"What else needed doing?"
Xi Yan began considering expansion.
For the Empire to prosper, it had to keep expanding, occupy star systems, build outposts and all kinds of resource extraction stations, steadily increase resource output, then push research and churn out fleets.
To bring other star systems into its territory, it needed to send a Faster-than-Light Large Science Ship with a scientist aboard to survey a new system, then dispatch a Construction Ship to build the most basic kind of stellar base: an outpost.
But for the past twenty years, the country had focused entirely on developing its Ring World colony, with no time to expand.
Without megastructure construction technology, they could only repair the Ring World segments bit by bit using manpower and simple machinery, leaving the Empire with no resources for expansion.
That strategy was undoubtedly wrong. If they really waited until the colony was fully developed before venturing out to explore, the other nations would have divided up all the territory already.
"Good. Interstellar expansion needs to go on the agenda as soon as possible, too."
Xi Yan rose and paced around his spacious office, deep in thought.
"Reclaiming power, class conflict, political reform, exploration and expansion... there's a mountain of work to do. Let's start with power!"
He opened his Wristband's communications interface and contacted Ning Zhiyuan, who remained aboard the Galactic Throne.
{Xi Yan: Check where Shoigu's fleet is. Have all our forces prepare for battle.}
{Ning Zhiyuan: Are we really going to fight?!}
{Xi Yan: Maybe. Anyway, hurry up and get those upgrades done first.}
{Ning Zhiyuan: All right. If the deadline is tomorrow night, even working flat out on the refits, we can only upgrade one ship, the Galactic Throne.}
{Xi Yan: That's enough. What weapons do their Sub-light Warships use?}
{Ning Zhiyuan: Space Torpedoes.}
{Xi Yan: What a bunch of morons! Just use your speed advantage to keep your distance, then hammer them from outside their range. Guaranteed win!}
{Ning Zhiyuan: ...All right. All three corvettes will remain on standby.}
{Xi Yan: By the way, are our corvettes' S-class weapon slots mounted on top of the ships?}
{Ning Zhiyuan: Yes. Honestly, they're a bit ugly.}
{Xi Yan: Then ask our engineers whether they can make the S-Slot Red Laser Emitters rotate 360 degrees. Even just turning backward would work!}
{Ning Zhiyuan: Absolutely. We considered this situation before. Full rotation isn't possible, but firing backward alone is.}
Xi Yan wriggled with delight.
Sweet!
Stellaris weapons could finally fire backward! His fleet would no longer be stuck doing nothing but Banzai Charges like in the game!
And what kind of garbage weapons did those little fishing boats on the other side have?
Space Torpedoes! Those losers had mounted them on Sublight Warships! With that pathetic range, their Space Torpedoes couldn't even touch the Galactic Throne's Deflector Shield!
Wait. His own corvettes seemed to have Nuclear Missiles. Not much better.
Damn you, Ning Zhiyuan! Look at those ship builds! You're even more useless than the game's AI auto-designer!
At least the AI knew to equip Flak Cannons!
Xi Yan finally understood why their corvettes had lost to those little sub-light fishing boats back then.
Most likely, the small ships had surrounded them and fired close-range volleys of Space Torpedoes at the corvettes. Meanwhile, the corvettes' S-Slot Nuclear Missiles couldn't hit the small ships, leaving them to be slowly worn down.
Seriously, bro! You had perfectly good Red Laser Emitters right there and didn't know to use them?
Just thinking about his corvettes made Xi Yan angry. He found a dragon meme and sent it over to express his regards to Ning Zhiyuan's family.
General Ning replied with a crying cat meme.
Bro was trying to compare a native to a transmigrator. Ning Zhiyuan couldn't live up to that!
Then Xi Yan found General Veronica's contact details and sent her a message: "You there?"
{Veronica: Your subordinate is always awaiting your orders, Marshal!}
{Xi Yan: [Sweating yellow emoji]}
{Veronica: Do you need something, Marshal? I'll come right over.}
{Xi Yan: [Strongman trying not to crack up meme]}
{Xi Yan: Apart from these civil officials, do you have any fleets under your command?}
{Veronica: Twenty Sublight Warships. All the rest are in Shoigu's hands and those of his associates.}
{Xi Yan: Good. Tomorrow night. You know what I mean.}
{Veronica: What?-Mm, if you need me, Marshal, I'm willing.}
{Xi Yan: What are you thinking?! I meant prepare for battle!}
{Veronica: ...Understood. [Offline]}
Xi Yan wiped the nervous sweat from his forehead, struggling to keep his composure.
General Veronica was far too forward.
Still, the twenty small ships under her command were good news.
The difference between Faster-than-Light Warships and sub-light warships wasn't just speed.
Ordinary small sub-light warships were already much smaller than his corvettes, and naturally had no Hyperdrives or other advanced components installed.
They didn't even have the lowest-grade S-class weapon slots.
But in the worst-case scenario, if he had to take on all hundred-odd sub-light warships with these three corvettes, those small ships might well bait them around and wear them down.
Now, though, things were different! Three corvettes and twenty sub-light ships against eighty sub-light ships. As long as his small ships could disrupt the enemy... the larger ships could keep their distance and fire their Red Lasers...
None of them would make it back alive!
At the thought of his corvettes leading those worthless little fishing boats on a chase all over the star system, Xi Yan couldn't help breaking into a goofy grin.
{Xi Yan: General Prigozhin.}
{Prigozhin: Here, Marshal. What are your orders?}
{Xi Yan: Do you have any Army units near the Central District? I need heavy firepower and absolute loyalty.}
{Prigozhin: What nonsense are you talking, Marshal? Most of the Army is stationed near the Central District. They're all the finest soldiers! I stake my life on it.}
Good. Let's put them on the market!
{Xi Yan: I need a Heavy Artillery Unit, a Special Operations Forces unit, and enough Army troops to control the entire Central District.}
{Prigozhin: [Shocked emoticon]}
{Prigozhin: You aren't planning to...}
{Xi Yan: Shh... wait for word tomorrow night.}
After playing the cryptic messenger, Xi Yan put down his Wristband, satisfied.
Everything was ready.
Now, all he needed to do was wait.
Xi Yan leaned back in his chair and turned on his computer to see whether Steam China had any good games in the year 2200.
Battlefield: 2200? Buy it!
Hardcore Trading 114? Buy it!
Silksong was out, too. Buy it!
GTA 7. Buy it!
Civilization 8? Forget it. If he bought that, he probably wouldn't stop playing for days and nights.
Yuzusoft's nostalgic classic, Senren Banka: Ultimate Virtual Reality Remake? Buy it!
Devil May Cry 6? Buy it!
As Xi Yan picked out games, he continued making plans in his head.
Yes, tomorrow night would be the moment he ended all this. He had to be ready.
He would catch them all in one fell swoop, mercilessly crush his enemies to pieces, and consolidate his power once and for all.
The Empire needed only one voice: his command. His will would be the will of the entire Empire.
He would lead the entire Empire boldly forward onto the vast interstellar stage, competing alongside all those strange and wondrous aliens.
For humanity, give it everything!
Before you continue