"Just this small contingent of yours? Are you mad, Commander Yang Ying?" Marshal Alexander's expression shifted to one of utter astonishment the moment Yang Ying proposed sending the Trant Mercenary Corps against the reinforcements. This was far beyond what he had anticipated.

While the Trant Mercenary Corps' fleet represented less than one-thirtieth of the entire Left Flank's naval size, any unit on the battlefield held the potential to swing the tide of victory or defeat. Marshal Alexander was loath to detach any force at such a critical juncture.

Yang Ying shook his head, his tone serious. "I am not mad. Although this decision might not be one born of protracted deliberation, I ask Your Excellency to trust that it is not a reckless one either. The Trant Mercenary Corps is confident in handling those two main reinforcement fleets."

"Confident?" Marshal Alexander’s old face wrinkled deeply, his voice laced with anxiety. "Commander Yang Ying, I know that six months ago, the Trant Mercenary Corps launched a Boron attack outside the asteroid belt that crippled two semi-main fleets under the Ancient Legion. However, the Ancient Legion learned its lesson over the past half-year and has since equipped all its warships with Boron countermeasures. Whether you can achieve the same effect as half a year ago is uncertain. Where does your confidence stem from?"

Marshal Alexander’s promotion to Marshal was directly related to that battle six months prior. Over the past six months, he had scrutinized every available textual and visual record of that engagement, giving him an understanding of the battle’s specifics second only to personnel within the Trant Mercenary Corps itself.

The Trant Mercenary Corps' Taguchi attack had left an indelible impression on him. But since that battle, both the Terran Army and the Ancient Legion had dedicated themselves to making their armaments immune to Taguchi effects. By the time the Jupiter Campaign commenced, their modification efforts had yielded significant results. While complete immunity for every weapon system was unrealistic, the level of modification achieved was now sufficient to ensure that main assets like warships and fighters retained adequate combat capability when subjected to Boron attacks.

"Furthermore," Marshal Alexander paused for breath, "if you depart now, calculating based on trajectory and speed, it will take at least ten hours before you even encounter the enemy. Meanwhile, the Right Flank forces are scheduled to engage the Ongsalle within ninety minutes. Ten hours from now, our battle with the Ongsalle might very well be over. Even if you win then, what would be the point?"

"We will send the Spectre fighter wing ahead. That way, we can meet the reinforcements in a minimum of two hours."

"Two hours?" Young Marshal Alexander's brow twitched, his eyes sharpening. "So, you truly held back capabilities in the Spectre fighters from the Terran Army."

Yang Ying snorted. "Based on the performance of our Spectre fighter wing on the battlefield, you should have guessed this long ago." He paused, then added, "It's pointless to discuss that now. Our new generation of Spectre fighters is currently undergoing live combat trials. Once the technology matures, we can discuss commercialization in a few years. In any case, the Spectre fighters currently available on the market are more than sufficient and already in high demand."

Every technology is like a mine. Rushing a new technology to market before fully exploiting the profit potential of the existing one is akin to sealing off an exhausted mine to open a new one. Major corporations and conglomerates generally avoid such practices.

Marshal Alexander was accustomed to this reality but still inquired, "Then what is your objective in revealing the maximum speed of these experimental Spectre fighters now?"

"Objective? What an unpleasant word." Yang Ying gave a self-deprecating smile. "Just like Your Excellency, I am pursuing victory in this campaign. Frankly, I do not favor the risky maneuvers you've planned for today, which is why I need to carve out another path for the two flanks. As for the maximum speed, that’s a trivial detail."

Yang Ying wasn't feigning indifference; he genuinely felt that way. The pace of technological advancement on the Floating Continent far exceeded common expectations. This third-generation Spectre fighter was merely one minor milestone on the path of technological progress; the next milestone was already clearly visible beyond it.

Yang Ying's demeanor seemed to affect Marshal Alexander. He lowered his gaze in thought, then looked up again. "Very well, if that is the case, then you may proceed. I am eager to see exactly what methods you will employ against those reinforcements."

Yang Ying smiled faintly. "Then, Your Excellency, please watch."

If you are able to watch.

Simultaneously, the Trant Mercenary Corps fleet separated from the Left Flank, setting a course along the route between Jupiter and Saturn toward their target.

A short distance out, one hundred formations of Spectre fighters poured out of the hangars, coalescing into a large vanguard formation, still led by 'Blade.'

The speed of the third-generation Spectre fighters was indeed extraordinary. In just two hours and five minutes, they approached within 100,000 kilometers of the Ancient Legion's reinforcements.

"Slow down, activate cloaking. We'll be entering their radar detection range soon," Blade commanded over the channel.

"Yes!" The squadron of Spectre fighters instantly activated their stealth systems.

...They melted into the void of space, leaving absolutely no outward indication of their presence. After another moment, the Spectre wing arrived within visual range of the enemy warships and hovered, maintaining a relative stillness to the enemy fleet.

Blade retracted his canopy and stood up. At that very instant, far away, Yang Ying felt a stir, and his primary consciousness instantly transitioned into Blade's body via the spiritual resonance channel. The '' symbol immediately manifested on the back of Blade's right hand.

Indeed, Yang Ying had achieved countless successes using the Taguchi Missile. Hundreds of warships had been paralyzed under their assault, losing all capacity to resist.

However, the most suitable weapon for dealing with massive warships in StarCraft had never been the Taguchi Missile, but rather the signature maneuver of the Ghost Agent.

Yang Ying opened his eyes wide, locking onto the distant enemy warships. His gaze gradually sharpened. He raised both hands, and instantly, another holographic screen appeared before him. Boxes and sharp lines enveloped the enemy warships, gradually integrating all distant vessels into the guidance system's targeting array.

"Targeting complete. Today is your day of demise! Receive my technique—Mass Lock!"

Yang Ying roared. Across the vastness of space, vast swathes of golden light erupted from nothingness—a light visible only to Yang Ying.

The golden light flashed and vanished, leaving behind hundreds of swiftly accelerating missiles, enveloping the entire Ancient Legion reinforcement fleet like a giant net.

Lockdown—one of the Ghost Agent's ultimate skills. Even a Battlecruiser of the Titan class, if hit by a successful Lockdown, would immediately become inert, losing all power, unable to attack or maneuver, left utterly defenseless.

However, the Lockdown employed by Yang Ying's Ghost Agents differed significantly from the game. Firstly, the effect of the Lockdown was constrained by the target's size. If the target was a tank or a fighter, a single Ghost Agent's Lockdown could immobilize it entirely. But when dealing with a massive warship, the same Lockdown could only freeze a portion of the target—that portion could be a reactor core, a thruster assembly, or even a main cannon.

This limitation meant the Lockdown's power was considerably weakened compared to its in-game counterpart.

But to overcome this constraint, the Floating Continent had already developed Large-Scale Lockdown Missiles specifically tailored for large targets.

A standard Ghost Agent's personal Lockdown missile was about twenty centimeters long, the size of a dagger. Upon impact, it could freeze a target for sixty seconds.

The Large-Scale Lockdown Missile, however, was nearly four meters long. Upon striking a large target, it could freeze the entire structure for sixty minutes—a full hour!

The missiles Yang Ying launched at this moment were these Large-Scale Lockdown Missiles. These missiles were too large for individual agents to use; they needed to be deployed from armored vehicles or warships. Of course, summoning them directly, as Yang Ying did, also worked perfectly well.

The instant Yang Ying initiated the attack, the reinforcement fleet seemed to have sensed the killing intent through an Ape Master. All warships' anti-air batteries immediately began to cycle, attempting to generate a defensive barrage to intercept the incoming missiles.

However, Yang Ying launched his attack from too close a range. They never had a chance to fire before the Lockdowns struck. Instantly, transparent spheres expanded over every warship, with white electrical sparks occasionally wriggling across their surfaces like eels, emitting sharp crackling sounds.

The warships caught in the transparent spheres instantly lost all mobility, drifting powerlessly in space, like coffins. Furthermore, for the next hour, they would remain in this state, including any fighters still in their hangars, completely defenseless.

"Observer, block enemy communications," Yang Ying instructed over the comm channel. Then he raised his hand and roared again.

"Summon!"

With a wave of his hand, an even larger burst of golden light erupted than before, spanning nearly tens of kilometers, resembling a miniature sun.

As the light faded, countless Spectre fighters arrayed themselves in the void, packed densely, layer upon layer, seemingly without end.

There were five thousand formations here, sixty thousand fighters in total—all the latest third-generation models, including special variants whose performance far surpassed the mass-produced types. Aside from not carrying Pods, their performance in all other aspects was equal to the fighter piloted by Blade.

Moreover, within this ocean of Spectre fighters, in addition to Blade, five other avatars of Yang Ying appeared on the battlefield, each piloting a specialized variant equipped with Pods.

Yang Ying settled back into his cockpit, sealing the canopy with a smooth motion. He opened the communication channel and roared, "One hour! Tear them down to scrap metal, no matter what!"

"Yes!" A response like a tidal wave echoed back through the channel.

"Attack," Yang Ying bellowed the order.

The colossal swarm of Spectre fighters advanced upon the hundreds of transparent spheres. The largest engagement since Yang Ying acquired the Floating Continent had begun!