"You still think you can bypass the main navigation routes?
Do you know why they're called navigation routes?"
He paused, as if lecturing new cadets at the military academy.
"That's because, in this entire star domain, only those areas are navigable."
"Other places?"
He sneered.
"Either they're filled with gravitational turbulence—once you go in, you won't come out.
Or there simply isn't a stable spatial structure large enough for big starships to pass through."
After finishing in one breath, he picked up the teacup in front of him and took a large sip.
Admiral Tang Huaiqian set down his teacup, wearing an expression that said he couldn't be bothered to argue, but his tone was equally blunt.
"Yeah, right, right.
I don't understand.
You're the one who understands."
He extended two fingers and tapped on the star chart.
"Everything you just said, I knew forty years ago."
"Then tell me, how did they get in?"
Admiral Zou Qishen slammed his teacup onto the table with a dull thud.
Admiral Tang Huaiqian leaned back unhurriedly, his chair emitting a faint creak.
He looked at the Bushman Star System on the star chart, a meaningful smile appearing on his face.
"The Empire's monitoring system is, at its core, an automated network for data collection, transmission, and processing.
As long as you can penetrate one of its links and tamper with a key data node."
He spread his hands.
"That fleet, on their screens, could appear as a passing cloud of interstellar dust."
"An asteroid with abnormal speed."
"A normal sensor calibration error."
"Anything is possible."
After speaking, he picked up his teacup and took a slow, deliberate sip.
The Wargaming Hall fell silent for a few seconds.
Admiral Zou Qishen stared at him for three seconds.
Then he suddenly slammed the table and stood up.
"Old Tang, you damn..."
He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, but his voice was still loud enough to be heard throughout the Wargaming Hall.
"You've fabricated a top-tier hacker for the Pluto Fleet!"
"And they damn well hacked directly into the Empire's early warning system and tampered with the monitoring data!"
His voice echoed in the Wargaming Hall.
Several senior officers couldn't help but chuckle.
Admiral Zou Qishen pointed at the star chart, continuing with full firepower.
"If there really were such a powerful hacker capable of hacking into the Empire's early warning system,
why not go all the way and directly hack into their starships' weapon systems?"
He paused, his tone filled with sarcasm.
"Make them concentrate fire on the stargate themselves—wouldn't that be easier?"
"Would there still be a need to send a fleet in to die?"
As soon as his words fell, a low, good-natured laughter rippled through the Wargaming Hall.
Just then.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Three knocks, neither too light nor too heavy, instantly silenced the entire Wargaming Hall.
Everyone's gaze turned toward the thick alloy door.
General Lü Yanlin, the Chief of Staff, sat on the outer edge of the circular seating, closest to the door.
He turned slightly, his voice steady as he said.
"Come in."
The door slid open to both sides.
A young communications officer walked in briskly, his uniform crisp, a faint flush on his face from the quick walk.
In his hand, he held a paper document.
In an era where holographic communication has become standard on every warship, the use of paper documents signifies only one thing.
This is the highest level of information, requiring absolute secrecy and impossible to transmit through any encrypted network.
The communications officer walked directly up to Lü Yanlin.
Standing at attention, he saluted and handed over the document with both hands.
"Reporting to the Chief of Staff, urgent top-secret document, personally signed by General Wen Tingtao of the Wanshi Star Sector Theater Command."
Lü Yanlin nodded and took the document.
He did not read it immediately, instead glancing first at the others in the Wargaming Hall.
The seasoned officers with gold epaulettes and silver military stars were all watching him quietly.
Then he lowered his head, his gaze falling on the paper.
He only skimmed it.
Just one glance.
And then he smiled.
The smile spread from the corners of his mouth, carrying a hint of surprise and a touch of resignation.
He looked up, lightly waving the paper, his tone laced with amusement.
"Well then."
"This Wen Tingtao really dares to ask."
He paused, his eyes sweeping over the group.
"Opening with a request for three Sequence Fleets."
A low murmur instantly filled the Wargaming Hall.
Tang Huaiqian's hand, holding a teacup, froze mid-air.
Zou Qishen's eyebrows nearly shot up to his hairline.
The others also wore expressions of shock.
Three Sequence Fleets.
Not three Sub-fleets, nor three mother-class fleets.
Sequence Fleets.
Each Sequence Fleet commands 7 to 8 Joint Fleets, with a total force exceeding one hundred thousand starships.
Three Sequence Fleets would mean nearly three hundred thousand starships.
That is a force capable of completely rewriting the battlefield situation in any star domain.
Whether on the front line or in the hinterland.
Tang Huaiqian set his teacup down on the table, his voice tinged with disbelief.
"Three Sequence Fleets?
Does Wen Tingtao think he's going to the market to buy groceries?
Just asks and expects to get them?"
Zou Qishen, unusually, did not argue with him, merely shaking his head slightly.
"Three hundred thousand starships—even if Federation shipyards worked non-stop around the clock, it would still take three to four months. And having the starships alone isn't enough; where would we find so many experienced veterans? We can't just hand three hundred thousand starships over to fresh graduates who only know theory from military academy classrooms to mess around with!"
Immediately after, General Ruan Xingwei, who had remained silent until now, spoke up, his voice low.
"The problem is, even if we could assemble them, we couldn't give them all to him."
He paused, his gaze fixed on the jagged front lines on the Star Chart.
"The Empire and the Federation are currently engaged in simultaneous conflicts across several star domains.
Which front isn't in dire straits?
Which one isn't clamoring for reinforcements every day?"
His tone carried a note of weariness, along with the clarity expected of a seasoned commander.
"A single move affects the whole situation."
"Rashly pulling out three Sequence Fleets for the Myriad Stones Star Domain Theater..."
He didn't finish, but everyone understood his meaning.
The balance in other star domains might be disrupted as a result.
The Wargaming Hall fell silent for a few seconds.
Lü Yanlin placed the paper on the table before him, tapping it lightly with his finger.
"Wen Tingtao's reasoning, however, is quite solid."
He paused, his gaze returning to the document.
"You all saw the results of the Pluto Fleet's operations behind enemy lines just now.
They annihilated a large number of Imperial transport ships, destroyed the Devil's Claw Mothership-class Fleet, severely damaged the Abuja Stellar Ring, and obliterated the Prairie Fire Fortress Cannon."
He looked up.
"According to his assessment, the Empire's speed in deploying fleets to the front line has been significantly slowed."
"This is the perfect opportunity for our forces to launch a large-scale offensive and cut off the retreat routes of the Empire's three fleets in one go."
He chuckled softly.
"Provided that the Pluto Fleet can successfully destroy the star gate."
General Ruan Xingwei couldn't help but speak up.
"A mother-class fleet, destroying a star gate?"
His tone carried a hint of skepticism.
"What kind of miracle would that take?"