By late spring, the rounds of negotiations between the cities of Kussen, Lehai, and Bos had ultimately been fruitless; the atmosphere of war between the three cities grew increasingly tense, leading Kussen and Lehai to decide on forming a joint fleet to strike at Bos.

Yang Ying received an official communiqué from the Kussen Corps at the base, requesting his participation in the joint fleet. The document did not specify how many warships the Terran Mercenary Group was expected to deploy, as none of them truly knew the size or nature of the Terran Mercenary Group's fleet.

After the annihilation of the Triceratops, the escort frigates rarely made public appearances. Even when sent out on missions, they required an Observer to scout ahead, carefully avoiding unfamiliar warships. Furthermore, with more and more mercenary groups sinking warships belonging to the Ancient Legion, the fervor around the Terran Mercenary Group had cooled, attracting less attention.

Yang Ying maintained an extremely high level of secrecy regarding the base's capabilities; the surrounding three million kilometers of airspace were under constant, non-stop patrol by Ghost fighters.

Initially, some foreign reconnaissance planes, relying on their high speed, ventured into the base's airspace to scout. However, as soon as they crossed the three-million-kilometer boundary of the base, they were detected by radar and swiftly eliminated by the patrolling Ghost fighters in a very short time.

The Ghost fighters were faster than these reconnaissance planes, boasted more advanced weapon systems, and possessed superior armor defense, making them capable of handling one or even two or three adversaries simultaneously. Moreover, reconnaissance planes usually arrived in only one or two units, while the Ghost fighters patrolled in pairs, swiftly dealing with these intruders within three moves.

Before long, no more reconnaissance planes dared to seek out trouble.

Yang Ying scrutinized the document from Kussen, falling into thought. Xian specifically summoned Liweia, commander of the Valkyries, to brief him on the status of the fleet: "We currently have a total of nine Valkyrie escort frigates at the base. We lack medium-to-large warships, so engaging in a major fleet engagement might strain our capabilities."

"What is the current situation with Bos?" Yang Ying nodded, then turned to Kalia beside him; he needed the concrete details before making a judgment.

"The Bos Escort Group's fleet, after losing two cruisers, managed to scrape together an old light cruiser, which, combined with their existing core, has reformed a fleet of considerable size," Kalia replied, retrieving a palm-sized transparent crystal slab from his tunic. He pressed a spot on the lower right corner, and the slab immediately displayed lines of text and images.

This crystal slab functioned as an electronic folder, capable of storing nearly infinite content. It was a touchscreen, far more convenient than paper. Kalia stored all sorts of data within it, and with a few taps on the screen, he brought up the data on Bos and handed it to Yang Ying.

Yang Ying took it and saw a dynamic three-dimensional model of a warship rotating continuously—a vessel armed with only a single main cannon barrel. Beside it, several text boxes displayed the ship's specifications in flickering text.

"Only one Level Four cannon; it truly is a very old model. I remember Kussen Corps' light cruiser is similar to this one," Yang Ying remarked, shaking his head.

"Indeed. The Kussen Corps places very little emphasis on its fleet investment. If the Mercenary Alliance regulations did not mandate that major mercenary groups must possess at least one large warship, they likely wouldn't even keep this one," Kalia scoffed at this.

"It's all because that Mayor fears the fleet being held by Commander Baches might pose a threat to his rule," Xiang Liya added with an equally dismissive tone.

As intelligence from Kussen continuously arrived, Yang Ying and the others gained a deeper understanding of Kussen's power structure.

In asteroid belts, those who controlled the military generally held the political leverage, and Kussen was no exception.

The reason Kussen's Mayor could suppress Kussen Corps Commander Baches was entirely due to the elite Mayor's Guard he commanded.

This guard consisted of exactly three hundred elite soldiers equipped with power armor. Nominally a part of the Kussen Corps, they obeyed only the Mayor's orders. They typically did not take missions, their sole purpose being to ensure the Mayor's safety and monitor the operations of the Kussen Corps.

To maintain military superiority, the Kussen Mayor not only prevented the Kussen Corps from developing its fleet but also refused to equip ground forces outside the Guard with power armor. Thus, although the Kussen Corps appeared splendid on the surface, its true essence was firmly under the Mayor's control.

Yang Ying returned the electronic folder to Kalia. "Kussen's light cruiser has also been repaired, right?"

"Yes, it just finished repairs the day before yesterday," Kalia replied.

"What is the current balance of power between the sides?"

"Kussen has placed Lehai's bald leader under house arrest, likely intending to use him to control the Lehai fleet as well. Lehai also possesses a light cruiser, and their contingent of medium-to-small warships still outnumbers Kussen's. Bos has more medium-to-small warships than either Kussen or Lehai individually, but fewer than the two combined. Therefore, the combined fleet of Kussen and Lehai has a slight edge over the Bos fleet," Kalia said, tapping the electronic folder a few times to display the fleet data of the three cities before handing it back to Yang Ying.

"Mhm," Yang Ying murmured as he reviewed the data.

"Sir, if I may interject," Li Xiangya suddenly said, "If we participate in the engagement, who holds command? Do we follow their orders on the battlefield, or ours? This is a war of annihilation; they will certainly demand command authority. If they expect us to obey, they might treat us as expendable pawns. As for fighting independently on the battlefield, that is even more unacceptable." Her implication was clear: she advised against joining this major engagement.

"That makes sense," Yang Ying conceded. "Then we will not participate. I will add one more point: since we have already helped them eliminate two Bos cruisers, we have exceeded our obligations as allies. The pact was signed long ago; putting in more effort now won't yield greater rewards. Why should we wade into this muddy water and do thankless work?"

"Sir, ignoring them entirely isn't ideal either. Perhaps we could dispatch an escort fleet to Kussen to defend the city while they are engaged in the battle. That way, we avoid the main fight without directly refusing their request," Kalia suggested as an alternative.

"Good, that settles it then," Yang Ying decided decisively.

Kalia relayed this plan back to Kussen. The Kussen side strongly objected and immediately sent a request for a video conference. Yang Ying, Kalia, and Xiang Liya attended the meeting together; Yang Ying's command center was equipped with a holographic video conferencing system.

When the meeting began, a holographic projection of a conference table appeared in the room. Yang Ying, Kalia, and Li He Ya sat on one side, while the Kussen Mayor and the Baches father and daughter sat on the other.

Although the Kussen Executive Committee comprised nearly ten members, the three present represented the collective opinion of the entire body: the Mayor and old Baches controlled the military, while Christina commanded respect and vast wealth.

Both the Baches duo and the Kussen Mayor desperately wanted the Terran Mercenary Group to join the joint fleet. However, when Li Liya played the card regarding command authority, it silenced them completely.

The Kussen Mayor was silent for a moment before asking, "How can you guarantee the protection of Kussen while your fleet is absent?"

"The Terran Mercenary Group already has vested interests within Kussen City. How could the Terran Mercenary Group possibly neglect the protection of those interests?" Yang Ying responded.

The video conference was not lengthy. They quickly clarified the situation and reached an agreement.

"Commander Yang, welcome back to Kussen. It was a regret that I couldn't give you a proper tour last time. Once this current crisis passes, I will certainly make up for that oversight," Christina said with a captivating smile. This was an invitation extended as a friend, devoid of any ulterior motives.

"It would be my honor," Yang Ying replied with a smile.

Two days later, Yang Ying arrived in Kussen with five escort frigates and ten squads of Ghost fighters. Accompanying them were two transport ships, similar in size to the frigates, carrying five hundred various infantry personnel and a contingent of armored units.

Humanoid transport vessels had limited space, and long-distance transport required occupants to handle all needs—eating, drinking, and sleeping—aboard the ship, facilities the smaller transports could not provide, necessitating larger vessels.

These two transport ships had just entered service, built on the pseudo-Lai production lines outside the base.

After the reinforcements Yang Ying brought were settled in Kussen, the Kussen fleet mobilized entirely, led by one light cruiser, accompanied by over thirty medium-to-small warships, preparing to rendezvous with Lehai. Lehai also dispatched the majority of its fleet, including one light cruiser and over forty medium-to-small warships. The combined allied force significantly outweighed the Bos fleet in sheer numbers.

Before departing the base, Yang Ying had secretly dispatched two Protoss Observers, one to Lehai and one to Bos, to monitor their movements. Once the Kussen fleet departed, Yang Ying sent another Observer to tail them.

Bos did not employ a 'divide and conquer' tactic before the two cities' fleets could unite, primarily because it was impossible. In the complex terrain of an asteroid belt, unless the exact coordinates were known, intercepting a fleet in the vast sea of meteoroids was unfeasible. Radar simply could not achieve such accuracy.

The Kussen and Lehai fleets met midway without incident and then advanced toward Bos City.

A day later, the joint fleet approached the vicinity of Bos City, drawing nearer to the battle zone.

Information relayed from the Observers showed that the Bos fleet had adopted a defensive formation, creating a perimeter around Bos City and utilizing the city's inherent defensive artillery to aid their protection. Bos itself possessed one Level Four cannon and over a dozen Level Three cannons, originally installed to shatter incoming meteorites.

General Porsen was certain the joint fleet would not attack Bos City itself, as destroying it would leave nothing salvageable. The Pirate King would refuse ownership, and Kussen and Lehai would have no ground left to stand on.

Although space cities could relocate, the Bos Escort Group dared not flee. The deadline set by the Pirate King—April 1st—was only a few days away. If a loser had not been determined between the three cities by then, the Pirate King would annihilate all three cities. The Pirate King's infamous reputation was deeply ingrained. Porsen and the others in the Bos Escort Group had no confidence they could escape the Caribbean Pirates.

Since death seemed inevitable anyway, they might as well fight now!

Although the Bos fleet was severely depleted, if they could win this battle relying on the defenses of Bos City, they would still have a chance to rise again.

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