundred kilometers away from the Mars, the Davor fleet came to a halt, signaling their lack of hostility. Soon after, Zhong Yun received a communication request from them.

"Put it through," Zhong Yun said, sitting upright in the captain's chair. The lines of his face were pulled taut, and his spine was held ramrod straight. He still held a considerable amount of respect for these soldiers defending their country.

"Greetings, Your Excellency." The moment the connection was established, Zhang Haokun was visible leading all his staff officers and commanders, neatly arrayed in several rows, bowing in unison.

Zhang Haokun said solemnly, "First, on behalf of all the soldiers of the Davor First Fleet of the Northeastern Theater, I wish to express our deepest gratitude for Your Excellency's helping hand."

Zhong Yun's shoulders twitched awkwardly, as if he wanted to stand up, but in the end, he remained seated, accepting the grand salute directly.

Once they straightened back up, Zhong Yun offered a slight bow in return. "Commander, you are far too polite. I believe that any capable citizen of Davor encountering such a situation would not stand idly by."

"You are a Davorian?" Although he harbored expectations, Zhang Haokun was still startled upon hearing Zhong Yun's words. Had Zhong Yun been a stunningly attractive and youthful woman, he wouldn't have found it strange.

Aside from that legendary woman, who else could possibly possess a spacecraft of such a high tier? And a youth at that. He had no prior inkling that such a figure existed in Davor.

"Through and through," Zhong Yun smiled. Strictly speaking, though, he could only be considered half a Davorian; his physical body was locally produced in Davor, but his soul hailed from the distant planet Earth.

Everyone in the First Fleet's command room exchanged glances. Looking at the young man who claimed to be a citizen of Davor, they all felt it was profoundly bizarre.

Seeing the peculiar expressions on their faces, Zhong Yun had no intention of offering them any explanation. "I've been away from Davor for quite some time. What has been happening in the country lately? Why would the Hongxian Federation fleet appear within our national borders?"

Upon hearing this question, most of the personnel in the First Fleet wore expressions of indignation and grievance. Zhang Haokun said in a deep voice, "Half a month ago, the shameless Hongxian Federation suddenly tore up the peace treaty and brazenly invaded our nation. Already, ten resource planets have fallen into enemy hands."

Zhang Haokun's tone was exceptionally heavy, clearly revealing his deep anxiety over Davor's current predicament.

"Furthermore, the enemy has already broken through the republic's eastern border. The Eastern Theater forces stationed there notified us two days ago, and our First Fleet received orders from the Ministry of Defense to provide reinforcements. Who would have expected us to be ambushed right here, nearly wiping out the entire fleet."

Zhang Haokun's words laid bare the cause and effect of the situation.

"How is Woll doing right now?" Hearing that war had broken out, Zhong Yun felt deeply concerned for the safety of his family and friends.