The brief period of lowered morale among the Coalition forces, caused by Ziye's sudden strike, quickly recovered under Odor's reorganization; the elite troops were, after all, elite.

And this time, they returned with ferocious momentum, specializing entirely in hit-and-run tactics.

Ziye could barely suppress the rising tide of irritation within her.

While coding the virus just moments ago, there were several instances where she had the urge to storm to the launch bay and blast the warship circling them, continuously lobbing cold-fire shells their way.

But reason ultimately conquered emotion.

She knew Red Hair was still waiting for her, and Red Hair’s situation might be even more perilous. As the next wave of stray fire swept past and the Captain adjusted the hull once more, she simply lay down on the floor and refused to get up, prioritizing sending the virus to Red Hair first.

Red Hair was overjoyed, her face lighting up, and she was in no hurry to deal with Pei Zhe.

Her objective was to fish in troubled waters; clashing with Pei Zhe would expose her too easily, leading to unwanted surveillance that would make achieving her goals far more difficult.

She stealthily slipped into a nearby empty room, instructing Lan Li to stand guard, while she focused entirely on her hacking work.

Hacking wasn't easy, but fortunately, Ziye's powerful programs, coupled with concise instructions, allowed Red Hair to master the art of hacking in just three seconds, successfully infiltrating the surveillance system and implanting the virus.

Then, Red Hair witnessed a truly spectacular sight.

The feeds of every active monitor unfolded before her!

Every view was duplicated—thousands of rooms in the Kolai Hotel, hundreds of corridors, tens of millions of data streams flooding in simultaneously, almost overloading her optical computer.

"What in the world is this?" Red Hair looked helplessly at Lan Li.

Lan Li was a typical commander, someone accustomed to giving orders rather than executing tasks manually; faced with this situation, he could only watch with dismay, unable to offer practical help.

Red Hair sighed in frustration and had to contact Ziye again.

Ziye's command ship was currently caught between a pincer attack from both sides and was nearing chaos. While instructing the Captain to pilot the warship out of the squeeze, she managed to say, "If there are two sets, it means there are two monitoring centers in the hotel. Check it out."

The words were barely out when—Boom!—

The command ship, which had shot high into the air, collided forcefully with an enemy cloaked bomber.

The enemy bomber hadn't even managed to deploy its ordnance before it was thrown hundreds of meters away, its structure disintegrating!

Ziye waved a hand, and all gunners across the eight turret batteries locked onto the target and fired.

In less than ten seconds, the attacking warship was reduced to scrap.

With the immediate enemy overhead dealt with, Ziye let out a breath, made a fierce face, and then looked at the optical screen. At the sight, she couldn't help but frown. She activated the voice system. "Where is everyone? Why are they so dispersed?"

In large-scale combat, dispersion was the ultimate taboo; it made forces easy targets for localized annihilation.

The Twins were the first to respond: "We're pinned down here, unable to move!"

Ziye checked the star chart and saw it was true; the enemy had forcefully separated their fleet, creating small, encircled clusters preparing for assault.

Damn it, her fleet was in danger!

For the sake of that virus, Ziye had handed command over to Tang Jing for a mere half hour, and this was the result. Of course, she wasn't blaming Tang Jing.

The thaw of the frozen river doesn't happen in a single day; she hadn't noticed the anomalies, and she had to bear some responsibility.

The position of Commander looked prestigious and grand, yet it was the heaviest of burdens. One command involved thousands of people, hundreds of warships, controlling assets worth hundreds of billions; failure or success could be sealed in a single thought.

Ziye didn't rush to ask "What happened?"

Tang Jing was currently overwhelmed. "Odor is ruthless. He sacrificed three of his fleets in a mutual destruction scenario with one of ours, tearing our formation in half."

Ziye’s heart skipped a beat; an entire fleet had been annihilated in this short time!

They had shared a meal just half an hour ago, and now they were separated by death—the feeling was like having someone physically choke her.

Ziye felt unable to breathe.

She dared not ask which fleet was lost, nor who was aboard, but simply stated, "Our fleet must re-consolidate, or we face even greater danger!"

Tang Jing replied, "It's difficult. I'm considering if a surprise breakout could disrupt their formation, allowing the others a chance to escape the encirclement. Can the frontline forces increase their attack to draw off some fire?"

Ziye fell silent for a long moment, then slowly shook her head.

The units left behind were fated to perish on the battlefield.

She wasn't some saint, possessing the spirit of sacrificing the small self for the greater good; she only understood one principle: on the battlefield, they must advance together or retreat together. She would rather everyone die fighting than sacrifice a portion of them just to save herself.

Besides, they hadn't reached the point of mutual destruction yet.

If they employed such a strategy, the soldiers who had lost relatives and friends would abandon their commanders!

The vast majority of the Wolf's Den contingent had clawed their way out of desperation; they possessed an unbreakable will.

This battle wasn't over until the very end.

Ziye paused, then asked, "What is the mood of the troops?"

Tang Jing glanced toward the gunners at the launch bay and sighed inwardly; every face wore an expression of bitter resentment, itching to charge forward and fight the enemy.

After having a fleet forcibly decimated like that, they felt more than just anger—they felt a profound sense of injustice that they couldn't swallow.

Tang Jing himself was deeply unwilling to accept this.

This wasn't a sporting event or a friendly competition; victory or defeat on the battlefield directly determined the life and death of soldiers and even the entire legion!

He had only been dispatched by Tang Wen to assist the Wolf's Den, and even if they lost, everyone would assume the Wolf's Den was too weak, absolving him of responsibility.

But he couldn't stomach this defeat!

To achieve victory, they must win!

Yet, how could they win if they couldn't preserve their strength?

Across the stars, there were countless famous strategists and iron-blooded generals, most of whom failed to achieve lasting fame, perishing instead on the battlefield. This was because, in war, revealing even the slightest vulnerability meant losing control of the overall situation!

Tang Jing didn't want to appear weak, which was why he reluctantly proposed this harsh measure. Hearing Ziye's words now, he immediately understood.

In this situation, pressing a hard fight without sufficient troop strength, leaving some soldiers to be sacrificed, was fundamentally unfair. Those soldiers who miraculously escaped the encirclement, made even more furious by the loss of comrades and friends, would be uncontrollable—the consequences were unimaginable!

Ziye's voice was steady and powerful: "What is most important for us right now is how to win, not how to break out. A breakout implies we are beyond saving. This battle demands a counter-attack!"

In truth, if Tang Wen were here, he wouldn't have needed to say a word; he would have simply ordered Tang Jing on the subsequent maneuvers. Even if Tang Jing had reservations, he wouldn't dare defy Tang Wen.

Instead, he would likely view Tang Wen as inscrutable and execute his orders with absolute loyalty.

However, Ziye lacked Tang Wen's sheer authority, nor was she the Young Master of the Tang Clan.