Baiquan answered the phone and asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

As far as he knew, Chen Ming had been hanging around the Psychic Research Institute these past two days. He didn't understand why he was needed for anything related to psychic powers.

But what Chen Ming wanted to tell him was not about the Psychic Research Institute.

"Something unexpected happened. My fleet was attacked by the mechanical tribe."

"They made a lot of preparations in advance, blocking the jump drive, blocking the hyperspace, and sacrificing a large number of mechanical individuals to damage the hull of the spacecraft and steal a batch of my goods."

Baiquan was no longer confused when he heard this, but he was surprised: "The mechanical tribe can actually steal your things."

"If the gap in fleet strength is too big, I won't be able to withstand it even if I have psychic powers. For example, a single shot from a battleship can directly destroy one of my cruisers. Even if I am a good repairman, what can I do if my spaceship is gone?"

"This time it was my fault. I didn't consider that there would be mechanical tribes so far away from the empire. I thought that the support I could provide would arrive in five minutes at most, so I didn't arrange too many escort fleets."

"As a result, I was unable to take defensive measures when the mechanical tribe came to attack."

Baiquan asked, "It's outside the empire, right?"

"right."

"That's not surprising. Outside the empire, the mechanical race could pop up anywhere. It's just that the mechanical race likes to stick together and form a star field. It doesn't mean there aren't scattered ones."

"How much did you lose specifically?"

"It's mainly a batch of energy crystal crabs."

"Energy crystal crab!"

Baiquan's speaking speed increased for a moment.

He thought that Chen Ming was sending out the goods he needed and was robbed by the mechanical clan. They were just some basic supplies and that was gone.

It turned out that the energy crystal crabs that Chen Ming sent to the empire were snatched away by the mechanical clan. This was not right.

"Why would the Mechanical Clan steal these things? It can't be that the information was leaked, right?"

“I don’t know the specific reason.”

Chen Ming said: "But I am sure that the mechanical race came to attack my fleet with a purpose and acted very decisively, just to snatch the goods, and they knew that these were my goods."

"Because the mechanical tribe was obviously targeting some weaknesses of my psychic power during the attack, and they retreated directly after stealing the goods."

"Retreat?"

Bai Quan's doubts were also what Chen Ming had doubts about before.

Because for the mechanical race, it is normal to grab a passing Imperial spaceship when they see one.

But usually, after the robbery, or before the robbery, the mechanical race will choose to kill all the spaceships and the people on them first.

Why didn't they continue tracking, why didn't they destroy it, why did they let the fleet go?

Unless... the Mechanicus think that doing so will fail.

Bai Quan confirmed the specific situation with Chen Ming again.

It was learned that the Mechanical Clan even ran away when Chen Ming's spaceship was trapped in the hyperspace clouds. They ran away as soon as they got the goods without any nostalgia.

It was obvious that he knew that Chen Ming's reinforcements were on the way, and any delay would result in them being left behind.

It is for this reason that Chen Ming can be sure that the Mechanical Clan must know that this fleet belongs to him.

To be honest, Chen Ming had met the mechanical clan several times in the past, although he never revealed his true identity.

But he definitely left a very strong mark in the database of the mechanical race.

It was normal to find that this was Chen Ming's spaceship.

So Baiquan didn't have any further questions, but this matter itself was a problem.

"If the mechanical race also has the technology to cultivate energy crystal crabs, then the loss of energy crystal crabs may lead to the mechanical race also possessing energy crystal technology."

The key lies in the number of energy crystal crabs seized by the mechanical clan and their technology.

It is difficult to determine the level of technology of the Mechanical Race, but judging from those mechanized psychic creatures, it is definitely not low.

Therefore, once the number of lost energy crystal crabs exceeds a certain amount, the mechanical race may really be able to breed a new population.

"How many energy crystal crabs did you lose?"

"A few thousand."

"Thousands..."

This number of several thousand is very ambiguous, and is right on the border between what can be successfully bred and what cannot be successfully bred.

After all, a population needs to have a base number to be guaranteed. If the number is too small, it is absolutely impossible to breed a new population.

Even with cloning technology, a population will not work because it has too few genetic samples and will sooner or later become a lifeless group.

But several thousand...this number gave Bai Quan a headache for a moment.

"In fact, the situation has not yet reached the point where it is completely irreversible."

"Because as long as the intelligence within the empire is not leaked, the mechanical race should not know the specific cargo I am transporting, at least for the time being."

"They will need some time to investigate the purpose of this batch of goods, and I still have a chance to take it back."

"And I have confirmed that the Mechanical Tribe must have a temporary base nearby. They will definitely send the stolen Energy Crystal Crabs there."

"My idea is to destroy the Mechanical Clan's base and take the things back."

"But I have to ask for your opinion first, lest my actions lead to an early war between the Empire and the Mechanical Race."

After explaining the situation clearly, Bai Quan also realized that this was a decision that needed to be made in a short time.

It must not have been long since Chen Ming's goods were stolen. If the mechanical race acts fast enough, they may not even have time to investigate the actual function of the energy crystal crab.

But as long as they move slowly, the mechanical race will have a greater chance of understanding the technology of energy crystallization.

Chen Ming's current level is about the same as that of a sophomore, so of course he is unable to make such purely overall considerations, so he came to ask him.

There was no time to think about it or ask other people's opinions.

Baiquan must respond now.

But he thought about it and said, "I feel that even if I raise objections, there is a high probability that you will directly take action, or at most use a more covert method."

It’s true.

Chen Ming responded in his heart.

He has already sent the support fleet that just arrived to find the temporary base of the mechanical race.

After all, he didn't know what the situation was with the Mechanical Clan's stronghold, so he had to be prepared to pursue it as soon as possible, and then decide whether to take action based on the final investigation results.

Of course, his fleet did not rely on the traces of the mechanical fleet's jump to track the past.

After all, how could the mechanical clan not know about the tracking method that he knew? Anyone who followed the traces of the jump would definitely be ambushed by the mechanical clan.

Therefore, the specific location of the mechanical clan’s stronghold still has to be determined by Chen Ming through his psychic power’s perception of the same hive mind network.

As long as you follow your feelings, you can find the home of the mechanical race.

Bai Quan was also very clear about Chen Ming's thoughts, and he would generally make up for the losses he suffered.

Chen Ming knows it too well. As long as there is no real deep hatred, as long as the people who have had conflicts give compensation and apologize sincerely, many things will be easily resolved.

But the mechanical tribe has no way to provide compensation, so Chen Ming must think of giving them a hard time.

Baiquan had no objection to this: "So if you ask me, you can go."

"After entering the second phase of reconnaissance, the Empire has already started preliminary friction with the Mechanical Race. The Mechanical Race is not blind in conducting so many reconnaissance operations."

"It's fine if there's a conflict with the Mechanic race. As long as it's not a large-scale war between the Empire and the Mechanic race's star field, we can fight anywhere."

With Bai Quan's words, everything Chen Ming did next would be endorsed by Bai Quan, and of course all the responsibilities would be borne by him.

While taking on responsibilities, he can certainly enjoy the rights and benefits that come with responsibilities.

The worst possible outcome of this matter is that Chen Ming leaked the energy crystal technology to the mechanical race.

It is impossible to trigger a war between the Empire and the Machines prematurely.

War never starts because of a certain person. If it seems that way, it's only because that person is at the forefront of the times.

If this matter is handled well, the final outcome may be to thwart the mechanical race's plan to continue exploring and leave a way out for themselves in advance.

"But can you fight?"

Chen Ming thought about the last time he attacked the colony of the Mechanical Clan.

At that time, his mastery of cruiser technology was not very high, and he was far from being able to control a cruiser with his bare hands.

They can only rely on the few afterglow cores in their hands and the cruisers obtained by various means to fight the mechanical race.

He dared to fight and could fight then, and he can do it now as well.

Speaking of which.

Chen Ming remembered that at the end of his last attack on the mechanical colony, the mechanical race originally wanted to come and surround his spaceship, and a fleet came.

As a result, this fleet was directly destroyed by a phase monster that suddenly appeared.

It has been a long time since the last time, and I don’t know whether the phase beast has been killed by the mechanical race. Will he encounter it again this time?

It's too far, there's probably no chance of that.

Chen Ming threw the strange idea out of his mind and responded to Bai Quan with slightly more restrained words: "We can attack the fleet that comes to attack, but we have to wait and see until I determine the location of their base."

"good."

"Then can you send us the real-time video later? If there is a video, we can also help you analyze the situation or something."

Chen Ming thought about it and said, "Okay."

The Queen will not appear in this operation because it is still evolving. Even if it is not evolving, it is not easy to appear.

After all, this raid on the Mechanical Clan's stronghold is an urgent mission. In order to pursue efficiency, it is necessary to capture the Mechanical Clan's stronghold in a short period of time.

The Queen needs time to develop before she can attack.

By the time the queen insect grows up, the matter will be over.

Well, since the Queen of Insects is not here, it won't be difficult to share some information about the Mechanical Clan.

After receiving Chen Ming's reply, Bai Quan knew that he had to get busy next.

"Then I will go and notify a few people and discuss the follow-up. We will help you and try our best to get the energy crystal crab back."

Communication ended.

Baiquan went to contact the contact person.

Chen Ming also shifted his attention to the fleet that was searching for the mechanical clan's stronghold.

When Chen Ming was preparing to reinforce the fleet, he directly fully staffed the team according to the largest scale he could control at the moment.

Except HR is responsible for guarding the house.

Glorious, Brilliant, Sparkling and Extraordinary are all driving warships.

Together with the nine cruisers that Chen Ming himself can control, the fleet consists of a total of thirteen cruisers.

As for the ship types and composition of these cruisers.

Chen Ming did not bring the defenders or standard cruisers of the mechanical race that he had captured before.

In addition to letting Brilliance reach the Brilliance level, Shining reach the Shining level, and Extraordinary reach the Supreme level.

All the cruisers prepared were created directly by Chen Ming using his psychic energy, and all of them were Stardust-class.

A Stardust-class ship can release 1,600 meteorite fighters for self-destruction in one round.

If there are nine Stardusts, that means 14,400 Meteorite fighters, a total of tens of thousands! This is just one round. Chen Ming's psychic power can replenish war supplies for all ships in real time.

Of course, the Meteorite fighter is also within the scope of what can be supplied.

Just release a few more rounds of fighter jets.

That scene should be quite grand.

Chen Ming was already looking forward to it.

Although there may be some slight loss in supplies, the effect will not be bad after all, and aren’t supplies meant to be used?

Accumulating materials that cannot be used is just garbage.

And this time he made a new attempt.

In addition to the thirteen cruisers in the fleet, he also had 260 destroyers in a ratio of one to ten.

There are only two types of these 260 destroyers, the sixty of which are the 14th Legion Enforcer class used to hold the line.

As for the remaining two hundred ships, they were equipped with Tachyon Spears, energy crystal storage devices that could keep up with the horrific energy consumption of the Tachyon Spears, as well as antimatter reactors and antimatter engines with armor-piercing capabilities.

Tens of thousands of self-destructive planes and two hundred tachyon spears will surely bring endless surprises to the mechanical race.

Chen Ming did not bring any smaller guards. After all, any small boat was just cannon fodder and had no meaning at all.

As long as he can launch a surprise attack first in the subsequent battle, there is a high probability that he can win.

At the same time that Chen Ming's fleet was searching for the mechanical clan's stronghold.

Chen Ming's prosthesis at the headquarters was also taken away.

The people from the headquarters took Chen Ming to a military base near the city and escorted him to the door of a conference room.

While standing at the door, Chen Ming heard people inside talking about him, the same things he had just said to Bai Quan.

Just as Chen Ming was about to push the door open, he suddenly heard someone say, "Chen Ming made a mistake in military purposes and should be punished."

This sentence made Chen Ming stand still at the door. He did not push it open, but stopped the person who brought him here and asked him not to make any sound.

The man in the conference room continued, "If the mechanical race also obtains this technology, the consequences will be disastrous."

"There is no way to confirm that the Mechanic race did not take advantage of the opportunity to seize the sample to obtain the technology after the fact."

"This is a pretty serious situation,"

Chen Ming felt that these two sentences would be the consensus of many people who disliked him.

After all, he had already fought back against the direct harm, and with the legion commander stepping in to vouch for him, no one dared to touch this bad luck directly.

But as long as you seize the opportunity when he makes a mistake and strike back, no one will be able to point out the problem.

Even the legion commander could not protect Chen Ming even if he made a mistake.

However, Chen Ming immediately heard a familiar voice speaking again: "The premise of questioning is that you really made a mistake. As long as this matter can be handled well, it is not a mistake, but the right thing to do."

"Besides, Chen Ming has been a civilian from the beginning. Ensuring the transportation of military supplies is something that other people should do. We can't just blame him."

If Chen Ming remembered correctly, the voice of rebuttal came from Qiu Bowen, the general who had previously targeted him.

Although it is possible that Qiu Bowen said this after he found him at the door, at least he gave Chen Ming face in front of others.

Chen Ming pushed open the door.

The layout of the interior of the conference room appeared before his eyes.

I can only say it's very familiar.

It was exactly the same conference room as the military meeting that Baiquan had attended for the first time.

However, Chen Ming had just begun to learn military command at that time and basically understood nothing.

And now, at least Chen Ming can understand and is qualified to speak here.

Qiu Bowen, Bai Quan, and three other lieutenant generals that Chen Ming had never met were standing at the front of the conference room, chatting with each other.

"He's here."

Bai Quan's words drew the attention of everyone present to Chen Ming.

The three lieutenant generals didn't know who had just said bad things about Chen Ming, and they all chose to keep silent tacitly.

Chen Ming was too lazy to care about them.

However, Qiu Bowen didn't seem to have any change in his mentality, as if he was not the one who was humiliated by Chen Ming some time ago.

After shaking hands with Chen Ming as usual, he made a gesture of invitation to Chen Ming and asked Chen Ming to sit directly in the main seat.

After all, the key to this emergency operation lies in Chen Ming.

Chen Ming was not polite and reached out to control the computer next to him.

A picture was projected on the conference table.

A fleet is sailing in the channel and is about to cross the channel and arrive in the hyperspace of a galaxy.

In addition to the surrounding environment, you can also see part of the fleet.

For a moment, all the generals sitting in the conference room, except Bai Quan, seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Because usually, when a fleet of more than a hundred ships is carrying out operations against uncertain enemy configurations, it must be equipped with at least five different types of ships to help commanders cope with complex and changeable combat environments.

But Chen Ming only matched two types.

But Chen Ming was equipped with the Law Enforcer, which was modified by the Fourteenth Legion and had the best defense capability among all destroyers, and the armor-piercing class designed by Sinda Company, which has now begun to be put into military production.

One year after the armor-piercing class was developed, it already had a nickname among all armies: gun mount.

After all, the purpose of developing the armor-piercing level is not to penetrate armor, but to enable large weapons to be installed on the armor-piercing level.

So although Chen Ming seemed to be driving two hundred armor-piercing ships, in fact, it was no different from going out with two hundred cannon barrels equipped with tachyon spears.

Such a mixed fleet can be said to have no ability to cope with various battlefield environments.

The law enforcers in the front carry the load, while the two hundred speed spears in the back provide fierce output.

It's simple and crude to a certain extent.

Not to mention cruisers.

Everything they could see at this moment was at the Stardust level.

Of course, the capabilities of this cruiser designed by Tachyon Technology Company were well known to the people present.

They all had some understanding of Chen Ming's previous fighting style and knew what effect this kind of warship would have in Chen Ming's hands.

So after imagining that scene.

Several general officers who believed in tactics and strategy were at a loss for words.

Bai Quan was not surprised at all. Chen Ming's favorite thing was to use the majority to defeat the minority and to overwhelm the opponent with force. He never stopped using his spiritual power.

Any problem that can be solved with firepower is not a problem for him.

Such firepower is definitely enough to sweep across a galaxy.

As long as there are no accidents in the mechanical race's galaxy, it is only a matter of time before the mechanical race is eliminated.

I just don't know if the mechanical race will take away the cargo hold they stole.

This depends on Chen Ming’s follow-up investigation.

A minute later, Chen Ming's fleet had passed the end of the channel and was about to enter the hyperspace zone of the galaxy in front of it.

Baiquan suddenly appeared and reminded: "There are signs of disturbance and emptying of the clouds near the location where the channel connects to the galaxy's hyperspace area, which means that there are often spaceships here."

Bai Quan's reminder was of course out of fear that Chen Ming would not notice it and be ambushed by the mechanical race in the galaxy.

However, Chen Ming followed the path all the way through his own perception, and he knew very well that this galaxy was the temporary base of the mechanical race.

"There may be defense methods of the mechanical race in hyperspace, so be careful."

"learn."

Chen Ming responded, closed his eyes, and focused all his attention on the fleet that was about to fight.

Seeing this, Qiu Bowen stared at Chen Ming for a while.

Even though he already knew about the effect of Chen Ming's psychic power, he still found it difficult to understand when he saw that Chen Ming could use psychic power to control the spacecraft even after almost crossing the entire empire.

Even the psychic influence range of a level 6 psychic is only the size of a galaxy, but Chen Ming's psychic effect has obviously surpassed that of a normal psychic.

I don’t know what secrets Chen Ming has.

He shook his head, and said with some emotion, "This should be the largest-scale battle that will break out since the conflict between us and the mechanical race began."

But what is surprising is.

When Chen Ming left the passage and entered the hyperspace area belonging to the galaxy, there were no mechanical troops in the hyperspace to block him.

There wasn't even a single early warning ship.

Obviously, the people present did not expect this to be the case.

"Could it be... that we found the wrong one?"

"Shouldn't it be?"

"Let's go in and take a look first."

"Can."

Just as the few people finished their brief conversation, the door of the conference room was suddenly knocked.

"Come in."

As Qiu Bowen finished his words, someone pushed the door open and handed him a document.

He glanced at the empty space on the projection screen of the conference table, and took advantage of the fact that the war had not yet started, and said directly: "Chen Ming, do you need the Legion to provide you with some support in terms of ships and war supplies?"

Chen Ming immediately distracted himself: "Yes, of course I need it."

The moment he said this.

He sent out a team of five destroyers, ended the hyperspace voyage ahead of schedule, activated the hyperspace channel system, and entered the galaxy.

The situation inside the galaxy was also displayed on the conference table in front of him.

This is a galaxy with six planets.

In the habitable zone of this galaxy there is a planet that has obviously undergone extensive industrial transformation.

That is the destination of Chen Ming’s trip.

The target has been found, but Chen Ming did not act rashly.

Because, around that planet there are a large number of ships and the wreckage of a large number of orbital defense facilities.

Moreover, the surface of the planet is currently erupting with large-scale flames that can be seen from outside the planet.

And these flames are still expanding.

Someone... no, something arrived here faster than Chen Ming and was destroying everything belonging to the mechanical clan.

(End of this chapter)