177: Chapter 177 Single-handedly Invading

Just as the White Feather Guild's fleet began to operate with precision, the alloy doors of the command room slid open, and Zhou An stepped inside.

He had clearly also received intelligence from the front lines through the Cloud Top Fortress.

"How are the preparations coming along?"

Zhou An walked over to the holographic sand table and glanced at the dense clusters of red dots on it.

"The number of enemies far exceeds expectations; it seems they came prepared."

Grace reported with a grave expression.

"As expected. After beating the small ones, the old ones will naturally come out. The Dragonman Guild certainly has a keen nose for trouble."

Zhou An twisted his neck, causing his bones to crackle sharply.

"Luo Ning and Sheila have already exited the cabin. I'm also planning to go out and stretch my muscles."

He patted Grace on the shoulder, his tone steady and forceful: "I am handing the core command of this fleet operation entirely over to you. The fortress's firepower network will support you; just go all out."

Feeling Zhou An's unreserved trust, Grace took a deep breath and nodded heavily: "Please rest assured, the White Feather Guild fleet will not retreat a single step!"

After giving the instructions, Zhou An's figure suddenly became blurred where he stood.

"Swish!"

Accompanied by a slight spatial fluctuation, Zhou An vanished from the command room in an instant.

In the deep space in front of the Cloud Top Fortress, several faint silver lights flashed in succession.

Relying on his powerful Tier 5 Peak physique and spatial talent, Zhou An performed several short-distance blinks in succession, landing precisely on the broad shoulder of a mech floating in mid-air.

The gale of the high altitude was now nothing more than a gentle breeze against his face.

"Boss, you're here."

Sheila's voice came through the mech's external speakers, tinged with suppressed excitement.

Zhou An stood steadily on the mech's shoulder armor, reached up to press the tactical communicator by his ear, and connected to the exclusive voice channel of the three-person team.

Within the channel, EVA's broadcast immediately sounded:

"Battlefield scan complete. Specific enemy data has been uploaded."

"Total enemy strength: Over eight hundred warships."

"High-tier combat strength assessment: Two LV6 warships confirmed in the enemy camp! There are over one hundred and forty LV5 heavy warships, and the rest are LV4 models and below."

Hearing this exaggerated number, even Zhou An couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Eight hundred warships, two LV6s... The Dragonman Guild really thinks highly of us, actually deploying two LV6-level combat units at once just to block our path."

In the voice channel, Luo Ning didn't show the slightest fear; instead, she let out a whistle.

At this moment, she was piloting her own heavy mech, hovering at a higher orbital layer, looking at the dense clusters of red dots on the screen below as if she were looking at a pile of gold coins about to turn into fireworks.

"How are we going to fight?"

Luo Ning excitedly licked her lips.

"Should I carpet-bomb the area with the Aurora railguns again?"

"You can try it first to see if you can break their defenses."

"Sheila and I will capture the ringleader. Luo Ning, use the railguns and the fortress's secondary battery, coordinating with Grace's fleet, to focus on pinning down and handling those hundred-plus LV5 warships and the escort fleet below. Blow up as many as you can and tear their formation apart for me!"

"No problem, leave those small fry to my cute little toys."

Luo Ning snapped her fingers and immediately began reconfiguring the high-altitude firepower network.

After assigning the fleet's tasks, Zhou An's deep eyes locked tightly onto the deepest part of the enemy camp, at those two most massive LV6 Dragonman Guild warships.

"As for those two biggest 'prey'..."

A faint, crimson dragon soul phantom flashed in Zhou An's eyes.

"Sheila, overload the thrusters and charge in with me. The two of us will cut in as individual combat units!"

...

In space, the eight hundred warships of the Dragonman Guild's Fourth Division were like a cloud blotting out the sky, stretching across the star sector.

Inside the command room of the LV6 warship on the left flank, Vice Minister Barton looked at the enemy data fed back on the holographic radar, his mouth curling into a cruel, bloodthirsty grin.

"One LV6 leading, fifty-plus LV5s, and the rest aren't even worth calling cannon fodder. With such pathetic assets, they deserve for our entire main force to be deployed?"

Barton slammed the high-frequency heavy axe in his hand onto the deck, his face full of disdain. "That woman, Vice Minister Stella, is really getting more cowardly as she lives!"

On the communication screen, Vice Minister Garick in the other LV6 warship sneered, his remaining eye glinting with greedy, fierce light: "It's better if their combat power isn't strong, so we don't damage our spoils of war. Pass down the order: have the fleet spread out in a fan shape and activate the highest-level joint energy network! Surround these winged bird-men and trap them inside; I want to capture that LV6 warship alive!"

As the order was given, the engines of eight hundred Dragonman Guild warships roared in unison, and the massive fleet moved to surround the Cloud Top Fortress like a giant meat-grinding net glowing with crimson light.

"Daring to surround us? Do they really think this lady is a pushover!"

High above, Luo Ning watched the dense red dots rushing over on the radar and immediately took over the highest authority of the fortress's arsenal via EVA.

"EVA, terminate all production of conventional living supplies inside the fortress! Switch all four large production lines to military mode and produce suicide high-explosive drones at full capacity!"

Luo Ning frantically tapped the virtual keyboard while muttering through gritted teeth: "It seems I was still underprepared. I originally thought that building three hundred Moon-grade railguns would be enough to walk sideways, but now that I've encountered this kind of large-scale army battle, the firepower is still not enough! After this battle, I must build another thousand!"

Following Luo Ning's unlocking of authority, the massive hangar doors in the belly of the Cloud Top Fortress burst open.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz—"

A scalp-tingling roar echoed through the sky. With the frantic consumption of abundant resources, hundreds of thousands of suicide drones, the size of hornets and carrying highly concentrated antimatter bombs, gushed out from the fortress like a black tide, swarming toward the Dragonman Guild fleet below.

At the same time, the three hundred Aurora I-series railguns in mid-air finished charging again, and the deep blue beams of light struck down like thunder!

"Boom—!"

A terrifying energy storm exploded above the Dragonman Guild fleet. However, when the light dissipated, Luo Ning couldn't help but frown.

Below, a solid, crimson joint barrier that looked like physical crystal steadily blocked the suicide impact of the railguns and the drone swarm. Although the surface of the barrier rippled violently, it was clearly still a long way from breaking.

"What a hard turtle shell!"

Luo Ning cursed inwardly.

With hundreds of warships connected end-to-end, plus two LV6 warships acting as energy nodes to provide core output, this level of defensive network was indeed not something that could be torn apart instantly by a few hundred cannons.

"The barrier is tough, huh? Let's see if your reactors drain out first, or if our supplies run out first!"

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Luo Ning's eyes. She directly disengaged the weapon safety locks and pushed the energy output power to an overload state of 120%. Zhou An had given her plenty of confidence, and there were plenty of resources; she would smash this shell even if she had to throw money at it!

Just as Luo Ning was frantically pouring out firepower, the fifty-three LV5 warships of the White Feather Guild led by Grace also arrived on the front battlefield.

"Main batteries, fire! Hit them hard for me!"

Dazzling beams of light wove into a web, and the two fleets, separated by a massive shield, officially engaged in a world-destroying head-on bombardment.

Amidst the sky full of artillery fire, Zhou An stood steadily on the mech's shoulder. The violent energy turbulence around him was automatically neutralized by an invisible force whenever it came within three feet of his body.

He was not in a hurry to make a move, his deep gaze like a seasoned hunter, coldly examining the indestructible crimson joint barrier below.

"Boss, the turtle shell on the other side is too thick; the firepower is completely spread out. If we can't cause a devastating blow from the outside instantly, this war of attrition will be disadvantageous for us."

Sheila's voice rang out in the channel, tinged with a bit of anxiety.

"For a joint shield of this scale, it's unrealistic to try to gnaw through it from the outside with conventional firepower."

Zhou An crossed his arms.

"The energy core of the defensive network is those two LV6 warships. Unless we take out one of these two nodes, this shell will never be broken."

Zhou An narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze piercing through the flames of war to lock onto the depths of the enemy camp.

In order to stretch the defensive network as much as possible to surround the White Feather Guild fleet, the two warships of Garick and Barton were stationed on the left and right flanks respectively, with a considerable distance between them.

This distance might not mean much in ordinary times, but on the rapidly changing battlefield, it meant they could not provide physical support to each other in the first instance!

"Found the flaw."

A smile curled on the corner of Zhou An's mouth. He extended his finger and pointed from afar at the LV6 warship belonging to Barton on the left flank.

"Sheila, prepare to cut in."

"Understood!"

Sheila instantly entered combat mode, and the mech's thrusters let out a low roar.

"This shell can block energy, but it can't block space!"

Bright starlight instantly lit up in the depths of Zhou An's pupils, and his massive Tier 5 Peak blood energy erupted with a boom. He pressed his hand onto the thick shoulder armor of Sheila's mech, simultaneously pushing his spatial traversal ability to the limit.

The surrounding vacuum rippled with strange, distorted folds.

"Swish!"

Without any warning, Zhou An and that massive dark silver mech, as if swallowed by a black hole, vanished from mid-air in an instant.

The next second, when they reappeared, they had ignored that incredibly thick crimson joint barrier and appeared directly inside the shield, right above Barton's warship!

Ignoring the indestructible joint defensive network outside, Zhou An and Sheila, like two sharp blades piercing into the enemy's heart, descended silently onto the broad, flat top armor of Barton's flagship.

"Boss, leave this warship to me."

Sheila controlled the silver mech, and the weapon modules in its hands quickly reconfigured. Accompanied by a crisp sound of mechanical interlocking, a ten-meter-long spear, with its tip flowing with blinding high-energy plasma arcs, was tightly gripped in the mech's palm.

Zhou An turned his head to look at her and raised an eyebrow: "Can you handle it alone? Do you need me to lend a hand?"

"No need."

Sheila's voice came through the communicator.

"I've used so many of your top-tier resources during this time; it's time I tested where my current limits are. You go handle the other one."

"Alright, take care of yourself, don't overdo it."

Zhou An smiled with satisfaction, without any hesitation. He looked up, his gaze crossing the distant vacuum, directly locking onto the LV6 flagship belonging to Garick on the right flank.

His blood energy roared within him, and the Void Star Arm activated again. Zhou An's figure vanished instantly within a ripple of space like water, warping toward the other battlefield alone.

Feeling Zhou An leave, Sheila took a deep breath, and the four particle propulsion wings of the dark silver mech erupted with dazzling exhaust flames.

The mech gripped the high-frequency spear with both hands, tip facing downward, and utilizing the massive kinetic energy of the high-altitude fall, it plunged fiercely toward the flagship's thick outer armor like a silver meteorite!

"Shhh—Boom!"

The LV6-grade alloy armor, in front of this specially crafted armor-piercing spear, was instantly melted through like a hot knife through butter. Accompanied by a deafening sound of metal tearing, a massive gap over twenty meters long was ripped open in the top of the flagship.

The violent airflow from inside the cabin, mixed with broken metal parts, gushed outward, while Sheila, braving this turbulence, charged into the central area of the warship alone.

Her goal was very clear.

Strike directly at the bridge and kill the commander!

"An enemy has broken into the ship! In Central Zone B!"

Piercing alarms echoed through the corridors, and hundreds of Dragonman guards swarmed in like a tide from all directions, attempting to drown this intruder with dense firepower.

However, in this narrow ship corridor, Sheila was simply a ruthless meat grinder.

"Die!"

The silver mech surged forward, and the ten-meter-long plasma spear turned into a dancing thunder dragon. The spear tip swept out, instantly cutting a row of Dragonman guards holding heavy shields in half, along with their shields; hot blood instantly stained the cabin walls red.

An enemy light mech attempting a sneak attack from the flank had just raised its chainsword when Sheila, without even looking, flipped her wrist, and the spear thrust out violently like a viper's tongue. With a "squelch," the spear tip accurately pierced the mech's cockpit, lifted it into the air, and then with a violent swing, smashed it into a firepower point on the other side.

The spear thrust was like a dragon, unstoppable. Sheila rampaged through the metal corridor, leaving behind only broken limbs and burning mechanical wreckage, approaching the core bridge in a straight line.

Just as she was about to pass through the final isolation door, a thick blast-proof gate slammed down in the corridor ahead.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Heavy and rhythmic footsteps came from behind the gate, causing the alloy floor under her feet to begin trembling slightly.

The gate rose slowly, and a suffocating aura of blood and killing intent rushed toward her.

Those were seven fully armed Dragonman warriors!

These were not ordinary guards, but the most elite close-combat unit under Barton's command.

All seven of them, without exception, radiated powerful Tier 5 blood energy fluctuations. Furthermore, the heavy axes, tower shields, and greatswords in their hands all shimmered with the dazzling light exclusive to legendary grade equipment!

And standing at the very front of the team was the captain of this unit.

He was not wearing conventional combat armor, but was piloting a heavy mech that was a full size larger than Sheila's. This mech was dark red all over, its surface covered with a layer of dragon-scale armor that looked substantial, and the energy level it emitted had reached the terrifying Moon-grade!