– Overture
Fitzdurk instead became silent. Apostles needed mediums, when the apostle consciousness awoke within the medium, it would be extremely weak, to the extent where it even had a chance of being destroyed. Meanwhile, at that time, the apostle’s consciousness would immediately react, which was loathe and even attack the one who awoke it with full power. This was precisely the reason why even though Fitzdurk had good intentions when he offered to fully awaken Serendela’s instincts, with the relationship between them not all that friendly, he might very well become Serendela’s target of hatred after completely waking her, to the extent where she might use this as an excuse to start a war. Meanwhile, in a battle on the level of apostles, no matter how many mechanical bugs he had, even if he used Valhalla, it would be almost completely useless. Serendela’s fighting strength among the apostles could only be considered mid level, but she might overwhelm Fitzdurk.
“Fine, then let’s think this issue over from a different angle.” Fitzdurk slowed down his words, saying gently, “The brain is definitely on this planet, just that we don’t know if it has completely waken yet. We must find it, because only with the brain will there be a chance of ascertaining ‘its’ existence and trend, moreover find ‘it’. It is likely in this stellar domain, but with only you, me and Madeline, there is no chance of finding it, and thus we’d have no method to completely destroy it. If this continues, what meaning is there in us escaping? Once it awakens and recovers, it can easily find us, and then completely erase us from this universe. Even if we escape the the edges of the universe, it could still find us within a few centuries, or even a few decades of time. Right now, do you still think that we can drift in the darkness for tens of thousands of years? That is why we have no choice, we have to find the brain.”
When Fitzdurk mentioned ‘it’, Serendela’s body clearly trembled slightly. However, the persistent look in her eyes never changed. Fitzdurk captured all of this in his eyes. In the end, he sighed, and then said, “How about this, I can preserve an area for you in the purge. This is the most I can do, Serendela.”
Serendela’s eyes suddenly erupted with brilliance, looking at Fitzdurk with pleasant surprise.
“Now, pick the place you want to preserve!” Fitzdurk’s voice was robotic and cold. When she heard this sentence, Serendela’s eyes flickered with light, a small golden ring immediately appearing on the holographic map, the ring surrounding a black spot that wasn’t all that striking. On the panoramic map, that black spot was small to the point where it almost couldn’t be detected, and in the real world, it wasn’t all that large either. That was only a small region, only a bit special because of the facilities that were built within. This place was the Blood Parliament’s number one prison.
After selecting the place that was to be preserved, the central control room entered silence. Fitzdurk began to completely immerse himself in the production of the mechanical bug swarms. Based on the data brought back by the bug swarms sent out first before their destruction, he began to design new units and modules, hundreds of new plans published with nearly each passing second.
Meanwhile, Serendela spent more of her time observing the Blood Parliament’s shadow.
—
In the northern region of Dragon City, several dozen large-scale engineering machinery were currently rumbling, pushing the mechanical bug remains that could be found everywhere into one pile. The desolate wilderness that had almost no cover left already had several small metal mountains piled up. There were more than a hundred soldiers and engineers who were currently moving about the battlefield, searching and gathering valuable mechanical bug parts for follow-up research. In addition, in the rear position, there were several tents set up, a few Black Dragonriders gathered together, either smoking cigarettes or drinking the strong alcohol they brought with them, speaking one minute and quiet the next in idle gossip, occasionally making a few sexual jokes that would produce a wave of loud laughter. However, after the laughter passed, they would quickly enter silence again, their eyes involuntarily drifting back to the metal trash mountains that were getting taller and taller. Their faces and bodies still carried traces of battle, the smell of smoke still not completely gone, their bandages often had blood dripping out from them as well. The dragonriders were sitting on stacks of empty ammunition chests, these new ammunition chests looking like they weren’t produced that long ago, on all of them a special lightning symbol. These were special ammunition produced in emergency against the mechanical bugs, and it could be fired by normal automatic rifles. Once they hit their target, the powerful electromagnetic fields would destroy the target, as well as the mechanical bugs in its vicinity. These were designs provided by Helen, but even with the Black Dragonriders’ powerful manufacturing ability, they needed three to four days just to produce the first batch. That was why Arnobi wasn’t able to obtain this special ammunition.
Scattered about the dragonriders’ feet were several large tower shields made of alloys, the shield surface smooth like mirrors. These curved surface tower shields that had undergone simple polishing were extremely effective against the high energy light beams. Even though they couldn’t hold on for that long either, at most taking on a dozen or so beams before breaking apart, their low cost and simple processing needed gave them a quantitative advantage. That was why providing a dozen or so tower shields for each Black Dragonrider wouldn’t use up that much funds.
After obtaining the special equipment, the Black Dragonriders’ destructive power against the mechanical bugs increased greatly, completely wiping out the tens of thousands of bugs, while not suffering too great of losses themselves. As for the casualties of normal soldiers and battle machines, these were all consumables that they could afford to lose.
However, judging from the dragonriders’ grave expressions and silence they entered from time to time, it was clear that victory didn’t come that easily. In reality, the instant the high energy light beams fired over, almost every single dragonrider was doubtful whether the alloy reflective shield could stop them. In that moment, the shadow of death already gripped everyone’s hearts. The shadow was extremely dense, and even now, they still couldn’t become relaxed.
On the battlefield still covered in smoke, Josh Morgan had a cup of coffee in hand, currently walking in a somewhat carefree manner. However, a dark cloud was looming before his forehead as he looked at the mechanical bug remains everywhere. Apart from the female secretary who changed into a military uniform, there were only two other attendants, one of them a bit special, the flickering silver color extremely striking no matter where it was. As a high general, this type of formation was a bit too frail, making one couldn’t help but feel a bit of worry for Morgan’s safety. However, those who were familiar with the inner details knew that perhaps even if everyone in Dragon City died, Morgan would always be the last one standing.
When he walked past the remains of a mechanical bug, the mechanical bug that was originally still and unmoving, body still releasing smoke suddenly flipped over. The high energy light beam tool at its belly lit up, radiance in the diamond crystal flickering about, clearly about to fire out a high energy light beam! Right at this time, a fashionable and graceful high-heeled pair of shoes landed, crushing it into a pile of components that would no longer pose any threat. When she saw General Morgan and Lafite’s somewhat amused expressions, the female secretary stuck her tongue out in a rather cute manner, while her foot quietly grinded a few times.
Josh Morgan couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head. His eyes then moved north. After taking a sip of the coffee that had long turned ice-cold, he asked, “Lafite, what do you think is next?”
Lafite remained silent for a moment, and then said, “Prison Number One.”
Morgan was a bit shocked. He gave Lafite a look, and then said, “I originally thought that you were only good at fighting, I never expected you to have a bit of strategic awareness as well. However, was this really your opinion?”
Lafite shook his head and said, “No, it’s what Helen told me to tell you. She wanted you to pay close attention to Prison Number One, that might very well be the bug swarm’s next target. It is best to… destroy it.”
“This is indeed quite the attractive target, this is something I agree with. However, destroying it is definitely not a good idea.” Morgan smiled, and then said, “We can’t just continue to let these bugs fly around, their numbers are also great to an annoying degree. Instead of chasing them everywhere, why don’t we place a block of honey to have all of them gather? This way, won’t it be easier to wipe them all out?”
While speaking, Morgan handed the empty coffee cup to the female secretary, and then after giving Lafite a meaningful look, said, “Moreover, if we destroy Prison Number One, where will we keep you after the war ends? It is quite costly to build a new prison, while our funds are limited.”