by <unknown>
"I will live and die with my starship. The home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector is right behind us. Where can we evacuate to?
"Burning Prairie, set course for Black Swirl and move at full speed!"
…
On Infinite Fire, the flagship of the Big Bai Fleet, Bai Xingjian's flames of spiritual energy were so scorching that the entire bridge was almost melted. Every pathway in the entire warship was echoing his thunderous roar.
"Forward! Forward! March at full speed toward the side of the Black Swirl that was heavily damaged just now! The daring team, be prepared. Let's go to the Imperium and turn their nest upside down!"
…
Outside of the No. 9 star fortress on the Wall of Heaven's Origin, the orbital defense ring, Ding Lingdang had no time to enter the fortress for rest and simply received treatment and refilled her spiritual energy on a medical starship.
"Good enough!"
After only spending twenty minutes in the medical cabin, she tore off the high-pressive, active oxygenic mask and jumped out of the nutrition liquids.
"But," the specialist of the medical team objected, frightened, "your wounds are not entirely recovered. Besides, the Draconic Phoenix was too seriously damaged to be repaired so quickly!"
"Without a Colossus, I can still fight in the crystal suit!" Staring at the enormous light beam hanging in front of the medical room, Ding Lingdang declared, faced with the burning sea of stars, "My friends are all out there. I must go there, too, to the heart of Black Swirl!"
…
On the bridge of Black Swirl, Heiye Ming put on a smile of utmost disdain with intense black air flowing on his face.
"Are you still struggling before death? Since your wild gamble just now failed to completely destroy Black Swirl, it will be futile whatever you try right now.
"The space gate of the Imperium will open in two hours. Nothing can possibly stop the main troops of the Black Wind Fleet arriving here, destroying the federal fleet, and suppressing the entire federation!
"Fate is on our side. Now, just wash your neck and wait for your new life. Hehe. Hehehe!"
…
In the highest command center of the Defense Counsel in the Heaven's Origin Sector, Wan Guqing's face that seemed to have been unchanged for ten thousand years finally had twisted cracks.
"Speaker, according to the latest analysis report, the odds of our army successfully destroying the enemy's space gate have dropped to… 3.1%. The enemy's reinforcements will surely arrive earlier than ours. The odds that all the main-force warships including Burning Prairie are destroyed have been increased to… 65%.
"The space battle has come to an end in advance. It is time to issue the highest alarm planetwide and prepare for the next phase of the planetary defense, isn't it?"
The leader of the analysis division of the federal army suggested bitterly.
Wan Guqing closed his dirty eyes. It was not until a long time later that he nodded softly, "Prepare for the planetary defense. In half an hour, I will give a national speech. In any case, the Heaven's Origin Sector will fight to the end…"
Before Wan Guqing could finish his sentence, he was suddenly interrupted by a desperate roar.
"Reinforcements! R—R—Reinforcements!"
Chapter 1819: A Carrier Has Come! |
The Speaker of the Federation and the leader of the analysis division were both dazed. Looking at the source of the voice, they saw the flushed face of the director of the office of communication, as if every pore on it was spurting out fire.
It was not until this moment that the two of them finally understood what 'reinforcement' meant. They could not help but feel that their faces were burning, too.
"Reinforcements? From where? Have the space gates been repaired?" Speaker Wan Guqing asked in excitement.
"Not yet, but we have just fixed a space communication base and reached out to Hundred Flowers City although the signals are still intermittent!" the director of the office of communications said in a hurry. "Hundred Flowers City has been sending messages to us the whole time, but the Spiritual Nexus in their place is seriously damaged, too. The messages are all broken after travelling dozens of lightyears. We went through a lot of trouble to decipher part of the information. It seems that some of the reinforcements have jumped over."
While speaking, he raised his wrists to look at the mini crystal processor. "The communication specialists are working on the messages. We will soon know the detailed identity of the reinforcement."
"The reinforcements have jumped over before the space gates are repaired?" Speaker Wan Guqing's overjoyed face became gloomy. "Then, how can they possibly control the coordinates of landing? If the whole fleet is scattered in the entire Heaven's Origin Sector, it will be a tray of loose sand and can't help the situation at all. They don't know what they are doing!"
Even a regular galaxy was often more than ten billion kilometers in diameter. The active area for the civilization of mankind where the resources were densest perhaps only took up one percent at the core.
Even if they had grasped the coordinates of the Heaven's Origin Sector, a 'blind jump' without the navigation of the space gates would likely cast the starships teleported into random points on the vast space ten billion kilometers in diameter. Even if they were to move at full speed, it would take days for them to reach the central area.
That was not counting the time cost to regroup the disorganized starships.
Neither the federation nor the Imperium was capable of setting up powerful 'spiritual towers' at every part in the periphery of the galaxy ten billion kilometers in diameter, which meant that there was probably no Spiritual Nexus at all in the cold, dark regions of space. The other means of communication would be highly susceptible to the interference of space storms, too!
However distinguished the commander of the fleet was, how could he summon the starships that had been scattered in a range of ten billion kilometers like dandelions after his flagship jumped into such a dark swamp?
By comprehensive estimation, it would take at least half a month for such a 'tray of loose sand' to be condensed into a fist that could punch.
But the Black Wind Fleet would not give them half a month.
It was absolutely capable of devouring the main force of the Burning Prairie Fleet in one day and control the space of the Heaven's Origin Sector. Then, it would send out tremendous claw fleets to cruise around. Once they caught lone starships of the federation, they would lunge forward like ravenous wolves, not leaving even bones for the federation.
"Idiot!" Speaker Wan Guqing exclaimed. "Who is the commander of the reinforcement? What an idiot!"
The Star Glory Federation had seven Sectors after all. Even if the Heaven's Origin Sector did fall, it was still not the end of the world. The defense of the other six Sectors had to be taken into account.
The Uranian Ring Sector and the Flying Star Sector both boasted rather advanced magical equipment industries. The Water Crystal Sector and the Forest Ocean Sector had abundant resources, too. The Blood Demon Sector was a natural battlefield for guerilla warfare. With those worlds, the federation could persist for a long time.
The garrisons of those worlds were the last available forces of the federation. How could they go there to be killed for nothing in such a brave and yet thoughtless way?
The Defense Counsel of the Federation did not issue such an absurd command at all!
The director of the office of communication had sweat all over his head, too. He blushed and said, "The messages we received were broken and messy. They are not in one piece or in the correct order even after being repaired. Right now, we are still unaware who their commander is…"
Then, his face suddenly turned extremely weird, and his voice came to an abrupt halt.
Wan Guqing and the director of the analysis division looked at each and asked in a hurry, "What is it? Have the reinforcements been identified?"
"Y—Yes," the officer of the office of communicati
on stammered. "It seems that… regrouping is no longer a problem. To ensure the accuracy of the jump, they teleported not the main troops of the Burning Prairie Fleet, not the two A-Level heavy fleets stationed in the Flying Star Sector or the Uranian Ring Sector, but one starship in total. It is a carrier named 'Anglerfish', a member of the fleets in Hundred Flowers City. The identification code is 224.112.967.
"The Hundred Flowers Space Zone hopes that we can record the code in the friend-or-foe identification database and try to connect Anglerfish to the military Spiritual Nexus.
The entire highest command center was caught in dead silence, like a coffin piled up with ice.
Speaker Wan Guqing had always left the impression that he was an old camel that was silent and sluggish. However, at that moment, he jumped to his feet like a magnificent lion that had burst into fury. His lips shivered for a long time before he demanded, one word after another, "What—what did you say? The reinforcements from the Hundred Flowers Space Zone are just one carrier, Anglerfish?"
The director of the office of communications found it hard to believe his eyes, too. He read the light beam four times and examined every word on it. Then, he bellowed at his subordinates in his own communication channel. But in the end, he nodded helplessly and confirmed, "Yes. There's only one carrier, Anglerfish. Also, the Hundred Flowers Space Zone asked us to persist for a few minutes longer because victory will be ours after Anglerfish arrives!"
"…" Speaker Wan Guqing.
"…" The leader of the analysis division.
"…" All the other big shots in the highest command center.
"You—You've got to be kidding me!" Guo Chunfeng exclaimed. "Has our Spiritual Nexus been hijacked by the enemy again? Is this yet another trick and scheme from the enemy?"
"I—I have no idea." The director of the office of communication felt like he was mired in the most absurd nightmare. He was so anxious that his back was soaked in sweat. Right then, his mini crystal processor buzzed crazily again. He lowered his head to check it, only to put on an even more bitter expression.
"What? Another piece of bad news?" Speaker Wan Guqing narrowed his eyes, apparently not in his best mood.
"Not exactly bad news…" The director of the office of communication swallowed hard and smiled bitterly. "It is a message that I'm not sure I understand. We have fixed a clip of the signals just now. The message… seems to be the conditions proposed by the reinforcements."
"What? Everybody in the communication center was stunned. "The reinforcements—the carrier 'Anglerfish', what conditions do they have?"
"Well…" The director of the office of communication looked at Speaker Wan Guqing and Guo Chunfeng. Having received their permission, he read out the broken message aloud. "Some people among the reinforcements demand that… after… after the battle, the strongest battle-type Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in the whole federation must have a few good fights with them. They hope that those Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators won't turn the request down."
"Huh?" Wan Guqing was stunned.
"Also, some people demand that the classified files of the major cases in the New Federation in the past hundred years, those involving the critical legal problems, must be revealed to them. The darker and the more clandestine, the better. They want to study the 'rules' of the federation well."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Even Guo Chunfeng could not understand.
"There's another demand. Right. Somebody from the reinforcements asked a question. All the trades in the federation have their guilds. For example, the Refiners' Association, the Federation's Disabled Servicemen Association, the Exos' Association, and even the Cultivators' Association. Then, he wonders if 'beggars' have an association, and if not, is it possible for him to establish an association of all the beggars of the federation, which can be named the Beggars' Gang? He wants to be the president of the association."
Despite the abundant life experiences of Wan Guqing, Guo Chunfeng, and other people, they found it impossible to listen any longer. "Enough. Are you sure that this is a secret message from the Hundred Flowers Space Zone? This is ridiculous enough even if it is the enemy's trick!"
The director of the office of communication sweated hard and couldn't stop it at all. Even the light beam shot out by his mini crystal processor was shaking. He said, "I—I feel that something is not right, too. Wait. Another message has been restored…"
He was stunned again.
His eyes were glittering, his throat was hissing, and his nostrils were flaring, spurting out two tiny tornadoes in front of his nose.
"The identity of the commander on 'Anglerfish' has been confirmed."
The director of the office of communication took a deep breath more than ten times. Even his lungs were about to explode, but he still could not hold back the excitement and shock in his voice.
Wan Guqing and Guo Chunfeng looked at each other, both noticing the intense confusion and the one billionth of hope that was enshrouded by the confusion in their eyes. They asked at the same time, "Who is it?"
"Li Yao."
"Li… Li Yao? Which Li Yao?"
"The Li Yao. The one and only Li Yao in the whole federation!"
…
In the space battlefield, the stars were bleeding.
With the space battle progressing so far, most of the soldiers in the federal army had shot their last bullet, broken their last saber, and shed their last drop of blood.
The space shuttles were rolling and spinning like fish whose fins had been cut away. Every glittering rune array on the crystal suits had died out, making it impossible for the Exos to die together with the enemy even if they wanted to. The starships were reduced to skeletons that were riddled with holes before the skeletons were blown up into debris in a moment. In the end, even the debris was completely gone after a series of intense explosions.
Burning Prairie had intended to crash into Black Swirl's wound at the beginning, but it was not so simple as in the games or movies for two starships that were moving at a super high speed to crash. Before it broke into the target's sailing route, it was already attracted by the force field from a few comprehensive motherships of the Imperium. Also, with the mayhem caused by the Colossi inside, the magical equipment units and cabins that were of paramount importance turned into furnaces thousands of degrees in temperature. Like an arrow that had reached the end of its flight, Burning Prairie finally slowly stopped right next to Black Swirl.
In the end, they had failed to break through the Black Wind Fleet's defense. The distance between Burning Prairie and Black Swirl was as tiny as hair, but it was also as far away as thousands of lightyears!
Right behind Black Swirl, the enormous space gate was slowly opened, revealing what both seemed to be a blood red eye of a fiend and a glowing super swirl.
The space was ripped apart, and the ripples were spreading out. Indescribable, overwhelming forces were surging out. The hazy shadows of countless starships of the Imperium were surfacing from the depths of the swirl!
Chapter 1820: Those Who Are Ignorant Are Fearless! |
Bai Kaixin, Bai Xingjian, Jin Xinyue, Ding Lingdang, Wu Mayan, and all the other soldiers of the federal army and Cultivators who were fighting in blood detected that objects of high masses and spiritual energy were arriving unstoppably.
The twisted spiritual waves were so immense that the hideous, devastating appearances of the starships of the Imperium were outlined clearly on the light beam. They were like a bunch of unparalleled fiends that had just crawled out of their nests at the bottom of the abyss!
Burning Prairie suffered yet another serious explosion. Endless fuel, scraps, and broken limbs of the crew members flooded out. The No. 2 engine compartment was completely gone. The No. 3 and No. 4 engine compartments were on fire. Venomous air was spreading, and melted iron was flowing, turning the middle and rear parts of the starship into a living hell, where eight Colossi in total both from the enemy's side and their own side were still fighting fierce
ly.
Quite a few main-force warships nearby were unable to launch a counterattack under the enemy's bombardment. They struggled hard in the fireballs of explosions that looked like lumps. Ahead of them was an iron wall made of tremendous space torpedoes shot out by the starships of the Imperium, which was as impenetrable as an asteroid!
Failed. The federation had completely failed. Nothing could possibly stop the arrival of the enemy's reinforcements!
However, now that they had reached this point, did they really have a second option other than to push forward?
…
On the burning bridge of Burning Prairie, Bai Kaixin, whose face was burnt and bleeding, roared, "Third, fourth, and sixth branch fleets, break away from the battlefield whatever the cost is, retreat to the behind of the Wall of Heaven's Origin, and prepare to defend the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector! First, second, and the fifth branch fleets, march forward with Burning Prairie! For the Burning Prairie Fleet, for the federation's six hundred years of glory!"
…
"March forward. A hundred billion compatriots are watching you from behind. You are the legendary strongest Cultivators that have ever existed, the qi-trainers!" Ding Lingdang, who was rushing forward together with the legion of qi-trainers, roared.
"Building Foundation Stage? Core Formation Stage? Nascent Soul Stage? We are qi-trainers from Iron Plateau! Let your soul explode and break the entire universe if you are a man!"
Wu Mayan and all the qi-trainers burst into laughter. Their spiritual energy echoed and reverberated with their soul, while they marched forward like ten thousand suns.
…
"March forward. Show the filthy worms of the Imperium the last pride of demons!"
On Silver Moon, Jin Xinyue's hair was messy, and she was as crazy as a devil. There was no longer any cunningness inside her eyes, only the madness of an expert demon.
Perhaps a lot of warriors of the demon race were still slightly different from the human warriors in terms of appearance, but their blood was equally hot!