Qin Yi had little energy to attend to the squads in the insect nests, as the front line was also facing enormous pressure.

The overwhelming sea of insects wasn’t just concentrated at the front. These swarms could also suddenly appear from underground without warning, causing devastating losses to many unprepared human bases.

The disparity in forces between the two sides was so great that even with Qin Yi’s full concentration on commanding the front line battle, he still couldn’t withstand the insect offensive.

Suddenly, Qin Yi’s pupils contracted sharply.

A unit on the front line instantly collapsed under another wave of the insect sea. The remaining soldiers fell into chaos, fighting individually. The loss of one strategic position directly led to the collapse of the entire regional battlefield. The insect sea, like flies smelling rotting flesh, tore open a gap in the human defense line, and the situation on the entire battlefield instantly fell apart!

With defeat inevitable, Qin Yi continued to control various units to counterattack, but it was completely ineffective. Soon, the front was completely submerged by the insect sea.

The remaining human soldiers had no choice but to abandon the military bases that had taken enormous time and effort to build on the planet, retreating to space around the command ship.

Among the messages falling like snowflakes, Qin Yi didn’t notice that Squad AS-371-45, like other elite squads, had died silently in the insect nests.

Darkness once again enveloped the entire command space, and Qin Yi tasted defeat once more.

Qin Yi remained silent for a moment, then said, “Start over.”

In his memory, there had been at least a dozen battles of various sizes where he hadn’t said “start over.”

Because in the previous dozen or so battles, he had performed very well.

He once thought he had mastered the essentials of command: making the right decisions for each local battlefield while fully integrating the detailed data provided by AEEIS would allow him to control the situation on the battlefield.

But now Qin Yi realized that things were not so simple.

When human and insect forces were evenly matched or humans had the advantage, this command style was indeed the most reliable way to win battles.

But once insect forces exceeded human forces, this command style would lead to destruction through methodical steps.

There were many escort ships around the command ship, but to protect the command ship’s safety, the Joint Fleet had wasted many troops, putting human forces on the planet’s surface at a practical disadvantage relative to the insects.

Starting the same battle again, Qin Yi understood the situation at the beginning of this battle more clearly.

The insects seen at the start of the war represented only a small portion of the insects’ true strength. More swarms were hidden in underground nests and space on the far side of the planet, waiting for the right moment.

The “decapitation operation” was just a beautiful wish. Once drawn into a war of attrition, both the front line and the squads executing the “decapitation operation” had only one way out in the face of the dominant insect sea: death.

Qin Yi took a deep breath, separated the command ship, and placed it alone in the pitch-black space.

Then, he pulled out several large escort ships, equipped with numerous area-of-effect weapons, and together with the command ship, used them as bait.

The remaining main force of the Joint Fleet partly launched a frontal attack against the insects, while another part circled to the far side of the planet to intercept the insect fleets prowling in space, waiting for an opportunity.

This way, humans outnumbered insects on the battlefield.

If the insects didn’t execute a decapitation strike against the command ship, humans with their numerical advantage would have a good chance. If the insects executed a decapitation strike against the command ship, the commander could sacrifice many insect troops at the cost of himself, further ensuring victory on the front line.

The scenes around Qin Yi constantly switched to various corners of the battlefield.

On the front line, human forces numerically suppressed the insects, not only holding the defense line but also continuously advancing, approaching above the insect mother nest to coordinate with the decapitation mission.

In space, human fleets encountered insect fleets. Countless starships exploded and disintegrated. The insects’ numerous Leviathan beasts were attacked by dense artillery fire, and the poison gas inside burned violently. The rising and falling lights in the sky were like brilliant fireworks.

The decapitation squads deep in the insect nests continued to lose contact one by one, but because the front line effectively dispersed the swarm’s forces, the survival rate of these squads was significantly higher than before.

Everything seemed to be proceeding smoothly according to plan.

However, at that moment, a piercing alarm suddenly echoed throughout the space. The surrounding screens displayed red warning text. Large numbers of insect forces had forcibly broken through the defense line around the command ship and were lunging toward it!

AEEIS’s cold voice sounded: “Attention! Once the command ship is destroyed, all troops will be taken over by AEEIS. Please make the appropriate deployment in advance.”

Qin Yi quickly rotated his view, issuing orders to each unit.

He ordered the front-line troops to accelerate their offensive, rushing above the insect nest explored by the decapitation squads, preparing to coordinate with their action.

He ordered the fleet on the far side of the planet to hold back the remaining insect fleet at all costs.

He ordered the escort ships, after consuming most of their weapons, to crash into the swarm and self-destruct to buy time. Finally, the remaining escort ships gathered around the command ship to perish together with the swarm.

Among the numerous messages falling like snowflakes, Qin Yi saw countless requests for reinforcements from decapitation squads, including Squad AS-371-45’s request.

But Qin Yi had no troops left to provide reinforcements.

Below these reinforcement requests were several reply templates were provided by AEEIS. Of course, Qin Yi could also verbally issue commands to AEEIS.

However, he opened his mouth but didn’t make any sound.

Instead, he gently clicked on the control console, selecting one of the template replies provided by AEEIS.

[Continue the mission, reinforcements are coming.]

After selecting this reply, he switched his view back to the command ship. Against the black background, the sky full of insects seemed to be within reach.

One by one, escort ships crashed into the densest part of the insect sea. Brilliant fireworks lit up and extinguished in the pitch-black night sky. Massive warships disappeared in an instant, as if they had never existed.

After delaying as long as possible, the dense swarm had surrounded the command ship. Leviathan beasts sprayed countless insects at the human fleet. From God’s perspective, the human fleet looked like scraps of meat surrounded by ants.

The few remaining escort ships moved slightly closer to the command ship, then simultaneously pressed the final detonation button.

A flash of intense light, and Qin Yi’s space turned completely white. A full dozen seconds later, the screen restored.

AEEIS took over control from Qin Yi, commanding the rest of the battle.

Qin Yi, like a dead man, watched the final scenes of the battle in spirit form.

This battle achieved victory, even slightly better than the actual battle that had occurred.

But there wasn’t the slightest expression of happiness on Qin Yi’s face. After a moment of silence, he said, “Continue.”

AEEIS’s image appeared again after a while: “Commander, next will be the ‘Random Battle’ practice mode.”

“The battles you will encounter next include battles that have occurred before but with changed initial configurations; fictional battles randomly generated by the intelligent system based on algorithms; and even some battles with extremely unbalanced force comparisons, harsh conditions, and absolutely no possibility of victory.”

“Random battles will have no mission objectives. You will decide the battle strategy, and there will be no longer be time limits for each battle. You will judge the battlefield situation, fight or retreat, annihilate or cut losses, depending on your judgment.”

“Commander, good luck.”

Qin Yi didn’t say much but continued to command the following battles with an expressionless face.

Without clear battle objectives or time limits, Qin Yi had to decide what to do himself—whether to attack head-on or leave a small portion of troops behind to create retreat opportunities for the main force—it was all up to him.

The battlefield could be anywhere on the planet, and the timeline seemed to become very chaotic. Some squads that had been completely sacrificed in previous battles reappeared in new battles, while some squads that Qin Yi remembered as full-strength appeared incomplete at the start of some battles.

Qin Yi didn’t ask much because he vaguely understood the purpose: to cultivate his ability to quickly formulate the most correct combat strategy in any situation, under any conditions, based on the power comparison between humans and insects and objective circumstances on the battlefield.

Qin Yi calmly controlled unit after unit, performing various tasks. The data compiled by AEEIS had become an important basis for his decision-making. Complex human emotions such as fear, passion, and ignorance all became part of the decision-making reference under big data analysis. Lies and sacrifices became numbers that improved the success rate.

The scenes around Qin Yi constantly changed as one random battle after another ended.

During the three hours of sleep each day, precious time passed second by second.

Another medium-scale regional battle began.

As usual, Qin Yi calmly analyzed the battlefield situation, considered possible unexpected situations, and fully incorporated each team’s uncertainties into his decisions.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

Several Skylark combat squads, as requested by Qin Yi, went to explore unknown insect nests, collect intelligence, and then use this as a basis to formulate an action plan for the main force.

The front line still had to guard against possible surprise attacks from the insects, so Qin Yi didn’t put too much attention on these few Skylark combat squads.

But soon, message after message was persistently sent from one squad.

Qin Yi could choose to ignore these messages, but he still took time amid his busy schedule to take a look.

In the insect nest, a Skylark squad executing the mission had been reduced to only three people. The captain had fallen in battle. Of the two remaining members, one had his entire right leg blown off, and the other was protecting him, repelling approaching insects.

Although the two were temporarily safe, soon more powerful insect warriors would discover them. Staying there meant certain death.

Qin Yi took a glance and saw that the intelligence collection mission was complete. The injured squad member had a very low chance of survival, and there was no need to sacrifice another squad member.

So Qin Yi casually clicked a retreat order and turned his attention back to other parts of the battlefield.

However, a few minutes later, when Qin Yi looked back at the squad’s position, he only saw the image of a mini-reactor explosion.

Qin Yi was stunned. He opened the profiles of these two squad members and found that these two members from the European Fleet were a couple.

AEEIS’s voice sounded: “The intelligent system’s analysis data is accurate to over 87%, but sometimes there may be some unpredictable behaviors or phenomena. This is to better simulate unexpected situations on a real battlefield.”

Qin Yi didn’t speak but continued to command the rest of the battle until the entire regional battle ended.

After the battle, Qin Yi leaned back in his seat, eyes half-closed, silent for several minutes.

“Was that battle real?”

“Or had it started even earlier?”

“Did you mix real battles into the ‘Random Battle’ mode?”

AEEIS didn’t answer immediately but responded after a while: “It started from the sixth battle after adding ‘realistic elements’.”

“Commander, so far, you have conducted 17 battles of various sizes, and you’ve done very well.”

Qin Yi was stunned: “Why start from the sixth battle?”

AEEIS: “The Joint Fleet’s Highest Executive Committee must be responsible for all frontline soldiers and cannot place their lives in the hands of a novice commander.”

“From the sixth battle onward, AEEIS and the Highest Executive Committee jointly recognized that you could command small-scale battles.”

Qin Yi was silent for a long time: “So in these 17 battles, every sacrificed soldier was a living person, including that couple just now.”

AEEIS: “Yes.”