226: Chapter 215 Conspiracy

This space battle had been going on for quite a long time.

Although Xiliu kept reminding every member of the squadron to focus entirely on dodging the enemy's weapons.

And to use the advantage that the Symbiotic Armor Warriors were very small compared to the massive warships to evade all possible damage.

However, under the joint opposition of the Manghui Civilization and the Ate Civilization.

The Symbiotic Armor Warriors still suffered significant casualties.

Of the original thousand or so members of the special armored squadron, only about seven hundred were still active on the battlefield, completely unscathed.

Most of those who left the battlefield did so because a huge proportion of the nanobots that made up their Symbiotic Armor had been consumed by the enemy's laser weapons.

This meant the remaining bots were no longer enough to cover their entire bodies, so they had to use their last remaining kinetic energy to hastily escape back to the five medical ships that Wei Wei had specifically brought over.

Besides that, the Symbiotic Armor Squadron also had a total of nearly a hundred casualties.

Fifty who were seriously injured were undergoing emergency treatment.

The other forty or fifty had completely perished in this earth-shattering battle.

After their Symbiotic Armor was destroyed, they hadn't managed to leave the combat zone in time and were directly targeted and pursued by the weapons of the Alliance Member or Ate Civilization.

Without the protection of the nanobots, how could their frail bodies resist such powerful energy?

Thus, in an instant, they vanished without a trace into the blinding white light.

Seeing this, Wei Wei could only weep in heartache.

But as a non-combatant, what could she do? She could only silently pray in her heart that this damned battle would end soon.

Furthermore, although the warships of the two opposing civilizations were falling at an extremely fast rate, their numbers were, after all, too overwhelming.

So, while they were quite panicked in the early stages of the battle when facing the high-burst humanoid armor, as time passed.

The battle-hardened Manghui Civilization faintly showed a trend of gaining the upper hand.

And the Resistance Army's nearly one thousand warships were now less than forty percent remaining.

"Hope" in the flagship had been trying to gain an advantage by hacking into the enemy's network.

But so far, there had been no progress.

Yu Lan frowned slightly: "It seems attacking the enemy's network control hub is not going to work."

"After all, even the ones that the Alliance Member installed on Beixing Star are things we cannot breach."

"This civilization, which has been in constant battle, is also top-tier within the Milky Way Galaxy when it comes to defense against information warfare!"

"As for the Ate Civilization, their warships have a method of communication and interaction that we cannot understand. They seem to be one entity."

Hearing Yu Lan's words, "Hope" could only shake her head helplessly.

Ultimately, she gave up on the network attack method.

However, she still explained the situation with a hint of confusion: "Although I didn't hack into the enemy's system just now."

"I was still able to see the general configuration of the various warship groups."

"The Ate Civilization should have mobilized their entire force, and there is a high probability that their leader, Sha Han, is in the formation."

"But the Alliance Member gives me a very strange feeling; their unit designations are scattered, and their equipment is uneven."

"In their formation, the frontline warships that are currently engaging us are very sophisticated and are indeed the most advanced."

"But most of the warships in the rear are very mediocre, and there are even quite a few that seem to be just making up the numbers!"

"Some warships that tried to squeeze into the center were quickly destroyed by the aftermath of the Symbiotic Armor Squadron's weapons. For one, it shows that those making up the numbers aren't much better than those on Beixing Star; they might be ones that have already been phased out by their civilization but haven't been destroyed yet."

"Secondly, it also lets us know that they should be commanding a force with such equipment generational gaps for the first time. Those inferior warships haven't been handed over to a specific command system to be commanded separately."

"Although as a warlord-style civilization, they have hidden and encrypted information about all previous major wars for tactical secrecy."

"But I have still accessed sporadic data; in past wars, when they encountered weak civilizations, they would indeed dispatch secondary troops from their civilization."

"But in those cases, all the warships were uniformly secondary warships."

"There has never been such an uneven fleet group!"

"After all, due to differences in transmission rates and the strength of equipment and weapons, it would cause great trouble for unified command."

Upon hearing the situation reported by "Hope," everyone immediately fell into deep thought.

Yu Lan couldn't help but nod: "Indeed, if I were commanding a large-scale space battle, the uniformity of the warships would be the most important thing."

"Otherwise, with a charge command, those with fast speeds would have already engaged the enemy, while those with slow speeds might not have even arrived at the engagement zone."

Lin Han on the side suddenly revealed a look of horror: "Could it be that these tens of thousands of warships are just a smokescreen! Is there another powerful fleet group ambushing nearby?"

"Or preparing to surround us!"

Everyone was silent. At this moment, the Xingyang Civilization and the Resistance Army were already at a disadvantage. If another powerful, large force were to rush out from the opposite side.

Then this battle would instantly end in a disastrous defeat! And even all lives would be lost.

Yu Lan looked at Xiliu, who was struggling to hold on in space, revealing deep worry.

After Wei Wei finished giving orders to the five medical ships under her jurisdiction, she turned to the group and said in a low voice: "How about... we just temporarily retreat for now."

"The current situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable for us."

"Although the enemy's warships are also being destroyed rapidly, their numerical advantage is still too obvious."

"And we... really cannot afford the attrition."

As she spoke, she used her eyes to consult everyone's opinion.

Seeing that everyone was still hesitant.

Wei Wei had to emphasize again: "And according to what you said just now."

"The other side likely has a large number of ambush troops."

"Then why are we still struggling to hold on?"

"You must know that for every extra second we stay, our warriors will be in more danger!"

This touched a chord in Lin Han's heart.

At this moment on the battlefield, the one thousand Resistance Army warships he had pulled over had already lost more than half.

Although Wei Wei's medical ships were trying their best to salvage all the victims who had fallen into space.

But it went without saying that a considerable number of soldiers had already sacrificed their lives in this ongoing war.

This made Lin Han feel very heartbroken.

Although the Resistance Army had suffered countless casualties in the long-term retreat battles against the Zhangyang Civilization.

He himself should have long been accustomed to, or even numb to, these deaths.

But the current situation was clearly not that kind of confrontation with the Evil God.

These soldiers were killed by civilizations within the Milky Way Galaxy, those civilizations that wanted to escape extinction.

Lin Han's heart was wavering.

Yu Lan immediately stood up and said: "If we retreat at this time, we can indeed go back to ask the Bishop to mobilize more combat power."

"The Resistance Army might also be able to assemble a more powerful fleet group."

"However, this retreat will release a quite terrible signal."

"The negative impact caused is something we cannot bear."

Everyone raised their heads with confused expressions, not understanding what she meant by this sentence.

Yu Lan cleared her throat and continued: "On the surface, this battle is a fight between us and three civilizations."

"In fact, it is a defensive battle for the Parallel Channel!"

"There must be countless eyes watching us."

"Therefore, our temporary retreat can indeed allow us to regroup."

"But those civilizations that are ready to make a move, seeing the Civilization of Gods and the powerful Resistance Army also retreating in defeat!"

"What will they think then?"

"I'm afraid that by the time we are fully prepared, there will be even more civilizations wanting to seize the Parallel Channel."

"There will be a large number of civilizations that, seeing us retreat, will desperately join the Alliance Member and the others! After all, in the face of their civilization's survival, any faint Hope can make people give everything!"

"The Kindling Project is far from meeting their expectations and desires for survival!"

"So when we finish reorganizing our troops and launch a crusade again, what we will face will definitely be far more than these three civilizations!"

After listening to Yu Lan's analysis, everyone seemed to wake up from a dream.

In an instant, they understood that the significance of this war was far greater than what everyone had initially imagined.

Xiliu, who had been fighting desperately in space, also said at this time: "Yu Lan is right, we cannot retreat at this time."

"This is our first battle against a civilization that covets the Parallel Channel."

"We must win this war!"

But before Xiliu finished speaking, a loud noise came from the communicator.

Then, after a burst of static "zz" sounds, the communication between the command room and Xiliu, the captain of the Symbiotic Armor Squadron, was interrupted.

Yu Lan immediately shouted worriedly: "What happened?"

"Answer me quickly."

Although it was only a short silence, everyone's heart seemed to have stopped.

Fortunately, just as Yu Lan and Wei Wei were about to cry.

A girl's slight panting sound came from the command room: "I am Solia, Xiliu was hit by concentrated fire from a large number of Alliance Member warships!"

"All the nanobots have dissipated, but consciousness still remains!"

"Suo Xiaoli and I are escorting him to the medical ship!"

Only then did everyone let go of the heart that had been hanging in their throats.

Wei Wei let out a long sigh of relief and said: "As for mechanical life, as long as consciousness is still there, there will be no problem!"

"Xiliu will be fine!"

But Lin Han's expression did not relax much, and he said with a stern face: "Now that Xiliu, the General Commander of the Symbiotic Armor Squadron, is injured."

"It seems that we... can no longer continue this battle."

Yu Lan took a deep breath and looked around. Everyone understood that with Xiliu absent.

Their own army, which was already being suppressed, would be even harder to sustain.

Even if retreating would cause irreparable, terrible impacts and consequences.

But if they were completely annihilated, the final result would only be more terrifying.

So Yu Lan finally spoke: "Let's retreat."

Lin Han issued the order to retreat with a painful expression.

At the same time, he thought sadly in his heart, is the suffering of the Milky Way Galaxy about to unfold ahead of schedule?

With this retreat of ours, too many civilizations will see that the Civilization of Gods and the Resistance Army are just so-so.

Then they will all recklessly join the army to seize the Parallel Channel.

By then, the Milky Way Galaxy will really play out the scene of eternal damnation ahead of schedule.

But he also knew that since it could not be stopped right now.

Then retreating could only be the only choice.

At least they could still preserve some living strength.

Just as Lin Han was about to open his mouth to give the order.

A large area of empty space not far from the battlefield suddenly emerged with a large number of troops.

Everyone in the command room suddenly gasped.

Wei Wei said in a terrified voice: "Is it an ambush by the Alliance Member? They don't want us to retreat, but intend to annihilate us all here!"

Lin Han looked at the fleet image transmitted in the holographic projection in front of him.

He said seriously: "They are all the most sophisticated warships, some of the newest types I haven't even seen."

"That must be the Alliance Member's trump card equipment, perhaps personally commanded by the Great Commander General Xiang."

"Then this time... I'm afraid we are doomed."

But Yu Lan's roar reignited Hope in the disheartened crowd.

"No! This is not the Alliance Member's fleet, it is from our Main Universe Silver Core Alliance."

"Most of them have already converted to the Xingyang God!"

"Our reinforcements have arrived!"

"Xingyang God above, we will eventually win this battle!"