"Boss, the military intercepted a target ship, but it self-destructed, and there were no biological reactions on board. It is suspected to be operated by mechanical soldiers.
"Currently, over a dozen similar ships have been discovered. Although the military dispatched highly maneuverable ships to pursue them, all attempts at pursuit failed.
"The military captured footage of enemy ships colliding with planets."
Yang Ming’s network terminal automatically projected a screen.
Catherine immediately leaned over, staring at the blurry video playing on the screen.
—The blurriness was due to the long shooting distance and the fact that both the target celestial body and the ship with the imaging device were moving at high speed.
It was barely visible: a silver-white shuttle ship entered the atmosphere, with fiery flashes appearing outside its protective shield, like a fireball crashing into the planet’s cloud layers.
"Suicidal collision?"
Catherine wondered aloud, "What is this?"
"Natural disaster," Yang Ming replied gravely, "man-made calamity."
"What?" Catherine was puzzled.
Yang Ming patiently explained,
"Just now, a large number of ship transitions were detected at the Empire’s border. Dozens of these ships have crossed the Empire’s defense voids, dispersing throughout the entire Empire.
"My assistant and I speculate that the New Federation is going all out, directly triggering all buried insect points, forcibly creating a large-scale second catastrophe for the Empire.
"Only a few high-ranking officials and a research team within the New Federation know all the buried insect coordinates. They can easily accomplish this."
Catherine lightly furrowed her brow, "Can’t the Imperial Military stop them?"
"The Empire’s territory is vast, and the cosmic space is immense. Even if the Imperial Army expanded tenfold, it would be impossible to monitor all airspaces in real time."
Yang Ming shrugged and sighed,
"From the perspective of interstellar military strategy, it always revolves around area defense centered on each Administrative Star.
"The distribution of the Empire’s military forces is extremely uneven. I can navigate freely with a small broken ship, let alone the New Federation that’s been infiltrating for who knows how many years.
"What I’m wondering now is, if the New Federation dares to make this move, are they prepared to engage the Empire in a full-scale war?
"Or, after so many skirmishes, does the Empire only dare to engage at the borders, allowing them to confirm that the Empire is weak at its core and intending to overthrow it in one fell swoop?"
Catherine fell silent, took out her communicator, and began searching the Supermodified people’s intranet.
Yang Ming patted his knee, stood up, walked to the window, and also began information searching.
However, he was searching part of the information database of the New Federation CIA.
According to Lyu’s quick investigation, none of the New Federation agents she was monitoring knew about this operation, indicating an extremely high level of secrecy.
The hidden earpiece continuously reported Lyu’s updates:
"Boss, the East Wind is about to arrive."
"Boss, three insect swarm riots have been discovered. It has been confirmed that these ships are the key to activating the swarms. They seem to have some method to cause the swarms to riot directly. The swarms are transporting the queen away from their hiding in the crust, and all three insect swarm movements are heading towards the nearest Administrative Star. One swarm’s hiding spot is right within the same Constant Star System as an Administrative Star... It’s predicted that in the next few hours, at least thirty Fourth Rank insect swarm riots will occur, making it impossible to calculate the disaster level."
"Boss, Admiral Thomas is contacting you."
Yang Ming pressed the virtual button, and a half-portrait projection appeared immediately in front of him.
Admiral Thomas was already standing on the fleet flagship’s command platform, with silhouettes of people running back and forth in preparation for battle behind him.
Yang Ming immediately saluted.
"Thanks to your timely warning, it has been confirmed that the New Federation launched an attack on us!" Admiral Thomas said solemnly, "They’re trying to detonate all remaining buried insect sites... Damn it! We should have foreseen that they had such a strategy!"
Yang Ming said, "General, I also didn’t anticipate this crisis in advance. My attention was focused on the high-rank insect swarms outside the domain."
"This is a failure of the Military Intelligence Bureau," Admiral Thomas said calmly, "The Military Intelligence Bureau is the eyes of the Military Department, and now, these eyes have lost most of their function."
Yang Ming asked, "Has the military begun responding?"
"The national emergency defense system has been activated, border troops are regrouping for defense, and local defense forces are comprehensively searching for insect swarms."
Admiral Thomas’s expression grew increasingly grim as he continued,
"We captured a total of forty-two target ships, and now only one has been intercepted. They have precisely exploited the gaps in our local defense network.
"The Empire possesses an invincible fleet, yet lacks a matching intelligence organization for support.
"Fortunately, the majority of the insect swarms activated are likely Fourth Rank. Although they possess the capability for high-speed movement within a Constant Star System, interstellar travel is almost impossible.
"The most pressing concern now is the buried insect points within the Constant Star Systems of the Administrative Stars, and we will prioritize addressing these swarms.
"The Imperial Military needs your strength, your ancient technology, and your ability to decapitate the Mother Worm!
"The Military Department grants you temporary privileges, allowing you to freely navigate all Star Domains outside the Emperor Star Circle, and permitting you access to local defense systems where insect disasters erupt!
"Protecting the people is a soldier’s mission! Are you willing to accept this task?"
Yang Ming shouted at the top of his lungs.
Admiral Thomas nodded, "There will be an information team here to provide you with insect disaster information. Go, White Ghost, the Empire will not forget your achievements... I will not either."