I chose the safe house, and the Human Alliance regretted it.

Third Fleet Command, General Control Room.

On the holographic star map, the scarlet areas representing the star beasts are becoming more and more concentrated and dense.

Zi Chen stared intently at the ever-expanding red expanse.

The tens of thousands of points of light, symbolizing their own side, were extinguished one by one in the red area.

The atmosphere in the control room was extremely oppressive.

Just as the tens of thousands of fleet members were about to be completely extinguished, Zi Chen spoke.

"Coordinates BJ102, strategic-class main ship firing three rounds simultaneously."

Behind the fleet, all the star-destroying warships of the Third Fleet received the order.

"emission"

"emission"

"Fire!"

"....."

Hundreds of strategic-class destroyers simultaneously unleashed their fury.

Like a celestial explosion, hundreds of energy rays, powerful enough to pierce through a planet, blasted towards the densest part of the beast tide.

Blinding energy filled the entire space.

The high-temperature particle stream exploded within the beast tide.

In the command center, on the holographic star map, the scarlet areas and red dots representing the star beasts instantly disappeared in large numbers.

In the command center, many people secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But then, the star map seemed to be eroded by blood.

A corner of the starry sky turned completely crimson and began to spread toward the First Empire!

Zi Chen's pupils suddenly contracted.

A moment of deathly silence,

An order was issued.

"Combined formation, advance! Buy time for the strategic ships to build up their power!"

Under the starry sky, behind them, hundreds of thousands of warships sailed toward the beast tide.

At the same time, hundreds of millions of human soldiers moved forward to their positions in battle formation.

The warship fleet took the lead in meeting the tide of star beasts, and the earth-shattering energy beams burned and bloomed under the starry sky regardless of cost.

Countless star beasts swarmed into the fleet formation like locusts!

"kill!"

An order was issued.

The First Empire's soldiers have moved into battle formation!

Without the armor protection of starships, these soldiers marched in formation through the void, charging towards the beast tide.

The first few battle formations to charge into the beast tide were the first to collide with it. In the instant of close combat, the burst of energy was like countless tiny but dazzling fireworks blooming at the same time.

Even when facing low-level star beasts, the battle formations formed by human soldiers can still gain the upper hand.

However, the sheer number of beasts was too great, and some battle formations were scattered in an instant.

One of them was pierced through the chest by the tentacles of a star beast. Before dying, he plunged the energy blade in his hand into the creature's head.

Another person was struck by the edge of the shell, half of his body was shattered, but he decisively detonated his body, giving his comrades behind him a second of opportunity.

There are no "individuals" on the battlefield.

One person falls, and the next person steps over the blood of their fallen comrade to take their place.

One battle formation collapsed, and the survivors automatically merged into the adjacent battle formations and continued their charge.

"The entire seventh battle formation on the right wing has been wiped out."

Someone read this message over the communication channel.

The next second, another voice came from the same channel:

"The eighth battle formation on the right flank has been filled and will continue the advance."

No one cried out, no one begged for help, and no one asked, "Why us?"

They simply receive orders and then carry them out.

The burning ships charged into the horde of beasts, and the soldiers faced the endless tide of monsters.

Energy beams poured down like rain, and the splattered flesh and blood solidified in the vacuum into a floating wasteland.

Zi Chen stood motionless in the control room.

Behind him, the blue area on the holographic star map was shrinking at a steady rate.

A red wave surged in from all directions, engulfing everything in its path.

"Lord Zichen," the Chief of Staff finally couldn't help but speak, "the Third Fleet has already lost six full-strength squadrons."

Zi Chen tilted his head slightly. "You saw it."

"Casualty rate..."

"I see it." Zi Chen interrupted him, her gaze never leaving the star map. "The second team goes up. Even if we can't kill all the star beasts, we won't retreat."

The chief of staff opened his mouth, as if to say, "If this continues, the Third Fleet will be wiped out."

But when he saw Zi Chen's profile, he swallowed all his words.

He suddenly realized something.

Zi Chen was not unaware that this battle was unwinnable.

Zi Chen knew this from the very beginning.

But Zi Chen's order was still "press forward"—because the empire didn't need its fleet to win; it needed its fleet to hold off the enemy.

Use all your warships, all your soldiers, and everything that can burn to build a dam of flesh along this line.

Behind them lay the empire's territory, and millions of planets.

The dam must not collapse, at least not today.

They must hold this line before the empire unleashes all its claws.

The front lines of the battlefield.

Another starship's engine overloaded, and the captain swerved at the last moment, crashing into the area where the beast horde was most concentrated.

The ship, carrying its remaining energy equivalent, charged in, plunging headlong into the horde of star beasts, and then detonated.

The white light engulfed hundreds of thousands of star beasts.

After the light faded, the area was briefly empty, as if a piece of the starry sky had been scooped out.

But three seconds later, the star beasts behind filled the void.

When one squad is wiped out, a new squad is immediately brought in to replace it.

Every minute of battlefield advance comes at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties, but the advance of the Star Beast Tide is indeed somewhat slow.

It was a little slow.

A hoarse, blood-flecked roar rang out over the communication channel:

"Forward!"

Then more responses emerged:

"Press it down!"

"Forward!"

"Forward!"

"continue!"

There were no heroic words about fighting for the empire, for one's homeland, or for one's wife and children.

They only had time to utter their last thoughts.

The simplest two words, shouted over and over again, as if using the throat to force fear back into the chest.

A light frigate had its armor torn open by a Star Beast.

The operator used his last bit of strength to press the self-destruct button on the control panel.

The entire escort ship exploded at the edge of the beast tide, and the shockwave sent thousands of star beasts flying.

"Squadron 094 has been reduced to its last two warships, requesting—"

The command center replied, "Push forward."

The last two warships.

Four main guns.

The energy chamber is only 30% full.

The captain sat at the control panel, looking at the crimson ocean that almost filled his entire field of vision.

The adjutant stood beside him, his hand on the cover of the self-destruct button.

"Captain," the first mate began, his voice soft, "we—"

The captain nodded. "Wait for my order."

He took one last look at the list of all the ship's personnel on the monitor screen.

Thirty-two names were densely arranged on the screen.

Then he turned off the screen.

"One last salvo from the main guns." The captain stood up, facing forward. "Then—turn, full speed ahead."

The adjutant's fingers tightened slightly. "Understood."

The final volley.

Then the two warships simultaneously changed direction, their engines overloaded to the limit, transforming into two streaks of blue and white light, plunging headlong into the depths of the beast tide.

White light.

silence.

In the Third Fleet's main control room, all the second-tier light spots on the holographic star map disappeared, resulting in a brief, dim, scarlet area.

It existed on the star chart for less than five seconds before being submerged again by subsequent red.

Zi Chen looked at that area, his right hand, which had been clenched tightly, slowly loosened, then slowly clenched again.

"Lord Zichen," the communications officer's voice trembled slightly, "frontline battle report—second echelon, all warships destroyed, thirty million soldiers dead."

Zi Chen took a deep breath.

"Pass the order. Third echelon—move up."

The command was issued again.

Another fleet left its prepared positions, engines were ignited, cannons were charged, and soldiers lined up.

Before them lay a beast tide that two full-strength squadrons had failed to repel, an enemy many times their size, a crimson ocean devouring all who approached.

But no one questioned the order.

They simply followed instructions and pressed down. Just like everyone before them.

In the starry sky, the lights of the third echelon of warships began to illuminate the darkness.

The beam of light shot out again, the battle formation charged again, and new flames continuously bloomed at the edge of the beast tide, only to be swallowed up again.

In the distance, on the reserve positions of the Third Fleet, there were still the Fourth, Fifth... Ninth echelons.

They stood still, waiting for the moment they would receive their instructions.

You can be afraid.

You can tremble.

But when the order is given—you cannot back down.

The beast tide is still surging in.

But the empire's defenses still stand.

At this moment, in the heart of the First Empire, on the virtual network, news of the great battle on the front lines spread like wildfire through every information channel.

The holographic news headlines scrolled in the largest possible red text:

"The entire Third Fleet was deployed to the front lines, and the Star Beast tide was halted at the first line of defense on the border."

The comments below refresh so fast that you can't even see a single complete sentence.

"The Empire is awesome!"

"Well done, soldiers!"

"........."

They couldn't see the battlefield, they only got one result.

The result is true, but none of these people know the cost behind it.

Emperor Star City, a store that doesn’t cheat the poor.

Wang Wei stood by the window, his gaze piercing through billions of kilometers.

Under the light, he could see everything that was happening on the battlefield.

Faced with the Star Beast Tide, the First Empire clearly performed better than the Caesar Empire and the Kailo race.

The First Empire's first line of defense still stands, using flesh and blood and warships to hold back the beast tide.

But how long can this rate of decrease be sustained?

Wang Wei looked away.

He was also curious about how long the empire could hold out on its own.

Outside the store, people were still strolling along the commercial street.

The lights of the city still shine outside the window.

The war in the depths of space continues.