This certainly wasn't a problem with the battleship. Though the Xuan Niao-class battlecruiser was an old model that had been in service for forty years, she was still in good condition and had been thoroughly overhauled before being sent to the Far Shore Front.
That left only one possibility: a problem with the crew.
It wasn't surprising. Losing those four million elite crew members at the Ring of Miracles had dealt the Community a crippling blow. The experienced veterans needed at the front could only be assigned to dreadnoughts, new-generation Yinglong-class battlecruisers and Saratoga-class carriers, and even the Titan currently undergoing repairs at New Shuntian. The gaps aboard the older warships could only be filled by recruits.
And recruits were bound to make mistakes. What they lacked wasn't necessarily technical skill or knowledge, but experience in managing their own condition.
So the more exhausted they were, the easier it was for the enemy to find an opening.
Perhaps that was one reason the Empire on the other side had launched such a fierce offensive.
Yet faced with the situation, Admiral Sylvester remained composed. "This was bound to happen sooner or later. You knew that perfectly well. Now that it finally has, shouldn't you be relieved?"
That made it sound as if he were some kind of perverted battle maniac. Yu Lian wasn't too happy about it, but he couldn't think of how to refute him.
Compared with the five rounds of fighting before it, their losses in the sixth round, which had just ended, had indeed been the heaviest. But perhaps he had finally come to terms with something, or maybe he had put down some burden he hadn't even realized he was carrying. Either way, this was the most relaxed he had felt yet.
He smiled. "Maybe it's because