Earth.
Wormholes opened, spewing all sorts of materials as if they were free. The Earth fleet, having received the news, immediately moved to blockade the affected area.
Zhou Guangyi immediately received joint protests from his fellow commanders, strongly demanding an equal share of these extraterrestrial supplies of unknown origin.
Zhou, the Commander, was so amused by the shameless faces of some people that he retorted without reservation – these were materials brought back by our warships, who the hell says these things are of unknown origin?
Besides, even if they were truly ownerless, it was first come, first served. If you couldn't grab them yourselves, why should I share them with you?
His tone was no longer just firm, but extremely harsh, almost to the point of shouting insults.
"We can't indulge these people!" Zhou Guangyi said indignantly, "Do they have any shame at all?"
"It's not surprising," Shan Qiuyu advised, "Those people's ancestors were either colonists or pirates. They're just a bunch of bandit scions. What do you expect them to be ashamed of?"
He shook the document in his hand and slammed it on the table: "Those bandit scions are no longer hiding their intentions!"
Zhou Guangyi took the document and looked at it. After just reading the beginning, he threw it aside: "Utterly shameless!"
He was too tired to be angry.
It was a diplomatic note, which, in simple terms, requested Yan Jing to share all extraterrestrial technology so that all allies could develop together and advance together, jointly dealing with the threat from alien civilizations.
"It's not surprising. We're feasting every day, and they can't even get a sip of soup. It's only natural that they're not balanced. These things are deliberately sent to disgust us!" Mu Xingyu said.
"Notify the foreign affairs department. From now on, if there's anything similar, let them handle it themselves. Don't send it to us."
"Okay!" Shan Qiuyu nodded in agreement.
"Also, this rubbish is probably instigated by the old Americans, isn't it? Let's issue a statement: Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself. Let the old Americans reveal Area 51 first... They can't even manage their own backyard, and yet they're so agitated, like monkeys?"
"This... isn't that appropriate?" Shan Qiuyu had a different opinion. "Area 51 only has a few insignificant things. If they really reveal it, we'll be at a disadvantage."
Mu Xingyu thought for a moment and said, "I think this is a good idea. The technology we have isn't impossible to disclose!"
Shan Qiuyu was immediately stunned: "Old Mu, did you forget to take your medicine today?" He reached out to touch Mu Xingyu's forehead.
"Get away, get away, I'm fine!" Mu Xingyu batted away Shan Qiuyu's arm. "Let's ask Starship Base. Director Gong must have some research that is particularly useless or progressing very slowly. If we make it public and let everyone help us research it, even if we get results, we can't build starships with just one technology, can we?"
Zhou Guangyi fell into thought, and after a while, he nodded: "It's not impossible to consider... The key is to focus on the important things and let go of the trivial. The most crucial technology must be kept in our own hands. Releasing the less important ones won't have much impact."
Shan Qiuyu promptly reminded: "No one is a fool. If we don't give them important technology, our allies will surely see through it. What if they refuse to cooperate then?"
"Whether they cooperate or not is not up to them to decide," a cold glint flashed in Zhou Guangyi's eyes. "Resisting aliens is a matter for all humanity. We have carried this burden for so long; it's time for our allies to contribute. Those who are willing to contribute will receive some benefits. Those who are unwilling to work but want to reap benefits will be dealt with accordingly. We won't indulge their bad habits!"
Earth is the Earth of all humanity, not just Yan Jing's. Given the current situation, forming a联合舰队 (joint fleet) was the limit that all allies could accept; further advancement was out of the question.
The ideological divide that had persisted for so long wouldn't disappear easily.
It was no exaggeration to say that if not for the overall situation, Yan Jing would never have sold space warships. Now that the allies who had benefited wanted more, how could Yan Jing stand by and do nothing?
However, resolving the issue by force, while the simplest and most direct, also carried the greatest hidden dangers. Releasing some less important extraterrestrial technology could strengthen the alliance, win over fence-sitters, and divide the opposition. It was a win-win-win situation; why not?
But the specific implementation wasn't that simple. The three leaders were only responsible for making decisions; the relevant departments would naturally be responsible for the actual execution.
The relevant documents were soon sent to Starship Base, and Gong Yiding was overwhelmed. He immediately forwarded the communication to Zhou Guangyi and began a tirade: "Are you guys doing nothing all day? I'm already busy enough, can you stop giving me trouble?"
On the screen, Gong Yiding sat in a very high-tech chair, his entire back of the head opened up, with a row of sci-fi-looking data cables neatly plugged into his skull.
At this moment, in front of the Starship, materials and equipment of all kinds were drifting in the sky. Gong Yiding, connected to the supercomputer in the base, was manipulating hundreds of force field robots to transport the materials in orbit back to the base without missing a single item.
This was not the first time he had done such work. Initially, he needed the fleet's assistance, but as his proficiency increased, he now only needed the fleet to guard the perimeter.
It was no exaggeration to say that Gong Yiding was now the absolute core of Starship Base. Many functions that were previously unable to start without leaving the Starship were now operational.
This was undeniably a huge step forward!
The various materials from the Black Horn Planet also provided Gong Yiding with considerable support. Humanity's first orbital elevator was being designed and would officially begin construction soon.
At the same time, outside the Moon's orbit, Duke Misha's flagship was, as always, patrolling near the Moon.
In front of Duke Misha, several screens were arranged in a row, displaying scenes from Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
There was nothing much to say about Earth; it was just Starship Base harvesting materials. Although there were indeed some items that made Misha envious, snatching things under the watchful eyes of Starship Base... she hadn't lived long enough yet!
In the direction of Mars, eight warships were deployed around the planet, launching a full-scale attack on the extraterrestrial bases on the surface. Following that, a large number of landing craft detached from the warships and landed on the surface of Mars.
At the same time, Saturn was surrounded by a fleet, with each ship continuously firing, clearing away any unnatural creations inside and outside Saturn.
Even suspected targets were met with merciless bombardment from the fleet.
Given the increasingly complex situation humanity faced, the highest command had decided to thoroughly resolve the "brain fish" problem, which led to this scene.
The brain fish near Jupiter had already been largely cleared, with only a few insignificant remnants left.
Currently, Mars and Saturn were the two main strongholds of the brain fish in the solar system. However, as humanity's strength grew, the brain fish could only hide meekly, not daring to show themselves for the time being.
For humanity, eradicating the brain fish was a rare moment of glory, but for Misha, the combat effectiveness of the human fleet was not worth mentioning, and she lost interest after a short while.
She activated her communication equipment to contact Shallow Cloud Star and directly asked: "Where is our fleet?"
"The fleet is about to depart. Please wait patiently, Your Grace." The other party responded unhurriedly.
"How long is 'about to'? I need them to reach Earth as soon as possible, preferably immediately!"
"Apologies, the fleet still needs some time."
Misha sighed helplessly: "Are there any updates from the Black Horn sector?"
"Yes, but not much."
"Tell me."
"According to the intelligence we've obtained, a spaceship of unknown origin has gathered hundreds of pirate ships and has already breached five administrative planets of Black Horn. The other two administrative planets surrendered without a fight and were also severely damaged. The latest news is that the pirate fleet is preparing to attack the Black Horn shipbuilding base."
Misha was completely taken aback: "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely."
"How is that possible?"
"We are also very surprised, but this is the information we received. Perhaps next time, Your Grace will hear news of pirates breaching the shipbuilding base."
Misha became anxious: "The fleet must reach Earth before the Nebula returns, do you understand what I mean?"
"Of course!"
"No, you don't understand!" Misha took a deep breath. "Notify the fleet to depart immediately. We cannot miss this opportunity. Also, tell the fleet commander to obey my command and not to rush in blindly as soon as they arrive on Earth, do you understand?"
The other party's tone suddenly became much more serious: "Your Grace, are you trying to seize military command?"
"Go to hell with military command! Do as I say and notify the fleet!" Misha didn't want to waste any more words and angrily cut off the communication.
Those fools who only had warships and cannons in their heads didn't understand strategy. If command were handed over to the fleet, the only outcome would be an immediate battle.
But that was the outcome Misha least wanted to see. It would be best to obtain the Phantom Colorful Nebula by relatively peaceful means, rather than directly seizing it.
Well, for some reason, her instinct told her it was best not to have direct conflict with humans.
Unless her own fleet had the capability to defeat Starship Base in one fell swoop.
In the following period, Misha felt like every day was a year, waiting for the fleet to appear, but each time it ended in disappointment.
Half a month later, it was time to open the wormhole again, but this time the wormhole did not open on time, nor were massive amounts of supplies sent back.
The already uneasy hearts of the leaders were instantly filled with worry—every time the wormhole opened, Ou Zhanpeng would send the latest news. Although the leaders didn't know where the Black Horn people's planets were, they were perfectly clear about Starship's movements.
Did the operation to destroy the shipbuilding base encounter an accident?
Even if the objective wasn't achieved, it was fine. The key was that Starship must not have any accidents!
While the leaders were discussing Starship, Starship Base suddenly issued a combat alert, startling everyone. They immediately issued an emergency takeoff order to the Earth fleet.
Before the fleet could even depart, dozens of wormholes appeared in Earth's outer space, and a large group of alien spacecraft emerged.
The leaders, upon recognizing the style of the spacecraft, were all stunned—flying saucers, they were actually flying saucers!
The leaders simultaneously had the same thought: what on earth happened?
Misha spat blood onto the screen. Why did their own fleet not arrive, while other people's fleets appeared?
She immediately contacted them, but they completely ignored her.
Without a fleet by her side, she was nothing as a Duke.
The swarms of flying saucers did not attack immediately but surrounded the Earth.
The leaders' first reaction was to withdraw all their fleets and fully defend Earth.
At this critical moment, Gong Yiding stopped everyone: "Don't worry, with Starship Base here, there's no problem."
"What do they want to do?" Zhou Guangyi asked.
He knew that the flying saucers belonged to the third civilization created by the Prophets, that is, the civilization before humanity, but they had left Earth and returned, their purpose was certainly not to pay homage to long-lost ancestors.
"We don't know for sure yet," Gong Yiding was very calm, surprisingly composed. "Be patient and wait and see."
Since they didn't attack immediately, there might be an opportunity for communication.
Negotiating from a high asking price to a low settlement price. No matter what the other party wanted, it was better than bloodshed at the slightest disagreement.
However, they waited and waited, but the flying saucers remained motionless, with no activity.
This made the leaders extremely anxious.
Just as everyone was at a loss, a major staff officer rushed in: "Report, we've just received the news!"
The major delivered a paper document to Zhou Guangyi.
In this era, only the most important documents were printed on paper; unimportant ones were all stored in terminals.
Zhou Guangyi read it only twice before angrily slamming the table.
"What's going on?" Shan Qiuyu asked.
Zhou Guangyi was furious: "The flying saucers were summoned by the old Americans. They demand that we open Starship Base and share all Prophet technology, stating that this is the common request of all humanity and the third civilization."
Shan Qiuyu's eyes widened, and he suddenly seemed to understand: "This is Area 51 fixing the communication equipment on the flying saucer, right?"
"Highly likely!" Mu Xingyu said.
"Damn it!" Zhou Guangyi thought about it and became even angrier. "Isn't this inviting wolves into the house? Haven't they considered that the third civilization is not so easily dealt with?"
"For humanity, summoning the third civilization is definitely inviting wolves into the house, but for certain people, they only care about their own status. What does it matter to them whether other allies live or die?"
"What do we do now?" Shan Qiuyu said with a worried expression. "Can Starship Base alone withstand the fleet of the third civilization?"
Zhou Guangyi and Mu Xingyu were both speechless and had no idea how to answer the question.
Unable to get an answer, Shan Qiuyu could only ask Gong Yiding.
Gong Yiding's answer was resolute: "We fight."
"Is there any way to contact Starship?" Shan Qiuyu asked, clinging to the last glimmer of hope.
"Apologies, no!"
"There's no other way, we fight," Zhou Guangyi gritted his teeth and made the final decision.
However, at this critical moment, Starship Base once again issued a combat alert. Everyone thought the third civilization had lost patience and was about to attack.
To their surprise, that was not the case at all. The flying saucers outside Earth suddenly abandoned their encirclement and gathered together like startled rabbits.
At the same time, another batch of wormholes opened, and nearly a hundred white ships passed through.
The leaders were all dumbfounded: what was going on?
Misha let out a loud laugh. Her fleet had finally arrived at Earth at the most critical moment. Now, no one could ignore the First Civilization and monopolize the Phantom Colorful Nebula!