96: Chapter 96 An Unexpected Third Party

Twelve holographic screens unfolded before her, each displaying real-time data streams from different areas of the battlefield.

She stretched out her hands and pressed them lightly against the control interface; deep within those eyes, which usually held little emotional fluctuation, a pale golden data halo began to flow.

S-rank Talent — [Daoyan Military Nexus], deployed at full power.

This time, she took over the fleet's engineering drone production lines; under her control, the engineering drones produced themselves and then swarmed toward the various other types of drone production lines.

They began to "print" new combat drones on-site with jaw-dropping efficiency.

At the same time, a major feature of her talent was granting her creations top-tier AI; likewise, the combat drones produced by her drones also enjoyed this setting.

If the performance of the human drones before was that of "elite soldiers," then now, they had suddenly transformed into "telepathic super-soldiers."

When two drones evaded concentrated enemy fire, they would instinctively perform complementary maneuvers, resolving the crisis with minimal cost;

When a drone formation charged, friendly units on the flanks would "just happen" to provide covering fire, clearing potential threats;

Even when a drone was too heavily damaged, it would autonomously choose to "self-destruct and ram," using its final wreckage to create kill opportunities for its teammates.

The combat loss ratio began to tilt.

"Report!"

Holy Alliance fleet, bridge of the interstellar fortress "Holy Judgment."

A battlefield analyst wearing a platinum-trimmed uniform, sweat already visible on their forehead, reported with a trembling voice:

"General Morian, our drone combat loss rate is showing anomalies... it's about 0.012% higher than the opposing side. The anomaly ratio is still rising!"

Major General Asterion St. Morian, sitting in the command chair, was elegantly sipping a cup of "Holy Radiance Tea" that emitted a pale golden mist.

Upon hearing the report, his hand holding the teacup paused.

"0.012%?" He frowned. "Analyze the data."

"Yes!" The analyst quickly pulled up the charts. "The tactical coordination efficiency of some enemy drones is abnormal, at least three orders of magnitude higher than other drones. They seem to... share the same advanced tactical AI."

"Advanced tactical AI?" Morian put down his teacup, a trace of displeasure appearing on his rather handsome face. "When did the Yanlong people come up with this kind of technology? Haven't they always followed the 'steel torrent' barbarian route?"

The adjutant whispered a reminder: "General, this might be related to their S-rank talents. Intelligence shows there are several S-rank freshmen in this Yanlong delegation, and one of them has the talent [Daoyan Military Nexus]..."

"So what if they're S-rank?" Morian snorted coldly. "No matter how strong a talent is, can it be stronger than the millennium accumulation of our Holy Alliance? Notify the technical department to start preheating the 'Radiance Wave Cannon' and aim at the dense areas of enemy drones—"

He paused, a cold smile curling the corner of his mouth: "Since we can't beat them at the game, then we'll flip the table."

The adjutant was shocked: "General, using the ship's main cannons to clear the field directly? This... wouldn't that be too aggressive? According to protocol..."

"What protocol." Morian waved his hand impatiently. "The Holy Alliance's face cannot be lost. I'm in charge here. If anything happens, the St. Morian Family will bear it. You just execute the order."

"...Yes."

The order was issued.

On the hull surfaces of three hundred Minerva-class Radiance Cruisers, those energy arrays that grew like crystal clusters began to slowly adjust their angles.

Deep blue light gathered and compressed within the depths of the crystal clusters, emitting a heart-palpitating energy fluctuation.

At the same moment, on the Watcher fleet side.

The sensor officer captured the anomaly almost instantly: "Report! High-concentration psionic energy detected! Energy source—enemy Minerva-class Radiance Cruisers! The enemy's main cannons are charging, target suspected to be our drone assembly point!"

Major General Zhao Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Flipping the table?" Not only was he not panicked, but he acted as if he had been waiting for this long-awaited scene, his tone even sounding a bit pleasant. "Fine, then let's see whose table is harder. Pass the order—"

"All xihe-class and Dijiang-class, synchronize charging of the Mega Particle Cannons, cover the enemy cruiser formation, prepare to counter-fire."

"Legion joint shield, full power, focus defense on the drone recovery channel."

"Also, send an encrypted message to that Major General Morian on the other side, just one sentence—"

Zhao Yu thought for a moment and revealed a smile that could be called kind: "'Flipping the table is fine, just remember to pay for the damages.'"

The orders were passed down level by level.

On the human fleet side, fifteen xihe-class battlecruisers and one dijiang-class star cruising battleship saw all their main cannon muzzles light up with blinding blue-white light simultaneously.

Space began to warp slightly under the terrifying focus of energy.

On the surface of the two ruler-class planet battleships, the "Nibelungen" array defense system, which originally only maintained basic strength, instantly switched to full-power mode.

Countless hexagonal energy units flickered, forming a deflection force field shield that covered the entire fleet.

The energy fluctuations from both sides' main cannon charging collided and squeezed each other in the void, stirring up visible ripples in space.

The drones on the battlefield seemed to perceive the danger too, retreating and disengaging simultaneously, making room for the upcoming "big guys" to perform.

The atmosphere was tense.

It was on the verge of breaking out.

Chu Xinghe whistled in the fighter cockpit: "Whoa, this is going to be a big scene. Luo Lan, want to bet? I bet our Mega Particle Cannons will pierce their shield first. The bet is that 'First Generation Thor Armor' figurine set you treasure."

Luo Lan was expressionless: "No bet. Besides, that figurine set was tricked away by Chen Yao with a bag of snacks last week."

Chu Xinghe: "...Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

"You didn't ask. Besides, it's probably in the corner of your wardrobe right now."

Just like Laya being Li Yuan's girlfriend and Li Yuan being Aria's boyfriend, Chen Yao's secret crush on Chu Xinghe was something everyone knew; it was just a pity for Luo Lan's figurine.

Just at the moment when the two martial brothers were bickering and the charging progress bars for both fleets' main cannons were racing toward 100%—

The void on the side of the battlefield collapsed inward without any warning.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had grabbed that piece of starry sky like fabric, squeezed it hard, and then ripped it open!

Immediately after, light poured out.

A breathtaking golden tide poured majestically from the torn space rift!

The first to emerge were Dreadnought-class giant ships the size of small planets. They were filled with the heaviness and magnificence of extreme classical aesthetics.

The hulls were entirely covered in glowing gilded armor that seemed to be forged from stellar cores, flowing with a texture of blended honey and lava under the starlight.

The broadsides of these giant ships were like continuous, mountain-like relief walls, depicting divine wars, heroic expeditions, and thunder baptisms from the Olympia epics.

The massive cannon barrels were carved into pillars entwined with electric pythons, or spear shapes condensing storms, with deep muzzles where blue-white lightning faintly leaped and hummed in the depths.

And this was merely the vanguard of this massive army.

Behind the dreadnoughts was a fleet of capital ships of even more terrifying scale: Thunder Fury-class battleships; Divine Blessing-class cruisers; and the Holy Shield-class frigate clusters, which, like stars surrounding the moon, formed a bright golden star ring around the core.

Their scale was so immense that when they completely exited warp state and slowly deployed their formation, the originally vast five-light-minute battlefield airspace suddenly became crowded.

The Olympia fleet far exceeded the sum of the Yanlong Watcher and Holy Alliance Violet fleets!

"Imperial Guard Third Legion!! Those idiots brought an entire Imperial Guard unit!!" Sai Wei recognized this force, an entire Imperial Guard legion, their Krol Family's private army!!!

Friend or foe?