Chapter 203 The Direction of the Empire

The moment the enemy fleet broke through the defense line in an instant and approached the flagship with massive losses.

Chen Ming did not hesitate, and the twelve spaceships left behind immediately maneuvered, all blocking the enemy fleet's firing trajectory.

It relies on the thirty times the radiation energy dissipation in the simulation setting and the ability to forcibly dissipate hard radiation energy without turning off the shields and weapons to resist the concentrated fire on the flagship.

However, this nearly ten-fold numerical difference and the lack of other interference attacks made it difficult for Chen Ming's spacecraft to completely absorb all the firepower, even with various blessings.

Losses soon followed.

Even if Chen Ming's spaceship could be reshaped into a new one after its loss, it would be difficult to do so. The opponent seized the last chance and used all his firepower to completely block it.

In an instant, all the spacecraft guarding Chen Ming's flagship were destroyed, and the shield of the flagship itself was also attacked to the point of crumbling in an instant.

And then the next moment.

Another spaceship once again blocked the flagship.

Chen Ming's dozen or so spaceships, powered by psychic energy, successfully delayed the enemy's firepower until the fleet at the front of the battle line turned around and returned.

At the same time, some of the diverted fleets bit the tail of Cheng Xinghai's fleet from the other side and completely surrounded it.

The battle-loss ratio of Cheng Xinghai's fleet was already completely out of control when they made a forced breakthrough just now.

When Chen Ming succeeded in delaying time and was not killed by Cheng Xinghai's plan, her fleet was bound to perish.

The overall situation has been decided.

Chen Ming, who was still a little nervous at first, was completely relieved.

He quickly made a note of Cheng Xinghai's unexpected plan to nearly overturn his car. He would never overturn his car a second time under similar circumstances in the future.

Chen Ming then roughly estimated the actual consumption of mental energy required by the things that required psychic energy that he did in the simulated battle just now.

If it exceeds the upper limit of his mental power, he will voluntarily admit defeat.

Cheating is no fun.

However, after Chen Ming did a little calculation, he was basically sure that his mental energy consumption was as good as nothing.

After all, there is not a single cruiser-level spacecraft in this simulation, and the consumption of frigates and destroyers can only be said to be a drop in the bucket.

So in the end, Chen Ming's total loss of 300 spaceships was 53, of which 12 were expelled.

The opponent will be completely wiped out in the next step. Already surrounded by Chen Ming's fleet, with the protection of Chen Ming's spiritual power, not even a single ship on the opponent can be killed.

However, Chen Ming didn't get any hint of victory.

So I continued to rely on the fleet that had bitten the tail of the enemy fleet to continuously strangle the remaining spaceships.

By the way, capture the escape capsules launched from the spaceships that are included in the simulation.

Then he took some time to carefully recall the last scene.

Looking back now, Chen Ming found that he could predict in advance that there would be problems with the position of his flagship, and a slight adjustment would not give the opponent any chance.

He can even use the position of his own flagship as a second level trap to completely defeat his opponent.

Chen Ming shook his head slightly, having nothing to say.

Sure enough, he was the one to choose.

At this time, it was at the headquarters of the Fourteenth Army.

Cheng Xinghai had completely given up struggling, took off the instrument that was covered with wires on his head, and dialed Bai Quan's phone number.

While waiting for the call to be connected, her eyes gradually began to fill with tears.

And the moment it was connected.

"Uncle Bai——"

Bai Quan immediately hung up the phone.

After a while, Bai Quan called again and said, "Are you ready?"

Cheng Xinghai had returned to normal when he called this time, or so it seemed.

"Well, is Chen Ming's spiritual power really that strong?"

"Fake."

"Then he..."

"He's even stronger. This is because I told him to keep his hands a little longer and not kill you directly with just his psychic powers."

"..."

Cheng Xinghai hung up the phone.

He lowered his head and hugged his knees, huddled in the equipment, motionless.

Bai Quan looked at the terminal with a busy signal and could probably guess that Cheng Xinghai was autistic.

The two brothers, Cheng Xinghai and Cheng Xinghe, had fought with each other quite a lot in the past.

He had seen the scene where the two of them spoke loudly before the fight and remained silent after it ended countless times. He had also seen countless times when the one who lost the fight would go back to his room to shut himself up.

In the past, he was worried that something would happen to them if they were autistic, but later he discovered that the two of them went back to the room purely to reflect on their own problems.

Once you have finished reflecting, the confidence to fight with others will come back again.

After all these years, Bai Quan is very familiar with him, so it's not a big deal.

Moreover, Cheng Xinghai's performance just now was actually pretty good. At least he was able to counterattack quickly even though he had almost no understanding of Chen Ming's psychic abilities. Even though the battle situation was at an overall disadvantage, he was just a hair away from winning.

If four or five more spaceships could be retained, Chen Ming's previous flagship would definitely not be able to withstand the final wave of firepower output.

It's a pity that there is no if.

But Bai Quan changed his mind again.

In the past, Cheng Xinghe fought against Chen Ming, whose psychic powers had not been developed at all and only had a shabby fleet.

In the end, they managed to achieve a draw, but in the end, external interference led to Cheng Xinghe being captured.

Now, Cheng Xinghai was fighting against Chen Ming, whose psychic power had been developed to a high level, but was only partially restricted, and the starting fleet strength of both sides was fixed.

So if Cheng Xinghe fought Chen Ming again now, he would probably be beaten by Chen Ming.

After all, Chen Ming's psychic power progressed much faster than Cheng Xinghe's command technology, not to mention that Cheng Xinghe had been frozen in the escape pod for two months and did nothing.

And if Cheng Xinghai had the opportunity to come again, the result might be different.

Bai Quan sent a message to Cheng Xinghai with similar ideas in his mind to comfort her.

It happened that at this time, Chen Ming had also cleaned up the battlefield and completely ended the battle, and his consciousness was ejected from the simulation device.

When Chen Ming noticed that Bai Quan seemed to be waiting in the corner of the equipment room, he said, "It's over."

"I saw it."

Bai Quan said as he approached the equipment, turned off the equipment next to him and said, "It can be seen that your command skills have indeed improved during this period, and the small-scale bait is very good."

"It was just that something went wrong at the end. When you set up another layer of bait, you exposed the position of your flagship."

Hearing Bai Quan's words again, Chen Ming felt a little regretful. He did not expect that the opponent could turn around and break through to the side and rear of his fleet in an instant.

And because of the simulation, he himself was not in danger, so the psychic effect of danger perception could not be exerted.

Otherwise, when the opponent's fleet broke through the defense line and attacked the support fleet he prepared, he should have sensed the danger and started to dispatch in advance.

But at this time, Chen Ming felt that he seemed to rely too much on danger perception.

Although it was okay for him, a psychic, to rely on psychic power, but psychic power might fail one day, just like when he tried to control the mechanical race in the colony for the first time.

If he gets hit like that at a critical moment, he won't have a second chance.

Many times he has to discover the dangers that he can find by himself.

It's better to use psychic power as a last resort.

So when Bai Quan pointed out this problem, he didn't say anything stubborn and admitted, "Indeed, this is my problem, I will definitely remember it."

Bai Quan was very satisfied with Chen Ming's learning attitude and said, "You actually have some minor problems in other aspects of your combat effectiveness, but the flaws do not outweigh the merits."

"Your opponent has completed all the basic courses of our 14th Corps Military Academy and has actually started to complete his graduation project on the battlefield."

"It's normal for her to surpass you in command knowledge and ability. As long as you win in the end, there will always be no problem."

Chen Ming said modestly, "It's mainly based on psychic power. Without psychic power, I definitely can't beat him."

"You don't have to worry about this, Because the other side also used psychic energy. "

Chen Ming was stunned and asked: "Isn't Cheng Xinghe a psychic?"

"The other side is not Cheng Xinghe."

"I feel very much like him."

Bai Quan nodded and said: "Indeed, they are very much like him, because both of them were taught by me. It's his sister, Cheng Xinghai."

"Oh? I remember you said before that Cheng Xinghe was beaten badly by someone close to him and came out to relax. He wanted to fight Yu Hui, but he happened to run into the star zone military looking for trouble with me. That person..."

"Yes, it's his sister,"

"Happy."

Chen Ming saw that Bai Quan's expression seemed to be mixed with a trace of worry, as if he was worried that he still had hostility towards Cheng Xinghe.

So he took the initiative to add: "Don't worry, you have apologized for him before, I won't care about him, and I won't vent my anger on others."

"That's good."

After repeating his attitude, Chen Ming asked Bai Quan: "What is Cheng Xinghai's psychic energy?"

Bai Quan pointed to his head and didn't say it clearly.

Chen Ming felt that it was probably a psychic power similar to Shao Yang's that could improve his thinking ability. After all, in the previous battle, almost all of his arrangements were seen through, which was really scary.

Cheng Xinghai's psychic power should be in this aspect.

While Chen Ming was thinking, Bai Quan glanced at the time on the terminal and said to Chen Ming: "It's almost time. Let's stop here today. I'll watch the video again later."

"Tomorrow we will officially start teaching again. At that time, I will help you review the problems in your whole game. I will also tell you one more thing during class tomorrow."

"Review is no problem."

Chen Ming originally planned to do this, but if he reviewed it himself, there would always be mistakes and omissions. It would be great if Bai Quan could help.

"But can't we talk about it now?"

Bai Quan liked Chen Ming's serious attitude towards learning, but in response to Chen Ming's question, Bai Quan explained: "Let's talk about it formally tomorrow."

"But I can tell you a little bit in advance, that is, this is a very important thing that I learned after I was promoted to lieutenant general this time."

"Is it related to me?"

"The first half of the matter is indeed related to you, and the second half of the matter may be related to you."

Chen Ming subconsciously began to think about the meaning of Bai Quan's words, but what Bai Quan said alone was not enough for him to guess what Bai Quan was going to say tomorrow.

And Bai Quan didn't say much.

Just asked Chen Ming one more question before hanging up the phone; "Do you want to meet Cheng Xinghai?"

"Her command level is close to Cheng Xinghe's. After taking into account her psychic power, her overall level should be similar to yours without full psychic power. She is a very good sparring partner."

"I have opened the equipment here to you. You can use it yourself. She must want to fight you a few more times after losing to you."

Chen Ming said without thinking too much: "Okay."

He felt the importance of command technology in the previous battle.

At least if he was Cheng Xinghai, he would definitely not be able to do all that before, and would only be crushed by his own rogue style of play.

And he can also really feel that when fighting with almost equal strength, the training of command technology is real.

Although the battle of simulated equipment is different from the actual battle, it will never hurt to practice a few more times.

What's more, except Bai Quan and Cheng Xinghai, who Bai Quan recommends now, he really can't find a sparring partner.

But Bai Quan is busy enough to take time out to teach every day, and Chen Ming really doesn't have the confidence to win the simulated battle with Bai Quan, who has risen to the rank of lieutenant general on the battlefield.

So he only had one choice left.

Bai Quan's mouth curled up slightly, and he said, "Then I'll send you her communication code."

The next day.

Chen Ming and Bai Quan returned to their previous rhythm and started normal teaching in the morning.

However, unlike usual, Bai Quan came up and asked Chen Ming a question: "Did you contact Cheng Xinghai yesterday?"

Chen Ming's mind flashed through what happened last night, and he said, "Yes, but she contacted me."

Bai Quan immediately explained: "I gave you her communication code and gave her yours."

"I know."

"She contacted me and I chatted with her for a few words, and then she said she wanted to play with me again, but I didn't agree because I had something to do. I told her that we would talk about it later, and there was nothing else."

"I feel that she is a little bit unlike a girl in the army."

"Why not?"

"A little... too lively, quite familiar, I feel that girls in the army should be more stable."

"Well..."

Bai Quan pushed his glasses and said nothing.

People who just met Cheng Xinghai would definitely not expect how competitive she is, how... lively she is.

Seeing Bai Quan didn't speak, Chen Ming asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"It's okay. You'll understand her personality after getting to know her more. I was a little worried that you would have a conflict with her, but now it seems okay."

Hearing this, Chen Ming emphasized again, "I said yesterday that I won't vent my anger on anyone, even Cheng Xinghe's sister. Don't worry."

"Okay, let's start as usual today."

"Before we start, I have to tell you about what happened yesterday."

"Come on, sign a confidentiality agreement first, at least go through the process."

Bai Quan quickly sent a copy of the agreement to Chen Ming, who signed it after checking it and confirming that there was no problem.

Bai Quan also cleared his throat and formally said: "It's about the Galo Star Region."

"I mentioned before that our 14th Corps will increase its investment in the Galo Star Region branch and expand its influence."

"In other words, we have to take action outside, starting from here, to deal with the foreign enemies that block our external direction."

Chen Ming asked in confusion: "I know, didn't you say that? Do we need to sign a confidentiality agreement?"

"Do you think the 14th Corps branch has the ability to deal with the entire Yuhui Star Region outside?"

"No."

Chen Ming answered decisively : "It's OK to just use the fleet here to fight guerrilla warfare to annoy Yuhui, but it's impossible to really attack Yuhui."

"Yes, I think so too, but the Empire doesn't think so."

"Soon, the Empire will open up a new battlefield with foreign enemies in the Galo star field and start a full-scale war."

"Full-scale war... why?"

"Because it's beneficial."

"You should know the benefits of Yuhui best. The Yuhui core has excellent computing power and can communicate with itself, plus a replica of the Kletka supercomputer, all of which are benefits."

Kletka, Chen Ming almost forgot about this thing.

A device that can create Yuhui individuals, even a replica, has great value.

It is indeed a good goal for the Empire.

But there is a problem, that is, when Chen Ming left Yuhui, he left behind many Yuhui individuals, although most of them were solved in Yuhui's internal cleansing.

But until today, there are still some Yuhui individuals under his control who are alive and have been expanding.

As long as he is given time, he can control the entire Yuhui star field without bloodshed.

If the Empire attacks Yuhui, it will not be good for him.

Chen Ming suddenly thought of Bai Quan's words yesterday, saying that the first half of the matter was related to him, and the relevant part was here.

"What about the second half?"

Bai Quan immediately said: "I haven't finished the first half."

"Because of you, the Empire changed its target and no longer attacked Yuhui, but chose to attack the mechanical star field next to Yuhui."

"We have already guessed the effect of your psychic power, and we also noticed the large-scale cleansing inside Yuhui after you left Yuhui star field some time ago."

"And Yuhui has also shrunk their colonies, as if they are going to retreat."

"The reason is obvious. You did something over there."

"The Empire has sufficient reason to believe that you left a backup plan inside Yuhui. It is only because Yuhui cleaned up the internal affairs and the management was strict that it did not show up for the time being."

"But your Yuhui must have stayed in Yuhui's star field and continued to expand. It is estimated that it will take at least three years of expansion time to control most of Yuhui's star field."

"So, after discussion, the top leaders of the Empire gave up the attack on Yuhui's star field."

"But opportunities don't wait for anyone. The Empire did not completely give up this idea, but changed its target to the mechanical race."

Bai Quan sent a complete star map of the latest Galo star field to Chen Ming, which marked the scope of Yuhui's star field and the mechanical race's star field.

The mechanical race's star system that Chen Ming visited last time was also specially marked.

Bai Quan continued, "The mechanical race itself does not have much value. Although the Baiyun steel material is good, it is not rare. You have to fight with the mechanical race to get it."

"And the mechanical race's chip has not been deciphered so far. It has no value except for trading with Yuhui or dismantling it into materials."

"But the things left by another civilization in the hands of the mechanical race are very valuable."

"In a sense, it can be equal to the harvest from Yuhui, or even higher."

Bai Quan paused and said the second half of the sentence: "Of course it may be lower. This is a risk, but because of your existence, the empire is willing to accept this risk."

Chen Ming pursed his lips, not knowing what to say.

Bai Quan did not wait for Chen Ming to speak, and continued: "Let me ask you a question. You can control the mechanical race, right?"

"Yes."

Chen Ming can answer this question, and there is no need to hide it. After all, Chen Ming has already controlled those mechanical cruisers in front of the entire pirate space station galaxy and sent them back to his temporary base.

After receiving Chen Ming's affirmative answer, Bai Quan said: "But we didn't find a situation similar to Yuhui's on the side of the mechanical race."

"Your control over the mechanical race is different from your control over Yuhui, and your psychic energy can't spread out through the mechanical race."

Chen Ming was quite surprised by Bai Quan's words, and asked back: "What do you mean?"

"In the video footage when you encountered the phase beast before, it was obvious that you went to attack and plunder the mechanical colony."

"But logically speaking, you already have the experience of Yuhui before, and you can send a mechanical race to infiltrate the hinterland of the mechanical race and gradually control their cities."

"Be a parasite that constantly absorbs more supplies, and take them all away when you find the right opportunity."

"This is definitely the easiest and most effective way."

"But you didn't do this, and chose the most direct way to plunder the resources of the mechanical race, and also summoned the mechanical race to follow up Recruitment, almost blocked you in the galaxy, this is very telling. "

"So we speculate that it is the hive mind of the mechanical race that is different from Yuhui that affects your psychic power on them."

Chen Ming was silent for a moment and replied: "Yes, all the individuals of the mechanical race controlled by me will be separated from their hive mind and cannot help me stay in the original place and spread like Yuhui."

After Chen Ming finished speaking, he immediately said: "I also have a question to ask. Isn't the empire now fighting with Yuhui and the mechanical race on the border in all directions? Why open a new battlefield? "

"And Yuhui and the mechanical race here have been blocking the door for so many years, why did they decide to do this recently? "

Bai Quan said: "Your two questions can be combined into one, that is, why does the empire want to open a new battlefield in the border star field of the Galo star field at this point in time. "

"The answer is actually very simple. "