At the same time, in the boundless sea of stars in the Tian Yuan Realm, the No. 9 'space gate' of the Federation, made of 425 star beacons, was following the trajectory of the sun and slowly adjusting the angle of every solar sail so that it could absorb more sunlight and save as much spiritual energy as possible.
Observed from the front, it truly looked like ten thousand flames that were glittering in the sea of stars and dancing crazily at the sun in the most glamorous colors.
The ripples of spiritual energy that were invisible to the naked eye also penetrated through the four-dimensional space and were received by the magical equipment on the other six Sectors, the resource planets, the space towns, and the large starships such as' surveyors' and 'celestial seismographs', which became the universal beacon that guided them forward.
It was the largest space gate in the entire Federation. It was enough to guide an entire fleet to travel through the four-dimensional space and arrive at the sky of the Tian Yuan Realm instantly.
There were three space gates of the same level in the Tian Yuan Realm in total. Together, they supported the abundant, prosperous sailing routes between the capital Sector and the other six Sectors.
Every 'space gate' was a gold-swallowing beast. Solar energy alone could not meet one tenth of their daily consumption. Countless high-purity crystals were shipped to the place every day and turned into flames of spiritual energy that could illuminate the four-dimensional space.
Therefore, when the carrier that was fully loaded with high-purity crystals slowly approached the No. 9 space gate, none of the soldiers in the two star fortresses that guarded the space gate felt that something was wrong.
Although they knew that the shadow of war had long arrived, the Tian Yuan Realm, as the capital of the Federation, had the densest fixed defense arrays and seemed to be the toughest bone to chew. The Flying Star Sector or the Uranian Ring Sector should be the primary target of the Black Wind Fleet. Such an understanding had long corrupted a lot of people's wariness.
Besides, the carrier came every ten days. Many soldiers could still recognize the mottled rust and the scratches of meteoroids on the carrier!
It was not until the carrier did not stop slowly for inspection as usual but accelerated abruptly, and a super powerful spiritual shield that was as crimson as blood that was much taller than many main-force warships that did not belong to a carrier but was much taller than many main-force warships were triggered on the shell of the starship, that somebody finally shrieked for the first time!
The last phase of the Dim Moon Plan had officially begun.
At this moment, there was one hour, fifty-nine minutes, and forty-four seconds left before the Black Wind Fleet arrived above the Tian Yuan Realm.
…
On the Tian Yuan Realm, in the eastern suburb of the capital city …
The 'Federation Hyperspace Navigation Command Center', which was responsible for remotely commanding the three space gates from the ground and dispatching the routes between various places and the capital, was located among the mountains in the eastern suburbs. Four bowl-shaped transmitters on the ground that were hundreds of meters in diameter were transmitting tremendous signals and commands to space incessantly.
A total of seven teams gathered from all directions and marched toward the Federation Hyperspace Navigation Command Center quietly.
Jin Xinyue was sitting in the backseat of one of the heavily-armored battle shuttles. She rubbed the staff of the Coalition Army of Demons in her hand in silence.
Since the start of the Dim Moon Plan, she had always been full of confidence. Victory was within her grasp, and she was even a little unfathomable.
However, at this moment, when the Dim Moon Plan had really reached the final step and was about to be revealed, she felt somewhat uneasy.
"Master …"
Her disciple Xue 'er, who was sitting next to her, sensed her master's anomaly and called her softly.
"In any case, there is no turning back now."
Jin Xinyue took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her exhaustion was obvious. She seemed to be both explaining to her disciple and comforting herself. "We are taking risks. The Black Wind Fleet is taking risks, too. Both of us want to end the war in one battle and do not want it to be a protracted one in which neither of us wins. Therefore, we are dancing on the tip of the saber.
"We had no choice but to choose such a radical tactic. Otherwise, even if we defeated the Black Wind Fleet in a regular battle, it would not have been so easy to annihilate them. If the war dragged on for a couple of years, the federation would've been reduced to a wasteland. A new expedition army of the Imperium would've certainly arrived and harvested us more than easily!
"Therefore, no matter how dangerous, painful, and bloody this dance on the tip of the saber is, we have to jump into it!
"I only hope that our play is realistic enough to make the Black Wind Fleet believe that the Tian Yuan Realm is in chaos and tempt them to jump into our ambush!"
Xue 'er grabbed Jin Xinyue's hand and said softly, "God bless us. God bless the Federation!"
Jin Xinyue was not a person who believed in ghosts or gods.
She was even a god who would dare to slaughter gods and Buddhas if they stood in her way to power.
However, at this moment, looking at the spiritual towers and launch towers that soared into the sky on the top of the mountain not far away, she mumbled to herself, "God bless us. God bless … the Federation!"
At this moment, there was one hour, fifty-eight minutes, and fifty-nine seconds to go before the Black Wind Fleet arrived in the sky of the Tian Yuan Realm.
…
In the Tian Yuan Realm, at the edge of a space zone that was extremely far away from the sun, in the dark, cold space, a fleet that was painted in pure white, which was quite eye-catching, struggled out of a stone belt and swaggered toward the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
It was the sixteenth Deep Sky Fleet of the Union Army, commonly known as the 'Great White Fleet', which had just finished a 'deep-space cruise drill' that had lasted half a year and should be exhausted and exhausted 'theoretically'.
They had returned to the space zone around the capital city for rest and resupply, as well as to strengthen the defense of the capital city.
On the bridge of 'Infinite Fire', the flagship of the Great White Fleet, Bai Xingjian, the highest commander of the fleet, was lying on the command chair comfortably with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed. Through the hundreds of light beams that were floating in midair, he was reading the general reports of the drill subjects in the past half a year, as if he were quite at ease.
His deputy, 'Xiao Lishui', the Chief of the General Staff of the Great White Fleet, was staring at him with furrowed eyebrows. Now and then, he coughed violently. Every time he coughed, it would last for at least half a minute, until his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys were all coughed out.
Speaking of which, this' Xiao Lishui 'was one of the most influential people in the past, too.
He was more than two hundred and sixty years old. Even for Cultivators, he was already at the age when his legs would kick at any moment.
The guy used to be a space pirate on Spider Den in the Flying Star Sector. He had been quite famous on Spider Den two hundred years ago. He was in the same era as Bai Xinghe, the Pirate Potentate, and he had started his career even earlier than Bai Xinghe did. His brutality and cunningness were no less than Bai Xinghe's.
The guy was famous because he had a very bad habit. He never bothered to loot common carriers. Instead, he was fond of hunting his peers who had just fought a bloody battle against the escorts of armed business groups and almost ran out of supplies. It was not difficult for him to loot a huge fortune.
Before the incident was exposed, he had been one of the most powerful men on Spider Den. After the incident was exposed, many space pirates discovered, in bewilderment, that more than fifty pirate gangs had been killed by Xiao Lishui in the past few decades. The space pirates that were slain by him were even more than those slain by the six sects of Heavenly Saints City!
Although it was not unusual for space pirates to eat each other, it was too vile for him to keep an eye on the space pirates and not leave any of them alive!
Xiao Lishui's despicable behavior infuriated everybody. Even so, he was still hunted by dozens of pirate gangs for almost five years before he was captured. Then, he was locked in the dungeon below the ground of Spider Den and tortured. On one hand, the space pirates thought that he deserved to die and that such a death would be too easy for him. On the other hand, it was said that he had swallowed countless pirate gangs in the past few decades and accumulated an astronomical fortune. Who would be willing to let him die if he did not return the windfall?
Just like that, Xiao Lishui was locked in the dungeon of Spider Den for thirty years. He was watched and interrogated by the few strongest pirate gangs together. It was so long that he was almost forgotten by everybody. When Spider Den was liberated by the Cultivators, he was still soaking in the stinky water of the dungeon!
How to deal with Xiao Lishui became a tricky problem.
He was indeed a space pirate, and he was one of the most ferocious and cunning space pirates. He could not be set free to harm society.
But after investigation, all they found was that he was a dog-eat-dog. The victims were all other space pirates. There was no evidence that he had robbed regular carriers at all.
Also, at that time, he had been soaking in the dungeon for more than thirty years. His bones were almost rotten. He was only a hundred and fifty years old, which was the prime years of a Cultivator. But his hair was white, his face was full of wrinkles, and his body was full of wounds. He looked like he was around five hundred years old.
According to the doctor's judgment, even if he was not executed like the other heinous space pirates, he could only live for a couple of years at most.
Therefore, Xiao Lishui's final sentence was fifty years of imprisonment!
Nobody could've foreseen that the 'old guy', who had been coughing for half a day and would cough three bowls of blood every day since a hundred years ago, had struggled through his fifty-year prison sentence. He had even been picked up by Bai Xingjian from a corner of a slum and worked as the advisor of his starship at first. Then, he became the advisor of the Big Bai Fleet after making great contributions in the war against the Uranian Ring Sector. Weirdly, his career had been rejuvenated!
"Old Bai."
Xiao Lishui covered his mouth and coughed for a long time. Then, he slowly put the handkerchief that was full of black blood back into his Cosmos Ring.
The brutality of the 'dog-eat-dog' in the past could not be seen at all from his gentle, if not sluggish voice. "We are about to return to the mother port. The truth cannot be concealed forever. How are you going to explain it?
"Although the Great White Fleet is an independent troop, and all the drill subjects were drafted by us, all the tactics that you have practiced in the past half year are completely different from the drill subjects that were reported to the General Staff in advance. You have to give an explanation, don't you?
"I don't understand why you changed the drill subject on such a large scale. What's the meaning of the 'battle without a network in the environment of intense interferences' that you've been practicing for half a year? Is the interference technology of the Imperium of True Human Beings so powerful that it can cut off all the connections between us and the outside world instantly?
"If that is the case, why didn't you report the drill subjects openly instead of secretly doing something else?"
Bai Xingjian's legs that were shaking suddenly came to a stop. A moment later, they were shaking again. "Don't be hasty, Old Bai. You will know the answer very soon."
"Know what?" Xiao Lishui asked.
"Know."
Bai Xingjian narrowed his eyes, both confused and excited. He mumbled, "Have I been tricked by the old fart?"
At this moment, there was one hour, fifty-seven minutes, and thirty-six seconds to go before the Black Wind Fleet arrived in the sky of the Tian Yuan Realm.
—
Excuse me, everyone.
Tomorrow is the winter solstice. It is a traditional day for us to visit the graves here. There are a lot of seniors in the family who have been visiting the graves.
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