Deep within the sea.

The anxious group of people on the submarine were finally able to welcome the return of their leader. When Yuanen Yehui saw Xie Xie and Tang Wulin return together through a special piece of equipment on the submarine, she immediately heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"Sect Master, did you discover any suitable explosion points?" The submarine captain was also extremely relieved. It was already a completely inhuman feat to survive under the enormous water pressure in the deep sea; if it weren't for the stunning performance that Tang Wulin had displayed during the Trial of Five Gods, he wouldn't have dared to allow Tang Wulin to take this risk.

"There's no need for that; everything's already been taken care of! We've already bought more than enough time for the Star Luo Empire," Xie Xie replied with a wide smile.

"What happened?" The captain was rather taken aback to hear this.

Tang Wulin replied, "It's a long story. Let's continue back to the federation. If the Star Luo Empire still can't defend itself even after this, then we won't be able to do anything, either. Let's leave this area first, then rise to the surface, and when the Holy Spirit Douluo returns, we'll set off right away."

After issuing that sequence of instructions, Tang Wulin's body swayed slightly, and Yue Zhengyu hurriedly stepped forward to lend Tang Wulin his support. "Are you alright, Captain?"

A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face. "I'm fine, I'm just a little exhausted and require some rest."

Xu Lizhi immediately produced a few Recovery Pork Buns for Tang Wulin to consume, and his condition improved slightly before he was helped back to his cabin by Yue Zhengyu.

Thus, everyone immediately turned to Xie Xie, and Yuanen Yehui couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

Xie Xie's eyes were currently glowing with excitement and exhilaration. "You probably wouldn't believe me even if I told you what happened! Boss was like the true Sea God out there! Even now, my heart is still thumping like crazy."

"Hurry up and tell us!" Yuanen Yehui grabbed onto one of his ears and gave it a slight twist.

"I'll talk! Please have mercy, my esteemed wife!"

...... 

At the Star Luo Empire's main frontline control center.

Dai Tianling was wearing a military uniform with a pair of special epaulets that were emblazoned with the image of a tiger's head. The entire control center was in an extremely busy and hectic state.

This frontline control center had actually already been established half a year ago. This was something that concerned the fate of the entire empire, so preparations had naturally been made well in advance. It was exactly because these preparations had been made that Dai Tianling had always thought that the empire was well equipped to face the oncoming federal fleet.

Only after Tang Wulin's arrival was he truly made aware of just how massive the gap between the Star Luo Empire and the Douluo Federation was. This gap was far wider than he had imagined, almost to the point where it was impossible to bridge. Thankfully, they had the weapons supplied by the Tang Sect to even out the playing field a little, but never did he think that the federal fleet would arrive so quickly. If it hadn't been for the Holy Spirit Douluo, he would've still been completely in the dark.

"According to our super long-distance radars, the federal fleet has veered off its original course. They most likely got caught up in that unprecedentedly ferocious storm, and they're currently temporarily docked 600 nautical miles away from the shoreline, displaying no signs of continuing onward. From our radar surveillance, we can see that all of their ships seemed to have become interconnected to form a man-made island."

"Keep up the surveillance," Dai Tianling said in a solemn voice.

As the emperor, he had to oversee the proceedings from the frontlines in person. This first battle was undoubtedly going to be the most important one, and they had to keep the federal fleet from landing at all costs. Otherwise, if they were to establish bridge towers, they would definitely be able to gain a firm foothold with the federation's technology. If that were to happen, then the federal fleet would be able to deliver more weapons and soldiers to the Star Luo Empire, and that would be the beginning of the end.

As such, their strategy was to keep the federal fleet away from the shoreline and prevent them from landing at all costs.

"Father, it looks like the federal fleet was severely damaged during that storm; should we launch an attack on them to assess their current condition?" Dai Yueyan asked.

Dai Tianling waved a hand in response. "Our navy is far inferior in power to the federal fleet. Even though they were caught up in that storm, they haven't allowed any chaos to set in, and this strategy where they're connecting all of their ships is enough to minimize the damage. Just proceed according to the original plan; how are the preparations going on your end?"

Dai Yueyan replied, "The initial stages will be complete in about two more days. It's a good thing we prepared early, so we should be able to make it in time."

Dai Tianling turned to him with a serious expression. "'Should' isn't good enough; you have to make sure everything's ready on time. Otherwise, it'll spell disaster for our entire empire, do you understand?"

Not only was he the emperor, back in his youth, he had joined the military under a false identity, working his way up from an ordinary soldier to a general over a span of 17 years. He had climbed up the ranks step by step and forged a dazzling military resume for himself.

After he revealed his identity and returned to the imperial family, he immediately received the support of the military, thereby allowing him to seize the throne and become the emperor. As such, in terms of military prowess, it could be said that he was one of a handful of the most exceptional emperors in Star Luo Empire history, and this was why he was acting as the commander-in-chief in this frontline control center.

The current high-ranking officials of the military were once his colleagues and even his subordinates. Ever since Dai Tianling's inauguration, he had ironed out many major flaws in the military and strongly promoted development in the fields of military affairs, technology, education, Soul Master development, and battle armor development. This had allowed the Star Luo Empire to undergo an enormous transformation, and during the past few decades, the empire had been developing far faster than the federation. It was just that the gap between them was too massive in the first place, so they were still yet to catch up.

The Star Luo Empire's development had naturally caught the attention of the federation, and that was one of the important reasons behind the Eagle Faction's push to instigate this war. According to them, if the Star Luo Empire were to continue developing at this rate, it would eventually pose a threat to the federation someday. Furthermore, the quicker the Star Luo Empire developed, the faster it was going to deplete its resources. The technology between the federation and the empire couldn't be shared, so the empire would have to expend resources to walk the same path as the federation once already had, thereby resulting in an enormous waste.

It was none other than these reasons that finally pressured the federal parliament into approving of this war in the end.

The federal fleet's mission on this occasion was very simple: destroy the imperial military and seize or destroy the imperial family. At the same time, they had to keep the slaughter of the general public to a minimum and seize resources to prepare for the federation's future plans of space exploration.

"Yes, Father," Dai Yueyan said in a solemn voice, "Father, this storm was very bizarre! Our meteorology department didn't foresee it at all, and it arrived in an extremely abrupt manner. According to the analysis of our meteorology department, the storm doesn't seem to have been a naturally forming one. On top of that, the federal fleet just so happened to have been situated right at the center of the storm. Otherwise, they would've already arrived at our empire by now; isn't all of this very suspicious?"

Dai Tianling nodded in response. "Indeed, it is. This storm has helped us immensely, and if it really was artificially created, then there's only one possibility."