Chapter 264: Under No Circumstances Can Zhang Beihai Die_1

As Jupiter City gradually stabilized, a large number of officials from the Governing Council were arrested and sentenced to two to ten years of labor for dereliction of duty or inaction.

After the withdrawal of more than four hundred thousand troops, the criminals were collectively sent to Saturn or Uranus to develop new colonies for the Solar System State.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yu took the opportunity to regain control over the Solar System State and then began to restore order to the colonies in the Jupiter Circle, starting with Jupiter City.

Some believed this to be Jiang Yu's way of returning to the center of power, whereas most held the view that those who did not heed Jiang Yu's advice, resulting in the loss of a million officers and soldiers for the Solar System State, deserved to die a thousand times over.

In the midst of various opinions, Jiang Yu issued a declaration, "The Solar System State will not act as if nothing happened in the face of this loss caused by carelessness and arrogance, like the PDC did!

"The Solar System State Governing Council will try those who have caused immense losses to our own nation. If they are not found guilty, that will be the greatest tragedy for humanity!"

This was because the PDC was preoccupied with its own affairs; otherwise, Jiang Yu's announcement would have faced protests from Earth.

While actively reviving domestic policies, Jiang Yu also had Ai Qi establish a deep space navigation simulation team, made up of several people, to calculate how long the supplies for Zhang Beihai's fleet would last.

Ai Qi was an agent that Number Three had long placed within the fleet of the Solar System State. Since childhood, he had greatly admired Jiang Yu, and while attending university in Yinghuo City, he was selected by Number Three to begin his undercover mission.

This interception mission was always considered an epic undertaking in the history of human civilization, so many senior officers were clamoring to be sent to the front line.

Only Ai Qi, having benefited from Number Three's favor, was willing to stay behind. Thus, it naturally followed that he became the key to Jiang Yu's recapture of military power.

Today, Ai Qi is the de facto commander of the entire military force of the Solar System State, and his loyalty to Jiang Yu is beyond question.

The simulation team's calculations were somewhat disappointing to Jiang Yu; eighteen light-years was, indeed, too far for humanity as it stood then.

Even with full fuel tanks, an extra set of spare parts, and one supply ship, only four warships and one supply ship would be able to reach the destination.

Jiang Yu asked Ai Qi, "Is this calculation accurate?"

Ai Qi answered, "This is the result under the assumption that everything goes smoothly on the voyage. Up to now, we have no experience in interstellar travel and do not know what difficulties we may encounter during the journey. So... "

Jiang Yu put down the portable computer he was holding and sighed deeply, "So, the real situation might be even worse than this result?"

If even one interstellar warship fails to reach its destination, it could trigger the Dark Battle.

Ai Qi nodded in response.

After pondering for a long while, Jiang Yu addressed the communications staff officer, "Contact Zhang Beihai!"

However, the communications staff officer said, "We already have a communication delay with Zhang Beihai's fleet. We can only use video communication and cannot interact in real-time."

Jiang Yu scratched his head, "Record a video message then."

"The recording equipment is ready. Please speak!"

Jiang Yu, facing the camera, said, "Our conversation to follow, shall be known only to you and me."

He paused for a few seconds before continuing, "Do you know that your fuel and spare parts are insufficient for all interstellar warships to reach the destination?"

More than an hour later, the reply from Zhang Beihai came, "I am aware, and I'm thinking of a solution."

Jiang Yu then said, "There are three possible solutions. The first is to gather all the crew into three or four selected ships and have a large number of people hibernate.

"The ships likely don't have enough hibernation pods, but it might be possible to dismantle the hibernation pods from those abandoned ships..."

As he spoke, Jiang Yu suddenly stopped, not knowing how to proceed because this solution would put immense pressure on the energy systems of the ships.

Such an energy strain might not pose too much of a problem in the short term, but over the course of a few hundred to even a thousand years of travel, it becomes a tremendous uncontrollable factor, potentially killing everyone on board.

Jiang Yu paused for more than ten seconds without continuing that plan, and went on to say, "The second method is, is..."

The second method involved Jiang Yu sending a massive resupply to Zhang Beihai or Zhang Beihai's fleet returning to collect it themselves.

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But this method was also impossible to realize. Firstly, Zhang Beihai's fleet had already gone far away from where Jiang Yu was located, and Jiang Yu didn't have a single interstellar warship at his disposal anymore. The supplies that were being sent out now simply couldn't catch up with Zhang Beihai's fleet.

As for having Zhang Beihai's fleet turn back, that was even more impossible.

In the tactical staff's simulations, Waterdrop Number Two was probably pursuing the ninth group of interstellar warships, which were farthest away from Starship Earth, so it posed little threat to them.

However, the course of Waterdrop Number One roughly matched the direction in which Zhang Beihai's fleet was fleeing. If Zhang Beihai turned back, Waterdrop Number One might prioritize destroying this interstellar fleet.

Therefore, the second method was dismissed by Jiang Yu even before he had spoken it out loud.

He looked at the camera and did not continue with the third method, which was the outcome he least wanted to see: the dark battle.

In the end, Jiang Yu pounded the desk in front of him with his fist and sighed, "The preparations were still not thorough enough."

He took a deep breath, "For such a long journey, several years of preparation, even designing a special spacecraft wouldn't have been too much!

"Unfortunately, you only have to depart in haste!"

Jiang Yu then paused for over ten seconds before saying, "Send it out."

The communications staff asked, "Would you like the pause edited out?"

"No need, he will understand my meaning!" Then Jiang Yu said to Ai Qi, "Ask the simulation team to think of more ways to see if all seven ships can reach their destination."

Ai Qi nodded, "I'll go to the simulation team right away."

He took a step back, hesitated for a moment, and then mustered the courage to say, "But, but don't get your hopes up too high.

"Because the way we travel through space is, uh, very primitive!

"Of course, my conclusion that it's primitive is just speculation, but indeed, in the process of our interstellar travel, we hardly have any room to maneuver. The amount of fuel we have exactly determines the amount of thrust we can produce; there are no shortcuts in this regard.

"There's some leeway in terms of maintenance of the warships, but we can't rely on luck. Once a warship has a maintenance issue, it can lead to irreparable losses."

Jiang Yu rested his forehead on his hand, "I know, it's just, I can't help but feel a little bit unwilling to give up!"

Ai Qi didn't say anything more and quickly left.

It wasn't until more than two hours later that Jiang Yu received a reply from Zhang Beihai, and he looked somewhat tired, "It seems as though my mission hasn't ended yet."

Jiang Yu remained silent for a long while, it looked like the dark battle was still going to happen.

Jiang Yu, with food and drink forgotten, pondered for several days before sending a communication video to all the captains in Zhang Beihai's fleet.

Jiang Yu looked mysteriously into the camera and smiled, "I know what you're all thinking right now, but I have a piece of advice for you: no matter what, Zhang Beihai must not die!

"You may have all heard about the gift I gave to Colonel Zhang Beihai; in the future, those things will be of great use.

"Now, I want to clarify something about those gifts. The 'packaging box' is a bit special.

"Ask the crew of the 'Natural Selection' about it. The box will only open upon recognizing Zhang Beihai's face and retina.

"If anyone other than Zhang Beihai tries to use it, don't even think about getting your hands on those devices.

"And don't think about forcibly dismantling it; the 'packaging box' has a self-destruct system. If it detects any violent action, it will immediately destroy the machines inside."

Soon Jiang Yu received replies from the various captains. Some said they didn't understand his meaning, some were indignant, and some scoffed at him.

But from their bloodshot eyes and weary expressions, Jiang Yu knew they were all suffering in the dark, unsure who would snap first.

Afterward, Jiang Yu sent another communication video to Zhang Beihai, "Here's a little trick for you: have the crew put on spacesuits and suck out all the air from the warship."

If the dark battle couldn't be avoided, then they might as well do everything possible to preserve Zhang Beihai.

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