The Current Situation of New Yumeng

Because they were makeshift bio-batteries, the manufacturing methods were filled with the unconventional feel of mobile workshops and guerrilla tactics, naturally leading to all sorts of problems. The rest was manageable, but the high temperature and odor were unavoidable. The former would put a certain burden on the vehicle body and engine, while the latter would inevitably leave clues for pursuers. You must understand that the Moke Dragons, a favorite mount of the Sandfolk nomadic horse thieves, are animals with noses even keener than dogs.

However, no matter what, it would still be several hours before the Sandfolk caught up. Yu Lian finally got his first long respite since his rebirth, and it was time to introduce the current situation on New Yumeng Star.

As everyone knows, the Fairy Star System, also known as the "Andromeda Great Nebula," is the closest large galaxy to the Milky Way Galaxy. Its diameter is 1.6 times that of the Milky Way, its mass is twice as much, and its number of stars is conservatively estimated to be more than three times as many. Since so many diverse intelligent races and civilizations were born in the Milky Way Galaxy, there was no reason why the Fairy Star System should not have them. Thus, after the ancient Enlighteners inexplicably opened the Star Gate, the most precious and mysterious legacy left to the civilizations of the Milky Way Galaxy, the civilizations of the Milky Way Galaxy, facing a great enemy, felt that powerful invaders from another universe would pour out. Such as high-dimensional demons and the like...

But after the Joint Fleet, led by the Galactic Civilization Council and formed through the sincere cooperation of the two poles and two major factions, stood ready for over a month, nothing happened. Finally, the Milky Way sent probes and scout ships to cautiously enter this new universe. As later events proved, everyone had been overly nervous.

There were indeed civilizations and intelligent beings here, but none of them had reached the stage of interstellar travel. At least, after so many years of exploration, no interstellar spacecraft from a Fairy Star System civilization had been discovered. The most advanced known civilization in this galaxy was a planet called "New Nodale," discovered and named by the Alliance, which had barely entered the Industrial Revolution era.

What did this mean? What did the regulations of the Galactic Civilization Council say? Oh, right! "Civilizations that have not independently entered the era of space exploration are native indigenous civilizations. It is hoped that the major civilized nations under the Civilization Council, upholding the simple moral values that intelligent life should possess, will provide indigenous beings with the guidance and respect they deserve."

Yes! Guidance and respect. That's how the Empire and the Alliance treated the Earthlings back then. If they hadn't been the same race with no reproductive isolation and looking at least ninety percent similar, who knows if they would have been made into canned food.

In short, this meant that this vast expanse of heaven and earth, even more boundless than the Milky Way Galaxy, was clearly unclaimed territory, a new continent waiting to be developed.

This was already 30 years ago. At that time, Marshal Victor R. Li, the great founding father of the Blue Star Commonwealth, died of overwork at his desk in his office.

When he was born, the Blue Star Principality, with Earth as its capital, was an autonomous territory dominated by the Galactic Empire; when he died, the Blue Star Commonwealth was a proud and independent nation. Although its overall national strength was far from comparable to the two poles, it held a place among the second-tier powers in the entire galaxy. Moreover, it had won many battles with fewer forces, defeating the "rebellion-suppressing" armies composed of most of the Empire's vassal states, and even defeating the Empire's direct fleet head-on. Some even considered the Blue Star Commonwealth to be the "third-largest military power in the galaxy."

Since it was already the "third-largest military power," the Commonwealth, adhering to the strategy left by Marshal Li, continued to play a balancing act between the two major factions by leveraging its geographical advantage. At the same time, with the opening of the Star Gate, they naturally began the path of developing the Andromeda Great Nebula.

Superluminal warp travel within the Milky Way Galaxy relied on hyperspace channels formed by the gravitational influence between stars, while passage to other galaxies required the Star Gate—the most precious legacy left by the ancient Enlightener civilization. To date, eleven Star Gates have been discovered in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Galactic Empire controlled three, the Free Star Alliance had four within its territory, its subordinate states had two, its allies had one, and the last one was within the Blue Star Commonwealth's territory.

However, compared to the powerful Alliance and Empire, the Blue Star Commonwealth's development in the new universe was not particularly smooth. Several colonial stars and space cities required central subsidies. New Yumeng Star was considered one of the best developed. At least it could supply a considerable amount of high-energy minerals and high-grade spices, among other specialties, to the home planet.

As for the indigenous beings who originally lived on this planet, known as the Sandfolk... well, this race, which looked a bit like upright, flat-mouthed crocodiles, evolved from oviparous reptiles. They didn't quite fit human aesthetic standards, but we were willing to coexist peacefully with them.

We were willing to offer them jobs in the city and hire them to work in the mines and plantations. Of course, they hadn't received proper civilized education, and they couldn't even do labor-intensive work, only digging, moving bricks, and mining. Moreover, they weren't citizens of the Commonwealth, so naturally, they didn't have social security or labor protection. But even so, we sincerely hoped that after basking in the light of civilization for a while, the Sandfolk would be willing to become part of the civilized family and an inseparable part of the Blue Star Commonwealth.

Tragically, the Sandfolk, who had already entered the city-state era, were full of martial spirit. They had awakened a bit of tribal consciousness, and with some shadowy figures fanning the flames from behind the scenes—or rather, it would be strange if no one was fanning the flames—they were naturally unwilling to submit to Earthling rule, and all sorts of riots and attacks never ceased.

Plantations, mines, cargo routes, settlements, and even larger towns were all targets for Sandfolk attacks. If humans on New Yumeng hadn't been attacked, they must have settled on a fake colony.

But no matter what, the Governor's Mansion still did its best to ensure its absolute control over several towns like Tulon, and by stationing garrisons in various places and relying on the militia organizations of farm owners and mine bosses to protect their industries and settlements, they formed a relatively smooth transportation network, thus barely maintaining their rule over the entire planet.

See? Does it look a bit familiar?

Now you know why Station 12 serves as a blockhouse, right? And you can understand the Sandfolk's ferocity, right?

"Overthrow the tyranny of the Earthlings, freedom belongs to the Sandfolk!"

"What New Yumeng? This is an insult the Earthlings have imposed on us! This is Dann, our homeland!"

"What Dann? It's clearly Nuwa!"

"Nuwa is a term from some mountain village, this is clearly Egaonu!"

Well, the Sandfolk's understanding of the world is still thousands of years away from the concept of a planet. Different tribes have different names for the world beneath their feet. They united against a common enemy to overthrow, but they would always fight amongst themselves over such minor details. Because of this, although the Sandfolk living on New Yumeng Star number in the hundreds of millions, they have never been able to pose a threat to this New Yumeng colony.

Therefore, the fact that these disorganized Sandfolk tribes were able to gather an army of a million to besiege Tulon this time is news that could make headlines in the major galactic civilization media.

In fact, it was precisely so. In later years, because there was so much information on this topic, and it was the beginning of a series of events, Yu Lian had seriously studied this past.

The one who spearheaded this operation was the most prestigious spiritual leader among the Sandfolk, Elder Brown-eyed Hesen. He was originally a priest of the local primitive religion and a psionic sensitive. After the Earthlings incorporated the entire planet into their territory, he led his tribe to resist. During the arduous resistance, he awakened his psionics, and later, by "chance," he obtained a systematic method for psionics cultivation. Over these decades, he also trained some excellent disciples and became the most revered figure among the Sandfolk.

Of course, everyone must understand the term "spiritual leader." The spiritual, by definition, is not secular. Although he had great prestige and was the "number one expert" among the Sandfolk, the real power was still held by the chieftains of the various tribes and the former "kings" of the city-states.

And this Brown-eyed Hesen, who never had his own followers or subjects, was able to gather such a large army—even a "disorganized mob" is an army—naturally with behind-the-scenes support.

Now, the Sandfolk have obtained a considerable number of firearms, high-carbon steel weapons, composite armor, and even siege cannons capable of threatening the city shields of Tulon Port. Compared to this, it's not too strange that they have a few armored vehicles, is it?

Even so, when Ina saw the hovering combat vehicles emerging from the pitch-black night through her binoculars, she still showed an expression of disbelief: "There really are tanks! How did these things get transported to New Yumeng?"

"The Commonwealth's monitoring throughout the Fairy Star System is like a sieve, and even on this New Yumeng Star, there are vast unexplored regions." Yu Lian said casually, "Uncle Karl, can you tell where they're from? Is there anything we can use?"

"Hmm... judging by the appearance alone, they look a bit like products from Polaris Heavy Industry on the Alliance side, but we'd have to dismantle them to know for sure. However, based on the signal analysis from the sensors you planted earlier, it's highly likely they're modified from the chassis of the Kaitai people's Mastiff Tank. Those things use the Empire's Type 3 Lu Land Engine; I'm too familiar with the sound of that thing..." the old mechanic replied casually, then seemed to think of something and said helplessly, "Wait, sir, you don't think I can identify the model, structure, and even analyze the weaknesses of the enemy just by looking with my own eyes from kilometers away, do you? I'm just a normal human, after all!"

He seemed to be dragged into some sad past, rambling on, "Even though I always thought I could become a psionic in my youth and embark on the great path of exploring truth and knowledge! Even if I would eventually become someone who suffers from constant tinnitus, a paranoid schizophrenic, and a recluse, I wouldn't care. But now, at this age, I finally realize that dreams are just dreams, and no matter how hard I try, life is destined to be mediocre..."

They are called "Listeners," psionic masters of the fifth ring in general knowledge and research. Any country or force would treat them with great care and hospitality. Also, not all "Listeners" are reclusive; the ones I "know in the future" are all very cheerful.

Yu Lian ignored the old mechanic's rambling. He had already gotten the answer he wanted, and then he nodded back to Ina.

"So, let's eliminate them here!"

The chief military officer nodded and silently picked up an anti-materiel rifle—this was the heaviest weapon they had, besides the Vulcan cannon on the Black Panther Vehicle.

"There are forty of them... all riding Moke Dragons," the old mechanic said.

"I counted them."

"They also have five tanks. No matter what they're cobbled together from, they're still tanks, with cannons and armor..."

"I see them! That's why we're meeting them here!"

"..."

Fine, whatever you say goes, right? Even if you ordered everyone to charge now, no one would dare say anything.