482: Don't rush.

General Feixiao took the terminal, unlocked the screen, took a look, and then took another look.

She looked up, her expression unchanged, but the look in her eyes had shifted.

"The Aeon of propagation?"

"Most likely, or at least at the Emissary level," General Jing Yuan said. "Based on the message Old Chen sent last night and the intelligence from the Eastern Federation, it's pretty much a certainty."

General Feixiao stared at the terminal screen, her finger sliding as she flipped through the report summary. She read it intently, her brow furrowing slightly. After finishing, she put the terminal down and looked at General Jing Yuan.

"Is the news confirmed?"

"The instinctual certification of 'Qlipoth'—what do you think?"

General Feixiao remained silent for a few seconds.

Then she suddenly turned around, walked to the equipment rack by the training ground, put back the training polearm, and took down her official weapon.

It was a Yue, with a teal-blue blade and a darker shaft adorned with exquisite patterns.

She gripped the handle, weighed it, and then turned to walk out of the training ground.

"I'm going to assemble the fleet," she said.

General Jing Yuan sighed. "General Feixiao."

General Feixiao stopped at the door and looked back at him.

"What?" she asked. "Time is of the essence. It's the Aeon of propagation. If this thing really comes out and we don't crush it now while it hasn't fully recovered, the Universe is finished once it develops."

She spoke as if it were a matter of course, as if it were the natural order of things.

Discover the enemy, assemble the fleet, set out, fight the war, achieve a great victory.

The process was clear, the goal definite.

General Jing Yuan looked at her for two seconds, then raised his hand to support his forehead.

"I know you're anxious, but don't be in a hurry just yet," he said.

"What do you mean 'don't be in a hurry'?" General Feixiao said. "With something like this, the earlier we hit it, the better. If we can kill it, don't just cripple it. Do you know how many more people will die if we wait for it to develop?"

"I know." General Jing Yuan lowered his hand, his expression calm. "But if you assemble the fleet now, where are you going to fight? Who are you going to fight?"

General Feixiao froze for a moment.

"The bugs," she said. "Isn't there a swarm? Find the nest, fight all the way there, hit the home base, drag it out and kill it. Isn't that it?"

"Where is the nest?"

"Look for it."

"How do we look for it?"

"Trace the activities of the swarm, follow the vine to the melon—"

"Where is the vine?"

General Feixiao fell silent.

She looked at General Jing Yuan, and General Jing Yuan looked at her. The two stood in the training ground; the holographic wind was still blowing, and sand grains hit the energy barrier with a fine rustling sound.

"I went over the whole thing on my way here," General Jing Yuan said in a steady tone. "Do you know what the situation is now?"

General Feixiao didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.

General Jing Yuan raised his wrist, and a light screen appeared between them.

His fingers slid quickly across the screen, accessing the access logs and intelligence classifications of the Interstellar Peace Corporation's internal database.

"First of all, Old Chen's meaning was an 'abnormality in the propagation path,' not that the 'Swarm Disaster has already descended.' There is a difference, a big difference."

The light screen displayed various summarized intelligence, including all Anomaly reports marked as related to 'propagation' and 'Abundance' compiled by the corporation's intelligence network within the last twenty-four hours.

After all, the boundaries between these two paths regarding life proliferation were sometimes quite blurry.

General Feixiao stood by with her arms crossed, her brow furrowing deeper as she watched.

"Just this?" She pointed at the screen. "Three barren star systems where Elementary carbon-based life traces were newly discovered. The coordinates are remote, the life energy reactions are weak, not even a spark of civilization."

"And this, Geze Fox-folk?" She looked at that record, her lips twitching. "Haven't arrangements already been made for them to integrate into the Yaoqing fleet? What does this have to do with the bugs?"

"Currently, indeed nothing." General Jing Yuan's gaze swept over those items, finally stopping at a piece of intelligence from within the Eastern Federation. "But if we look at the 'prophetic dreams' provided by their clan and what the Eastern Federation encountered not long ago, it becomes relevant."

He clicked on that intelligence; the content was simple.

Last night, the Eastern Federation Academy of Sciences issued an emergency summons involving top scholars in over a dozen sub-fields such as Advanced Biology, Extreme Environment Ecology, Universal Macro-Ecological Models, and Energy-Matter Transformation Theory.

The scope of the summons covered the entire sovereign territory of the Eastern Federation, including all planets within seven star sectors. The reason for the summons was a 'Preparatory Meeting for a Top-Level Scientific Research Project,' but the specific project details were not disclosed.

General Jing Yuan pulled up the star map of the New Eden star system, marking the known activity areas of the Eastern Federation and the general scope of the 'Sharpening Sword' plan, and then retrieved scattered activity reports from CONCORD regarding the Eastern Federation fleet in the 'Region 00' on the outskirts of New Eden.

Finally, he placed the timestamp of the message sent by Chen Hao in the group to the side.

Several sets of time data were displayed side-by-side in another floating window.

General Feixiao understood.

"The time the Eastern Federation summoned the scholars was after that secret operation," she murmured. "And Brother Hao's message was basically within the timeframe of that operation."

"Correct." General Jing Yuan closed the extra windows, leaving only the intelligence summaries and the timeline. "The Eastern Federation likely carried out a routine survey or some other secret mission in an inconspicuous corner on the outskirts of New Eden."

"Then, at roughly the same time, Old Chen sensed an abnormality in the 'propagation' path. Immediately after, the Eastern Federation urgently summoned a group of the top biologists and ecologists in their territory."

He turned to General Feixiao and spread his hands. "What do you think the probability is that this is a coincidence?"

General Feixiao didn't speak, but the impatience in her eyes had faded quite a bit, replaced by calm reflection.

"They ran into something in that star system," she concluded. "And whatever they ran into made them feel they needed to immediately mobilize top-level scientific research forces to evaluate it. Moreover, this thing should be something that causes a clear reaction from the Aeon of Preservation."

"The logic is sound." General Jing Yuan nodded. "So, what we need now is not blind fleet mobilization, but more accurate intelligence. At least we need to know what the Eastern Federation actually discovered, how much intelligence they've gathered, and whether they have the situation under control."

He paused and added, "If it really is a creation of 'propagation,' it's already been this long; a few minutes earlier or later won't make a difference."

General Feixiao let out a breath, accepting General Jing Yuan's analysis, but her face still read 'unhappy.' "So what do we do now? Just wait for the Eastern Federation to issue a notice?"

"Of course not." General Jing Yuan smiled and tapped his personal terminal, dialing a communication. "We can ask a professional."

The communication was connected almost immediately, and Fuhuan's projection appeared. The background seemed to be an analysis room of some Market Development Department.

"General." Fuhuan's voice was as cold and direct as ever. "Is something the matter? I am very busy right now."

"Master Diviner Fu," General Jing Yuan didn't beat around the bush, "I'd like to trouble you to check with the Market Development Department about the recent abnormal activities of the Eastern Federation in Region 00 observed by CONCORD in New Eden, especially those involving unknown biological or ecological anomalies."

"Um... right, you're in the group too; you should know what I want to ask, right?"

Fuhuan's projection was silent for a moment. She didn't check the data immediately but instead closed her eyes.

A faint golden light shimmered around her, and faint hexagram projections flowed and flickered around her, as if performing countless deduction calculations in an instant.

Above her head, an extremely complex projection of an Armillary sphere, woven from countless golden light traces, flashed and vanished.

After just two or three seconds, she opened her eyes, the golden light in them receding.

"The Matrix of Prescience Ultima has issued a warning, indicating that there is indeed an 'Anomaly' hidden in the outer Star Domain of New Eden. Its image is Chaos and unclear, with signs of a malevolent aura spreading."

"However, the specific location is obscured by the secrets of heaven, making it difficult to be precise."

Fuhuan's voice carried a hint of solemnity, then returned to normal. "However, from the actual intelligence..."

She seemed to only then start checking the Market Development Department's information. Her projection tilted its head slightly, and after a moment, she replied, "A small scientific research fleet belonging to the Eastern Federation once stayed on the planet 'Ash-IV' for two days before quickly withdrawing. Although the fleet is named a scientific research fleet, the data matches military standards."

"CONCORD did not monitor any combat signals, but detected a brief, weak abnormal energy radiation in the star system after the fleet's withdrawal. The characteristics are unidentified."

"The Eastern Federation has not provided any explanation for this activity."

General Jing Yuan and General Feixiao exchanged a look.

Ash-IV. The warning from the Matrix of Prescience, combined with this specific intelligence pointer, made the weight of these coordinates instantly much heavier.

"What about the energy radiation characteristics? Are there any records of characteristics similar to explosive proliferation of known life, or swarm activity?" General Feixiao couldn't help but press.

Fuhuan did not answer immediately, but closed her eyes to concentrate again.

This time, she reached out her right hand, her five fingers spread as if plucking invisible counting rods. Several finer golden light lines skipped across her fingertips.

After a few breaths, her brow furrowed slightly, she withdrew her hand, and the light dissipated.

"The hexagrams are mixed and chaotic, with life force and Death Qi intertwined; it is indeed unusual." She shook her head and looked at General Jing Yuan, her tone becoming more certain after a pause. "However, since the Matrix of Prescience points to a sign of malevolent aura spreading there, combined with recent intelligence... General General Jing Yuan, this matter is likely related to propagation and bodes ill."

"It seems so." General Jing Yuan nodded with a grave expression.

Although Fuhuan's Matrix of Prescience could not see through the specific details, this kind of vague judgment of an ill omen was itself strong corroboration at a time like this.

"Thanks, Master Diviner Fu. Please continue to monitor the relevant heavenly secrets and intelligence. If there are any movements, synchronize them at any time."

"It is my duty." Fuhuan's projection nodded, her gaze sweeping over the two, leaving a sentence: "If you go on this trip, you must be cautious. Although the hexagram has not reached 'great misfortune,' variables are hidden, and Chaos is hard to predict."

With that, the communication disconnected.

"Even the Matrix of Prescience points to a problem there... Ash-IV..." General Feixiao clenched her fist. "Now it's basically certain. They definitely ran into something incredible there, and this thing is so wicked it can interfere with the deduction of heavenly secrets, making even Master Diviner Fu only able to see 'malevolent aura spreading' and 'hidden variables'."

"Yes, a 'thing' that can make the Eastern Federation urgently block information and conduct secret research, trigger Old Chen's sensing, and even interfere with the judgment of the Matrix of Prescience..." General Jing Yuan summarized. He closed all the light screens and looked at General Feixiao.

"Let's go, General. No matter how many guesses or how mysterious the divination, it's better to directly ask the person who knows the situation best."

"Huh? Didn't the status say 'Experiment in progress, please do not disturb'?" General Feixiao froze for a moment, but then realized something, her eyes lighting up. "Wait, doing that trick again?"

"How else?" General Jing Yuan was already walking out. "Since he sent the message, he should know the general idea. And knowing him, he's definitely playing the riddler again."

"There's definitely more detailed content."

"Besides, Ms. Bronya just took half a month's leave, and Aventurine's vacation application was rejected again; he's still working overtime now. That's enough to explain the problem, isn't it?"