415: Mechanical Scourge? Who is the Scourge?

In the blink of an eye, time flew by.

Since the decision was made to wage war on the Strange Star, the Huaxia Civilization's war machine began operating at full power.

War robots, engineering robots, space-based satellites, starships... When the last 10 alloy spheres, each weighing hundreds of millions of tons and capable of being dropped from space to unleash world-ending catastrophes in case of an accident, were delivered into Yang Dian's hands in spatial rings, the preparations for war concluded.

Zhou Qiang, head of the logistics department, stood on the roof of the Expeditionary Force Base, surveying the Gobi Desert, which had been paved with countless silver-white war robots and engineering machinery, making it gleam like polished silver. He couldn't help but pat Yang Dian's fist, which was clutching the ten spatial rings:

"We've brought you everything we have."

"It's fine if they're used up; we can work overtime and still accumulate a few more waves of resources."

"What's important is that the people come back."

Yang Dian nodded solemnly:

"Elder Zhou, don't worry, I promise to bring all the young men back, not a single one less."

Zhou Qiang patted the back of Yang Dian's hand again:

"This old man won't delay you any longer."

"From now on, everything is in your hands."

"Once you reach the Alien Planet, proceed with caution."

Yang Dian nodded again, then flew off the rooftop and landed on the commanding platform on the parade ground.

Below the commanding platform were five thousand Expeditionary Force warriors in bio-armor, their gazes resolute.

There were also a small number of Four-Armed Lizardmen wearing bio-armor, but most were in special-grade combat suits, their bodies thoroughly protected.

Bio-armor was difficult to produce, so it was temporarily impossible to equip all the Lizardmen.

Lizardmen who didn't receive bio-armor had to make do with special-grade combat suits.

But it wasn't a big problem.

The Lizardmen mechs customized for them would arrive at the Alien Planet through the spatial passage opened by Yang Dian, under the control of the AI, and rendezvous with them immediately.

With Yang Dian overseeing, there would fundamentally be no accidents.

Yang Dian surveyed the warriors, whether human or not, who had all ignited the Spark and belonged to the Expeditionary Force. He spoke in a clear voice:

"This journey to the Strange Star, while not a guaranteed death, is incredibly dangerous, and you could die at any moment from a sneak attack by the strange."

"Tell me, are you afraid!"

"No!"

The warriors' unanimous shouts soared into the sky above the Gobi Desert, shattering the sparse white clouds above.

The war machines didn't speak, their eyes simply glowing blue, their steel rifles raised, turning to face Yang Dian, as if expressing everything through their actions.

"Tell me, what is our goal!"

"To eradicate the strange, liberate the Strange Star, and save the people living in precarious conditions under the threat of the strange."

"To spread the fire of Huaxia Civilization across the Strange Star."

Yang Dian took a deep breath.

What surged in his chest was not the complacency of holding life and death in his hands.

Rather, it was a heavy sense of mission, borne on his shoulders.

This was also the unique romance of this Great Expeditionary Era, unique to the pioneers.

"Advance!"

As his voice fell, thousands of light gates opened, both above and below, across the Gobi Desert.

There were many light gates in the sky, three thousand of them.

There were few light gates on the ground, only one hundred.

As the light gates opened, the war robots, their eye visors glowing blue, were the first to move.

Their plasma thrusters in their palms, soles, and backs activated, and propelled by pale blue flames, they flew into the light gates, obscuring the sky.

After a million war robots had flown in, the Expeditionary Force soldiers arrayed on the parade ground also began to move.

They passed through the spatial gates opened by Yang Dian, directly arriving at the spatial node beneath Fengdu City, and then, through that spatial node, reached the Strange Star via a 'Dimensional War' method.

As the first batch of Expeditionary Force soldiers arrived at the Alien Planet, the war robots, which had been waiting for a long time, descended from the sky.

During their descent, they scattered into armor plates, then perfectly fitted onto the Expeditionary Force warriors under the coordination of the AI, transforming into a highly futuristic exoskeleton mech suit.

Li Gui, the first to step onto the Strange Star, put on his mech suit, then turned and waved to those behind him:

"Go, go, go! After suiting up, quickly leave this spot and go to the front lines to set up defenses. Don't obstruct the entry of those behind."

"Teams One and Two, launch combat satellites as planned, monitoring ground and surface conditions in real-time to ensure no visible strange entity can approach us."

"Team Three, launch Zhang Heng satellites to monitor the Strange Star's geomagnetic pulsations, preventing the strange from ambushing us from underground, and re-map the Strange Star's mineral resources."

"Once confirmed, arrange for mining robots to excavate and smelt. We don't know how long we'll be fighting on the Strange Star, so prepare for a war of attrition."

"Team Four, arrange for engineering robots to construct hydrological monitoring devices, ensuring real-time monitoring of any activity in the nearshore, rivers, and lakes."

"Team Five, launch deep space satellites to prevent potential threats from the Universe..."

After entering the Strange Star, the entire Expeditionary Force operated like a precise machine, the entire corps moving at an terrifying speed.

Dense rockets flew into the high sky, unfolding into satellites to monitor every corner of the Strange Star.

Engineering robots built the Expeditionary Force Base on site.

The Expeditionary Force Base included, but was not limited to, a smelting center, a war robot factory, and rocket and missile manufacturing and launch centers.

War robots, meanwhile, escorted groups of giant mining robots flying into the distance, preparing to mine on the spot and implement a strategy of sustaining war through war.

And this was just one scene around the spatial node.

Further afield, across the Strange Star's three continents and countless islands, war robots, engineering robots, and mining robots appeared, determined to transform every resource of the Strange Star into sustenance for their own strength.

In Beijing, at the Think Tank's conference hall.

Watching the synchronized development footage of the Strange Star on the screen, Li Yue, the second in command of the Think Tank, smiled contentedly:

"Compared to us, O3 is just playing around."

"They're so slow about opening a mine, building a quantum supercomputing center, or setting up a few war factories."

"They don't look like a Machina calamity at all."

"If you're talking about a calamity, we're the ones who look like a calamity."

Han Zhang glanced at Li Yue:

"If we can achieve this level, then what about true Universe-level Machina civilizations?"

"Can they hollow out a planet and use it directly as a war fortress?"

"Have they already built Dyson spheres, fully utilizing stellar energy?"

"Not enough, far from enough."

"At most, I'm currently a galaxy-level civilization capable of operating within a star system; far from being called powerful."

"We need to use our current technology as the core to formulate a development plan that is more in line with our current situation..."

On Earth, the Think Tank began discussing a new development plan.

On the Strange Star, at the survivor base.

Hu Ling, the fox-woman in a white priestess robe, kneeling before the altar, suddenly felt something and looked up at the horizon.

She didn't know when it started, but the sky on the horizon had darkened.

However, it wasn't because the sun was obscured by dark clouds, but because the horizon was filled with starships, war robots, and giant rockets ascending into the sky, blotting out the sun... Watching the black dots gradually spread across the horizon, Hu Ling, kneeling on the ground, parted her somewhat dry lips and let out a hoarse murmur.

"Alien, Civilization?"