On Stelle's Side
She arrived at the Herta Space Station, landing in Herta's laboratory. Looking around, she didn't see Herta, Ruan i, or anyone else.
"Where did they all go? These geniuses aren't in the lab doing research?"
Stelle walked out of the lab and wandered around. When she reached the platform, the scene before her shocked her.
Outside the platform, in the starfield, over a hundred warships stood ready for departure.
On the platform, countless spherical robots with arms and legs, each wielding a triangular lightsaber, were boarding the warships in an orderly fashion.
"Whoa—are they heading off to fight?"
Stelle, holding Mika and Little Fire Monkey, ran toward the departing Asta.
As she neared Asta, Stelle skidded to a stop.
"Asta, who are you guys going to fight?"
Asta replied,
"Stelle, you're just in ti. Rember those Dummy Units No. 1 that Mr. Screwllum bought earlier?
He studied them carefully and got them to learn how to warp these warships and robots.
Now, he's preparing to lead this entirely robot-composed fleet to eliminate a swarm of bugs. Want to join?"
Stelle was amazed.
"Holy moly, classic Screwllum—quietly whipped up an entire fleet. Aweso!
Count in! I love this kind of epic scene!
Oh right, mind if I call a few people over?"
Asta responded,
"For that, you'll need to ask Mr. Screwllum.
After all, this fleet belongs to him, and he decides who can board."
Stelle nodded in understanding and imdiately pulled out her phone, snapped a few photos of the fleet, and posted them in the group chat.
Galactic Fire Hero: image.jpg @Screwllum, you're going to fight a bug swarm, right? I want in too!
Screwllum: Certainly, I'd be honored. Anyone interested may head to the Herta Space Station platform. The fleet departs in thirty minutes.
I Shall Ignite the Galaxy: Fleet! Swarm! War! I'm ready!
Little Strategist of Inazuma: Uh... sothing about the userna above gives a bad feeling...
Welt: Please count in! @Stelle, could you take a few more photos of those robots boarding?
Galactic Fire Hero: OK, Uncle Yang.
Screwllum: Mr. Welt, are you also interested in these Purifiers?
Welt: These robots are called Purifiers? That's a great na.
Screwllum: Each Purifier ch contains an independent AI system.
If a ch is disabled, the AI will automatically return to the data center.
In other words, the Purifier chs can keep learning and growing stronger through combat.
Real-Na Net Surfer: Are these Purifiers really that powerful? I'll go take a look.
Topaz Director: @Screwllum, Mr. Screwllum, can I buy a few?
Soon, many people in the group arrived at the platform to board the special ship Screwllum had sent for them.
After Welt, Jing Yuan, Zhongli, and Huaiyan boarded, they gathered around a Purifier ch to examine it.
The Purifier's design was indeed very cool.
Its silver-white body was adorned with golden patterns, and it had elegant armor on both arms.
Welt tested the strength of the Purifier's lightsaber.
Put it this way: a piece of high-quality steel, even by Stellaron standards, was sliced cleanly in two by a single strike.
Soon, the ship carrying everyone arrived at the flagship.
As they disembarked, they saw Screwllum and four small scout drones waiting.
"Welco aboard the flagship Spear of Aedon, it is my great honor," he said.
Stelle was extrely excited—an interstellar war! She had never witnessed such a large-scale, fleet-level clash.
"Screwllum, when do we depart?"
Screwllum gestured politely.
"This way, please. Lady Herta and Lady Ruan i have been waiting. We're ready to depart."
Screwllum led everyone to the command room. Herta saw them and said,
"Finally! A genius's ti is precious. Screwllum, let's get moving."
Screwllum nodded slightly and approached the control panel. Seeing that all warships were ready, he gave the order:
"All units, depart imdiately. Target: the Bugfang Star System!"
At his command, over a hundred warships carrying millions of Purifiers began to move.
Stelle, Amber, and others crowded by the window, thrilled by the sight of the massive fleet.
"Whoa! So cool! Fleet, charge!"
"Look over there—so many bird-like ships!"
Screwllum explained:
"Those are Phoenix Fighters. They can fly at light speed and are equipped with gravity anchor devices that trap targets in gravity fields.
Then, they finish the target with four particle cannons."
Stelle was amazed—light speed!
"But to enter light-speed mode, the Phoenix Fighters lose mobility."
Jing Yuan comnted,
"That's still powerful. If faced with an unavoidable threat, it's a good way to escape."
Welt pointed to another ship with giant pincers like a Hercules beetle.
"What's that one?"
Screwllum responded,
"That's a Storm Battleship. Its tactical role is heavy firepower support—it can unleash devastating electromagnetic cannons."
Screwllum continued to explain the various warships in the fleet.
Jing Yuan and the others glanced at the small scout drones at Screwllum's feet.
To think such tiny things had assembled an entire fleet in such a short ti—it was incredible.
The fleet accelerated, quickly reaching a threshold. At Screwllum's command, the entire fleet entered warp mode.
The Spear of Aedon fired an energy blast ahead, which exploded and ford a star gate for the fleet's jump.
The ships lined up and entered the gate.
Ten minutes later.
Bugfang Star System
The Bugfang system had long been occupied by remnants of a swarm species.
The total bug population in the system reached over ten billions.
They had lived here for hundreds of years in peace, enjoying their insect lives.
Until today—when that peace was shattered.
A stargate opened at the edge of the system, and a massive fleet erged.
The mont it exited the gate, it launched an attack on the nearby swarm.
Artillery fire thundered from every class of warship, bombarding the planets around them.
Phoenix Fighters darted among the planets, swiftly eliminating the swarm. To them, the bugs moved in slow motion.
With smart systems in control, human error was nearly eliminated.
***
Deep within the The Bugfang system galaxy, the swarm sensed the disturbance and took flight, rushing toward the fleet.
Seeing this, Jing Yuan looked at Screwllum.
"Mr. Screwllum, aren't you going to command the fleet? The swarm is about to hit us."
Screwllum shook his head.
"No need. Everything is going according to plan. The intelligent system database has already made preparations."
As soon as Screwllum finished speaking, the twelve Storm Battleships in the fleet began charging their cannons frantically.
In an instant, twelve raging electromagnetic energy spheres appeared at the muzzles of the twelve Storm Battleships.
Imdiately afterward, the twelve ships fired in unison at the oncoming swarm.
Seconds later, twelve electromagnetic energy beams blossod within the swarm.
In the starry sky, they blood like fireworks.
Then, six carriers in the fleet launched 600 unmanned interceptor drones. Each drone was equipped with two particle laser cannons and could fly at speeds up to Mach 20.
The 600 drones charged toward the swarm. Their small size allowed them to avoid enemy attacks more easily.
Soon, the Storm Battleships completed a second round of charging and fired another volley of electromagnetic energy blasts.
After these waves of attacks, the swarm had lost its threat to the mothership. Most of them had been wiped out.
At this point, all the battleships began a large-scale airdrop of the Purifiers to cleanse the surface of the swarm.
Screwllum pulled up a feed showing six Purifier chs carefully advancing through a ruin.
Suddenly, the ground of The Bugfang system trembled, and large numbers of bugs poured in from all directions.
One of the Purifiers quickly pulled out a crystal and placed it on the ground.
Then, the six summoned their twin laser swords and stood back-to-back to guard the crystal.
"Bugs! Die!"
The six quickly swung their laser swords, slaughtering the swarm at lightning speed.
Seeing this, Firefly couldn't help but recall the past—back when she and her teammates had fought swarms back-to-back just like this.
More and more bugs sward in. The six chs began to get overwheld and started to fall one by one.
Even when near destruction, they used their last ounce of strength to fight the swarm.
After the first wave of attack, only one Purifier ch remained. The others had all been torn apart.
Firefly couldn't bear it any longer.
"Mr. Screwllum, please tell the location of that Purifier ch on screen."
Screwllum looked at Firefly, understanding her intent.
"You want to rescue it?"
Firefly nodded firmly.
"Yes!"
Screwllum said:
"Exit the command room and turn right to reach the prep hall. There's a teleportation device there. Once that crystal finishes charging, you can teleport along with the other Purifiers."
Firefly thanked him and quickly left the command room.
Stelle, Amber, and Hutao followed after her.
Stelle called out to Firefly ahead.
"Firefly, wait for us! We're coming too!"
Firefly stopped and turned to look at them.
Hutao added, "Even this Hall Master was touched by those Purifier warriors. They didn't surrender, even at the cost of death!"
Lumine nodded as well. "Yeah! Even I want to help!"
Stelle said, "We're friends! How could we let you go alone? We'll bear this together!"
Firefly smiled at them. "Alright. We'll bear it together!"
Firefly, Stelle, Hutao, and the others arrived at the prep hall. Led by a Purifier ch, they stepped onto the teleportation platform.
Soon, the platform beneath them lit up, and they were enveloped in light and disappeared.
In the prep hall, more and more Purifier chs stepped onto the teleportation platform to head for the front lines.
At the edge of the The Bugfang system galaxy, on the shell planet in Death Valley—
This was the battlefield shown in Screwllum's earlier feed.
The last Purifier ch slowly stood up. After the previous battle, it had little energy left.
Looking at the bugs slowly closing in with predatory eyes, the Purifier ch summoned its twin laser swords again, ready to fight to the death.
At that mont—
Loud booming sounds erupted nearby. The crystal had completed its charge, and beams of light slamd into the ground.
Firefly, Stelle, Hutao, and Lumine erged from the beams alongside over a thousand Purifier chs.
Behind them, more and more beams appeared, covering the hills.
Firefly held her transformation device and whispered:
"I dread of scorched earth
Of a new bud breaking through the soilIt blood toward the morning sun
Whispering to
A moth to fla—reborn in death!"
Firefly transford into Sam and led the Purifier army in a charge against the swarm.
The two armies collided. Every second, lives perished and bugs fell.
Inside the command room—
Fu Xuan was puzzled.
"Why send such a small squad to a planet crawling with bugs? Isn't that sending them to die?"
Jing Yuan explained:
"Lady Fu, this is the correct strategy.
The swarm can fly and fight in the air.
If we use landing craft, so will inevitably be shot down.
By then, the Purifier chs inside would be damaged before even entering the battle.
Look at the data over there.
When the fleet passed through the stargate, a small portion of the landing craft was imdiately launched.
In the end, only thirteen made a successful landing.
And that was before the swarm even reacted.
Now that they've responded, sending more would only an greater losses.
Teleporting directly to the battlefield minimizes casualties."
Fu Xuan, hearing Jing Yuan's explanation, finally understood.
So that's how it is. Indeed, it was a sound strategy.
Jing Yuan added:
"Lady Fu, this is a rare opportunity. Watch closely. Listen. Think.
Observing such large-scale troop combat will quickly improve your military command abilities."
Fu Xuan nodded seriously and began paying full attention to the battle.
Jingliu turned to Yanqing and Yunli behind her and said:
"You two go down there as well. Whoever kills more bugs, more sword practice with for a day."
The mont they heard this, a competitive fire ignited in both Yanqing and Yunli.
To them, training with Jingliu was a rare and precious opportunity.
Even if Yunli had to choose between hotpot and sword practice, she would still choose the latter.
After exchanging glances and a cold snort, the two left the command room to teleport to the front lines.
Jing Yuan watched them leave with satisfaction.
Under Jingliu's guidance, Yanqing and Yunli had improved rapidly. Even so high-tier Pathwalkers might not be able to match them now.
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