Chapter 1661: Chapter 645: Waiting for the Rabbit

According to the mission briefing, this area is a critical point in the Legion’s linear retreat path.

After a journey of acceleration spanning three light years, the Legion Fleet will enter the Fold Jump Subspace Channel in this area. This area is designated as the "Fold Jump Window Area."

The clearing operations in the Fold Jump Window Area are of utmost importance.

The destination of Ma Xiaoling’s transport ship is exactly the shortest path away from the Ascender Expeditionary Army pursuing them.

This area, the Legion station, and the advancing Ascender Expeditionary Army from the front, all align on the same line.

Although Ren Zhong gave the order not to retreat, there is no harm in making some preparations in advance.

The scientific survey ship needs to examine the spatial conditions of this area on-site and preemptively destroy any small pieces of space debris that might be floating in place.

For ships traveling at extremely high speeds, space debris is extremely dangerous.

Space dust with a diameter greater than 2.5 microns already qualifies as "debris."

High-speed ships can identify these "debris" in advance using information flow radar and then make slight course adjustments to avoid them.

If the ship’s speed has not yet approached the speed of light, Energy Cannons can be used to destroy obstacles in advance.

However, the faster the speed, the harder it is to change direction, and the barrier-breaking efficiency of the Energy Cannons also decreases significantly since Energy Cannons themselves are light-speed weapons.

If the debris distribution area is too large, covering a range greater than the maximum turning radius of a ship infinitely approaching light speed, it becomes very troublesome.

In recent years, the Red Blade Army has long begun clearing multiple channels, now only a small section of the Fold Jump Window Area remains, and its final clearing will be completed concurrently.

The strategic importance of this shortest path is the most significant; it is what Ren Zhong referred to as the "main channel," so it is reasonable for the Administration and Logistics Department to dispatch a giant transport ship from the central hub as a survey ship.

At the end of other secondary alternative channels, there are likewise other survey ships undertaking the final clearing.

No one knows that Ma Xiaoling’s transport ship is not carrying micro-robot cleaning equipment but rather large, strictly sealed boxes with force field shielding functionality.

...

In the office of the Director of the Biological Institute of the Red Blade Science Academy, the white-haired Vittel Haddon was pacing back and forth in distress.

As the project lead for the Space Dust Virus, he completed his work many years ago.

But driven by a sense of responsibility for his creation and an inner desire to achieve something significant, Vittel Haddon began to focus on matters beyond his authority.

He wanted to know how Ren Zhong planned to use these viruses and tried to offer suggestions.

But his suggestions fell on deaf ears, and he had received no response until now.

The source of Vittel Haddon’s anxiety was that, due to the highest confidentiality of the Space Dust Virus project, he could not disclose related matters to others.

Similarly, he was not qualified to learn about the strategic plan associated with it, so he simply went back into cryofreeze until recently when he just awoke.

Yet, when he checked his personal assistant, there was no new important information. Years had passed, yet Lord Marquis still had not summoned him.

It was apparent that either Lord Marquis had forgotten about this matter or simply did not wish to discuss it with him.

This became an obsession and worry in Vittel Haddon’s mind, haunting his thoughts, making him suffer greatly.

He even felt that Ren Zhong was deliberately "avoiding" him because of this matter.

This was illogical.

Because previously, Ren Zhong was very approachable, and people below him wanting to see him, provided the reason wasn’t too ridiculous, usually wouldn’t be turned away.

Things were evidently different now.

However, Vittel Haddon eventually found an opportunity to talk with Ren Zhong in person.

On this day, just as he was in an active state, the routine genetic stability check of the Biological Planet Ship Shi Lin fell into his hands, and he happened to run into Ren Zhong, who was on his way to see how things were after sending off Ma Xiaoling.

Regarding how to use the painstakingly accumulated Space Dust Virus, Vittel Haddon had two ideas.

One was to evenly distribute these viruses outside the Legion station. The advantage of doing this is that no matter which direction the enemy approaches from, they would all be intercepted by the Dust Virus and would suffer noticeable damage.

However, the drawback of the even distribution plan is that, according to data simulations, it would result in the floating space virus having a low concentration, making it difficult to inflict fatal damage on the Empress and the physiologically powerful Star Sky Battle Beasts, with the destructive power only equating to humans catching a severe cold.

It couldn’t be helped; the production difficulty of such a peculiar semi-energy, semi-material state life form was too great, only allowing biological synthesis, with highly unstable output, unlike chemical products that could be mass-manufactured.

The Legion’s current maximum productivity could only reach this level.

If the reserve virus were to be accurately deployed into a small area, just as the Ascender Expeditionary Army ran headlong into it, the massive Dust Virus could simultaneously invade both the Mother Empress Ship and the Starry Sky Giant Beasts, blooming multiple points of infection and rapidly proliferating, with a high chance of causing lethal damage. Even if it didn’t prove fatal, it would cause severe damage if they survived it.

However, the problem lies in the difficulty of ascertaining the precise direction of the Ascender Expeditionary Army’s advance.

Vittel Haddon believed if the second option were chosen, the best deployment area would be directly in front of the Legion station, the inevitable path of the advancing Ascender Army.

Probabilistically speaking, this is the optimal solution.

"Is this your idea, Mr. Haddon?" In a space absolutely safe from eavesdropping, Ren Zhong asked with a smile after hearing the other’s explanation.

Vittel: "Yes, Lord Marquis. We have paid a great price to synthesize the Dust Virus; we cannot easily waste such a prolonged stockpile."

Ren Zhong shook his head, "According to protocol, since I have already clearly expressed my unwillingness to discuss this matter, you persist in dwelling on it, even repeatedly asking me, which has seriously violated the top management clauses of the Red Blade Legion’s codes. However, I do not intend to hold you accountable, nor do I plan to let you know the truth. Just remember one thing: you’re a scientist, not a military strategist; stick to your field. Don’t let your interests challenge others’ expertise. Even though it’s something you created, your expertise is in creation only. How it’s used, and by whom, is other people’s business."

Vittel was stunned for a long time.

He indeed wanted to ask why they couldn’t just use free-fold technology to directly deploy them into the formation center of the Ascender Expeditionary Army, just like when the Special Forces deployed the gaseous planet during the assassination of the Mother Empress Ship called Long Guci.

But on second thought, perhaps Ren Zhong already had such plans, and he should not inquire.

However, this was overthinking; Ren Zhong had not considered repeating the same trick.

The Ascenders have a very strong learning ability and would not fall into the same pit twice.

Even if the Ascenders have not yet mastered free-fold technology, they can certainly recognize the information flow changes projected from subspace to the three-dimensional universe, preemptively predicting the Red Blade Legion’s ships’ exit points from subspace within a given range.

So, the best approach is to release the virus into space and wait for the enemy to walk into the trap.

Ren Zhong knew that the Ascender Expeditionary Army would definitely appear from the rear.

His basis was... foresight.

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