276: Chapter 277 Betrayal

At this moment, in high orbit.

Dog Brother on the Baby Bus naturally discovered the massive upheaval on the surface as well.

In fact, he discovered it even earlier than the people on the ground!

Because just a moment ago, the main fleet of the Yelute Family, which had originally disappeared, had reappeared in this star sector through some mysterious method!

Furthermore, they and the House Sading fleet, which had already been very close to the Baby Bus, formed a tight encirclement around the Baby Bus in space, one on the left and one on the right!

Especially those heavy cruisers of the House Sading flagship.

They were simply too close!

At this distance, even if the enemy didn't use artillery, they could just open their hatch, launch boarding pods, and force their way onto the ship for close-quarters combat!

The ground troops were surrounded by an iron wall on three sides, and the enemy clearly held the heavy firepower advantage of knight mecha;

The situation in high orbit was equally grim; although the Baby Bus had an advantage in energy firepower, the enemy held absolute dominance in terms of ship numbers.

It could be said that there was no way to escape!

But seeing this desperate change in the situation, Dog Brother didn't feel even a hint of panic.

Because in this game, the player's greatest trump card was never battleships or mecha.

It was that they could respawn at the fountain!

Before setting out, this group had already prepared for everyone to die in battle, respawn, and fight their way back!

Being surrounded like this instead made Dog Brother, who had been held back by diplomatic issues, completely excited.

"Hehe."

Dog Brother cracked his knuckles and sneered, "So this is the trick you three families were plotting together? Is that it? You want to swallow us in one bite?"

Previously, because they were wary of what kind of mutual destruction trump cards these three ancient families might have, everyone had been suspicious;

They were also afraid that large-scale fire would accidentally destroy these ecological planets, ruining their future rear base, so they had been fighting cautiously.

Now it was fine! Since everyone stopped pretending and completely tore off the mask, and they were already surrounded!

Then who cared about those bullshit ecological protection rules now!

"We must make these NPCs understand! The consequences of attacking The Fourth Calamity are a price you won't be able to afford in this lifetime!" A flash of madness crossed Dog Brother's eyes.

Just as Dog Brother was about to give the order for the entire Baby Bus to open fire and conduct an orbital bombardment that would destroy everything,

He looked at the movements of the enemy fleet on the screen and suddenly felt a sense of dissonance.

"Wait... something's not right!"

"Their fire-control radar has clearly locked onto us for a long time, why haven't they opened fire to seize the initiative yet?"

And at the next moment, the situation took a subtle turn.

On the bridge of the Baby Bus, a native operator responsible for monitoring the wide-area channel ran over from the instrument, covered in sweat.

He reported loudly with a nervous expression, "My Lord! We just received an unencrypted voice transmission! The other side didn't use code, but sent an audio file directly!"

Dog Brother frowned and walked over quickly, "Play it!"

The operator quickly manipulated the console a few times.

A slight static hiss first came from the bridge's loudspeaker.

Immediately after, a magnetic, slightly aged man's voice echoed throughout the command hall.

The language this man used was a strange one with very stiff pronunciation, difficult articulation, and even a thick accent with strange inflections.

If one didn't listen carefully, it couldn't even be called Chinese.

The voice said word by word, "Guests... from afar, welcome to Lieyang City, let us converse."

This was abrupt, with only a short sentence.

Dog Brother was stunned for a moment.

He looked at the massive enemy fleet on the radar that remained still, and then thought of the knight mecha on the ground that only pointed their muzzles at the players but never pulled the trigger.

A flash of inspiration struck him, and he seemed to understand something instantly!

"Brothers! Don't open fire yet!"

Dog Brother grabbed the all-band communicator and roared at the entire army, "The situation has changed! Take your hands off the fire button! No one is allowed to misfire!"

It wasn't just Dog Brother.

At this moment, many veteran players distributed on the ground and in orbit also calmed down from their fanatical battle emotions and noticed the strange changes in the entire battlefield.

According to normal tactical logic.

Since the enemy had successfully tightened the encirclement, and the allied forces on the left flank had completed their betrayal and backstab.

Then, with this perfect opportunity, the best thing they should do was to strike while the players hadn't reacted, and before the Baby Bus could project heavy firepower for orbital support!

Order to open fire immediately!

Use the firepower of the knight mecha to blast the players' ground reinforcements into dust at the first opportunity.

And then, using their numerical advantage, concentrate fire in orbit to destroy the Baby Bus.

As for whether they could really destroy the players' ship in the end, that was one thing.

But at a tactical level, opening fire to kill was the only correct choice for a finisher!

However, what was going on now?

The enemy had revealed all their top-tier trump cards, and the muzzles were pointed right at the players' faces, yet they hadn't fired a single shot.

And they even sent an invitation to welcome them for a chat?

Was this flexing their muscles?

Or was it a disguised attempt to persuade them to surrender?

Many players began to speculate wildly in the guild channel: "What is going on? Are these NPCs going to fight or not? I've already taken my pants off, and this is what you show me?"

Luluchiu, with an overactive imagination, excitedly posted in the channel: "Hey, hey, hey! Do you think these NPCs are surrounding us without killing us because they've taken a liking to us? Do they want to capture us all alive, lock us in a dungeon, and perform all kinds of inhuman NTR training? Wow, wow, wow! Thinking about it, I'm kind of looking forward to it!"

The channel fell silent for a second.

Dai Dai Tape retorted speechlessly: "Stop yelling here, alright? Put away your dangerous kinks! You definitely entered the wrong game, Luluchiu. This is Warhammer, not a hentai game!"

Penny, in her combat vehicle, rubbed her chin and analyzed rationally: "I feel like the other side is clearly flexing their muscles at us. But what is the point of doing this? To subdue the enemy without fighting and scare us off? Then why didn't they bring out these super-heavy mecha to show off earlier? Why wait until we were at the city gates and wasted so much time before showing their hand?"

Everyone was confused.

Dumpling had just finished handling things in reality, and as soon as he logged on and looked at the PV, he was completely bewildered.

"Holy crap? What is going on?"

Dumpling shouted in the guild channel, "I just logged off to eat lunch, and as soon as I logged on, how did we get surrounded?!"

Hearing the guild leader's voice, Dog Brother immediately replied in the channel: "Dumpling! Don't ask so much! Get to the lower-level drop pod bay immediately. They sent an invitation, and we have to go to Lieyang City in person."

Although Dumpling was full of doubts, his movements were swift.

He hurriedly put on his Power Armor, jogged all the way to the lower-level drop bay, and boarded the shuttle with Dog Brother, who was already waiting there.

"Are we really going to Lieyang City? Just the two of us?" Dumpling asked while fastening his seatbelt.

Dog Brother nodded: "Yes. I just received their private invitation. This is clearly aimed at our guild's high-level management."

The shuttle's tail flames ignited, and it started to detach from the Baby Bus.

Under the gaze of the fire-control radars of numerous enemy warships and mecha, it flew toward the surface of Lieyang City without any obstruction.

Inside the cabin.

Dumpling closed his eyes, and his brain began to operate at high speed.

He carefully thought about the series of events that had occurred since the Baby Bus arrived in this star system.

From the initial standoff and probing in deep space;

To the later perfectly timed raid by the Rogue Trader;

From the superficial political division of the three major families and the Grand Duchess's use of others to kill;

To this series of betrayals and muscle-flexing before the war...

Everything, when connected together.

"It's too coincidental."

Dumpling opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Old Dog, I feel like all of this is like a script written by someone behind the scenes. These three families have been putting on a big show for us from beginning to end!"

"They are testing us step by step! Testing our bottom line, testing our diplomatic stance, and even testing our reaction when facing a desperate situation!"

Dumpling frowned tightly: "But I really can't figure out why they went to such great lengths to put on this show, even at the huge risk of fighting us to the death, what is it for?"

Dog Brother looked at the massive city getting closer outside the porthole and sneered: "Need you ask? Of course, it's for the upcoming negotiations."

"In this universe, only by demonstrating sufficient destructive power to be considered equal do you have the qualifications to sit at the negotiation table. They are flexing their muscles because they want to occupy absolute dominance in the upcoming negotiations!"

The two looked at each other and stopped making meaningless guesses.

Because the shuttle had already flown over the towering city walls and was approaching the interior of Lieyang City.

Under the guidance of the enemy's ground control tower, the shuttle landed steadily on an internal starport pad paved with bluestone.

The cabin door opened.

Greeting them were not heavily armed executioners, but a squad of elite guards wearing retro formal attire with solemn expressions.

"Two envoys, please follow us."

The guard captain bowed slightly and made a gesture of invitation.

Dog Brother and Dumpling got off the shuttle and followed the guards through the massive castle.

After passing through a long stone corridor, they finally arrived in front of a spacious and quiet stone conference room.

The guard pushed open the heavy wooden door.

The two stepped inside.

The conference room's decoration was still very retro, with grease torches burning on the walls, emitting a faint scent of pine.

But these environmental details didn't make the two feel amazed.

What really made them tremble was the simple round table in the center of the conference room, and the four people sitting around it!

Around the round table, four figures sat respectively.

Of the three positions, the two recognized them at a glance.

Sitting on the left was Melissa Lan, whom they had met before.

And the other two Eastern faces wearing gorgeous attire, if they weren't mistaken, were clearly the highest leaders of House Sading and the Yelute Family!

These three family leaders, who should have been fighting a civil war, were now sitting together calmly!

However, what surprised Dog Brother and Dumpling the most.

Was the main seat in the center of the round table!

In front of that main seat, there was no family crest belonging to any of the three major families.

Instead, there was a palm-sized, old flag embroidered with a strange star map pattern!

Behind that small flag.

Sat a quiet, white-haired, elderly Eastern man with age spots all over his face.

The old man's body seemed very weak.

He didn't wear any gorgeous attire, only a gray coarse cloth robe.

He sat in a wheelchair with a life-support system, with tubes inserted into his nose.

But the old man's eyes revealed a depth and calmness that seemed to see through everything.

Seeing the door pushed open.

The leaders of the three major families didn't speak, just cast their gaze toward the two players who entered.

The old man in the wheelchair raised his head slightly.

He looked at Dog Brother and Dumpling, his withered lips opened and closed slightly, and in that stiff and difficult ancient Chinese, he said slowly: "You have come, please sit."