Heavenly Ranking

Chapter 404 Strike
Another tall tower, eighty kilometers away.

An office in the Papal Palace.

Pope Yuan, who holds the highest authority in the Cult of Machine God, and the three Cardinal Bishops on duty, Furnace, Holy Judgment, and Law, gathered together at an extremely fast pace after learning of the invasion.

More high-ranking personnel are rushing to the scene.

Although there are more than a dozen large and small resistance groups in the world under the rule of the Mechanicus, in the eyes of these high and mighty cult ruling class, these resistance groups are nothing more than small-scale skirmishes and amusement in their spare time.

If they wished, they could wipe out these dozen or so rebel groups at any time.

Therefore, they did not believe that the rebels were capable of infiltrating the heart of their papacy.

Furthermore, as high-ranking members of the Divine Cult, they had a much better understanding of the Heavenly Ranking War than ordinary people, and therefore knew that with the defeat of the Heavenly Ranking War, powerful alien races would inevitably invade.

Not long ago, the war knights on patrol even found the alien race and nearly captured them alive.

Subsequently, the entire group of knights was wiped out, making them realize that the enemy was not as weak as they had imagined, and the entire Mechanicus was now outwardly relaxed but inwardly tense.

Therefore, when the core area was attacked, the Pope, whose authority was supreme, and the three bishops in charge of key departments, including the Cardinal of the Hearth, who was in charge of the Knights Templar, quickly came together.

Faced with Ji Fuyou's request to meet directly with Yuan, who was the Pope, the Pope barely hesitated and immediately issued the order to open fire.

but……

The opponent's methods were clearly superior to those of the strange beasts and demons.

"Activate the urban combat platform... If necessary, eliminate targets!"

The pope, who called himself "the Source," issued the order.

It can be killed if necessary.

This reveals his attitude.

Before this, he had planned to capture these otherworldly beings alive so that he could get more information about the otherworldly realm from them.

In the future, it may even be possible to invade these other worlds in reverse, thereby acquiring more resources and population.

With his orders, more advanced weapons began to be deployed on the battlefield.

……

"Ignorance is not an obstacle to survival, arrogance is!"

Ji Fuyou looked at a large aircraft on the horizon...

Or, to put it another way, a sky combat platform exceeding 100 meters in length begins to recharge.

"Having lived at the highest point in this world for so long, wielding the power of life and death over any other living being, you have lost all sense of awe. You believe you can overcome everything with your own strength! But... you have no idea just how high the sky outside this world truly is!"

The next moment, the Realm of the Gods expanded out.

All drones and aircraft around the tower, including some war equipment, were brought under control, and all cannons were pointed at the aircraft that had flown in from afar.

"Shhhhhh!"

Rocket launchers, electromagnetic guns, and laser cannons were activated simultaneously, bombarding the aerial combat platform—which, by this civilization's standards, was only a small to medium-sized vessel—in a saturation barrage.

Although the combat platform activated its interception system immediately, unleashing a barrage of lasers and close-range interception fire, it was still overwhelmed by the concentrated fire of hundreds of defensive devices controlled by Ji Fuyou.

"Boom!"

In a violent explosion and flames, the hundreds-of-meters-long aerial combat platform was destroyed and plummeted into the dark city below, trailing thick smoke.

While he was controlling these drones, aircraft, and defensive weapons, a divine thought was also being transmitted into space at an incredible speed along a certain communication signal.

Located in near-Earth orbit at an altitude of 1240 kilometers, a space-based weapon platform was directly stripped of control.

Amidst the incredulous shouts of the staff, the weapon platform received the coordinates and locked onto the expected target in less than 3 seconds. Then, in 0.5 seconds, it unlocked the electromagnetic latch, and immediately afterward, a tungsten alloy rod over 10 meters long was transferred and installed into the launch port.

The gravitational field begins to activate.

The next moment, the alloy rod, weighing over 20 tons, was released from the weapon platform and accelerated continuously by gravity!
This is the world's newest type of space-based weapon!
Because its working principle is simply equivalent to throwing stones from space to the ground, it can exert almost 100% power even when striking foggy areas, which is why it is deployed in the largest number.

Currently, these simple-to-operate and quick-responding weapons have become the best targets for Ji Fuyou's control.

Accelerated by initial kinetic energy, a gravitational field, and a gravitational field, this alloy rod weighing over 20 tons was accelerated to its maximum speed in an extremely short time, with the target...

It was none other than the tower where the Papal Palace was located.

These messages quickly spread throughout the Papal Palace.

Suddenly, a flash of anger appeared in the eyes of the Pope who stood at the pinnacle of the world.

"what happened!?"

"According to the operations command, a force has infiltrated the major control centers in a way we cannot understand..."

Bishop Lielu, who was in charge of homeland defense, responded.

"The Supreme Tower is the symbol of our religion; it cannot be damaged in the slightest!"

The Pope stared at the weaponry he was observing on the screen: "Shoot it down!"

Anger outweighed fear in his heart.

The high-altitude interception firepower deployed in this area belonging to the Vatican was extremely powerful. Huge laser beams were launched from weapon platforms in mid-air and ground-based platforms, directly intercepting the metal rod shooting towards the sky.

The metal rod was quickly incinerated into ashes in the atmosphere.

But... this is just the beginning!
At this moment, a large number of space-based weapon platforms were deployed and set their sights on the tower where the Papal Palace was located.

At the same time, all communication centers located in the Vatican were interfered with, with a large number of signals being blocked out of thin air, making it difficult to transmit reasonable and effective orders to other areas.

As a result, the second wave of fourteen metal rods followed closely behind.

What particularly enraged the civilization's leadership was that a weapon platform called "Wrath of the Sun" unleashed its reflective mirrors. Thousands of mirrors precisely collected and focused the power of the stars, concentrating it into a single point. Ultimately, the originally "warm" sunlight transformed into a sword of light containing extremely high temperatures, carrying a blazing and destructive force, shining directly towards the tower where the Papal Palace was located.

This attack...

It's hard to guard against!

The next moment, terrifying heat instantly enveloped the Papal Palace. In the area covered by the high temperature and intense light, flowers, grass, and vegetation withered and ignited at a visible speed, turning into raging flames that began to burn everything.

The tower, which was originally a scenic spot with beautiful mountains and clear waters and could be considered a 6A-level scenic spot even in Chixing, was directly burned into a living hell.

"Damn it!"

In the papal chamber, the pope, who had just been calm, rational, proud, and resolute, let out an angry roar.

The papal chamber where they were located had amazing defensive capabilities, and even a huge energy field that blocked out the intense heat.

but……

The flames burning in the Papal Chamber of the High Tower were almost tantamount to rubbing the face of their Mechanicus into the ground.

In the 800 years that the Mechanicus has ruled this land, nothing like this has ever happened before.

"What are you waiting for, Space Legion? How much longer are you going to let these flames trample on the face of the Supreme Tower?! Destroy that platform and intercept all weapons attacking the Supreme Tower!"

Yuan issued the order with a murderous aura.

Even if the order is to destroy one's own weapons.

At the same time, he turned to the intruder on the big screen: "Mobilize all combat platforms and kill him!"

The stove nodded and quickly went to relay the order.

But Lie Lu's expression was full of caution: "Your Holiness, this invader seems to be different from the previous group of invaders, as well as the resistance army and the monsters. He is more powerful than them. For safety's sake, we should retreat to the safe house!"

Evacuate to the safe house!?

As the Pope of the Cult of Machines, he enjoys supreme power...

At this very moment, they're telling us to evacuate to a safe house?!

This is a humiliation that none of the last ten popes have ever experienced!

His retreat set a precedent for the Mechanicus!
At this moment, a voice suddenly rang out on the screen: "We can't stop it anymore. Many of our systems have been compromised, including some interception weapons. This wave of Thunder Swords can no longer guarantee a 100% interception rate. One, or even two, Thunder Swords will break through the encirclement and descend upon the Supreme Tower..."

Upon hearing this, not only the Pope but also several cardinals turned pale with shock.

The Papal Palace had already been burned by flames, but because the "Wrath of the Sun" had not been charged for long enough and its power was insufficient, the entire Papal Palace could not be completely ignited.

But what if those "thunder" swords, capable of traveling dozens of times faster than sound, were to strike the Papal Palace and the High Tower...

The entire tower is at risk of being blasted apart or even collapsing!

"All communication and electronic equipment are insecure! Cut off all signals! Dispatch the Templar Knights and War Knights!"

Without hesitation, Lu Huo turned to the Pope and shouted, "Retreat immediately!"

This time, the pope stopped venting his anger and trying to save face.

Following the other bishops, they evacuated to the safe house as quickly as possible.

Judging from their speed...

Each person possesses explosive power comparable to a sixth-tier Martial Saint.

Almost as these people were fleeing in terror, countless combat platforms were activated in space and at the atmospheric level, with all sorts of lasers shooting into the sky to defend against extraterrestrial enemies.

but……

With too much interference from enemy fire, the defense platform simply cannot systematically ensure that it can block all attacks from the space dimension.

Or perhaps, the Mechanicus simply never imagined that they, who dominated space, would one day be attacked by weapons of this level.

No matter how these combat platforms defended themselves, the burning flames in the sky continued to draw ever closer...

At a certain moment, under the horrified and horrified gazes of all the cult members and the underground populace...

A streak of light, like a meteorite, suddenly fell from the sky and crashed into the tower, which looked like a giant thumbtack!
The terrifying speed translated into pure physical impact force, causing the tower to groan in agony. Countless stone chips, rock layers, buildings, including man-made mountains, trees, and rivers, were all torn up and destroyed.

and……

Less than half a second after the meteor-like streak of light crashed into the tower, a second streak of light followed closely behind!

Then, the third, the fourth, the fifth...

"Boom boom boom!"

Under the relentless bombardment, even with its unparalleled structural stability, the tower could not withstand the onslaught. Amidst even more violent tremors, the tower, with a diameter of over ten kilometers…

It started to tilt and collapse!
Hundreds of millions of tons of soil, rocks, mountains, rivers, and the magnificent buildings and high-ranking clergy on them fell to the ground, screaming and wailing.

(End of this chapter)