Outside the spacious crystal porthole, the beautiful starlight is projected through the light blue energy shield, gilding all the facilities in the conference room with a faint light and shadow, looking like a dreamlike scene in a fairy tale.

Looking out through the porthole, the vast Ocean of Stars occupies all the field of vision, like a gorgeous painting, showing the magnificence, mystery, and depth of the Star Sea World Realm in front of every living being.

This is a new kilometer-long deep-space research and exploration ship, which is subordinate to the Imperial Military Department. Around it, there are sixteen other similar exploration ships. Hundreds of large warships guarded the center in a group, and all kinds of detection instruments on the warships had been turned on, vigilantly watching the wind and grass in the surrounding void.

The small fleet is now hidden at the edge of the gravitational field of a giant neutron star, where the remains of several large planets that have broken apart form a meteorite cloud with a diameter of hundreds of thousands of kilometers.

At the limit distance that the shipborne exploration instrument can see, there are several other neutron stars of different sizes, a group of red giants in the twilight stage, and after a long time of detection and analysis, the shipboard optical brain even found a small black hole hidden in the depths of a small star cluster.

With so many "murderous creatures" in interstellar voyages gathered together, all kinds of huge gravitational fields entangled and interfering with each other, coupled with violent poisonous rays, gravitational tides, and irregular high-energy particle storms, etc., have made this wild star field that has not been set foot by any intelligent life for millions of years become more and more dangerous and abnormal.

For two years, the Empire's expeditionary fleet had to pay an unimaginable price to find a relatively safe passage from the sharp mouths of many murderous creatures, and thus successfully entered the deepest part of the star field.

In the conference room, the young major general sat in the first place and looked at the robes who were already present on both sides. About half of them were soldiers, and the rest were researchers in silver overalls, both men and women, elite scientists seconded from the military ministry to the Imperial Academy of Sciences.

Coughing slightly, he spoke:

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have been in this place for almost two years, and now the task assigned to us has been completed. So I decided that the fleet would depart in three hours and return the same way, what else do you have to say? ”

There was a look of relief on everyone's faces. After staying in this hellish ghost place for so long, how many familiar comrades-in-arms and colleagues have died here due to various accidents, the pressure in my heart is so great that it is really impossible to express it clearly in a few words!

Of the 20,000 special warships that have recently been put into service, plus more than 100 deep-space scientific research and exploration ships that have been specially refitted, and a large number of high-level ability fighters, less than one-tenth of them have survived so far!

Of course, although the cost is staggering, compared to the gains of this expedition, this loss is nothing, on the contrary, everyone present will have a huge credit, and the colleagues who have died will also receive a generous pension! Looking at the delicate jade box placed in front of the major general, everyone secretly thought in their hearts.

At this time, a middle-aged scholar with a slightly thin face got up and asked, "General, our current strength is limited, and it is impossible to pass through the outer channel that is not stable at all. I wonder if you have a better solution? ”

Several officers also had inquiring looks in their eyes, and they all looked at their highest commander.

In fact, the danger of the waterway is secondary, the key is that after leaving this desperate domain, the fleet will have to pass through thousands of wormholes and star gates, and after a long voyage of more than 300,000 light years, it can reach the overseas Dominion at the very edge of the Empire's influence range! It is only when they get there that they can be called truly safe.

During this long voyage, in addition to all kinds of unpredictable starry sky traps, there are also many powerful and abnormal wild beasts, and some particularly terrifying existences, even the Empire's Silent Star God of War level powerhouses dare not easily provoke.

What's more, if you encounter the patrol fleet of those alien civilizations that are hostile to the empire and attract their siege, things will be really troublesome!

The Major General nodded and said, "Professor Yu, I have already considered your worries!" Please rest assured, as early as ten days ago, I had already used secret means to contact the top of the Imperial Military Department, and received a reply that the Imperial Silent Star Temple and the Northwest Theater of the Empire would jointly send a large number of elites to respond, and even the 'Frost and Snow' attack group guarding the northwest border of the Empire would change its cruise route and come to support temporarily! So the next thing, we don't have to worry about anything at all! ”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the news, it seems that the minds of the top echelons of the empire are not stupid, and they have realized that the harvest of this mission is of extraordinary significance for the improvement of the empire's future strategic strength! As long as this thing can be safely brought back to the Empire, everyone here will receive unimaginable rewards, whether it is military rank or academic administrative level, to mention two levels of promotion, not to mention the material rewards!

Seeing that everyone had been relieved, the Major General began to arrange the most important preparations before the retreat, and as for the mysterious box, he thought about it, put it away, and decided to keep it himself before handing it over to the Minister of Defense.

Three hours later, the fleet began to evacuate in an orderly manner according to the scheduled plan.

All the battleships were gathered together in a spherical shape, and the energy shield was extended to the maximum, guarding the remaining scientific research probe ships tightly in the middle, and then carefully moving along the predetermined channel.

……

“…… Your Excellency, do you know what the consequences of this order will be? ”

In the command center of the Northwest Theater of the Empire, in a top-secret liaison room located in a planetary fortress, a middle-aged man with a cold face and a general's uniform stared at a three-dimensional image in front of him, and said with an annoyed expression:

"Damn the Gambino people, I don't know what crazy they are doing, the recent offensive has become more and more fierce, and the entire northwest defense line has been comprehensively harassed by them, except for countless fleets, it is said that even the strong men of the Blazing Yue Commander level have dispatched more than ten heads, and the troops under my command are simply not enough!"

"But at such a critical moment, you let a large number of elites, including the 'Frost and Snow' attack group, break away from the defense line to carry out that hell top secret mission, I just want to ask you, what about the defense line here? What about the security of the Empire's northwestern frontier? ”

In the image is an old man with gray hair, revealing a faint killing majesty all over his body, the iron fitting golden marshal's uniform is spotless, and several huge medals on his chest are shining in the light.

Hearing his subordinates' implicit angry questioning, he smiled disappreciatively and said slowly:

"General Feng Linbo, I have no obligation to explain to you the reasonableness of the order, this matter involves the top secret of the Empire! So as a soldier of the Empire, your obligation is to carry out the orders of the military headquarters to the letter, understand? ”

"Of course I will not forget my duty!" Admiral Feng Linbo gritted his teeth and said,

"But such an important force has been drained away, and the already fragile northwest defense line will never be able to stop the next attack of that group of aliens, don't forget, behind the defense line is a large area of our empire's overseas autonomous territory, if you really let these beasts who treat humans like food rush in, what will be the consequences...... Don't say it's me, even if you are in your capacity, you will inevitably go to a military court! Are you sure you want to do this? ”

The marshal said lightly: "I know the consequences better than anyone else!" It's just that this loss is only insignificant compared to what we are about to gain! So you just have to execute the command and you're good to go! ”

"You must be crazy! That's about the life and death of tens of billions of Imperial citizens! You actually say that this is a trivial loss? Feng Linbo finally couldn't suppress his anger, and roared with a blue face:

"I will never carry out this unreasonable order, even if you want to remove me, I will admit it!"

"Admiral!" The Minister of Defense looked cold, slapped the table heavily, and said word by word:

"You can challenge my orders and appeal to the Supreme Council of the Empire afterwards. But now, you still have to do your duty to the letter! Otherwise, I will order your removal at once!" ”

"......" Feng Linbo glared at his former old boss fiercely, gritting his teeth and saying nothing.

The Minister of Defense sighed, and his expression softened: "Xiao Feng, how many years have you been, and your stubborn temper has not changed at all!" How can I say hello? ”

"Well, there are some secrets that you don't know enough about. But I assure you that within three days, the two main armies of 'Bingfeng' and 'Fuxi' guarding the hinterland of the empire will immediately go north to reinforce the northwest defense line, and all the logistics materials you need will also be allocated as soon as possible! So you should be satisfied, right? ”

"If that's the case, then I have nothing more to say!" Feng Linbo's face softened and gave a standard military salute.

The three-dimensional image gradually faded in front of his eyes, and the marshal looked at the two documents on the desk in a daze, and a bitter smile inadvertently appeared on his old face.

It was his carefully prepared military budget for the next fiscal year of the Empire. The content of the other document is to deal with the increasingly severe security situation around the empire, and after a joint assessment by the Wise Regiment of the Ministry of War, a complete set of special arms expansion plans were proposed.

There is no doubt that both of these plans will cost the empire a huge amount of financial and material resources, and even far exceed the psychological bottom line of the bigwigs in the Supreme Ruling Council, and he really has little hope that these two plans will be passed in the next budget review.

Although he is also a member of the Supreme Ruling Council, the military does not have the advantage in the highest decision-making level of power in this empire, and it is not easy to reassure those big people who hold the power of financial approval.

After thinking about it for a long time, he sighed a little tiredly, put the papers away, got up and walked out of the minister's office, intending to consult with a few colleagues who were close to him first.

……

In the boundless void, the fleet is hurrying away.

After more than ten days of sailing, the range of the empire's power is getting closer and closer, and the nerves of the officers and men on the ship, which have been tense for a long time, cannot help but relax a little.

"General, I've been in contact with the Imperial Legion that took over!"

In the main control room of the flagship, the officer in charge of communications and liaison excitedly reported to the major general.

"Where have they been?"

"At a distance of about seven hundred light years, as long as you pass through four more wormholes, it will take no more than an hour at most, and you can meet them!" The officer replied.

The major general nodded when he heard the news, and a big stone in his heart fell to the ground slightly.

It basically takes no time for a battleship to pass through a wormhole, and the time is mainly spent on the journey between wormholes. Now that the Empire's legions are close at hand, there really isn't anything to worry about.

However, accidents often happen at the moment closest to success.

……

In the spatial fault, hundreds of giant flying saucers have been quietly following this fleet for a while!

The flying saucer has a diameter of nearly 10,000 meters, its dark purple body is smooth and smooth like a mirror, and a purple-red energy shield with a diameter of more than ten meters can easily block the spatial turbulence storm that sweeps from time to time, making it unable to have any impact on the flying saucer itself.

"Your Excellency the Elder, everything is ready, do we need to do it now?" A soft voice echoed inside the flying saucer at the head.

"Are you sure that thing has fallen into human hands?" A majestic and deep voice sounded.

"Of course, from the time the human expedition fleet entered the ancient ruins, our warriors had already discovered their traces!" The voice from before replied,

"Now that they've finally left that desperate realm, and they look like they've lost a lot of power, this is a great opportunity for our people."

The third voice was obviously much more steady: "But even if this is the case, it is not certain whether that thing was obtained by humans or not, after all, the warriors of our tribe are deeply aware of the danger of the ancient ruins!" Maybe they didn't get anything this time. ”

"It would be too cost-effective for us to act rashly and not get what we needed, but instead to anger the Anthropocene realm and cause the war between the two races to reignite again! Don't forget that our race is still in the stage of recuperation, and it is never wise to go to war with the human race, the great race of the Star Sea. ”

"Honorable Elder Gamuraqi, I am sure enough to confirm this!" The first voice explained,

"Along the way, I have used secret methods to repeatedly identify that there are some mysterious energy fluctuations in the flagship core area of the human fleet, which are very similar to the results of our observation many years ago, so it is completely certain that they have obtained the essence of the ancient ruins."

"Now that we can confirm it, it seems that we have to make a move this time!" Elder Gamuralqi was silent for a moment before he spoke quietly.

"Elder, there's no way around it!" Another shrill voice sounded,

"The power of the human race is getting stronger and stronger, and in the past hundred years, there have been countless conflicts between the two races, although they are evenly matched, and no one can help the other, but we should all know in our hearts that this is just the result of our deep enough heritage."

"If this vital thing falls into the hands of human civilization, when they solve the mysteries in it, they can cultivate more high-end strategic forces in time, then the situation of our people will become more and more difficult, so no matter what the consequences will be, we have no choice now! The Great Dragons of Styros. His Highness Sagusnocchi has led a large army to assemble on the northwest border of the Human Empire, and we should deal with this side as soon as possible and rush over to participate in the upcoming holy war! Do you understand? ”

There was silence in the flying saucer, and the big people present were all thinking.

“…… All right! Since that's the case, let's do it! Elder Gamuralqi said slowly, "But the reinforcements of the Human Empire are already very close, we need to fight quickly!" ”