Long Zhan left the battlefield cleanup to the regular vessels and led his squadron in pursuit of the Sea Eagle Country Fleet.
"Master, the battle with the United Fleet is over! The Lvzhi Fleet has been completely annihilated, and the other fleets have all surrendered!" Long Zhan immediately reported to Ren Yuanyang in the group chat. "The ships and submarines you enhanced are incredible. They stood no chance at all!"
"Well done!" Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly, then added a reminder, "Still, be careful when you engage the Sea Eagle Country Fleet."
"Yes, Master!" Long Zhan replied, then added with a laugh, "Our ships are too powerful. The Sea Eagle Country Fleet is no match for us!"
"Don’t get cocky, Old Long!" Wang Jun chimed in with a warning.
"Alright, just wait for my good news!" Long Zhan said confidently. "The battle should be over in four hours, tops!"
"Alright, we’ll be waiting for news of your victory," Ren Yuanyang replied with a smile. "We’ll throw you a feast when you return!"
"Awesome! I want barbecue!" Long Zhan was already putting in his order.
"No problem. Once you take care of the Sea Eagle Country Fleet, you can have whatever you want!" Ren Yuanyang agreed.
"You’ve got a deal!"
Leading his fleet, Long Zhan caught up to the frantically fleeing Sea Eagle Country Fleet in just over three hours.
"General, Dragon Base’s forces have caught up! They’re too fast!" an aide said in despair.
Mike was at a loss.
’The enemy is too agile and much faster than us. We can’t hit them, and we can’t run!’
Just then, the sonar operator shot up from his station and reported, "General, we’ve detected a submarine approaching!"
"A submarine? That’s impossible!" Mike’s face was a mask of disbelief.
"Look out! They’ve fired a torpedo!" the operator cried out again in terror. "The torpedo is too fast! Our carrier can’t possibly evade it!"
Before Mike could react, a massive explosion erupted.
Clearly, the enemy torpedo had struck his carrier.
Immediately after, the surface ships launched their own ferocious assault.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Sea Eagle Country Fleet returned fire, but to no effect. They couldn’t land a single hit on the Dragon Base ships.
A sense of utter helplessness washed over Mike as he watched the scene unfold.
"General, Cruiser Five is disabled and dead in the water..."
"General, Frigate Nine is taking on water..."
"General, the engine room on Destroyer Twenty-Three has been hit..."
...
The damage reports pouring in from every ship were the final straw.
"Order all ships... to surrender." Mike slumped helplessly into his command chair.
The command seemed to drain every last ounce of strength from his body.
The crews of the other ships had long since lost their will to fight. Upon hearing Mike’s order, they immediately raised their white flags.
Long Zhan immediately dispatched an empty cruiser and broadcast a message to Mike’s fleet: "All personnel, you will bring no weapons. You will all transfer to our cruiser. Not a single person is to remain aboard your vessels!"
"Understood," Mike replied.
The soldiers of Sea Eagle Country valued their lives. They were nothing like the lunatics from Lvzhi Country, who were bent on mutual destruction.
They obediently complied with Long Zhan’s orders and boarded the cruiser.
Long Zhan successfully seized all the vessels of the Sea Eagle Country Fleet.
With that taken care of, Long Zhan glanced at the time and posted in the group chat: "Master, it’s done. Twenty minutes ahead of schedule!"
"That fast?" Ren Yuanyang was surprised.
"Against ships as powerful as ours, any sane person would know not to fight to the death. It’s pointless!" Long Zhan replied with a laugh. "So they just surrendered."
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly. "That’s good. Now there shouldn’t be anyone left to hinder our development, right?"
"Definitely not! If anyone still disagrees, we’ll just have to beat them into submission!" Long Zhan said with a laugh.
"Don’t be so quick to talk about fighting and killing. We are a peace-loving people," Ren Yuanyang replied.
"I get it. We don’t bother anyone who doesn’t bother us. But if someone bothers us, we wipe them out," Long Zhan chuckled.
"After this battle, no fleet should dare to challenge us again," Ji Yizhi spoke up.
Both Wang Jun and Ren Yuanyang nodded in agreement.
Ji Yizhi continued, "This means many factions will likely gather near Dragon Base. Once they see our Duckweed Continent, they might request permission to come aboard. How should we handle that?"
Ren Yuanyang thought for a moment before replying, "We can designate certain areas to lease out to those factions. However, they are not permitted to bring any weapons onto the Duckweed Continent."
Wang Jun nodded. "Master, that’s an excellent idea. It will help attract more people, and our market will become more prosperous."
"We can also use this to promote our monetary system," Ji Yizhi added. "Soon, the entire Blue Star will be using Peach Blossom Spring Coins!"
"Alright, you can handle the details. The seven Banyan Forests still need five more days to fully merge, correct?" Ren Yuanyang asked.
"That’s right," Wang Jun replied.
"Good. Use these five days to finalize the rules for leasing land on the Duckweed Continent," Ren Yuanyang continued. "Have we heard back from the Iron Wing Fleet? Are they willing to trade their research data to us?"
"No news yet," Ji Yizhi said, shaking his head.
Just then, Ji Yizhi received a message from Wei Jing.
"Captain Ji, we’ve compiled some research data for a trade. I’ll send you the project summaries first so you can evaluate their worth, and then we can discuss the details. This time, we’d like to trade for food."
Seeing the message, Ji Yizhi immediately replied, "Alright."
At the same time, he forwarded the message to the group chat. "Master, the Iron Wing Fleet just sent a message. They’ve prepared some research data for a trade."
"We have plenty of food, so don’t drive too hard a bargain," Ren Yuanyang replied. "When he sends over the project summaries, check if any of Xin Yu’s research is included."
"He already sent them. I’m forwarding them now." Ji Yizhi then forwarded ten messages.
Each message corresponded to a research project.
Ren Yuanyang quickly scanned through them and, just as he’d hoped, found a research project that Xin Yu had been involved in.
"Excellent! They’re actually offering us Xin Yu’s research!" Ren Yuanyang was overjoyed. "Ask them how much food they want for this data."
Ji Yizhi immediately sent a message to Wei Jing: "How much food do you want for this data?"
Wei Jing froze for a moment when he saw the message. ’I just sent the project summaries, and he’s already asking for a price? Doesn’t Dragon Base even bother with an evaluation?’
"Aren’t you going to evaluate them?" Wei Jing asked, confused.
Ji Yizhi replied with a smile, "We have faith in your scientific prowess."
Wei Jing was taken aback again. He frowned and clarified, "I should state upfront that we haven’t produced any results from these projects yet."
"Yes, I understand. Your honesty gives us even more reason not to bother with an evaluation. Just name your price," Ji Yizhi asked again.
Wei Jing hesitated, then said cautiously, "Ten tons of grain per project... We’d like to get a mix of common staples like rice, wheat, corn, and soybeans."
He was worried that if he asked for too much and Dragon Base refused, his people would continue to starve.
When Ji Yizhi saw the proposed price, he paused for a second, then replied with a smile, "No problem. We’ll have it ready tonight and deliver it first thing tomorrow morning. Just get the data compiled and send it over to us then."
Wei Jing was stunned as well. ’They agreed just like that?’
’Weren’t they supposed to haggle a bit?’
"Is there a problem on your end?" Ji Yizhi pressed.
Wei Jing immediately replied, "No problem at all! We already have the data prepared. We can send it to you right now!"
"If you trust us, feel free to send it now. That way, we can get a head start on continuing the research," Ji Yizhi said with a slight nod.
"Of course we trust you! Dragon Base’s excellent reputation is known all across Blue Star," Wei Jing immediately replied.
"Good. Then send the data over," Ji Yizhi replied with a smile.
Wei Jing immediately sent over the research data for the ten scientific projects.

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