On the star map behind Tang Dingyuan, the icons of the translucent starships that represented the Black Wind Fleet suddenly disappeared. They turned into golden lines and pierced into the heartland of the Federation like lightning.
The starships surfaced in the golden swirls again and attacked the resource collection bases and magical equipment bases of the Federation directly!
The scene cast all the leadership of the government-in-exile into silence with a lot on their minds.
That was how the wars in the sea of stars were. They were different from the wars between countries that lived on the same planet in the ancient times.
The countries that lived on the same planet and considered the 'continent' as their main territory often had clear borders. The enemy's attack could only break through the borders and slowly push from the border all the way to the inland or even the core.
Even if the enemy had all kinds of flying magical equipment, they would still have to fly all the way along the borders. Except for the special forces with high Cultivation, it was barely possible for them to jump into the country directly.
But the three-dimensional wars in the universe were definitely not like that.
The sea of stars was too vast and boundless, and there were too few Sectors where human beings could survive and develop their civilization. Every Sector was an isolated island connected by 'jump bridges' that could pass through the four-dimensional space.
What the Xing Yao Federation governed was not all the space among the seven Sectors. It was more like seven tiny 'isolated islands in the universe'. It was difficult to distinguish the real border from the central area. The enemy could totally bypass a few of the Sectors and launch an unexpected attack on the vulnerable areas that were not well-defended. It was not hard to imagine how difficult it was to defend.
"In fact, we and the Federation have been working on the above deduction for the past ten years, but we have not revealed it to you until now."
Tang Dingyuan went on. "According to the confessions of Ding Zhengyang and the other rebels, it has been confirmed. Once their rebellion succeeds, they will cooperate with the CFIA and the special forces of the Black Wind Fleet that have snuck into the Federation to sabotage and create chaos within the Federation, creating an opportunity for the Black Wind Fleet's assault.
"The war between the Imperium and the Federation has started a long time ago. The outcome might've been decided right now before the Black Wind Fleet showed up!
"There are Immortal Cultivators inside the Federation. They are not just the Immortal Cultivators on the surface such as the CFIA. They are the key figures who are in a higher position and better hidden. Although the intelligence was thrown out by Lu Qingchen in order to tempt Ding Zhengyang and the rest of them to start a rebellion, according to our analysis, it is highly credible!
"The guy is capable enough to create a great opportunity for the Black Wind Fleet's assault. At the very least, he can deliver the valuable intelligence to the Black Wind Fleet where the Burning Prairie Fleet, the main force of the Union Army, is hiding.
"On the other hand, as long as we find out who the guy is, it is possible that we will know the jump point of the Black Wind Fleet in advance. Then, we will have won half the battle!
"This is the latest situation that I would like to share with you today. The fact that Ding Zhengyang, Cheng Xuansu, and the rest of them have started a large-scale rebellion suggests one thing. The Black Wind Fleet is almost ready. Whatever they are up to, they are about to be activated! Given the perilous situation, it is necessary for our covenant with the Xing Yao Federation … to be further improved! "
Tang Dingyuan paused for a moment and looked at Cui Lingfeng next to him.
Cui Lingfeng coughed softly and continued. "Everyone, according to the latest news, the Xing Yao Federation will announce that it will enter the 'highest state of war' after the new election. This is unprecedented in the history of the Federation. Even in the War of the Uranian Ring thirty years ago, they only entered the 'level-one state of war'.
"This time, the candidate that the Federation is going to elect is a 'Speaker of War' who is worthy of the name. Compared to the Speakers in peacetime, the Speaker of War will have more power in all aspects.
"We have sent out the 'Election Observation Delegation' to investigate the election of the latest Speaker of the Federation in the first place, but it was disrupted by the rebellion of the Immortal Cultivators. Right now, our situation is different from that of the Federation and the Imperium. The scale of the Election Observation Delegation should be expanded, too. Or rather, it should not be limited to the 'election observation'. Instead, we should cooperate with the Federation on a deeper level in military, economics, politics, and many other aspects!
"The expeditionary army of the Imperium may appear in front of us at any time, or even in the next second. You must have such an understanding. Also, under such a premise, you must reconsider our relationship with the federation and our common future!
"Therefore, Captain Tang and I have made a decision and communicated with the Federation. The Election Observation Delegation will still be under the name of the Election Observation Delegation, but the scale will be tripled!
"The first stop of the Election Observation Delegation will be the Uranian Ring Sector. One of our senior officers will stay there and discuss the details of establishing a 'joint headquarters' with the leadership of the Union Army in the 'second mother port' of the Burning Prairie Fleet.
"The second stop will be the space jump center of 'Hundred Flowers City', which is located between the Uranian Ring Sector, the Forest Ocean Sector, the Nether World Sector, and the Water Crystal Sector. It is the intersection of the sailing routes of the seven Sectors of the Federation and the most prosperous business city. Our trade delegation will discuss with a senior negotiation team of the trade department of the Federation how the 'starship economy' of Firefly can be fully integrated into the economy of the Federation, including the unification of the currency, the abolition of tariffs, the distribution of internal taxes, and the series of problems that may arise.
"After leaving the senior officers and the trade delegation in the military and trade center of the Federation, the rest of the Election Observation Delegation will go directly to the Tian Yuan Realm, the capital of the Federation. According to the schedule, they will arrive in time for the announcement of the result of the election of the Federation. By then, they will know the latest policies of the Federation in the highest state of war and discuss with the new 'war government' … the integration of the two parties.
"Everybody, with everything coming to this point, let's abandon our illusions. We have been on the run for a thousand years. There is no turning back now. Right here, right now, we will launch our counterattack all the way to the center of the universe, the home of our ancestors!"
…
According to the standard time of the Federation, it was already midnight.
However, on the hundreds of 'child starships' of Firefly, and even in the cabins, there was no uniform sleeping time. The enormous space fortress was still ablaze with lights, as if thousands of fireflies had gathered together and released the feeble light of life to their heart's content.
But in the central cabin, the 'Meditation Platform', which was enshrouded by a crystal dome and allowed one to directly observe the sea of stars, still seemed to be in the middle of the night under the illumination of the brilliant stars in the sky.
Li Yao followed Cui Lingfeng. The two of them paced slowly on the spacious Meditation Platform. Illuminated by the brilliant stars, they were the only two of them.
"In three days, the delegation will set off."
Looking at Cui Lingfeng's back that was soaked in the starlight, Li Yao asked, "Is there anything else you would like to say to me, Mr. Speaker?"
"Nothing. I just want to say 'thank you' to you. Whoever you are exactly, and whatever your purpose is, you have at least brought … new hope to the name of the 'Star Ocean Republic'."
Looking at the sparkling sea of stars beyond the crystal dome, Cui Lingfeng suddenly said, "On the other hand, if you are really a pure native of the Red Lotus Sector who fled to this place for revenge against the Immortal Cultivators and finally found some other Cultivators after all the trouble … I would like to know if you would be very disappointed after you discover the ambitions and schemes of Jin Xinyue, a leader of the Federation, and the dark side such as the 'Rebirth Plan' that the so-called 'rightful government' is not as perfect as you imagine?"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. He thought for a moment and shook his head. "I wouldn't say that I'm disappointed, but it is indeed a pity that we have to be cautious, calculative, and even suspicious before a great enemy. It is indeed a bit …"
"It can't be helped. Perhaps this is human nature. This is something that cannot be completely digested however hard you train yourself."
Cui Lingfeng smiled and said, "Captain Lin, have you ever heard of porcupines in winter?"
Li Yao blinked. "Porcupines in winter?"
"Porcupines are large rodents with long, hard thorns on their bodies that stand up like hedgehogs to defend against ferocious beasts that are even larger than them," Cui Lingfeng said.
"When it is too cold in winter, the porcupines will huddle together for warmth. If they are too far apart from each other, they will not be able to keep each other warm, and the cold wind will still rush among them. But if they are too close to each other, they will be hurt by the thorns on each other's bodies.
"Therefore, the situation is like this. The porcupines push at their companions until they are hurt by the thorns of their companions. Then, they retreat quickly. But soon after they retreat, they will be forced by the cold wind to push at their companions again, craving for the slightest bit of warmth until they are hurt by their companions again.
"We and the Xing Yao Federation are probably two such porcupines. Under the threat of the cold wind, we want to hug each other for warmth, but we will be hurt by the thorns that we are born with. It can't be helped. The 'thorns' are the only weapons that we used to protect ourselves from the mouths of the ferocious beasts. Without the 'thorns', we probably would've been killed before the arrival of winter!
"I believe that even the stupid porcupines will find a suitable distance in the end so that they will not hurt each other and can share our warmth. Otherwise, the species would've gone extinct a long time ago!"
Li Yao could not help but remark, "It is even more so for human beings. I don't believe that the leadership of the Xing Yao Federation is worse than porcupines. "
"You don't understand. Sometimes, it is not the Xing Yao Federation that scares me but … ourselves that scares me."
Cui Lingfeng sighed and said gloomily, "After all, it was not the Imperium of True Human Beings that gave birth to the monster 'Blackstar the Great' but us, the Star Ocean Republic!
"It was the Star Ocean Republic that gave birth to the Immortal Cultivators such as Blackstar the Great. After the monster was created, our ancestors fled in panic. During the thousand years of exile in the sea of stars, we experienced too much darkness and desperation, and we crossed the boundaries of normal human beings countless times.
"Yes. Right now, I can confidently say that 'bad Cultivators' are different from 'Immortal Cultivators'.
"However, after Ding Zhengyang raised the question, I wondered more than once if everything was really decided by the environment and had nothing to do with one's belief.
"I've been lucky enough to not have to make any painful decisions during my tenure as the speaker.
"However, if Firefly and I were even more unlucky, and we encountered a serious disaster where tremendous resources were lost and could only sustain the survival of one tenth of the people on board, would I be bold enough to activate the 'Rebirth Plan' and kill 90% of the people randomly?
"If I did that, would I be a 'bad Cultivator' or an 'Immortal Cultivator'?"
To be continued
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