The Speaker of the Federation and the director of the analysis division were both dazed for a moment. They looked at the source of the voice, only to see the blushing face of the director of the office of confidential communications. His every pore seemed to be spurting fire.
It was not until this moment that the two of them realized the meaning of 'reinforcements'. They could not help but feel that their faces were burning, too.
"Reinforcements? Which reinforcements? Has the space gate been repaired in advance? "
Speaker Wan Guqing asked excitedly.
"Not yet, but we've just repaired a super-long-range space communication base station. We've been in touch with Hundred Flowers City intermittently!"
The director of the office of confidential communications said quickly, "Hundred Flowers City has been sending messages to us, but the Spiritual Nexus there is seriously damaged, too. The messages after dozens of lightyears are all fragmented. We've only repaired part of it after a long time, but it seems that a batch of reinforcements has jumped over."
While talking, he raised his wrist and looked at the mini crystal processor. "The communication specialists are repairing the messages. We should know the exact identity of the reinforcements very soon."
"The space gate hasn't been repaired yet, and the reinforcements have already jumped over?"
Speaker Wan Guqing's previous delight was replaced by fury. "Then, how can they control the coordinates of the landing precisely? The entire fleet is scattered everywhere in the Tian Yuan Realm. It is a tray of loose sand. What's the point of that? That's pure nonsense! "
Even a regular galaxy was more than ten billion kilometers in diameter. The area where the human civilization was most active, where the resources were densest, was perhaps only one percent of the central space zone.
Even if the coordinates of the Tian Yuan Realm were grasped, without the guidance of the space gate, there was a 99% chance that the starships would be randomly distributed at a certain point in the vast space ten billion kilometers in diameter. Even at full speed, it would take them several days and nights to reach the central area.
That was not the time to gather the disorganized starships yet.
It must be noted that neither the federation nor the Imperium could deploy powerful 'spiritual towers' at every corner of a galaxy that was ten billion kilometers in diameter. It meant that there was probably no Spiritual Nexus in the cold, dark outer space, and all the communication methods would be heavily interfered with by the cosmic storms, too!
How could even the most excellent fleet commander summon the starships that were scattered like dandelions in the ten billion square kilometers around once they jumped their flagship into such a dark swamp?
By comprehensive estimation, it would take at least ten days to half a month for such a "plate of loose sand" to gather into a fist that could hit someone.
The Black Wind Fleet would not give them half a month.
In one day, it would definitely be able to swallow the main force of the Burning Prairie Fleet, control the outer space of the Tian Yuan Realm, and deploy a lot of claw fleets to patrol nearby. Should they encounter a lone starship of the Federation, they would lunge at it like a pack of hungry wolves, leaving nothing for the Federation.
"Idiot!"
Speaker Wan Guqing said bitterly, "Who is the commander of the reinforcements? How idiotic!"
The Xing Yao Federation had seven Sectors after all. Even if the Tian Yuan Realm did fall, it was not the end of the world yet. They still had to consider the defense of the remaining six Sectors.
The Uranian Ring Sector and the Flying Star Sector both boasted abundant magical equipment industries. The Water Crystal Sector and the Forest Ocean Sector boasted abundant resources, too. The Blood Demon Sector was a natural battlefield for guerilla warfare, too. With those Sectors, the Federation could still persist for a long time.
The garrison fleets stationed in those Sectors were the last surviving forces of the Federation. How could they come to their doom in such a foolhardy way?
The Defense Counsel of the Federation did not issue such an absurd order at all!
The director of the Office of Confidential Information was sweating hard in anxiety, too. He blushed and said, "The information we received was fragmented and messy. It was difficult to restore it, too. We don't know who the commander of the enemy is yet …"
His face suddenly turned weird, and he came to an abrupt halt.
Wan Guqing and the director of the analysis division looked at each other and asked in a hurry, "What's wrong? Have you confirmed the identity of the reinforcements?"
"Yes — yes."
The director of the Office of Confidential Information stammered, "It seems that … we don't have to worry about the assembly anymore. To ensure the accuracy of the jump, they have only sent one starship over. It is neither the main troop of the Burning Prairie Fleet nor the two Class A heavy-armored fleets stationed in the Flying Star Sector or the Uranian Ring Sector. It is a member of the Hundred Flowers Fleet, a carrier named 'Anglerfish'. The identification code is that of the Hundred Flowers Space Zone. They hope that we can record the code into the 'identification database' and find a way to connect 'Anglerfish' to the military's Spiritual Nexus.
The entire highest command center was caught in dead silence, like a coffin made of ice.
Speaker Wan Guqing, who had been like an old camel that was so silent that it was somewhat sluggish, suddenly burst into fury like a lion. His eyes bulged, and his lips shivered for a long time before he repeated, one word after another, "What — What did you say? The reinforcements of the Hundred Flowers Space Zone are just a carrier named 'Anglerfish'?"
The director of the Office of Confidential Information found it hard to believe his eyes, either. He read the light beam multiple times and crushed every word. Then, he bellowed at his subordinates in the communication channel. Finally, he nodded helplessly and said, "Yes. It is a carrier named 'Anglerfish'. Also, the Hundred Flowers Space Zone has asked us to hold on at all costs, even if we can hold on for a few more minutes. If we can, victory will be ours. 'Anglerfish' is about to arrive!"
"…" Speaker Wan Guqing.
"…" The director of the analysis division.
"…" All the other big shots in the highest command center.
"You — you've got to be kidding me! Has our Spiritual Nexus been hijacked by the enemy again? Is this another scheme of the enemy? "
"I — I don't know."
The director of the Office of Confidential Information felt that he had been mired in the most absurd nightmare, too. He was so anxious that his back was soaked in sweat. Right then, his mini crystal processor buzzed crazily again. He lowered his head, only to put on an even more bitter expression.
"What's wrong? Bad news again?"
Speaker Wan Guqing narrowed his eyes and gnashed his teeth in fury.
"It's not bad news …"
The director of the Office of Confidential Information swallowed hard and smiled bitterly. "It's a message that I don't know how to explain. We just repaired part of the signal that the enemy sent over, but — but it seems to be some of the conditions proposed by the reinforcements."
"What?"
Everybody in the highest command center was dumbfounded. "What are the conditions of the carrier named 'Anglerfish'?"
"Well."
The director of the Office of Confidential Information glanced at Speaker Wan Guqing and Guo Chunfeng. After receiving their permission, he read the broken message. "Some of the reinforcements requested that … after — after the battle, they would like to find the best Yuanying in the Federation and have a good fight with them. They hope that the Yuanying will not refuse the request."
"Huh?" Wan Guqing.
"Also, some of the reinforcements requested that the confidential files of all the major cases of the New Federation in the past hundred years be decrypted to him. All in all, the files that touch the core issues of the law. The darker and more clandestine, the better. He wants to study the 'rules' of the Federation carefully."
"What's the meaning of that?" Guo Chunfeng asked.
"There's another request. Right. Some of the reinforcements asked that all the trades in the Federation have their own associations, such as the Association of Refiners, the Association of Disabled Veterans, the Association of Exos, the Association of Cultivators, and so on. But does the 'beggar' have an association? If not, is it possible to establish an association of all the beggars in the Federation and call it 'Beggar Gang' or something? He wants to be the president of the association. "
Despite their experience and knowledge, Wan Guqing, Guo Chunfeng, and the rest of them still could not hold it back anymore. "Enough. Are you sure that this is really a secret communication signal from the Hundred Flowers Space Zone? Even if it is a scheme of the enemy, this is too outrageous!"
The director of the Confidential Communications Office was soaked in cold sweat. He couldn't stop himself no matter how hard he tried. Even the hologram projected from the mini crystal processor was shaking. "I — I feel that something is wrong, too. Wait a minute. New information has been recovered …"
He was dazed again.
His eyes were glittering, his throat was hissing, and his nostrils were expanding and shrinking. The air that he spurted out formed two tiny tornadoes in front of him.
"The identity of the enemy's commander on 'Mermaid' has been confirmed."
The director of the Office of Confidential Information took more than ten deep breaths in a row. His lungs were almost exploding, but he could not hold back the excitement and trembling in his voice.
Wan Guqing and Guo Chunfeng looked at each other and saw the intense confusion in each other's eyes, as well as the billionth hope that was tightly enshrouded in confusion. They asked at the same time, "Who is it?"
"Li Yao."
"Li Yao? Which Li Yao? "
"That Li Yao. The only one in the entire Federation … that Li Yao!"
…
In the bleeding galaxy on the space battlefield …
At this point in the space battle, most of the soldiers of the Union Army had shot out their last bullet, shattered their last saber, and shed their last drop of blood.
The space shuttles were rolling and hovering like fish whose fins had been cut off. Every glittering rune array on the surface of the Crystal Suit was extinguished, and it was impossible for them to charge forward and die together with the enemy. The starships were reduced to skeletons that were riddled with holes at first, before the skeletons were reduced to debris in the next moment. Even the debris was completely obliterated in a series of intense explosions.
Burning Prairie had planned to crash into Black Swirl's wound directly, but the collision between two starships that were moving at a super high speed was not as simple as a game or a movie. Before it reached the target's sailing route, it had already been attracted by the force fields of a few comprehensive motherships of the Imperium. Also, because of the chaotic battle of the Colossi inside the starship, which had turned the units and cabins of paramount importance into furnaces with a temperature of thousands of degrees, Burning Prairie finally came to a halt very close to Black Swirl like an arrow at the end of its flight.
They failed to penetrate the defense of the Black Wind Fleet in the end. The distance between Burning Prairie and Black Swirl was as thin as a hair, but it was as unreachable as billions of lightyears!
Behind Black Swirl, an enormous space gate was slowly opened. It looked both like a bloody eye of a devil and a dazzling super swirl.
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