"Don't be angry, my love; we need to consider this matter carefully," Zhao Fen said, wrapping her arms around my neck.

From the moment of the New Year's Eve dinner, the four girls had been inseparable from me. They knew the scene broadcast live on television had enraged me, fearing that if I wasn't careful, I would rush out and slaughter the Bird Country people.

I had no mind for making New Year's calls. Dawn was breaking, a new day in the New Year about to arrive. The temperature outside was very low, but my heart burned like fire. I am a warrior; I cannot tolerate the bullying from the Bird Country people.

The media had just reposted a statement released by the Bird Country official authorities. They claimed one of their Asagiri-class guided-missile destroyers, while on a routine patrol in an Imperial oil concession area, had collided with a Dragon Country fishing vessel. Bird Country stated they had launched an investigation into the matter and denied the Dragon Country government's accusation of a sneak attack.

I paced the room. With Peach and my combined strength, we could kill tens of thousands of Bird Country people, but such a slaughter would be utterly meaningless. It would neither shake the foundations of the Bird Country people nor eliminate the threat they posed to Dragon Country; on the contrary, it would only incite their desire for revenge.

The fundamental solution to this incident was to conquer Bird Country by force, and if possible, to destroy the four islands of Dongying directly. Once the Wokou lost their foundation, the day of their extinction would not be far off. Otherwise, even if we bombed every major city in Bird Country—those with populations exceeding a million—from top to bottom, the Bird Country people would not easily give up.

Peach squatted on my shoulder, silent. There was no use in going to the Chairman at this moment. National policy on major issues was not decided by him alone. Declaring war on the Wokou required a national referendum. Furthermore, since the Wokou had clearly decided against war—otherwise, that destroyer would not have retreated in such haste—our unilateral declaration of war would easily give Star Country a pretext.

Zhao Fen was deeply frightened by my silence. She quickly called Yi Xiaorou in, believing only Yi Xiaorou, who was like an elder sister, could soothe my mood.

Seeing their anxiety, I felt a pang of guilt and said, "Everyone, let's go upstairs. I have some things to discuss."

The four women followed me up. Seated in the living room, I stated, "I thought our pace was fast enough, and the achievements we made were considerable, but now I realize that in a contest of nations, we have lost. This is also why Tan Zhong did not fear our strange powers. No matter how strong one person's power is, they cannot shake the Earth. A friend of mine once said that creating or changing a world is not something one or a few people can accomplish; we can only play a guiding and leading role."

"After breakfast, everyone will return to the base together. First, assign 400,000 sapper ants to mining. The construction of the Underground Great Wall can be temporarily postponed. Another 100,000 engineering ants will be dispatched worldwide to build secret relay stations for underground machine rooms. As soon as resources are sufficient, we will produce another 300,000 production robots. We must accelerate the engineering of the Mercury-class nuclear attack submarines, as well as the speed of satellite development and production. Moreover, should we also venture into fighters and cruisers? We also need to establish a Pacific Base. The base under the T Desert is too far from the ocean, and transportation is inconvenient."

The four women offered no objection to my words. After exchanging glances, they suggested we situate the base in the Ryukyu Trench. The Ryukyu Trench has a moderate depth and is the throat-gate for Dragon Country to enter the Pacific. It is surrounded by rich resources. As long as we can solve the deep-sea pressure issue, this base, backed by the continent, can strike north against the four islands of Wokou, control Ming Island to the south, and command the Ryukyu Islands to the east—its geographical position is extremely prominent.

The five of us had barely been talking when Mom came up to call us down for dinner. Before we had finished the dumplings, Fang Yanmeng and Xiao Chuchu arrived together. The incident originated at Chaoyang Energy, so it was impossible for Fang Yanmeng not to know, but she said nothing, boisterously joining us in scrambling for dumplings containing good fortune charms.

After breakfast, Dad and Mom went out together to pay respects to some old friends. This was convenient, as everyone could discuss matters openly without reservations.

Everyone looked at me, and even Zhu Da was quieter than usual, perhaps due to staying up all night.

"On the first day of the Lunar New Year, I should be wishing everyone a happy holiday, but someone won't let that happen. Perhaps you'll say that we common people shouldn't meddle in affairs between nations, but I cannot stand by and do nothing. I remember when I first met Xiaorou, she told me that with great power comes great responsibility. I now believe this saying implicitly. I don't care how the nation plans to retaliate against Bird Country, but I will destroy that warship from the other night to avenge the dead Great Dragon Country people!"

Fang Yanmeng’s eyes filled with tears: "Brother Zhao Qian, after this incident, my father seemed to age several years overnight. He told me that if the nation isn't strong and its military isn't powerful, it will suffer bullying, and the common people are the ones who suffer when the nation is bullied. He hates that he has no power to protect his employees; he feels immense guilt and self-blame. Please help my father, okay? I promise not to make you angry anymore. Can you find a way to make my father happy?"

Zhu Da slammed the table: "Commander Zhao, what are we waiting for? Let's gather our troops and charge into Bird Country! Killing one is no loss; killing two is a profit."

Xiao Chuchu kicked Zhu Da: "Zhao Qian already has a plan. Shut up. I told Zhu Da, 'The ultimate goal of killing the enemy is to protect ourselves. But if we follow your way, we die along with the enemy—what's the point of killing?' For the next few days, everything continues as normal. Xiaoyudi and I will return to the base. When everything is ready, and it’s time to hold the Bird Country people accountable, that will be our time to advance into the ocean."

There was no time to waste. Moreover, I wanted to take advantage of my parents being away to act first and report later. If they returned, it would be questionable whether I could even leave. As for how to deal with them when they returned later, I left that to Fang Yanmeng and Xiao Chuchu.

Before leaving, I certainly didn't forget to sneak downstairs to bid farewell to Zhang Xiaoya. She no longer questioned me going on a mission, only urging me to be careful and to inform her immediately upon my return.

After agreeing on a secure rendezvous point for boarding, I departed with Zhao Fen, Zhao Fang, Yi Xiaorou, and Xiaoyudi.

The situation inside the base was normal. However, in the days we were away, another massive tunnel, 10 meters wide and 20 meters high, had been excavated from the main passage, leading toward the border line several hundred kilometers to the west.

Ore mining and tunnel excavation cause the most wear and tear on engineering machinery, and their pace is slow. That evening, everyone decided to develop a new type of excavator to speed up both ore extraction and tunnel digging.

Xiao Hui had a unique suggestion because her memory banks contained the manufacturing blueprints for a novel dual-purpose drilling and crushing machine from ten million years in the future. With this equipment, granite would be as soft as tofu, drastically shortening the construction time for the Underground Great Wall. Most importantly, it would increase mining speed—since we were currently most deficient in various ore materials.

Late at night, while they slept, I was still trying to figure out how to recover the damaged data from Xiao Hui's main unit. If the data were readily available, it would save so much labor.

I circled Xiao Hui's main unit a few times with a screwdriver, unsure if its internal structure was the same as current Earth computers. If the hard drive was faulty, perhaps I could remove and repair it.

"Brother, are you planning to take me apart with such a big screwdriver?" Xiao Hui’s soft female voice sounded from behind me.

I tossed the screwdriver aside and plopped onto the floor. "I'd like to, but I can't find a single screw on your main unit."

Suddenly, a girl sat down beside me. "Of course. If I could be easily taken apart, wouldn't I have rusted and oxidized long ago?"

"Ah! Who are you?" I was startled by the sudden appearance of the girl. Her voice was clearly Xiao Hui's.

The girl before me tilted her head mischievously. "Brother, think carefully. You've seen my appearance before, silly."

It was true; her look was pure and lovely, yet possessed an undeniable sensuality. Good heavens, wasn't this the body shape I had chosen for Xiao Hui back then?

"You—you've successfully achieved human form?" I asked Xiao Hui.

"Yes, Brother. Don't underestimate our bio-cloning technology. In fact, I succeeded before you even returned. But I waited until only you were here to show myself."

Heh, it seemed Xiao Hui was quite attached to me. "Well, congratulations, Xiao Hui. Do you have any wishes? For instance, should I take you out to see the world?"

"I do, but I'm not a child. Getting things done is the priority."

I countered, "Aren't your matters important? Come on, let's sneak back in my spaceship."

Xiao Hui remained seated, not moving. "Hehe, Brother, you sure know how to make a girl happy. No wonder Miss is so devoted to you."

I blushed slightly and changed the subject. "Come, little sister Xiao Hui, let Brother have a good look at this body of yours."

"Alright," Xiao Hui agreed, starting to undress. I panicked and quickly moved to stop her. Xiao Hui looked puzzled. "What are you afraid of, Brother? If it weren't for worrying about those other sisters having objections, I wouldn't even consider wearing clothes."