Jiusou raised an eyebrow. "Deploy today or tomorrow? Deploying today, we only charge for a half-day. Five hundred thousand."

Ziye spat out two words: "Now."

Jiusou received the coordinates she sent over. "No problem. We'll be fully mobilized within an hour and standing before you in two."

Ziye nodded, cut the connection, pushed the light screen aside, her gaze filled with resolve. Even if she was a commander with no troops, even if she was alone, she would use every means necessary to secure the Wolf's Den! If the Den lacked the funds to pay the mercenaries she hired, she would bankrupt herself to cover it. Just as morale was high from their recent victory, the arrival of the Tama Pirates could sustain that spirit and intimidate the enemy. Once a war reaches a certain stage, superior numbers cease to be the most important factor. Sometimes, the true crux lies in the spiritual duel—the side with the more tenacious spirit will be the one to laugh last. She was not yet at the terrifying stage where they had to rely solely on spirit to resist, and she absolutely did not want to reach that point.

Ziye sent a message to Lao Gou on the main frontline: "Everyone hold steady. Reinforcements will arrive soon."

Lao Gou sounded surprised. "Didn't the ship sent to fetch personnel just leave? That fast?"

Ziye questioned him. "Leave for where?"

Lao Gou replied, "To Silver Emblem Star. We have a small contingent of fighters at our base on Silver Emblem Star, and we're also bringing up any combat-capable personnel originally from Prisoner Star to help us through this crisis for now."

Ziye stated, "I've called the Tama Pirates over."

Lao Gou was silent for a long moment. "Good. As long as they can fight the enemy, it doesn't matter who they are."

Ziye was a little confused and wanted to ask why, but Lao Gou didn't elaborate, saying gently, "Be very careful out there on the battlefield."

Ziye responded, "Once the Tama Pirates arrive, I'll come over to your position."

Lao Gou agreed, "That's good. I can protect you."

Ziye smiled. She wasn't going to the main frontline to be protected, but she didn't plan on telling Lao Gou much about her intentions before she acted.

Having taken care of the arrangements, Ziye returned to Aikes's fleet, joining in the bombardment against the enemy. A portion of the fleet consisted of Tang Sect warships, most of which favored flashy laser cannons. Every shot fired was blindingly bright, forcing the firing control staff to wear specialized goggles.

Aikes inquired, "Do all your warships use laser cannons?"

A staff member proudly replied, "We are the personal fleet of the Young Master of the Tang Sect; all equipment is configured according to his preferences."

Ziye had known this for a while and found nothing remarkable, but Aikes nearly spat blood onto his screen. Equipping warships based on Tang Wen's preferences—that was ruthlessly extravagant! To prioritize flashiness over practical utility, just how self-absorbed was Tang Wen?

Every type of ordnance has its advantages and disadvantages. The laser cannon is no exception. The greatest advantage of the laser cannon is its speed, capable of firing over ten thousand "light rounds" per second, obliterating anything in its path. However, if it encounters material that laser fire cannot penetrate, the laser cannon becomes nothing more than fireworks. A few years prior, someone trying to suppress the Tang Sect's momentum specifically developed an alloy with excellent resistance to laser fire, calling it 'Whisperlight Alloy.'

Aikes exclaimed, "Tomorrow, all the rear coalition warships will be fitted with shields resistant to laser cannons! How are we supposed to fight then?!"

The staff member retorted without backing down, "It's fine. They need to rest at night; their firepower won't be as intense as during the day. We'll adjust the firing trajectories and change ammunition. Any problem?"

Aikes said nothing more and returned to firing. It truly was difficult to argue with people who didn't mind trouble. However, Tang Wen's laser cannons could serve perfectly as a tool to lure the enemy. It all depended on whether they bothered to deploy those shields tomorrow!

Ziye ate a quick, simple meal in the command ship's galley. On the light screen, she saw that the Tama Pirates had arrived and were already engaging the coalition forces in a siege. In space combat, there is never a true ceasefire. Knowing that rest would be impossible in the middle of the night, Ziye finished eating, took a short walk, and decisively went to sleep. Before lying down, she noticed that Douzai’s metal teething toy was almost chewed through, so she tossed him a new one, then collapsed into bed.

On the battlefield, one could hardly sleep well. She kept dreaming of cannon fire nearing the core or imagining that the people of the Wolf's Den had all vanished.

She was woken up in the middle of the night by a tense Aikes, for which she felt a flicker of gratitude; otherwise, she didn't know how long her nightmares would have lasted.

"Ziye, they really switched shields! Look!"

Ziye, half-asleep, followed Aikes out. They reached the Captain's Quarters, where she found a cup of tea already stone cold. She grabbed it, poured the contents over her face, and finally woke up fully. Many personnel had gone to sleep during the night, and the firepower was significantly weaker than during the day. On Ziye's side, most of the firing positions were manned by robots, supervised by one or two humans, with the rest sleeping nearby. Tang Wen's warships were fully prepared, complete with thick carpets, making for a comfortable sleep without worrying about the cold metal floor.

Ziye drank the rest of the water and commanded, "If they switch shields, we adjust the firing systems. See who is well-rested and go buy ammunition from the space station near the Angel Domain." She paused, then dispatched a battleship back to the Wolf's Den to retrieve more robots. Even soldiers made of iron cannot fight day and night without sleep. The Wolf's Den had plenty of robots. They could use the robots at night, while the human crew took turns standing watch, giving everyone only one or two hours of duty, ensuring they could rest. If the front line held for more than a week, the morale of the Wolf's Den fighters would surely surpass that of the coalition forces. At that point, it would be more than just morale at stake.

After the battleship sent for ammunition departed, Ziye looked at the light screen, her gaze filled with certainty. "We are going to modify the firing systems. Aikes, can you modify them?"

Aikes scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly, "Not very proficient, I'm afraid."

Ziye took a skiff with him out of the command ship, boarding one of Tang Sect's Marauder-class vessels. Without a word, she headed to a firing control station. The Marauder-class was standard-equipped with eight laser cannons. She sat down before the first firing station, pulled up the data, and began making adjustments. Cody, the commander of the Marauder-class ship, watched with some surprise as Ziye deftly adjusted the firing system for an Anti-Matter Annihilation Cannon.

After completing the adjustments, Ziye told Cody, "Do you have any technicians aboard? We are modifying the firing systems and will switch to Anti-Matter Annihilation Cannons tomorrow."

Cody immediately grasped Ziye's intent. Tang Wen’s preference for laser cannons was an obvious weakness to many, but exploiting that weakness—waiting for the enemy to react and then suddenly changing tactics—that was strategy. He felt a sudden surge of respect for Ziye. "We have a total of twenty technicians."

Ziye considered this. "That's enough. Twenty technicians for twenty Marauder-class ships. For the remaining warships, I will set up a standard program for the robots to adjust." Then she added, "Few people need to know about this. Don't issue orders yet until the Anti-Matter Annihilation Cannons are assigned."

Cody nodded. "Can I give you a thumbs-up?"

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