"Hmm?"
"Who dares to say that Earth will relinquish leadership on my behalf!"
The bearded manâs face changed, then he looked towards the person who spoke.
The high-ranking officers of several Imperial fleets also looked at this person.
Outside the conference hall doors, a man stepped in, and surprisingly, none of the soldiers behind him stopped him.
Or rather, each soldier looked as if theyâd seen a ghost, not even attempting to intercept, let alone sound the alarm.
When the figure appeared before the senior officers, the bearded manâs entire face shuddered.
Each high-ranking Civilization officer experienced a similar drastic change in expression.
Before long, the previously inefficient and scattered Auster Empire border defense line underwent an extremely efficient transformation.
"Did you hear? Itâs said that our Orion Armâs top Strong One has come to this defense line."
"What, are you talking about Mister Jia Yan? Wasnât it said he died in the rear lines, but heâs still alive?!"
"This is insider information. Itâs said that the Great Empireâs people knew long ago that Mister Jia Yan was still alive, but they didnât reveal it because they judged his injuries to be severe, and revealing it would create unrealistic expectations."
"Who would have thought Lord Jia Yan was so blessed, he didnât die at all."
There are many external rumors, some good, some bad. After all, not every Civilization creature is fond of Jia Yanâs presence. Still, at least now, most are pleased with the changes along this simple defense line.
"Our Earth Fleet handed over the battleships just like that, alas."
In the temporary residence of the Earth Fleet leadership, the bearded man and an assistant sighed heavily.
"Colonel, actually, I think Lord Jia Yan didnât make a mistake. Our Earth peopleâs ability to operate those battleships truly doesnât compare to these other Civilizations. Compared to us, they can exert stronger combat power."
"Moreover, for Mister Jia Yan to make such a decision indicates he believes the enemy we will face far exceeds our imagination in strength. We cannot allow a mere selfish thought to bring another disastrous defeat to this defense line."
The assistant appears to have a broader strategic perspective compared to the bearded man.
"Alright, you might have a point, but I canât understand why the Lord says that without battleships Earth people should just board regular ships and return to Earth. Wouldnât it be better for Earth people, who lack war experience, to stay and observe a great battle like this?"
The bearded man, being someone less skilled in strategy, has a strong ability in real combat, yet now fails to grasp what kind of trick Jia Yan is playing.
The assistant merely shook his head lightly upon hearing the bearded man speak, having long realized that Jia Yan seemed to lack trust in this defense line. Handing the battleships to the other Civilizations was to prevent unnecessary sacrifices by the Earth people.
While the two were discussing, there came a knock on the door.
When the door was opened, both the bearded man and the assistant were startled.
It turned out that Jia Yanâs Avatar had entered.
Jia Yan had now managed to control his injuries and appeared outwardly neat and tidy, looking as if he hadnât been hurt at all.
But he himself knew that his injuries were still severe. Fighting was out of the question and even flying for a longer duration would worsen his wounds.
Of course, outsiders didnât understand any of this.
"J-J-Lord Jia Yan." When the bearded man saw Jia Yanâs mysterious gaze, he felt some trepidation.
In reality, as someone who had dealt with the âJiaâs familyâ early on, he had always felt a vague sense of discord towards this âJia Yanâ in front of him.
Particularly having interacted with the Giant Mosquito several times, he even once suspected whether the Giant Mosquito had any connection to Jia Yan. But after âJia Yanâ appeared, he deliberately avoided any topics related to the Giant Mosquito clan, as if there had never been any trace of the Giant Mosquito on Earth.
Yet the more this happened, the more he felt there was something fishy, making each meeting with Jia Yan feel like he was seeing a monster in human skin, both fearful and apprehensive.
Of course, if Jia Yan knew his thoughts, heâd surely be surprised, recognizing his sharp intuition.
"You seem quite dissatisfied with my decision."
Jia Yan didnât speak further but got straight to the point.
The bearded man and the assistant were stunned, looking at each other.
Even though they were frightened, the bearded manâs innate bravery made him nod and say, "Lord, Iâm just thinking, what if these other Civilizations donât return the battleships after the war, or if they tamper with them."
"Narrow-minded!"
Jia Yan glanced at him and directly rebuked, "Youâre a good several decades old, how can you not understand even such a simple issue? If this war were easy, would the Kawai Defense Line be completely defeated? If it were easy, would I give the battleships to them?"
Jia Yan was actually extremely familiar with the bearded man, having dealt with him extensively as the Giant Mosquito, so even though he was reprimanding him, there was a faint sense of intimacy.
This made the assistantâs expression peculiar.
Obviously, Luo Xi Huzi also noticed this, looking at Jia Yan with a peculiar expression, then confirmed that he didnât seem to have much interaction with Jia Yan, and lowered his head.
"I came today to give you another order. Now return to Earth, and organize all the battleships that you can. Not from the Great Empire, just the Earth Battleships you are familiar with. After I return, I will conduct a secret training."
After Jia Yan said all this, he left the room.
"Uh, what does this order mean, my lord?!"
Luo Xi Huzi looked at the deputy with some surprise, but his usually resourceful deputy was also showing an expression of puzzlement this time.
Before Jia Yan left the Earth peopleâs stationed base, he saw the Earth people on the planet already starting to pack up, preparing to retreat.
Of course, they arrived on very advanced Great Empire battleships, but now theyâre switching to inferior Auster Empire aircraft or even cargo ships to return, nearly everyone had some complaints.
However, no one dared to refuse Jia Yanâs order.
"Previously, I wanted the Earth people to experience a battle, but last night, when my True Body transmitted energy again, I had a flash of inspiration and thought of something I almost forgot!"
Standing on a mountain on the frontier line planet, Jia Yan watched the coming and going of battleships and various ships on the entire planet, his expression showing slight joy.
"This time, the Earth people wonât have to participate! I have a way to give them somewhat formidable combat power immediately!"
Jia Yanâs eyes gleamed.
Actually, his plan was simple. It was the battleship skill shown to him by the Empress âKamaâ of the Country of Taia in the Northern Star Domain.
Matea Tactic!
This is a technique for coordinated command of battleships that can even allow a fleet to enter subspace.
"Although I only learned a bit back then, it now seems that methods for entering subspace are almost related to the Subspace Talent. If I were to perform it, I could barely achieve it."
Jia Yan had a slight expectation in his heart.
He didnât expect the Earth people to reach the power levels Kama demonstrated in war through his temporary training. They only needed temporary self-defense.
"Wait, my True Body will arrive in less than a month."
Jia Yan was stalling for time, and even handing over the Earth Battleships to this frontierâs civilization was a way to buy time. From the beginning, he didnât think this defense line could defeat the invading enemies!
Even though the enemies would only be the dispersed combat power of external fleets, if the Kawai Defense Line could not defeat them, could this defense line organized by the Auster Empire do so? That would be underestimating the opponent too much.
The Earth peopleâs retreat was incredibly swift; having just arrived at the frontier, they were simply transferring supplies to the temporarily acquired ships and aircraft, and the entire army was mobilized quickly.
"Lord Jia Yan, I will return and then mobilize all the battleships of the Earth civilization according to your requirements."
"Good, remember, it must be a full mobilization, even if it means paying the price of hindering Earthâs development."
Watching the aircraft carrying Earth warriors depart, Jia Yanâs mind was slightly relieved.
In the upcoming major battle, he would not have to worry too much about casualties.
And the day after the Earth people left this frontier planet, the anticipated enemy indeed arrived.
"People of the Orion Arm, hello, we are friendly visitors from the Biochemical Star Region."
"Please donât resist; we are just far-away visitors coming for a friendly visit, and will not do anything to the people of the Orion Arm."
The public broadcastâs content completely contradicted their actions.
A total of over a thousand power battleships from external forces slowly arrived outside the Auster Empireâs planet frontier.
Some ordinary peopleâs ships, which fled slowly, simply had no chance to escape and were blown to pieces by cannon fire.
And in front of that mighty fleet, a monstrously powerful creature was flying.
"Creatures of the Orion Arm, listen up. Is that Jia Yan here at this frontier too? Tell him to come out and let this lord see what the so-called first strong one of the Orion Arm is capable of!"
"Jia Yan, didnât you kill some of my fleetâs Secondary Level before? Now come and try to kill me, dare or dare not, haha!"
That monster was over three hundred meters from head to tail, with power reaching the Secondary Level, and even the middle level of Secondary Level, possessing overwhelming strength.
Behind this fleet, some battleships dropped a small technological item every time they reached a patch of starry sky. Then that patch of starry sky felt completely different from the surrounding starry sky, with the special pressure unique to the Orion Arm disappearing inside.
"My lord, the enemy is too vicious, knowing you are seriously injured, they still use such provocation."
On the defense side, almost every high-ranking official on the frontier line was grinding their teeth.
And sitting at the head of this group of high-ranking officials was Jia Yanâs Avatar, along with the designated commander of the defense line of Auster Empireâs nationality.