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Chapter 178: Encirclement of Three Major Fortresses! A Fierce Interstellar War! Airdrops Arrive!

The boundless starry sky.

The Ninth Fortress of Celsa, as massive as an asteroid, stands silently.

Core of the fortress.

Lawrence sat back on the throne.

A huge light screen projection was suspended in front of him.

Two powerful figures appeared within the light screen.

Both of them had four bright stars set on the badges on their shoulders.

"Ha ha!"

"Lawrence!"

"I heard you couldn't even conquer a remote star system, and you got injured here?"

On the screen, a middle-aged man with a stubble beard laughed heartily and unrestrainedly.

Valen Edwin, leader of the eighth fortress of Celsa, is one of the ten four-star generals of Celsa, just like Lawrence.

"Lawrence!"

"Our continuous long-distance space jumps have come from afar and consumed a lot of resources."

"Besides the price you initially offered, you also need to make up for this part of the resources."

Compared to General Warren's boldness, the other middle-aged man had a thin, stern face and sharp, deep eyes.

Harry Rost, leader of the Seventh Fortress of Celsa.

The Celsa civilization, after thousands of years of accumulation, possesses ten super-large interstellar fortresses, namely the first to the tenth fortress.

The overall strength of each fortress can be directly seen from its ranking.

The first fortress is the strongest, and the tenth fortress is the weakest.

Of the three fortress leaders at this moment, the one with the strongest apparent power is none other than General Harry, the lord of the Seventh Fortress.

He is also an eighteenth-level limit evolver, but compared to Lawrence and Valen, he is one step closer to the nineteenth level. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he is half a step towards the nineteenth level.

However, the leaders of the third and above fortresses are all genuine level 19 evolved beings.

"Ah--"

Lawrence, sitting on the throne, let out a cold laugh.

His face still looked somewhat pale and weak.

The "star-destroying shot" two weeks ago almost caused him to stumble due to his carelessness.

That's why he paid the price of two unclaimed planets to summon the Seventh and Eighth Fortresses as reinforcements.

Lawrence was unsure—

Does the opponent have any other tricks up their sleeve, like the Star Destroyer?

These two fortresses were less like reinforcements and more like shields he had found.

Not to mention……

The real Lawrence died the moment he was born.

Today, Lawrence's body carries a soul from a higher-dimensional civilization.

In his eyes, neither the Lord of the Seventh Fortress nor the leader of the Eighth Fortress were anything more than low-dimensional ants, not worthy of his attention at all.

At this point, feigning compliance is merely a precautionary measure.

"Behind Carol..."

"There's a big secret!"

Lawrence was absolutely certain.

He initially came to this star system simply because he was interested in the suspected existence of plunder-type talents.

He wanted to try to strip it away and give it to Miss Athena, the heiress of the Federation, as a congratulatory gift at her coming-of-age ceremony soon afterward—this might bring him into Miss Athena's sights.

but……

Subsequent developments made Lawrence realize that the secrets hidden in this star system were far more complex than they initially thought.

"A group of low-level civilization players who aren't even at the tenth rank, yet they control more than a dozen interstellar fortresses?"

"A commander who is only at the fourteenth rank at most commands a sixteenth-rank starfighter mech?"

"And those damned Star Destroyer warships..."

"If this weren't just a low-dimensional server, I would have thought I was seeing a starship from the Ophelia Federation..."

In Lawrence's mind, thoughts raced.

But on the surface, he remained calm and composed.

even.

He immediately agreed to the 'resource compensation' requested by General Harry, the lord of the Seventh Fortress.

Such a swift response surprised the two fortress lords in the light screen.

"This……"

"This is not like Lawrence's usual style."

"That guy is incredibly shrewd; he won't suffer the slightest loss."

The two had this idea, but didn't think much of it.

They subconsciously believed—

Lawrence was truly enraged by the adversaries in this star system, and he was determined to annihilate them completely, even at an extra cost.

hum-

buzz-

Just now.

Waves of energy rippled outwards from the seventh and eighth fortresses.

This is the quantum detection device of the super-large fortress.

Not long after.

Both generals saw the detection and analysis results presented by their subordinates.

"Ok?"

"Only less than five million people?"

"Rank... not even a tenth rank, no, apart from the Commander-in-Chief, not even a ninth rank?"

"Yet such a weak force possesses a medium-sized fortress, ten small fortresses, and several unidentified warships and mechs?"

Both generals were seasoned veterans with extensive experience, but they were somewhat bewildered when they saw the information from Carol's side.

"There's a secret!"

It was just a fleeting moment.

They immediately came to this conclusion.

Both fortress lords had unusual thoughts swirling in their minds at that moment.

No wonder!
No wonder Lawrence was willing to go to such great lengths to get their help...

This secret, which Lawrence can exploit, but the Seventh and Eighth Fortresses cannot?
boom--

Rumble——!
These two fortresses had already begun their operations without even waiting for Lawrence's battle plans.

One after another, small and medium-sized fortresses flew out.

Various warships and spaceships roared through the starry sky.

Om-!
To prevent Carol and the others from escaping, they even activated the large gravitational wave relay unit at full power simultaneously, blocking the possibility of space jumps within this star system.

"Ah--"

The core of the Ninth Fortress.

Lawrence watched this scene with a cold laugh.

"A greedy and stupid low-dimensional web crawler."

This is exactly what Lawrence wanted to see.

He wanted to send the two major fortresses to the front lines, while he himself would reap the benefits later.

Intuition told Lawrence—

Carol's fleet may very well have a backup plan, such as a Star Destroyer.

……

……

"coming!"

Inside the Y-03 small fortress.

Wearing a commander's uniform, Tang Yunxuan's demeanor was noticeably more stern and mature than it had been two months ago, and his eyes were sharp at this moment.

He gazed at the distant starry sky, at the warships and spaceships flying out one after another like dumplings, along with the accompanying squad of evolved beings, his expression extremely solemn.

"Lord Commander!"

"We are ready!"

Behind Tang Yunxuan.

The group of Blue Star players, whom he had personally promoted and appointed, who had grown from miners to interstellar war generals, shouted in unison.

Their faces all bore the determination to die for their cause.

The past two months, though short, have been brilliant!
"it is good!"

Tang Yunxuan took a deep breath and responded, but did not immediately issue the order to launch an attack.

Above him was Commander-in-Chief Carol, and he and the other nine smaller fortresses had to obey Carol's orders.

Interstellar warfare differs from ordinary warfare; it involves more than just a clash of weapons, technology, and manpower.

Excellent strategic command can often significantly influence the balance of victory.

The fact that Blue Star players suffered such minimal losses over the past two months, amounting to only a few hundred thousand, is partly due to the Star Destroyer and the Sigma mechs, and partly due to Carol's brilliant command.

"Di-"

"Everyone!"

In the main cockpit, Carol's serious voice rang out. "This star system has been completely sealed off; there is no possibility of escape via warp jump!"

"None of us have any choice but to fight to the death!"

"As the commander-in-chief, I deeply regret that I was unable to lead everyone on the final journey to conquer the stars for our lord, but..."

"For the civilization you belong to, for the supreme lord!"

"Gentlemen, I request permission to fight!"

"From now on, follow my instructions!"

"Y-01 Fortress, sail at full power to coordinates [756, 528]. Upon arrival at the coordinates, deploy the warships!"

"Y-02 Fortress, under the cover of the Sigma mechs, is approaching the Seventh Fortress. Objective: Destroy a portion of its energy source!"

"Y-03 Fortress, stand head-on against the main force of the Eighth Fortress. No matter the cost, we must hold out for one day to buy time for the Star Destroyer to attack!"

"..."

Military orders were issued one after another in an orderly manner.

at the same time.

Inside the X-01 medium-sized fortress where Carol was located, bursts of golden light, visible to the naked eye, swept across the starry sky in all directions.

War Talent: Inspire!
The brutal interstellar war has officially begun!
The two sides in the war are the three super-large fortresses of Celsa and the five million Earth players led by Carol!

……

……

Time passes slowly.

In the blink of an eye, another day has passed.

Due to the vastness of the galaxy, interstellar warfare itself is a very long-term affair, not something that can be accomplished overnight.

especially--

Although the three fortresses of Celsa each wanted to suppress Carol and her fleet for their own reasons, they were also unwilling to suffer too many losses themselves.

Therefore.

In the early stages of the war, both sides exercised considerable restraint.

Carol issued a 'guerrilla tactic' order.

Of the three fortresses, the Ninth Fortress was positioned in the rear, while the Seventh and Eighth Fortresses adopted a 'siege tactic'.

During the war, the five Sigma mechs achieved extremely brilliant results, almost single-handedly resisting the offensive of multiple small and medium-sized fortresses that were closing in on X-01.

Even within the Celsa civilization, a Tier 16 combat mech is an extremely valuable strategic resource.

Therefore.

The three fortresses were unwilling to completely annihilate it, but hoped to capture it and bring it under their control.

This also gave the Sigma mech more room to maneuver.

"Fuck!"

"We're surrounded again!"

Inside Y-03 Fortress.

Tang Yunxuan stared at the star map projection in front of him and cursed angrily.

He had experienced this kind of encirclement many times in the past day.

In previous attempts, he had always managed to break through by self-destructing his warship.

But now?
The number of warships available for self-destruction is not many.

now.

The encirclement in the starry sky is constantly shrinking, and teams of Evolvers are also piloting small spaceships, approaching the Y-03 fortress.

The generals of Celsa, being seasoned veterans, discovered that the Blue Star players were of low rank and weak in strength, and thus attempted to besiege the fortress and force a landing.

And this is something that Earth players are destined to find unacceptable.

Those evolved human squads were all at least level 11 or 12, and some even had commanders at level 13 or 14!
But on Blue Star...

Apart from Carol, Tang Yunxuan, who is the highest-ranking among them, is only at the seventh rank.

"commander……"

The number of people behind Tang Yunxuan was much smaller than before.

Yet, their faces still showed no fear or apprehension whatsoever.

"We are ready!"

It's still the same sentence.

But Tang Yunxuan, with red eyes, burst into a tirade of curses:

"Prepare?"

"What are you preparing!"

"Are you going to your death?!"

"Are they all so eager to go and die?!"

The atmosphere in the main cockpit was oppressive and silent.

The method of escaping by self-destructing warships requires sacrifice.

Although warships can be programmed with AI, such self-destruct paths are extremely rigid and easily avoided by the enemy, making them ineffective for breaking through enemy lines.

Despite each warship self-destructing, Tang Yunxuan tried his best to minimize personnel losses, sacrificing only the fewest warship crew members.

Can……

No matter how small the sacrifice, it is still a sacrifice.

As the commander of the fortress, Tang Yunxuan felt a sharp pain in his heart every time he saw a warship turn into a dazzling firework in an explosion!
"Huh, huh-"

Tang Yunxuan was panting heavily.

He looked at the starry sky and the ever-closer encirclement.

With the starry sky blocked, he couldn't think of any other way to escape except by self-destruction...

Inside Y-03 Fortress.

The atmosphere was deathly still and oppressive.

One by one, the Blue Star players prepared themselves, awaiting Tang Yunxuan's orders.

One by one, the warships had entered the fortress's rails, their engines roaring, ready to attack at any moment... or self-destruct.

But at this time.

"Beep——!"

In the cockpit.

Carol's voice suddenly rang out.

Her usually calm and steady voice was now filled with suppressed distress and trembling.

"Everyone!"

Carol practically screamed the words.

This phrase also spread throughout every fortress where Blue Star players were located.

"Your Majesty, the Supreme Lord..."

"Give us new support!"

Such a simple sentence.

At this moment, a glimmer of hope ignited in those once resolute but now dejected eyes.

"Lord, you have given us an extremely terrifying star-level weapon!"

"But weapons need time to recharge!"

"Once the power is fully charged, the current crisis may be completely resolved!"

"Please, everyone..."

"Give it your all, buy some time!"

Carol issued the final instruction.

at the same time.

whoosh-

Whizzing--!
In the starry sky, an extremely dazzling pillar of energy light shone.

Wherever the beam of light passed, everything turned to ashes and vanished into nothingness.

The Y-03 fortress, which was originally surrounded by several large fortresses, suddenly found itself completely empty under the starry sky.

"That is……"

"A new Star Destroyer!?"

Tang Yunxuan and the others looked in the direction from which the pillar of light came, and what came into view were five interstellar warships that appeared from the void, reflecting a cold and desolate light!

They formed a diamond formation, escorted by hundreds of thousands of drones that spewed blue energy pillars from their backs!

thump—

dong dong——!
The starry sky trembled once more.

Following the Star Destroyer Fleet, the Sigma Mech Battle Group also burst forth from the void!

A total of 15 powerful mechs, equivalent to sixteenth-tier evolved beings, rampaged through the fleet of the Celsa civilization!

"Lord, my lord..."

Tang Yunxuan and the other surviving Blue Star players were filled with indescribable excitement as they watched these scenes unfold.

"My lord, I am loyal!"

This shout resounded throughout the starry sky.

more importantly……

Carol's previous words indicated that the Star Destroyer fleet and the Sigma mechs were just appetizers!

The Lord's true trump card, airdropped from the ground, is now charging!

(End of this chapter)