Chapter 405 The Guardian's Choice

The words of the Guardian Commander, like the harshest winter wind, permeated the marrow of everyone present, causing their hearts to involuntarily tighten. If the speculation were true, the Unknown Civilization was too terrifying indeed.

Currently, the Civilization Alliance had already put immense pressure on the Guardians, and that slight yet fatal deviation in the early decision-making was like a crack spreading quietly on the solid defensive front, forcing the Guardians to gradually expose the forces hidden in the shadows.

At this moment, the Guardians had no way out, and the remaining eight warships also had to be deployed into the battlefield; otherwise, the twelve warships that the Guardians had already committed would be in certain danger.

But if this last power were to be exposed, should any new contingency arise on the battlefield, there would be no more forces to dispatch for a coordinated response.

Given the various characteristics displayed by the Civilization Alliance, if a third force were to appear now, the Guardians might no longer be too surprised.

The atmosphere in the Staff Office had taken a starkly different turn; the expressions of its members were overshadowed by a dense cloud of solemnity.

"If they are hiding a third power, our situation will also be dire.

"We can have two response plans:

"One is to stick with the established plan, but we must reassign two more warships as an absolutely vital reserve force. Under no circumstances can we expose our last strength.

"Our warships should be dispersed as much as possible and, like peeling an onion, whittle down their numbers one layer at a time from the periphery of their warship ocean.

"At the same time, our surveillance network must cover the vast area encompassing thousands of astronomical units around us, not missing any trace or clue that they might be hiding a third force.

"Because this method, although allowing us to maintain the upper hand, is not absolute, the duration of the war will also be extremely long.

"If they truly have a third force hidden, it will be very difficult to decide whether to strike as their allies' warship ocean gets constantly depleted.

"But in our calculations, it's nearly impossible for them to find a suitable opportunity for attack. As long as we keep them in this passive state, their alliance might even collapse, and morale may scatter, ultimately leading to their complete destruction by us.

"The second is a strategy of swift resolution.

"If we could strike like lightning that cannot cover its ears, swiftly resolving their warship ocean, then even if their third power emerges, it would be as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree and would pose no threat to us.

"Their greatest vulnerability lies in the technological generational gap that led to their misjudgment of our strength. This misjudgment will become their fatal weakness.

"We could concentrate our warships to form several unstoppable Plowing Court Teams, storming into their warship ocean like furious tempests and shattering it directly. Their warships, under our onslaught, would tear apart like fragile sheets of paper.

"Even if they have a third force, it must surely still be lurking in the distant darkness. With our methods of attack, they would in no way be able to make it to the battlefield in time.

"Once their strengths are too damaged, even if the third force hurries over, it will pose no threat to us.

"But this approach also has its drawbacks. We need to deploy all our warships, committing fully, which inherently carries some risks.

"Additionally, considerable time will also be spent chasing their scattered remnants of fleeing fleets."

The voice of the Guardian Commander was low and forceful, "These two combat strategies, fundamentally, don't differ too much. One is cautious, the other aggressive.

"But the real key lies not in which strategy we choose, but in how strongly you estimate the possibility of the enemy hiding a third force?"

The members of the Staff Office exchanged glances, and then the Chief of the Staff Office replied:

"In Cosmic Sociology, there's a principle of the fish in the pond, meaning that if one fish appears in a pond, there must be more fish hidden within it.

"If you attempt to catch them, unless you can drain the entire pond, you will never be able to catch them all.

"The fish in the pond principle is also an interpretation of the Dark Forest, but it has another layer of meaning: miracles, once they occur, won't happen just once—they'll set off a chain reaction, triggering more miracles.

"Now, we have already witnessed two civilizations that seem to have broken the barriers of the Dark Forest, creating an unprecedented connection between them. Therefore, according to the fish in the pond principle, we have reason to believe that there might be a third, a fourth, or even more civilizations like them.

"Therefore, we are inclined to believe that the enemy very likely possesses a third force, which may currently be lurking in some corner of the universe, biding its time, ready to launch a fatal surprise attack on us.

"But what can be certain is that their third force will not be very different in technical level from the first two, and it is not near the battlefield at this moment.

"Our surveillance network has even incorporated every space crevice into monitoring, if they are nearby, we must be able to detect them."

The voice of the Guardian Commander was always composed and resolute, "I approve of your analysis and battle plans. However, have you considered one issue?

"Both scenarios could potentially face a problem if the enemy's third force is insufficient to change the situation on the battlefield, they are very likely to continue to hide or even quietly withdraw, then how shall we respond?

"The only thing we can do is to have the Mother Civilization intensify the encirclement, but you are also aware of the significant threat they pose to us in hiding.

"If we let them escape, they are very likely to establish a super massive Civilization Alliance in the future, even posing a great threat to our Mother Civilization.

"Such a threat index, even if we suffer total losses in this, we must destroy them completely.

"We cannot allow their potential third force to leave."

The words of the Guardian Commander revealed a decisiveness, which was also the consensus of all Guardians at the moment, no one dared to underestimate the Unknown Civilization now.

The Staff Office also immediately grasped the meaning of the Commander's words and quickly developed a third set of plans:

"The primary objective of the third battle plan is to draw out the possible third force of the Unknown Civilization.

"Our plan is to continue using the second plan, but on top of this, we need to hide three to four warships as reserves, and the attack power of the combat warships will be relatively weakened.

"The purpose is to achieve a delicate balance of power between the two sides.

"Make the Unknown Civilization believe that deploying the third force could very likely change the battle situation. Meanwhile, we will expose some flaws to lure out the third force.

"Once they appear, we will launch a swift and fierce attack on all their warships, sparing no effort.

"Of course, we must also face a harsh reality: if the enemy still possesses a fourth force, we may truly be helpless.

"However, executing such a battle plan, our losses will also be substantial."

Upon hearing this, the Guardian Commander nodded gravely:

"If it means clearing such a threat to our civilization, even if it requires a certain sacrifice, it is worth it."

Soon, this plan gained everyone's support. Faced with an Unknown Civilization that could break the Dark Forest Theory and instilled fear in everyone, there was no room for hesitation or retreat.

In this moment, the Guardian Civilization finally saw the Divine Vessel Civilization as a thorn that must be removed, determined to completely extinguish this emerging flame of civilization.

But perhaps they selectively forgot their previous statements; the military scheme of the Unknown Civilization could predict the battlefield status half a century ahead and even anticipate changes in the Guardians' mindset at every moment.

At this moment, the Guardian's third plan – could the Unknown Civilization not have foreseen it?

For the Divine Vessel Civilization, the current battle situation was one of the most advantageous scenarios out of numerous rehearsals.

In the battle against the Guardian Civilization, although the chance of victory was slim, it was not completely absent.

The Divine Vessel Civilization could only dig into its potential to the limit, and even if it ultimately faced defeat, it would accept the arrangement of fate calmly.

*

PS: The Pond Fish Principle is an idea formulated by the author based on the backdrop of Trisolaris and experiences of fishermen, and is not derived from any specific text.

No matter how the fish in a pond are caught using conventional methods, the pond will still thrive next year, with fish proliferating; the Dark Forest is similar in that it is ultimately a policy of reducing population for civilizations.

If one were to use electricity or chemicals, it's essentially the same as draining the water, similar to the usage of Two-dimensional foil weapons.

The Pond Fish Principle believes that the emergence of any form of intelligent civilization is miraculous, and once such intelligent civilization appears, countless similar forms of intelligent civilizations will emerge.