In the end, a few naughty kids still squeezed onto the Imperial Admiral, and they were cheerful, showing no signs of going to war, and even no trace of battlefield tension, which makes one wonder whether these little girls understand the seriousness of war.
Yes, if it were outsiders seeing them like this for the first ti, they might indeed have such doubts: Do these kids really know that war leads to death? Are they really not just going for fun?
But I know these kids are actually much more stable and mature than they appear—little doll is only ninety centiters tall, and her personality seems to be that of a willful and capricious little princess, but she has a life of hundreds of years full of ups and downs and has shown a strong inner resilience since a long ti ago; Little Baobao is only five years old, and the sentences she can string together can be counted on two hands, yet she stores knowledge in her mory bank that surpasses any scholar’s, she inherited all the skills a warrior needs to know at birth, and understands the significance of "Xyrin Apostle"; Little Crow is even younger, less sensible than Little Baobao, and her forr self was rely a bird, still difficult to ta, but she has learned how to be a God at an astonishing learning pace, Lilina has long ceased guiding this newly born Crow God on what to do, yet Little Crow has managed solely by her judgnt and various divine revelations to make every kingdom under the Crow God Sect’s influence flourish, I once went curiously to Shajina’s world to see, and Little Crow’s governance and guidance of the local people left utterly amazed—though I have no idea how this silly bird managed it.
These are the "naughty kids" of my family, seemingly unruly and only knowing to eat, play, and ss around, but they’re truly not mischievous at all, perhaps their unruly behavior is only to attract others’ attention, or simply wanting to free and others from the heavy workload. When they boarded the battleship, even Little Baobao quieted down.
Since the naughty kids know what they are doing, let’s let them witness this grand war; perhaps there won’t be such a chance again in the future. If the Abyss Zone is pacified, I can’t imagine any dim-sighted guy daring to make the Empire stretch its muscles in the short term.
As for the dangers on the battlefield... which battlefield isn’t dangerous? A bit of risk in exchange for maturity and steadiness is entirely worthwhile. Besides, the Imperial Admiral has always been ticulously protected and is hailed as the Empire’s safest "Unfallen Flagship," after all, if the flagship carrying Royal Family mbers gets destroyed, then there’s no reason for the war to continue. Moreover, even in case of bigger dangers... we have a heap of resurrection and rescue technology, although I hope those technologies never need to be used.
The first batch of troops has departed, and we quietly await our departure in the command hall of the Imperial Admiral.
This familiar command hall, this familiar officer platform, and this familiar giant holographic projection... For many years, this spaceship has accompanied in battle for many years, from the Empire’s poverty when it didn’t even have an integrated fleet, to now possessing seven main army corps, several special corps, endless defense army units, and a Celestial System Fleet that defies imagination. From being overwheld by the Abyss Zone, to being able to declare war on the Abyss Zone openly, the Imperial Admiral remains the only constant in these earth-shaking changes. It is still the "Interstellar Coalition Flagship," commanding the Royal Fleet to charge in battles.
This spaceship has actually undergone significant changes compared to the initial "Imperial Admiral," much like the philosophical story of "Thesius’ Ship," the entire flagship has gone through multiple upgrades and replacents. It has swapped its main Galaxy Cannon with one that uses Source Energy Ore as its core, replaced the modular reactor with a new Ghost Energy Well, the warship shield is now third generation, surface armor plates are fourth generation, and the command system has been updated comprehensively, its communication array moved from both arms to the center and tail fin, and its internal space expanded by more than double with new expansion equipnt... So many makeover-level modifications make the Imperial Admiral almost entirely different from a few years ago except for its appearance and overall structure, but I still feel it is the sa battleship that embarked with onto the true interstellar battlefield.
Just like a warrior, it simply changed its armor and sword, but so core thing... or perhaps it should be called the soul of the battleship, hasn’t changed. If battleships had souls.
I look down at the silver-gray alloy floor beneath , which is also sothing replaced; the original materials of the Imperial Admiral probably account for only ten percent of its whole, and can’t be seen here anyway. I stomp my foot, unable to determine what the so-called "soul of the battleship" might be, and purely from sensory perception, I can’t see what the "essence" of this ship might be, yet once the thought that the Imperial Admiral has a soul erged, it utterly took hold of , and I looked around, always feeling this old friend was nearby... Hmm, everywhere.
"Ah Jun, why are you twisting and turning?" Sandora couldn’t help but glance at , "Is the chair uncomfortable?"
I suddenly felt embarrassed: "Uh, what do you think of finding a soul for the battleship?"
"... Ah Jun, are you hungry?"
I: "..." Certainly Sandora lives up to expectations, no matter what odd behavior others display, her first thought is they’re hungry... Of course, if Qianqian exhibited any unusual behavior, she wouldn’t ask such questions; she would rely glance calmly at Qianqian, then delve into eating herself: Qianqian’s wild imagination is a natural phenonon, and not needing to be surprised by it. Did I digress?
"Nothing much, just feeling the ship has been with through so many years, quite attached to it, from when the Empire was so weak, to now gearing up to tackle the New Army head-on, it never faltered, not even suffered serious damage."
"So many years?" Sandora frowned, "Actually, the Imperial Admiral is a very ’young’ ship, in the Old Empire Era a spaceship would typically serve tens of thousands of years, and if not for battle damage, could serve for hundreds of thousands of years as long as it’s continually upgraded. If counted from its production to now, the Imperial Admiral is still under five years, it’s a new ship. But your sentint makes sense, given the rapid turnover of New Empire ships."
In recent years, the New Empire’s largest-scale wars have primarily been against the Abyss Zone. In these battlefields, even mighty Imperial Battleships can be systematically destroyed like ordinary soldiers. Coupled with the frequent upgrades due to the technology tree resurgence even leading to complete refitting, the replacent rate of the New Empire’s various spaceships is astonishing. During the Old Empire Era, a spaceship could serve tens of thousands of years, whereas now it’s fully possible that they could all be destroyed or rebuilt within one or two years. While in the "old standards" the Imperial Admiral indeed counts as a fresh ship, under the New Empire’s ship replacent frequency, it is considered a "veteran."
I simply smiled at Sandora, knowing she likely finds my sentintal thoughts hard to understand, given she often thinks in the habit of the Xyrin Apostle: the value of a battleship is to fight, unless its combat value is exhausted, typically Xyrin Apostles wouldn’t assign any cultural significance prematurely.
The Imperial Admiral’s onboard mainfra started calculating the jump route and disseminating the jump plan to each mber mainfra of the Royal Fleet. This onboard mainfra also underwent two generations of upgrading, but the AI it carries is still the original one, only its performance and knowledge base have been enhanced. If one insists on finding a soul for a spaceship, it’s likely this AI up here—though it’s not given personality, nor set with the ability to evolve freely.
While I was lost in thought, the onboard mainfra suddenly reported receiving an external communication, this communication was accompanied by a special pass key, and thus quickly obtained access permission.
Xingchen and Hila’s images appeared on the central holographic projection, seemingly standing before a white palace: this must be architecture in the Star Domain Divine Race style, aning they are now in the Divine Realm.
"The Divine Race Army has already departed, they should arrive slightly after you at the Abyss Zone," Xingchen smiled mildly, as if launching an all-out attack on the Abyss Zone is no big deal, "This is the second ti the Divine Race is attacking that place, I’ll dispatch all available units, and I will personally join the expedition, we strive to eliminate this major threat in one fell swoop."
When the Imperial Army was mobilized, I inford the two God Kings about the New Army’s rampage through a dedicated channel, and the battle sequence system in the Star Domain made their mobilization very swift, hence they are already prepared for the offensive.
The previous joint attack ended in an anticlimax due to the sudden appearance of the Abyss Xyrin, but this ti we needn’t have any apprehensions; the current adversary is a group of madn wholly twisted by obsession, there’s no reason for any ceasefire with them.
As for the Star Domain Father God personally joining the expedition, it is a bit unexpected but not too surprising.
"This ti also splitting forces to attack? Are you attacking the Far Border of the Abyss Zone?"
This was the plan last ti, and although last ti’s action ended anticlimactically, we still achieved significant results, and the tactic of splitting forces proved very effective: the expansive territory of the Abyss Zone made defending very difficult for them. But this ti the effectiveness of splitting forces is dubious, according to the intelligence from Abyss Xyrin, the New Army is unified, displaying a stance to die trying to seize the bridge, forfeiting everything for it, aning a Divine Race attack from the other front might only yield a bunch of blank worlds without resistance.
Sure enough, Xingchen also thought of these things. He shook his head slightly: "I will have half of the troops attack everywhere, dismantle the bases of the New Army and destroy those worlds, to prevent them from simultaneously fighting and creating new armies. The other half of the troops will maneuver to join you. Additionally..."
At this point, Xingchen paused, his gaze drifting in another direction, seemingly searching for sothing.
The holographic communication system can ensure that the sight of both parties can be correctly placed in each other’s real-world scene, so I imdiately followed his gaze to find he was looking towards the direction of the Divine Clan Five—Uncle Kenser and the others were sitting seriously in the last row of the officer platform, each with a tactical analysis diagram in front of them, while Monina was flexing her wrist, discussing battle plans with the others.
Except for not wearing military uniforms, they were practically five Imperial Officers...
Normally, they would follow the Imperial Army around, and I’ve gotten used to it, but this ti their real boss is watching next to them, and anyone with an IQ exceeding two digits senses sothing’s odd. This bizarre scene continued for a few seconds before Big Sister finally couldn’t help but cough twice: "Ahem... Lin, Monina..."
The "Star Domain Divine Race" who were discussing battle plans imdiately looked up, Lin was still curious: "Huh? Is there a mission?"
...When did you start taking tasks from the Imperial Military Departnt!
Big Sister pointed at the central projection with a strange expression: "You guys... aren’t you going to act with the Divine Race army?"
Yelsen touched his chin and thought for a while, finally clapped his forehead: "Oh right! We’re part of the Divine Race Combat Sequence! Quick, check your boards to see if there’s any mobilization order..."
"Ahem, never mind," Xingchen’s voice ca from the communicator, his tone seemingly quite odd, "You continue to act with Chen, after all, the Divine Race army will eventually converge with you, you can return to the team then. Bingdisi doesn’t need to return to the team, your situation is special, and your combat sequence hasn’t been rebuilt, so just act as an Imperial Officer this ti."
Then I heard Hila’s indistinct voice coming from the communicator, seemingly saying how worthy these are of being Dingdang’s guys.
The reputation of the Dingdang Team is widespread, even the Huron God King is impressed, but whether Bingdisi being with them is due to pollution or acting as a lead engine is hard to say.
Just as I, as an Imperial Leader, am not particularly proficient in military affairs, Xingchen, as a Star Domain Leader, is not a military expert either—Void Creatures are inherently not experts in any areas, besides being particularly good at carefree living and generally having a good mindset. We are not proficient in too detailed and specialized tasks, and these matters can be delegated to assistants. So the subsequent ti was for the Empire’s advisory group and the Divine Race’s War Envoys to discuss tactical matters through dedicated channels. Given prior collaboration, this operation should be smoother than the last, with more refined details.
Everything seemingly has no issues, except Sister Hila seems downcast: "I brought too few people; later I might just have to follow you as a mascot. Of course, I’m pretty good at fighting... but I guess I’ll be a mascot by Xingchen’s side."
Xingchen’s eye twitched, looking at this Void Creature as ancient as himself, he finally retorted for once: "...Mascot? Every ti I see you, I don’t feel lucky at all..."
Let these two eternal foes continue their entanglent.
With a slight tremor, the Imperial Admiral has entered the World Gate.
Next is hours of consecutive jumps, during which there seems to be nothing much to do.
I kept inford about the New Army’s movents from Abyss Xyrin, knowing they are still trying to send more troops to the "Peace Core," trying to use nurical superiority to completely destroy the Old Army to fully control the entire Peace Core Universe. Only then can they open the startup terminal without interference. However, the Old Army evidently isn’t a pushover, Abyss Xyrin maintains the front line with her established strongholds and various space bases cultivated over years, despite being nurically disadvantaged, there’s no imdiate threat of annihilation.
Both armies are competing for control of the Peace Core’s World Barrier, and until the barrier’s ownership is settled, it’s difficult for any army to reach the front line without being attacked. This isn’t good news for Abyss Xyrin: her garrison within the Peace Core consists of only two corps, already pressed into the Universe’s corner; without more reinforcents, they might not hold for long, especially facing enemies five tis their number.
The Imperial Border’s teletry station is working hard to detect movents in the Abyss Zone, although only so vague signals are obtained, those signals still confirm Abyss Xyrin’s battle report.
"Actually I don’t quite understand sothing," when I finally had ti to think about more questions when idle, so doubts inevitably surfaced, "Is the New Army’s goal also bridge building?"
Abyss Xyrin didn’t hide: "That’s correct, after all, their commander used to be one with , our ultimate goals are the sa."
"Both are about bridge building, so what’s the difference between their bridge building and yours?" I was a bit puzzled. If bridge building could prevent the catastrophe... it seems like allowing the New Army to handle it isn’t bad either? Free labor.
Quickly, I realized my thinking was too simplistic, Abyss Xyrin told the biggest difference between the New Army and ordinary Fallen Apostles: "They are my most extre facet—the New Army refuses to coexist with any alien races. They only allow themselves to build the bridge, won’t share bridge-building techniques and results with any other races; their ultimate goal isn’t just to evolve to a formidable level, another crucial goal is to ensure only their civilization remains in the Void. If I’m not mistaken, the first thing they would do after building the bridge would be invading the Star Ring Federation on the other side, destroying the Star Ring Federation’s bridge facilities, then occupying this Long Bridge and expanding their strength within it. The Void Long Bridge has a special nature; its interior is safe and it unilaterally leads to other Abyss Gates, with the only entrance to the Long Bridge being the startup terminal, protected by an invincible Void Structure. Access permissions are internal. The New Army hiding inside can develop peacefully while monitoring both sides’ races, once soone successfully builds a bridge, they can use the Abyss Gate to co out and wreak havoc, yet no one can counter them in return. Invincible defense, unlimited developnt environnt, and uncompromising hostility to any race... So the Long Bridge must not fall into their hands, or it would lead to endless warfare, and they would be undefeated, you’d be dragged down no matter how strong you are."
Finally, Abyss Xyrin gave a deep look: "The Long Bridge can’t fall into the hands of any single race, at least not in the hands of such an extrely exclusionary race like the New Army."
At this mont, I suddenly thought of a question:
Doesn’t bridge building require synchronized activation of the startup terminal across both sides? (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welco to vote for recomndations and monthly votes on Qidian (qidian), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.)
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