Upon receiving the intelligence, the United Fleet's high command paid serious attention, and the Admiral's flagship immediately issued orders for the fleet to change course, bypass the enemy fleet, and proceed onward.

The mission mandate was exceedingly clear: to afford the ten Space Cities at the center of the fleet the utmost protection, the United Fleet must maintain absolute stealth until reaching the periphery of Jupiter, sparing no effort to avoid detection by the Ancient Legion.

Thus, based on the enemy fleet positioning provided by Yang Ying, the United Fleet silently navigated around that Ancient Legion fleet and continued toward Jupiter.

This situation was encountered once more en route. Again, Yang Ying's forces gave the first warning, and they bypassed the threat without incident.

These two warnings left a profound impression on the high-ranking generals of the military's Second Fleet.

Represented by Admiral Alexander among these high-ranking officers, they had all heard of the Tran Mercenary Corps' reputation. However, they still harbored a degree of skepticism towards this super mercenary group that had been established in only half a year.

Although Randolph had spent a great deal of effort praising the Tran Mercenary Corps prior to the United Fleet's departure, these general-grade officers were men of strong opinions and would not extend a hundred percent of their trust until they witnessed the reality firsthand.

But Yang Ying's forces had just provided them with a much-needed reassurance through concrete action.

Three days after departing from Worrel, the United Fleet finally reached a position not far from Jupiter. At this moment, the Second Fleet disseminated the latest frontline combat reports to all who were authorized to know, making the immense difficulty of the mission clear to everyone.

Yang Ying also received the latest battlefield situation, and he discussed it with Howard in the command bridge.

"The frontline fleet is currently engaging the main force of the Ancient Legion in a star sector approximately 2.4 million kilometers from Jupiter. However, both sides have fought numerous engagements recently; nearly every vessel in the Earth faction's fleet bears damage, while the Ancient Legion's offensive remains relentless."

Howard was in excellent spirits at this time, his black military uniform impeccably pressed, his head adorned with a proper cap. The golden tassels on his coat edges and the epaulets bearing two gold stars indicated his rank as a Major General.

As for these uniforms, they were not affiliated with the Earth military but were unique to Yang Ying's unit—a pure black palette. The style was stately and elegant, exuding seriousness and discipline, giving an impression of vibrant morale.

"Furthermore, the Supreme Military Command has issued an iron mandate: the frontline fleet must hold for a full forty-eight hours before withdrawal is authorized. And we must complete the evacuation of the ten Space Cities within those same forty-eight hours."

"Forty-eight hours?" Yang Ying lowered his head, musing, "There are 850,000 civilians in Narcissus City. Maintaining order while arranging their transfer leaves us very little time."

Space Cities were constructed in space and were required to patrol in space; they could not descend to planetary surfaces. A planet's gravitational field would ensnare them, preventing their return to the void.

If a planet's surface gravity reached even one-thirtieth of Earth's, it would be enough to prevent a Space City from lifting off.

Moreover, Jupiter, being the largest of the eight planets in the Solar System, possessed a mass 2.5 times that of the other seven combined, and its gravitational sphere was the most potent of all planets.

To avert the tragedy of Space Cities colliding with Jupiter, all ten Space Cities had to remain on standby in a relatively distant star field.

Consequently, the transport vessels required considerable time to shuttle back and forth between the colonies and the Space Cities.

"I have another concern," Howard frowned deeply and spoke slowly. "The main force of the Ancient Legion is tied up, but they could still dispatch smaller units to harass us—oh no, not could. They will come to harass us. I refuse to believe there are no reconnaissance drones around Jupiter. Our evacuation operation will not escape the notice of those Ape-men."

As his words faded, a staff officer reported: "Sir, Captain, the Observer has relayed intelligence: the number of unmanned reconnaissance drones around Jupiter is extremely dense—over ten thousand. They have also deployed micro-probes, scattered over an extremely wide area, numbering in the millions! Additionally, tens of thousands of space mines are interspersed among the micro-probes."

Micro-probes were tiny, finger-sized reconnaissance devices. They drifted in swarms through space, relying on sheer numbers for effectiveness. Each micro-probe had a detection range of about one hundred kilometers.

Under normal circumstances, they would continuously transmit a safety signal. However, the moment they detected an object similar in size to a warship, they would immediately sever the signal, allowing the unit that deployed the micro-probes to receive immediate notification of the incident.

As for space mines, they were the landmines of space—roughly the size of a football. Each mine body was equipped with several thrusters and contained an artificial AI chip capable of actively seeking out and ramming targets.

Space mines came in several varieties; the type of explosive housed within varied depending on the intended target. Space mines designed to deal with fighter craft contained high explosives, while those targeting warships carried small nuclear warheads!

Micro-probes and space mines shared one similarity: once deployed in large numbers, retrieval was never considered. Unmanned reconnaissance drones typically carried a supply of these when sealing off a star sector.

Yang Ying sighed, "The cost of the micro-probe and space mine array is not small. It seems the Ancient Legion is determined to turn Jupiter into a grinder for the Space Army."

Howard nodded and instructed the staff officer: "Transmit this information to the flagship."

"Yes, sir."

The staff officer complied, and within a few minutes, the flagship's reply arrived.

The staff officer relayed the response: "The flagship reports they are already aware of this matter and are addressing it. They advise us to remain patient."

Yang Ying and Howard exchanged a look, and Yang Ying said, "Then we shall wait until we arrive."

In fact, Admiral Alexander had already received news from the Jupiter Defense Force remnants.

These soldiers were the survivors who escaped after the main frontline military bases were completely destroyed. Although the bases were gone, they had not given up; instead, they used the existing resources on Jupiter's colonies to construct several rudimentary temporary bases to serve as strongholds against the Ancient Legion.

They had long since scouted the Ancient Legion dispatching large numbers of drones to bypass the frontline forces and deploy mines around Jupiter, intending to obstruct the evacuation of civilians from the colonies.

To clear a path for the arriving United Fleet, these soldiers had begun clearing mines at the risk of their lives starting yesterday.

Due to incomplete equipment and the urgency of time, they paid a heavy price in the process. Thousands of soldiers who had escaped the destruction of the military bases were killed by space mines while clearing them.

Fortunately, their desperate efforts were not in vain. By the time the United Fleet arrived near Jupiter, several safe corridors had been swept clear through the minefield.

In this passage, although not all micro-probes had been neutralized, the space mines had been entirely cleared, ensuring at least the immediate safety of the arriving United Fleet.

Upon learning that the Jupiter Defense Force had fought desperately to carve out a passage under such adverse conditions, Yang Ying remained silent for a moment but said nothing, though his heart was filled with admiration for the soldiers' spirit of facing death without flinching.

The United Fleet reached the front of this cleared channel and rendezvoused with a guidance vessel dispatched by the Jupiter Defense Force.

Then, amid the massive cluster of warships surrounding the Space Cities at the center of the fleet, a Laurel-class battlecruiser belonging to the Caesar Mercenary Corps detached from the formation.

A staff officer near the radar detected this movement and immediately reported: "Sir, Captain, the Laurel has broken formation."

Yang Ying waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's fine. We will wait. The Laurel's actions should have been approved, or perhaps this is a military requirement."

Soon, the Laurel reached the very front of the fleet, and an invisible wave emanated from it.

"The Laurel is emitting an interference wave!" the staff officer reported.

Howard nodded and stated, "This response is correct. Although the interference wave will sever the safety signals of the micro-probes, alerting the Ancient Legion that something is happening here, completely eliminating all the micro-probes would be too tedious; we do not have that time."

Howard watched the radar screen as the United Fleet began adjusting its formation from front to back, a clear sign of imminent movement, and continued: "As long as the micro-probes exist, the moment the United Fleet enters the channel, it will be discovered. The Ancient Legion can gauge the size of the United Fleet from the micro-probe reactions. Having the Laurel interfere will, at the very least, buy us some time to mask our true scale."

The command for the United Fleet to adjust formation was also transmitted to the navigation systems aboard Yang Ying's warship, and Yang Ying directed his vessel to change position as required.

About ten minutes later, the entire fleet assumed a long, linear formation and, guided by the guidance vessel, proceeded into the channel.

The Laurel followed closely behind the guidance vessel, shrouding the entire fleet with its interference wave.

Yang Ying's Observer could perform this function as well, but since the higher military command placed more trust in Caesar's Laurel-class battlecruiser, Yang Ying harbored no desire to volunteer his own services.

Halfway through the transit, as Yang Ying awaited the fleet's emergence from the channel, the staff officer's voice suddenly sounded in his ear: "Sir, the Observer reports intelligence: several hundred unmanned reconnaissance aircraft are flying towards us at high speed."

"Has the widespread loss of signals from the micro-probes attracted the attention of the Ancient Legion?"

Yang Ying knew that with the artificial intelligence of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, penetrating the fleet to snap a few pictures and then escaping the interference zone to transmit the data was hardly an impossible task.

Yang Ying pondered for a moment, then instructed the staff officer: "Notify the flagship of this intelligence and recommend they dispatch fighter aircraft to intercept."