General Joseph seemed convinced that Yang Ying possessed inside information. He brought Yang Ying back, his smile unwavering, but his tone grew quite serious, as if genuinely seeking counsel.

William, who had been set aside, displayed instant shock upon hearing this. In his memory, Li Joseph had always been considered the foremost military mind in the Earth Forces; he had never heard of Li Joseph seeking advice from anyone. This was truly difficult for him to process.

“Since Your Excellency the Marshal has put it that way, I suppose I cannot refuse,” Yang Ying paused, a myriad of thoughts racing through his mind in an instant. He finally decided to share some insight. “In my view, Ongshale’s forces hold no advantage over us. They merely rely on Saturn’s defensive architecture. They have occupied Saturn’s orbit for over a year, constructing countless fortifications during that time. However, this does not alter their inherent military inferiority.”

Li Joseph nodded, interrupting nothing, and continued to listen.

Yang Ying continued, “The Ape Sect was originally the eyes and ears of the Ancient Legion within the inner solar system. But since Horace’s death, the Ape Sect has lost its leader, and its efficiency has clearly suffered. The Earth Forces’ current troop strength and material situation are no longer as transparent as a sheet of glass.”

Li Joseph chuckled, seeming to hold the Earth’s intelligence operations in utter contempt, and admitted directly, “Yes, when I was fighting on the front lines, intelligence leaks were my greatest worry. Horace was masterful at this; he even managed to obtain the fire-control passwords for all military bases in the outer solar system. There was nothing he couldn't achieve. Fortunately, you killed him.”

Yang Ying merely shrugged at the compliment. Horace had been dead for over five months; anyone who should have been proud had already indulged in it. His expression remained unchanged as he pressed on, “The Ancient Legion is not superior in terms of troop numbers or intelligence. Relying solely on Saturn for a staunch defense is nothing more than a war of attrition. But in a war of attrition, how can the mere ten-plus million Ape-men compare to the thirty billion humans?”

“I understand now,” Li Joseph’s eyes lit up. He clapped his hands and smiled, saying, “The Ancient Legion is small and elite, better suited for guerrilla warfare than set-piece battles. You mean Ongshale will abandon the Saturnian orbit and avoid direct engagement with us, is that correct?”

“Precisely,” Yang Ying confirmed, now largely certain that Li Joseph was not a politician.

A person’s words and actions stem from their inner self. Some individuals might possess deep cunning, capable of masking their actions to a great extent, isolating their inner life from their outward appearance. However, flawless disguise is fundamentally impossible.

Many subtle movements occur unconsciously, belonging to the realm of instinct, and cannot be entirely hidden. Highly attuned individuals can discern another person’s inner state through expressions and movements. A Peak Master, undoubtedly, is the most discerning among humans; not even a tiny vortex in a gentle breeze can escape a Peak Master’s perception.

After their conversation, Yang Ying sensed through the Peak Master’s intuition that Li Joseph held no hostility towards him, and his request for Yang Ying’s assessment of Saturn was genuinely sincere.

However, if the politicians weren't targeting Li Joseph, what methods would they employ to force a confrontation between him and the Ancient Legion?

Furthermore, Chairman William, visible in the small screen, maintained a calm facade, yet subtle shifts in his facial features betrayed his internal turmoil.

Yang Ying suggesting that Ongshale would abandon the defenses painstakingly built around Saturn seemed like utter fantasy to William. The enemy had controlled the Saturnian orbit for over a year, and every probe sent for reconnaissance reported massive construction activity—layer upon layer of defensive structures encircling the entire planet, as if forging an impenetrable fortress.

Recently, reconnaissance probes had struggled increasingly to penetrate the Ancient Legion’s defenses for close observation. From last week until now, there had been no news from Saturn at all. This indicated that the defenses were complete and ready for full deployment; why would they abandon it now?

If the speaker were anyone other than Yang Ying, William would have certainly stepped forward to loudly denounce Yang Ying’s nonsense. But he was well aware of the mysterious and formidable power Yang Ying commanded, which even surpassed the entire Mercenary Alliance, not to mention Yang Ying was a Peak Master himself—hardly someone William could refute. Moreover, War God Marshal Li Joseph hadn't opposed Yang Ying’s assertion; instead, he seemed quite agreeable, leading William to resolve to remain silent.

“Oh, Commander Yang Ying, the warships you brought this time—I’ve never seen any like them before. None of the arms companies I know manufacture this class of vessel. Could they perhaps be built by the Trane Corporation?” Li Joseph inquired with evident interest.

“That is correct,” Yang Ying admitted. “These are battlecruisers that just rolled off the line at Trane Corporation. We call them the Behemoth-class. We are taking advantage of the Ten Star War to test the Behemoth-class’s combat capabilities.”

“Weapons and equipment produced by Trane Corporation are always high quality. I once watched demonstrations of your Ghost fighters and powered armor; they were very impressive,” Li Joseph laughed. “We’ve never heard that Trane built large capital ships before, but seeing one now, it must surely be an extraordinary vessel.”

As an arms manufacturer, Trane Corporation was now on a steady footing, focusing primarily on the first generation of Ghost fighters and powered armor. After acquiring several arms companies during the dismantling of the Council and implementing technical upgrades, they were also producing various other weapons, equipment, and devices. Collectively, Trane accounted for at least twenty percent of the Ministry of Defense’s procurement contracts. These contracts generated trillions in profit, which were ultimately converted into raw materials returned to the Floating Continent to manufacture even more advanced weaponry.

However, the Behemoth-class battlecruisers were no ordinary weapon; Yang Ying built them for his own use and never intended to sell them.

The spatial jump technology on these ships represented a race finally transcending the shackles of the speed of light, capable of traversing the vast, light-year distances of the cosmos to visit surrounding star systems at will.

This was a technology that influenced the entire course of civilization. Without Yang Ying, Earth would likely have needed another two thousand years just to touch the edges of this technology. Compared to spatial jumping, the stealth technology in Yang Ying’s possession was as common as cabbage—hardly worth mentioning.

Under these circumstances, who on Earth would be qualified to receive technology two millennia ahead of its time? No one! Earth was not prepared for the arrival of the Great Cosmic Age; giving humanity this technology now would only harm them.

Yang Ying kept even the Thor—a highly advanced weapon—off the market, let alone the Behemoth-class battlecruiser, whose significance was vastly greater.

Hearing Li Joseph call the Behemoth-class an extraordinary warship, Yang Ying did not deny it. Instead, he followed Li Joseph’s lead and replied with a smile, “It is indeed extraordinary. So extraordinary, in fact, that it borders on the earth-shattering.”

“Oh, if Commander Yang Ying calls it earth-shattering, it must truly be so.” Li Joseph was surprised by the four characters Yang Ying used. Something that a Peak Master deemed earth-shattering must be exceptional.

He glanced at Yang Ying curiously and said, “Then I shall wait, wait to see the earth-shattering moment of your fleet.”

Half a day later, outside Worrel, a colossal fleet assembled. Four first-line and four second-line main fleets from the eight Earth Force fleets were present, totaling over five thousand warships of various sizes. The mercenary contingent, though possessing a mixed bag of vessels, contributed over eight hundred more.

After reorganization, the Joint Fleet Command was established, and nearly six thousand warships set off sequentially toward Saturn.

The sight of so many warships departing together was astonishing. Yang Ying’s ships were positioned near the center of the formation, slightly toward the rear. Looking outward, the view was a dense tapestry of warships stretching endlessly in every direction.

Two days later, the fleet passed Jupiter’s orbit and continued its trajectory toward Saturn’s. Yang Ying also learned from the Observer that the Ancient Legion’s evacuation of the fortress was nearing completion; nearly all defensive installations were reduced to mere shells.

Moreover, the Ancient Legion had dispatched vast numbers of combat robots to scatter mines—landmines of every model and type were sown indiscriminately. Calculating the data returned by the Observer, the total number of mines exceeded ten billion!

The Observer even detected a type of nuclear landmine that, upon detonation, would trigger a nuclear explosion—an extreme hazard.

Clearly, Ongshale was determined not to leave Saturn without leaving a scar; he was content only after turning all the comparatively larger satellites surrounding Saturn into traps.

The distance between Jupiter’s orbit and Saturn’s orbit is substantial, over six hundred million kilometers. As the Joint Fleet passed Jupiter’s orbit, it did not swing by the planet but drove straight past its orbital path toward Saturn. Even so, it took a full four days to reach their destination.

On the optical screen, Yang Ying once again saw Saturn’s rings, breathtakingly beautiful. With a diameter of 270,000 kilometers and a thickness of 10 kilometers, this massive ring system was divided into thousands of smaller rings, creating a perfect geometric shape of large rings encompassing medium ones, and medium ones encompassing small ones, where the rings appeared both overlapping and parallel. Composed of ice particles and rock debris, they reflected sunlight in various hues.

However, this place was about to become a battlefield. Ongshale apparently did not intend to withdraw from Saturn without firing a shot. He deployed his fleet along the outer edge of the rings, using the halo as a backdrop, poised menacingly, awaiting the charge of the Joint Fleet.