According to the Deer King's grandfather's explanation.
After he met with the Dragon Emperor and was informed of the demon race and the threat they posed,
The Dragon Emperor did not show much surprise.
He also told Grandpa Deer King that he had known about the existence of the Demon Clan and the threat they posed for a long time.
Long before the Machine Race withdrew, the Dragon Emperor had already dispatched small reconnaissance fleets to traverse the Machine Race-controlled territory, attempting to find other interstellar civilizations to cooperate with and acquire more advanced technologies.
After sending out more than a dozen of these reconnaissance fleets, one of them finally returned.
But he brought back terrifying news.
On the other side of the region controlled by the Machine Race lies the territory rumored to be controlled by the Demon Race, and the Demon Race of today is different from the Demon Race that came into contact with the Galactic Alliance in history.
They are developing and using an evil technology.
This refers to the technology that Grandpa Deer knew about, which uses living organisms as fuel for starships.
At that time, the Dragon Emperor realized that the demon race, which possessed this technology, was definitely very aggressive.
Fortunately, the presence of the Machine Race as a barrier between the two groups at that time actually served as a protective line for Warhammer.
But later... who could have imagined that the Machine Race would withdraw, and the area they withdrew from would just open up a narrow and hidden route between the Daemon Race and the Warhammer Starfleet.
As soon as the Mechanical Race withdrew, the Dragon Emperor, fearing the threat from the Demon Race, sent people to secretly investigate and discovered that route.
They also realized that the threat of the Daemon race could descend upon the Warhammer Starfleet Union at any moment.
"Then why didn't the Dragon Emperor announce this news, but instead kept it a secret?" Zhao Chen asked, puzzled as he listened to the story.
"Does the Dragon Emperor think that spreading this news will have negative consequences?" Lilith voiced her guess in the video window.
Charlotte nodded: "That's right, that's pretty much the idea."
The Dragon Emperor secretly established a staff against the demon race and conducted numerous simulated battles.
However, the results showed that even if the Warhammer Starfleet Union went all out, it would still be no match for the Daedric race.
Furthermore, if the threat of the demon race is announced.
There is a high probability that this will cause unrest and panic in some areas, which could then affect more regions.
After listening, Zhao Chen understood what the Dragon Emperor was thinking back then.
It's like you're the president of a planet, and only you know that the planet is about to face its end, and there's little you can do to survive it.
At this point, would you choose to announce the news directly and bear the resulting panic, riots, and other public unrest?
Or will they choose to keep it a secret, letting the people face the end of the world without realizing it, while they gather a small group of people to figure out a solution?
This is a multiple-choice question.
The Dragon Emperor chose the latter.
"The Dragon Emperor can't just sit here and wait to die, can he? He has to come up with some plans," Zhao Chen countered.
"Yes, the Dragon Emperor has a plan."
"And his plan was already underway, but unfortunately we just happened to stop it," Lilith said.
Zhao Chen suddenly realized.
"Does the Dragon Emperor want to unify Warhammer, break the old federal system of Warhammer, and establish a new Warhammer controlled by the Dragonkin tribe? In order to unify all the resources of Warhammer and deal with the future threat of the Daemon race."
Charlotte nodded and continued, "That's how it is. After the last simulation by the Dragon Emperor's staff, the only chance of winning is before the threat of the demon race arrives."
Unleash the full potential of the Warhammer Starfleet Union!
However, under the original alliance system of the Warhammer Starfleet, it is difficult to reach a consensus, just like the Warhammer Allied Forces they have now formed.
Therefore, the Dragon Emperor decided to establish a Warhammer Empire under his complete control, mobilize all resources within the Warhammer Empire, usher in an era of rapid development, and mobilize military equipment.
There are even related plans in the top-secret archives of the Dragonkin tribe.
It is said that in that plan, the Dragon Emperor even intended to allocate 80% of the future Warhammer's military expenditure to annual revenue, with the option of full-scale war mobilization if necessary!
80% of military spending!
What does this mean?
Aside from individuals like Zhao Chen, whose territories are small, with few subjects, and who are just starting out by relying on their legion and fleet.
No other empire could possibly invest such a large portion of its annual revenue into military spending.
According to Zhao Chen, the Starry Empire's military expenditure previously accounted for 30% of its budget, while the Holy Radiant Empire's was only 20%. However, this did not mean that the Holy Radiant Empire had less military expenditure, but rather that the Holy Radiant Empire had a higher annual revenue base.
At that time, Warhammer's military expenditure accounted for 40% of its budget.
Develop a future plan now and boost it directly to 80%.
That means the Dragon Emperor intends to build Warhammer into a military empire, an interstellar empire always ready for war.
This move is like walking a tightrope; if not handled carefully, this purely military empire will collapse.
However, it must be said that this is the most effective means for the Dragon Emperor in the face of the threat from the Demon Race. The only other option might be to relocate the entire race.
But who would be willing to give up everything here unless they're at their wit's end?
"Then how did the Dragon Emperor die?" Zhao Chen asked. After all that rambling, he still hadn't figured out exactly how the Dragon Emperor died.
"Just half a day ago, a fleet of demons appeared outside the northern territory of the dragon people tribe."
Do you remember when you mentioned the five missing dragonflight fleets?
To be on the safe side, the Dragon Emperor had long ago deployed the five dragon-man fleets outside his northern territory.
After discovering the appearance of the demon fleet, the Dragon Emperor attempted to ambush it, hoping to defeat the vanguard and block the shipping lane.
"That way, we can gain an advantageous position in future battles against the demon race," Charlotte explained.
Zhao Chen nodded, agreeing that this was correct.
So that's where the five missing dragonflight fleets were waiting.
"But the final result was unexpected."
The first wave of demon fleets consisted of only about 30,000 ships, roughly the size of a dragonflight fleet.
Moreover, this was done under the circumstances of the Dragon Emperor personally leading the fleet in an ambush and annihilation operation.
Ultimately, they were counterattacked by the demon fleet and almost completely wiped out, with only a few interstellar warships escaping back.
"The flagship where the Dragon Emperor was located was also destroyed by the Demon Race interstellar warships," Charlotte said in a deep voice.
Zhao Chen was surprised: "Five dragon-man fleets ambushed 30,000 demon-man fleets, that's 150,000 interstellar warships ambushing 30,000 interstellar warships."
The entire army was wiped out? How did they even fight that battle?
"According to the intelligence that has been sent back, the Demon Race's interstellar fleet consists entirely of T3 and T4 level interstellar warships, especially the T4 level interstellar warships, which are numerous."
Of the 30,000 interstellar warships, a full 3,000 were T4 interstellar warships, a fleet ratio of an astonishing ten to one.
