Chapter 162: Lines in the Stars

“How soon will everything arrive?”

“And how long will the refit take?”

After a moment’s thought, Lin Yu finally asked.

“The engine will reach Proxima in nine months. As for Houyi’s retrofit, that’ll take about three months.”

“Twelve months, huh? That’s fine. I’ll start the journey home right away!”

——

Since ancient times, two factors have defined the size of an empire’s territory.

One is transportation, the other is communication.

If even one is lacking, the empire’s hold becomes unstable—it’s only a matter of time.

That’s exactly why, no matter how advanced a second- or third-tier civilization gets, their territory usually maxes out at forty or fifty light-years across.

That’s simply the limit they can manage.

And the main hurdle is transportation.

Without the jump technology of a Level Four civilization, just crossing 50 light-years could take seven or eight years at best, and up to a decade or more at worst.

It all depends on how far the next current pass is when you arrive in each star system.

Every star system has its own circumstances.

It’s a problem that every sub-Fourth Level civilization faces and can’t solve.

Lin Yu had struggled with this very issue at first.

Tuoba was simply too far. If something happened on his end, even if Lin Yu wanted to help, it would be impossible.

But once you have a hyperspace engine…

Everything changes.

So…

After assigning defense of Skywarehouse V and leaving George in charge of follow-up,

Lin Yu gave the order for Houyi to start the return trip.

First to Tianyuan IV, then Alpha Centauri, and finally Proxima.

They’d have to cross three currents in total. Including travel between them, it’d be about nine months before arrival at Proxima.

That timing was just about right.

As for the Okka campaign, Lin Yu was never worried.

If 6,300 Seawolf-class ships couldn’t take on Totran’s 8,200 warships, Tuoba might as well give up now.

By Lin Yu’s count, Tuoba should be safe for at least three and a half years.

He still had plenty of time on his side.

Of course, after the battle at Okka, Tuoba was bound to come to him for help.

Sure, he could beat Totran, but he’d lose at least 3,000 ships in the process.

The ships left…

There was no way they could stand against Sadik’s 12,500 fleet.

So, in the end, he’d have to come to Lin Yu.

——

Three days passed.

Just as Lin Yu predicted,

Tuoba…

Called in.

After the Battle of Okka, Tuoba may have wiped out all 8,200 of the enemy, but he’d also lost 3,700 ships himself.

So of the original 6,300 Seawolf-class warships, he was down to just 2,600.

And many of those were damaged.

Everything unfolded exactly as Lin Yu had guessed.

With so little firepower left, he wouldn’t be able to secure the core region of the kingdom, and even holding what he’d won was doubtful.

Regretting not taking Lin Yu’s advice, Tuoba had no choice but to reach out again.

But Lin Yu’s answer was simple—

He refused the communication outright.

Yep, Tuoba couldn’t reach Lin Yu at all. To him, it was obvious why—he hadn’t listened, now Lin Yu was upset.

With no other choice, Tuoba turned to Bilodis, the elven consul stationed on Tianyuan IV.

But Bilodis told him the Federation was quite displeased and had cut off contact for a while. He’d have to look after himself.

That’s when Tuoba started to panic.

Without Federation support, how was he supposed to keep fighting?

With so few ships left, there was no way to defeat Sadik.

Why hadn’t he listened to Lin Yu’s advice? Why did he insist on going his own way?

Hadn’t that just been a slap in the Federation’s face?

Frustrated, Tuoba smacked himself hard across the face.

Now, his only move was to keep asking Bilodis for news.

He had to see when the Federation’s anger cooled off. If that ever happened, maybe he could offer up some territory and win them back.

——

Meanwhile,

On the capital planet of Xitoris Kingdom—

Sadik’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

He just couldn’t imagine that, only a short time after the Ziyang Empire’s defeat, Tuoba had managed to utterly destroy the Totran Kingdom’s fleet at Okka as well.

How on earth was that possible?

Add up both fronts and the enemy fleet numbers…

That was pretty much four full legions’ worth!

Sadik didn’t know the Ziyang side’s exact situation, but he had plenty of eyes and ears on the Okka front.

Tuoba took heavy losses, sure, but he really did annihilate over 8,000 Totran warships. How did he do it?

“Your Majesty, actually you don’t need to worry. Our reports say Tuoba only has just over 2,000 ships left and more than half are damaged.”

“What about Skywarehouse V? There’s another force there—they wiped out two of Ziyang’s legions too!”

“About that… Your Majesty, the Ziyang Empire keeps a tight grip on Skywarehouse V. We have no informants in that sector…”

“Useless. The lot of you are useless!”

Sadik exploded, shouting as his ministers dropped to their knees.

“Get me a connection to the Ziyang Empire. I want to speak to Parlo directly!”

“At once, Your Majesty!”

A minister wiped the sweat from his brow and hurried off to set it up.

A moment later, the call was connected.

After all, with the leaders of two civilizations, there was seldom a refusal for such conversations.

“Sadik, I already know what you’re calling about, so let me tell you now—Tuoba’s main force isn’t at Okka. It’s here with me!”

“That’s right. It’s the fleet that captured my Skywarehouse V—they’re the real main force!”

Sadik hadn’t even started talking when Parlo launched straight in.

Sadik was left speechless.

What? The fleet that wrecked Totran’s legions at Okka wasn’t Tuoba’s main force?

It was the one at Skywarehouse V?

Was this a joke?

“Parlo, you’re not making this up, are you?”

“Making it up? How do you think I lost two legions?”

“But that doesn’t mean that’s Tuoba’s main force. He demolished two Totran legions at Okka too.”

Sadik still didn’t want to believe Parlo’s version.

Because if it were true, what chance did he have?

“Then let me ask you, how much did it cost him to beat Totran’s two legions?”

“About 3,700 ships lost, and over a thousand ships crippled?”

“So what if I told you, when they destroyed my two legions at Tianyuan IV, they didn’t lose a single ship? And at Skywarehouse V, they wiped out another 3,300 of mine, again with zero losses?”

That…

Sadik was absolutely stunned.

Because in his mind, such a thing was simply impossible.

Zero losses, but wiped out over 10,000 Ziyang warships?

“Impossible! That’s absolutely impossible!!”