The Stealth Fleet
Near the cocoon containing the ninety-eight Survivors, familiar ripples appeared in the space once again. Su Luo's figure appeared first, followed by Nanmen Shi and the other two, who appeared slightly dizzy. Su Luo casually used Mana to bind them and pulled them into the cocoon.
Finally, the silver-white, streamlined Laboratory, with its blend of otherworldly technology and magic, quietly appeared beside the "cocoon," accelerating wildly. Its surface flashed with light, automatically activating a high-level stealth mode. After a while, it caught up and moved in sync with the "cocoon."
"You three, activate your Talents. You, Copy the Talent [Second Life]." Su Luo immediately began giving instructions, while simultaneously catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye.
The mysterious book beside Su Luo inexplicably opened with a rustling sound, its silvery-white light shimmering slightly, but when Su Luo grasped it in her hand, it was completely empty.
There's no time to delve into these things now; there are more important matters to attend to.
"By the way, according to Yun Sha's intelligence and the publicly available defense deployment maps, this 'Seventh Defense Zone' should be handled by three Rapid Response Fleets. So, here's the question—"
Su Luo glanced at the Survivor were constantly adding Spells to the "cocoon," and then at the cold, silent universe under the starlight.
Where are those three fleets now?
Yun Cangyuan stood in the tactical intelligence center of the Deep-Space Command Mothership, surrounded by several layers of arc-shaped light screens, from which massive amounts of data flowed like a waterfall from various detection nodes of the Seventh Defense Zone, shipborne sensors, and the orbital surveillance network.
Within the encrypted communication channel, commands and reports intertwined with remarkable efficiency; though varied, they remained orderly.
"Seventh Defense Zone's overall monitoring network reports: High-intensity, multi-frequency energy responses detected in sectors C-17 to C-23. The energy characteristics match the database event [Interdimensional Intrusion - Mana Side] with extremely high accuracy. Preliminary assessment indicates that an intrusion event has occurred, and the coordinate cluster has been marked."
"Received. 'Iron Curtain' planetary defense network, nodes 42, 43, 45, and 47, enter Level 1 combat readiness. Energy capacitor banks pre-charged."
"Number of targets... parsing... approximately one hundred unique quality signals. Preliminary threat level assessment: High."
"Residual energy signature detected... Comparing with cross-world campaign database... Match successful. Intruder identified as: [ Under the Under the Starry Sky] world unit. Duplicate, confirmed as [ Under the Under the Starry Sky]."
Next came the clear order from the commander-in-chief:
"The 7th, 9th, and 11th Rapid Response Fleets shall maintain full stealth and approach the enemy according to the predetermined plan. Their primary mission is to establish a continuous tracking and surveillance network to obtain precise enemy coordinates, movement vectors, and other characteristics. They shall provide real-time, high-precision fire control data for the 'Iron Curtain' and orbital strike platforms. The guiding principle is to avoid direct confrontation and maximize the use of our beyond-visual-range and concealment advantages. They are authorized to use high-precision detection methods, provided they ensure their own concealment."
Yun Cangyuan listened silently, slightly surprised.
The instructions were clear and ruthless—the fleet was not the main offensive force; the real killer weapon was the heavy Orbital Weapons deployed in planetary synchronous orbits and even asteroid bases.
Using absolute distance and the speed of light to crush those "invaders" whose individual strength may be astonishing is a cautious approach, but it also aligns with military logic: using one's strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.
"The enemy has been detected remaining stationary. The 'Iron Curtain' network is activated, and the first wave of attacks will commence near the Starry Sky..."
"The target has disappeared. The first wave of attacks failed. Its departure direction and trajectory have been recorded... Multi-spectral detection has lost stable signals. It is speculated that the target has initiated high-intensity concealment measures. Based on the slight trajectory deviation and residual data before its disappearance, its initial movement direction was pointed towards Yuncang Star, and its initial average speed is estimated to be between 200 and 300 kilometers per second."
"Re-detected. Coordinates recorded. Speed and trajectory corrected. Predictive attack recommended..."
Two to three hundred kilometers per second... Yun Cangyuan in his mind. On a cosmic scale, this speed was indeed not fast, even somewhat "clumsy".
Even with limitations in structural strength and crew endurance, the standard Destroyers of the consortium can easily exceed 5,000 kilometers per second in normal cruising speed, and it is not impossible to reach 10,000 kilometers per second in extreme sprint conditions. The advantage of maneuverability is so great at this moment.
"Order: Seventh Fleet, advance to the pre-designated S-7 intercept point, remain concealed, and stand by in silence. Ninth Fleet, deploy along the parallel flanks of the calculated trajectory, activate high-sensitivity passive listening and wide-area monitoring arrays, focusing on detecting unnatural energy fluctuations and stealth force field disturbances."
"Eleventh Fleet, maneuver to the rear hub of the Seventh Defense Zone, establish deep surveillance, and guard against possible intruders' teleportation." The commander-in-chief's orders were quickly disseminated, and the three fleets unfolded like three large nets silently in the dark.
After the deployment was completed, the commander-in-chief slightly turned his head to look at Yun Cangyuan, who stood solemnly to the side, a rare hint of relief appearing on his usually stern face:
"Cang Yuan, it seems that at least in the deep space phase, your Player Legions may not need to engage in a head-on annihilation. Mobility, information asymmetry, beyond-visual-range strikes... the ironclad rules of modern space warfare seem equally effective against these 'guests' who rely on individual strength. You can conserve your resources to deal with possible ground or near-orbit infiltration operations."
"Let me be frank, before the [Ten Thousand Worlds] major update, most of those high-level worlds with an entry level cap of 90 couldn't even defeat us in the real world, let alone the current [Yuncang World]."
"Technology is about bringing Mythic to life."
Yun Cangyuan nodded in acknowledgment, but felt little relief.
He walked to the huge composite observation window and cast his gaze into the eternal darkness outside. At this moment, all that could be seen with the naked eye were distant starlight, the blurry outline of the distant Yuncang Star, and a few static synchronous space stations that looked like decorations.
However, with the aid of special goggles he wore, he could "see" a completely different scene—
Against the deep backdrop of space, a few fleeting wisps of ethereal blue light occasionally peek out, flickering like breaths.
There is no hull, no outline, only these "traces" that cannot be completely concealed, created by the high-energy propellant being "pulled" out by the engine.
That was a massive fleet in motion; they hadn't actually "disappeared," but were enveloped in layers of extremely complex concealment technology: advanced optical camouflage allowed them to blend into the Starry Sky background, and multi-frequency wave-absorbing and scattering coatings swallowed up the vast majority of active detection waves.
A certain shadow concealment technology based on [Ten Thousand Worlds], further enhanced by a powerful anti- Prophecy and anti-tracking field generator, and...
This is part of the results that the Yuncang Union has selected, digested, and integrated from the "treasure trove of technology" [Ten Thousand Worlds] over the past three years. Even Yun Cangyuan, who personally participated in some of the testing, could not understand the underlying principles.
With such powerful technology, they seem to have finally built a solid barrier against the "Wardens" who once routed them under the Under the Starry Sky.
The gloom that had lingered in Yun Cangyuan's heart since the end of the expedition began to dissipate slightly. Perhaps, right here at their doorstep, relying on the industrial and technological foundation of the entire civilization, they really could...
I hope everything goes well.
He muttered to himself, his gaze refocusing on the seemingly empty yet turbulent Starry Sky ahead.
"Yuncang Star, wish us good luck."