Ijima.

This island, Fang Yu had been paying attention to for a long time.

The reason he stationed the Sharp Blade Army on Yunjiji Island was to stand off against the maritime warlords on Ijima.

Ijima is actually not the most crucial island.

It's not much different from other large Sea Ore Islands, both in terms of stationed military strength and the difficulty of attack, very similar to other large Sea Ore Islands.

Based on Li Chongjing's recent stand-off and battles with the warlords on Ijima,

the number of stationed warships on Ijima should be between 400 and 500.

While the number of military stationed on Yunjiji Island is about 350 ships. (300 belong to the military, 50 are Sharp Blade Army sea vessels.)

The number stationed by the Blue Star Captain is about 100 ships.

The total stationed strength is about 450 warships.

Coupled with various naval battle walls, heavy ground artillery, and other war equipment, the overall strength on Yunjiji Island is actually almost equivalent to that of Ijima's stationed forces.

This past week's various skirmishes continued to erupt.

Both sides have had wins and losses, evenly matched.

However, there is a very important reason Fang Yu chose Ijima as the main breakthrough point:

Although Ijima's overall strength is not much different from other large Sea Ore Islands, Ijima has a hidden strategic attribute that's easily overlooked:

In the Southern Island Sea Region, although there are numerous Sea Ore Islands, only two islands can produce a special metal mineral called "live copper."

This "live copper" mineral, although not the main metal used to forge artillery and munitions,

is an indispensable metal catalyst.

When smelting and compounding related munition materials, adding some live copper can greatly enhance the material's "energy conduction" capability.

Energy conduction, as the name implies, is the ability to channel the energy level of a Transcendent.

Like Luo Kuan and others previously using connectors made of special materials mixed with live copper to link their energy level to the ship's cannon.

Pure live copper isn't useful alone, but when fused with other metal materials in specific proportions, it has excellent energy conduction properties.

The best fusion can transmit 90% of the energy level's tenfold potential.

Without live copper, the conduction capability of a material would be greatly reduced, possibly only transmitting about 30% to 40%.

The difference in effect is drastic.

Therefore, although live copper is not the primary metal material, it plays a crucial role in forging munition equipment.

Among all the Sea Ore Islands, only Ijima and Fur Island, controlled by the Duorong Federation, produce live copper.

This fact was something Fang Yu inadvertently picked up from a conversation with Yuan Qing...or perhaps it was a science lesson.

Yuan Qing, the captain who was tricked and killed by Wang Qi and others, had a passion for exploring the world and was intensely curious about all new things in the Ocean World.

That's why he was somewhat knowledgeable about munition materials.

It was because of this that Fang Yu keenly perceived the battle opportunity from this inconspicuous information.

The strategic nature of live copper was the key for Fang Yu to attack Ijima.

Thinking of this, Fang Yu couldn't help but open the door of the captain's cabin, looking for the young man sent by the Lighthouse Association to connect intelligence networks: Qin Yu.

"Captain Fang Yu, what are your orders?"

Qin Yu glanced at Fang Yu, then in a low voice, he spoke.

Fang Yu nodded, his sight sweeping over the maritime map showing Ijima's position, then he softly said to Qin Yu:

"Can the Lighthouse Association create an illusion?"

"An illusion?"

Qin Yu was startled.

Fang Yu nodded: "An illusion of soaring prices for live copper in the market."

"Rest assured, I'll notify the military to stop the extraction of live copper, and I'll have the Ji Clan Trading Association acquire all existing live copper materials available in the market to create a temporary shortage of live copper for you."

"With rumors of a live copper shortage circulating in the market, the price of live copper should rise, right?"

Fang Yu said with a smile.

Upon hearing Fang Yu's words, Qin Yu was taken aback for a moment, then nodded: "As long as the market is swept clean of live copper, making its price temporarily soar isn't difficult."

"But... what's the benefit of rising live copper prices for the battle situation?"

Qin Yu glanced at Fang Yu for confirmation.

"It's simple, I need the Lighthouse Association to do two things!"

"First, provide pirates with the navigation route information for live copper transport from Ijima. As soon as any live copper is mined on Ijima by the warlords, relay the information to the pirate groups immediately."

"Second, purchase live copper from pirates at a high price, as much as they can supply."

Upon hearing Fang Yu's words, after a brief contemplation, Qin Yu's eyes suddenly brightened:

"You intend to use the power of the pirates to intercept the live copper shipments from Ijima, causing the maritime warlords' live copper transport line to collapse."

"With the lack of live copper, the arms factories will be forced to halt production, unable to continue making munition supplies for the front lines."

"It's like choking the throat of the maritime warlords..."

"But..."

Confusion appeared on Qin Yu's face: "What comes next? The pirates' power is limited. Once the other side deploys troops to directly escort cargo ships transporting live copper, the pirates won't be able to continue their raids, correct?"

"Does Captain Fang Yu have other plans afterward?"

Upon hearing Qin Yu's question, Fang Yu smiled slightly and shook his head: "That's not something you need to worry about. You just need to ensure that the pirates become interested in the live copper ore and start their interception actions."

"Leave the rest to me."

Seeing Fang Yu's smile, Qin Yu nodded, asked no more questions, turned, and left to execute the tasks Fang Yu assigned...

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