Chapter 117 There are only ghosts who die in battle, not those who are scared to death.

The Heavenly Court Fortress, Central Data Archives.

The temperature here remained constant at zero degrees all year round, and a massive holographic projection hovered in mid-air, casting a bluish tint on Lin Yuan's face.

That was a memory fragment restored by gaia concerning the "Mechanical Papacy."

The imagery was fragmented and brutal.

A vibrant green planet was surrounded by tens of thousands of black, cross-shaped warships.

There was no declaration of war, no communication.

Countless massive metal probes pierced into the crust, extracting energy from the planet's core.

Meanwhile, the intelligent life on the surface was driven and slaughtered by the machine army like crops being harvested.

"Flesh is weak, machinery ascends."

The cold, monotonous synthesized electronic voice echoed through the scene like some eerie hymn.

Those captured lives had their limbs forcibly amputated, their skin stripped, and crude prosthetics and control chips implanted, turning them into "servitor machines" that knew only slaughter.

The wails of infants ceased abruptly, replaced by the crisp sound of gears meshing.

"Click."

Lin Yuan turned off the projection.

It was only a short three-minute video, yet it made the air in the entire archives freeze like iron.

Academician Wang took off his glasses and wiped them with the corner of his clothes, trembling, unable to put them back on for a long time.

Chen Weiguo's fingers were dug tightly into the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white, leaving claw marks even on the marble tabletop.

"How can this be a civilization..." Chen Weiguo gritted his teeth, his voice squeezed from deep within his throat, "These are a bunch of mad dogs."

"Mad dogs aren't scary; what's scary is that these mad dogs are organized, disciplined, and possess warp technology."

Lin Yuan leaned back in his chair, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, hesitated, and then put it back, "gaia, have the simulation results come out?"

The silver-haired loli gaia appeared on the tabletop, its expression unusually solemn.

"According to the signal feedback, the enemy has dispatched an advance reconnaissance fleet codenamed 'Missionary.'

Although not large in scale, it is equipped with planetary-level destruction weapons.

Based on current warp trajectories, they will arrive at the Kuiper Belt on the edge of the Solar System in three months."

Three months.

For ordinary people, it might just be the time it takes to change seasons.

But for a civilization that has just opened its eyes to look at the universe, this is a death warrant.

"This matter cannot be hidden, and there is no need to hide it."

Lin Yuan stood up, adjusted his collar, his eyes gradually becoming sharp, "Instead of waiting for those iron heaps to ride on our necks and crap, it's better to tell everyone now—we are going to war."

That afternoon, an announcement was broadcast via the Heavenly Court Fortress's quantum broadcast, simultaneously reaching every corner of Earth.

There was no official jargon, no embellishment.

The Great Xia official authorities directly released the video materials of the Mechanical Papacy, along with that bright red countdown.

The world was in an uproar.

Stock markets crashed, prices soared, and doomsday theories were rampant.

Some people knelt on the streets to pray, others frantically bought canned food and guns, and some politicians in certain countries even proposed immediate surrender to the alien civilization in exchange for "preserving the spark."

However, the chaos lasted less than twenty-four hours.

Because when night fell, people looked up and saw that steel Great Wall hanging in near-Earth orbit—the "Heavenly Court."

It still floated there silently.

Although the 120,000 planetary engines were in standby mode, that faint, ghostly blue light was like a lamp in the dark night, giving this planet its final sense of security.

"What's there to be afraid of! We have God Lin, we have the Heavenly Court!"

"Surrender? Didn't you watch that video? Surrender means being turned into canned goods! I'd rather die on the charge!"

"Where is the Great Xia recruitment station? I'm a veteran, requesting to return to duty!"

After panic reached its peak, it rebounded, transforming into a kind of tragic fury.

People are only cowardly because they have a way out.

But now, home is behind them, and there is nowhere left to retreat.

"Heavenly Court" Fortress, District C, the newly built "South Heaven Gate" special training base.

This was originally a mecha maintenance workshop of the Titan Civilization, now transformed into the most brutal training ground in human history.

"Ah!!!" The shrill screams rose and fell one after another.

Inside thousands of simulation pods filled with nutrient solution, sturdy men were wearing neural connection helmets, their bodies convulsing violently.

They were performing neural synchronization tests.

To pilot a "Guardian"-class mecha of titan technology, having a strong body wasn't enough; one must possess extreme mental resilience to withstand the massive information flow impact during neural connection.

Lin Yuan was wearing a black instructor's uniform, hands behind his back, pacing among the array of simulation pods like a cold-hearted foreman.

"Can't take it already?"

Lin Yuan's voice drilled coldly into the minds of every trainee through bone-conduction headphones.

"Let me tell you, real neural connection is ten times more painful than this! It's like welding your nerves directly onto steel! If you want to quit now, get out immediately, no one will laugh at you!"

No one moved.

Even if someone was foaming at the mouth from the pain and forcibly dragged out for emergency treatment by medical robots, the first thing they said upon waking was: "Don't eliminate me... I can still try..."

This group of people were the elite selected from the entire military, and even global special forces.

Some were ace pilots, some were legendary soldiers, and there were even a few civilian martial artists with monstrous physical fitness.

"These little brats really look like us back in the day." Chen Weiguo stood on the observation deck, watching this scene, his eyes slightly warm.

"They are stronger than us."

Lin Yuan stopped, looking at a young soldier in a simulation pod whose eyes were rolling back from pain, yet who was clenching his teeth tightly, refusing to pass out, "They know what they are facing, and they still dared to come. That is backbone."

Three months of time passed like sand through fingers.

The entire "Heavenly Court" Fortress turned into a war machine operating at full capacity.

That fully automated production line, which had been idle for millions of years, spewed out a torrent of steel day and night under the support of gaia's computing power.

One after another, the "Heavenly Soldier-I" exoskeleton mechas, improved according to human physique, rolled off the line.

Various "Dark Bird" unmanned fighter jets equipped with antimatter thrusters were commissioned.

The Kuiper Belt, this edge area of the Solar System, was once a silent, frozen world.

But now, a steel Great Wall stood here.

Tens of thousands of smart mines were deployed on the shipping lanes, and thousands of automatic defense turrets built a crossfire network relying on the asteroid belt.

This was the "South Heaven Gate Defense Line" proposed by Lin Yuan.

Countdown: 0 hours.

Kuiper Belt, No. 09 Outpost Observation Station.

This was five billion kilometers away from Earth, the absolute frontier of human vision.

Observer Old Zhang was a veteran astronaut in his fifties.

At this moment, he was holding a thermos cup, staring at the dead-silent radar screen in front of him.

The goji berry water in the cup was still steaming.

Suddenly, the screen flickered.

It wasn't a malfunction.

In the originally pitch-black deep space background, a few points of red light lit up without warning.

The red light was only the size of a needle tip at first, but within a few short seconds, it became blindingly dazzling.

Ripples visible to the naked eye appeared in space, just like a red-hot iron block thrown into cold water.

A strong gravitational wave alarm sounded instantly, the ear-piercing noise almost shattering Old Zhang's eardrums.

"It's here..."

Old Zhang's hand trembled, the thermos cup fell to the ground, and scalding water splashed everywhere, but he felt nothing.

Through the high-magnification optical telescope, he saw those things clearly.

They didn't look like spaceships at all.

They were pitch-black Gothic spires forcibly pieced together from countless twisted metals.

They lacked any streamlined aesthetic, possessing only a nauseating, ferocious appearance like torture devices.

Every spire was covered in dark red electronic eyes, rotating like living creatures, surveying this vibrant galaxy.

There were seven in total.

Although there weren't many, that substantial sense of oppression was billions of times more terrifying than the aircraft carrier battle groups of the past.

That was the natural status suppression of a higher civilization over a lower one.

"Bzz... Bzz..."

The communication screen in front of Old Zhang suddenly went static, and immediately after, a distorted, emotionless voice forcibly cut into the channel.

"Detected... carbon-based... heretics..."

"Executing... cleanup... protocol..."

Boom!

The next second, the signal from the No. 09 observation station disappeared completely.

Heavenly Court Fortress, Lingxiao Palace.

The massive holographic star map instantly turned a blinding red.

"Outposts 09 through 15 have lost contact." Li Na's voice was trembling, but her speech was extremely fast, "The enemy fleet has disengaged from warp state, distance to the South Heaven Gate Defense Line... 30,000 kilometers!"

"They're here."

Lin Yuan stood on the command platform, his black coat fluttering without wind.

He looked up, and in that moment, the laziness and cynicism in his eyes vanished completely.

Replacing them was a coldness as unfathomable as an abyss, and magma about to erupt, hidden beneath that coldness.

"gaia, connect to the military-wide channel."

"Channel connected."

Lin Yuan took a deep breath, his voice steady, transmitting instantly via quantum signals to the ears of every mecha, every warship, and every soldier.

"This is the Heavenly Court."

"Our guests have come from so far away without even having a cup of hot water; this does not align with our Great Xia's hospitality."

Lin Yuan waved his hand violently, as if swinging a giant axe that could split the heavens and earth.

"All troops, listen up! Prepare for battle!"