One month later.
While the Pioneer Party was holding back the offensives of the Ancient Emperor Party and the Descent Party, it launched a counter-offensive through the Black Star Army. The fleets of the three parties invaded each other's territory through gaps in the defenses. The directions of the fleets' attacks were intertwined on the tactical star map, and the battle was at a stalemate.
At this very moment, a colony located in the outer star sector of the Ancient Emperor Party is under attack by the Pioneer Party. The Pioneer Party fleet and the Black Star fleet, which blot out the sky, are engaged in fierce battle with the planetary defense fleet. At the same time, they are launching air raids on cities on the ground, accurately bombing the city's protective shields, intending to blast open gaps and drop airdrop pods.
The pale yellow, semi-circular light curtain, like an inverted bowl, enveloped the entire capital city of this colony, enduring the continuous bombardment from the sky. Blue-black energy blobs exploded on the protective light curtain, and rapidly moving arcs of electricity coursed across its surface. Its durability was rapidly decreasing, and the city's protective shield flickered, becoming extremely unstable.
Considering the various factors of the civil war, the local army forcibly closed the underground Sanctuary, prohibiting citizens from entering. Countless citizens could only hide in their houses, trembling with fear. Meanwhile, the city's surface defenders gathered, looking up at the sky. The dazzling light of explosions filled their vision, and the deafening rumble of explosions was like heavy hammer blows to their hearts. Everyone's eyes revealed a desperate, trapped beast-like despair.
Click!
The city's massive protective shield finally succumbed to the attack, and cracks spread in full view of everyone. Then, like a shattered eggshell, the entire shield broke apart, bursting open with holes and collapsing rapidly.
The next moment, countless Enderman appeared from the sky, trailing fiery tails as they plummeted rapidly, like a dense mass of meteorites crashing down on the capital.
The city's anti-aircraft guns immediately opened fire, firing a luminous blast at the array of airdrop pods, which exploded in mid-air, creating clouds of smoke and fire.
Some of the airdrop pods had their shields broken and were blown to pieces mid-air, but many more pods crashed into different parts of the city, kicking up clouds of dust.
From the air, a dense mass of Legion players emerged from the airdrop pods and spread throughout the city. This group numbered approximately several thousand, forming small squads that moved swiftly into action.
All personnel were equipped with detectors, covering the entire area and marking all threatening targets carrying weapons, thus distinguishing between enemy troops and civilians. The arriving legion players were adept at this, clearing out the enemy's ground forces.
Battles quickly erupted in various parts of the city, with players clashing with ground troops. Although outnumbered, the players were mostly Grade B soldiers, while the enemy consisted mostly of ordinary soldiers who only possessed some combat capability due to their armor.
Grade B is the backbone of interstellar combat, each possessing combat capabilities comparable to an army. Smashing down a building is child's play for them. Unlike typical Grade B characters, players don't worry about being targeted and attack without restraint.
The ground defenders were horrified to discover that these interstellar mercenaries, carrying artillery fire, charged forward fearlessly, quickly penetrating their positions and unleashing their devastating power. In any skirmish that broke out, the player could swiftly crush the enemy, decimating wave after wave of ground troops, leaving no survivors in their wake.
In the tactical view, Enderman representing airdrop squads move rapidly across the city map, while red dots representing enemies scattered throughout the city are quickly eliminated and become increasingly sparse.
In the city center, the government building has been breached by seven teams of players who have carried out a massacre and clearing out the inhabitants floor by floor.
In a certain room, a Grade B warrior of the Ancient Emperor Party knelt on the ground, his eyes wide open, staring intently at the actions of the person in front of him. The person in front of him suddenly pulled out the thin Blades that had pierced his throat, drawing out a stream of blood that splattered on the wall.
Life force drained from his body, and he collapsed, blood gushing out and forming a pool of blood.
"This guy's level is pretty high. I only have 37% health left." Frenzied Saber gripped the high-frequency rapier with one hand, shook off the blood, and Mechanical Force a mechanism to retract the blade into the hilt. He then inserted the hilt into the long, narrow notch in the armored forearm, and the Magnetic Link clicked to attach the hilt tightly.
The silver-black armor he's wearing is equipment specifically for mech warriors, and it's covered with folded mechanical weapons.
The room was littered with the corpses of guards. Jiangcheng Guild and their teammates were nearby. They had just finished off the enemies in the house and were now using the automatic repair tool to restore the durability of their armor, while also looting the equipment scattered among the corpses.
Intense gunfire erupted from the direction of the room's main entrance. The slain Grade B general seemed quite important, attracting a large wave of enemy troops. Maple Moon guarded the entrance, deploying numerous lethal mechanical traps and electromagnetic kinetic energy turrets using compression spheres, firing incessantly. With Grade B mechanic guarding the door, ordinary troops simply couldn't break through and were pinned down at the corner of the corridor. Several charges left only corpses scattered on the ground.
Maple Moon usually enjoys hanging out with the Jiangcheng Team, and Frenzied Saber is also willing to bring along reliable Mechanic Class players. The two have always had a good relationship.
Since Mechanic Class players were introduced to the Compression Ball Technology in patch 3.0, they have become the most sought-after members for team play, highly coveted by everyone. Mechanic Class players no longer need to slowly deploy their machines; their field-laying speed has increased, amplifying their impact. Now, whether in dungeons or combat quests, almost every team includes a Mechanic to handle various situations. Of course, each Mechanic Class player's equipment is different, and the situations they can adapt to vary.
"I wonder how many Grade B enemies are left in this city."
Team vice-captain Xie Xiaojian injected himself with a cell-activating catalyst to restore his health, and then chatted casually.
Frenzied Saber glanced at the real-time battlefield map. "There shouldn't be many left. The city's defenders have almost been wiped out by the others. Hao Tian and the others are downstairs; they've already taken down four Grade B monsters."
"We're really lucky. With this one, we've only killed two along the way," Xie Xiaojian said with envy.
Grade B are elites, offering substantial experience rewards for each kill. Moreover, Grade B elites are named and each has additional kill missions. In addition to experience, players can also receive extra rewards from the Pioneer Party. For the past month, players have been keen to deal with Grade B enemies.
For top-tier players, an average player might not be a match for a Grade B elite in a one-on-one fight, but a five-person squad can generally defeat an ordinary Grade B. Even though mini-bosses and Grade SS Grade B enemies are more troublesome, most are still within the realm of victory. Grade B used to be considered strong by players, but for today's players, killing Grade B has become routine.
A galaxy-level civilization typically has only a dozen or so Cataclysmic -Calamity Grade, which can only be encountered in crucial battles. Therefore, in other colony battlefields, thousands upon thousands of Grade B players are practically invincible.
Before long, the city's garrison was completely wiped out. The player returned to the drop pod, was carried away by the spaceship's tractor beam, and was airdropped to another city to join a new round of battle.
"Report from the front lines: three more colonies have fallen to the Black Star Army's undead."
The ruling stars of the Ancient Emperor Party, looking haggard, gathered together, staring at the strategic star map with furrowed brows.
"The Black Star Army's undead are terrifying; they're simply unstoppable," an officer said dejectedly. "To date, they've taken eighteen... no, twenty-one colonies."
If the enemy only had a fleet, they wouldn't have a problem, but the Ancient Emperor Party were helpless against this group of "undead".
Millions of Grade B Space Marines, probably more than their entire civilization's Grade B, and what's even more outrageous is that these people are undead, with almost zero casualties.
The Ancient Emperor Party's leadership could only watch helplessly as resurrected players reclaimed colonies one by one.
The Black Star Army's Immortal Army have always been renowned in the Shattered Star Ring, and this time they experienced it firsthand, leaving everyone present feeling utterly hopeless.
Such an enemy is truly terrifying. Whoever commands such a formidable elite force will have a place in the universe!
The intervention of the Black Star Army has left the Ancient Emperor Party with little hope. Continuing to fight like this offers no chance of victory, and it is estimated that the Pioneer Party will achieve victory in the civil war in about a year.
However, surrender was out of the question. No one was willing to give up a galaxy-level civilization. They could at least hold out for a year, and perhaps a turning point would come. While resisting, the high-ranking members of the Ancient Emperor Party were secretly seeking help and planning their escape route.
"That bastard Cecilin actually switched sides to the Pioneer Party and took his loyal followers with him! I never expected him to betray us!" The leader of the Ancient Emperor Party gritted his teeth. "We are clearly the ruling party cooperating with the Black Star Army. How could Black Star help the Pioneer Party for no reason? Cecilin must be behind this; there's no other explanation!"
When Cecilin was mentioned, hatred appeared on everyone's face. If this guy hadn't betrayed them, they wouldn't be in such a desperate situation!
"This traitor, I've never treated him unfairly. I've given him power, I've given him wealth, I've given him everything I could. What is he dissatisfied with? Why did he betray me!"
The leader of the Ancient Emperor Party slammed his fist on the table in anger, lamenting, "He dares to tell me about differing ideologies... What a joke! Look at what he's done! To uphold his so-called ideals, he's caused so many of his compatriots to die tragically. Does he think that doing so makes him a great man?! We were ruling just fine, and because of him, this civilization is about to lose its most legitimate ruler. He deserves to die!"
Upon hearing this, the high-ranking officials present all looked to the side, none of them echoing the sentiment, their expressions speechless.
They have a lot of self-confidence. Others have the right to say this, but they don't. They've done a lot of dirty work over the years. Ordinary people don't know what kind of people the Ancient Emperor Party is, but don't they?
In their view, the leader was so angry that he started rambling incoherently to vent his frustration.
However, at that moment, the leader of the Ancient Emperor Party abruptly stopped cursing. His movements froze, his angry expression remained unchanged for a second, then he calmed down, slowly stood up, and spoke in a tone unlike that of a different person:
"It seems you are all quite troubled. Perhaps I can help you."
The high-ranking officials present were all stunned for a moment, then their expressions suddenly changed drastically, and they stood up abruptly.
This phenomenon... is the leader being mind-controlled?!
Leaders of galactic-level civilizations receive Calamity Grade spells and psychic enhancements to prevent their minds from being controlled by others. At the very least, Calamity Grade magic cannot silently control the consciousness of a galactic-level civilization leader in full view of everyone.
Who did it?
Could it be Beyond Grade A?!
"Who are you?!" An officer, his face full of vigilance, secretly sent a message to his adjutant, ordering all the remaining Calamity Grade soldiers to come over.
"Don't be nervous, I mean you no harm. As for my identity, I don't intend to tell you."
The leader of the Ancient Emperor Party, expressionless, slowly spoke as his body was being controlled, "All you need to know is that I will provide you with military and resource support to help you fight against the Black Star Army."
The high-ranking officials exchanged skeptical glances, deciding that regardless of whether it was true or false, they should play along for now. At the same time, they were also worried that they or their companions might be mind-controlled, as this Mysterious Person clearly possessed such abilities.
"What would you like?"
"Don't worry, I don't want anything."
"Then why are you helping us?"
"I don't care about your Gular Civilization; I'm only interested in the Black Star Army's undead, and the longer you persist, the longer I can observe you."
The leader of the Ancient Emperor Party narrowed his eyes. "My proposal will only benefit you, not harm you. Do you accept it?"
The group exchanged glances, hesitated, and then nodded.
"Very good, I'll have someone contact you as soon as possible... Oh, and by the way, here's a suggestion: you could try offering positions to the Black Star Army's undead."
Everyone was stunned.
"The Black Star Army is our enemy. You're telling us to ask the enemy for help? What does that mean?"
"That group of immortals... hehe, that group of undead has a unique set of rules for doing things. Some of their actions cannot be judged by logic. How do we know if it will work if we don't try?" The leader of the Ancient Emperor Party said with a playful tone.
As soon as he finished speaking, the leader of the Ancient Emperor Party suddenly shuddered, his eyes becoming blank. He suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly touched his body.
"The person who controlled me has left?!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly stepped forward to support their leader.
Do you remember what you said when you were being controlled?
"I remember everything. At the time, I just couldn't control my body; my senses were still there."
Just then, the Calamity Grade officer who had stayed behind quickly arrived. After hearing what had happened, he examined the leader of the Ancient Emperor Party with a stern expression, his expression becoming increasingly solemn.
"How is it?" the leader of the Ancient Emperor Party asked.
"Your mental defense enchantments have all been broken, and in an instant. Those enchantments were enough to withstand Calamity Grade psychic's continuous intrusion for more than ten minutes. The person controlling you is definitely Beyond Grade A."
The leader of the Ancient Emperor Party's expression changed slightly. The term "Beyond Grade A" carries significant weight for a galaxy-level civilization.
Of the five Beyond Grade A in the Shattered Star Ring, only Sisko and Austin possess mind-control abilities...
Perhaps it's not these two, but Beyond Grade A from another star system?
Recalling the Mysterious Person's words, everyone's expressions became peculiar.
They hadn't expected to receive help in this way, but at least things had taken a turn for the better.
Although we still don't know who this guy is, since he's also Beyond Grade A, he shouldn't be afraid of the Black Star Army, right?
"By the way, he even told us to ask the enemy for help. Isn't that a joke?! Do you think the Black Star Army would turn around and help us?"
This suggestion was the most perplexing thing for everyone; it was clearly a futile endeavor, and they had no idea what the point was.
"... Anyway, we have no way out, so let's give it a try." The leader of the Ancient Emperor Party nodded.