Half an hour later.
The representatives of the Four Races, each with two attendants, met Li Baitian in the hall, twelve people in all.
Dalens had changed into pristine white priestly robes trimmed with gold. He held a Staff inlaid with a holy light crystal, his expression solemn.
Bagel had also changed into armor.
"Ready?" Li Baitian swept his gaze over them.
"Let's get going!" Waldolong sounded slightly impatient.
The group boarded a bus, which sped down the broad underground passage.
Along the way, enormous load-bearing pillars gleamed with a cold metallic sheen, and countless pipelines intertwined across the vaulted ceiling like the veins of this underground fortress.
After passing through layers of stringent security checkpoints, the vehicle drove into a massive elevator large enough to accommodate a passenger jet.
Humm-
With a slight sensation of weightlessness, the elevator descended rapidly.
The shuttle finally drove into the Portal plaza on the lowest level.
As soon as they got out, all twelve representatives of the other races widened their eyes and surveyed their surroundings.
What greeted their eyes was a soul-shaking torrent of steel!
The plaza was so vast that its far end seemed beyond sight.
An enormous Portal stood in the center, radiating deep blue spatial fluctuations.
And in front of the Portal.
Heavy Main Battle Tanks fresh off the production line, painted in dark green camouflage, rode on transport trailers, their thick Cannon barrels pointing straight toward the sky.
Farther back were densely packed Self-Propelled Howitzers, multiple-launch rocket vehicles, Land Shield 2000s, and more.
Their honeycomb-like launch tubes looked ready to spew flames capable of destroying everything at any moment.
Enormous missile transporters of all kinds rolled slowly past, the giant Missiles mounted on them like sleeping reapers.
In the air, swarms of Drones flashed red and blue indicator