174: Fleet Arrival

The moment the azure light pierced through the dome, the artificial atmosphere of the entire Heavenly Palace City suddenly rippled.

Residents in the living areas looked up at the sky in unison, only to see the once clear 'firmament' now resembling a lake into which a stone had been cast, with circles of azure light rippling outwards.

Lilian held an old man's arm, her voice trembling, "Grandpa... what is that?"

The old man's cloudy eyes reflected the strange phenomenon in the sky, and his calloused hand unconsciously tightened its grip on a wrench. "Girl... we might be witnessing history..."

The instant the first blue light appeared, fifty kilometers outside Heavenly Palace City's orbit, the pitch-black cosmic background suddenly twisted, and the Freedom Fleet's radar system emitted a piercing alarm.

"Alarm! Unknown energy fluctuations! Bearing 3-7-2!"

"Unidentifiable high-energy matter!"

"Strong gravitational wave signals! Hundreds of them! Oh God—"

On the bridge of the Freedom Fleet flagship, the Independence, Nadia's holographic image suddenly appeared. The self-proclaimed 'President' was deathly pale, his lips trembling incessantly. "Retreat! Retreat immediately!"

He didn't know what was coming next, but a strong intuition made him issue the retreat order without hesitation.

However, it was already too late. Because a beam of white light streaked from the direction of Mars. Just as it was about to hit Heavenly Palace City, the beam disappeared, replaced by a spaceship five times larger than the Independence.

A three-kilometer-long warship 'smashed' into view, an unparalleled visual shock.

"This is impossible..." The captain of the Independence slumped into his command chair, his pipe slipping to the floor. "A warship of this size... how is it possible..."

Before he could finish his exclamations, another spaceship appeared in the same manner. This time, a slightly smaller warship, about one kilometer long, emerged, its hull a graceful curve, its bow sharp as a blade.

Then came the third, the fourth... a total of nine hundred and ninety-nine spaceships appeared one after another in less than ten seconds. Like a well-drilled army, they automatically arranged themselves into a perfect spherical array in space.

What was most astonishing was their synchronicity. After all warships completed their jumps, their thruster plumes dimmed simultaneously, their weapon systems came online at the same time, and even their attitude adjustments maintained a perfectly consistent rhythm.

Nadia watched everything before him, feeling his sanity teetering on the brink.

"Cease fire! All fleet units retreat immediately! Maximum thrust turn—"

His order was interrupted by a violent tremor, and suddenly, a blinding flash streaked across. The scene that followed would be unforgettable for all witnesses.

A colossal object exited its jump state, stopping in the center of nearly a thousand spaceships, its bow stirring up a ripple of blue energy. The warship was entirely cyan-white, its streamlined hull like an ancient mythical sword, covered in armor plates resembling dragon scales.

Its thirty-kilometer-long hull blotted out the sky, making the nearby Freedom-class warships seem as tiny as children's toys.

On Heavenly Palace City's public screens, the live broadcast footage made all residents hold their breath.

"It's the Company's fleet..." Lilian's voice choked. "I knew it, the Company wouldn't abandon us."

In the command center, Sun Hu and the Eastern Federation officials stood frozen before the floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, the shadow of the Luofu Fleet had already enveloped the entire Heavenly Palace City, even blocking out the sunlight.

"Leader..." A young technical officer's voice trembled. "Our monitoring system shows... more than half of the ships are larger than the South Heaven Gate Fleet's flagship..."

"But how they appeared, I don't know..."

Sun Hu's pupils suddenly contracted. As a high-ranking official of the Eastern Federation, he knew all too well how these spaceships had appeared. He had long known about the Interstellar Peace Corporation's mastery of jump drive technology, but the sight before him was something he had never anticipated.

The Interstellar Peace Corporation had not only secretly built a fleet of astonishing scale but had also popularized jump drive, a strategic-level technology, on every single warship.

No wonder Ms. Emerald was so calm during the talks with the Company representatives. If the Eastern Federation's South Heaven Gate Fleet had this scale and strength, they too could be so calm when facing the Freedom Fleet.

"My God, the Solar System probably doesn't even count as a pond to them..."

In his shock, Sun Hu muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear. Of course, Eastern Federation high-ranking officials who had heard Lin Mo's report after he returned from Pierpoint had essentially all come to this conclusion.

It was likely that the Company's headquarters was now in an unknown location.

Meanwhile, the Freedom Fleet's communication channels had descended into chaos.

"Captain! All our fire control systems are down!"

"Engines locked! Completely immobile!"

"God... save me... I don't want to die..."

On the bridge of the Independence, the communication channels were filled with desperate cries.

The young gunner, Jackson, had bloodshot eyes, his fingers frantically tapping on the control panel. His nerves were on the verge of collapse; the sight before him was incomprehensible. Those suddenly appearing colossal warships, those eerie blue lights, and his pride.

"It's all fake! It's all an illusion!" He suddenly burst into hysterical laughter, tearing open the collar of his uniform. "Die! Monsters! All of you, die!"

"Jackson! Stop!" The captain sharply reprimanded, but it was too late.

Fifteen electromagnetic cannons fired simultaneously, massive projectiles tearing through the vacuum at eight kilometers per second, heading directly for the critical support structure of the space elevator.

On the bridge of the Luofu, General Jing Yuan quietly watched the scene unfold. As the shells were about to hit their target, he gently raised his hand, stopping the weapons officer who was preparing to intercept. "Let them hit."

"General, confirm no interception?" the weapons officer confirmed.

"Proceed as planned." General Jing Yuan's voice was frighteningly calm. "The preparations cannot be for naught. They have chosen their own fate, we only need to respect it."

Eight shells accurately struck the main support pillars of the space elevator. The colossal metal structure emitted an eerie groan and began to slowly tilt.

The magnificent structure connecting Blue Star and space, like a giant tree being felled, traced a deadly arc in space.

In Heavenly Palace City's command center, Sun Hu and the Eastern Federation officials calmly watched the monitoring screens. There was no panic, no chaos, only orderly emergency response.

"Activate the orbital stabilization system." Sun Hu's voice was steady. "Notify the ground spaceport to prepare for emergency transport procedures."

The technical officer quickly executed the order. "System online, material transport efficiency reduced to 5%, but based on material consumption rate, it's enough to maintain Heavenly Palace City's basic operation for about three more years."

Lin Mo stood in the observation post, watching the falling space elevator, without a trace of surprise on his face. As one of the few informed individuals, he had learned of this possibility during secret talks between Zijin Pavilion and the Company.

"Just as the Company predicted..." He murmured to himself. "The Freedom Fleet really chose the most foolish course of action."

The main body of the falling space elevator disintegrated during its descent to the ground, with fragments crashing towards Yongning Ocean and Southern Rome Continent.

Just then, an unfamiliar voice echoed throughout Heavenly Palace City.

"Greetings, residents of Heavenly Palace City. This is the Interstellar Peace Corporation's direct fleet, the Luofu. I am the fleet's General, General Jing Yuan. According to the 'Crisis Response Agreement' signed by Starsea Community member states with the Company, the Interstellar Peace Corporation will be responsible for the expulsion of the Freedom Fleet and the protection of Heavenly Palace City."

"Now, the Company will complete the transaction."

As soon as the words fell, hundreds of battleships simultaneously adjusted their posture, their weapon arrays locking onto the one hundred and twenty Freedom-class spaceships. There was no warning, no ultimatum. When the technological gap reached this extent, war was no longer a battle, but merely a one-sided execution.

Thousands of phase laser cannons fired simultaneously. The last thing the Freedom Fleet soldiers saw was an infinite torrent of light. These beams precisely penetrated the core of each warship; the engine explosions completely destroyed these warships. Like an eraser removing pencil marks, one hundred and twenty warships, under absolute energy suppression, silently turned into debris of varying sizes, drifting in Blue Star's orbit.

The entire process took less than a second.

In Heavenly Palace City, residents stared blankly at the sky. The anticipated fierce firefight did not occur; they only saw the Freedom Fleet's warships 'disappearing' one after another, as if wiped away by a deity.

"Is it... over?" Lilian asked in a daze.

The old man tightly hugged his granddaughter, tears streaming down his face. "Yes, girl... it's over..."

Meanwhile, in a detention room in Heavenly Palace City, a Militech agent huddled in a corner, repeatedly muttering the same phrase: "We were wrong... we were truly wrong..."

Another United Energy spy frantically kowtowed to the wall: "Spare me... spare me... I can confess everything..."

The remaining two professional protestors from NGOs embraced and wept. They knew that their all-in gamble had led them to an abyss of eternal damnation.

And in Heavenly Palace City's central plaza, Lilian and tens of thousands of residents spontaneously gathered, gazing up at the invincible fleet in the sky. Someone first shouted 'Long live the Company,' and soon, these four words echoed throughout the entire Heavenly Palace City.