The fleet was hundreds of kilometers away.
The aircraft that had just dropped a batch of missiles had turned around and were preparing to return to the tunnel behind them.
In the game world, the Mutual Aid Society does not currently have an air force; these fighter jets were all drawn from No. 4 Spacetime.
At headquarters on the Maple Leaf Continent, Zhang Tianyuan and Ke Jinjun were simultaneously monitoring the effects of the strike, while high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft had firmly locked onto the Joint Fleet.
On the screen in front of the two people, the relayed image showed a slight delay.
Just as Zhang Tianyuan saw the missile appear on the reconnaissance screen, the anti-ship missile had already slammed into the Joint Fleet.
boom!
One after another, huge fireballs burst forth on the sea surface.
The giant ship, which had been cutting through the waves just moments before, suddenly stopped in its tracks as if struck by a blunt object. It then slowly slowed down, and black smoke billowed from all parts of the ship, quickly enveloping the sea. The fleet's former imposing presence was completely gone.
Ugh--
The poster showed an alarm sounding, and an aircraft carrier with combat capabilities scrambled and landed a batch of fighter jets. Although they weren't wooden fighter jets, their appearance didn't suggest they were particularly advanced.
Zhang Tianyuan glanced at them and knew that once these planes took off, they wouldn't be able to fight, let alone find the enemy.
They simply couldn't possibly reach the altitude of a reconnaissance aircraft.
As he expected, the planes flew around the fleet like headless flies, searching every possible suspicious location, repeatedly weaving through the surrounding clouds.
But they couldn't find a single hair.
Just as the pilots were preparing to return to the aircraft carrier, the aircraft's rudimentary radar suddenly sounded an alarm.
Several tiny dots appeared on the screen, moving at high speed.
"Something... something's coming!"
A pilot screamed and then saw a streak of flame flash past his cockpit. The turbulence nearly caused him to crash, and the plane was like a kite with a broken string in the sky, at risk of plummeting at any moment.
While he struggled to control the plane, a lot of noisy and frightened sounds came through the radio, but he paid no attention to them.
Once he finally managed to get the plane under control, he breathed a sigh of relief and refocused his attention on communicating with his teammates.
"It's over, it's over, we're finished!"
"There's no going back, there's no going back..."
The words on the channel carried a hint of despair, and the pilot turned his head curiously to look at the sea.
Smoke plumes shot skyward; all thirty-odd ships had been hit and rendered powerless, rendered immobile. Chaos reigned on the decks; frantic human figures could be seen peeking through the flames and black smoke, and some soldiers could even be seen leaping from their ships with clumsy, haphazard movements...
As for their aircraft carrier that just took off...
The pilot rubbed his eyes, circling over the fleet, and finally confirmed that the aircraft carrier's deck was completely destroyed.
They have no chance of landing again.
Now you either have to make an emergency landing on the sea or parachute to safety.
But what's the situation now?
The sea beneath their feet was near its border, and countless monsters lurked within it.
Moreover, the fleet is already struggling to protect itself; if they fall into the sea, they will likely face certain death as well...
"What's going on?!"
"We haven't even crossed the border yet, and we've already suffered such a horrific attack!"
Is this a world even more powerful than the Holy Empire?
The pilots, who had been darting around in the sky, finally realized what was happening. They had just been about to cross the border when they were attacked. The source of the culprit was probably self-evident.
"Run! We must get this message back to the Empire! His Majesty His Majesty Howard must know this!"
The officer's furious roar came through the channel.
The disorganized planes regrouped above the thick smoke and flames, then turned back towards the Empire.
Their fuel was naturally insufficient to get them back to land.
But once they get close enough, the plane can send messages back to the land...
With this thought in mind, the remaining dozen or so pilots took off on their journey home.
But before they had flown more than a few dozen kilometers, the radar suddenly sounded an alarm again.
An unidentified object is rapidly approaching!
The pilots looked up in alarm.
A series of dark shadows came crashing down on them with a whooshing sound!
boom!
Another round of bombing.
"This is already the fourth round of bombing; we've even used thermobaric weapons." Ke Jinjun stood in front of the screen, watching the real-time situation at the front.
Their attention was entirely focused on the ships at the epicenter of the explosion.
"So far, not a single ship has shown any obvious damage, and there are absolutely no shipwrecks. These ships are simply too sturdy!"
Ke Jinjun's tone was one of sighing.
Although warships are inherently sturdy and difficult to sink by air raids, it is still surprising that these ships, which are clearly decades behind, were able to withstand four rounds of bombing despite the precision firepower of modern technology.
It's important to understand that these successive bombings were all aimed at precisely targeting the structural weaknesses of the warships.
They managed to endure all of this, and they endured it all...
"These warships must have used those special materials, otherwise they couldn't have lasted this long."
Zhang Tianyuan watched the screen quietly until the smoke from the battle gradually dissipated, revealing the disheveled state of the ships' decks.
There were no bodies, no bloodstains, and not even a single person on the deck.
Because in the game system, the android's body automatically disappears after it dies.
As for not seeing any living people, that's because even if the soldiers on the ship weren't directly killed by the explosion, they were certainly indirectly killed by the shockwave.
Four rounds of bombing were no joke, and given the close proximity of these ships, adding an iron chain between them would have created a mini-version of Cao Cao.
No one could survive under such circumstances.
"Have someone clean up the battlefield." Having confirmed that the situation on the field was now clear, Zhang Tianyuan began to have people enter the field.
A fighter jet hovered at low altitude at the scene, acting as a coordinate, allowing the Spacetime Tunnel to be successfully opened on the warship.
Then the prepared troops emerged from the tunnel and began clearing the site...
The cleanup operation lasted a full week. More than thirty warships, as well as downed aircraft, mechs on the decks, and so on, were all towed to the Pacific Rim Spacetime for research.
To this end, Zhang Tianyuan specially established a Multispacetime Joint Research Group within the Mutual Aid Society, bringing in experts from various timelines to study these spoils of war.
Meanwhile, to Zhang Tianyuan's surprise, there were actually five people who survived the four rounds of bombing. However, after hearing about their professions, Zhang Tianyuan felt relieved.
Because all five of them were mech pilots, and their bodies had clearly been enhanced by the game system.
These five people instantly became highly sought-after, treated like precious gems. This was the first time the Mutual Aid Society had acquired androids from players outside the server, and these were even enhanced androids.
Its research value is far greater than that of the androids created by other players on the server.
Under these circumstances, the five individuals' ideological tendencies, as well as their daily intake and excretion, were studied in separate groups and monitored almost without any blind spots.
In addition, research on mechs has not been neglected.
Mako Mori, along with a team of experts from various countries in the Pacific Rim Spacetime, personally observed some of the mechs that survived the bombing and the mech wreckage.
To everyone's surprise, these mechs were quite "primitive," still primarily operated manually, with no AI or neural links whatsoever.
These are real, large robots; operating them relies entirely on hand speed.
Even so, these mechs possess formidable capabilities, whether in defense, attack, or speed, leaving mech experts with a sense that they are completely unscientific.
It even gave people the idea of prying open Newton's coffin lid and letting him get up and take a look.
A 25-meter-tall, 800-ton Hound-type mech can reach a starting speed of 70 km/h, and even approach 100 km/h on flat ground. It carries a weight of up to 200 tons, of which 150 tons are for fuel...
In addition, it has a defensive capability strong enough to withstand four rounds of bombing.
This is even more powerful than a tank!
Everyone was stunned after this data was measured.
Even Zhang Tianyuan hadn't expected that these seemingly crude mechs would be so powerful.
No wonder these player factions use them to fight monsters in the game.
Especially when researchers learned from captured pilots that these mechs were blessed with the "divine power" of His Majesty Howard...
These players may not be as powerful as the Mutual Aid Society in terms of legitimate technological development, but the various achievements they have made through the game system have far exceeded the Mutual Aid Society's expectations.
Mako Mori specifically suspended the small mecha project, which was about to go into production, and planned to postpone it until the initial results of this research were achieved.
After that, make one more modification to the small mech.
Meanwhile, in other timelines, the research facility for the mechs was also astonishing, and everyone began to pay close attention, carefully studying the captured warships and aircraft...
Even Zhang Tianyuan felt a sense of urgency.
We need to move as soon as possible!
Otherwise, what if one of these mechs suddenly appeared and attacked?
While research was being conducted intensively in various time periods and spaces.
Howard, the master of the Joint Fleet, and King Geri were on the phone talking to each other.
"Three days ago, I noticed that the number of War Machine on the panel had decreased, so I launched an investigation and eventually discovered that the missing War Machine should have come from the Joint Fleet."
"Then I had someone retrieve the fleet roster, entered it into the system, and found that almost everyone on it was already dead..."
"So I'm pretty sure that our Joint Fleet has now sunk to the bottom of the sea, along with its equipment!"
King Geri's voice was very solemn.
Howard, on the other hand, after hearing these words, touched his balding, chubby head and belatedly said, "The fleet is already destroyed?"
Following King Geri's lead, Howard also opened his game panel to check the number of War Machine.
[Current War Machine Remaining: 127]
However, looking at this number, Howard was confused again.
There are still 127 mechs left, but...
How many were there before?
Howard finally figured out the answer after asking his head butler, Andy.
Then he went to the phone and said in a muffled voice to King Geri:
"You're right, my War Machine numbers have also decreased."
King Geri had been waiting for more than ten minutes, was at a loss for words...
Finally, Howard spoke first, "You'd better continue to work with me. This is just a small setback and it won't shake the great Howard Empire!"
King Geri was speechless again.
After a long pause, he finally said, "We can continue to cooperate."
Howard was quite satisfied with his statement, grinning broadly, "Alright, then we'll change direction next."
Although it doesn't seem like a typical league game, Howard isn't one to forget past mistakes. Since his exploration in this direction has gone wrong, he should switch to another approach as soon as possible.
However, King Geri rejected his proposal:
"Perhaps you haven't heard, but we can only head west. Vanguard fleets have appeared to explore from the north and east of our server, but they were wiped out by the Duolan Dynasty."
"In the south, we discovered traces of a probe rocket launch, meaning we may need to be wary of enemies in this direction in the future. Right now, only the west hasn't reacted at all!"
" The Duolan Dynasty is now preparing to attack the north and east, while the situation in the south is unclear. Therefore, we must concentrate our forces and launch a fierce attack on the west to seize a new colony there!"
Howard remained silent for a moment, as if pondering with his rusty brain, before finally saying, "His Holiness the Holy Howard accepts your proposal."
For the next month or so, unlike the calm within the Mutual Aid Society's territory, all the game servers were in an uproar.
A month is more than enough time for most forces to make their marching and deployments.
Giant ships, airplanes, and mechs roared, unleashing endless carnage in the space as far as the eye could see.
Many less advanced factions woke up to find their outer waters blockaded by massive warships Cannon, with mechs being unloaded from ships and brought ashore from the near sea...
Zhang Tianyuan didn't care about this. After annihilating a Joint Fleet from the east last time, they bombed the western fleet twice more recently.
That server, which was at best at World War I level, seemed to be the most enthusiastic about colonization.
Besides that, Zhang Tianyuan had been researching the game system, while the others were studying the mechs imbued with Howard's "divine power".
In addition, preliminary results have been obtained from research on the impact of higher-dimensional humans on three-dimensional spacetime.
"So, their influence is limited, and they are not gods in three-dimensional space?"
After listening to the experts' long report, Zhang Tianyuan didn't understand much, only one conclusion.
The physicist in front of me nodded. "Based on our speculation, the influence of higher-dimensional humans on three-dimensional spacetime is limited, but also enormous..."