Ye Wenlin's bombardment was simple and crude, but very effective.

Under the ruthless and fierce fire from the Trojan Horse No. 1, even the missile network seemed as fragile as glass, shattering into heartbreaking fragments.

The vanguard fleet was unstoppable, opening up nearly ten range units in one go, forcibly carving out a bloody path for the main force behind.

Among the journalists under house arrest, those who were originally complaining or feeling relieved all widened their eyes. A photographer, knowing that his footage would definitely be confiscated, still couldn't help but take a few shaky photos of the battle situation map on the big screen.

Moreover, some were so excited that they could barely speak, tremblingly sighing: "The spearhead! This is the spearhead!"

However, just as the crew's admiration reached a fever pitch, the vanguard spearhead captain Ye Wenlin suddenly called a halt to this nearly invincible charge.

Zhang Liping immediately shouted at him through the communicator: "Captain Ye, what's up with you?"

Ye Wenlin pressed the communication system and imitated Zhang Liping's accent to reply: "Big brother, I have to check with my superiors about this matter."

Yang Ning from the General Staff Office, who had been closely monitoring the battlefield, immediately responded: "General Staff Office, received."

Ye Wenlin didn't expect that frivolous remark to be overheard. He instantly felt a bit embarrassed, rubbed his nose, and cleared his throat, returning to normal: "Colonel, should I report to you or to our chief?"

Yang Ning paused for a moment, seeming to flip through something, and after a while replied: "General Zhao is currently on the Chinese ship of the Earth Allied Forces. Any requests from the Trojan Horse No. 1 and its accompanying fleet will be coordinated and relayed by me."

Ye Wenlin didn't waste words. He raised his head and looked straight ahead at the battlefield through the sixteen-inch screen: "Now there are two points that I find abnormal. First, based on my past experience observing enemy warships at close range, there are many giant ships in the enemy fleet of the Trojan Horse No. 1's weight class. Even if there may be differences in attack levels between the two sides due to factors such as technology, it's impossible for the difference to be this big. Their firepower can't be this weak. Second, if I were the enemy commander, I wouldn't allow us to push our firepower like this. Don't forget, before the Trojan Horse No. 1 was attacked, the initiative had always been in the hands of the other side. And don't forget that electromagnetic cannon that directly crossed the fortress. I don't believe they can only launch these glass ball-like small missiles."

"Your judgment makes sense. The enemy has a clear advantage in electromagnetic interference and informatics. "According to the reaction of our forward scout ships, the enemy can conduct reverse tracking of our communication signals, locking onto the position of the scout ships from a distance of around sixty times the range unit," Yang Ning said solemnly.

"The electromagnetic cannon that directly hit the Earth's surface utilizes a special diffraction principle and does not require high precision, but signal tracking is different," Ye Wenlin thought for a moment. "If we assume sixty times the range unit is the precise attack range of the enemy's electromagnetic weapons, then drawing our main force into its attack range before the solar storm erupted may have been the enemy's primary objective. That's why they took the bait and actively attacked the Trojan Horse No. 1."

"I basically agree," Yang Ning said. "Please have the vanguard stand by, I will request instructions from the chief, but I'm afraid..."

His voice trailed off subtly, lowering a bit: "The attack order won't change."

Ye Wenlin curled his lips in a lazy and self-deprecating manner.

"Indeed," the genius, well-versed in ancient and modern knowledge, thought to himself, "War is not hunting. It is always just a form of political expression."

It turned out that Yang Ning, who was often stationed at the General Staff Office and was also the head of talent for the Second Department, indeed had a keen sense of perception.

He was used to putting on a show, and naturally, also used to guessing the minds of others who did the same. As he expected, the request suggesting "forward troops on standby, proceed with caution" was not approved.

This was despite Yang Ning having already fulfilled his duty by explaining in detail and with clear logic the reasoning he shared with Ye Wenlin.

"Can't be helped." His superior, Major General Chen Zhong, said exactly this:

"The Earth Allied Forces isn't made up of just our country. The system is enormous and complex. In the current situation, a single tug affects the whole body—no single nation or intercontinental alliance can put the brakes on now. Yours and Ye Wenlin’s judgments are only speculation and reasoning without solid evidence. What general of any country would dare act on two subordinates’ personal guesses, order a retreat, and miss the chance for battle? Little Yang, the whole world is watching us now, and the pro-war faction has just unified public opinion—their footing isn’t even steady yet."

“No matter how right you may be, under current circumstances, it’s still unreasonable.”

That was the firm conclusion Major General Chen Zhong gave to Yang Ning’s report.

Yang Ning said nothing, and directly forwarded Chen Zhong’s exact words via voice message to Ye Wenlin.

After listening, Ye Wenlin gave a wry smile, stretched dramatically, and drawled into the communicator:

"Alright then, cannon fodder—it’s your time to charge into the fray!"

He didn’t bother to hide it. Colonel Yang naturally heard it too, but he didn’t respond. He simply ended the call calmly.

This was already beyond his authority. Having come this far, Yang Ning had learned the lesson of "not making futile efforts."

He connected to the technical expert attached to the military: “How’s the anti-tracking communication plan?”

Someone from the technical team immediately responded: "The simulated diffuse reflection system is complete. Communications will resume in thirty seconds. The probability of avoiding enemy tracking is as high as 79%!"

Seventy-nine percent... not high, but enough for the frontlines.

Yang Ning leaned back gently, waiting for all signal lights to come back on.

Thirty seconds later, as Yang Ning swept his gaze across the space map, his expression suddenly darkened—

Twelve out of twenty scout ships had been shot down… the casualties were quite severe.

His gaze couldn’t help but fall on Scout Ship No. 4. The bright dot representing No. 4 had quietly gone dim.

In that moment, Yang Ning couldn’t explain why, but a sense of deep regret filled his heart.

Yet just then, he happened to glance over the internal implanted communicator signals from the General Staff Office—and suddenly noticed that Fu Luo’s signal was still active!

But strangely, Fu Luo hadn’t been able to connect to the General Staff Office, and for some unknown reason, she hadn’t been included in the “simulated diffuse reflection anti-tracking system’s” call coverage.

Which meant that if contact was made through this line, the enemy would still immediately lock on to Fu Luo.

Too bizarre... Why is everything related to her always so bizarre?

Yang Ning suppressed his urge to move and lightly tapped his fingers on the table: "Where on earth did she run off to?"

The newly resourceful Fu Luo crawled out of the repair ship.

The repair ship's docking bay was like an underground parking garage, empty and desolate.

Fu Luo suspected there were surveillance devices like cameras inside, so she didn't act rashly. She carried her toolbox, deliberately walking slowly, quickly photographing the path she passed while inconspicuously scanning every corner.

Reaching the end, Fu Luo found a changing room. She went inside, latched the door, and sure enough saw two sets of light orange uniforms hanging there, likely belonging to the two unlucky souls she had slaughtered.

Fu Luo took off her spacesuit and picked a relatively well-fitting set from among them, putting it on over her own uniform - she didn't want to leave behind personal items and startle the enemy.

Thanks to Robin's emergency weight loss training, although being forced to roll around on a yoga ball wrapped in plastic wrap made Fu Luo suffer meaningless punishment, it indeed had a miraculous effect on excessive muscle. At this moment, her significantly narrower shoulders allowed her to wear two layers of uniforms without the clothing restricting her movement.

Fu Luo put on her hat, fastened that single-lens eyepiece of unknown purpose, pulled the brim down low, and walked out of the maintenance area.

Using a hand clad in fake fingerprint gloves and an eye fitted with a fake iris lens, she tricked the access control and officially entered the interior of the large ship.

Fu Luo breathed a sigh of relief - it seemed that the warships of the other star system were not much more advanced than the access control system Wang Yizheng had used to lock her up.

Entering the large ship, Fu Luo finally saw the true humans of the other star system.

She didn't dare to stride right in, but hid in a corner for a while to observe.

The large ships of the other star system were unbelievably complex, divided into many levels. Those on the bottom level all wore the same light orange uniforms as her and were probably all repair soldiers. From her angle, she could see up to the second and third levels. The second level wore dark orange uniforms, while the third level wore brown uniforms. She didn't know what types of soldiers they were.

The floors above that couldn't be observed, but everyone had their own duties. The entire interior of the large ship was like a huge ant nest. They only communicated with each other using light signals. There were many personnel, but it was silent, looking even more disciplined than Earth's large warships.

As she walked into the interior of the large ship, the lens on Fu Luo's right eye began updating information, quickly displaying rows of scrolling text.

The development process of the other star system was unique. In the early days of their escape, humans from various countries had no choice but to unite as one, so the evolved language and writing system had traces of various national languages.

This mixed language system took Fu Luo quite some effort.

In the topmost scrolling text, amidst a bunch of languages she was only half-familiar with, Fu Luo first saw the English word "Maintenance".

And after this word, there was actually a "中" written in Chinese.

On the entire big screen, the only Chinese characters used were two - one was "中" and the other was "待".

It was simplified Chinese, not traditional or the kind written by Japanese people. The meaning was also easy to guess - completed maintenance tasks would automatically scroll down the screen, while "待" meant tasks waiting to be claimed, and "中" meant in maintenance.

Fu Luo's gaze fell on the only pending maintenance task, trying to figure out what it was asking to repair, but then, she sadly discovered that besides "待" and "Maintenance", she basically couldn't understand anything else.

But the corner mark of that task entry was black.

Each maintenance task had a colorful corner mark, possibly representing different floors - this was almost a characteristic of the other star system's large ships. Different types of soldiers were distinguished by different colored uniforms, each brighter than the last. At first glance, it could almost rival the crazy scene of the Spring Festival Gala on Earth.

Only that solemn black stood out.

Fu Luo hesitated for a moment and didn't respond. She speculated that "black" might represent a very special department. Her top priority now was to steal a ship and return to Earth's fortress. She was still carrying a chip with important information and didn't want to risk contact with these obviously unusual things.

However, man proposes but God disposes. Just as she was slinking to the side pretending not to exist, a high-ranking person wearing a green uniform suddenly walked out of the elevator. The unfortunate Fu Luo happened to be passing by that elevator. Before she could slip away, the other party had already waved at her.

A light signal was then transmitted. Fu Luo knew that if she avoided it again, it would only arouse suspicion, so she had no choice but to receive it. The light signal instantly reached her brain. The other party was saying, "Follow me."

Fu Luo didn't make a sound. She lowered her head and obediently followed. Then, she saw the person do a certain operation, and the "Pending Repair" information on her right eye lens immediately changed to "In Repair".

Oh, this was the "black" maintenance task she had been avoiding like the plague.

As Fu Luo walked, she secretly paid attention to the surrounding paths and began to think of ways to escape. She now had newly replenished oxygen capsules on her body. The other side was in the open while she was hidden. The only problem was that she wasn't clear on how the enemy's large ship operated.

The people here were not easy-to-fool ordinary civilians, but cunning enemy soldiers from the other star system.

The green-uniformed man leading the way was thin and tall. He didn't say much, but had an arrogant look. He led Fu Luo all the way to a warehouse and sent her a second light signal: "The cooling system is broken."

After that, the man waited to the side like a contractor.

When human civilization on Earth developed to this stage, besides the strictly hierarchical military, human rights in other areas of society had risen to a quite sensitive height. If it weren't for the special period of war, the journalists following Ye Wenlin could completely sue the military for violating the constitution.

But the other star system was different. The environment of the other star system was harsh, completely established at the cost of blood as a space haven. Their first priority was always to survive, and the demand for high efficiency was almost perverse.

After being influenced by Ye Wenlin for so long, Fu Luo understood with a little thought. In such a place, a linear top-down governance structure was inevitable. In the large ecosystem of the other star system's warships, the repair soldier she was impersonating was probably at the bottom of the food chain.

Fu Luo knew it was impossible to send this person away, so she had no choice but to reluctantly take the toolbox and walk forward, calculating the distance between herself and the other party out of the corner of her eye.

Could she kill him with one blow? The pistol was no longer usable, as the sound could spread in the cabin. What about the laser knife then?

To be on the safe side, she would have to chop at his head with the laser knife.

In extreme environments, people's growth and transformation can be astonishing. In the blink of an eye, Fu Luo seemed to have transformed from a novice killer with trembling hands into an executioner with an unchanging expression.

Thanks to her experience in repairing various robots, Fu Luo's movements were very professional when she lifted the cover of the cooling system. The other party didn't seem to notice anything and, after observing her for a moment, began to idle around.

Fu Luo glanced inside, and the intricate cooling system made her dizzy on the spot. After all, she wasn't a real engineering technician; repairing a simple household robot was already her limit.

Fu Luo thought regretfully, "If that's the case, then I'll have no choice but to kill him."

Just as one of her hands was already touching her waist, ready to pull out the portable laser knife, suddenly, she found that the interface of her right eyeglass lens had changed. The lens seemed to automatically start scanning the cooling system in front of her.

Fu Luo was stunned. The next moment, a bunch of numbers flashed quickly across the lens, finally stopping on an image. She carefully followed the position indicated by the lens and dug through the intricate pipes, and sure enough, she saw a heat pipe leaking.

It... it can be done like this?!

This foolproof operation and customer-friendly maintenance assistance made Fu Luo feel like her worldview had once again entered a new era.