Igor watched as the pirates attacked, then witnessed their complete annihilation. The area around the spacecraft was now littered with debris.
"This guy actually had Fighter Jets lying in ambush. Well, that makes sense since he's selling them. I just don't understand why he didn't prepare two Corvettes. With Corvettes present, these small modified Pirate Ships would've been wiped out the moment they appeared."
Through the projection, he saw Liu Hai's Fighter Jets eliminate most of the remaining pirates, resolving the Cargo Spaceship's crisis. Now, he no longer needed to consider fleeing.
Cheating buyers was the most offensive act anywhere, especially when the buyer wasn't an ordinary person. It felt great not having to flee to the lord's star system now.
"Hmm? These pirates still haven't given up?"
Igor noticed the remaining pirates launching another attack, and so did everyone else.
Under the pirate captain's orders, several pirates utilized the metal materials from the cargo hold, using them as shields to protect themselves while advancing toward the Control Room.
"Activate the Gravity field now! Use Particle beams and the Electromagnetic Gun to push them back! They must not be allowed to get through!" Zhang Xiuhe's scalp tingled when he saw the pirates charging forward with several-meter-thick metal shields. He urgently urged the security team to open fire.
The Gravity field didn't produce the expected effect. Somehow, the pirates had given the cubic meters of metal material a slight anti-gravity effect, making their advance only slower and more laborious.
Since most of the security team's weapons were portable Laser weapons with stronger penetration, Electromagnetic and Particle beam weapons were only sparsely equipped. The Cargo Spaceship's armory had more, but it was inaccessible now—located near the Escape Pod in the middle of the corridor.
Dozens of beams struck the metal shield, merely slowing its advance while melting a few dents into it. They still couldn't stop the pirates' progress. It was only a matter of time before they reached the Control Room.
"Dammit, where's the Landing Craft?" Zhang Xiuhe hurriedly asked his crew about the Landing Craft's position. Their survival now depended entirely on Liu Hai's security team.
"Only fifteen minutes have passed. They're still nearly halfway from the enemy base." The Cargo Spaceship captain looked pained. After years of piloting, this was the first time he'd been trapped in the Control Room with nowhere to run.
Hearing that reinforcements would take much longer, Zhang Xiuhe could no longer hold back. "Seal the door now! Mr. Liu, have your Fighter Jets intervene. Even firing missiles to blow up the passageway is fine!"
"Mr. Zhang, firing missiles isn't a good idea. If luck isn't on our side, you might all be gone." Liu Hai didn't dare order missile launches. After all, these missiles were designed for warships—without shields, a single hit could obliterate a small spacecraft.
"But there's no time left! Being captured by pirates is worse than dying here!" Zhang Xiuhe was desperate. He knew his company held too many secrets. Dying would at least guarantee ample compensation from the company, but if captured by pirates, even surviving would leave him permanently tainted.
"Don't rush, Mr. Zhang. Here's what we'll do—I'll have the fighter jets look for another opportunity to strike. Meanwhile, you should maintain your defenses. Just hold out for another half hour, and the security team will arrive." Liu Hai tried his best to reassure his client. After all, this was his first customer. If the man died here, who knew how long it would be before he got another business opportunity.
The twenty-plus fighter jets had been circling the spacecraft. Upon Liu Hai's order, they immediately regrouped. To prevent the laser cannons from penetrating the ship and damaging its reactor, the squadron deliberately adjusted their approach, flying from the front of the vessel toward the rear.
As they neared the pirates' position, each formation of jets dipped their noses, and their fire control systems quickly locked onto targets. The concentrated fire from over twenty jets blasted a nearly one-meter-wide breach in the spacecraft's outer hull.
The pirates hiding behind metal barriers were startled by the attack. The thick, meter-plus shield was melted halfway through by the jets' combined firepower, and the floating molten metal terrified them, driving them to act even more viciously.
The pirates had already covered half of the 200-meter corridor. In another two minutes, they would reach the Control Room door. Given the pirates' weapons, even the reinforced door wouldn't hold for more than a few minutes before being breached.
The fighter squadron had already turned around and was recalibrating. If this second strike didn't eliminate some of the pirates, there wouldn't be a third chance to fire.
The twenty-plus jets slowed down in formation as they swept past the spacecraft. Dozens of laser beams converged again, the intense heat instantly melting the metal barriers. As another gash was torn into the ship, several pirates who had lost their shields were cleanly bisected.
After this strike, fewer than ten pirates remained. Seeing this, the security team inside the Control Room prepared barricades, ready to ambush any pirates who broke in.
Over a dozen security personnel, along with a few crew members, took cover behind makeshift barriers, their weapons trained on the door.
A few minutes later, sustained laser fire cut a person-sized hole in the door. A pair of metal fragments crashed through, flying into the Control Room.
As the security team and pirates rushed in through the breach, both sides opened fire simultaneously. Red laser beams and orange particle beams from electromagnetic guns crisscrossed in the confined space.
In the vacuum of space, there were no screams, but the comms were filled with cries of pain. In this standoff, the more ruthless pirates, despite being outnumbered, fought with greater ferocity than the security team.
But in the end, their lack of advantageous position and firepower proved decisive. Even with each pirate wielding two guns, they eventually fell to the security team's barrage.
"Everyone, put two more shots into each of them. Make sure there are no survivors," Zhang Xiuhe, who had been hiding behind the security team, ordered as soon as the pirates were down, wary of any faked deaths.
The remaining security members cautiously delivered the finishing shots before unceremoniously tossing the pirates' bodies out through the breach created by the fighter jets. After sealing the breach and deploying repair bots to fix the hull, they finally tended to the wounded in the rest area.
With the battle over, Zhang Xiuhe and Liu Hai proceeded to discuss their business deal. The successful cooperation during the fight ensured the transaction went smoothly.
One reason was that the weapon equipment Liu Hai provided was on par in quality with the standard versions currently on the market. The second was that Zhang Xiuhe was in a hurry to return and investigate how the information had been leaked.
After Zhang Xiuhe dispatched repair drones to help Igor fix the engine, he arranged for the transfer of goods between both parties via his own ship. Within three hours, the transaction was officially completed. The cargo spaceship's engine was patched up enough to function, though a proper repair would still require a dock—the same went for Igor's vessel.
Igor, now happily rewarded with an increased payment of 250,000 Credit Points, piloted his ship to a nearby dock for repairs. Meanwhile, Zhang Xiuhe returned to the company in anger. Although he had already relayed the message back earlier, his fury wouldn't subside unless he took matters into his own hands!