At first, people thought it was merely an unusually heavy bank of dark clouds.
It was not until beams of light began gathering at Sky Fortress Unit 2's cannon muzzles that the people of Gelin City gradually realized things were not as simple as they had imagined.
Sky Fortress Unit 2 was one hundred seventy meters long and one hundred thirty meters wide. It had abandoned Unit 1's city-like layout, its overall structure sharper and straighter, and its presence in the sky oppressive.
It no longer carried vast numbers of Sky Ninja Legion soldiers. It was not that Shinnō had begun cherishing his subordinates' lives—he did cherish them, very much so, so he could listen to their most sincere cries of "Long live the Land of Sky!"—but because the efficiency was too low.
Thanks to the Conglomerate's funding obtained from City Lord Arima, Shinnō possessed a large amount of heavy firepower.
The weight of twenty Sky Ninja Legion soldiers could be traded for one heavy artillery cannon, and the latter was clearly more meaningful in actual combat.
Furthermore, Unit 2 carried a genuine Zero-Tails Core, which had absorbed the negative emotions of millions of people over half a year.
Whether in speed, range, power, or barrier defenses, it was several times superior to Sky Fortress Unit 1.
This was a true weapon of war, and the confidence that allowed Shinnō to stay and face Lin Qing head-on rather than pack up and flee despite knowing Lin Qing was coming for him.
By Shinnō's estimate, his odds against Lin Qing were roughly even.
"That is the odds on paper. On an actual battlefield, there are far too many factors that affect the outcome of a war, such as—"
Through the display, Shinnō saw the vast oasis city below.
He picked up