34: Chapter 34 Federation

"Fujian, we've cleared this batch of enemies, preparing to execute the next phase of operations... When will this storm stop?"

"It'll probably take another day to pass..." Fujian analyzed the collected intelligence over the comms, "According to the intel, the next wave of enemies should have already reached engagement distance, but for now, it seems the storm's influence is temporarily delaying them."

"How is the Commander doing?" Z23 asked.

"The real-time data transmission from the Commander's fleet is normal, and the relative distance has remained consistently fixed." Fujian glanced at the electronic panel again, "Reports every fifteen minutes, all positive so far."

"That's good..." Z23 breathed a sigh of relief.

After clearing out the enemy's vanguard fleet, the main fleet that followed would be the real trouble.

On Fujian's radar, there had always been a friendly transport ship at the edge of the battlefield. Through IFF identification, she confirmed it was one Li Ming had secretly deployed here, likely intended for temporary resupply.

However, even for the vanguard fleet, their ammunition reserves appeared to be more than sufficient for now.

Nevertheless, as a precaution, Fujian had them move closer to obtain ammunition resupply, just in case.

Meanwhile, Li Ming was still patrolling at sea.

To avoid exposing the core area directly during this operation, Fujian had extended the combat radius to over five hundred nautical miles. While this distance from the base lowered the probability of the temporary harbor being discovered, it also meant that aside from a few frontline islands temporarily armed as airfields and coastal defenses, this area had no additional garrison.

Although he knew that even without her carrier-based aircraft, Fujian was not someone ordinary Sirens could mess with, it was better to be safe than sorry.

That's why he had been patrolling on the flank of their battle line, avoiding any potential surprises.

The rainfall was gradually decreasing now, and the risk for air units to take off had lowered. Considering possible battlefield threats, Li Ming ordered the B-25s from the rear base to take off and ascend above the cloud layer to handle any potential crises, accompanied by the newly produced P-47s also stationed at the rear base.

Simultaneously, the newly completed P-38 interceptor squadron from the factory area took off to serve as reconnaissance aircraft, on standby above the cloud layer in the combat zone.

Yawning, Li Ming maintained communication with Fujian while keeping an eye on the direction of the cruise ship.

According to reports from the Yellow Chickens, perhaps because they felt safe or for some other reason, passengers had already appeared on the deck, pointing and gesturing toward the Destroyers on their side. For safety reasons, Li Ming ordered the Yellow Chickens not to appear on the Destroyers' decks or any exposed areas where their presence might be noticed.

Looking at it now, his decision seemed to have been correct.

So relaxed, Li Ming thought to himself. Although their attitude made him somewhat uncomfortable, he wouldn't do anything bad because of it.

The air group had just taken off. According to the information Fujian shared, the arrival time of the next wave of Sirens seemed to have been delayed, which was good news. It meant the Destroyers could take a brief rest, and the engineering drones on board could perform some simple maintenance on their rigging.

But it could also be a trap. It was an open scheme, yet Li Ming wasn't overly worried. He was well aware of the capabilities of his four 'kids'—after all, their equipment was what he had previously outfitted them with. And as for Fujian...

Li Ming could guess that her combat strength was not inferior to Enterprise's.

He shifted his legs uneasily. No matter how he looked at it, his seemingly massive fleet was the weakest link in the entire operation's tempo, yet he hadn't been attacked at all.

This defied logic. The Sirens had almost unilateral intelligence suppression over their side. Even if Fujian's rigging could block nearby information, the Sirens couldn't possibly be unaware of his location.

Li Ming was curious. What was the Observer planning? The Experimentation Fleet wasn't just her alone—what about the Purifier, the Tester, and the Eliminator?

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly as he recalled the storyline from the game. Those characters were quite interesting.

The Observer was somewhat of a strategist, backed by her own host system. In terms of skill alone, she was beyond his comparison.

It's just that now, without an omniscient perspective or any "contextual connections," he had no way to understand the Sirens' actions and could only rely on his own wild guesses.

He suddenly looked up and out the window, as if seeing the Observer watching him with a hint of amusement. Rubbing his eyes, he saw nothing in that direction.

Sighing, Li Ming stood up and twisted his waist, his joints making cracking sounds. Prolonged sitting was indeed uncomfortable—this was an old issue of his, ever since his father kicked him for watching TV until eleven o'clock back then, his back hadn't been great.

Although it might have been more due to being overweight and overly energetic during middle school, Li Ming still planned to blame this problem on his father.

After all, before eighth grade, he could say he got slapped every three days and punched every five. Things improved after that, but unfortunately, his mother also grew anxious about his academic performance...

Hey, why am I thinking about the past now? Li Ming shook his head and sat back down.

Looking on the bright side, if it weren't for his father, he would have been finished long ago—even if he wasn't very reasonable.

It seemed there was nothing else for him to do for now, so he could spare some energy to consider future developments.

Battleships and battlecruisers... were they necessary?

Li Ming wasn't entirely sure. In the era he lived in, big guns and massive warships had become honors of history. But in this world, frontline warships that wouldn't be instantly annihilated by the Sirens could still help Ship Girls stabilize the battle line, even if they couldn't effectively damage the Sirens... right?

He'd have to ask Z23 about the combat role of mass-produced warships in their world later.

Thinking this, Li Ming lowered his head to continue looking at the electronic sand table.

The radar system was synced to it. Although the old radar's efficiency and performance were inferior to modern ones, it could still help Li Ming analyze some things nearby.

It's so quiet around here, not even wind or waves...

Li Ming glanced outside at the turbulent weather once more.

"Captain Chuchu, have the maintenance team check the radar. Fleet to Condition Two, we might have trouble!"

The Yellow Chickens always lacked some flexibility; in this regard, even scatterbrained Li Ming was a bit better than them.

Just then, Li Ming received a communication from the two Destroyers sent for escort duty.

"Chu, Chuchu..." The comms Chuchu chirped at Li Ming for a while before he roughly understood its meaning.

...Three Federation Destroyers have appeared and are currently in a standoff with them.

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