After the New Year, the whole world was full of warm-ups for the Alliance's founding day celebration.

All the news gave way to the front page of the Leto Daily, which published a history of the Alliance every day, and the homepage of the Star Network played various documentaries about the Alliance.

Discount information from merchants was flooding in, and Lu Fenghan saw the bargain and couldn't help but buy a few more A packages to store at home.

Vincent came during this period and gave some of the fruits and food distributed by their intelligence search department to Lu Fenghan - he was alone and couldn't finish it, so he simply gave some to his boss.

Before leaving, Lu Fenghan stopped people and confirmed again: "Is there any problem on the front line?"

"No problem, all the rebel troops are stationed in place. The interstellar pirates move from time to time in the Kepler region and rob two transport ships. There is no abnormal news. The garrisons of the Central Army scattered in various parts of the Central Administrative District have been taken over by Leto, and 70% of them are in place."

Vincent remembered, "But I got new news this morning. General Nie Huai Ting wanted to update the weapons and equipment of the garrison and asked for a sign-up list. Clemo pushed it back, saying that the finances have long been dragged down by the expeditionary force and there is no money to upgrade the equipment.

But if you ask me, the garrison in the central administrative district, It's time to change their weapons, the guns they are holding are still the models from several years ago."

Lu Fenghan heard something strange.

"When did General Nie want to know the actual number of garrison troops that were transferred? He had to beat around the bush like this."

Vincent paused for two seconds before reacting, "Commander, what are you saying?"

"General Nie is worried that his subordinates will pretend to obey his orders but actually disobey them. He ordered the transfer of 100,000 troops to Leto, but maybe only 50,000 or even 30,000 were actually transferred. So he used the excuse of wanting to upgrade the weapons and equipment of the garrison troops to let his subordinates sign up for the number of people."

Lu Fenghan's face did not look good. "Even such a small matter can be stopped by Cleamo. It seems that the peace faction is indeed very powerful."

After hearing what Lu Fenghan said, Vincent's heart skipped a beat, "It shouldn't be. If they say 100,000 troops will be transferred, at least 80,000 should be in place, right?"

But after saying this, he himself was not sure and felt it was false.

If General Nie Huai Ting was still the leader of the alliance, then he would have sent 100,000 troops. But now, the situation has reversed. There have always been many factions within the military, and General Nie Huai Ting's words are not as effective as before. The middle and lower-level generals of the neutral faction may not dare to do too much. They asked for 100,000 troops, but they could actually send 90,000. As for the peace faction, 60,000 would be enough. In

addition, Clemo's efforts to stop it made Vincent feel that there might really be something fishy going on.

His throat was a little dry: "But General Nie Huaiting insisted, and both sides took a step back. Clemo agreed to upgrade the equipment and weapons of Leto's garrison."

Lu Fenghan nodded: "It's better to upgrade part of it than not to upgrade it."

Vincent didn't know why. He was sure that the rebels would not get carried away and Leto would not have any problems. Now he began to panic.

"Now Leto has two defense forces, one is the local garrison in Leto, and the other is the assistance from other places in the administrative district. They are... not very good at fighting."

He said this in a very respectful way.

In addition to the rebels, there has been no war in the alliance for many years. The role of the garrison is just to fight interstellar pirates and patrol the road.

Twenty years ago, Lu Jun led his men to defeat all the interstellar pirates, resulting in the garrison being left with only patrols to do. This

was not only the case in the Central Administrative District, but also in the Messier and Kepler Districts.

Only the Southern Cross District, which was close to the front line, was slightly better.

The war was kept out of the country by the expeditionary forces, so the people inside naturally became more lazy.

Maple Dan No. 1 is an example.

Once you get used to a comfortable life, you lose your vigilance and become soft-hearted.

Seeing Vincent's expression change again and again, Lu Fenghan did not continue, but just raised his chin towards him: "Hurry up and leave after delivering the things."

Vincent smiled bitterly: "I feel at ease here. If I leave this door, I'm afraid I will have insomnia tonight."

"What you and I can think of, General Nie can also think of." The half sentence that Lu Fenghan did not finish was that if Nie Huai Ting could not handle it, the two of them alone would be like an ant shaking a tree.

If it is a torrent, no one can stop it.

Vincent sighed, as if he had immediately found his psychological support and backbone: "Yes, General Nie is still here, so I'm leaving. Contact me if you need anything."

"Well," Lu Fenghan reminded, "keep the communication open."

Vincent's eyes flickered, and he became more serious: "Yes!"

On the day of the founding, Turan made an exception and gave the whole school a holiday, allowing students to go out to the streets to watch the celebration team. At the school gate, people also distributed small square flags for free.

Qi Yan was originally going to go home with Lu Fenghan. The optical computer at home was turned on and was extracting the data core of "Po Jun". This was the fourth day of the extraction process and it was almost completed. He wanted to watch it from the side.

As for the celebration ceremony, you can go to the virtual Sky Diamond Square to watch it through the holographic system.

But Ye Pei, Mondrian and Xia Zhiyang were all eager to try, and they all joined the team heading to Sky Diamond Plaza.

Lu Fenghan followed Qi Yan and helped him block the people who were crowding over from the side. However, there were too many people, and Qi Yan was bumped several times, frowning in pain. Lu Fenghan noticed, put his hand on Qi Yan's shoulder, and pulled him directly into his arms.

They were too close, and Qi Yan could see Lu Fenghan's Adam's apple when he lowered his eyes. He didn't struggle, but let Lu Fenghan's arm hold him.

The slight sound of their clothes rubbing against each other was amplified, but it suppressed the noise of the crowd around them. This feeling reminded Qi Yan of the night of New Year's Eve.

He was a little afraid to look into Lu Fenghan's eyes again.

Qi Yan didn't really understand his own feelings. He felt like he was exploring a complex formula. Just by taking a quick look inside, he could vaguely see the splendor in it.

He took a step forward carefully, and because he was unfamiliar with this emotion, he cautiously took a small step back.

When they arrived at the Sky Diamond Plaza, countless people had already gathered here. Security robots were maintaining order. A huge light screen was suspended above the square, broadcasting the situation at the central reception desk in the square in real time.

Xia Zhiyang shouted: "What should I do? I was very calm when I left the school, but now my blood is boiling! Think about it, more than two hundred years ago, mankind left the earth and came to Leto! This is the starting point of mankind, and mankind is destined to move forward! Yearning for the vast stars!"

Mondrian has always been restrained and introverted, but at this time he was also infected by the atmosphere of the square: "Those who have made contributions to the Alliance, their sculptures are standing quietly on one side of the square, celebrate with us!"

Xia Zhiyang became even more excited: "Yes, yes, yes! I will study hard! I will get a B at the end of the semester! I will open source like God Y! I will fight for the alliance!"

Ye Pei listened to the conversation between the two people: "Are you crazy!" But after saying that, she closed her eyes and said loudly, "I am nineteen years old this year. In fifty years, I will definitely become the best scientist in the alliance!"

Her eyes were bright and her cheeks were slightly red due to her smile.

Mondrian: "I can do it too!"

Xia Zhiyang laughed: "Then I will be the most profitable businessman, and provide you with research funds! As much as you want!"

He also made arrangements for the future of Chen Mingxuan who was playing games at home, "Chen Mingxuan will establish the most powerful game company in the entire alliance in the future! The games developed will be free for us to play!"

Ye Pei also laughed: "Free? Very good!"

Lu Fenghan on the side was talking to Vincent.

"Commander, there is nothing unusual, but I am so miserable. It was my turn to be on duty on the founding day last year, and I was chosen again this year! I also want to be there!" Vincent cried, "Why in the world is there such a terrible thing as being on duty!"

Lu Fenghan said, "Luckily you are on duty."

Vincent choked on his cry, "Okay, that's right, I will be watching all the movements today, commander, don't worry!"

After disconnecting the call, Lu Fenghan saw Qi Yan lowering his head and fiddling with his personal terminal, and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Remotely control the optical computer at home, the data core of 'Po Jun' has almost been stripped off successfully." After a minute, Qi Yan raised his head again, "When will the celebration ceremony start?"

His voice was not loud, but Lu Fenghan had been paying attention, and immediately replied: "Ten o'clock, it's nine fifty-five now, almost."

At ten o'clock in the morning on January 7, 217, the celebration ceremony of the founding day of the Alliance officially began.

The Secretary-General of the Alliance took the lead in going up to the reception desk. Due to the temporary absence of the commander-in-chief of the Alliance, the three four-star generals of the military attended the celebration and stood side by side with the Secretary-General, half a step behind and in front.

Woodrow Crimmer, commander-in-chief of the Joint Operations Department, stood in the first place, followed by Nie Huaiting, commander-in-chief of the Space Force and head of the Central Army Corps, and finally Hodgkin, head of the Alliance Security Committee.

The legal members of the Alliance Security Committee include the Secretary-General of the Alliance, Nie Huai Ting and Crimson. This also led to the fact that although Hodgkin was the head of the Security Committee, he had never had much presence. He was a well-known centrist in the military and almost never participated in the open or covert struggles between the pro-war and pro-peace factions.

Nie Huai Ting once commented to Lu Fenghan in private that Hodgkin was a dullard. Even if he was scolded in front of him, he could continue to drink his tea with a smile, and let it go in one ear and out the other.

He looked like he was satisfied with working steadily until retirement, as if he was saying, "You guys fight your own business, don't involve me."

At this time, on the light screen above the square, Nie Waiting looked serious, Clemer was serious, and only Hodgkin was free and easy, smiling and waving to the people.

Looking at the image on the light screen, Lu Fenghan calculated that he had not seen Nie Waiting for several years. The last time he saw him was when Nie Waiting came to the front to inspect the situation of the expeditionary army. As the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary army, he was responsible for the reception.

Compared to that time, Nie Waiting looked much older, with much deeper wrinkles on his face. He didn't talk or smile, and he would scare a lot of kindergarteners to tears.

Lu Fenghan felt that he was really brave when he was young. At that time, Lu Jun had just died, and Nie Huai Ting came to him and asked if he was willing to transfer the guardianship to his name. Lu Fenghan had only one request, not to change his name or surname.

Nie Huai Ting nodded and said that he didn't want to have more sons.

Then Lu Fenghan followed him.

Over the years, there is no such thing as close or not close relationship between the two of them. It's more of a superior and a subordinate. Nie Huai Ting stayed on the alliance's capital star and entrusted the front line to him. He took on this trust, it was that simple.

The Secretary-General of the Alliance stepped forward and delivered a speech on the founding day.

At the same time, on Maple Dan No. 1, the staff who were not on duty gathered together to watch the live broadcast of the celebration ceremony.

Someone was muttering, "There are still three days before I rotate back to the ground. When I get back, I will arrange four meals a day for myself, and I must visit all the new food stores opened by Leto!"

"Four meals? Can't you enter the holographic system and try the virtual store to satisfy your craving?"

"How can it be the same? I tasted the taste nerves and olfactory nerves, but I actually only ate air! There is no sense of reality!" The man sighed again, "Why does time pass so slowly?"

Someone next to him comforted him, "Think about it, when you return to the ground, all the stores will still be on sale, how happy it is."

Huo Yan, the defense chief of Maple Dan No. 1, passed by and heard these people talking about food. He couldn't help but start calculating when he could rotate back to the ground.

He still owed Lu Fenghan a meal of wine.

Entering the defense command room, Huo Yan saw two staff members chatting together. He knocked on the metal wall with his fingers and asked, "Where is the discipline?"

When they found Huo Yan, the two people sat down quickly. One of them explained shyly, "My wife just gave birth to a lovely girl. My family sent me photos and videos, and I couldn't help but look at them all the time."

As a single man in the expeditionary force, Huo Yan didn't have a wife, let alone children. He wondered if the single drama of the expeditionary force had poisoned him. He enviously said, "Today, I'm so proud of you." Today is the founding day. Your daughter is very smart. She just happened to come to this world today. "

At this moment, an observer raised his voice in surprise: "Defense Minister, an unidentified flying object appeared within the radar range!"

Huo Yan raised his eyebrows: "More details!"

The observer's voice suddenly trembled: "The number, the number is too much!"

Realizing that something was wrong, Huo Yan strode over and saw countless red dots appearing in the detection area on the radar screen - only unregistered starships would appear red in the radar of Maple Dan No. 1.

Nearly a hundred red dots were arranged in a wedge shape, as if they suddenly appeared in space, and they kept approaching Maple Dan No. 1 in a dignified manner.

No, not Maple Dan No. 1, but Leto!

Huo Yan's pupils trembled, and he pressed the button with shaking hands, reporting the enemy attack to the entire fort, and ordered the communicator to send a message back to Leto.

The next second, the communicator's voice rose: "The communication is cut off, our communication with the ground is cut off!"

Huo Yan turned his head suddenly: "How is it cut off?"

The communicator quickly replied: "Leto unilaterally cut off the communication line with us!"

Huo Yan closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, his voice regained its composure. In the fortress broadcast, he asked non-combatants to take cover on the spot, combat-related personnel to quickly arrive at their posts, and the entire fortress entered a state of war.

The observer's palms were full of cold sweat: "The enemy is moving very fast and has entered the range of 180!"

"That's the enemy. Interstellar pirates are not so large. They are the rebels."

Huo Yan didn't dare to think.

He didn't dare to think how the rebels on the front line of the Southern Cross Region drove their starships to the central galaxy.

He didn't dare to think why there was no alarm along the way during such a long migration.

He didn't dare to think whether they couldn't contact Leto, or someone inside Leto closed all external communication interfaces.

The observer reminded again: "One hundred and fifty range!"

Huo Yan stood up and reported loudly to the whole fort: "The enemy did not bypass us, which means that before attacking Leto, they will also wipe us out. At this moment, there are no reinforcements, only us. Everyone, one minute, write your wills, we may have to fight to the death."

No one spoke in the channel.

A cry was heard, and it was quickly covered.

Huo Yan said in a deep voice: "If you sit and wait for death, you will turn into dust and debris in the next second. Try your best, maybe there is still a glimmer of hope! Everyone, listen to my orders--"

Leto.

The Secretary-General of the Alliance did not speak much, but because of his slow speaking speed, he still spoke for more than ten or twenty minutes.

Every year is almost the same, recalling the past, strengthening cohesion, and then talking about the various achievements of the alliance this year to inspire people's morale, and finally looking forward to a better future and hoping that the alliance will be better.

Although the format of the speech has not changed for many years, the people present are still excited. For example, Xia Zhiyang, the small flag in his hand is about to be waved out of sight.

Next was Crimson's speech.

Crimson was wearing a four-star general's dress uniform and his expression was quite serious. After his opening remarks, he focused on the war situation on the front line and said that the military will make some necessary changes in policy due to the new war situation. But no matter what, the citizens of the alliance will be put first, and life will be put first.

Nie Huai Ting listened with his eyes down at first, and then he didn't know if he couldn't listen anymore, so he simply closed his eyes.

Lu Fenghan felt the same way. He felt that Clemo's several pages of speech could be summed up in two words - bullshit!

He blocked out Clemo's voice, moved closer to ask Qi Yan: "Are you tired?"

Qi Yan's skin was exposed to the sun, and the cold white tone was more obvious. He shook his head gently: "Not tired, just a little stuffy."

Because the surroundings were too noisy, the two of them were very close when they talked.

So close that Lu Fenghan noticed at a glance that Qi Yan's earlobe was pink again.

He deliberately moved a little closer: "If you are tired, you can lean on me."

Qi Yan didn't dare to look him in the eye. He always felt that Lu Fenghan was filled with a certain gravity, so he just responded: "Okay."

At this moment, it seemed that there was a layer of moist soil in his heart, and there were sprouts about to break through the soil and grow wildly.

Lu Fenghan's mood quickly improved again.

It was hard to explain why, but he felt inexplicably...happy.

It was like when he was in the First Military Academy, he got first place in every subject. It was also like when he just joined the Far Expeditionary Force and won the first-class merit for the first time. Or maybe he was promoted to brigadier general, and his shoulder strap became a silver star, he became an army general, and his father Lu Jun had to retire as "old army general."

No, this kind of good mood was still a little different.

At this moment, Lu Fenghan felt his sleeve being pulled. He tilted his head and saw Qi Yan pointing at his wrist.

His personality finally brightened.

It was Vincent.

"What happened?"

Vincent said solemnly, "Commander, I just found something wrong. After careful comparison, I found that I, no, I should say that some of the information received by the military intelligence department, has exactly the same frequency band!"

Lu Fenghan immediately understood.

There is only one situation with the frequency band, and this information is all fake!

Vincent spoke very quickly: "After I found out something was wrong, I immediately did an experiment. Maple Dan No. 1 sends regular security information to Leto every fifteen hours. Three minutes ago, their message arrived. However, I tried to contact them in reverse, but I couldn't."

Lu Fenghan: "Explain clearly!"

Vincent took a deep breath: "Leto's external communication port has been blocked! I'm not sure when the blockage started, I only know that all the information, all! The information received by Leto and the information I received here are all fake! Someone is pretending to be Maple Dan No. 1, pretending to be a small peripheral cruiser to send us a message, creating an illusion of peace!"

At the same time, on the light screen above the square, Nie Huai Ting opened his eyes, his eyes sharp.

Lu Fenghan was almost certain that Nie Huai Ting also knew the news!

Maple Stage I.

Maple Stage I, once praised by Leto Daily as "a black crystal floating in space", had its black metal shell destroyed by artillery fire and no longer had its former beauty.

The entire fort was crooked and damaged, slowly rotating around Leto.

Inside the fort, Huo Yan was covered in blood, his legs were twisted, and it was obvious that he had multiple fractures. There was a fist-sized blood hole on his waist. Near him, countless people fell to the ground, and blood was flowing.

He coughed several times in succession, crawled on the ground, and crawled towards the communication desk with difficulty.

The communicator was dead. Huo Yan supported himself on the table with his hands, and cold sweat dripped down from the pain. He kept pressing the button to send "enemy attack" signals to Leto, but unfortunately, they all fell on deaf ears and received no response.

After dozens or hundreds of times, Huo Yan's fingers were cramped and he could no longer hold on. He collapsed to the ground.

The outer shell of Maple Dan Fortress No. 1 had been shattered. In the cracks, a line of dark universe was revealed, and distant stars were looming.

He slowly moved his eyes and looked at his dead colleagues one by one.

Finally, he opened the personal terminal and wrote the last message in the encrypted channel.

A message that he was not sure whether the other party could see.

"Take up the weapons in your hands and protect the stars behind you."

"Commander, I have fulfilled my mission."

After finishing writing, Huo Yan was exhausted and rested for a long time before continuing to write:

"Maple Dan No. 1, all the forts, died, hope, take care of the living."