Chapter 337: Gift

Yes!

The crew who received the order began to act, and soon a communications officer turned his head toward the port side window and reported loudly:

"Commander, your holographic image has been broadcast to the public channel!"

Hearing this, Lai Ang gave a slight nod, then continued standing in an overlooking posture, remaining silent without words.

Only after he saw two squadrons composed of Viking fighters and Longsword bombers sweep past the bridge at close range on the ship's right side, entered his view, and quickly approached the Titanium Shore homeworld did Lai Ang, in a cold, merciless tone, speak:

"I am the third son of the Lord of Humanity, Lai Ang. I do not care what purpose or intent you have in violating our training planet, but regardless, congratulations on successfully drawing my attention, drawing my father's attention."

"Today, as a reward, I will give you a sincere gift, a gift that will allow your homeworld to rejuvenate, so be sure to accept it."

At this moment, all warships and surface cities of the Titanium Shore could see Lai Ang's holographic projection, as well as the "gift" he mentioned.

As for whether they could understand, Lai Ang cared little; he was merely making a customary proclamation while deciding the fate of a planet inhabited by a living, intelligent species.

Outside the bridge.

The Titanium Shore fleet, unable to comprehend human language, continuously unleashed a barrage of fire upon the Courage Anthem and other human warships, attempting to annihilate the "detestable invaders" that had struck their homeworld.

Unfortunately, no matter how many they were or how hard they fought, they could not pierce the human shields in a short time.

In contrast, after the Dark Angel Legion fully exited the Rift Space, relying on their shields to ignore the attacks, they first widened the spacing between warships, forming an inverted "V" formation suitable for coordinated cannon fire.

Immediately after…

Ri~—!

The front of the ship shimmered with bright blue charging light.

Swoosh~—!

A straight blue-light trajectory instantly sliced through the void, piercing every Titanium Shore warship in its path, breaking through the atmosphere unimpeded, allowing 15, 25, 35, and even the Courage Anthem's main cannon's 50‑ton tungsten‑iron alloy projectiles to slam onto the Titanium Shore homeworld's surface at unimaginable speed.

Boom——Boom——Boom!!!

Soil, debris and smoke formed, and mushroom clouds of varying scales and sizes erupted almost simultaneously; even from low Earth orbit or farther out in the void, the spectacular sight could be seen clearly.

Despite a disparity of dozens of times, the battle remained one‑sided, with the Titanium Shore Empire suffering a full‑scale human onslaught.

For example, that recent main‑cannon barrage instantly destroyed or disabled nearly thirty warships of all types, again leaving the Titanium Shore commanders questioning the very existence of "humans".

"Good" when the electromagnetic main cannons fire in unison, without the DivineBody releasing a "◇" diamond‑shaped net that would instantly engulf and compress the fleet—otherwise they would immediately exploit their racial advantage—

Retreat!

The clash provided perfect cover for the two tiny bombing squadrons, allowing them to quickly withdraw from the combat zone and head toward the north and south poles of the Titanium Shore homeworld.

During this time, several enemy aircraft noticed the two bombing squadrons, but all were dealt with by the escorting Vikings.

Moreover, the Vikings and Longswords were so tiny that the entire defensive force of the Titanium Shore focused on the Dark Angel fleet, leaving no time to attend to those two bombing squadrons.

Furthermore…

What can a mere carrier‑based squadron possibly achieve?

…

The Titanium Shore homeworld was at the equatorial surface deep into the night.

Across the endless desert plain stood the massive capital of the Titanium Shore, whose architecture and layout resembled a human metropolis.

At this moment, the capital's populace was in panic.

In the central district of the capital, within a grand ancient‑style palace.

The upper‑level council hall.

The floor was laid with wooden planks, tidy and clean, and even under the lighting produced a modest mirror‑like reflection.

At the same time, dozens of Titanium Shore citizens knelt on cushions, their faces aged and skin wrinkled.

The one kneeling at the main seat, however, was relatively young, yet its expression, gaze, and trembling body showed it was in extreme terror.

Fearful of the "unknown" humans.

From their ornate attire and waist blades, one could infer that the elderly, solemn figure was a minister of the Titanium Shore Empire, while the young, flustered one was the emperor of the Titanium Shore Empire.

It may have inherited the throne through proper procedure, or be a puppet controlled by many ministers, but at this moment, any rift or hatred between ruler and ministers vanished, because they had provoked humanity.

Because this was the moment of their empire's very survival.

Intense debate erupted in the hall, with sharp voices analyzing the situation in a language different from humans, and speculating what Lai Ang's "gift" proclamation broadcast to the public channel truly meant.

Of course, the debate centered on only two options from start to finish: fight to the death, or surrender.

The result was clear: after their proudest space fortress was destroyed by the Courage Anthem, the surrender faction took the absolute upper hand.

Yet the young emperor was conflicted, having just ascended the throne only to face the threat of green‑skinned beasts, and then a full‑scale human counter‑offensive.

Pathetic…

He had the urge to vent but was helpless.

In the end, the emperor let out a heavy sigh, apparently ready to adopt the surrender faction's advice, to proactively negotiate with Lai Ang for a "peaceful coexistence" ceasefire agreement.

However…

"Boom—!!!"

Without any warning or hint, a cataclysmic impact shattered everything, rendering all decisions moot.

The Titanium Shore emperor and ministers only recalled, before everything fell into darkness, the forced, humiliating surrender decision and, after humanity accepted their surrender, a patient, vengeful mindset waiting to bite back at humans.

Leaving the hall and palace, looking from the sky down to the ground, one could see the entire capital—no, the whole planetary surface—engulfed in a sea of fire.

More precisely, the ground cracked, magma surged uncontrollably, and earth and sky seemed fused together in a murky mass.

Beyond the Titanium Shore homeworld's atmosphere, observing from the void where the Courage Anthem resides, one could clearly see colossal mushroom clouds rising from both the north and south poles, reaching the heavens.

The surface had already been "cleansed" by shockwaves and planetary fissuring; hundreds of millions of Titanium Shore citizens perished in supersonic shockwaves before even sensing the danger.

Ignorant and painless—that is the "gift" Lai Ang spoke of.

【9】 The two bombing squadrons that withdrew from combat at the outset were carrying one of the weapons designed for the "Extinction Order": the Nova-III type nuclear bomb.

【10】 This nuclear bomb, whose pronunciation and spelling match NuoWa, consists of a lithium triterpene casing and fourteen Cataclysm IV nuclear warheads inside, each with a 60‑million‑ton TNT yield.

The two bombing squadrons that voluntarily withdrew from combat at the outset of the battle were carrying one of the weapons designated for the Extinction Order, the Nova-III type nuclear bomb.

This nuclear bomb, whose pronunciation and spelling both match NuoWa, is composed of a lithium triterpenoid shell and, inside the shell, fourteen Cataclysm IV nuclear bombs each with a yield of sixty million tons of TNT.

Once detonated, it's not as simple as 14 × 60 million = 840 million tonnes TNT equivalent; its lithium triterpene shell causes the explosion process to be "instantaneously compressed," then ultra‑fast released, making the power increase exponentially.

As for the bombardment squadron's mission, it is very simple: to drop one Nova III nuclear bomb each on the south and north poles of the Titanium Star homeworld, to achieve the "surface zero" extermination effect.

The DawnGuardian still has six, but there's no need to launch all; in fact, one is enough to make an Earth-like planet unsuitable for incubation and nurturing life for ten thousand years.

However, to give the Titanium Star Empire, as well as all the forces observing this expedition as an "audience," a perfect performance, two are enough.

In low orbit.

The intense engagement fell into a silence as the Titanium Star homeworld turned into a primitive "fireball."

The Titanium Star fleet never expected humans to possess a "one-click zero" extermination weapon, and morale collapsed directly.

If a human fleet saw Earth destroyed at close range, they would likewise collapse, but given human temperament they would be even more likely to take a mutually destructive action; the Astate would even hate to jump in alone and tear apart every enemy within sight with bare hands.

It is obvious that the Titanium Star species is not human.

Although the destruction of their homeworld filled them with grief, the situation is now such that fleeing… no! Preserving strength is the top priority and also the wisest choice!

Thus, facing the inability to break through defenses, the DawnGuardian, with its extraordinarily fierce firepower, together with another twenty-six Dark Angel warships, the Titanium Star fleet tasked with defending the homeworld immediately changed direction, all entering a state similar to jump travel, "stretching" into a flat straight line, and disappearing from this region of space.

However, there were still over thirty 100-meter-class Titanium Star warships, seemingly refusing to obey the withdrawal order, fearlessly charging toward the Dark Angel warships.

Seeing this.

Leon naturally gave absolute respect, ordering the fleet to reorganize its formation and then conducting a simultaneous main and secondary gun salvo.

The straight blue‑light trajectories and the massive oval salvo instantly swept across the region of space, sinking the last thirty-plus Titanium Star warships.

Either the hull was pierced by tungsten‑iron shot, or blown apart by plasma salvo, or the engine lost power and the hull was dragged by the homeworld's gravity onto the magma‑covered surface.

Inside the bridge of the DawnGuardian.

Standing behind the porthole, witnessing everything and still personally issuing the extermination order, Leon wore a cold expression from start to finish.

Sympathy, pity?

The 126-year-old Leon had long lost the confusion of youth; for his father and for humanity, it had long ceased to be a battle cry for him.

When facing enemies, especially those of different species, feeling sympathy and pity is an extremely irresponsible and extremely childish act toward one's own compatriots.

Not every species values promises as highly as elites and iron-blooded ones do, being straightforward.

Even the Maltese people who pledged allegiance en masse, and the "Elf Queen" Erinmil, became willing vassals of humanity only because of Sui Bian.

Interests and the survival of the species are supreme.

If Sui Bian did not provide protection, or if there were no human species of Sui Bian, Erinmil would hardly be worth leading her people to seek refuge.

Once Sui Bian suddenly "disappears," even with ten Original Bodies and hundreds of thousands of Astate stationed, the Maltese may lack confidence that humanity can withstand the counterstrike from another dimension.

A moment of silence.

Confirming that the last enemy ship has crashed.

Leon turned away from the porthole, walked to the central console, and observed the battle situation across the entire starfield.

Currently, about 75% of the Titanium Star Empire's remaining colonies are under attack and occupation by the expeditionary force, and of that 75%, half of the Titanium Star side has already lost orbital control, forcing them to engage in ground warfare with humanity.

Since the remaining 25% of the expeditionary force is still traveling through jump in the Rift Space, they are temporarily spared from humanity's "visit."

In comparison, Leon's efficiency is the highest.

However, the goal of this expedition is to let humanity take the opportunity to firmly establish a foothold in this starfield; Robert will of course not abuse the extermination weapon.

But under Robert's indication, only the Titanium Star homeworld received "special care," so Leon then threw two Nova III nuclear bombs at the Titanium Star homeworld, accelerating the end of the war.

Observe a bit.

Leon said, "Notify the war marshal, we have completed the initial objective and are preparing to rush to the 045 star system to provide support."

"Yes, sir."

The crew members who received the orders reported to Robert, who was also in the Rift Space, then made preparations and headed for the 045 star system, which they temporarily designated by number.

———————

…

Soon after.

Sailing through the rift tunnel with gorgeous, bright water-pattern walls, the DawnGuardian, nearly twenty kilometers long, is approaching the tunnel's end "light point" at great speed.

Soon, the "light point" grew larger and larger until its full appearance as a vortex exit became clear, at which point the DawnGuardian had already passed through, returning to the real universe.

Moreover, around the DawnGuardian, thirty jump exits appeared in succession, sending the various vessels of the Extreme Legion—Zeus, Gorgon, Achilles, and others—out of the Rift Space.

All exits dissipated.

The fleet reorganized its formation.

And a planet covered in forests and lakes, along with "her" moon, came into view.

Strangely, that moon, with a diameter of only about a hundred kilometers, although its surface is barren and bald like the Moon's, upon close inspection one can see that its surface appears to be made of metal plates of various types and sizes randomly pieced together, and it also has many structures protruding from the surface.

At first glance, one might think it is a human-made "shield world."

However, this moon looks like a pile of scrap copper and iron ready to fall apart at any moment, yet it can defy common sense and maintain a stable structure as a "man-made" mother ship.

Besides this mother ship, within the planet's gravitational range and in near orbit, there are also scattered fleets of various specifications and appearances, or even vessels that do not resemble warships at all.

Some look no different from the pirate ships of the 18th and 19th centuries of humanity.

The crystalline debris and fragments floating in orbit, as well as the smoke and fire haze covering the ground, all indicate that before the Extreme Legion arrived here, an unimaginably fierce battle had taken place.

And the result of that fierce battle was that the planet's orbital defenses were completely destroyed by such a bizarre "scrap" fleet of warships.

The war spread to the ground; although the planet's inhabitants were brave and skilled in combat, lacking allied support, those "they" were doomed to defeat and occupation the moment they lost orbital control.

Inside the bridge of the DawnGuardian.

Gazing at the distant mother ship, Robert couldn't help but furrow his brows and mutter to himself: "Battle Moon……"

(End of chapter)