The news of the Katon Fleet's surprise attack on the Li Family team spread throughout the Pioneer Fleet in the Hera Star System as soon as the battle began. The Pioneer Fleets exploring around the Stardust Star Region were hesitant, wanting to provide rescue but lacking intelligence about the surrounding environment.
In their hesitation, none of them made a move, all remaining in a wait-and-see phase to clarify the situation before acting. After all, this wasn't a Federation conscription, so whether to go or not was up to their own discretion.
The Xue Family, not far away, found the situation quite interesting. They had originally planned to divert disaster by dragging the Li Family team into the conflict if they couldn't hold out, but the Katon Fleet had gone after the Li Family on their own.
Perhaps from the enemy's perspective, both the Xue Family and Li Family forces were armed forces of the Star River Federation, equivalent entities, so attacking either was the same.
But since this was a pioneer war, with the Federation military not involved, the pioneers themselves were responsible for the conflict. Unless there was a formal request for Federation takeover, they wouldn't intervene even if a fleet was nearly wiped out.
The Katon Fleet's surprise attack on the Li Family delighted the Xue Family. Although they had prepared for heavy casualties, avoiding losses altogether was certainly preferable.
The Xue Family gathered in the conference room, watching the battle between the Katon Fleet and the Li Family team's fleet while discussing their response strategy.
Xue Renli, as the fleet commander, surveyed the battle from a global perspective, believing that their side should deploy their fleet to cooperate with the Li Family's defensive forces to weaken the Katon Fleet's fighting strength as much as possible.
Except for two supporters, the other Xue Family members preferred to watch the tigers fight from the mountain and reap the benefits as the fisherman.
Xue Renzhi didn't express his position yet. He was considering more factors, making it difficult to weigh the pros and cons in a short time, so he could only remain silent for now.
"How's the reconnaissance going?" Xue Renzhi wanted to understand what gave the Katon Fleet the confidence to bypass the Xue Family's defense line to attack the Li Family in the rear, which was one of the main reasons he couldn't make up his mind.
Xue Renxin shook his head, saying regretfully, "Currently, our probes within a hundred light-years haven't detected any abnormal situations. The star region where the Katon Fleet is located is heavily guarded, and we can't send probes in, so we don't know if they have any hidden capabilities."
Xue Renli spoke up: "Based on previous intelligence, I believe that although the Katon Fleet has concealed their fleet size, the actual difference isn't too great and doesn't pose a threat to our defensive forces.
Additionally, we can take the initiative to deploy and draw the snake out of its hole. Whether they have subsequent measures or not, it won't put too much pressure on us."
Xue Renzhi indicated that he should first present a feasible plan. Such large-scale warfare couldn't be decided in just a few words; intelligence and contingency plans were interconnected and indispensable.
While the Xue Family worried about the Li Family's battle, other Pioneer Fleets were similarly concerned. To respond to possible strikes from the Katon Fleet, many pioneers established a temporary intelligence gathering and analysis center based on military channels to aggregate the intelligence networks of all pioneers and analyze the Katon Fleet's possible strategic responses.
Tens of thousands of intelligence personnel worked overtime on the Li Family's battle. Fortunately, a battle involving several legions wouldn't end quickly; otherwise, by the time the intelligence analysis was complete, grass would be growing on the Li Family team's graves.
Outside the Brolly Star System, Liu Hai, watching from the Virtual Command Center as Li Yali led her fleet to methodically eliminate the Shade Beasts, was the most anxious when the Li Family conflict erupted.
The Brolly Star System was only a little over a thousand light-years from the Stardust Star Region. If the Katon Fleet won and drove away the various family forces, the Katon Civilization's exploration fleet would explore the surrounding area in a short time, posing a great threat to Liu Hai.
Therefore, besides the Li Family team, Liu Hai most wanted them to withstand the pressure. If they could hold back the Katon Civilization, he would have time to develop in the rear. With fifteen to twenty years, Liu Hai firmly believed he could build a massive fleet to counter the Katon Civilization's attack.
Liu Hai couldn't focus on the battles within his star system now, instead closely following the Li Family's battle progress. He gladly joined the invitation from other pioneers through military channels to strategize for the Li Family's battle, even contributing his own staff team to analyze intelligence.
However, as time passed, the Katon Fleet advanced to the sixth planet's orbit in the Fifth Star System. The Li Family team's fleet was pushed back repeatedly. Even the Stellar System Defense System couldn't withstand the firepower of tens of millions of unmanned fighters; as soon as it emerged, it would be quickly destroyed, unable to output much firepower.
The helplessness of the Stellar System Defense System made many pioneers sigh. The Li Family team's deployment was too weak. Compared not only to the defense systems within the Federation but also to the Xue Family's defense system, theirs was significantly inferior.
Indeed, team efforts were always a step behind. Even with resources several times that of the Xue Family, with too many families involved, there was too much bickering, reducing execution efficiency to a level unbearable for pioneers who prioritized efficiency.
By noon on the second day of the battle, the battlefield suddenly changed. The Pioneer Fleets gathered tens of light-years away, originally prepared to rescue and protect the Fifth Star System if the situation became irreversible, were suddenly locked by space anchors covering several light-years around them while they were still observing.
"What's happening? Who activated the space anchor? Cancel it immediately." A pioneer, not yet realizing the seriousness of the situation, thought some Pioneer Fleet had done it.
"Which fleet activated the space anchor?"
"Turn it off quickly, don't mess around."
...
The communication channel was filled with angry shouts, but within minutes, they knew who had activated the space anchor.
A fleet with orderly formations silently crossed the void. Its concealed black coating and optical camouflage allowed it to successfully approach within five light-years of the Pioneer Fleet gathering point.
Then it instantly activated its already preheated warp drive, appearing unremarkable amid the increasing spatial fluctuations as more Pioneer Fleets headed to the gathering point.
When they approached within one light-hour, the strong spatial fluctuations were unavoidable. The unfamiliar fleet exited warp drive, activated space anchors to lock the space, and its more than five thousand warships, led by five mobile fortresses, headed straight for the gathering point.
"Prepare for defense quickly, it's the damn Katon Civilization!" A Pioneer Fleet on the outskirts first noticed something wrong and, combined with the appearance of the space anchor, immediately realized that the fleet suddenly exiting warp drive was the enemy.
Upon hearing that a Katon Fleet had appeared, the dozens of Pioneer Fleets became lively. Each Pioneer Fleet deployed its battle formation, arranging themselves according to the fleet structure they had just established.