At three in the morning, Jiang Ye was woken by his phone.
It was his secretary, Su Yueming.
"Hello? What's the emergency?" Jiang Ye answered.
"Commander, our territory on Birong Star has been invaded!" Su Yueming's voice was panicked and angry.
Jiang Ye sat bolt upright in bed.
What the hell was going on? Could the territory of Birong Star be invaded?
"Explain in detail," Jiang Ye said.
"Birong Star sent a message just half a minute ago. Che Zhen was leading a fleet to establish Camp Four, but during their flight, they detected heat and signal sources on the horizon. They went to investigate and found a new military base had been built! It's quite large, with over forty heavy helicopters parked there!" Su Yueming said urgently. "Wei Hongyang is already on his way back by spaceship with detailed intelligence to report to you. He should arrive in about two hours."
"Damn it, I know. I'll go to the starport to wait for Wei Hongyang," Jiang Ye said. "Also, send me any received messages immediately."
Cen Yemeng sat up from beside him, rubbing her eyes. "What happened?"
"It's about Birong Star. You go back to sleep, I'm going out." Jiang Ye got up briskly and started dressing.
Cen Yemeng also threw back the covers and got up, handing him his jacket and helping him with his belt. "Don't go to Birong Star alone. If you leave the star, call me."
"I shouldn't be going for now, don't worry," Jiang Ye patted her head and strode out.
At the entrance to the manor, three official cars were already waiting: one for Jiang Ye to ride in, and two for escort.
Presumably, Secretary Su Yueming had notified them to pick him up. Jiang Ye nodded to the female guard by the car door, stepped into the car, and the guard immediately closed the door from the outside.
"Commander, shall we go to the starport?"
"Yes, let's go," Jiang Ye said.
The car took off silently, its taillights like fireflies darting through the night, quickly leaving the manor.
Jiang Ye checked his phone and found a small red dot on the Birong Star app.
He tapped it.
[Your faction has grown and is currently at the Tribal level, with a progress increase of 18%, reaching 20%.]
[Your faction has come into contact with the Dan Star faction. The other party is at Village level 10% and has not yet generated any hostility or goodwill values.]
Jiang Ye scratched his head.
Dan Star faction?
Dan Star? That name is a bit unreliable! It sounds like some insignificant planet.
But... the other party is actually at a higher level than him!
You have to upgrade from Tribal level to reach Village level.
Jiang Ye tapped the screen, wanting to see if there was any other detailed information, but this trash app stopped there.
It's fine, he still had people above him to help.
Jiang Ye made a call to Li Nannan.
"Hello? What's up?" Li Nannan's voice was hoarse.
"Commander, do you have a cold?" Jiang Ye immediately showed concern.
"Just a bit of heatiness, it's nothing, a cup of tea will fix it," Li Nannan said. "It's not even dawn where you are, is there an urgent matter?"
"My territory on Birong Star has been occupied! The other party has built a military base!" Jiang Ye said indignantly. "The app on my phone says it's the Dan Star faction. Is this kind of invasion allowed? Didn't we agree on peaceful development? Will the military intervene?"
"I'm afraid I have to disappoint you," Li Nannan's tone was quite awkward. "This planet competition project was too rushed, and there were legal loopholes. As far as I know, these loopholes are being exploited by all competing planets. The Dan Star faction is likely exploiting such a loophole."
"What loophole?" Jiang Ye was surprised.
"Environmental protection and environmental exploration," Li Nannan said.
"What is that?" Jiang Ye was bewildered.
Li Nannan quickly sent over a few pictures.
The first picture was a document issued by the "Galactic Empire Interstellar Environmental Development Promotion Association." The document was convoluted, but Jiang Ye read it carefully. It essentially stated:
Planetary civilizations within the Galactic Empire can send environmental exploration and protection teams to other planets. Environmental protection teams in wild regions can have a certain degree of armament for self-defense against dangerous environments and animals, but they are not allowed to open fire on local personnel or property. Any loss of personnel or property will be severely punished according to relevant laws, and they will lose their environmental exploration qualifications on that planet.
This clause applies to planets that have signed an environmental contract, as well as newly developed planets that are subsequently developed and have no current affiliation.
This document was issued a century ago, so Birong Star happened to fall within its scope.
The second picture was familiar to Jiang Ye, it was an attachment to the official documents for the Birong Star event.
Article 266: The armed forces of planetary factions are generally not allowed to enter the territories of other planetary factions. In cases of reasonable special circumstances, such as emergency humanitarian aid, temporary entry may be permitted, but a report must be submitted to the Galactic Empire military.
The third photo was a regulation revised fifty-eight years ago: "In cases of severe environmental degradation, emergency environmental protection actions may be considered as emergency humanitarian aid actions. Specific details can be found in the various policies of the 'Emergency Humanitarian Aid Law'."
Jiang Ye was stunned.
This... this is actually allowed?
"Have you finished reading? Do you understand?" Li Nannan asked.
"So, this loophole means that if it's in the name of environmental protection, they can send troops into the territory of other planetary factions? This loophole opened by the laws from a century ago, fifty-eight years ago, and the current legal documents?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Yes, the military has now received over four thousand reports of emergency environmental protection. I haven't looked at them closely, but I estimate that the Dan Star faction's presence in your area for environmental protection is among them," Li Nannan said. "This loophole is being exploited wildly, everyone is doing it."
"Holy crap, what is this? A bunch of armed helicopters come, build such a large military base, with so many soldiers stationed there for training, and they call themselves an environmental protection team?" Jiang Ye felt like spitting blood. "Who discovered this loophole?"
"Many planets discovered it simultaneously. Large planets have professional legal teams. When major issues arise, these teams get to work, searching for loopholes word by word, punctuation by punctuation," Li Nannan said. "Jiang Ye Star should also establish such a team."
"We have a legal team, but they didn't find this loophole. It seems they're not professional enough. I'll dig up more experts later," Jiang Ye said. "Does the military just let everyone exploit loopholes so unscrupulously? Won't they amend the laws?"
"Probably not in the short term," Li Nannan said. "The laws of the Galactic Empire are not domestic laws or local laws. Every revision affects the fate of billions of people and must be approached with extreme caution. Moreover, after so many years of development, they have become relatively mature. Without major crises, they are usually revised only once every few years."
"So... I can't help you much. You'll have to figure out a way yourself," Li Nannan said.
The call ended.
Jiang Ye sighed.
He tapped the screen, created a new work file, and divided it into two sides.
He typed two large characters at the top of each side:
[Negotiation]
[Confrontation]