Chapter 372: The Mother Who Meets Her Son and the Vortex

?!

Seeing his attack easily dispersed, the traitor commander's expression instantly grew much more solemn, and he began charging his power claw, causing lightning‑like energy fields to flicker between the five claw blades.

The remaining fourteen terminators also immediately went on high alert, pointing the muzzles of their parallel‑burst arrow guns, as well as the barrels of their plasma and molten‑heat cannons outward, searching for the figure releasing the Spiritual Energy barrier and the speaker.

"A bunch of resentful children, what right do you have to recruit upright people? And you speak of the true Human Empire? Ridiculous, ridiculous—little do you know you have already been blinded by hatred, profit, and ignorance?"

However, the speaker never appeared, and kept teaching the traitors with a voice that was soothing to the soul, even possessing "awakening" and "correcting" effects.

Upon hearing that, many rebels froze, as if truly contemplating right and wrong; even the traitor commander, whose eyes were filled with red light and who had been corrupted by chaos and deceived by a dark god, began to gradually regain clarity, though the whites of his eyes were still streaked with blood, giving him a weary, dazed appearance.

Seeing the group of traitor terminators who seemed to have suddenly "gone dumb", Mike, for some unknown reason, raised his pulse rifle and aimed its barrel at the unhelmeted traitor commander.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Dad realized his eldest son was trying to raise the gun and aim! He quickly thrust his left hand down, pressing hard on the barrel, and inserted his right index finger between the trigger, timely stopping his son from making a move that would have killed them all.

?

Mike was stunned.

!

Dad glared, as if saying, "What the hell are you thinking, you brat?! Trying to damn well kill our whole family?!"

This centenarian veteran, though hot‑tempered and eager to fight every demon and monster to the death, however!

But Dad doesn't want to, or perhaps dares not, face Astate head‑on!

Back when this dad was in the Sparta Corps, those giants averaging two meters fifty or sixty tall could overturn vehicles and utterly crush the vast majority of demons and monsters.

Even though the traitor terminators before us seem like "counterfeit" Astate, they are still Astate, and they easily eliminate the reserve's evil bastards.

Moreover, with unknown "persons" now assisting them, Dad doesn't want to provoke these traitors at this moment, nor let his sons act foolishly.

In contrast, the traitors stuck in a daze…

"Ah!! Who's that?! Who's playing god and ghost!! If you have the guts, come out! Come out and face me!!"

The traitor commander's eyes were again filled with red light, veins bulging, and he let out an uncontainable, sky‑ward roar.

It seems this "awakening" and "correcting" effect lasted only half a minute, unable to fully restore the traitors' minds.

Even if their minds recover, these traitors can never return to what they were, because their hands are stained with compatriot blood; therefore the ruler of humanity Sui Bian, and the OriginalBody governors of the ten star sectors will not spare them.

"Alas, pitiful child, then I will grant your wish to see me and relieve your suffering."

As soon as the words fell, the traitors' terminator power armor instantly locked onto the target, all pointing their barrels and cannons toward the southeast, away from the metropolis.

In the distance, a faint human silhouette was approaching.

To Mike's family and the surviving citizens it was barely visible, but to the Astate with super‑normal vision it was crystal clear.

The figure wore a pale‑red long dress, stood about 1.76–1.77 m tall, possessed a perfectly proud curve, flawless white skin, delicate features, and mature, elegant light‑brown curls, exuding an indescribable powerful aura.

Combined with the figure's golden crown and the staff tightly gripped in her right hand, wrapped in white cloth, she resembled a goddess descended to earth.

"Brothers! Eliminate this pretender!!"

The traitor commander roared loudly and sprinted toward the direction of the woman; his momentum and drive were set on slashing the 'misleading' woman to death.

Bang bang bang!

Ri— whoosh!!

The other fourteen terminator brothers simultaneously provided gunfire and cannon fire for their big brother, spreading out to gradually form an encircling formation, preparing to utterly crush that ungrateful woman.

However, all the explosive arrow bolts, plasma cannon clusters, and molten beams fired at the opponent were completely blocked by a Psychic Pressure barrier emitting a faint red glow.

The explosive arrows seemed suddenly halted, forced to hover mid‑air, then "Boom! Boom! Boom!" exploded in succession, never getting a millimeter closer to the woman, let alone crushing her.

At that moment, the woman simply waved her right hand holding the staff, releasing an invisible Psychic Pressure that spared the still‑charging traitor commander, then swept onto the fourteen terminators.

Bang! Bang! The sheet‑like, arc‑shaped protective field generated by the terminators was easily shattered by the Psychic Pressure.

Pfft! Pfft! Their flesh bodies were rapidly compressed and exploded.

The fourteen terminators could not hold out even a moment; their bodies were squeezed by Psychic Pressure into basketball‑sized meat lumps, though from the outside all that could be seen were fourteen limp bodies collapsing to the ground.

In fact, it should be said that fourteen sets of terminator armor fell to the ground.

As for the one who charged ahead, the traitor commander, enraged by the woman's words, never expected the brothers covering him to be instantly annihilated?!

So what?!

The traitor commander, far from being timid, grew even angrier, swinging his power claw at the 'infinitesimally small' woman.

Clang!!! The metal rang.

Boom!!! The ground trembled.

Dust billowed, and the surviving reservists and civilians instantly lost sight, clueless about what was happening at the heart of the smoke.

But the veteran dad, with a hundred years of experience, didn't freeze; he quickly grabbed the M41A, bent and ran to the rear of the Mammoth vehicle, trying to aid the three reservists who had lost their limbs.

However, without Mechanical exoskeletons or TPS Power Armor assistance, ordinary strength could hardly lift the reservists to sit up; fortunately the two sons and the little daughter reacted, and together with dad helped the reservists.

Seeing this, the glasses man also tucked the "Human Truth" into his belt, then ran over to help; soon, more and more people joined in.

The three limb‑less reservists and two still‑comatose ones were dragged away from the open area to the side of the Mammoth vehicle; some who knew vehicles inspected which could be used to transport them.

"No need…" a reservist said in a metallic‑toned voice, "Don't worry about us, run, run, that woman might be an abnormal creature, hurry now…"

"No, child." The glasses man shook his head, "Every time you protect us; if we abandon you and run, would I still be a steadfast supporter of 'Human Truth'? Would it really be worth saving? So child, we live together, we die together."

"Right! Live together, die together!" The little sister, moved, nodded in agreement.

"Exactly!" The vast majority shouted in unison.

But some eyes in the crowd averted, clearly unwilling to waste their lives, so those people chose to flee toward the metropolis amid the chaos.

However, no one ever looked down on those who chose to run; it was understandable—survival comes first, and using 'moral blackmail' to force others to stay would only draw contempt.

"Enough, stop talking about dying together." But dad gave the glasses man a disdainful glance, then surveyed the crowd, and finally fixed his gaze on Mike, Nero, and the little sister, reminding, "I'll scout the situation, you stay here."

"Mm." The two sons replied in unison.

"Dad, be careful." The little sister said with slight worry.

After saying "Don't worry!", dad gripped the M41A firmly, bent over, sprinted to the other side of the Mammoth vehicle, then hurried to the rear of the convoy, trying to observe the woman's clash with the rebel commander.

At the area about a hundred meters from the end of the convoy, the smoke and dust had long dispersed, and the outcome was already clear.

At this moment, the "woman" lifted her leg high, bent her knee, pressed her left foot onto the traitorous officer's breastplate, used her left forearm to brace against her left thigh, and held a "staff" in her right hand, pressing the tip against the officer's chin; her gaze held a hint of pity, and she said coldly:

"Child, you have strayed too far down the wrong path. I'm sorry, I cannot redeem you, so rest in peace."

As she spoke, the white cloth wrapping the "staff" began to fall away automatically, gradually revealing a golden scepter adorned with intricate engravings and set with blue, purple, green, and red gems.

Immediately afterward, the red gem of the golden scepter burst forth with dazzling light.

"No!!!" the traitorous officer howled in desperate, painful agony.

When the light faded and the wailing ceased, the elite veteran, battle‑hardened officer‑looking traitor was also "compressed" into a lump of flesh, leaving only an alternative Terminator power armor.

After eliminating all the traitors, the "woman" closed her eyes, shook her head and sighed, appearing as if she were reluctant to kill.

And though her methods were extremely lethal, even arguably cruel, perhaps it was… to help the traitors end their suffering sooner?

The father watching from the shadows didn't understand, and didn't want to; what he now wanted to determine was whether the "woman" was friend or foe.

"No need to fear, humans." At that moment, the "woman" opened her eyes, stepped slowly toward the father's position, and, with a gentle smile, introduced herself:

"I am the Olympian Empress who despises all interdimensional beings and feels compassion for humanity…

Hehe…" At this point, the "woman" couldn't help but laugh self‑derisively, and continued: "I was once an Empress; now, now I am merely a mother who wishes to see her son once more."

———————

…

Meanwhile.

Beyond Dianka's atmosphere.

The once cold, dark cosmos had been completely replaced by an eerie pink and purple glow, and everything resembled the interdimensional storm that ravaged the border fortresses and the Oslo Star Region nearly seventy years ago.

The only difference lay in the direction away from the system's star, where a vortex opening as wide as an entire galaxy—like an oversized jump vortex—stood, and at the counter‑clockwise‑spinning vortex's center seemed to contain the starfield and galaxy of another universe.

Moreover, thousands of elongated, frustum‑shaped warships whose hulls resembled "shovels" were continuously passing through the vortex into the primary universe.

In contrast, the over one hundred guard warships of Dianka faced the incoming enemy like a mantis trying to block a carriage, ever at risk of being devoured or submerged.

Most importantly, the invading enemies this time were not inferior in warship specifications to those of Umbrella or UNSC.

For example, the Sparta 16th Battalion's nearly six‑kilometer Zeus‑class flagship could easily crush previous hostile forces using only Zeus, Gorgon, or Phoenix classes, but against the current foes calling themselves "Helusi's son", the Zeus class was only middle‑tier.

Fortunately, Umbrella and UNSC warships were superior to the enemy in agility and defense, especially the speed‑renowned Paris class and Resolute class escort ships, which were extremely hard for enemy artillery to lock onto.

At this time, Dianka's hundred vessels were conducting guerrilla actions against an enemy force dozens of times larger, trying to delay as long as possible for reinforcements to arrive and to prevent the enemy from prematurely seizing control of the ground orbit.

The 16th Battalion's Zeus‑class flagship relied on its energy shield to absorb all damage, while two Resolute‑class escorts cleared a path, thrusting into the enemy fleet and charging toward a suspected enemy flagship about fourteen kilometers in diameter.

Seeing this formation, the 16th Battalion's commander prepared to execute a Sparta jump team decapitation, to reverse the current bleak situation and relieve pressure on Dianka.

Afterward, at the cost of losing one Resolute‑class ship and heavily damaging another, they finally allowed the shield‑less, equally battered Zeus‑class flagship to painstakingly break through the enemy fleet's outer perimeter, ending up roughly six thousand kilometers from the enemy flagship.

However, shortly after the Zeus‑class flagship breached the outer ring, it came under concentrated enemy fire; even α‑titanium alloy, humanity's proud protective armor, could not withstand such a dense barrage.

Not even a few seconds passed…

Boom~…Boom!!!

The Zeus‑class reached its damage limit, ultimately exploding with a thunderous blast, turning into a ball of fire, and all crew aboard perished with it.

However, the Terminator power armor produced by Umbrella was sufficient for a single 6,000‑kilometer "short‑range" teleport.

Therefore, inside the enemy flagship's hangar…

"Swish~Swish~"

Accompanied by the teleportation sound effect and a flash of dazzling blue light, thirty‑one members of the Sparta jump team succeeded.

(End of chapter)