“Supreme Leader, you must take responsibility for this.” The Minister of Commerce was the first to stand up and issue a reprimand. The other ministers, Civil Affairs, Industry, and so on, also stared directly at the Supreme Leader. Only the Minister of Military Affairs remained expressionless and silent.
“The Minister of Military Affairs proposed dispatching 400,000 additional ships to Star System Number Five, and you approved it. And now, damn it, a fleet of 500,000 ships has suddenly appeared out of nowhere. By the time we discovered it, they were already only 0.3 light-years away. We have at most ten days to prepare. Tell me, what are we supposed to do? If the capital star system falls, the Molian Civilization will collapse immediately!” The Minister of Civil Affairs was seething with anger. “You told me to maintain social stability, I did. You told the Minister of Industry to produce 100,000 warships within a month, he did it. But you? What exactly have you and the Minister of Military Affairs done?”
“I will not resign before the war is over.” the Supreme Leader replied coldly. “The capital star system’s defense system is not something Star System Number Five can compare to. Right now, there are still 150,000 warships stationed in the capital. Our civilization’s flagship, the Mo, is also stationed here. The capital star system will not fall. I’ve already made arrangements, 100,000 ships redeployed from other star systems are en route. The 400,000 previously dispatched ships have been split into two groups. 200,000 are already returning. As long as we can hold out for one month, we’ll be fine. If we fail to defend the capital in one month, I will die for my civilization.”
“Request aid from the envoy of the Guardian Civilization.” the Minister of Commerce said quietly. “Its vessel is currently docked in our interstellar port. It’s a City-Class ship, but it absolutely possesses greater power than our Mo. Most importantly, once a Level 6 Civilization steps in, the Divine Ark Civilization will never dare provoke us again. Even if it has the power to destroy the envoy’s ship, it would not dare to do so.”
“Do it after I’m dead.” the Supreme Leader said bluntly.
“I’m worried you’ll drag our civilization into the abyss.” The Minister of Commerce gave the Supreme Leader a deep bow and added, “Since you are still our civilization’s leader, we have no choice but to obey your will. May our civilization have good fortune. May you have good fortune, Supreme Leader.”
With that, the Minister of Commerce terminated his virtual projection.
The remaining ministers left one by one, leaving only the Supreme Leader and the Minister of Military Affairs in the conference room.
“Do your best. We must hold both Star System Number Five and the capital star system.” The Supreme Leader gave the Minister of Military Affairs a long look before turning to leave. At that moment, the mountain-like figure of the Minister of Military Affairs seemed to stoop just a little lower.
—“Latest intel.” Xiao Yu said. “The 400,000 reinforcement ships have split into two groups. 200,000 are heading to Star System Number Five, and 200,000 are returning to defend. In addition, 100,000 ships from other bases are en route to the capital. That means, one month from now, the capital star system will have 450,000 defending warships. We will no longer have a numerical advantage.”
“In other words, we must take the capital star system within a month. Otherwise, we’ll be dragged into a prolonged war on that front, and a prolonged war is disadvantageous to us.” Luka Two said.
“If we do end up in a prolonged war, then the outcome of the Star System Number Five campaign becomes crucial. In truth, at this stage of the war, Star System Number Five no longer holds strategic value. What matters is eliminating as much of the Molian Civilization’s living military strength as possible so we can free up forces to support the capital offensive.”
“Exactly.” Xiao Yu nodded. “The 200,000 Molian reinforcements won’t change much. We’ve already rapidly produced 100,000 warships of our own. They’re carrying large quantities of supplies and are rushing toward Star System Number Five. I’m confident I can maintain control of the situation there. It’s the capital star system I’m not optimistic about. I suggest you prepare for the possibility of a drawn-out war.”
The committee members exchanged glances, then said in unison, “We will be fully prepared. Master, please don’t worry about the biological army.”
Xiao Yu gave a slight nod and refocused his attention on the battlefield in Star System Number Five.
The brutal battle continued unabated. In the capital star system, the biological army had completed its long curvature flight and returned to normal space. Now, they were less than twenty billion kilometers from the Molian Civilization’s central star. The vast fleet hovered in position, waiting for the final attack order to be given.
The soldiers, burning with excitement, had long awaited this moment. They were eager to test the results of their many years of rigorous training.
Although official combat had not yet begun, tens of thousands of specially trained special operations troops had already donned high-concealment gear, disembarked from their ships, and were now quietly attempting to infiltrate the star system.
This was an extremely dangerous mission, with an almost 100% casualty rate. The reason was simple, even if they managed to overcome countless obstacles and reach the capital planet to successfully carry out their tasks, they would still have little to no chance of returning to their ships. They would either be eliminated during the prolonged manhunt or perish silently in the endless flames of war.
Yet despite the staggering mortality rate, the special operations division remained one of the most highly sought-after military units. Becoming a special ops soldier meant earning supreme honor, and for the vassal races under Xiao Yu, honor was far more important than life itself.
A Level 5 Civilization maintained extremely tight surveillance over its star system. In fact, even a speck of interstellar dust larger than one centimeter in diameter approaching the capital planet would be detected. The special ops soldiers, without a doubt, were much larger than that. But thanks to the specialized combat gear developed by Xiao Yu, they still had a chance, however slim, of infiltrating the planet without triggering the Molian monitoring network.
At this moment, one such special ops soldier had successfully penetrated layer upon layer of defenses and arrived in orbit above the capital planet. This side of the planet was facing away from the star, it was night here.
The soldier carefully controlled its descent speed, ensuring that the friction with the atmosphere would not create a visible trail that might be picked up by detection networks. It took eight full hours to descend from ten thousand kilometers in altitude to the surface. By that time, dawn had already broken over the area.
It landed in a forest. During the day, it dared not move. It dug a hole in the ground, carefully concealed itself, and waited for nightfall to resume its mission, while taking the opportunity to rest and recover its heavily depleted mental and physical energy.
During this time, although it was resting, its equipment was not. The instruments on its body were actively analyzing the planet’s atmosphere, soil composition, and other environmental data. These pieces of intelligence were being continuously transmitted through superluminal communication to the biological army’s ships billions of kilometers away, and from there, directly into Xiao Yu’s mind for analysis.
Stealing a glance at the time, it knew that the real battle had already begun. The 400,000 ships of its side, and the hundreds of millions of fellow comrades, were now locked in deadly combat with the Molian fleet and their star system’s defense systems in distant space.
It also knew that, aside from itself, at least one thousand special ops soldiers had successfully infiltrated the capital planet. In addition to them, another two thousand had made their way to various other space-based targets, such as star system-level orbital negative matter cannon bases, or the hulls of interstellar war fortresses…
But regardless of where they had infiltrated, one thing was certain in its heart, everyone was fighting for the same goal… Victory! Victory!
In outer space, war had erupted in full force. The army of 400,000 ships pressed in, attacking with desperation. Various star system defense weapons, in coordination with the 150,000 ships stationed within the system, were putting up a fierce resistance.
“Master, it seems you were right.” a member of the Military Committee said with a bitter smile. “The Molian Civilization actually deployed a space-based star system-class negative matter cannon in their capital star system. It has inflicted significant losses on us. Two Province-Class and three City-Class ships have already been destroyed.”
A star system-class negative matter cannon was an ultra-high-powered weapon capable of completely annihilating a Province-Class ship in a single shot. Such terrifying weapons were usually deployed only on planets, due to their immense energy requirements, only planetary resources could sustain such consumption. Yet somehow, the Molian Civilization had managed to construct one in interstellar space. No one knew at what cost.
Xiao Yu let out a faint sigh internally, just as he was about to speak, when suddenly, a message arrived that made his eyes narrow sharply. Even though he knew that no gesture he made inside the Heaven’s Kingdom’s conference room could affect the distant battlefield, his instincts kicked in and he lowered his voice.
“Quiet. Don’t speak.”
Because Xiao Yu had just witnessed a stunning scene, more than ninety special ops soldiers were currently clinging to the surface of that star system-class negative matter cannon. Equipped with specialized stealth gear, they had not triggered the weapon’s internal alert system in the slightest. At this moment, they were using specialized tools to try and bore a hole into the massive structure.