War Begins!

Two off-road vehicles are speeding across the wilderness.

The vehicle carried federal war correspondents, along with cameras and broadcasting equipment.

Typically, whenever there are military exercises within the federal government, war correspondents like these will be dispatched.

One aspect is filming footage of military exercises.

On the other hand, they could interview key military figures to see if they could obtain any important information.

In fact, the Federation Group Army always notifies reporters in advance before each exercise, since exercises are also a time for conglomerates to flex their muscles, an opportunity for the outside world to know their strength.

Strangely, this time the Federation Group Army suddenly conducted a collective exercise, but none of them notified the reporters.

Inside the SUV, a male reporter checked his filming equipment and muttered, "It's only early spring, and these conglomerates are already like they're in heat, holding a collective drill. I wonder what they're up to. Could it be that the fall of the demigod from the Kamishiro family has triggered something, breaking the balance of power?"

War correspondents know very well that military exercises usually take place during sensitive periods.

The driver didn't answer his question. The reporter talked on and on without getting a response, so he turned to the driver and said, "What are you thinking about? Why aren't you saying anything? When we get to the exercise area..."

The reporter followed the driver's gaze towards the distant horizon, his mouth slowly opening wide. "Holy crap! The Southern Fleet of the Chen family's First Air Force? And the Qingshan Hao?!"

The driver muttered, "Something's wrong! Something's very wrong!"

The reporter snapped photos incessantly, saying, "Steady your camera, let me focus!"

"Don't you find it strange? We were just talking about this. The Qingshan Hao is the Li family's Aerial Fortress, but among the five major conglomerates in the Federation, the Kamishiro, Kashima, Kei, and Chen families have all announced military exercises, but the Li family has never announced any military exercise plans," the driver said.

At this point, the reporter realized. "The Li family isn't here for military exercises... they're really here to fight!"

Since a real war is about to break out, there's no need to issue a military exercise announcement...

That makes perfect sense.

In modern warfare, information is of paramount importance.

Chen's Southern Fleet went blind before the battle even began; its radar was gone.

Everyone was flying in the sky, and the radar could only see their own people, not the enemy.

It's like... everyone else is playing online games, but they're playing on a local area network.

A fleet of this size is intended for precise strikes against demigods and is not considered a full-scale war.

Now, we've encountered another unreasonable Aerial Fortress.

It's like... you just played a pair of sevens, and then the other side didn't even play a royal flush, but instead shoved a real grenade into your hand.

This makes it impossible to play.

The biggest advantage of Aerial Fortress is that it can extend the battle line, and its internal anti-gravity devices and nuclear reactors enable it to maintain long-term operation.

Because fighter jets and airships burn high-energy fuels, their combat radius is only about 1,800-2,600 kilometers.

To put it simply, if you fly any further, you'll run out of fuel...

This is also the significance of the existence of aircraft carriers in the Outer World; aircraft carriers are the forward operating bases for carrier-based aircraft.

The T2 nuclear reactor and anti-gravity device now equipped on the Aerial Fortress allow the Qingshan Hao to fly further in the sky.

This time, Chen's Southern Fleet only dispatched a dozen or so fighter jets, which was a significant investment in a small-scale war.

However, the Qingshan Hao can carry sixty carrier-based fighter jets and eight airships, flying around in the sky...

Currently, there are four conglomerates in the entire Federation that own Aerial Fortress, but Kashima is the only one without one.

This is why Li Bingxi was willing to risk his life to acquire the Kyung family's nuclear energy research lab and nuclear power plant. It wasn't that they lacked energy, but rather that they needed the advanced technology contained in those two infrastructure projects.

Otherwise, Kashima will always be at a disadvantage and vulnerable in the air.

From another perspective, those members of the Qing family who made deals with Kashima were insane. They knew very well that this decision was enough to change the federal landscape, yet they still abandoned the overall interests of their family for the sake of their immediate factional interests.

They sent out the technology for Aerial Fortress.

However, none of that matters. What matters to the Chen family is that they never expected to encounter Aerial Fortress here.

Prior to this, the Li family had given no indication that they would be involved in the war.

Just yesterday, Chen's diplomatic staff stationed in City No. 18 personally went to the Banshan Manor to hold talks with Li's Privy Council.

The main purpose of this meeting was to discuss whether the Li family would interfere in their friction with the Shadow.

Li's answer was: No.

In fact, the people in Privy Council were not lying. They really had no connection with Shadow. It didn't matter what grudges the Chen family had with Shadow.

But you want to kill our Li family's independent director and future Grand Tutor? That won't do.

Of course, Chen would not blindly believe Li.

After all, when interests are involved, it's normal for a conglomerate to go back on its word.

Therefore, they set up a large number of reconnaissance points along the border of the Lee clan to monitor the movements of the Li Clan Group Army.

Military reconnaissance also proved that Li did not show any signs of mobilizing troops.

But who would have thought that the Li family didn't actually move the Group Army on the border; instead, they directly deployed the Aerial Fortress!

It's only been a day, and the Aerial Fortress has already flown over!

The Chen family's Zhutiān Aerial Fortress was still on standby in the area bordering the Qing family, but then the Li family came to raid their base!

"She's gone mad! This woman's gone mad!" exclaimed the Chen Clan Fleet commander. "Isn't she afraid that Kashima and Kamishiro might launch a surprise attack from the north by bringing the Qingshan Hao here?! Then they'd lose air superiority over the north! How dare she take such a risk by bringing the Qingshan Hao here?!"

But what the commander didn't know was that doing so was indeed very risky for Li Changqing, yet she still came.

In the Southern Fleet, the commander looked at the distant Qingshan Hao and felt a chill run down his spine.

The whereabouts of the sixty fighter jets that have already been launched and disappeared are unknown, and they may suddenly appear next to them.

Before he could think further, the commander suddenly said, "Activate the main fire control bay! Even if we can't win, we have to finish this battle! Launch all missiles without holding back! If we can shoot down the Qingshan Hao, we'll both be heroes!"

But as soon as they finished speaking, they saw a battle group of 12 fighter jets suddenly pierce through the dark clouds and fly down!

Li Changqing didn't want to wait any longer!

The commander looked up at the Qingshan Hao and saw that the outer deck of the aerial city was gradually opening, revealing a dense matrix of gun barrels inside. The electromagnetic guns were fully charged, and the electromagnetic field inside the electromagnetic cannons increased instantly, generating Ampere force. The projectiles inside accelerated in an instant.

It was launched with a roar that modern gunpowder could not achieve!

The electromagnetic projectile traveled a distance of 12 kilometers and arrived at the Southern Fleet with lightning speed!

With a loud crash, an airship broke apart!

The electromagnetic gun's initial velocity was simply too high. Faced with the main firepower of the Aerial Fortress, the massive A-Class Airship were unable to dodge at all, becoming like targets in the sky!

The escort fighters of the Southern Fleet rushed toward the Qingshan Hao like madmen, but their missiles could only barely penetrate the protective deck of the Aerial Fortress.

If there were more fighter jets, that would be fine, but 12 is still too few.

Inside the Qingshan Hao.

Li Changqing calmly looked at the holographic sand table. "Try to conserve energy. We still haven't found their second air force fleet, which is very likely not far away. Perhaps they've been waiting for us to arrive."

Her black lieutenant general's uniform completely concealed her graceful figure. She wasn't wearing makeup, and her long hair was tied up in her military cap.

In war, there is no distinction between genders.

There is only the difference between life and death, victory and defeat.

Li Changqing is a very strange person. She seems to have two faces. She can be glamorous and charming in a black dress at a party, or she can immediately become an executioner feared by everyone in the intelligence community.

When the intelligence community was being purged in City No. 19, the intelligence personnel reacted as if they had seen a ghost whenever they heard the name Li Changqing.

She is the only female lieutenant general in the Federation, and may soon be promoted to general.

From a certain perspective, the Li Changqing that Qing Chen saw was not someone who often appeared in front of the world. The world's impression of Li Changqing had nothing to do with beauty and charm; the name Li Changqing was one of the synonyms for war and killing.

The Old Twenty-One, said, "Boss, it's obvious that the Southern Fleet had no idea we were coming."

Old Nine took three more shots for Li Changqing in City No. 19, and now he's become Old Twenty-One.

Li Changqing's expression remained unchanged upon hearing his words. He calmly stated, "The First Air Force has a total of 21 A-Class Airship, and only seven have been deployed so far. Knowing that killing the Shadows could trigger a full-scale war, it's unreasonable that they've only deployed so few airships. I suspect that Chen Yu is using us to eliminate dissidents and sending these people to their deaths."

Li Changqing: "Last June, Chen Chuanlu, the First Air Force Major General, opposed Chen Yu at an internal Chen family meeting, saying that he was ruling from behind the curtain above the head of the family. This matter may be related to all of this now."

This woman controls all of the Li family's intelligence systems, so she knows certain hidden things.

Chen Chuanlu's criticism of "ruling from behind the curtain" was actually quite harsh.

The leader of the First Air Force this time was Chen Chuanlu's son. If these seven A-Class Airship were to be defeated, his son would die, and Chen Chuanlu would face a military court within the Chen family.

After hesitating for a long time, the Old Twenty-One finally said in a low voice, "You know so much, why are you still willing to come?"

Li Changqing calmly replied, "I'm willing."

Beside him, Li Ke was still on the satellite phone. "Yeah, I'm on the Qingshan Hao right now. Don't worry, I'll definitely go to rescue Mr... Remember to eat well. I'll tell you the results after this battle."

Qing Yi, on the other end of the phone, said reluctantly, "Can't you just give me a live update over the phone? I want to know how the battle is going too."

Li Ke whispered, "No, I'm in the command room of the Qingshan Hao. I'll have to ask Uncle Yun Jing for help later..."

"Alright, alright, I'm hanging up!"

At this moment, Li Ke, who had just hung up the phone, suddenly said to Li Changqing, "Aunt... did you come because of my master?"

Li Changqing glanced at him. "What are you thinking? This battle will benefit the Li family greatly. First, the Chen family has been too active in recent years, always in a state of active preparation for war. Our sudden and severe damage to their First Air Force Fleet will make them more restrained. Second, now that Shen Daichihachi has fallen, the balance of demigods within the Federation is gradually being broken. Shadow is also leaving. If we don't let him take one or two with him, we will also face some threats. After all, your Uncle Qi is never home. For our Li family, the fewer demigods in the Federation, the better. I tend to let Shadow take Li Bingxi and Chen Yu with him without any distractions."

"Huh?" Li Ke asked curiously, "Shadow is only one person, can it really take down two demigods in one go?"

Li Changqing chuckled, "You Awakened have awakened time abilities. The Tribunal of Taboos has dared to take anyone in over the years, but have you seen them even approach Shadow? Didn't they just let him use superhumans to grow tea gardens? They couldn't take him in! Li Bingxi is old and weak in combat; Shadow could take him away without any problem. My only question is, doesn't Li Bingxi value his life? Even if the resources the Qing Clan is trading are important, he can't risk his life, can he?"

The biggest mystery in this battle is that everyone thought it was easy for Shadow to take Li Bingxi away, but it seems that Li Bingxi himself didn't think so...

Keep in mind that Li Bingxi is only 73 years old this year. For a demigod, he has at least seventy more years to live.

He didn't need to throw his life away.

Even if he's afraid of being found by his shadow when he's alone, he doesn't need to come to his door himself, does he?

Chen Yu, however, is someone that everyone finds hard to understand, because the Chen family has produced several ruthless individuals among the demigods, and it's possible that Chen Yu has some powerful methods at his disposal to deal with the Shadow.

Li Ke glanced at his aunt, Li Changqing, and thought to himself that she was clearly very worried about her teacher, yet she insisted on finding a bunch of reasons to justify this military operation...

Even if the Qingshan Hao has a long range, it's still unreasonable to suddenly bring it to the Chen family's territory.

Li Yunjing remained silent, meditating and cultivating in the command room of the Aerial Fortress as if no one else was around, as if everything had nothing to do with him.

Finally, Li Changqing said, "You should set off. Things here are probably not over yet, but Qing Chen's situation can't wait any longer."

Li Yunjing remained unmoved.

Li Ke whispered, "Uncle Yun Jing, please help Mr. [Sir], he's in great danger."

Only then did Li Yunjing finally open his eyes, silently get up and walk towards the outside of the command room, where an A-Class Airship was already waiting.

On the A-Class Airship, Li Shu looked at Li Ke and smiled, "Finally, we can set off? I was worried about whether things would go wrong, sir. Let's go!"

At this moment, inside the Qingshan Hao, Old Twenty-One suddenly said to Li Changqing, "Intelligence personnel from the production base in the south have sent word that they saw a group of fighter jets flying overhead. It should be the Chen family's second air force fleet, heading towards us. Should we call Li Shu to stay? That A-Class Airship is very important."

Li Changqing shook his head. "Don't tell them, let them go save Qing Chen."

Old Twenty-One curled his lip and said, "You just said you came for the family's benefit."

There will be two more chapters before 11 PM tonight, one of which is an extra chapter for last month's monthly ticket champion. Thank you everyone.

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