At the border of the Thunderflame Star System...
Millions of insect fleet vessels and a hundred thousand Lilvara warships bore down on the border. Hothead, commander of the Nasteel Thunderflame Defense Force, smashed the reinforced magic crystal command table in front of him with a single punch.
"Those inferior Lilvara creatures! We haven't gone looking for trouble with them, and they dare challenge me first?"
A tall, thin robot who looked as though he were wearing a metal suit stared mournfully at the shattered reinforced magic crystal table and sobbed, "General, that table was very expensive..."
Hothead shot him an angry look. "Tieqian, at a time like this, you're still worrying about that table? Didn't you see the millions of Lilvara ships outside?"
"I saw them. Just a rabble. Without energy channels, they're nothing." With that, he went back to mourning his table...
Just then, a spherical communications robot floated in. It froze at the sight of the deputy commander tearfully clutching a fragment of the table, then immediately pretended it had seen nothing.
"Report! The Lilvara fleet has broken through three of our defensive lines in succession. The planets Kazi, Jiede, and Suya have all sent distress signals..."
Hothead punched the command table again and roared, "What are the commanders on those three planets doing? Recharging? They can't even beat those inferior Lilvara races?"
The tall, thin Tieqian looked around at the scattered fragments of the command table, then down at the piece in his hands. After a moment of silence, he smashed that one too.
"Lilvara, pay for my command table!"
The words had barely left his mouth before Tieqian charged out of the command room like a madman. The communications robot glanced at Hothead, then turned and left, leaving Hothead alone in the command room, utterly bewildered.
Aboard the Dragon Emperor-class command ship of the Lilvara fleet...
The monkey-faced, eight-handed operator worked the ship's controls at lightning speed as he reported, "Tens of thousands of Nasteel warships have launched from their capital planet, Thunderflame. They're heading for our left flank."
King Pamir told Yata, "That should be Hothead's Thunderflame Guard. They have powerful attacks, move extremely fast in space, and can switch between warship and mech forms. They're difficult to handle."
Yata laughed, her voice delicate and ethereal. "Hehe, that left flank they're heading toward happens to be where the {Dragon-Type Rebecca} are. I wonder how long robots remember a painful lesson..."
At Yata's mental command, tens of thousands of {Dragon-Type Rebecca} took the initiative and attacked. In the two armies' first head-on clash, the {Dragon-Type Rebecca} seized an overwhelming advantage!
Seeing almost a third of the Thunderflame Guard lost in the first exchange, Hothead stamped his foot in fury, denting the command room's steel floor into a deep crater.
Beside him, Tieqian asked gravely, "What are those things? They don't look like Lilvara. Even their divine beasts aren't that large."
An analysis robot reported, "This is an entirely new species. Our only record dates back ten years, when three scouts encountered them two hundred light-years outside Myriad Demon Star. Their combat rating was approximately 100 at the time, so they attracted no attention."
"100? A combat rating of 100 could cost us that many guards?"
The analysis robot immediately clarified, "It was 100 back then. These creatures belong to the same species as those from ten years ago, but their combat rating now exceeds the Guard's maximum of 400."
Tieqian said quietly, "What a terrifying species. Their combat rating has increased more than fourfold in ten years."
Hothead blazed with fury. "I don't care how many times it's increased! It's only 400. I'll wipe them out myself!"
The thrusters beneath Hothead's feet had only just activated when Tieqian shouted:
"Brother, use the door!"
Before his words had even faded, Hothead had already burst through the command room's overhead steel armor and flown toward his personal warship.
Tieqian and the other robots in the command room shook their heads in unison.
"No wonder our Thunderflame is the poorest star system..."
Once Hothead entered his personal warship, the Thunderflame, the entire vessel began transforming into a beast.
King Pamir pointed at the Thunderflame as it transformed into a Two-Winged Fierce Tiger and told Yata, "That's Hothead, commander of the Thunderflame Star System! His combat power is astonishing, but he isn't very bright."
After transforming, the Thunderflame fired a volley of 116 missiles. Every {Dragon-Type Rebecca} within ten thousand meters of it was blasted to pieces.
Yata nodded with a smile. "Interesting. Have four hundred {Dragon-Type Rebecca} pin him down, with the {Venom Bee} leading the assault. Dispatch the landing forces and attack planet Thunderflame directly."
Watching Yata command with such ease, King Pamir asked in puzzlement, "Your Overlord Zhang Fan told me you're only five years old. Is that true?"
"Yes. I was reborn on Myriad Demon Star."
"Reborn? Your insect race can actually be reborn? Only the legendary Blazing Soul Bird has that ability. Why do I get the impression you mean all of your kind can do it?"
"We define it differently. What I call rebirth means rebuilding the physical body while the original body is still alive. If the physical body dies, we die too."
Pamir silently thanked his luck that High Priest Hu Baili had been there back then. The consequences of becoming enemies with the insect race would have been unthinkable. But then another thought struck him: even if they were friends, did that really mean they were safe?
Hu Baili's voice sounded in King Pamir's mind. "My king, remain calm. If we treat our friends sincerely, the insect race will do the same. But from what I've learned of the Overlord over these years, if we ever betray them, he will repay us tenfold."
"High Priest, haven't we simply escaped a tiger's jaws only to enter a wolf's den?"
"A wolf can be tamed into a dog. A tiger cannot become a cat!"
"All right. I hope you're always right."
The Thunderflame was pinned down by four hundred {Dragon-Type Rebecca}. Though hundreds of shots from their Ice Blue Dragon cannons could not inflict much damage, they slowed its movement and attacks, and several of its guns had been frozen solid.
There were plenty of engineering robots, but the terrifying numbers of {Venom Bee} specifically targeted the repair robots and the weak point in one joint.
Individual fighters were no match for these agile {Venom Bee}. Although the monsters died in swathes, the venomous needles they fired could also corrode most energy armor.
Tieqian could see everything clearly from the command ship. His analysis module ran nonstop, and he had already predicted that the Thunderflame would not hold out much longer.
"Order all forces to retreat. Notify Thunderflame to prepare the Star-Destroying Cannon."
The robots were shocked. The analysis robot asked, "Deputy Commander, have you truly decided to do this? The commander is still fighting on the front lines."
"Sacrifice him alone and annihilate the Lilvara army. My analysis gives us a seventy-five percent success rate. Do you have better figures?"
The analysis robot immediately replied, "No. Repeated calculations confirm that the deputy commander's plan is optimal. Execute the withdrawal order."
Yata watched the Nasteel fleet withdrawing from the battlefield with puzzlement, then glanced at the Thunderflame, still locked in a desperate fight. She asked curiously, "They're abandoning him? Just leaving like that?"
King Pamir shook his head. "The Nasteel race relies on data. They have no emotions at all. If a comrade isn't worth rescuing, or sacrificing one can secure victory, they won't hesitate in the slightest."
Yata pondered for a moment, then spoke as though thinking aloud, or perhaps asking King Pamir.
"Then which of those explains their retreat now?"
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