Liu Hai decided to ask directly since there were two family members right beside him. While Li Yali might be a collateral descendant unaware of internal affairs, Irina was a direct descendant of the Elizabeth family—her grandfather was currently one of its ruling figures.
"Irina, do you know why your families never dared to compete for power within the Federation's framework?"
Irina looked at Liu Hai as if he were an idiot. "Liu, are you out of your mind? How could you even ask such a question? Are you really a Federation citizen?"
Li Yali also stared at Liu Hai in shock, silently wondering if her boss had lost his mind again. Should she drag him out and stuff him into a cryo-pod to sober up?
Puzzled, Liu Hai met Irina's gaze. "Of course I'm a Federation citizen. But I still don't understand how your families willingly handed over the Federation's authority to the Lord Councilors."
"Because they're stronger!" Irina answered matter-of-factly. "Think about it—what even is a family? With enough money and the Federation's current technology, anyone can live for thousands of years easily. And with sufficient resources, you could even trade with a fifth-tier civilization to extend your lifespan beyond ten thousand years. Given that much time, even a pig could establish a family lineage lasting millennia."
"So what exactly makes a family special? A head start? Abundant resources? Plentiful manpower? Superior technology?"
"Then what do you think a family is?"
Irina's counterquestion left Liu Hai speechless. Her response was completely different from what he had expected—it felt like their conversation was at cross-purposes.
Liu Hai rephrased his question. "What I mean is, didn't anyone in your families ever consider taking control of the Federation themselves?"
"Of course they did. But the moment they thought about those terrifying Lord Councilors, everyone calmly stepped back. No one dared to compete for Federation authority. You'll rarely even find family members in the administrative systems of various Star Regions—most positions are filled by locally elected civilians."
"Terrifying Lord Councilors? How terrifying?" Liu Hai grew even more confused. Why did she keep skirting around the key details, only mentioning peripheral matters?
"Uh, how terrifying?" Irina froze, racking her brain for a long moment before finally blurting out, "They're just... really terrifying, okay? I can't remember the specifics right now. I'll tell you when it comes back to me."
Huh?
Something was wrong—very wrong!
Irina's reaction unsettled Liu Hai deeply. Suddenly, he recalled what had happened when he went to receive his authority.
"Becoming a Lord is the basic requirement for remembering these answers."
Could it really be Concept Shielding or Rule Constraint? It couldn't possibly be Causality Lockdown, could it?
How could a mere fourth-tier civilization like the Federation possess such bizarre things?
Realizing he wouldn't get the answers he wanted, Liu Hai gave up and turned back to studying the footage of the Xue family's battle against the Katon Fleet.
"What do you think would happen if we encountered a powerful Katon Fleet like this?" he asked the group on a whim.
"Wait—enemy contact detected!"
After Liu Hai voiced his question, the neural networks of several individuals simultaneously received enemy alert signals. They all turned to look at Liu Hai with expressions that seemed to accuse him of jinxing them, as if asking, "How did you even manage that?"
Liu Hai, too embarrassed to speak, closed his eyes and entered the virtual command room. All combat personnel in the fleet had already taken their positions the moment the alert was issued.
The mixed fleet quickly tightened its formation as Energy Shields deployed one after another, and the main guns of each vessel began charging immediately.
"Radar, report the situation," Liu Hai bypassed Li Yali to inquire about the enemy's status.
"We've detected significant energy signatures from the asteroid belt, likely from warship main guns charging."
"What's the distance?" Liu Hai frowned, already considering leading the fleet to retreat and assess the situation—ready to flee if necessary.
"Only three million kilometers away."
"That's too close. Dispatch a squadron to scout the area. Fleet, retreat by one light-hour," Li Yali took over Liu Hai's line of thought and began issuing orders.
Unfortunately, the enemy had no intention of fighting according to Liu Hai's expectations.
Before the mixed fleet could activate their Warp Drives, a spatial ripple flashed through the fabric of space. Space Stability Anchors locked down all space within a one-light-year radius, rendering Warp Drives unusable.
Simultaneously, from the nearby asteroid belt, hundreds of energy beams shot toward the mixed fleet, followed by hundreds of thousands of Swarm Drones from the Katun Civilization. The sheer density of their formation sent shivers down Liu Hai's spine.
"All warships, evade incoming fire immediately! Transport ships, deploy fighter jets at maximum capacity! Corvettes, launch Deep Space Torpedoes and missiles—intercept the enemy drones at all costs. Do not let them breach our formation!" Li Yali immediately ordered their own fighter jets to engage. Against such overwhelming numbers, only another swarm could counter them.
If the enemy drones broke into their fleet formation, the loss of mid-to-long-range firepower would likely result in devastating casualties.
Three million kilometers might seem insignificant on a cosmic scale—light itself would take over ten seconds to traverse it—but in the context of interstellar warfare, it was practically point-blank range, especially against such a massive drone swarm. The mixed fleet was already within striking distance.
Hundreds of energy beams formed a dense crisscrossing network, sealing off the evasion routes of over a dozen Cruisers, leaving them no room to dodge.
Li Yali's mind raced through vast amounts of data before she ordered the Cruisers to accelerate straight ahead. By taking a few direct hits, they survived with only minor damage—their Energy Shields broken and armor compromised.
"All ships, continue retreating. Hold your fire for now—keep main guns charging."
Li Yali directed the fleet to pull back further. With the enemy's strength in the asteroid belt still unknown—not even the number of ships was clear—launching a counterattack now would be foolish.
"The enemy drones are spreading out! Swarms are approaching from all directions. Our defensive firepower is insufficient—too many gaps!" The radar operator was already sweating profusely in panic.
"What about our own fighter jets?" Li Yali quickly pulled up the status of their deployed squadrons. In just over ten seconds, fewer than two thousand Fighter Jets had been launched. What use were such meager numbers against the enemy's hundreds of thousands?
"The Motherships converted from transport ships have terrible deployment capacity. They can't react quickly enough in emergencies—the fleet has to buy them time."
Her mind racing, Li Yali gathered the Corvettes and executed rapid maneuvers around the fleet, using volleys of Deep Space Torpedoes to slow the enemy's advance.
She was even prepared to sacrifice a few Corvettes by detonating their Reaction Furnaces to block the enemy's assault and buy time for the fleet's retreat.