Liu Hai clicked through one node report after another. Each node showed at least one Legion engaged in combat.
Across a battlefront spanning over 200,000 light-years, both sides had already deployed thousands of Legions, with numbers continuing to rise as time passed.
Real-time updates on the frontline situation scrolled rapidly through the communication channels. Countless Pioneers monitored their respective regional sub-channels, while assembled Pioneer Fleets stood ready to reinforce their assigned node battlefields.
So far, the conflict remained locked in a Firepower Duel, with neither side gaining a decisive upper hand. As a result, the Attrition Rate remained alarmingly high.
"This is just the beginning," Irina remarked. "The struggle for the Warp Nodes and nearby Star Systems hasn't escalated to a strategic level yet—it's still just tactical skirmishes."
Backed by the Star Queen Overlord, the Queen Mother of the West, Irina had access to far more intelligence than Liu Hai. A single glance at the frontline reports told her exactly how the situation was unfolding.
Liu Hai agreed. Both sides' forces were too dispersed. While thousands of Legions—nearly a billion warships—sounded like an overwhelming force, their combined mass already exceeded that of a mid-sized planet.
Yet when spread across such an extensive front, the distance between nodes was at least hundreds of light-years. Expecting fleets without the support of a Stellar Defense System to control such vast territory was nothing short of delusional.
The current battles were merely an appetizer—a way to gather intelligence for the main offensive.
Only after identifying usable Warp Nodes and mapping the Katon Fleet's distribution would the full-scale assault begin.
For now, both sides were focused on whittling down each other's active forces. This phase would drag on—far longer than a year or two.
"Irina, do you have detailed intel on the Katon Fleet's distribution in the Third Spiral Arm?" Liu Hai suddenly asked, studying the jagged, chaotic battlefield map.
"No. And such a thing wouldn't exist."
Irina shook her head. "The only positions we can track in real-time are the heavily fortified Star Systems that serve as Katon's main bases. Fleet movements outside those strongholds can't be updated instantly—it takes at least three to six months for new data to come in. By then, it's already outdated. So even if we had it, it'd be useless."
Liu Hai crossed his arms and pulled up the intelligence map for the Stardust Star Region.
Within a radius of a thousand light-years around the Stardust Star Region, scattered fleets from both sides patrolled, occasionally clashing in brief skirmishes before retreating.
Unless one side held overwhelming numerical superiority, neither the Pioneers nor their enemies in the Third Spiral Arm were eager for all-out battles.
The Pioneers preferred to stall—their forces in the Third Spiral Arm were relatively weak, ill-suited for large-scale attrition warfare. Reinforcements were hard to come by and took too much time.
Meanwhile, the Katon forces were waiting for backup. Their current deployment couldn't simultaneously challenge both the Stardust Star Region and the Brolly Starfield. Engaging one would leave them vulnerable to a pincer attack from the other.
If their fleet strength here suffered heavy losses, their grip on the Third Spiral Arm would collapse—giving the Pioneers the perfect opening to counterattack.
Both sides are now cautiously probing and waiting for changes in the core battlefield. Whoever seizes the initiative will inevitably trigger the decisive battle.
The Stardust Star Region, with the armament support provided by Liu Hai, is strong in defense but lacks sufficient resources for active offensives. The main issue is the scarcity of fortress-class warships, which cannot match the firepower of Katon's legions, each equipped with four or five such warships.
The Brolly Starfield is even more perilous. The Weapons of Mass Destruction that annihilated two legions at once have made the Katon Fleet extremely wary, deterring them from reckless probing for fear of losing an entire fleet in an instant.
Thus, both sides are intensively deploying probes into each other's controlled regions, attempting to uncover the enemy's troop deployments and defensive weapon positions across various star systems.
Liu Hai is now considering whether he can seize this opportunity to deploy the Angel Fleet, coordinating with the Stardust Star Region to deliver a heavy blow to the Katon Fleet—ideally, wiping out several of their legions to clear the obstacles toward the central region.
However, without real-time intelligence on the Katon Fleet's distribution, relying on provocations from the Stardust Star Region to create a fighter jet opportunity is overly idealistic. With past precedents in place, the Katon Fleet won't easily fall for such tactics.
After some deliberation, Liu Hai realized he truly couldn't simultaneously attract multiple legions to converge in one place. Destroying one or two detached fleets would only expose his own fleet's strength, undermining his later strategy of playing the role of a hidden threat.
"Ah, why is it so difficult to clean up these annoying Katon Fleet forces in the Third Spiral Arm before the war in the Fourth Spiral Arm begins?" Liu Hai sighed, then turned to Irina and asked, "Will you protect the Brolly Starfield at the critical moment?"
"Of course. My mission here is to hold this node in the Brolly Starfield. But with you around, I'm just here to lend a hand," Irina replied lightly, though her stance was clear.
With Irina's Garrison Fleet guarding the Brolly Star System, the Starsea Fleet could afford to make some moves. Since Katon is so fixated on Liu Hai's strength, the sight of the Starsea Fleet leaving its protective zone might just push them to commit—at least two legions would likely be mobilized.
Due to the situation in the Trisolaris Star System, Liu Hai had to abandon his previous cautious strategy. With the uncertainty of when that star might awaken, continuing to rigidly defend and develop both regions was no longer feasible. He refused to leave his safety to chance.
Now, the only way forward was to swiftly eliminate part of the Katon Fleet—ideally, driving them out of the Third Spiral Arm entirely—to carve out a larger survival space for development and construction.
Once decided, Liu Hai immediately contacted Li Yali and others, along with the staff officers, to share his plan and task them with devising a feasible approach. To increase the odds of success, he even disclosed information about the Angel Fleet and some Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Upon receiving Liu Hai's orders, the staff officers promptly organized teams to study the materials and coordinate with the Pioneer Fleet in the Stardust Star Region.
Such an operation would require their active cooperation. Relying solely on Liu Hai's fleet would make the plan's success far too uncertain—just locating Katon's fleets would be a monumental task on its own.
Half a month passed. Although the Stardust Star Region didn't fully approve of Liu Hai's plan, they welcomed his proactive approach.
However, the Pioneers of the Third Spiral Arm still insisted that it was best not to deploy the defensive fleet from the Brolly Starfield. They believed that in combat, he should only play a supporting role from the sidelines—after all, what they valued most was the Armament production of the Brolly Starfield.