Chapter 120

Chapter 120

The black star worms were still struggling.

The star worms no longer had the strength to maintain the attraction between each tiny individual. The black swamp was initially dense, thick as an endless abyss. But now it was rapidly dying, shriveling, and fading in color. Its edges were turning gray and white, with layers of dead star worms piling up on the ground, resembling layers of sun-dried lime.

After another attack from the Xuan Bird, the black swamp completely boiled over.

It started to slowly retreat backward: this was the first time it showed a sign of yielding since its appearance.

The star worms slowly gathered, forming an agitated worm body. Several huge tentacles rose from the ground, swinging towards the silver mecha but were easily severed by the awe-inspiring mecha.

Baisha maneuvered the mecha to back off, with six giant light wings gently flapping behind, radiant energy flowing along the edges of the wings—

At this moment, the mecha seemed like a truly "living angel."

Many Imperials had impressions of "angels." According to legend, "angels" were invincible war gods on the battlefield. Their existence permeated the entire history of the Empire but left little concrete information. For ordinary people, the existence of "angels" was always shrouded in a faint mist—they couldn't even imagine that "angels" were bioengineered beings... In this era of mecha dominance, some even thought "angels" were a series of mechas with special codenames.

And today, they finally saw a "angel" in reality, nearly as they had imagined.

The "angel" raised its long spear. The pristine silver spear shone with a faint light. Inch by inch, lightning began to encircle the tip of the spear, illuminating all directions like the fierce sun at midday.

Baisha sat inside the mecha at this moment. What she saw differed from the spectators.

In her eyes, there were no longer those struggling, twisting black worm tides.

Through the bodies of the star worms, she saw countless red, transparent filaments entangled and twisted. But deep within the swarm, there was a red "knot," pulsating like a beating heart.

That was the "psychic core" of the star worms.

Originally, she needed external forces to expose the core. Now, a single glance was enough to leave the star worms' core with no place to hide.

She hurled the long spear fiercely!

Lightning exploded in the air. Dense arcs of electricity scattered in all directions, resembling a burst of radiant fireworks.

The long spear, with a momentum that seemed to pierce through the world, screeched through the air, roaring as it broke through the black swarm of worms.

A thunderous boom.

It was as if all the air in the world had been sucked away by this single thrust.

People forgot to breathe, not feeling the intense pain of the psychic wave hitting their faces.

The black worm tide was forcefully pushed back several meters by the gale brought by the spear, issuing a cry of despair. Their writhing bodies and the incessant flow of black goo were incinerated by the furious lightning.

Humming—

A reddish crystal, adhered to the ground, appeared.

“——”

Accompanied by a piercing cry from the Xuan Bird, web-like cracks suddenly appeared on the crystal, silently shattering and then slowly turning to ash.

The black worm tide ceased all activity in that second.

Then, like melting snow, the black worm tide rapidly dissolved.

Baisha maneuvered the mecha to land, pulling the long spear from the cracked ground without wiping off the residual star worm ashes on its tip, then raised the spear, pointing directly at the mechanical eye suspended in the sky.

"You dare to oppose the Empire, is that it?"

Her soft questioning, unaided by any amplification device, yet echoed throughout the entire stadium.

The mechanical eye rotated its pupil, offering no response, and dispatched more robots towards Baisha.

Baisha, observing the silver-flashing robots, remained utterly calm, her spear poised to meet the mechanical eye's "warm welcome."

On the ground, Yanning and Yian Jingyi were not idle either—they too picked up their weapons and joined the fray.

The three mechas moved swiftly through the arena, their speeds varying unpredictably, sometimes too quick for even their shadows to be caught, efficiently diminishing the robots' numbers.

They drew most of the mechanical eye’s firepower, even diverting the robots that had been causing chaos in the stands. Ironically, almost all spectators were now peacefully observing their "performance," falling into an eerie illusion:

It seemed as though they were fighting in coordination?

...And they were surprisingly well-synced, demonstrating perfect understanding!

The trio's movements were extremely fast, their instinctual combat style allowing them to overpower hundreds with each move. Despite the close proximity which could easily lead to interference, they maintained a perfect distance, cooperating decisively when needed and growing stronger as the battle progressed!

"Am I seeing this right?" murmured a spectator in disbelief, rubbing his eyes for clarity, "Aren't those two... Federal mechas?"

"This is the highest level of coordination I've seen since the start of the games. I never expected it in such a combination," a commentator with a military background seated beside him added, expressing his astonishment, "It's like a dream."

"Rumor has it... this Imperial noble was once a Federal citizen!"

"Really? Is that true?"

"What Federal citizen?" an excited Imperial spectator interjected, cutting off their whispers, "What nonsense are you spouting? This is our Ares Empire's princess, endowed with the Xuan Bird psychic entity! Do you understand what the Xuan Bird signifies? The royal lineage – she might be our future Imperial heir. What does she have to do with your Federation? A Federal citizen giving birth to an Imperial Xuan Bird, seriously?"

The surrounding Federal spectators fell silent.

Not out of fear, but rather out of astonishment.

"From a mere distant royal to a crown prince overnight?!"

"There's a huge gap between being just a royal family member and a crown prince – one might be a mere figurehead, but the other wields real power."

……

Meanwhile,

Cen Yuehuai, just setting foot in the starship docking area, paused mid-step, eyes widening as he glanced down at himself instinctively.

Xino and Ji Ya also seemed to sense something.

Seeing them all suddenly stop, Zhou Ying asked reflexively, "What's wrong?"

"I have this feeling... something monumental is happening back at the competition venue," murmured Cen Yuehuai, massaging his forehead, "My psychic entity is restless, wanting to return to the arena."

Xino, having a hunch about what was happening, explained knowingly, "It's the 'Resonance'. The princess must have initiated it with her Xuan Bird," he glanced at Cen Yuehuai, adding, "You'd better control your psychic entity; don't let it run wild here."

It's normal for psychic entities to receive the 'Resonance' signal, feeling an urge to join the Xuan Bird, and even cause their hosts to feel excited. But a situation like Cen Yuehuai’s, where loss of control means the entity might fly away, is indeed rare.

"Wait, Resonance?" Ji Ya exclaimed in surprise, "But the princess's psychic entity isn't—"

"You really thought her psychic entity was just a small bird? That was a disguise. She showed her true colors during the four-school selection... Oh, but you weren't with us then, so you didn’t witness it yourself," Xino suddenly remembered, then turned to continue walking, "The princess initiating the Resonance suggests a dire situation at the venue. We need to hurry."

They moved across the vacant area, stealthily taking down a few robots en route, yet encountered no living person.

Logically, there should have been guards patrolling along this route. Given the current situation, the starship docking area must be deserted too.

Just as they stepped out of the competition building’s vicinity, they spotted their target in the sky – a strange transit point, a large glowing circular object, continuously emitting robots. Below the transit point was a swirling vortex.

"It's so big, impossible to miss," remarked Cen Yuehuai.

The next moment, two armed robots emerged from a building behind them, their blue eyes fixed on the group, opening fire immediately.

Cen Yuehuai turned and shot two ice arrows at them.

Among them, she was the most proficient with ranged weapons.

The ice arrows struck two robots, quickly dimming their eyes. But then more robots emerged from the building, prompting Cen Yuehuai to decisively climb a nearby lamppost, ready to face them head-on.

Cen Yuehuai: "Go ahead, I'll cover the rear."

Xino and the others didn't hesitate, activating their thrusters and heading towards the docking area.

The underground docking area, vast and filled with thousands of starships and spacecraft, made locating a handful of Imperial military starships a daunting task.

But they had Janice.

Zhou Ying, with Janice in tow, disembarked from their mech. Janice decisively connected her chip to the docking area's sealed system.

"Searching for Imperial military starship registration numbers..."

Janice, while "working," was expressionless, her eyes flashing with silver streams of data, exuding a distinctly non-human aura.

Xino and Ji Ya were amazed.

Zhou Ying, slightly irked: "What's with those looks?"

"We've just never seen someone like her before," Xino said, waving a hand in front of Janice, "Quite fascinating."

Zhou Ying, frowning, brushed his hand aside: "Aren't there bio-engineered beings in the Empire?"

"There are," Xino paused briefly, "The Princess's personal guard is a bio-engineered being, but in both thought and action, indistinguishable from a real human. He even danced with the Princess at a ball once, shielding her from admirers."

"Our Empire prohibits research on superhuman intelligence to prevent a repeat of the chaos from the Silver Age. The Princess’s bio-engineered being is a relic from that era and strictly speaking, not a product of Imperial technology," explained Ji Ya earnestly, "But your Federation's bio-engineered being is quite realistic."

Zhou Ying: "..."

Zhou Ying closed his eyes.

He didn't feel like explaining that Janice was indeed a human.

Strictly speaking, he shouldn't call Janice a 'bio-engineered being,' but rather a 'modified human'...

"Search complete," Janice announced several numerical coordinates, then seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, "These starships have no records of leaving the dock; they should still be in their original positions."

"Thanks," Xino, with bright eyes, asked Janice, "Do you need more power? Or what kind of fuel do you usually use?"

Janice: "…?" She looked up at Zhou Ying, puzzled.

"Let's just get moving," Zhou Ying quickly changed the subject, and the group headed towards the docking area entrance.

Xino, having studied starship command, didn't hesitate much before choosing one with the highest firepower among several starships. They broke the locks and entered the docking bay.

"Click," the lights in the docking bay suddenly turned on, illuminating the grey-blue walls. The starship, quietly resting on a special black floor, looked like it was sitting in the middle of a body of water.

Xino disembarked from his mech and walked to the starship's starter, carefully taking out the blue gem pendant from around his neck.

A flash of light passed.

"Authentication successful," a warm, deep male voice announced, "Welcome aboard, Your Majesty. Juyue DX-03 is at your service."

This address of "Your Majesty" made Xino's ears tingle.

He pursed his lips and called Zhou Ying and the others to board the ship.

The tailgate of the starship slowly opened—there was a mech-specific passage, allowing them to board with their mechs.

Ji Ya helped Xino manage the mech, finding a place to secure it, while Xino headed straight for the control room.

"Beep—"

The control room's holographic star map automatically lit up.

Xino operated the console, attempting to connect with other Imperial fleet signals. Knowing that Imperial reinforcements must be en route, he preferred to send messages directly via the starship, given that the signal towers had been tampered with.

Starships, needing to navigate through space, use the most stable and penetrating type of signal, unaffected by signal towers and equipped with their encryption features.

But he clearly underestimated the "Emperor's privilege":

As the star map lit up, he received many proactive contacts from fleets.

"Juyue Fleet sends its safe greetings to you…"

"Night Light Fleet sends its safe greetings to you…"

Fleets stationed throughout the Empire, and even those on far-off oceanographic exploration missions, sent greetings.

The core message was singular: Your Majesty, how did you suddenly appear in the fleet system?

Overwhelmed by too many greetings, Xino didn’t even know which one to respond to first!

It wasn't until the "Tianxuan Fleet" appeared that Ji Ya's eyes lit up—this was the fleet commanded by her cousin Ji Lun. Unlike the others, Tianxuan Fleet skipped formal greetings and sent a direct communication request.

Xino pressed the accept call button.

Ji Lun's face appeared on the screen, with the busy backdrop of his fleet's personnel.

"Brother," Ji Ya greeted him.

Ji Lun nodded in acknowledgment and got straight to the point: "The Tianxuan Fleet is already en route for a rescue mission at the competition venue."

Just this statement alone significantly reassured everyone present.

"General Ji, how long will it take for your fleet to arrive?" Xino inquired.

"We'll be there soon."

Xino was about to speak but was interrupted.

"I know what you're thinking," Ji Lun said, his amber eyes calmly gazing at them. "Hold off on any actions for now; the Tianxuan Fleet will handle the jump point. We need to eliminate those mechanical invaders and trace back to their base of operations."

The mechanical beings couldn't have just appeared out of nowhere. They required resources and energy to be created, and opening a jump point also consumed a lot of effort. Such significant movements, even if initiated by the reawakened Silver Central, should leave some traceable clues.

Moreover, they needed to clarify whether this invasion was related solely to the "Silver Central" or if there were "human" elements involved.

Xino took a deep breath: "Why did they choose the military exercise team competition day to strike? Could it be because there were too many military academy students present during the last wasteland exercise, and now, with fewer competitors but more spectators, they aimed to maximize casualties?"

This was also a concern for Ji Lun.

"Such high-profile tactics don't quite resemble the 'Silver Central'," Ji Lun commented.

"Silver Central" typically employs more covert methods.

Moreover, its goal has always been to overthrow human rule. Causing chaos at the competition and killing innocent civilians doesn't really benefit the overthrow of human governance; instead, it would only escalate humanity's hostility and vigilance towards the Silver Central.

The group fell silent for a moment.

Xino looked down and realized that Ji Lun's "arriving soon" really meant soon—the Tianxuan Fleet's icon was already appearing on the detector.

Since we're already here, we can't just do nothing.

Xino: "Requesting combat deployment for the Juque DX-03."

"No," Ji Lun immediately refused. "The energy of the jump point is immense; approaching it is dangerous."

"Then I can pilot the starship to the competition venue," Xino suggested. "At least to seal that hole at the top of the venue."

Ji Lun hesitated, "...That might be feasible."

A few minutes later.

As Bai Sha and others were fighting in the venue, they suddenly noticed that the large gap above them was covered by a looming object.

Bai Sha: "?"

"Did Zhou Ying successfully seal the hole? How did he manage that?" Yan Ning exclaimed in surprise.

Regardless, with the gap sealed, the mechanical beings couldn't reinforce or escape.

"Get ready—full power output!"

The mechanical eye in the sky was already damaged.

It had deployed too many mechanical beings in pursuit of Bai Sha and her team.

Standing atop a mound of mechanical corpses, Yan Jingyi coldly activated the charging button of the laser anti-aircraft cannon.

Boom—

After a loud explosion, the ominous mechanical eye finally ceased to operate. Countless damaged mechanical beings fell, emitting a strong smell of burning.

After doing all this, Yan Jingyi gave a thumbs up to the sky.

After the mechanical eye disintegrated, they remained on alert for a while, but saw no further movement from the mechanical beings.

The doors of the venue were opened, and a large number of rescue teams rushed in. Bai Sha finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed that this crisis was truly over, at least for now.

……

"The live broadcast of the military exercise was attacked, and the number of injured from both nations is still being tallied. However, according to reporters, thanks to the close cooperation of the participants from both countries and the timely arrival of rescue teams, the number of seriously injured is not high... which is indeed fortunate."

"But the concerning question is, was this attack just the beginning? Is this a declaration of war against humanity by the Silver Core?"

As the initial chaos subsided and the injured were transported away, various media reporters also arrived, almost simultaneously with the rescue teams.

They had many people to interview: the participants of the competition, the audience present at the scene, the staff responsible for security...

Of course, their primary targets for interviews were the participants of the team competition.

According to feedback from Star Web viewers: "Their efforts in rescuing people were even more spectacular than their sparring earlier! And in the emergency, they demonstrated even greater strength!"

In terms of rescuing, both Empire and Federation participants were highly praised, with few people concerned about how badly the Federation would have lost if the competition had proceeded normally.

The focus was on the revival of the Silver Core and Bai Sha’s sudden “self-exposure” of her identity.

Indeed, Bai Sha’s act of "resonance" in the venue was dubbed as “self-exposure” by Empire netizens.

Initially, she was publicly known only as a member of the royal family, but after this broadcast, even a fool would know something was amiss. Bai Sha definitely concealed something about her identity or lineage.

Also thrust into the spotlight was their Emperor.

“...They all think I am your illegitimate daughter now?” Bai Sha said somewhat exasperatedly to her uncle, “Aren’t you going to do something about it?”

“I am handling it,” said Cecil Ronin calmly. “I’ve already notified the cabinet to authenticate your lineage. You’ll soon no longer be my illegitimate daughter, but the daughter of Xipes Ronin.”

Bai Sha: “......”

“A spiritual Xuan bird that can ‘resonate’?” Cecil Ronin laughed, “You’ve kept quite a secret, my dear niece.”

Resonance? What is “resonance?”

Bai Sha was utterly confused.

“By the way, where are you now?” Cecil Ronin suddenly asked.

Bai Sha replied softly, “I’m trapped in a rest room.”

Cecil Ronin: “......”

“There are reporters all over the place!” Bai Sha complained, “And I’m out of energy.”

Perhaps it was the mental exertion on the field; now, sitting in the white sands, he didn't want to stand up again.

"Wait for me," the Emperor sighed, "I'll come to save you right away."