A squad of guards clad in golden armor and bearing sun axes escorted a stooped, hunchbacked, one-eyed old woman slowly toward the radiant sun throne.
The Proud Sun King asked in a low, commanding voice, "Star Seer, a hundred years ago, you said a dark power was rising in the Western Universe. Now a powerful army is approaching our Nine Clouds Star System. Were you referring to them?"
The old woman's single enormous eye, which occupied half her face, blinked three times. She gazed up at the stars for a moment and was just about to speak...
The Left-Whirling Sun King roared, "Star Seer, look carefully! The lives of your people depend on how accurate your vision is!"
The corners of the Star Seer's mouth lifted slightly in an eerie smile. "What dark power? They are merely a swarm of insignificant insects. You will fight a great war against them. Though your losses will be devastating, you will emerge victorious."
Her words reassured the Proud Sun King and his ministers, but what the Star Seer said next was rather more cryptic.
"A hundred legs and ten thousand souls, dead yet unyielding; reborn in fire, Proud Sun remade."
The Star Seer did not explain what those words meant. The Proud Sun King questioned her repeatedly, but she refused to answer. Her powers might still prove useful during the war, so he did not press her too hard and ordered the Proud Sun guards to escort her away.
The people of the Nine Clouds Star System had no idea that her words had already planted a seed of destruction within their star system...
Ten thousand light-years from Proud Sun Star, the Insect Race had already converted six {Titans} into hatchery bases. A hundred billion {Enhanced Super Six-Eyes} had wiped out every living creature within Insect Race territory.
Seated on the throne of a {Titan}, Zhang Fan asked, "What's the current situation in the Nine Clouds Star System?"
{Matriarch} Shusha reported, "The Nine Clouds Star System has already prepared its defenses. It seems they learned of our approach long ago."
She displayed an image of a Nine Clouds warship before everyone and said, "For some reason, their current warships don't match the information Princess Domina provided. According to the Universal Trade Alliance's classification standards, their warships are also A-class."
"Impressive. It's only been a little over a hundred years, yet the Sumera Star People's technology has advanced by leaps and bounds. The warships in Princess Domina's information should have been B-class. We may have been delayed for a while, but it's only been a century. They shouldn't have that many warships."
In response to Zhang Fan's question, Shusha shook her head. "According to reports from our reconnaissance {Venom Bees}, they have at least eighty thousand A-class warships."
Zhang Fan exclaimed, "We're evenly matched. It took us nearly two hundred years of conquest to reach this point. If we'd come straight here two hundred years ago, we probably wouldn't have made it back."
Zhang Fan sank into thought. What was Princess Domina playing at? She told us this race would be easy to deal with, but that clearly wasn't true. What exactly was going on?
If Princess Domina had wanted to destroy me back then, it would have been effortless. There was no need to go to all this trouble, tricking me into traveling so far just to have the Nine Clouds Star System wipe me out...
"Overlord, a massive fleet has assembled at the edge of the Nine Clouds Star System. Based on their projected course, they should be heading toward the sixth {Titan}."
Zhang Fan nodded calmly. "All right. Since they've come knocking, who wants to take the first battle?"
Noya was the first to leap forward, pointing at the other {Beast God Generals}. "You're all younger than me, so none of you get to fight me for it. Let me handle the first battle."
Zhang Fan shook his head helplessly. "Can't you give your younger brothers and sisters a chance to show what they can do? What kind of eldest sibling are you?"
"Overlord, please let me go. They were the ones who fought in all six star-system campaigns. I've been holding back for so long... Overlord..."
{Matriarch} Shusha said, "Overlord, I suggest having Noya lead an army directly against Illusory Cloud Star in the Nine Clouds Star System. That would disrupt the Sumera Star People's original strategic deployment."
"{Beast God General} Rose should lead ten thousand {Emperors} against Hunting Cloud Star. These two planets occupy crucial positions. If they can seize both, we can try to take the Sumera Star People by the throat."
Zhang Fan smiled. "Sound analysis, Shusha. Qilaya and Qilamei, the two of you will handle the Hunting Cloud Star and Illusory Cloud Star fronts together."
Shusha continued, "I suggest putting Kulika in command, with {Beast God Generals} Rose and Poison facing the enemy head-on together. We can observe the Sumera Star People's tactics first, then decide on our deployments."
"Good. Pass down the orders immediately. We'll follow Shusha's plan and see what the Sumera Star People are made of."
In the sixth {Titan}'s star region, the Insect Race and the Nine Clouds Star System's fleet fought a brutal battle of attack and defense.
Meanwhile, the Insect Race forces led by Qilamei and Qilaya quietly infiltrated the star regions around Hunting Cloud Star and Illusory Cloud Star.
The Insect Race's surprise attack inflicted devastating losses on Illusory Cloud Star's defenders. They continually sent distress signals to Hunting Cloud Star, only to learn that Hunting Cloud Star was faring even worse.
The army attacking the sixth {Titan} was pinned down by the Insect Race's main force and could not reinforce Hunting Cloud Star or Illusory Cloud Star. They had no choice but to send a request for reinforcements to Proud Sun Star.
In less than three days, the Insect Race breached Illusory Cloud Star's outer defense system, and tens of billions of insects descended on the planet.
Since the arrival of the Insect Race army, the sun had never again shone through Illusory Cloud Star's once-bright skies.
Verdant grasslands turned to scorched earth, green mountains were leveled, clear waters became seas of blood, and bones piled up like mountains. Nothing but desolation remained of the once-beautiful planet.
On that desolate planet, one fortress still stubbornly resisted. A super-powered ionization barrier held the Insect Race army at bay. Under the relentless bombardment that continued day and night, insect blood had long since corroded the ground within a hundred meters of the fortress into a crater.
{Beast God General} Noya glared at the Nine Clouds soldiers inside Ghost Mist Fortress. Their flawless defenses were difficult to overcome even with a swarm of ten billion insects.
"Why don't we have the Emperors blast them?"
{Matriarch} Qilamei smiled. "They're far more useful to us alive than dead."
"Then why have me lead an army against them for no reason? Can't you see we're taking heavy casualties too?"
"My dear {Beast God General}, would they call for reinforcements if we didn't attack? And if they didn't call for reinforcements, how could we pin those reinforcements down? We're not here to wipe them out. Besiege the stronghold and ambush the reinforcements, understand?"
Looking at Noya's blank expression, Qilamei smiled. "Never mind. You wouldn't understand even if I explained. I promise that when it's time to attack, their commander will be yours."
"Fine, then. Just seeing that monkey face makes my blood boil. Look... look at how smug that monkey face is. Does he really think I can't wipe him out?"
Qilamei held Noya back. "Calm down. If my estimate is correct, their reinforcements should be arriving soon."
After a brief silence, Qilamei said, "I just contacted Qilaya. The situation on Hunting Cloud Star is much the same as ours. Kulika is struggling a little, so the longer we drag this out, the easier things will be on Kulika's front."
Noya glared at the Illusory Cloud Lord atop the distant wall and said through gritted teeth, "In a couple of days, I'm going to eat you... Hmph!"
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