196: Chapter 196 The Solar System Defense Network is Activated, Defending Against Not Only Thieves but Also Wolves

In the Lunar Command Center, the holographic star map emitted a cold, eerie blue light.

Jiang Chen stood before the console, looking at the energy point balance in his account—a figure he had just "harvested" from the Mars real estate project, with so many zeros it was impossible to count—and his mouth twitched violently.

That was his private stash, money he had intended to use to buy a spaceship and build a palace for his wife.

"This life is impossible to live."

Jiang Chen gritted his teeth, his face twisted in pain. "Worked hard for decades, only to be back to square one in an instant. That girl, Hill, was right; the universe is just a big dark forest. If you don't install a security door, you can't even sleep soundly."

He took a deep breath, his finger hovering over the red [System Activation] button.

That was the ultimate blueprint he had dug up from the deepest part of the Wasteland ruins—the [Stellar System-Level Wide-Area Defense Network].

"System, deduct the money!"

Jiang Chen closed his eyes and pressed it hard. "Get the defense towers up for me! I want to make sure not even a single fly can fly into this Solar System!"

"Ding—!!"

With a crisp, heartbreaking deduction notification sound, that massive number instantly shrank by 90%.

Immediately after, a grand project, one capable of being recorded in human history and even shaking the Milky Way Galaxy, started without warning in the silent vacuum.

"Rumble—" There was no sound, but through the conduction of ground vibrations, everyone could feel that rumbling coming from deep within the crust.

On the lunar surface, thousands of massive bunkers originally disguised as craters slid open to both sides simultaneously.

Thick, menacing planetary-level electromagnetic railguns, emitting a cold metallic sheen, slowly rose from underground like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, their muzzles pointed directly at deep space.

And on the more distant Mars, on the outskirts of the newly built eco-city, hundreds of fully automated drone hives opened simultaneously.

Tens of thousands of "Xuan Nu" unmanned combat aerial vehicles, like killer bees leaving their hive, instantly covered the red sky, and then, under the guidance of intelligent AI, quickly flew toward their predetermined orbital defense nodes.

The most exaggerated part was at the Lagrange points. Those massive metal spheres that had originally been floating in space, which the world thought were "space buoys" or "communication relay stations," suddenly split open at this moment.

Armor flipped, cannon barrels extended. Within just a few minutes, they transformed into space fortresses armed to the teeth, their dense network of firepower instantly covering all the essential routes from Earth to the outer Solar System.

"This... what is this?" General Qin Weiguo stood behind Jiang Chen, looking at the countless green defense nodes that had instantly lit up on the screen, feeling as if his breathing was about to stop.

He had spent his whole life in the military, having seen ten thousand cannons fire at once and witnessed torrents of steel. But the scene before him had already exceeded the scope of "war." This was—a miracle.

"This is our security door." Jiang Chen turned around and clapped his hands. Although his heart ached for the money, looking at this impregnable formation, that sense of heroic spirit welled up in him again:

"Old Qin, look at this firepower configuration, is it powerful enough?"

"Whether it's those petty thieves who want to come and steal things, or those big bad wolves who want to come and eat people, as long as they dare to step one foot into the Kuiper Belt, I will turn them into cosmic dust!"

General Qin Weiguo swallowed his saliva and pointed to a set of data in the corner of the screen: "Boss, I understand defense towers, and I understand drones. But..."

"What's going on with these civilian ships?"

On the screen, in addition to the military defense nodes, there were countless dense green light dots; those were civilian transport ships and mining ships busy shuttling along the Earth-Moon and Earth-Mars routes. At this moment, in the status bars of these ships, red [Weapon Activated] signs had actually lit up as well.

"Oh, that." Jiang Chen shrugged, his face full of matter-of-factness: "You know, times are not peaceful now. There are many pirates and monsters in the universe. Our miners and delivery workers are out and about, they must have some self-defense capabilities, right?"

"Self-defense capabilities?" General Qin Weiguo pointed at a heavy transport ship named "SF-1024," his voice trembling: "You call installing two secondary-battery-level high-energy laser cannons on that ship... self-defense?"

"And that 'Lanxiang' mining ship, that thing hanging under its chassis... is that an antimatter bomb?! This is an armed merchant ship? This is a cruiser disguised as a merchant ship, isn't it!"

Jiang Chen tsked, walked over and patted General Qin Weiguo on the shoulder, educating him earnestly: "Old Qin, you need to open up your perspective."

"That laser cannon is for cutting meteorites; that's a production tool! That antimatter bomb... ahem, that's for mining and blasting mountains; it's just a large detonator."

"We are legitimate businessmen, how could we engage in armaments?" "This is called—combining peace and war, a nation in arms."

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the busy lunar port outside. The workers who were loading and unloading cargo did not know the truth; they only knew that the company had performed a "security upgrade" on their ships, saying it was to guard against potential "space pirates." Although no one had ever seen a pirate, looking at the thick cannon barrels on the ships made them feel secure.

"The enemy is coming." Jiang Chen's gaze gradually turned cold, revealing a hint of ruthlessness. "Relying solely on our regular troops, the defense line is too thin. We must mobilize the masses."

"If those alien scum think that just by breaking through the defense line they can drive straight in..." Jiang Chen sneered: "Then they will discover that in this Solar System, even a delivery ship can knock out all their teeth!"

General Qin Weiguo watched Jiang Chen's back, silent for a long time. Finally, this old general straightened his back and gave a standard military salute. Although absurd, although crazy. But this was indeed the most hardcore life-saving method at present...

Just at this moment. "Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!" The deep space radar, which had been operating smoothly, suddenly erupted with a series of urgent, heart-wrenching alarm sounds. The entire command center was instantly enveloped in red light.

"It's here!" Academician Chen Shuyin's voice rang out sharply, her fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard: "The Kuiper Belt defense line has detected abnormal gravitational fluctuations!"

"Space curvature readings are off the charts!" "Something... something is forcibly jumping over! Quantity: 1! Speed: Extremely fast!"

Jiang Chen turned around abruptly, staring fixedly at the big screen. In the dark void at the edge of the Solar System, a scarlet light point suddenly lit up, like the eye of a devil that had suddenly opened.

It did not follow the regular shipping lanes, but directly ignored the laws of physics, like a red-hot needle, fiercely piercing into the heartland of the Solar System!

"Finally showed your face." Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes, his palm pressed against the console, his palms sweating slightly. It wasn't fear. It was the excitement of a hunter seeing prey fall into a trap.

"Switch the footage over!" "Let me see, this first wave coming to die... exactly what kind of 'game' it is!"