The Millennium Quicksand, under Eden's control, descended from the sky with all the majesty befitting a sunship. It entered a hover nearly a hundred meters above the ground, and then beetle-like ornithopters flew out from beneath it. With graceful movements, they kicked up rolling clouds of sand before landing in front of Murphy and his party.
The ornithopters' biomimetic wings folded like beetle shells. Then the fully armed players leaped out. At their head was Old Qin's adjutant, the veteran Qing Dynasty soldier. Wearing an exoskeleton and carrying weapons, he hurried over, snapped to attention before Murphy, who stood with his hands behind his back, and shouted:
"Lord Murphy! The fully operational Millennium Quicksand, our sun battleship, reports for duty with sixteen suits of war power armor! We're ready to enter any battle at a moment's notice. Your Warmarshal armor is on standby, and Her Excellency the Wise Wolf's armor has entered the repair cycle in the sunship's hangar.
"Awaiting your orders!"
"At ease, Colonel."
Murphy indulged him with a solemn reply, then asked:
"Why did the Millennium Quicksand come? What about the Origin Vanguard? Is it all right?"
"That battleship was unlucky enough to be hit by a Creator missile from Dusk and crash. It only managed to make a forced landing in the sea of sand outside the Issus Delta with Lady Liji's help."
The veteran Qing Dynasty soldier explained:
"On Lady Eden's recommendation, we removed the God's Scepter launcher from the Origin Vanguard in its entirety and installed it on the Pharaoh's flagship. Our mechanics and the Pharaoh's royal mechanics are currently at the crash site, carrying out further repairs on the Origin Vanguard and doing their best to get it back in action for the coming war.
"Also, as we were breaking out of the Issus