Chapter 223: Winds of Conflict: The Federation Prepares for War

“Every Level 4 civilization is watching this. Don’t get too greedy!”

“Let’s stop pushing them to hand over all their wealth. For the profits from the tea trade, leave them with this much…”

As Daan spoke, he raised a single finger.

“Your Majesty, understood. We’ll let them keep ten percent!”

“Idiot, I meant one percent, not ten!”

“Uh…”

Nick had just been wondering why his emperor seemed so generous.

But as it turned out—

It was one percent all along.

Still, given the massive profits from the tea trade—even if the other side was only a Level 2 or 3 civilization—one percent was already astronomical.

Thinking about it that way, His Majesty was actually showing mercy.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Good. Off you go. I’ll be waiting for your good news back in the Imperial Capital!”

——

The journey from the Dustlight Star Region to the Desolate Star Region spans about 4,800 light years.

That’s an immense distance, almost unfathomably vast.

Still, for a Level 4 civilization, it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

After all, they have jump technology.

Sure, the maximum distance per jump tops out at 18 light years, and after each jump, there’s a mandatory 24-hour period to purge residual radiation from the jump engines.

But it’s worth noting—those 24 hours are based on human standards, not those of other Level 4 civilizations.

That’s because alongside the jump engine is an auxiliary device specifically for purging leftover radiation inside the engine.

Right now, the Federation has barely solved the question of whether this technology exists, but they’re nowhere near calling it advanced.

Most Level 4 civilizations in the galaxy have spent millennia perfecting this tech. It usually takes them less than an hour to complete a purge. The leading authority, the Lola Consortium, can get it done in just 15 minutes.

So in the end, getting from Dustlight to the Desolate Star Region takes the Empire’s fleet just a little over ten days.

Even after factoring in fleet assembly and all the prep work before departure,

the fleet is sure to arrive in the Desolate Star Region within a month.

——

Federation Fleet, Lunar Headquarters.

Every zone commander, every chief of staff, every fleet commander—anyone in charge of frontline fleet command—had all joined this meeting via remote link.

Any role touching frontline combat at the fleet level or above, they were all present here.

They’d gathered for a reason…

According to the Fanguang Alliance merchants, each time they passed through the wormhole into or out of the Orion Arm, they were monitored by the Drac Empire.

While the empire couldn’t track their jumps, with enough data and careful observation, they could still narrow down a likely area to pinpoint the Federation’s location.

Over the years, these merchants had made a fortune and obviously didn’t want the Federation to be discovered by the Empire.

After all, if the Empire and Federation went to war—or if the Federation fell—the Empire would monopolize the tea and porcelain trade.

If that happened, the merchants would be left out in the cold.

In their eyes, the Federation might also be Level 4 but, stranded out in the Desolate Star Region, their war potential paled compared to the Empire.

It’s the same as how the Empire can’t compare to the big Level 4 civilizations on the main spiral arms—huge differences in war potential.

Their logic wasn’t wrong.

That’s why these Fanguang merchants kept reminding the Federation and shared any new intel as soon as they got it.

Just a day earlier,

they delivered a new report: the Empire’s fleet was gathering with a target set on the Desolate Star Region.

This meant the Empire had managed to narrow down the Federation’s general location and was taking action.

All this led Mu Xingchen to convene this emergency operations meeting.

Meanwhile, the Federation put out a message to all Fanguang Alliance merchants,

From now on, only Federation transport fleets would deliver cargo to transfer points where the merchants could pick it up.

Until further notice, non-Federation vessels were strictly forbidden from entering the Barnard Defense Circle.

Anyone who disobeyed would face the consequences.

At this point, Phase One of the Federation’s anti-jump interference network was fully operational.

The entire Barnard Defense Circle was covered.

Now, if any of those merchants tried to jump in, what would happen…

They only had to look at Lin Yun’s infamous experiment years ago for reference.

“Everyone’s seen the report by now. As it says, a fleet from the Drac Empire is gathering—with us as their target.”

“As for their ETA, it could be as soon as ten days, or at most a month before they’re here.”

“So from yesterday, the jump interference network has been fully active. But you know as well as I do, our current system only covers a ten-light-year radius from the Solar System, so we can’t protect all of Federation territory.”

“The Barrens War Zone, especially anything outside Tianyuan IV, is still completely unprotected.”

“With that in mind, the Federation has decided to evacuate all citizens outside Tianyuan IV back within the interference zone until the war is over!”

“Lin Yu, what’s the status on this?”

After explaining the situation, Mu Xingchen turned to Lin Yu.

The order had already gone out yesterday.

From the star chart, it’s clear the Drac Empire’s fleet would probably come by way of Barnard. Coming from the Barrens War Zone would mean swinging way around the far end of the Desolate Star Region, then traveling hundreds of light years just to enter Federation-controlled space.

The odds of that were slim.

But it wasn’t impossible.

If that happened, the 20 billion people settled past Tianyuan IV would be in real danger.

So they needed to be evacuated and temporarily relocated.

At least until the war was over.

“We’ve already begun forced evacuations. Industries that require constant care are being temporarily handed off to subordinate civilizations through posted assignments.”

“Everyone will be evacuated in groups to Tianyuan IV, Wolf, Proxima, Alpha Centauri and Lalande. Thanks to our complete ‘migration by jump’ system and enough ships, we expect to finish in 11 days.”

Mu Xingchen nodded at that.

The timing checked out.

With the evacuation underway, the next issue on the agenda was today’s main topic.

How should the Federation respond to an invasion by 50,000 Level 4 warships?

It was time to decide on their battle strategy.