After Qu Jianlei issued the command, more than a minute later, the Customs Enforcement Warship emitted a huge roar.

The people in the Customs Enforcement Division didn’t have time to react before the warship soared into the air, shooting straight upward.

In fact, Qu Jianlei never relied on public opinion as a means of escape.

The power of public opinion sometimes seems strong, but in the face of absolute power, it is actually the least useful.

As the saying goes, it is better to rely on oneself than on others to break through the blockade; you must rely on your own strength.

Previously, he stirred up a public opinion battle merely to attract government attention and distract the entire system.

Undoubtedly, this plan was effective. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to so easily drive away the Customs Enforcement Warship.

Of course, this also had something to do with the arrogance of the Customs Enforcement Division. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Although they lacked high-level combat power, they were armed forces with a warship configuration, which even put them a notch above the Anomalous Management Division.

So they rather arbitrarily assumed that the enemy, already entangled with the Anomalous Management Division and the Divine Text Association, would not dare provoke us as well.

Regardless, Qu Jianlei managed to hijack a warship and leave openly as he wished.

When the warship was taking off, its acceleration was a bit slow, and during this process, the Customs Enforcement Division finally figured out what was happening.

"Damn it, they dare to hijack our warship—where are our anti-aircraft weapons?"

The Customs Enforcement Division only had a limited number of anti-aircraft weapons, even far less than the City Guard.

The reason was simple; this department mainly handled external patrols and had no planetary defense duties.

The pitifully few defense weapons were usually in a semi-stored state.

—If the entire planet’s defense were left to the Customs Enforcement Division, what a tragic state that would be!

The division quickly realized that the defense weapons could not be activated in time to attack.

Artificial intelligence allocated computational power and instantly concluded that the delay in reaction time was enough for the opponent to escape.

Almost simultaneously, the Customs Enforcement Division also informed the government and military: Our warship has been hijacked!

They were very clear, but whether it was the government or the military, they had to verify this information.

—You claim a hijack, and we immediately open fire, what would that lead to?

There must be authoritative verification before either side can react; after all, the Customs Enforcement Division holds an extraordinary status within the government.

Anyone attacking a Customs Enforcement Warship would not only be attacking a friendly force.

Such matters are too easily escalated, and pursuing them lightly could lead to uncontrollable situations.

Rigid and inflexible? Perhaps, but without rules, nothing stands firm!

Both sides would rather let Ran Bingluan’s team escape than rashly attack the Customs Enforcement Warship.

The former is merely a matter of cooperating with the Anomalous Management Division, and a mistake is insignificant; the latter would challenge the entire Imperial authority.

Just as they were confirming, the speed of that warship had already increased to a considerable level, rushing into outer space.

The planet’s ground defense systems started to activate, and various weapons gradually opened fire, focusing on the Customs Enforcement Warship.

However, Qu Jian managed to make some tweaks in the defense system and had an extremely high level of piloting skills. Those powerful ground weapons ultimately caused no damage to the warship.

Yet, evading the ground weapons was one thing; getting rid of the distant approaching military warships was another.

The Customs Enforcement Warship was also a military-standard warship; although its weapon systems were slightly inferior, other functions were almost identical.

However, the key issue was that the warship Qu Jianlei hijacked was only of Company Level, and among the pursuing warships, there were Battalion Level ones.

Although Battalion Level warships weren’t necessarily much faster, they had distinct advantages in initial deployment, yet the pursuers had higher defense and stronger firepower.

The most troublesome were those Attack Ships, which, though fragile and with short range, boasted incredible speed!

Qu Jianlei adjusted the warship’s defense to the highest level, dodging left and right desperately.

Qu Jian’s piloting skills were truly high, but the pursuing Attack Ships numbered more than ten.

No matter how advanced the artificial intelligence is, there is always a limit, especially when the numbers are vastly unequal.

The saying "ants can kill an elephant" isn’t for nothing; the firepower of more than ten Attack Ships formed a dense network.

No matter how Qu Jian evaded, occasionally, he would get hit.

Fortunately, it could analyze which attacks were relatively deadly and which could be withstood.

So, even when hit frequently, it only affected the Protective Shield’s energy and did not damage the hull.

Nevertheless, what was even worse was that the computational power of the Customs Enforcement Warship was truly inadequate.

Qu Jianlei had previously purchased a set of computational units for eighty million because he was concerned that Niaoming Stream Manor was not safe enough, so he carried them in a Storage Ring—such valuable items really shouldn’t test human nature.

However, after setting off, this computational unit was never used once; not only was it large, but it also consumed a lot of energy.

Including now, the hijacked Customs Enforcement Warship simply didn’t have enough space to install it.

—Even if it could be installed, in this environment, there was no way to install and calibrate it peacefully.

Currently, the central control system is still maintained by the modified anti-smuggling terminal.

In all fairness, among terminals of similar size, the anti-smuggling terminal is already quite powerful, but... it’s really not enough.

Under almost maximized computing power, the terminal is so hot it could roast meat, Qu Jianlei had to physically cool it down.

Little Lake has been constantly taking hits and can’t take it anymore, "Can’t we fight back yet?"

"Just wait a bit longer," Qu Jianlei answered casually, "Haven’t you noticed that the other side also intends to capture us alive?"

It’s obvious from the way a dozen attack ships come wave after wave, attacking with varied strategies, yet clearly controlling their strength.

The fact is, the intention to capture alive is clear, anyone could guess that the Ran Bingluan team is most likely behind this move.

The importance of this team is beyond doubt, even the Anomalous Management Division, though gritting their teeth with hatred, has expressed the desire to capture them alive if possible.

It’s well known these individuals have killed more than one Supreme of the Anomalous Management Division, their arrogance extremely rampant.

However, even if they must be sentenced to death in the end, during the capture process, efforts should be made to keep them alive.

The implication of this is clear: there are significant interests entangled with this team, and dead, they’re worthless.

Of course, the military won’t strictly abide by the Anomalous Management Division’s demands, safety is paramount when dealing with vicious criminals.

The main reason they’ve held back is simply that they currently hold a huge advantage!

The pursuit force consists of four main ships, one Company Level and three below, with nearly twenty small attack ships.

While the other side only has one Company Level warship, which is even a firepower stripped-down version.

There are also rumors that they are nearly out of ammunition; facing such opponents, they’d have to try hard to lose!

The pursuing soldiers also acknowledge that the enemy crew’s piloting skills are incredibly high, even comparable to the military’s elite.

Yet, so what? Just evading and fleeing, without the ability to fight back, how can they pose a threat?

Someone even said, there may be Supremes among the opponent’s team, probably possessing some Storage Talismans!

Meaning their lack of counterattack might just be a strategy to underestimate the enemy.

The advisor believes caution should be exercised against their potential sudden counterattack, catching allies off guard!

This reminder isn’t entirely unreasonable, comprehensive threat assessment is a fundamental military trait.

But in charge of the pursuit, soldiers have been somewhat arrogant—or perhaps overly confident.

"These amateur players, facing so many warships... truly hard to believe they can keep their cool."

"After all, not being active military, how much genuine combat experience could they have? Great piloting skills don’t equate to strong combat power."

"This team’s reputation is huge, but who can tell... how many known successful air combat cases they’ve had?"

"Even with Storage Talismans, space is limited. Surely they can’t be entirely filled with Star Wars ammunition?"

No one realized the cumulative space Qu Jianlei’s Storage Talismans and Storage Rings held.

Still, there were those who maintained caution, "Regardless, being careful won’t hurt; even minor damage would be embarrassing!"

In conclusion, most soldiers maintained a positive attitude, with cautionary words uttered only casually.

You can’t blame them for being so boastful; maintaining high morale is crucial to the army.

However, distinguishing between pride and arrogance... is truly challenging.

Fearless spirit is often labeled reckless.

Yet, some genuine rash advances might turn into "bold and insightful" successful cases.

Ultimately, often the military evaluates actions based on results.

Qu Jianlei didn’t lack ammunition, but he understood that a surprise counterattack opportunity only comes once, must seize it well.

During the chase, the customs enforcement warship occasionally signaled, warning the opponent not to continue the pursuit.

"Our ammunition is plentiful, hopefully, you cease your pursuit and avoid self-inflicted harm!"

Seeing these signals, initially, the military was somewhat alert.

But as signals repeatedly flashed without any counterattack, the military grew numb, "Fire already, it’s so boring."

The military grew impatient, and Little Lake was also fed up, "Boss, the energy shield is like a rollercoaster, fluctuating constantly."

Qu Jianlei however remained unmoved, watching the opponent’s encirclement expressionless.

Only when four or five attack ships had used up most Energy Blocks and returned to the warship to replenish supplies, did he issue new commands.

"Accelerate, release the decoy shells... shame it’s inconvenient to invade the opponent’s system."

Ultimately, artificial intelligence is inconvenient to reveal unless he intends to capture all military warships.

Upon seeing the customs enforcement warship release decoy shells, seven or eight attack ships suddenly became spirited, "Running, close-in shooting!"

At the same time, Qu Jianlei spoke up, "At least ensure hitting four attack ships, there’s only this one chance!"

"Boss, rest assured," Little Lake answered with full confidence.