Chapter 246

2:00 AM, Dragon Chant Control Center.

Chen Guang stared at Torch Dragon-3's quantum monitoring interface, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

On the left side of the screen, the encrypted communication intercepted three hours ago was still being repeatedly parsed.

On the right, the real-time trajectory of the three Foot-Chicken submarines in the East Sea looked like three vipers, quietly cruising toward the Northwest.

"How's the parsing progress?" Feng Yan walked over with a cup of strong tea, dark circles clearly visible under his eyes.

"87%," Chen marked the spectrum chart, "The encryption algorithm is very special, not the military standard they usually use."

Chen Guang adjusted his glasses: "Regular military encryption has a fixed mathematical structure, and Torch Dragon-3 can reverse-engineer it."

"But this kind of algorithm thrown together temporarily is like a hodgepodge; you have to try every possible ingredient."

Wang Hao slumped in the chair next to him, chewing on a compressed biscuit: "If you ask me, just send two Xuanwu mechs down, pick those three submarines up and ask them—much simpler."

Li Yang had just returned from the Moon Base communication, the holographic projection still flashing with faint snow:

"The most important thing for us now is the launch of the Heaven's Punishment base module. The window is at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning, and not a single mistake can be made."

"But these three submarines are clearly not right," Chen pulled up historical data.

"Three main submarines of the same model leaving port secretly at the same time, heading straight for our East Sea energy platform."

"If this is a coincidence, I'll eat my glasses."

The control room was quiet for a few seconds.

Suddenly, the Torch Dragon-3 interface jumped with a line of red text:

【Layer 7 encryption decryption complete】

【Communication content reconstruction: 91%】

Chen Guang immediately sat up straight: "It's out!"

Everyone gathered around the screen.

At the same time, 150 meters underground on a remote island in Foot-Chicken, a top-secret bunker.

The conference room was only ten square meters, and the air was filled with the mixed smell of old cables and anti-rust paint.

A white incandescent bulb hung from the low ceiling, the light yellowish, illuminating the faces of three people.

Foot-Chicken Defense Minister Yamamoto, Eagle Country Pacific Command Deputy Commander Davis, and White Elephant Eastern Military Region Chief of Staff Singh.

Spread out before them was an East Sea nautical chart, with several striking circles drawn in red ink.

"I'll say it again," Davis spoke first, his voice like sandpaper rubbing against iron.

"Foot-Chicken provides the main fleet, we provide two retired aircraft carriers as bait, and White Elephant provides ground troops. Very fair."

"Fair?" Yamamoto sneered, "Our Oyashio-class is the current main force, and those two Nimitz-class ships of yours are thirty-year-old antiques; it's a question of whether they can even leave port!"

Singh interrupted: "Our mechs are also current..."

"Current?" Yamamoto interrupted him, "Those mechs of yours are all supported by Eagle Country; you only provided the people, while our Oyashio-class cost a great price to build."

Singh's face flushed: "They're still better than yours! At least we dare to fight!"

"Enough," Davis knocked on the table, "Now is not the time for infighting."

He stared at the red circle on the nautical chart, the "Pearl" energy platform newly built by Longguo in the East Sea.

The platform wasn't large, but it was significant; it was the East Sea hub of the Xuanming-2 fusion power grid, supplying 60% of the electricity to the three coastal provinces.

"Pearl Platform, that's the target," Davis said.

"Blow it up, and Longguo's coastal economic zone will be paralyzed for at least a week. Their Heaven's Punishment project also needs a massive amount of power support; cutting power is equivalent to delaying it."

Yamamoto stared at the platform's data: "What about its defense system?"

"Dingyue-I laser close-in defense system, it's said to be able to intercept three hundred missiles in one minute," Davis pulled up the intelligence file.

"A frontal assault cannot succeed. So..."

He paused and said the key to the plan: "So we won't use missiles."

"Then what will we use?"

"You'll know when the time comes, I have my own ways," Davis said coldly.

"Defense Minister Yamamoto, your domestic unemployment rate is already 25%. Yesterday, three more factories in Tokyo closed, and two thousand people took to the streets to protest. How much longer do you think you can hold on?"

Yamamoto closed his eyes.

He remembered the scene he saw on the way: long queues at gas stations, each person limited to 10 liters of gas.

Supermarket shelves were half empty, and prices had tripled.

On TV, economists were predicting in despair: "If we cannot connect to Longguo's energy network, our industry will collapse within six months."

"We..." Yamamoto said hoarsely, "We can't build fusion batteries, but we can still build weapons."

Davis nodded: "Right. At least, we can still make Longguo hurt."

Singh suddenly asked: "Then what? Even if we blow up the platform, what if Longguo retaliates?"

"They want to build Heaven's Punishment, aren't they saying they want to deal with deep space threats? Resources are limited," Davis said.

"A painful enough strike will force them to divert resources from deep space to homeland defense."

"As long as we delay them for a year... no, half a year, we'll have time to find a way out."

"What way out?"

Davis didn't answer.

Because he didn't know either.

The plan so far only involved destruction, not construction.

Like a drowning person grabbing a straw, knowing full well the straw couldn't save their life, but at least it could let them struggle a few more times.

"When do we act?" Yamamoto asked.

"In forty-eight hours," Davis drew an arrow on the nautical chart.

"Our two aircraft carriers will set out from Guam and rendezvous with your fleet in international waters. White Elephant's mech troops will be airlifted to Okinawa by transport planes, and then embark from there."

He looked up at the two: "This is the last chance. If we succeed, we might be able to buy some breathing room. If we fail..."

He didn't say what would happen if they failed.

But everyone knew in their hearts.

Dragon Chant Control Center.

After reading the decrypted communication content, everyone fell silent.

"Are they crazy?" Wang Hao was the first to speak, "What kind of conditions do they have to dare to attack our energy platform?"

"The entire platform has the Dingyue-I laser close-in defense system for defense; missiles are completely ineffective. What means are they going to use to attack?" Li Yang pulled up the Pearl Platform's defense structure diagram.

"The Dingyue system mainly defends against air and missile attacks; underwater defense is relatively weak."

If they attacked from underwater, Chen Guang simulated the consequences after the platform was attacked.

In the footage, the platform pillars snapped under the massive impact, the upper structure capsized, and the fusion core overloaded and exploded.

"Power cut in the three coastal provinces, Heaven's Punishment base module launch delayed by at least one month," Chen added.

"And this is just the beginning. Once war breaks out, the construction progress of the entire Solar System defense network will be affected."

Feng Yan stared at the simulation footage on the screen, silent for a long time.

"Notify the Pearl Platform to enter Level 1 alert. Evacuate all non-essential personnel, and turn the defense system to full power," he said.

"Also, have Penglai stand by, but don't deploy."

"Why?" Wang Hao was anxious, "They're about to attack our door!"

"Because Heaven's Punishment is more important," Feng Yan turned, looking at the pitch-black night sky outside the window.

"The countdown from deep space won't stop because of a few submarines. If we divert all our resources to the East Sea now, we'll be playing right into their hands."

He paused: "They want us to be distracted."

Chen Guang suddenly said: "Torch Dragon-3 detected a new signal... those two retired aircraft carriers from Eagle Country have really left port."

The screen switched, satellite cloud imagery showed two massive aircraft carriers slowly leaving the pier in Guam Naval Base with the help of tugboats.

The deck was empty, no carrier-based aircraft, only a few old helicopters.

Like two aging giant beasts, forced onto the final battlefield.

"And White Elephant," Li Yang pulled up another set of footage.

"Mech troops in the border area are gathering, the number... is three times more than intelligence indicated."

"They've unsealed all their stock," Chen analyzed the heat signal.

"They even modified tractors, welding steel plates on them to use as armor."

Wang Hao looked at those cobbled-together "mechs" and laughed: "Can this thing fight? I bet one hundred yuan that they'll fall apart before they reach the battlefield."

"Report," the communications officer suddenly spoke.

"The East Sea Fleet is asking, should we intercept those three submarines? They've already entered the edge of the alert zone."

Feng Yan walked to the console, looking at the three light points moving slowly on the screen.

His hand hovered over the communication button for a long time.

Finally, he pressed another channel:

"Pearl Platform, this is Dragon Chant. Prepare for defense, but... don't fire the first shot."

He looked up, his voice calm but with unquestionable power:

"Wait for them to make the first move."

"Wait for them to tell the whole world who is destroying peace."