Chapter 254: A New Battlefield

“Executive, the preliminary reconnaissance results have been compiled.”

Two weeks later, on the Xianyang, Prairie led Lu Yuan to the sea chart table.

In the past few days, Chang Kong and Loulan had secretly reconnoitered the areas occupied by Dark Sun by tailing their fighter jets, acquiring a large amount of intelligence.

During this period, they both performed very professionally, never once using the consciousness transfer function, staying in the fighter jet, which was only a few square meters in space, the entire time.

Many Sailor players were also like this.

Although they had the opportunity to transfer to Emerald Star to kill monsters and level up, they still chose to remain on the warship for the entire duration.

They repeatedly familiarized themselves with daily operational procedures and organized damage control drills over and over, only to perform better in subsequent battles. Under the leadership of a few retired Navy players, the ships quickly established crew guilds resembling large families, issuing rules and regulations, and electing “political commissars,” forming a strong atmosphere of mutual help and support.

Players divided their efforts to study, then held experience-sharing meetings, asking each other for advice on operational techniques for various positions.

Gunners had to know how to steer, radar operators had to know how to navigate, and air traffic controllers had to know how to manage the reactor.

This was also a tradition of real-life naval forces, especially submarine units.

The purpose was to ensure that everyone could fill vacancies and contribute in the event of major danger or severe casualties.

This prevented them from being anxious on the sidelines, unable to operate or lend a hand, and watching helplessly as the warship was destroyed.

Players attached great importance to these seemingly boring training sessions.

In addition, during their downtime, they regularly organized cultural and entertainment activities, such as mixed martial arts tournaments grouped by character attributes.

Such events were not only popular and stress-relieving, but most importantly, even if they ended up bruised and battered, a good night's sleep in a hibernation pod would fix everything.

It wouldn't affect normal combat training!

“Star Sea” truly seemed to have become a second life for the players.

Although there were no strict regulations on board, almost everyone kept their personal living areas spotless and voluntarily cleaned public compartments like the mess hall and activity rooms regularly.

The high standard of cleanliness moved Lu Yuan, their boss, deeply.

A collective truly was a magical place.

Especially a collective that had won battles and had a glorious tradition.

Lu Yuan could now clearly feel that the crew members around him logged into “Star Sea” not just for entertainment and recreation.

They were playing the role of their dream fleet soldiers and cosmic pioneers, fully dedicating themselves to the cause they loved.

The Cangyuan Fleet was not only continuously evolving in terms of armaments, but its personnel were also constantly transforming.

Always ready to undergo trials!

At this moment, the holographic sea chart table displayed the battlefield 12 days later.

In the hidden starfield, there were a total of seven star systems where Dark Sun activity was detected.

Of these seven star systems, four were single-star systems, two were binary systems, and the remaining one was a triple-star system, containing 40 planets, over 500 natural satellites, countless asteroids, and artificial structure debris.

Currently, only Ruins Star, where Dark Sun's headquarters was located, was an habitable planet.

However, according to the Scholars' analysis of the remote sensing data sent back by the reconnaissance team, before the apocalypse, every star system here had at least one artificially modified habitable planet, with huge initial development investment, belonging to a prosperous civilization.

It was just that they later suffered orbital bombardment, leading to a complete collapse of the ecosystem and destruction of the landforms, turning them into barren planets, leaving evidence of former cities only deep underground.

“We have now detected that Dark Sun has built at least four Nitrogen-3 mines in this starfield, and fuel collection platforms on five of the gas giants. Therefore, their nuclear fuel can essentially be self-sufficient.

“Materials for daily maintenance come from interstellar wreckage, with over a hundred dismantling and collection points discovered in total. The warships sunk here during the apocalypse are probably more than we initially estimated, with a total tonnage certainly exceeding 100 million.

“In addition, Chang Kong and Loulan also discovered no less than 20 space stations, each equipped with hangars, from which fighter jets frequently enter and exit. The total number is likely to exceed 200, which is more than 5 times the number of carrier-based aircraft in our fleet.”

Prairie looked at Lu Yuan.

“Executive, it appears that Dark Sun's asset scale far exceeds that of Apollo's headquarters on New Hope.

“We previously misjudged Mr. Sang. He didn't distribute resources equally between the overt Apollo and the covert Dark Sun; instead, he clearly had a preference, and Apollo was even just a front, his true ambition is much greater.”

Good heavens...

It seems Dark Sun has plundered and accumulated a lot of wealth over the years.

And Mr. Sang didn't use this wealth for pleasure; he used it all for construction, converting it into true combat power.

Alright, he really does have the feel of a formidable figure.

“Mr. Sang had long planned to turn against New Hope one day,” Lu Yuan murmured.

“He hoped to establish his own pirate empire in this hidden starfield and had already put a lot of effort into it.”

But now...

It's hard to say who these investments and efforts will ultimately benefit.

“Let's talk about Dark Sun's armaments.”

“They are much more advanced than Apollo's equipment on Li Star.”

Prairie had the sea chart table display two 3D holographic images.

“The reconnaissance team discovered two types of enemy aircraft. One of them looks very much like the thundercloud medium-sized fighter developed by Paradise Island, but the fuselage is noticeably longer and the cross-sectional area of the airframe is also larger. As for the other one—I think it needs special attention!”

Prairie frowned slightly.

“This fighter jet is very large, even bigger than our owl. I verified with the comrades at the branch, and it's unlike any fighter jet on the Star Alliance military sales market. It should be a model used by a certain faction for their own purposes, and for some reason, it was provided to Dark Sun.”

Lu Yuan rested his chin on his hand, gazing at the not-so-clear images of the two fighter jets, and pondered for a moment.

“I think we should assume the worst and first assume that both types of fighter jets are equipped with warp drives. Alright, switch back to the star map.”

He turned to look at the strategist, Xian Yu.

“What do you think?”

“I completely agree with that assumption.”

Xian Yu said.

“I asked the branch to collect the meeting records of merchants who survived encounters with the Dark Sun pirate group, and they repeatedly mentioned that Dark Sun fighter jets always appeared suddenly, making them impossible to guard against. This is consistent with the characteristics of short-range warp flight.

“This also means that even if we can silently enter Ruins Star's orbit, we must end the battle and achieve a decisive victory within three days. Otherwise, a large number of warp fighter jets will flank and reinforce from the surroundings, putting us at a tactical disadvantage.

“At that time, if we choose to stay and continue fighting hard, the risk would be huge; if we choose to warp retreat, not only would it be almost in vain, but we would also likely be pursued, forced to fight another battle before the Jump Point. In addition—”

Xian Yu hesitated.

Lu Yuan: “It's fine, just say whatever comes to mind.”

“Alright! Don't you think the entire starfield controlled by Dark Sun, particularly the arrangement of its hangar space stations, resembles a pocket?”

This remark attracted the attention of everyone on the bridge, and players gathered around the sea chart table.

“Brother Xian Yu, why do you say that?”

Ye Xing indicated that he hadn't noticed it.

“What I mean is, this starfield, like Galan's territory, has only one entrance and exit, or perhaps even more advantageous, only one wormhole Jump Point leading to the outside world. Just like our Emerald Star back garden.

“Dark Sun could have focused on defending the space behind the entrance wormhole, which is the wreckage area Chang Kong and his team first discovered, but they didn't do so.

“They didn't even place all their hangar space stations near Ruins Star! I believe Mr. Sang is someone who excels at preparing for a rainy day, without the blind confidence and optimism of the Jialan. He has long prepared for his 'Pirate Kingdom' to be invaded by external enemies.

“The positions of all hangars are meticulously arranged for defense, spaced out and loosely distributed to prevent them from being wiped out in one go.

“Once invaded, the Dark Sun fighter jets' mission isn't to confront the enemy head-on, but to block the invaders' retreat!”

“Hold on a second,”

Prairie couldn't help but interrupt. As a former professional soldier, he had a different opinion.

“This tactic of yours only works when you're not at a disadvantage head-on; otherwise, it easily becomes a piecemeal effort, sending the reinforcing and flanking fighter jet units to their deaths for nothing. So, where is this main force for the frontal assault?”

Xian Yu stood by his judgment.

“If Mr. Sang truly invested most of his efforts into the Dark Sun pirate group, then they must have a fleet that hasn't been publicly revealed yet!

“According to the intelligence Anya provided earlier, Apollo previously had 7 warships, and currently, we've reduced them to 4; Dark Sun's fleet scale must be larger than this. I personally lean towards 12 ships or more.”

“That's interesting!”

A player whistled.

12 warships plus 200 fighter jets—that's a much larger force than their own.

Another classic case of fighting outnumbered.

“But when there's a technological gap, quantity doesn't mean much.”

Lu Yuan's tone was calm.

“The Punishment Fleet's size was also twice ours before. If Mr. Sang is truly a smart man, he should have learned enough lessons from that battle to know that a single fleet cannot be considered a trump card. Especially when facing us.

“The reason he dares not to focus on guarding the Jump Point, and even deliberately sets up a loose defensive formation to lure the enemy deeper, the key should still be here.”

Lu Yuan pointed to Ruins Star.

“The true killing blow is on this planet, where their headquarters is located.

“Whatever it is, its combat capability is very likely to exceed an entire fleet, so much so that Mr. Sang is full of confidence in it.”