Despite the surrounding turmoil, the Tang Clan hadn't engaged in large-scale conflict, and her family had protected her well enough that war always felt distant. Thus, when confronted with it up close for the first time, she was paralyzed with shock.

Ziye moved with blurring speed, completing all the preliminary work in mere minutes. Seeing Tang Wan frozen, not knowing where to put her hands or feet, Ziye didn't have time for explanations. She grabbed Tang Wan's hand and pulled her toward the rose garden.

Douzai chirped insistently at the entrance.

Ziye suddenly remembered him, quickly turning back to scoop him up. She told Tang Wan, "Hold onto me."

Tang Wan didn't understand why, but instinctively clutched Ziye’s arm.

The next second, a layer of Renwei alloy enveloped them, forming a compact mecha cockpit large enough for two people.

Ziye placed Douzai in his designated spot, activated the mecha, and shot out like an arrow!

Tang Wan's mouth gaped open in astonishment, remaining agape for a long moment.

Ziye reached over and tapped her jaw. "Sweetheart, I can see your cavity."

Tang Wan snapped back to reality, covering her mouth. "I absolutely do not have a cavity."

Ziye’s gaze was fixed intently on the control panel. "Right. Tell the shuttle captain to get them out of the Ouguang system immediately. Tell them not to look back, or even I can’t save them."

Tang Wan's voice trembled. "Are we going to fight? How many people do we have on our side?"

Ziye remained as placid as Jiang Taigong sitting by his fishing pond, extending a finger toward Douzai. "You, me, and him."

"Aaaahhhhh!" Tang Wan shrieked.

Ziye didn't want this either.

But finding reinforcements was proving too difficult.

Whether it was from Kelai to the Ouguang system or from the Wolf’s Den to the Ouguang system, both required long-haul jumps that would take at least an hour.

Ziye sensed this was a carefully planned ambush.

Just as she was about to explain, she saw Tang Wan looking at her with eyes full of fervent, exaggerated excitement. "Xiao Yezi, I admire you so much! You aren't scared at all! I’ve never seen a battlefield before. Let’s fight them until they cry for their daddies and mamas!!"

Ziye: "..." Ignorance is bliss.

Still, it was better than being scared half to death and dissolving into tears.

Jumping out of the rose garden, Ziye shifted the mecha into a submarine configuration and instantly warped into the Ouguang system's warehouse, simultaneously activating the signal tower system to check the enemy fleet's approach vectors.

The enemy ships were coming from two main directions, south and north, clearly intending to envelop them.

Ziye issued commands to the warehouse system: all cargo ships loaded with roses were to hide on the Ouguang planet, while the large missile launchers stored within the warehouse were raised from the planet's core and began loading munitions.

Tang Wan, spotting the massive launcher that occupied a third of the asteroid's surface, her eyes blazing, exclaimed, "Xiao Yezi, I've found my life's calling! I want to build super fierce and mighty turrets just like you, ones that can blast any enemy into dust!"

Ziye wiped a bead of cold sweat, silently wondering, Waner has been led astray by me, what should I do?

She glanced sideways at Tang Wan, who clenched her fist. "Let’s go! We're about to complete the greatest famous battle in history where the few defeat the many—the Battle of Ouguang! Go!"

Ziye was utterly speechless.

She didn't have time for banter anyway, so she deployed fifty heavy drones, concealing them within the asteroid belt, preparing a surprise attack.

Everything was ready.

All that was left was waiting for the enemy to fly in and die!

Just then, intelligence arrived via the Silver: "Federation enemy vessels are heading toward the Ouguang system. Hostile intent is suspected. All personnel in the Ouguang system should retreat immediately."

Ziye glanced at the external tactical screen, pushed it aside, brought her personal data-slate closer, and focused on the star map.

The enemy fleet had already entered the Ouguang system, and nearby signal towers were flashing red alerts.

Tang Wan gasped, "They're here!"

Ziye remained calm. "Don't worry. Do you know how to control drones?"

Tang Wan awkwardly shook her head.

Ziye tried again. "Have you ever played a level-based game?"

Tang Wan finally heard something she understood and nodded vigorously. "I know this! I usually clear a level-based game in half a month. Is this thing useful?"

Ziye positioned another data-screen in front of Tang Wan and pointed to the red alert dots. Tang Wan’s eyes darted across the screen, quickly locating and pulling up the detailed view—the red alert dots actually marked a fleet of eight battleships.

Ziye instructed, "Once they pass the second alert marker, deploy the heavy drones hidden in this asteroid cluster. Treat it like a level-based game. If you can successfully navigate them through the asteroid field and get behind their firing lines while evading their bombardment, you succeed. The screen shows damage reports for the drone armor and plating; be careful not to let it explode."

After a moment’s thought, she added one more instruction. "If it’s about to blow, crash it directly into an enemy ship. They have tons of gunpowder in their bellies; if it detonates, blowing up a battleship won't be hard."

Tang Wan sucked in her breath. "Xiao Yezi, you are so ferocious!"

Tang Wan fiddled with the controls, finding it quite simple. Seeing the enemy fleet approaching the second marker, she stood up, poured herself a cup of water, poured one for Ziye as well, returned to her seat, lightly tapped her cup against Ziye's, and downed the contents. "Good tea, very good tea."

Ziye couldn't help but chuckle at the spirited girl.

She picked up her water and drank it in one gulp, shaking her head. "Good tea, very good tea."

The two laughed heartily, and the tension instantly vanished.

Tang Wan tied her hair back with a rubber band. When she sat down again, her entire demeanor shifted.

The level-based game officially began!

Tang Wan expertly manipulated the heavy drones. On the screen, they looked like large wasps. She used both hands simultaneously to guide two wasps toward the enemy fleet, buzzing them forward.

Ziye continued directing the deployment of her forces.

Her fleet consisted only of non-biological assets—robots, warships, and turrets—yet she was brimming with confidence.

In this moment, she was not alone.

The commander leading the enemy fleet this time was Shaluo, the Combat Director for a government-aligned pirate syndicate, specialized in creating chaos for the Star Federation.

His previous assignment was to sabotage the merger between the Wolf’s Den and the Legion of Hope, but he had the misfortune of encountering Red Hair and failed.

Red Hair was more ruthless, colder, and strategically deeper than him, but Shaluo refused to accept it.

They were both pirates; why was Red Hair allowed to clean up his act and become a Combat Director in a legion, while he was stuck as a secret lackey for certain factions?

He hated it!

Why did he have to lose to a woman?!

As negotiations between the Wolf’s Den and the Legion of Hope neared completion, Shaluo realized he couldn't make any moves that would affect the merger. He planned to retreat to the Tem Star System and prepare to divide the forces of the Nine Hands.

Unexpectedly, on his return route, he received intelligence that the mysterious Ouguang System Rose Garden was one of the Wolf’s Den's sources of income. A financial magnate had once estimated the value of the Ouguang Rose Garden to be comparable to the renowned tourist destination, the Kela System!

What was even more surprising was that the Ouguang Rose Garden possessed no physical defenses; it was merely an ordinary botanical park.

So, he decisively changed course and headed straight for the Ouguang system.

When the heavy drones, the large wasps, appeared, Shaluo merely raised an eyebrow.

Oh? They have a little bit of offensive capability, actually equipping a few drones.

He always enjoyed watching a desperate struggle.

Shaluo couldn't be bothered to engage the two small nuisances directly, but the large wasps were troublesome pests; they could potentially drain the energy reserves if one wasn't careful.

So, he ordered his subordinates, "Someone move a finger and wipe those things out."

With that, he directed the main force toward the rose garden, never giving the large wasps a second thought.

However, Tang Wan had found her rhythm for the game.

When the enemy fired shells at the large wasps, she maneuvered them, causing them to "whoosh" under the enemy warships and fiercely attack their hulls.

Just as the enemy realized the wasps were there, she deftly maneuvered them to sneak away.

After several exchanges like this, the crew aboard the enemy ships were running around in circles trying to track them.

Ziye had the foresight to equip the wasps with jammers; the enemy fleet’s systems couldn't detect their presence at all.

Tang Wan’s hands danced across the controls fluidly, not forgetting to show off to Ziye. "See how amazing I am? The large wasps are completely unharmed. Wait, I noticed something else—their missile range is really short, only about 20km."

Ziye immediately perked up.

Missiles with such a short range? Anti-matter light-burst bombs?

She glanced at Tang Wan's screen and instantly drove her mecha toward the enemy fleet.

Although the range of anti-matter light-burst bombs was short, they affected space itself, capable of causing localized spatial contraction or collapse to a certain degree.

Damn, that was vicious.

If space collapsed, forget the roses; even the asteroids would likely suffer.

And this type of missile was highly contaminating. If the area was contaminated, the roses would be inedible.

What a malicious group of people!

Ziye glanced at the rose garden protected by the shield, clenched her fist—no matter who came, no matter what missiles they brought, she wouldn't let them succeed!

She turned to Tang Wan. "We need to change strategy."

Tang Wan sat up straight. "How should we fight? Tell me."

Ziye explained, "The five battleships at the front are the main assault force, and they have fewer than five drones combined. The last battleship is a drone carrier. Send one large wasp to intercept it and self-destruct against the final ship."

Tang Wan sighed. "What a waste."

Despite her words, her actions showed no hesitation. She controlled the large wasp as if moving through an open field, flanking them, then slamming it headfirst into the last battleship before quickly turning around and slamming the self-destruct button on the control panel with force.

Boom—

The drone caught fire, and the battleship caught fire too.

Tang Wan didn't look away from the screen, making sure the drone clung tightly to the battleship, causing the warship to erupt in roaring flames.

The battleship's captain frantically activated the fire suppression system, but it was too late.

Tang Wan turned away from the screen, asking Ziye, "The large wasp is gone. What do I do now?"

Seeing her face flushed with excitement, Ziye replied, "Get on the sentinel cannon!" -RS