Chapter 203: Rallying the Fleets

After a flood of technology entered the Federation, it didn’t immediately give them a dramatic power boost—after all, that was mostly tech from Level 1 and 2 civilizations.

But overnight, the Federation’s tech tree became much richer, giving scientists fresh perspectives across countless research fields.

It laid a solid foundation for another wave of technological eruption.

Half a year later—

As the stellar warship transporters were gradually put into action,

A huge number of Seawolf-class warships began streaming into the Alliance Core.

——

Year 247 of the Federation calendar.

Struve.

Countless warships rode the interstellar currents, heading this way.

Wave after wave, seemingly endless.

Just counting the warships, there were 115,000 vessels. On top of that, some three hundred thousand various support and supply ships had arrived, even tens of thousands of immigrant ships tagging along.

Zuo Reis had his fleet arrange a grand welcoming formation at the interstellar current mouth.

After all, among the visiting civilizations, there was even a Level 3 civilization. He couldn’t afford even the slightest misstep.

But there was something they had no clue about.

And that was…

A year ago—

The Federation had quietly sent over quite a few spy devices.

Some disguised as asteroids along the system’s edge, others hidden as debris and left in plain sight right at the current mouth.

So how did they get sent over?

It was simple. Just custom-build a batch of fake asteroids or big chunks of rock, each fitted with a jump engine.

Wouldn’t it be suspicious for them to show up here suddenly?

As long as they didn’t appear right under someone’s nose, it’d be fine.

I mean, whose radar could possibly track every last bit of rubble or asteroid in an entire star system in real time?

Do you even realize how many there are?

A few extra rocks popping up isn’t something anyone would notice.

And every single one of these spy devices was equipped with a self-destruct system. The moment they got discovered, the system would trigger, wiping out all traces.

Afterward, nobody would ever suspect these things had jump engines inside—or have a clue where they came from.

Meanwhile…

Inside the Federation Fleet’s Lunar Headquarters, the Three Leaders watched the livestream of the Five-Civilization Allied Fleet entering Struve, faces grim.

“We can only recognize some of the ships from the Syndicate Collective. There are four other civilizations represented, but none match anything in our database. There’s no way to confirm their identities.”

“However, one of those civilizations’ warships stands out. They have fifty thousand ships, and our General Staff suspects they could be a Level 3 civilization!”

Chief of General Staff Luo Ming spoke up from the side.

That comment sent a jolt through all three of them.

A Level 3 civilization!

Granted, some departments in the Federation had already mastered a few Level 4—maybe even beyond Level 4—technologies.

But when it came to warship weaponry, they were still only on par with Level 3 civilizations.

In other words, going up against a Level 3 civilization in direct combat, the Federation had no real advantage.

If it was a particularly powerful Level 3 civilization, their warship firepower might actually surpass Federation warships.

And as for jump technology…

That did open up tactical—even strategic—opportunities for the Federation.

But let’s be real: the Federation had only just begun mass producing the Zhulong-class B warships, and they hadn’t even hit ten thousand units.

Taking on fifty thousand Level 3 warships with those numbers would be insane.

Even leveraging their jump-drive advantage for surprise attacks would still be dangerous.

“Bottom line, until we figure out a strategy, we need to bolster Ross 248’s defenses. The Ninth Fleet’s 3,600 warships alone just won’t cut it.”

Sure, the Barnard Defense Circle had four fleets, all equipped with general-purpose Seawolf-class B warships, and there were also four fully weaponized and jump-drive-equipped Warstars.

But here’s the problem: those four fleets were scattered across four different star systems. The ones on the very front line—in Ross 248—was just the Ninth Fleet, which meant only 3,600 ships.

Even with the interstellar current mouth’s help, there’s no way they could fend off a full-blown assault.

And here’s the catch: the forces in Barnard, Luyten 726-8, and Ross 154 couldn’t be pulled out at will. In fact, strictly speaking, Barnard’s ships couldn’t be touched either.

If the front line fell, Barnard would be the second line of defense.

Move out all those ships and if Ross 248 was lost, the enemy could stream straight through Barnard and strike at the Solar System.

Same goes for Luyten 726-8 and Ross 154.

Both of those still had an open interstellar current running to the outside—those fleets couldn’t budge either.

Otherwise, if all their defenders rushed to Ross 248 and another enemy fleet circled around and took Luyten 726-8 and Ross 154, they could attack Ross 248 from three sides at once…

So those fleets were stuck too.

Back then, splitting the four fleets across four different star systems hadn’t been a random decision—it was an absolute necessity.

But that just brings up an old problem.

And that is…

Not enough ships!

Over the past few decades, the Federation Fleet had grown more than twentyfold.

They’d thought those days of scrounging for ships back when they fought the Klein were ancient history.

But now…

Well, looks like things are still the same as ever.

Right now, the Three Leaders were downright traumatized by not having enough warships.

They swore that after surviving this crisis, they’d expand the Federation Fleet by another ten times, and do it fast.

“So what now?”

“We call in Lin Yu.”

“But regular warships don’t have jump engines fitted, right? Even if he comes to help, he’s only got the Houyi and those 300 Zhulong-class Bs.”

“You’re forgetting we have stellar warship transporters. Honestly, I kind of regret only building thirty. If we had two or three hundred, we could have sent the entire fleet from Proxima to Ross 248 in no time.”

“Exactly—call up all the stellar warship transporters, halt deliveries to all subordinate civilizations and put everything into moving the Sixth Fleet to Ross 248. Also, tell Lin Yu to head for the Moon right away and receive those 8,000 Seawolf-class Bs, all crewed and ready, for his new strike fleet!”

“Agreed!”

“Alright, let’s do it!”

After some quick discussion, the Three Leaders made the call.

First, all warship deliveries to subordinate civilizations would be paused, and every single stellar warship transporter would be used to move the 7,200 Seawolf-class ships of the Sixth Fleet to Ross 248 within three months.

With more than 10,000 Seawolf-class ships, plus quantum bombs defending the interstellar current mouth, Ross 248’s defenses would be rock solid.

Second, Lin Yu would return to the Solar System with his own command fleet—the 300 Zhulong-class Bs—and receive 8,000 more Zhulong-class Bs, all fully crewed and ready.

Once that was done, Lin Yu would have 8,300 Zhulong-class Bs and the Houyi, forming a rapid-response fleet.

Whether for defending Ross 248 or launching tactical raids with their jump-drive edge, they’d be more than ready.

Third, the First Fleet would be dispatched to Barnard immediately as the main reserve—just in case.