On the top floor of the 'Liaison Office' building, Yang Ying watched the screens go dark one after another, finally letting out a sigh of relief. "Perhaps the small Gray Harbor isn't significant enough to draw the attention of two peak masters."

Lena smoothed down her wind-tousled hair and said, "Did we just have a close encounter with Master Hengfeng? To be honest, it was quite unnerving, especially considering that even Master Dianyu is currently aligned with the Ape faction."

Kerrigan nodded, looking up at the scattered stars in the night sky, and said with concern, "I have a bad feeling about this. The scent of war is growing stronger. Something major is about to happen in the asteroid belt."

On the holographic screen of the communications unit, Master Garcia rested his chin in his hands and stated with certainty, "Of course something big will happen. Horace has swaggered right into Gray Harbor. Kerrigan, Lena, the two of you will remain in Gray Harbor until further orders are issued. This is to guard against Ulysses making a comeback."

"Yes, sir!" the couple replied.

Then, he turned to Yang Ying and said, "Colonel Blade, General Randolph and I need to start discussing countermeasures against Horace now. This communication must end here. I hope we'll have a chance to talk at length in the future."

"Understood, Master Garcia," Yang Ying nodded.

After the holographic projection vanished, Kerrigan tucked the communicator back into his cassock and managed a smile. "Let's head back to our rooms. We can discuss anything tomorrow."

"Good."

They all descended from the rooftop and returned to their respective quarters. Everyone, whether Yang Ying or the Kerrigan couple, needed time to process the events of the day.

Meanwhile, in the command room of the main base, Master Pang Qian addressed Yang Ying. "I don't know why Horace chose this moment to start a war with Agon, but since he has stepped onto the stage, he clearly believes we can no longer stop him. Recent events on Earth also suggest that the Ape Worship Cult is planning something of great importance. You must be extremely cautious."

Yang Ying nodded to show he understood, then asked, "Master, you mentioned some events happening on Earth just now. What were they?"

Master Pang Qian paused for a moment, then nodded. "It's fine to tell you this. Recently, over a dozen high-ranking government and military personnel have been abducted by the Ape Worship Cult. Their actions can only be described as brazen. In this period, we have eliminated more cultists than in the past ten years combined. They are desperate!"

Yang Ying's brow twitched. "Thank you for the warning, Master."

After ending the connection, Yang Ying immediately ordered Kalia to collect every piece of usable information available to analyze what Horace was truly planning.

Based on existing intelligence, Horace had already consolidated all major pirate organizations in the pirate constellation, with the exception of the Caribbean Pirate Fleet. His understrength was comparable to that of a main-force fleet of the Earth military. Whatever he intended to do, it carried extremely destructive potential.

Ever since the pirate fleets were absorbed by him, they seemed to have vanished overnight. The asteroid belt, which used to see small skirmishes daily and major ones every few days, had suddenly become quiet.

Incidents of pirate raiding had drastically decreased. Even when they occurred, they were carried out by small-to-medium-sized pirate crews.

As a result of this situation, the total volume of cargo transported through the asteroid belt had increased by over twenty percent. Many unsuspecting merchants had even sent letters of thanks to the Mercenary Alliance, praising their efforts in clearing out the pirates within the belt.

However, those in the know understood that this was merely the calm before the storm.

In a secret base deep within the asteroid belt, Horace stood on the landing platform, welcoming an incoming spacecraft. When the ship docked and the hatch opened, Elder Ye Ge, the Left Elder of the Ape Worship Cult, stepped out. He was clad in gray robes and looked travel-worn.

"Master Ye Ge, you've had a difficult journey," Horace greeted him.

"Master Horace," Ye Ge bowed deeply. "For the past half-month, I have ordered all our spies embedded within Earth governments and military structures to go deep into hiding, severing all contact with each other to preserve their strength. They will remain dormant until I signal them to awaken. After all, most of our core members have already been sacrificed for this grand scheme, and for a considerable time into the future, they cannot contact us until we rebuild the Ape Worship Cult."

"They are just over a hundred brainwashed Human Awakened individuals. They are worthless compared to the grand undertaking of the Legion," Horace stated ruthlessly.

"This is the result," Ye Ge smiled faintly, pulling a chip from his robes. "All the intelligence you require is contained here. This chip holds the fire control codes for all fifty-three military bases of the Earth military, spanning from the orbit of Saturn to the entire asteroid belt. Some of these codes came from our spies, while the core intelligence that our spies could not reach was acquired through the most direct method: kidnapping those who knew."

"Excellent." Horace took the chip, weighing it in his hand. "With these fire control codes, we can paralyze every military base in the range from the Ten Stars to the asteroid belt. We can shut down all their anti-air defenses. Without these defenses, the Earth military bases become mere targets for our Ancient Legion fleet. We can easily destroy them one by one, and from then on, the outer solar system beyond the asteroid belt will belong entirely to our Ancient Legion."

Horace burst into loud laughter.

The next morning, in the base command room, Yang Ying was processing some documents.

The doorbell to the command room suddenly rang.

"Sir, it's me, Kalia. I have something important to report," Kalia's voice came from outside the door.

"Come in," Yang Ying said.

The door slid open with a swish, and Kalia entered, holding a data disk. His expression was tight, and he looked somewhat haggard, clearly having not slept well all night.

"What happened? You look exhausted," Yang Ying inquired.

"Sir, last night I had Kevin hack into the Intelligence Department's computers and steal some materials," Kalia said, plugging the data disk into a data port on a computer on Yang Ying's desk.

Yang Ying walked over to the computer and asked, "Were you discovered?"

Kalia shook his head. "With Kevin's abilities, how could he possibly be discovered?" he replied with a rhetorical question.

A light screen appeared between the two of them. Data boxes opened on the screen, displaying photographs and textual information.

"What is this?" Yang Ying asked.

"This is the result of my investigation into the Ape Worship Cult's activities during this period, as you requested," Kalia tapped the keyboard twice.

The data boxes flickered, most of the irrelevant material was filtered out, and a small portion was consolidated to one side, listed item by item.

"I analyzed all valuable targets from the front lines, and the high-ranking officials kidnapped by the Ape Worship Cultists, looking at their jurisdictions and performing cross-comparisons. I derived over ten possibilities, and I favor this one the most."

Kalia pointed at the light screen. "Although theoretically, this possibility has the lowest probability, when linked to some events in Horace's life, I am almost certain this is the second phase of the plan Horace mentioned."

Yang Ying looked at the final conclusion on the screen, frowning. "The fire control codes for all military bases from the orbit of Saturn to the asteroid belt? While I know Earth's intelligence agencies are as leaky as a sieve, this level of breach seems too ridiculous."

Kalia nodded. "It is indeed ridiculous. No sane person would believe the Ape Worship Cult could obtain the complete fire control codes for all fifty-three military bases. But look here..."

He pointed to a string of names on the light screen. "It's now confirmed that these individuals know the codes for twenty-seven of the bases. The remaining twenty-six codes can be acquired through their agents within human society."

"If they get the fire control codes, they can paralyze all the bases, leaving the garrison troops completely undefended. Then, within a few days, they can destroy these bases one by one," Yang Ying murmured to himself.

"Without these bases, the Earth military cannot protect its logistics. The front-line fleets will lack energy and supplies, forcing them to retreat inside the asteroid belt," Kalia added.

"What a venomous scheme, what incredible operational capacity," Yang Ying exclaimed. "Why has human intelligence work never reached this level?"

"That question is likely very complex," Kalia shrugged.

"Tell me about it," Yang Ying prompted. "It seems you've done some research on this."

Kalia nodded. "I once asked David about it. Within the Ape Worship Cult, Elder Ye Ge is specifically responsible for intelligence work. As a master-level expert, ordinary people stand no chance of keeping secrets from him."

"The ordinary personnel throughout the Intelligence Department are indeed at an absolute disadvantage against the team of Awakened led by Ye Ge," Yang Ying agreed.

Kalia continued, "Furthermore, ordinary people still maintain a sense of alienation from the Awakened. Even now, ten percent of Earth's population still considers Awakened beings monsters, sub-human. Government departments exclude the Awakened; the Nian Neng Temple remains an unofficial organization—that much is evident."

This statement struck a chord deep within Yang Ying, causing him to ponder for a long time. As an Awakened being himself, he felt a profound resonance with this situation.

Yang Ying sighed and gave a wry smile. "This is probably a legacy issue. Earthlings are accustomed to governance by ordinary humans, making them conservative and unwilling to accept reality. They fear that if the Awakened take power, they will look down upon them. Even though the Awakened have an evolutionary advantage, ordinary humans will huddle together to resist the rise of the Awakened."

As he said this, Yang Ying couldn't help but think of the Ancient Legion. In the Ancient Legion, higher-ranking apes enjoyed a noble status, naturally viewed as leaders by ordinary apes—a status utterly incomparable to that of the Awakened on Earth.

Perhaps it would be better if the Awakened led Earth, Yang Ying thought to himself.