The opening of the assembly was the same as the first one. Standing before the gray-white wall, Zhou Mingyuan announced the framework of the agenda to the packed audience below. The topics were more specific than before—the combat experience section had been refined from "how to hold the defense line" to "how to quickly reorganize when the defense line is breached"; the energy technology section added remote communication applications for the Core Resonance Network; and the institutional discussion section added a proposal for cross-formation joint exercises.
Shen Tinglan from the Scout Formation gave the first presentation. Standing at the podium, she opened the charts on her Data Pad and projected them onto the light screen above the wall. "Over the past six months, the Scout Formation has continuously monitored changes in energy signals to the north and west of the territory. The remaining members of the northern Star Beast Coalition have continued moving north slowly, with no signs of regrouping. Over the past three months, a new group of energy signals has appeared to the west. The source is unknown. It lies outside the territory's jurisdiction, around four light-years from the border. The waveform structure does not match any known Star Beast population, nor does it conform to the communication standards of any known human civilization."
Someone below raised a hand. "Could the signals be from other Star Alliance lords conducting activities?"
"No possibility can be ruled out. However, the waveforms contain none of the Star Alliance's standard identity codes. If they belonged to individuals legally operating under the Star Alliance, they would normally carry identification codes within their signals. These signals do not."
Xu Wuyi sat in an inconspicuous seat near the back of the hall and did not go onstage to speak. He had only come to listen.