The day after the meeting, the Qingyuan Fleet set sail.
The fleet consisted of a total of five starships: two main warships and three auxiliary starships.
The Qingyuan-class aircraft carrier starship and the Storm-class interstellar battlecruiser number one.
The other three auxiliary starships were the Giant Turtle Zero industrial ship and two Squirrel-class supply ships.
To outsiders, this was a rather comical starship combination.
"Captain, where are we going next?" Qiao Rongrong inquired about Sun He's plans.
Before this, they had no idea what Captain Sun He's arrangements were.
"To this star system." Sun He sent the location to Qiao Rongrong.
Qiao Rongrong glanced at the latitude and longitude, marking it on the star chart.
Tang Yuan, standing beside her, stared at the location, her brows furrowed. After a long time, she exclaimed in surprise, "This place... isn't it in the middle of a war?"
Qiao Rongrong was taken aback, then quickly checked the specific situation of this location.
The third outer star system of the Jin Ban Hu star system.
"This star system... was previously seized by the Jin Ban Hu Lord's fleet from the Marsas Kingdom and occupied for three years.
A month ago, the Marsas Kingdom suddenly dispatched a fleet to launch a surprise attack on this star system. The Jin Ban Hu Lord's defensive fleet failed to resist, losing most of the area within a mere half month.
Five days ago, in order to preserve the remaining fleet, the Jin Ban Hu Lord ordered the fleet stationed in the Marsas Kingdom to abandon the area and retreat to the Jin Ban Hu star system." Qiao Rongrong explained the situation of this place.
"That's right, we're going there." Sun He nodded in confirmation.
"Why? There's a war going on there now, why are we going there?" Tang Yuan asked in confusion.
Instead of answering Tang Yuan directly, Sun He turned to Qiao Rongrong and asked, "Rongrong, according to the Alliance regulations, how are territories and controlled areas defined?"
Although she didn't know why the captain was suddenly asking this question,
Qiao Rongrong still answered honestly, "This is quite complex, but there are generally two types of territories. One is a region ruled by a lord designated by the Alliance.
The other is territories or star systems acquired through external conquest.
The former is granted by the Alliance and has protection regulations.
The latter follows a first-come-first-served basis; whoever conquers and controls it owns it.
For example, the Serra Star previously conquered by the Grey Bear Lord and the third outer star system now lost by the Jin Ban Hu Lord.
And internal conflict is forbidden. However, this rule... isn't strictly enforced these days. After all, the Galactic Alliance is so vast, there are still quite a few internal conflicts behind closed doors.
Our battle with the Grey Bear Lord was an internal conflict; it just didn't involve a large area and didn't cause any major repercussions, so the Galactic Alliance didn't intervene."
"So, does the third outer star system still belong to the Jin Ban Hu Lord now?" Sun He asked.
Qiao Rongrong pondered for a moment and shook her head, "The Jin Ban Hu Lord has publicly announced that his fleet will withdraw, which means he has lost control of this area."
Sun He pointed to this area on the star chart.
"In this star system, there are a total of 37 planets, one crystal mine resource star, six habitable planets, and the rest are just satellites and planets with no resources or habitability.
And now these no longer belong to the Jin Ban Hu star system. As long as we can seize them from the Marsas fleet, they will all belong to us!"
Sun He clenched his fist, as if he already possessed these planets.
Qiao Rongrong's eyes lit up, and she immediately said, "According to the Galactic Alliance regulations, the expansion outward clause encourages expansion. Even if we are not lords, as long as we conquer and control these planets, ownership will become ours!
There are quite a few fleets in the Alliance that have become powerful through this method!"
"But... with our current strength, to take over such a star system from a space kingdom, including a resource star... isn't it a bit... too audacious?" Tang Yuan expressed her concerns cautiously.
Sun He sat on his captain's chair and raised his hand. A larger star chart appeared, divided into several areas using different colors.
The Jin Ban Hu star system, the Marsas Kingdom, the third outer star system, and two other star systems.
"This declaration of war by the Marsas Kingdom is not just for this one star system. According to intelligence, the Marsas Kingdom's main fleet has already attacked the first and second outer star systems of the Jin Ban Hu star system, and even has the intention of coveting the Jin Ban Hu star system.
These three outer star systems are the territory the Jin Ban Hu star system has gained over the years; they cannot simply be abandoned. However, defending three outer star systems simultaneously is very difficult.
In terms of resource comparison, the third star system is actually the poorest. There is only one resource star, and the population isn't large.
Therefore, the Jin Ban Hu Lord chose to abandon the third star system, concentrating his main fleet to engage the enemy in a decisive battle in the second and first star systems!
In the Jin Ban Hu Lord's view, as long as they win the decisive battle, the three star systems will naturally be back under his control."
A smile appeared on the corner of Sun He's lips, "Currently, there are actually not many Marsas Kingdom fleets stationed in the third outer star system. The number shouldn't exceed fifty!"
Qiao Rongrong quickly browsed through all the available intelligence and concluded seriously, "Captain Sun He is right. The number of Marsas fleets stationed in the third outer star system won't exceed fifty.
Furthermore, most of them are T1-class starships, with the number of T2-class starships not exceeding ten!"
"But... even if we capture the resource star, are we going to mine it ourselves? Once the Marsas and the Jin Ban Hu return to their senses,
Neither of them will be willing to accept the loss." Tang Yuan worriedly said.
"I've already made arrangements for this. We just need to capture the resource star." Sun He smirked, his expression confident.
Tang Yuan sighed, helplessly looking at Sun He, "That's just your nature. Ever since you became the captain of the Qingyuan Fleet, there's never been an easy mission for us."
"You can't blame me for that; you were the one who tied me back here." Sun He shrugged and joked.
...
Nine-Headed Bird Family, a second-rate power in the Galactic Alliance.
"My Lady, a Qingyuan Fleet just sent a request for a trade. They say they have a crystal mine resource star for trade and are willing to completely hand over the mining rights to us." The maid approached a graceful figure bathed in water.
"Trade a resource star? Which fleet?" The figure inquired.
"They were originally an affiliate fleet of the Jiu Feng Star System, rather unremarkable. They had even fallen to the point of having only one aircraft carrier starship in the entire fleet.
However, in recent months, this fleet has welcomed a male captain, who has done many remarkable things. Among them, their battle with a lord even made it to the Alliance hot search list." The maid explained.
"The first male captain? Oh, I remember that. It was arranged by the Alliance Central Brain directly. It caused quite a stir in the higher echelons at the time.
But because it was a minor fleet, it wasn't given much attention and the matter was hushed up, thinking it was just a mistake by the Central Brain."
The figure extended her jade arm, "Show me the recent data on this fleet. I'm rather interested in this male captain."