Chapter 76: The Calm Before the Storm

News from Earth’s sphere was making waves.

Even the Federation Fleet on the front lines took notice.

In fact…

It was the Three Leaders themselves who pushed for daily updates to be circulated throughout the entire military.

Their reason? To make it clear to everyone—the troublemakers back home had all been dealt with.

Honestly, after all that, morale across the Federation Fleet took a big leap up.

Just a few months ago, watching those so-called ‘elites’ in the rear spout anti-intellectual and anti-human nonsense, some soldiers started to wonder…

Who are we really fighting for out here, risking our lives against aliens? What exactly are we protecting?

On top of that, those politicians acted like it was all a game—coming out one after another with their ridiculous theatrics just to grab attention.

The soldiers up front grumbled constantly. With things falling apart like this, wasn’t it time for the Presidential Office to step in?

Now, finally, the president had acted.

Truth be told, even the Federation soldiers were shocked by how hard he struck at first.

Turns out, when our president makes up his mind to get tough, he’s really something else.

But after the initial shock wore off…

Everyone broke into applause, cheering with real excitement.

What soldier wouldn’t love a president like that?

We’re with you all the way! Every soldier in the Federation stands behind you!

Even Friedrich probably didn’t expect that, thanks to his decisive actions, he now had the entire Federation military’s support.

Talk about a big win.

——

Time slipped by.

It was now Federation Year 202.

A year and a half had passed since the Battle of Jupiter.

Right now, the overall situation was basically the same: both sides kept up small-scale raids and skirmishes around the Asteroid Belt.

As for major conflicts, the biggest since Jupiter was still the battle where Lin Yu wiped out 87 enemy warships.

Other than that, and Shivana’s surprise attack on Federation Outpost Three afterward, only a few battles had losses that hit double digits. Most of the time, only damage to warships was reported.

Small in scale, low in intensity.

That was the usual state of standoff in the Asteroid Belt.

But all of that…

Was about to change.

At the edge of the Asteroid Belt, facing Jupiter.

Over 1,500 warships had gathered there. Most were small vessels—hastily built stripped-down models—but the sheer numbers were overwhelming.

At the same time, within the Asteroid Belt, another Klein outpost had over 500 warships assembled.

It took a year and a half of effort.

The Klein grew their fleet from just over 1,000 back up to more than 2,000 ships.

Of course, compared to their fleet before the Battle of Jupiter, this was nothing.

After all, the newly built 1,200 vessels were all small models, and the asteroids they found within the Belt were nowhere near as sturdy as the Nova Crystal-rich bodies back on their Homeworld.

Not to mention, many corners were cut for speed and because they lacked necessary resources.

The Klein and humans came from different star systems, after all, so while most elements were the same, some vital resources the other side needed just weren’t available.

Which meant some of the key materials for Klein warship design were missing in the Solar System.

And there really weren’t any good substitutes.

In the end, they had no choice but to cut back on their overall designs.

Humans were the opposite. Every active warship was designed using only resources available in the Solar System.

So as long as the Asteroid Belt held, there was no need to cut corners—just push production to the max.

Actually, human warships were far more complex than Klein ships.

But after the Klein simplified their ship designs, their production speed skyrocketed.

In a year and a half, humans manufactured about 180 warships, while the Klein made 1,200. The difference speaks for itself.

That said, humans were lagging way behind in churning out ‘proper’ warships.

But to be clear, those 1,200 Klein ships weren’t exactly ‘proper’ warships either—and to balance things out, the Federation started their own massive Fire Support Frigate Project.

According to the plan, the Federation would retrofit 10,000 civilian ships within two years.

The smaller ones might get one or two railguns, the bigger ships could hold a dozen or more.

Even if their firepower trailed behind a frigate, they could still be deployed quickly and in huge numbers.

The ships were ready to go—just needed mass-produced railguns bolted on.

They hadn’t finished the whole plan yet, but 6,000 ships were already done.

They lacked close combat ability, but hiding in the back and shelling enemies from afar? That worked.

In short, both sides were now preparing for a decisive showdown.

The only difference was…

Right now, it was the Klein who finally lost patience and decided to make the first move.

Klein: 877 main warships, 1,256 stripped-down ships, over 5,000 assault corvettes in total.

Human Federation: 748 main warships, 1,178 military gunboats (converted by the Solar System Defense Command), and 6,022 civilian gunboats (converted civilian vessels).

If you looked strictly at the numbers, the Klein still held the advantage on paper.

Even though the humans fielded more ships, those gunboats…

Were only good for long-range fire support. With just railgun firepower, they couldn’t do much against the main Klein warships.

Truth was, only the 748 main Federation warships could really confront the Klein head-on.

And they had to face not only the 877 main Klein warships, but also 1,256 stripped-down ships.

Worse still, those more than 5,000 assault corvettes were the real headache.

So, predicting the outcome of this battle? Anyone’s guess.

——

“Commander, we’ve just received the latest recon report.”

“The Klein are still adding forces to the outpost—over 500 warships now at their base.”

“With their tighter grip on the area, our recon teams have had no choice but to pull back.”

Chief of Staff Luo Ming looked genuinely worried.

“It looks like they’re preparing for an all-out battle!”

“Yes, that’s the General Staff’s assessment as well.”

Luo Ming nodded. Their intentions were plain—there was no need to guess anymore.

The real issue was…

They were ready. Was the Federation Fleet just as prepared?

Were they equally ready for what was coming?

The answer was yes—and also no.

No world is ever one hundred percent prepared for war.

But ready or not, when the time comes, you have to go.

Even if you’re caught completely off guard, it’s the same.

“Order the Third and Fifth Fleets to garrison Outpost One and Three. All remaining fleets are to move to Outpost Two.”

“As for the large gunboat formations, have them hold in Mars orbit. The Asteroid Belt isn’t the right battleground for them.”

After thinking it over for a long while…

Mu Xingchen made the call.