Esper X Family – Chapter 645 – The Tense Situation

Three days passed.

The protective layer that had shrouded Bluestar finally vanished.

The expeditionary fleet successfully repaired information-gathering channels like the【Myriad Analysis】.

However, they didn’t activate them immediately. Instead, they observed in secret, pondering the deeper implications of this anomaly.

Three days ago, Ye Ge had made a clear move to “prohibit prying”. Not only had she used some means to invade their information systems, but she had also cast a protective layer over Bluestar.

Now, everything appeared to have returned to normal.

But none of the higher-ups believed that there was no trick behind it.

It even looked like a trap.

Thus, they were deliberating very carefully on whether to restart【Myriad Analysis】.

One wrong step, and it would likely mean direct war.

At this moment, inside the command room.

White Comet gazed at the blue planet below, no longer able to sense Silver Frost’s presence.

If that protective layer had truly failed, she should have been able to contact Silver Frost.

Yet, she couldn’t.

No matter how White Comet called out, she received not a single response.

And it wasn’t just White Comet; Gray Marsh felt the same.

His expression had darkened slightly, as though he sensed that certain matters had slipped beyond his control.

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Now that communications were restored, every operative he had sent to Bluestar had gone silent, including the most valuable one: Black Haze.

Earlier, he might have overlooked the disappearance of his subordinates.

After all, Ye Ge’s power was somewhat beyond imagination. She had even been able to block the fleet’s information technology.

When she had so openly wrapped Bluestar in a protective layer, no one dared act rashly.

But now that the protective layer had completely disappeared, in theory, everyone who had lost contact should have re-established communication channels.

The problem was, that hadn’t happened.

“Report! All twenty Observers have vanished. We cannot lock onto their traces!”

At this point, even White Comet had to agree to restart【Myriad Analysis】.

As numerous display windows reappeared, the hot-topic information from the past three days was compiled and listed.

Surveillance footage from the Countermeasures Bureau headquarters was particularly prioritized.

Every staff member was sifting through key details.

Good news: The expeditionary fleet’s existence had not been exposed. Bluestar hadn’t entered war-preparation mode!

Bad news: All traces of the twenty Observers had disappeared. Both the people they had replaced and the identities they had fabricated were gone.

It was as if they had evaporated from the face of the planet, leaving no trace behind.

Although the disappearances did raise some puzzlement among their social circles, it caused no upheaval, and the impact was negligible.

Even the situation around Ye Yao, the most important target, was the same.

In the daily traces of Ye Yao’s life, Silver Frost and Black Haze were no longer by her side.

According to earlier analysis, even though they spent most of their time inside a space called the “painting world”, they would still go to the cafeteria in groups during mealtimes.

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But those two figures were no longer around Ye Yao.

An unpleasant guess surfaced in White Comet’s mind.

“Could it be that all the Observers who infiltrated Bluestar have been purged by Ye Ge?”

The fleet re-evaluated Ye Ge’s capabilities.

Since she had detected the expeditionary fleet’s presence, she might also be able to pinpoint the Observers hidden among the population.

Given her decisive and ruthless style, she might very well have eliminated every one of those intruders.

Especially those who had been close to Ye Yao.

Silver Frost and Black Haze were almost certainly in grave danger, and their chances of survival were slim.

After reviewing the compiled intelligence, Gray Marsh, whose face had already been gloomy, turned even darker.

Black Haze’s mission had failed.

No one around Ye Yao had suffered any mishap, and even Black Haze herself had lost her life.

That was one thing.

But the other Observers who were planted as insurance had melted away like cream. What seemed to be certain had now vanished without a trace.

Gray Marsh had never felt so powerless!

“So merciless… doesn’t she fear that we will start a war?”

Gray Marsh had assumed that Ye Ge would only block their surveillance as a warning. At least there had been no visible casualties yet, leaving room for negotiation.

Instead, the twenty Observers had simply evaporated, which was nothing less than a death notice.

And Ye Ge had even withdrawn the protective layer, allowing the expeditionary fleet to confirm things firsthand. If that wasn’t provocation, what was?

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Gray Marsh knew perfectly well that the expeditionary fleet’s presence here was akin to a border garrison, lacking legitimacy from the start. An overstep on their part, if met with a warning, could be forgiven.

But he had always regarded himself as the superior party.

A higher civilization gracing a lower one was the lower one’s honor.

Yet, something born from a lower civilization dared to so blatantly defy the authority of a higher civilization.

No matter how powerful the opponent was, that was an insult!

So what if Ye Ge could defeat an interstellar overlord?

The expeditionary fleet could defeat one too!

And if she hadn’t attacked immediately upon discovering the fleet, that meant she was not confident in victory, essentially fearing the fleet’s firepower.

In Gray Marsh’s eyes, that was a sign of weakness, greatly reducing the perceived threat.

Perhaps the source of calamity deduced by the Evolution Divine Engine was indeed her.

But based on the deduction, one could at least analyze that the calamity was still far off.

Thus, Ye Ge still needed time to grow before becoming a cosmic calamity.

Ending her, or even controlling her before she matured was the best choice!

“Hmph. If you had kept hiding, I might have remained cautious.”

Gray Marsh let out a cold snort.

If Ye Ge had continued to conceal herself, the fleet might have struggled to decide due to insufficient intel. But the information she had now revealed was far from enough to justify the word “invincible”.

Purging the Observers on Bluestar actually felt more like a bluff.

The fact that the fleet had still not been attacked was the strongest evidence!

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“Commander White Comet, make your choice. Announce our arrival.”

Gray Marsh began applying pressure.

“She disposed of our people without any negotiation whatsoever. That constitutes serious provocation and insult. We must strike back decisively and uphold the creed of the expedition.”

“Don’t be reckless.”

White Comet was not swayed by Gray Marsh’s words. Instead, she continued analyzing the missing information from those three days.

But Gray Marsh was not about to let it go.

Since the plan to use Black Haze had failed, the only option was to seize by force.

The expeditionary fleet possessed enough firepower to destroy star systems, had means to drain stellar energy, and boasted defenses among the best in the universe.

Ye Ge was only one person. Humanity’s technological prowess and warriors could be ignored entirely!

The advantage was theirs!

“Hmph. Your own confidante died under Ye Ge’s merciless purge, and you still want to keep observing? It’s time to decide, Commander White Comet. Don’t forget the objective of this expedition.”

The past was now the present.

At this very moment, Gray Marsh used that very reasoning to pressure White Comet.

The conclusion from their observations was naturally that Ye Ge would bring great threat to the Watcher Civilization.

Other officers also seemed influenced by the collective disappearance of the Observers, and the tide of opinion was tilting toward Gray Marsh.

White Comet took a deep breath.

“Tomorrow, I will make a decision.”