During the lull in the voyage, Yang Ying borrowed a cabin, ascended to the floating continent, and presented the entire account of the recent pirate engagement to the newly established General Staff Headquarters.

The General Staff Headquarters was a new department established at Yang Ying's suggestion. Its members were representatives selected from various branches of the armed forces, tasked with analyzing combat data, summarizing lessons learned, and developing novel tactics to prepare for future, more intense engagements.

Of course, the role of the General Staff extended far beyond that; they were also responsible for coordinating technology and military affairs, which included testing various new weapons systems and confirming the direction of military technological development prioritized by the research departments.

If the troops required a specific new weapon, the General Staff had the authority to submit design specifications to the research division.

The General Staff Headquarters was situated within the main human base on the floating continent, headed by Murphy, with an initial complement of fifty staff officers. As combat increased and the scope of operations expanded, the General Staff was slated for further recruitment.

Yang Ying convened a meeting here, bringing with him the computer logs from the battle—every detail, including every command issued by Lilia and the actions of every unit, alongside the precise timestamps for these maneuvers, and the pirates' responses.

Murphy fed these records into the supercomputer for analysis, while Yang Ying addressed those present:

“Gentlemen, this skirmish was not fierce. The pirates’ equipment was significantly inferior, but for the purposes of drilling the troops, there was no better opportunity.

“The effectiveness of the weaponry of the Valkyrie frigates and the Ghost fighters against the enemy vessels and aircraft, as well as the impact of the enemy’s weapons on our forces, were all demonstrated in this engagement. The cloaking capability of the Ghost fighters proved sufficient to evade guided missiles, and the heavy armor of the Valkyrie provided invaluable data regarding its resistance to both Level Two and Level Three laser cannons—critical information for the future development and upgrading of our armaments.

“As you know, due to technical constraints, Terran equipment has not yet reached its theoretical optimal level; indeed, it falls quite short. Only through continuous upgrades to our production lines can we manufacture superior equipment.

“Although various advanced technical schematics already exist within the human knowledge base, theory remains distinct from practice.

“It is akin to when Einstein formulated the Theory of Relativity; the atomic bomb had a theoretical foundation, but it still required a dedicated cohort of scientists and engineers to perfect the technology before the bomb could actually be produced. A modern tank specialist, even with every technical detail of tank production memorized, could not simply manufacture a tank upon arriving in a primitive society. This is because the industrial base is too weak; to build from nothing, one must start by refining tools and accumulating resources step by step.

“The situation for humanity is similar now. The precision and integration levels of our production lines cannot be achieved overnight; only through iterative upgrades can we fully realize the potential of the technology.

“Yet, we must still count ourselves fortunate to possess complete technical documentation, which spares us the precious time and effort of initial research, allowing us to rapidly cycle through equipment modernization in the field. This is the first time I have brought back combat data, and I entrust its analysis to you all.” Yang Ying saluted those assembled.

The entire General Staff rose in return salute, shouting in unison, “Yes, Sir!”

More than that, beyond the technological issues, there was the matter of the Terran clones. Yang Ying deliberately omitted this from the meeting.

Clones possessed vast knowledge the moment they stepped off the production line, but applying that knowledge practically still required a period of acclimatization to the real world.

To offer an analogy: every clone has the entire Art of War inputted into their minds; any recruit can recite it from beginning to end, but deploying that knowledge on the battlefield requires practical combat experience. Otherwise, they are merely an army composed entirely of Zhao Kuo—a force of pure armchair strategists.

Another purpose for establishing the General Staff was to accelerate this acclimation process: completely analyzing every combat experience, integrating it into comprehensive data, and using it to upgrade the memory systems injected into the next batch of clones, allowing the new arrivals to bypass unnecessary learning curves.

Furthermore, the Protoss and the Zerg face similar challenges. Since all three races were conjured into existence ex nihilo, they are all currently in their most rudimentary states, with a long path ahead of them.

Returning to the real world, a considerable amount of time had passed. Yang Ying arrived on the bridge and noticed that Lilia was not at her station. Several other posts were also vacant; only the pilot and the communications officer remained.

“Where is everyone else?” Yang Ying asked, perplexed.

“The Captain and the others have gone to rest, conserving their energy for the upcoming battle,” the pilot replied.

To avoid the inconvenience of jet lag, most human colonies in the Sol system use Greenwich Mean Time as the standard, and the warships follow suit.

Yang Ying then realized it was nearly two in the morning; only the perpetual darkness of space had masked the time. He looked at the duty officers and saw fatigue etched on their faces. “And you two, aren’t you tired?”

“We’re fine, Sir. Someone will come to relieve us shortly, and then we can go straight to bed,” the communications officer responded with a smile. “Thank you for your concern, Sir.”

“That’s for the best,” Yang Ying nodded. He hadn't come to the bridge for pleasantries; he went straight to the point: “How far are we from our target?” This target, of course, was the medium-sized Ape race warship.

“At our current speed, we will reach the shortest distance—half a light-year—in six more hours.” The communications officer turned and tapped a few keys on the control panel, connecting with the other Observer constantly monitoring the target.

“Eight AM. That’s a good time; everyone will be sharp,” Yang Ying said casually. Time of day mattered little to him; since achieving proficiency in his psionic abilities, his need for sleep had diminished significantly—a single sleep per week satisfied his physiological requirements.

It was also easy for the Ghost fighter pilots to rest. If they set their craft to follow mode, the fighters would automatically trail the Valkyries. Since they were in deep space, there was no risk of a crash from dozing off, allowing them to sleep soundly in their cockpits. Switching off the artificial gravity systems would effectively prevent muscle stiffness caused by poor sleeping posture.

The following morning at seven o'clock, the entire fleet, having enjoyed a full night’s rest, reported to their combat stations brimming with energy, ready to meet the challenge—however...

“Latest update from the Observers! The target is moving!” the communications officer shouted.

Yang Ying slammed his right fist into his left palm. “Not moving early, not moving late, but choosing now to move. Is it trying to spite me?”

“Which direction is the target moving?” Lilia asked immediately, her brow furrowing only slightly.

“The target’s heading is…” The communications officer carefully verified the intelligence transmitted by the Observer, “…Kussen!”