The ultra-high-intensity broadcast and listening operation aimed at the void had been underway for a day, but we had yet to receive any reply from the Fifth Fleet. On the other hand, because the Garden of Departure system had been cranked up to an unprecedented power level, we accidentally discovered a small Fallen Apostle spy force near the Empire's border. Pandora and Viska rushed over to satisfy the battle lust they had been holding in for over two months. Based on the scraps of intelligence the One Point Two Meter Sisters recovered from the wreckage of those enemy ships, along with reports from spy forces stationed along the Fallen Apostles' border, the enemy had indeed become rather suspicious lately. Following my earlier plan, we had broken the Sixth Fleet into scattered units and had them frequently appear near the Fallen Apostles' border. Though they had not launched any substantive attacks, they had fully put on the appearance of scouting ahead for a major advance. The Fallen Apostles had consequently raised their border alert level significantly, and several worlds had entered total lockdown—presumably, the enemy was researching their Mystic System technology on those worlds. At the same time, they had increased espionage activity on the Empire's side of the border, apparently trying to find out what exactly was going on here and whether Mystic System knowledge had also appeared within the New Empire. But since we had prepared in advance, enemy spy forces were basically unable to scan conditions inside the Empire. Even if they acquired a little information, it was false intelligence we had deliberately leaked. On this battlefield, everything was proceeding according to plan—at least so far.
We just didn't know when the Fallen Apostles would realize they had been fooled. When that happened, they would most likely launch