Although Liu Hai desperately wanted those resources to accelerate the construction of the Brolly Star System, Li Yali was right—it would be nearly impossible to conceal the movements of such a large transport fleet from the Katon Civilization.
If they learned about the massive stockpile of resources here, there was a high chance the Katon Fleet might bypass the Stardust Star Region and launch a surprise attack from the rear. The probability of this happening wasn't low at all.
This made Liu Hai realize a problem—he currently lacked any means to counter a large-scale assault. While the detector network across the Brolly Star System was now perfectly deployed with targeted monitoring at all key warp points, it still felt somewhat inadequate.
"Li Yali," he said, "I'll have the transport fleet deliver a batch of Space Mines later. Lead the fleet to deploy them at the seven warp points near the star system, then set up some Orbital Turrets and Fighter Jets in the surrounding asteroid belts as decoys. This should buy us some time to make more preparations."
After considering the situation, Liu Hai pulled up data on nearby star regions with large-scale warp capabilities and explained his plan to Li Yali.
Li Yali added her own suggestion: "But Space Mines alone aren't powerful enough. They're easy to hide but won't be very effective. Let's install two fortress cannons as well. Since we're ramping up production anyway, we might as well strengthen our defense systems further."
Liu Hai pondered this. If an enemy fleet emerged from warp only to be greeted by Space Mines, followed by attacks from Orbital Turrets and fortress cannons, anyone would suspect they'd walked into an ambush.
In such a scenario, most commanders would first form defensive formations before cautiously counterattacking. This would give Liu Hai plenty of time to prepare.
"Agreed. Let's do it that way."
Although this setup would consume even more of their already limited resources, safety came first. The extra expenditure wasn't unreasonable. Besides, they couldn't expect to complete such extensive minefield deployments across multiple warp points overnight—it would likely take years to finish.
Returning to the original topic, direct resource conversion would disadvantage them, and the turnover cycle was too long. After some thought, Liu Hai decided to request partial payment in Merit Points.
"Merit Points?" Igor shook his head. "They probably won't agree to that. Merit Points are far more valuable than equivalent resources. Even if they consent to partial Merit Point payment, they'll definitely demand discounts."
"We're already accepting this order primarily as support, with profit margins much thinner than domestic deals. Any further discounts would leave us with virtually no earnings at all."
Igor reacted strongly—he vehemently opposed unprofitable business. To him, it was no different from cutting his own flesh.
"Ask them first," Liu Hai insisted. "Full resource settlement isn't favorable for us either. Converting these resources into usable products would take years. Merit Points would be much more convenient. Besides, the Starsea Fleet needs some proper military warships to serve as its main force."
Liu Hai really wanted to accumulate enough Merit Points to exchange for a Military Fortress from the military to serve as the flagship of the Starsea Fleet. However, the number of Merit Points required for a Fortress was astronomical, and he currently only had a fraction of what was needed. If there were a safe way to earn Merit Points, he would definitely put in the effort.
"I'll try, but I can't guarantee they'll agree," Igor could only promise to do his best. Merit Points, being the military's exchange unit for Armament, were always in high demand but short supply. Transactions were rare on the market, and when they did occur, they were usually private deals like this one.
At that moment, Li Yali spoke up: "Boss, our fleet currently has over three million second-generation Sparrow Fighters and second-generation Raider Mechs. But the few Motherships converted from large transport ships can't keep up anymore. Shouldn't we purchase some proper Motherships to coordinate with them?"
Liu Hai was taken aback—had he not bought any Motherships?
Thinking back carefully, he realized he hadn't paid much attention to the issue of Motherships. As the Fighter Production Lines he had built were successively completed, the Fighter Jets had also undergone corresponding upgrades. The second-generation Sparrow Drones had already reached a production volume of three million units, forming the main offensive force of the Starsea Fleet.
However, the current situation was similar to when they first arrived in the Hera Star System: plenty of Fighter Jets, but the deployment time was excessively long. In the rapidly changing battlefield, this was akin to the tactic of "feeding troops into the grinder"—absolutely unacceptable.
"Motherships!" Liu Hai recalled the data on ship types resembling Motherships in his possession. There were indeed a few that met the criteria; with some targeted modifications to the hangars, they could serve as Motherships.
But then another problem arose: Motherships were even larger than Battleships. To enable rapid Fighter deployment and accommodate onboard production lines, Motherships were generally more rounded, requiring over three times the construction materials of a Battleship of the same length. Currently, he didn't have a Shipyard capable of meeting such production demands.
Would he have to build an additional large Shipyard just to produce Motherships?
Not worth it!
Compared to warships, the demand for Motherships was minimal. If a Fortress was present in a fleet, it would serve as a combination of warship and Mothership, eliminating the need for separate Motherships.
In fleets relying solely on Motherships, a fleet of a thousand warships would typically only include two or three Motherships, with each warship carrying some Fighter Mechs. During combat, the Fighters carried by the warships would be deployed first, which was usually sufficient for normal engagements.
After all, a single Mothership could normally carry 50,000 Fighter Jets, with its internal production lines capable of assembling another 10,000 in a short time. The resources it carried could also provide raw materials for 100,000 to 150,000 additional Fighters.
Given this scale, building a new Shipyard and supporting factories just to produce a few Motherships was simply not cost-effective.
Better to buy than to build.
"I'll check if the military has any affordable Motherships. If they do, I'll buy two for the fleet. If not, we'll make do for now. Once I've saved enough Merit Points, I'll just buy a Fortress to serve as the fleet flagship—wouldn't that be better than a Mothership?"
Liu Hai tried to reassure her, though he found it rather absurd that he had completely forgotten about Motherships. If he had remembered, he would have asked for a couple during his last transaction with the Elizabeth Family.
What could Li Yali say? It was already impressive that her boss could react now. After all, the fleet hadn't had much combat demand in recent years, so consumables like Fighter Jets were truly easy to forget.
She herself had only thought about requesting a couple of proper Motherships because those modified transport ships were gradually falling behind in her command drills.
Speaking of which, she felt quite awkward. The truth was, they had been lingering around the Brolly Star System all this time, with little need for Fighter Jets. Plus, she had been fully focused on training with the newly acquired fleet, which made her overlook the Motherships—the main firepower.
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