Chapter 167: Tension at the Round Table
by xennovel“Alright, let’s get down to business!”
Lin Yu knocked on the table before speaking.
The conference room instantly fell silent.
“Just today, we received the latest news from the Xitoris Kingdom.”
“The other border clans have already lost nearly half their forces. Before Tuoba arrives, those families will most likely be wiped out by the King’s Army Royal Guard.”
“If there’s no outside intervention, it’s almost certain he’ll lose this civil war in the end.”
Lin Yu finished his statement.
Quite a few people started whispering among themselves.
After all, they all understood—if Tuoba failed, then decades of the Federation’s planning would be for nothing.
From then on, unless the Federation was willing to come out in the open and wage war with the entire Wasteland Alliance,
they’d end up with nothing for their efforts.
That just wouldn’t do…
“Commander, why don’t we keep pretending to be members of the Tuoba Clan, sneak into the heart of the Kingdom, and help him take down the Royal Guard?”
“No, that’s not going to work. The timing’s off. It would take at least four and a half years just to reach the inner circle of the Xitoris Kingdom from Skywarehouse V. By then, everything will be over.”
Lin Yu immediately shook his head, rejecting the plan.
“Then what if we have Tuoba retreat until he meets up with us first?”
“Still not feasible. Retreating’s easy, but fighting our way back into the inner circle would be next to impossible. The Royal Guard has over ten thousand warships defending there. Even if we tried a direct assault, we’d fail. After all, we’ve got less than a thousand warships.”
Lin Yu shook his head again.
The enemy wasn’t stupid. Once they wiped out the border clans and forced Tuoba to retreat,
all they’d have to do is fortify a strategic chokepoint and hold off any attackers. As long as the inner circle was secure, they’d have time to recover their strength.
Clearly, that was the safest move.
Plus, with the lesson from the Ziyang Empire still fresh, Sadik would definitely choose a single-access chokepoint for defense. He wasn’t about to leave himself open to another sneak attack.
Twelve and a half thousand warships and absolute advantage at the current make-or-break route.
Even if the entire Sixth Fleet charged in, they’d probably just get wiped out.
With Lin Yu shooting down plan after plan,
the entire conference room fell dead silent.
Nothing works, does it…
On top of staying hidden, there’s that four-and-a-half-year travel limit.
There really didn’t seem to be any options left.
“Lin Yu, what’s Lunar Headquarters saying?”
Even though this was her first high-level fleet meeting, Serena quickly slipped into her role.
She didn’t call him Commander, just used his name like she always had.
Lin Yu didn’t mind; plenty of people in the Sixth Fleet just used his name.
George, for example. Or Andrei.
At most, they’d use ‘Commander’ on the bridge. Otherwise, it was always just the name.
“Commander Mu only said one thing. The Federation…”
“Needs to accelerate!”
What did that mean?
The folks from the Sixth Fleet all looked confused.
Serena, though, caught on faster.
“Does this have something to do with the Syndicate Collective?”
“Exactly. Originally, we could spend decades or hundreds of years plotting in the Desolate Star Region, and it’d be fine. But now…”
“I knew it…”
Lin Yu didn’t finish, but Serena clearly understood she’d guessed right.
“Commander, can you and the chief of staff stop speaking in riddles?”
“Yeah, nobody can follow what you’re talking about!”
Someone in the conference room immediately protested.
To be fair, hardly anyone could make sense of their conversation.
But you couldn’t really blame them, because…
There were some things they didn’t know, while Serena did—
because she was directly involved.
“Alright, I’ll break it down for you.”
“A few years ago, a Level-2 civilization’s fleet broke into the outermost edge of the Barnard’s Star defensive perimeter, entering Ross 248.”
“What?!”
Everyone’s eyes went wide in shock.
So the Barnard’s Star defenses had made contact with another civilization too?
Still, what did that have to do with Lin Yu and Serena’s cryptic conversation just now?
“Are you all dense or something?”
“The reason we were never worried about outside civilizations attacking before is because nobody in the Orion Arm knew the Desolate Star Region even had the Federation or other Level-2 civilizations in it.”
“Also, sure the place was a bit poor, but it wasn’t nearly as barren as they used to think.”
“But now they know!”
“So if you were from the Syndicate Collective, what would you do?”
Lin Yu tossed out a question that left everyone deep in thought.
It took a while before someone finally spoke up.
“I’ve read the Orion Arm’s intel reports. In the prosperous zone, every civilization pays taxes to the Drac Empire. Sure, you survive, but you never thrive. This lets the Drac Empire grab resources and keep everyone under control so no one ever becomes a threat.”
“So if I were Syndicate Collective’s leader, and found out the Desolate Star Region wasn’t all that barren after all, packed with habitable planets…”
“I’d absolutely team up with some other civilizations, secretly gather a fleet, and strike the Desolate Star Region.”
“Once we took control, we’d use its resources to power up fast. The original home sectors could just keep up the appearance, keep paying taxes, and fool the Drac Empire.”
The one speaking was Brigadier General Lin Jingyun, commander of the First Sub-Fleet.
Lin Yu nodded in agreement.
“Right. Of course, that’s the best-case scenario. The worst would be—what if they go and rat us out to the Drac Empire?”
“It’s not likely, but it’s not impossible either.”
“The only silver lining is that the Syndicate Collective’s really far away. Even with the interstellar currents, it’d take nearly a hundred years to get here.”
“Either way, the Federation can’t afford to waste any more time. That’s what the Supreme Commander meant when he said we need to accelerate!”
With that explanation, everyone realized how serious the situation had become.
“Lin Yu, so what’s your plan?”
“Me? I intend to move fast. I’ll take a detachment of Tuoba’s mech unit, sneak right to the Xitoris Kingdom’s capital planet, and capture King Sadik himself.”
“Seriously, Commander? How is that even possible?”
Lin Yu barely got the words out before someone fired back.
From Skywarehouse V to the capital system of the Xitoris Kingdom, even with no obstacles, it’d still take over six years to arrive…
“Did you all forget how the Houyi got here in the first place?”
That question left everyone staring blankly.
Then faces started lighting up with realization.
How could they have forgotten? The Houyi’s equipped with a hyperspace engine now—running over to the Xitoris Kingdom capital planet…
That’s going to be as easy as pie!