Chapter 292: Let's See How You'll Fight

For the past several years, Li Qingsong had done nothing but mechanically maintain industrial production, toss ship after ship of painstakingly produced supplies into the space battlefield like garbage, and then watch helplessly as they were instantly annihilated.

Li Qingsong had been holding on, constantly enduring.

He had subconsciously begun to believe the torment would last forever, without end. Despair was starting to creep into his heart, and he even began to doubt if he could hold on until victory finally arrived. Just then, the situation on the battlefield finally changed.

He saw that the Warships of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Alliance had begun to purposefully assemble and were slowly pulling back from the battlefield.

Ultimately, after several months of repeated engagements, they arrived at a point more than ten million kilometers from the battlefield. Then, they all accelerated at once, heading toward the location of the Flying Star.

The enemy had voluntarily ended the campaign! They had voluntarily withdrawn from the battlefield!

After repeatedly confirming that the enemy fleet was truly gone, Li Qingsong let out a long sigh.

Although the Clone his consciousness currently inhabited had not performed any physical labor, it still swayed uncontrollably and nearly fell over.

‘Finally… I’ve finally defended Planet Three. The enemy has finally retreated…’

Li Qingsong’s heart swelled with emotion. An uncontrollable, passionate fervor surged through him, giving rise to a boundless, heroic pride.

‘I did it! I did it!

‘Thousands of years of fleeing, thousands of years of forbearance and development, and now, even when the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity and a proper sapient civilization have joined forces, multiplying their combat power, I still stopped them!

‘If I can stop them once, I can stop them a second time!

‘The final victory will be mine! I will be the only one to leave this Interstellar System!’

Li Qingsong saw that the greatest asset of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Alliance, the Flying Star, had now shrunk to a radius of less than 60 kilometers. Its total mass had been reduced by more than eighty percent.

In contrast, on his side, the three major planets showed no significant changes, even after so many years of him mining them to the bone.

He wouldn’t be able to exhaust those resources even if he mined for another thousand years.

This was the advantage of fighting on home turf.

‘Now you only have 20% of your reserve supplies left. Let’s see how you fight next!

‘You failed to capture a single major planet this time. It’ll be even more impossible for you next time!

‘Come on! Fight! Keep fighting!’

At that moment, Li Qingsong was tempted to dispatch his fleet and launch a counterattack.

But after a moment of thought, Li Qingsong dismissed the idea.

It was for the same reason as always: time was on his side.

Taking the initiative could lead to unexpected outcomes. If he suffered massive Warship losses in a short time, his future defenses would become passive.

At this stage, the priority was still to focus all efforts on industrial production and rapidly increase the number of his Warships.

Over the past few years, even though Li Qingsong had been producing Warships with all his might, the heavy losses from combat had still reduced his total number of Warships from a peak of about 4.5 million to only 2 million at present.

Of course, the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Alliance wasn’t faring well either. Their Warship count had also dropped from a peak of 4 million to about 1.9 million.

Between the two sides, a total of approximately 6 million Warships had been lost to the sea of stars.

These were all Manned Warships. If Unmanned Warships were included, this number would climb several times higher.

As for other materiel, such as satellites and Cannon Platforms, the numbers were too great to count.

Because of this incredibly fierce and brutal space battle, the already battered Planet Three had once again been subjected to an ordeal.

During the previous war between Li Qingsong and the Harville Civilization, it had taken so much collateral damage that it had been forced to become a “star,” gaining the ability to emit light.

Hundreds of years had passed, and it had just barely managed to dim, its atmospheric temperature finally dropping. But now, due to even more stray munitions, it was glowing brightly once more.

And its color was no longer dark red, but red mixed with a faint yellow.

This meant its atmospheric temperature had risen to at least 3,000 degrees Celsius.

And this time, it looked like it wouldn’t recover for at least another thousand years.

However, this did bring Li Qingsong a small benefit. At least, with its illumination, industrial production and construction on the satellites could save a little on lighting costs.

While maintaining close surveillance on the enemy, Li Qingsong once again threw himself into all-out production.

「Honor Spaceship, Conference Room One.」

All the civilization’s top leaders, including Haimo Lan, wore solemn expressions.

This meeting was somewhat different from all previous ones. In the past, the attendees were only Harvillers, and Haimo Lan would always sit at the head of the conference table.

But this time, the seat at the head of the table was empty. Haimo Lan, meanwhile, sat in a subordinate position.

Time ticked by. When a certain moment finally arrived, the 3D projector turned on, and a figure appeared in the main seat—one with a slender build and fair skin, completely different from the tall and thin figures of the Harvillers.

All the Harvillers, including Haimo Lan, rose to their feet together.

“Your Excellency Red Dog, we welcome your arrival.”

Red Dog’s virtual image extended an arm and spoke in the Harvillers’ language, “The war is not proceeding in our favor. We must make major strategic adjustments, which is why I have convened this meeting to discuss the strategy for the next phase.

“Feel free to share any thoughts you all have.”

The Harvillers exchanged glances, and finally, Haimo Lan stood up.

In preparation for this meeting, the Harville Civilization had spent several months in internal discussion and running simulations. Now, they finally had results.

The developmental potential of Human Civilization was simply too great. In just a few hundred years, their strength had grown to this extent. If they didn’t seize this opportunity with the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Alliance to destroy them, there was no telling what they would become in the future. And at that time, what kind of retaliation would their own side face?

Facing Red Dog’s virtual image, Haimo Lan spoke with solemnity. “Your Excellency Red Dog, in the current stalemate, the enemy holds the advantage of fighting on home turf, while our side possesses a technological advantage.

“The enemy is constantly maximizing their advantage. We must also make the best possible use of ours.

“After repeated discussions and simulations, we have found a battlefield suitable for leveraging our technological advantage.

“Planet One.”

The 3D projector displayed a planet with an iron-gray surface before everyone.

In the background was an immense, blazing star.

Because it was so close, the small Planet One looked as if it was about to be swallowed by the giant star at any moment.