I built an armada.

Outside the car window, the street scene remained bustling, but inside the car, a gloomy atmosphere of impending doom hung in the air.

The future of the Eastern Wilderness seemed to be heading in an unknown and gloomy direction, just like this convoy.

The atmosphere in the side hall of the Eastern Wilderness Tribe's palace was even more secluded and solemn than that in the main hall.

The retired chief, dressed in simple traditional clothing, sat on a futon, calmly looking at the slightly uneasy cabinet leader, Shinzo Koizumi.

The air was filled with the calming scent of aged wood and incense, but it couldn't suppress the turmoil in everyone's hearts.

"I am aware of the situation."

The old chief spoke slowly, his voice hoarse with the marks of time, yet possessing an undeniable authority: "Mingzhao means that he doesn't want to see the head of the cabinet for the time being. In the current situation, meeting him would only cause more trouble."

Akira is the new chieftain, Kumamoto Akira, who is also the son of the old chieftain.

Shinzo Koizumi's heart sank; his worst fears had come true. The chief's refusal to meet with him was itself a very strong political signal.

The old chief continued, his tone calm yet each word carrying immense weight: "Jin San, you should focus on handling the remaining tasks. Once the next 'Chief' is chosen, the chief will naturally participate in the ceremony as usual. As for you..."

He gave Koizumi a deep look and said, "What the Eastern Wilderness needs now is perhaps some new ideas and fresh blood. When you reach the end of a road, you should try a different one."

These words, like a cold awl, pierced through Shinzo Koizumi's last shred of hope.

He understood that the chieftain's family, or rather the true ruling class hidden behind the scenes, had decided to abandon his cabinet.

He used his political career, and even his possible personal sacrifice, to pave the way for a possible "shift" or "compromise" for the Eastern Wilderness tribe, in an attempt to find a glimmer of hope.

His throat was dry. He wanted to say something, but found that any words would be pale and powerless at this moment. He could only bow his head deeply and squeeze out a single word through his teeth: "...Hi."

The air inside the Japanese Cabinet meeting room seemed to freeze, pressing heavily on everyone's chest.

The cabinet chief, in the dim light, looked particularly gaunt, with sunken eyes. The sharp edge he once possessed in wielding power had been replaced by an indescribable weariness and dejection.

He had just relayed the final instructions from the old chief—no, from the yet-to-be-revealed new chief, Kumamoto Akiaki—no need for an audience, just finish things up and wait for "fresh blood."

Every word was like a cold awl, piercing the hearts of all the ministers present.

The term will end along with that of the cabinet leader; this is not speculation, but a cold, hard conclusion.

No one spoke; only suppressed breathing and the occasional soft rustling of turning pages filled the silence. Bitterness and sorrow spread silently in the stillness.

Shinzo Koizumi's fingertips tapped unconsciously on the smooth tabletop, producing a monotonous tapping sound.

He raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the heads of the people, their faces showing solemnity, bewilderment, or numbness.

Finally, he took a deep breath, his breath hoarse from deep within his chest.

Contact Taro Kato

His voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the deathly silence, "Send him to the Longxia tribe. Do everything possible to bring him back with some dignity."

The order was quickly relayed. However, not long after, news from Taro Kato's side made the already frozen atmosphere even worse.

Before he even arrived at the airport, all the airports in the Longxia tribe had already explicitly refused to allow any flights from the East to land.

The cold telegram conveyed an even colder truth: before both sides publicly declared war and before a final answer was reached, all channels of communication were ruthlessly cut off.

Kato Taro's sigh, filled with helplessness, transmitted through the radio waves, seemed to echo in the oppressive council chamber.

The message was presented again. The cabinet chief stared at the brief rejection report, remaining silent for a long time.

The silence in the conference room this time carried an almost suffocating sense of despair.

“Miki-kun”.

The cabinet chief looked at the foreign minister and finally spoke again, his voice dry, "Convey our request for dialogue to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Longxia through neutral countries. The wording... must be humble."

Foreign Minister Masayoshi Miki received the order and left with heavy steps.

He utilized every conceivable neutral country he could think of to convey Japan's desire for dialogue.

The waiting time wasn't long, but every minute and every second was agonizing.

When the reply from Longxia's Foreign Affairs Department finally arrived through a roundabout route, Miki Masayoshi only glanced at it before her face drained of all color.

The letter was polite but distant, essentially saying that the Foreign Affairs Department was too busy to receive them and asked the Donghuang tribe to "think of a satisfactory reply in a few days" before contacting them again.

"idiot!"

Masayoshi Miki could no longer restrain himself. He slammed his hand on the desk, making the pen holder and documents jump. Then, he swung his arms and flipped the entire desk over, scattering documents and objects all over the floor.

His chest heaved violently, his face ashen—a furious display of rage born from utter contempt and even humiliation. Long Xia's attitude was so dismissive that he couldn't even be bothered with the most basic pretense of politeness.

When the news reached the cabinet, the cabinet leader closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, all that remained in his eyes was a numb calm.

"Gentlemen."

He looked at the still silent ministers below the stage and said, "Propose an explanation that we can give to the Longxia tribe. Any plan, any conditions, are welcome."

His response was an even longer, awkward silence.

The ministers lowered their heads even further, some staring at the tips of their shoes, others studying the wood grain of the table as if it held a lifeline.

No one dared to speak up at this time, to propose any solutions that might bring historical infamy or simply fail to satisfy Long Xia's appetite.

The atmosphere at the scene was not only awkward, but also filled with a sense of despair, as if the building was about to collapse and everyone was helplessly waiting for their doom.

Just as the Japanese cabinet was mired in a quagmire of powerlessness and humiliation, bound tightly by invisible shackles, a different scene unfolded in the distant seas of Europe.

The Longxia Naval Expeditionary Fleet, consisting of nineteen massive steel warships, cleaved through the waves in a disciplined battle formation and sailed majestically into this sea area, which was considered a traditional sphere of influence by Western nations.

Inside the main control room of the fleet's core, a 10,000-ton destroyer, the atmosphere was calm and orderly.

Various instruments and equipment emitted a low hum, and data streams on the screens kept refreshing.

"Reporting to the captain, we have reached the boundary of the Europa Sea Area." The vice-captain stood at attention and reported in a loud voice.

Zhou Qinglei stood before a huge comprehensive situation map, his hands behind his back. He stood tall and straight, wearing a crisp white naval officer's uniform, the stars on his epaulets gleaming with a cold, hard luster under the lights.

Upon hearing this, he nodded slightly, showing no surprise on his face.

"Yes. Picking up people and visiting various countries along the way is a perfectly legitimate act; there's no need to hide it." His tone was calm, yet it carried an undeniable air of authority.

He glanced at his watch, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips. "It's almost time. It's just basic courtesy to let the host know we've arrived."

The first mate immediately understood: "Understood!"

Orders were issued quickly.

Soon, this massive fleet began a series of subtle changes.

The radar antennas in some areas of the superstructures of 21 main warships, including the towering 10,000-ton destroyers and the sharply styled Type 052D guided-missile destroyers, stopped rotating, and the actively emitted electromagnetic wave signals were significantly weakened.
The corner reflectors temporarily installed on the side of the ship to amplify radar reflection signals during specific exercises were also quickly removed and stored by the sailors.

The entire fleet did not completely "disappear," but rather entered a clever "semi-stealth" state.

It significantly reduces its active electromagnetic signature and radar cross section, making it difficult for long-range early warning radars to easily lock onto them in complex sea clutter.

However, for close-range, high-performance reconnaissance radars or reconnaissance aircraft, their presence remains elusive, like a giant beast lurking in the mist, intentionally or unintentionally revealing a hint of its majesty.

Almost simultaneously, piercing alarms suddenly sounded at air force bases in a few countries very close to the maritime borders of Europe.

The reconnaissance pilots on routine patrols spotted a faint patch of light on the radar screen that suddenly "appeared," representing a large-scale surface naval formation.

The initial disbelief was quickly replaced by shock and a sense of urgency. One urgent military intelligence report after another, marked "highest priority" and bearing exclamation marks and the words "Longxia Navy," flew at the speed of light to their respective countries' highest defense agencies and coalition headquarters.

The atmosphere at the British Village, located in the Joint Naval Command Center in Scapa Flow, still carried a hint of the "relaxed" atmosphere that preceded the event.

The base's supreme commander, Admiral Morton Forbes, stood before a huge electronic nautical chart, a steaming cup of black tea in his hand.

On the nautical chart, the blue symbols representing the allied naval forces are densely clustered near several major bases, while the red shadows representing the potential threat areas of the Longxia Navy are still far overseas.

"General, the HMS Elizabeth carrier strike group has completed its designated patrol area search and has not found any trace of any Longxia Navy ships."

The voice of Commodore Blackett, the aircraft carrier's captain, came through encrypted communication, carrying a hint of relief as he reported the mission was completed.

Forbes took a sip of coffee, the rich aroma lingering around his nose.

He glanced at the minute-accurate bulletin from the Longxia tribe's foreign affairs department displayed on the screen next to him.

The announcement clearly stated that the fleet would arrive at 11:18 and conduct a friendly visit!

"Perhaps one of their small squads got lost? Or perhaps their sense of time is different from ours?"

His tone was somewhat sarcastic, but it was mostly based on his past experience.

In his view, although the Longxia Navy has developed rapidly in recent years, it should still have some concerns about venturing so far across the ocean and deep into the heart of Europe.

Based on this, he made a relatively "peaceful" deployment, with the main force conducting symbolic patrols on the periphery while maintaining normal vigilance at the internal base.

Blackett seemed to chuckle on the other end of the communication, clearly agreeing with his superior's assessment.

Time ticked by, second by second, gradually approaching the moment that the Longxia Foreign Affairs Department had written down in black and white—11:18.

The atmosphere in the command center began to subtly shift as the second hand struck 11:17:30. Some intelligence officers, their brows furrowing unconsciously, leaned slightly forward, their eyes glued to the radar screens.

11:18 AM.

"General! Emergency!"

A lieutenant colonel from the intelligence department abruptly looked up, his voice sharp with urgency, "Radar has detected a large group of surface targets! Location: XX degrees XX minutes East longitude, XX degrees XX minutes North latitude, just outside our territorial waters boundary!"

"Identification features...preliminary assessment indicates they are the main force ships of the Longxia Navy! Number...at least fifteen! They...they seem to have appeared out of nowhere!"

hum!
It was as if an invisible bomb had exploded in the command center. All the whispers and relaxed expressions vanished instantly, and the air suddenly tensed!

"what?!"

Morton Forbes' composure shattered instantly. He slammed down his coffee cup, oblivious to the scalding coffee splashing out, and rushed to the main radar screen.

On the screen, just outside the virtual line symbolizing the border of Britain's territorial waters, a dense cluster of constantly flashing red dots stood out starkly, like thick ink dropped into clear water, dazzlingly bright.

Their locations are so precise it's terrifying.

"This is impossible! How did they do that?!"

Forbes' voice was filled with shock and a hint of anger at being fooled.

He abruptly turned his head to look at the communication interface with the Blackett aircraft carrier that was still open on the screen next to him.

In the interface, Brigadier General Blackett's face, which had originally held a slight smile, was now deathly pale. His lips moved slightly, but he could not make a sound, and fine beads of cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.

Ashamed!

He had just confidently reported that "no enemy sightings" when, in the blink of an eye, the enemy's massive fleet appeared at his doorstep like a ghost!
This blatant slap in the face is more humiliating than any weapon attack.

Forbes stared intently at the blinding red dot, his chest heaving violently.

After a long pause, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth, laced with icy coldness: "Good...very good! The Dragon Xia Navy...is truly arrogant!"

"This is a deliberate attempt to intimidate us!"

He could almost picture Zhou Qinglei, the commander of the Longxia Fleet, watching their panic from across the sea with a calm yet sharp gaze on the bridge of that 10,000-ton destroyer opposite them.

This is not a miscalculation, nor is it being late; it is a meticulously calculated and extremely precise display of force and strategic deterrence.

"Immediately raise combat readiness level to the highest! All units enter combat alert status!"

"Order Blackett to move his carrier strike group forward immediately to monitor and... 'escort' the aircraft carriers!"

Forbes rattled off a string of orders, his voice trembling slightly as he struggled to suppress his anger, “Notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to immediately issue an inquiry to Longxia!”

"At the same time, contact other allied command posts to update them on the situation!" (End of Chapter)