"You can help with delivering messages if you want, otherwise just stay on the ship. As for anything else, don't even think about it."
Yunyi's words were very blunt, causing Lina's face to darken upon hearing them. She was very unhappy with Yunyi's attitude, but for some reason, she couldn't muster much resistance.
It's important to understand that Yunyi only brought her to the ship; he didn't restrict her magical power or her movements. Under these circumstances, Lina had many ways to escape if she wanted to. Moreover, Yunyi wasn't even on the ship now; if she really had the guts, she could easily hijack the entire ship with her strength. But she didn't do that because she didn't want to push their relationship to that irreversible point.
As for the communication restrictions, they weren't targeted at her alone, but rather applied to the entire ship, with only a very few individuals having such permission. Of course, Lina herself was unaware of this.
After a long silence, just as Yunyi's patience was about to run out, Lina finally nodded and said, "I understand. I'll help you pass on the message. But I have one condition: you must agree to my condition before I will help you."
"Tell me, I'm open to anything except letting you leave," Yunyi replied.
Lina glared fiercely at Yunyi, but unfortunately, her glare had no effect on Yunyi.
"I need you to go back to Japan to retrieve some things for me," Lina stated her request. "As you know, many of my team members lost their lives in Japan during the ' Parasite ' incident. When Ban and his team left Japan, they took some of their belongings with them, but some were left behind at my place in Japan. They were my team members, and their belongings must be brought back. So Yunyi, if you can help me retrieve those things, I'll agree to help you pass on information."
Upon hearing Lina's request, Yunyi raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"
"That's all," Lina replied.
"Okay, wait a moment, I'll head back to Japan now. I'll call you back later, and then you can tell me what I need to pick up." Yunyi replied and then hung up the communication. He directly wrote down the incantation for the " Gate of Transfer " and moved from the flagship's cabin to Lina's residence in Japan.
Not much time had passed since they left. Lina's identity had been processed with the help of many parties when she entered Japan, so the Japan government did not know her true identity, nor did many people know her relationship with Yunyi. Therefore, there was no sign that Lina's residence had been searched.
Upon arrival, Yunyi made another video call and, guided by Lina, found the box containing the belongings of the fallen "STARS" members. He used the " Gate of Transfer " to send these items to Lina's cabin on the research ship, and only after she checked them did he let her go find Chen Mei.
Transmitting intelligence naturally couldn't be done using Lina's own terminal. After all, the research ship's location couldn't be exposed, so intelligence transmission required special methods. As for how to convince the America military, that would depend on Lina. After all, she was the captain of "STARS," Sirius; she should have methods for encrypted communication.
Having accomplished this task, Yunyi finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now, all that remained was to wait—to await the Japan military's reaction, the arrival of the America fleet, and the commencement of Gu Jie's planned operation.
Japan's homeland.
After the fleet was completely annihilated, the military high command was in an uproar. The hardliners, led by Colonel Sakai, advocated for an immediate retaliatory operation against the Great Asian Alliance fleet. In a military meeting, he clearly stated that he hoped for assistance from all parties and that the military should immediately dispatch domestic mages to form a temporary resistance army to Tsushima Fortress to recapture the fortress occupied by the Great Asian Alliance.
At this time, news of the fall of Tsushima Fortress had not yet reached them, but it was clear to everyone that the Great Asian Alliance would not give up this opportunity. Colonel Sakai's proposed action was based on this.
However, his extreme behavior immediately drew opposition from many people, especially the commander of the 101st Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion, Hiromi Saeki.
Having witnessed the previous naval battle, Hiromi Saeki knew very well that a makeshift army composed of ordinary mages, no matter how many there were, could not achieve satisfactory results. To retake Tsushima Fortress under these circumstances, they would have to deploy their Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion's Strategic-Class Magic, the Ryuya Oguro, for any chance of success.
However, before the meeting began, Hiromi Saeki had discussed the matter with Harunobu Kazama. However, before they could come up with a plan, news came from the Yotsuba Clan that they hoped the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion would sever ties with Tatsuya Shiba in the upcoming operations. Yotsuba Clan did not reveal the reason for this.
Hiromi Saeki and Harunobu Kazama were puzzled by the Yotsuba Clan's request at this critical juncture. However, the communication was indeed sent by the Yotsuba Family's butler, and in the name of the head of the family, so they had no choice but to take it seriously.
The military meeting continued, and the Ten Master Clans also formulated their next course of action. This time, apart from the Yotsuba Family and Saegusa Family, the other eight families decided to provide some assistance to the military. By the end of the meeting, Masaki Ichijo of the Ichijo Family and Katsuto Jumonji of the Jumonji Family had already led their troops to Fukuoka, the closest place to the Tsushima Fortress. If the Great Asian Alliance army made any further moves after occupying the fortress, Fukuoka would be the first line of defense against them.
Yotsuba Clan's attitude puzzled several clan heads of the Ten Master Clans. However, Maya Yotsuba did not offer an explanation, only saying that it was not yet time for the Yotsuba Clan to make her move before cutting off the communication. As for Saegusa, the reason need not be repeated.
However, without the support of the "Twin Pillars," the heads of the other eight families were still somewhat uncertain. In particular, they were about to face an entity that could single-handedly annihilate an entire fleet, which made them even more uneasy.
Before Katsuto Jumonji set off, he received a call from Tatsuya Shiba. During the call, Tatsuya Shiba simply advised Katsuto Jumonji to remain calm upon arrival and not to take any rash actions.
In response to Tatsuya Shiba's advice, Katsuto Jumonji simply replied that he would consider it carefully before hanging up. However, he knew very well why Tatsuya Shiba had called, and he also knew very well that if his volunteer team really went up against Yunyi, their chances of survival would be slim.
"Sigh, Saegusa, perhaps your choice was right. That guy is someone you can't fight against." As the plane took off, Katsuto Jumonji looked out the window at the rapidly receding scenery and let out a soft sigh.