The progress on warship modification is surprisingly faster.
The original fleet size of nearly four thousand ard battleships has been compressed to exactly two thousand.
Although many pieces of equipnt have been added and many core components’ performance paraters have been altered, the internal space of the warships hasn’t expanded; rather, it has reduced sowhat.
The previous recreational and entertainnt daily living spaces have all been dismantled and rebuilt into military capability-related modules. The crew capacity of each ship has increased to sixty thousand, with average living space reduced by a full 80%, changing from single rooms to shared dormitories. Ren Zhong and Zheng Tian don’t see this as a problem.
The original ard battleships had to reserve so much living space primarily because their voyages were too long; the warships needed to have residential functions so people could live on them generation after generation without ntal distress.
Tis have changed, and for today’s ard forces, it’s no longer necessary to consider conventional living quality; soldiers should have a soldier’s mindset.
The military system has also undergone reorganization, with twelve million people passing the selection to beco the new and refined force.
An additional twenty-eight million grassroots soldiers have been arranged on a thousand Annulus Ships for Source Star shipping operations, while another portion remains on the original fleet’s Annulus Ships.
Other scientific research related to planetary modification continues to proceed intensively.
So projects that researchers previously dared not guarantee can now provide a precise schedule, such as new tri-phase nuclear fusion detonation technology, reflector technology, white ant ecological research, and new stellar wind plasma capture technology.
When all problems are gathered together and thoroughly discussed, the true core issue again focuses on the tily acquisition of nuclear fusion materials.
It is essential to break through the blockade by Viscount Nan Jiu and Nanxiang Marquis to obtain more nuclear fusion materials.
In the eting, soone suggested that the arrogance of Nanxiang Marquis was excessive, and since the opponent disregards rules, they should secretly dispatch small ships to collect materials near other sparsely populated stars in the Nanxiang Star Cluster. After all, those things are unclaid; surely they can’t forbid picking them off the ground.
But this proposal was quickly dismissed—not because Imperial law forbids it, but because reaching other stars requires using the Fold Jump Subspace Channel to cover vast distances. Each entry and exit of the subspace channel consus substantial energy, and when calculated, a round trip leaves very little profit remaining. Running out to steal resources is certainly a ti-consuming, labor-intensive, and highly inefficient task, offering little help.
Ma Xiaoling proposed simply stealing or robbing; there are readily available gaseous planets in the Southern Nine Star System, and it would be a waste not to seize them. Her bad idea was imdiately suppressed by others. Who knows how many eyes are currently fixed on the Source Star Fleet, and whether they are stealing or robbing, being caught by Liu An would definitely lead to an uproar, becoming a blemish for Ren Zhong.
When everyone else was out of ideas, Ren Zhong finally smiled and presented his plan.
A month later, Ren Zhong and Observatory Viscount Wen Yuanbo issued a joint statent announcing that they had entered a strategic cooperative relationship.
Three months later, an ard transport fleet composed of two thousand modified warships, led personally by Ren Zhong, set out grandly from South Nine C, entering the Fold Jump Subspace Channel.
Eighteen months later, the fleet had crossed over half of the Nanxiang Star Cluster, appearing on the opposite end far away from the Southern Nine Star System, and was moving toward the Shattered Star Ring at 0.15 tis light speed.
At this mont, Ren Zhong’s intentions were crystal clear.
Exiting the Fold Jump Subspace Channel and continuing outward, there is a strategic-level long-range Star Gate positioned 0.12 light years away.
This long-range Star Gate is directly governed by officials dispatched by the Royal Family and is a gigantic space station hundreds of tis larger than Observatory.
Liu An’s primary domain is also located near this Star Gate space station, maintaining the closest ties with the Empire Core.
Beyond the giant space station, at a distance of 0.11 light years, is precisely the region where the Shattered Star Ring and Nanxiang Star Cluster are closest, with the highest density of Space Pirates.
In the entire Nanxiang Star Cluster, the most lucrative hunting area is precisely the 0.12 light-year journey from the exit of the subspace channel to the Star Gate space station.
A vast number of space pirates lurk here using various ans, like hungry wolves secretly watching every fat rchant fleet that dares engage in Star Cluster level long-range trade but refuses to fund a substantial fee to hire Nanxiang’s Earldom’s Security Affairs Officer.
The nearby private army of Nanxiang Marquis is, of course, indifferent to these pirates.
The powerful Imperial Fleet defending the giant space station also seldom interferes with the space pirates’ activities.
The motives of both parties are entirely different.
Nanxiang’s Earldom is a detached observer because they have very deep ties with the pirates.
The Imperial Fleet is simply uninterested in interfering with these lower-class people’s internal conflicts; this has always been the Empire’s tactic of nurturing the rivalry, as no pirate would dare provoke the dignity of the Empire’s regular army.
The Special Service Bureau official in Nanxiang’s Earldom, the liaison with Sosgate, recently received intelligence from a lookout at the supply space station near the subspace channel and imdiately analyzed it, rapidly concluding.
Clearly, Ren Zhong, via Royal Family Viscount Wen Yuanbo, received a major cross-Star Cluster order.
The paynt for this order is so generous that it could reverse his predicant, prompting him to risk it all and personally lead a team to venture through the perilous pirate zone to complete this significant order.
The head of the Special Service Bureau issued a command through covert channels.
This command synchronously appeared before the leader of the Storm, the largest and most active pirate group nearby.
The Storm Pirate Group possesses excellent ships capable of traveling swiftly at 0.2 tis light speed.
In terms of fast maneuverability, the Storm Pirate Group’s strength reigns supre in the Shattered Star Ring.
Even if they set off from their base now, they still have a chance to intercept the Source Star Fleet before it reaches the Star Gate.
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