Outside Earth's atmosphere, a dark wormhole quietly opened, and a Lie Ya-class warship emerged, hovering silently at an altitude of 1400 kilometers.
The various national fleets stationed in Earth's outer space immediately detected the anomaly. After confirming the identity of the incoming vessel, they rescinded the alert, but their eyes fixated on the warship, their gazes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
That was a true starship capable of long-range maneuvering through wormholes, able to leave the solar system in minutes!
A bitter taste wafted from outer space all the way back to the surface, nearly turning Earth into a pickled vegetable jar.
Although the main warships of their allies were all produced by Luojian Mountain, comparing oneself to others was a sure way to despair. Their own warships, while modular and equipped with decent weaponry, were nothing compared to the Lie Ya-class. They were like ugly ducklings beneath a swan's feet, small boats beside luxury liners, and asteroids near the sun.
In short, the distinction between the principal and the subordinate, the grand and the humble, was crystal clear.
They were all broke beggars from the same nest. When everyone else was still crawling in the dirt, and one person married a rich and beautiful spouse, who could feel balanced?
However, not everyone was so envious. The commander of "Old America" was particularly calm, even curling his lip with disdain. "Just you wait and see, China isn't the only one with alien spacecraft!"
But he quickly retracted his disdainful expression and, like his allies, requested communication with the Lie Ya-class. He asked, with an envious tone, what had happened, while masterfully controlling the suppressed resentment in his voice. It was an Oscar-worthy performance.
On the Lie Ya warship, Ou Zhanpeng tossed all the bothersome inquiries to Ling Xiao and immediately contacted Dan Qiuyu: "Director, I can't be away for too long. Requesting an immediate high-level military conference!"
"Joint?"
"I'm not sure!"
"Alright!"
An extremely simple dialogue, a highly efficient exchange.
A little over ten seconds later, the image of the first VIP appeared on screen. Thirty seconds later, the last VIP appeared.
It was no exaggeration to say that anyone on screen was a person of real power, big shots who could shake the military world with a stomp.
The fact that 80% of the top military brass were gathered together because of Ou Zhanpeng's single sentence demonstrated the military's immense importance placed on the Xingzhou.
Dan Qiuyu cut straight to the chase, announcing the start of the meeting without any preamble.
Bureaucratic meetings and excessive paperwork were a thing of the past.
Ou Zhanpeng's expression turned serious, the gravity practically etched onto his face. "Today, I have several issues to discuss. First, the aliens' objective. As you all know, Jupiter just finished a battle. Based on the design of the warships, this batch belongs to the 'Four-Meter people.' However, they didn't come to Earth immediately but appeared near the Xingzhou base, demanding unconditional surrender of the base. I believe this situation is highly unusual and must be taken seriously."
"Are you saying that, in the eyes of the aliens, the Xingzhou is far more important than Earth?" asked one of the VIPs.
"Yes," Ou Zhanpeng nodded. "Otherwise, the enemy's motive cannot be explained."
"So, the Xingzhou is very famous among the Four-Meter people, or rather, alien civilizations? Is that how I should understand it?"
"Based on common sense, yes," Ou Zhanpeng replied.
The VIPs on the screen gasped, their minds churning.
Dan Qiuyu said, "We all understand the importance of the Xingzhou, but how could all aliens know this?"
Ou Zhanpeng immediately picked out portions of the diary and recounted them, expressing his suspicion that the Four-Meter people were a nascent civilization.
The VIPs collectively drew a sharp breath, suddenly feeling a sense of panic, like a cuckoo's egg discovered by its rightful owner.
But upon reflection, why should they be panicking?
"So, you mean the Four-Meter people are special and should be treated differently?" Zhou Guangyi asked.
"I believe that any enemy that threatens Earth should be treated the same," Ou Zhanpeng stated his position clearly. "However, I also believe that even though we are doing our best to expand our military and prepare for war, waiting for the enemy to come to us is too passive. We must strive for strategic initiative, attack to defend, and reverse the unfavorable strategic situation!"
Although humanity had repelled several alien attacks, these victories contained elements of chance. If they continued to be so passive, one day their home might be taken by the aliens.
Several VIPs chuckled in unison.
"Good lad, you've got ideas!" Zhou Guangyi remarked, "You're already considering strategic issues."
Dan Qiuyu sighed, "Ou Zhanpeng, we've already considered all these points. However, we've been confined to Earth and only know a little about the situation outside the solar system from captives, and we're not sure how accurate it is. Your ideas are good, but war is fought with intelligence. With us in the dark now, how can we venture out? How can we repel the enemy from afar?"
"The captives have identified two locations: one is the star system occupied by space pirates, and the other is the region where the Glorious Star Kingdom is located. These results were obtained from separate interrogations and have been cross-referenced."
"And what if the space pirates colluded beforehand? What then?"
The VIP's question was sharp, but Ou Zhanpeng calmly replied, "Therefore, what we need to do is not to deploy troops immediately, but to conduct reconnaissance as soon as possible. While gathering intelligence on the enemy, we should also prepare. Even sending out just three to five warships would be better than sitting at home and waiting. It's not that I'm boosting their morale, but although our warships have achieved wormhole travel, all the equipment was salvaged from alien warships. This alone severely limits the scale of our fleet."
The VIPs exchanged glances, and Zhou Guangyi asked, "What's the progress on wormhole research? Is there hope for a breakthrough?"
"Not yet," Ou Zhanpeng replied. "I confirmed with Elder Gong before coming. This is not a technology we can master at our current stage. It will take at least thirty to fifty years to have even a slight hope!"
"Only thirty to fifty years?" The VIPs' expressions clearly relaxed. "With the Xingzhou, it's just a matter of months!"
"Listen carefully, it's only hope, not a guaranteed breakthrough," Zhou Guangyi reminded them sternly. "I don't understand scientific research, but I know that science cannot tolerate the slightest falsehood. Just because we set a deadline doesn't mean we'll achieve results."
"Then how many starships can we build in total?" a VIP asked eagerly.
"Sixteen to eighteen ships!" Ou Zhanpeng answered without hesitation. "Specific details must be confirmed with Elder Gong."
At this point, he showed a helpless expression. "Every time they activate a temporal bubble, Elder Gong puts me in a hibernation pod and doesn't let me access this information."
The VIPs immediately let out a soft chuckle.
This was originally a protective measure arranged by the military. The VIPs were all aware of the preceding and subsequent events.
Zhou Guangyi did not laugh. He rubbed his temples with a headache. "So few?"
"Doesn't Project 858 still have one more ship?" Dan Qiuyu had a sudden inspiration. "I heard that the warship is very well preserved. Can we salvage a system from it?"
"It's possible!" Zhou Guangyi's eyes lit up. "Ou Zhanpeng, organize a team as soon as you get back and come to check the situation."
"Okay!" Ou Zhanpeng's smile was so wide his teeth were showing.
Who would have thought that returning this time would bring such an unexpected bonus?
"Doesn't 'Old America' also have alien spacecraft?" another VIP said.
"Do you think 'Old America' would hand them over?" Zhou Guangyi retorted.
Ou Zhanpeng really wanted to correct them, saying it wasn't alien spacecraft but flying machines left by a prehistoric civilization.
Dan Qiuyu pondered for a moment and said, "The only known alien spacecraft are from 858 and Sector 52, but other allies might have clues about alien spacecraft. Not to mention, there have been so many unidentified flying objects over the years... By the way, Xiao Ou, those flying machines weren't dispatched by the Xingzhou base, were they? Does the base have any spare jump systems?"
Ou Zhanpeng gave a wry smile. "I wish it did, but we've never found any."
"Is reverse engineering that difficult?" a VIP finally found an opportunity to question, his voice full of surprise.
Ou Zhanpeng suddenly regretted not calling Gong Yiding. "It's much harder than imagined. The difficulty of other equipment is also significant. But I've figured out the structure. Even if the materials aren't ideal, it'll at most be inferior to the original, and using it for practice should be fine. But jump equipment is different. No matter how well it's copied, if it can't open a wormhole, it's useless."
"Never succeeded?"
"Succeeded once, but the wormhole only lasted for 0.04 seconds."
"Doesn't the Xingzhou have technical data on this?"
"There might be, but the data we've found so far will take a long time to translate. Moreover, we've found a lot more data. We don't know which ones are related to jump equipment, and many technical terms are untranslatable. Our translation personnel are struggling with this matter."
Dan Qiuyu proactively eased the situation for Ou Zhanpeng. "You're not in technology, so you don't understand. Technology isn't just anything; a slight difference can be a huge gap. Jump technology is also very advanced even for aliens. We still don't understand many prerequisite technologies. To put it bluntly, we don't even have the qualifications to research jump technology right now. Reverse engineering? If jump devices could be easily reverse-engineered, it would be simple. Why don't we just reverse-engineer the Xingzhou?"
The inquiring VIP's face darkened after being rebuffed, and he remained silent, his expression grim.
Zhou Guangyi glared at Dan Qiuyu and proactively asked, "Is there any other information we are not aware of?"
Ou Zhanpeng thought for a moment and shook his head. "No."
"Then have you thought about how to conduct reconnaissance specifically? Have you considered how to seize the strategic initiative?" Zhou Guangyi continued to ask.
These were no longer issues that Ou Zhanpeng's level should be considering; they fell within the purview of the General Staff. Yet, Zhou Guangyi insisted on asking.
Even more surprisingly to the VIPs, Ou Zhanpeng assumed a serious demeanor and replied, "I have!"
Zhou Guangyi was not surprised and encouraged him, "Tell me, what are your thoughts?"
With his mastery of the Xingzhou, regardless of the present or the future, it would undoubtedly be an existence that the military could not ignore. Although its starting point was a bit low, it wasn't too late to cultivate it from now on.
"My idea is this," Ou Zhanpeng said. "When it comes to fleet strength and resources, we can never be opponents of the Glorious Star Kingdom. The only way is strategic exchange, making the enemy aware that we have the ability to destroy their planets. Only then will the Glorious Star Kingdom be hesitant and dare not target us!"
Zhou Guangyi's expression remained unchanged, but he nodded slightly. "You've hit the nail on the head!"
This was not a new method; it was essentially a variation of the nuclear deterrence strategy.
Anyone who knew a little about modern history knew that since the end of World War II, the reason why no full-scale war had erupted was primarily due to the mutual containment of countries possessing nuclear weapons. Especially with sea-based nuclear missiles, as long as one strategic submarine lurked in the ocean, it could make any madman who dared to provoke war calm down.
Since they were all major nuclear powers, mutual destruction was a basic operation. Turning Earth into scorched earth, or even reverting to a primitive society, was not impossible.
Therefore, no matter how many grievances or frustrations they had, they could only endure them silently and absolutely avoid direct confrontation between major powers.
Unless they wanted to drag all of humanity to its doom!
Dan Qiuyu raised an objection. "The method is indeed a good one, but how can you make the aliens aware of our capability? Do we detonate a nuclear bomb directly in front of them? Aliens are so advanced; they should have mastered nuclear bombs long ago, and they should also have some form of defense."
With humanity's current technological level, the only large-scale weapons of mass destruction with deterrent power were nuclear bombs, and they had to be big ones, preferably Tsar Bomba level with fifty million tons, capable of making the enemy dare not move with a single detonation.
"I think whether aliens have mastered nuclear bombs is irrelevant to whether we can use them," Ou Zhanpeng said. "As long as we can drop nuclear bombs in the right place and achieve the deterrent effect, isn't that enough?"
"Do you have a way?" Dan Qiuyu asked with astonishment.
Ou Zhanpeng nodded. "First find the planets of the Four-Meter people and detonate a nuclear bomb in front of them. It's that simple."
"So, reconnaissance is the key, right?" Zhou Guangyi asked.
"Yes," Ou Zhanpeng replied. "We've conducted experiments. Wormhole jumps are not instantaneous; there's a certain time delay."
"How much delay?"
"The speed of each warship is actually different. The slowest is 9.2 times the speed of light, and the fastest is 15.4 times the speed of light. It's not impossible that aliens have more advanced and faster warships."
"What is the speed of the Lie Ya-class? How long does it take to reach a designated airspace?"
"Even the fastest one would take three and a half years."
The VIPs inhaled sharply again.
"So long?"
Ou Zhanpeng's expression became extremely grave. "We cannot determine when the enemy will reappear, so we must act as soon as possible. Every minute delayed could lead to the most severe consequences!"
Zhou Guangyi pondered for a moment. "What about the Xingzhou? What is the Xingzhou's speed?"
Upon hearing this, the VIPs immediately became energized.
They had all read the battle reports. During the third campaign, the Xingzhou had traveled from the edge of the solar system to Earth in mere moments.
That was a distance of fifty astronomical units. Even traveling at 15.4 times the speed of light, it would take nearly half an hour to cover that distance.
Ou Zhanpeng grinned. "We never intended to deploy the Xingzhou, so we haven't measured its speed."
The Xingzhou's mission was to protect Earth, not to go to the Four-Meter people's territory for nuclear deterrence. He understood the priorities.
"Then let's measure it!" Zhou Guangyi said. "If necessary, the Xingzhou isn't incapable of making the trip!"