Chapter 523: Kepler War

The interstellar fleet passed through the jump point and advanced toward the Kepler Planet. Every combat system in the fleet was prepared for battle. Li Hao had also spent over a month honing the Hunter Battle Group. They were all top-tier Warriors possessing the Golden Zone, including old friends and newcomers. Whether from the Starship Department or the Mecha Department, in the military, in a closed environment, strength was ultimately the hard truth. There weren't that many twists and turns; it took Li Hao roughly a few days to make everyone completely submissive.

The Hunter Battle Group was divided into four Group Leaders—Maxis, Chao Qinglong, Anluo Dan, and Basta—as well as twelve Squadron Leaders, encompassing the Elites of the Mecha S-Tournament and the Starship S-Tournament, such as Luo Bi, Dita, Laika, Dumela, and others. Anluo Dan was quite straightforward; on the first day of joining the battle group, he took the initiative to challenge Li Hao. Losing was inevitable, but this was also an attitude. Too many elites from various fields had come here, and this battle also served to help Li Hao establish his authority. At the very least, on the surface, there wouldn't be too many disagreements. Li Hao saved him some face, and he returned the favor to Li Hao.

This also saved Li Hao a lot of trouble with integration, and the subsequent training left everyone with little energy to engage in internal strife.

The focus of Li Hao's training throughout the process was the Tyrant Body. He understood Makemu's intentions and knew what they would be facing. The Tyrant Body would be a key point for Super Warriors, allowing them to maintain high-intensity combat for long periods. Once they encountered difficult missions, it would play a huge role. Of course, he hoped he was overthinking it; it would be best if they didn't have to use it.

The formation of his Tyrant Body was somewhat unconventional; it was the constant strengthening of the Spirit that drove the changes in the body. This was a long process, especially in dreams, where the movement of cells and the movement of the Spirit were not calculated by conventional time. Conventional time was merely a unit of measurement for conventional movement. Moreover, his Tyrant Body was only on the surface, because given the state of his Spirit, a mere Tyrant Body was not enough to carry such power, but in the perception of others, it was summarized as the Tyrant Body.

In fact, after the S Tournament ended, he had a detailed understanding of the overall combat power and state of the current pilots and had been pondering how to help Chao Qinglong, Luo Bi, and the others take a step further. Given their spiritual conditions, even with Body Refining methods, the time required would be too long, and not everyone could break through. That battle at the Nimeier Ruins had given Li Hao inspiration. That Nine-Headed Statue clearly showed that the Nimeier Civilization had reached a considerable height in its understanding of the Spirit. The entire conversion and absorption process was extremely impressive, extracting Spirits of different wavelengths and then transporting them to one person. In this process, not only did the Soul Power have to enter, but it was also a process of Body Refining; otherwise, the body would collapse from the overly massive Soul Power.

Li Hao found inspiration within it and came up with a reverse output. He started by using Chao Qinglong to practice; his power was the strongest, and he also had the experience from the Nimeier Ruins. Li Hao used his own Soul Power to help Chao Qinglong with Body Refining. Of course, external power had its limits, but it could break through the initial, most difficult barrier. Afterward, Chao Qinglong only needed to follow the same method himself, constantly refining with the Golden Zone. As for what level he could ultimately reach, it would depend on his own luck. In Wuzang's words, it felt quite like opening up the Ren and Du meridians in Ancient Martial Arts.

Chao Qinglong was the first, the effect was excellent, and there were no side effects. Following closely were Wuzang, Zhou Naiyi, Ma Long, Zuo Xiaotang, Luo Bi, and others. He definitely focused on his own brothers first.

It took some time for people like Chao Qinglong, Maxis, Basta, and Anluo Dan; the stronger the Golden Zone, the greater the difficulty, though of course, the future achievements would also be higher. For other Warriors who had just reached Flowing Heart Martial Arts, Li Hao could handle five or six at once. This process also directly made everyone convinced. Although it couldn't be very intuitive, they all felt Li Hao's terrifying power. He had reached the point where he could help others improve, and more importantly, he was actually willing to help others improve their power... This was something Martians couldn't understand. Although Moon People knew about it, they wouldn't do it. Only Earthlings would do such a thing.

Anyone who was a person was not a fool, and those who could come here and reach this position were even less so. Whether they were familiar with Li Hao or not, they all knew how much they had benefited. And people like Anluo Dan, Ace, and Aputa could realize even more clearly that Li Hao did not treat them as opponents; this was an act that could only be done with absolute self-confidence in one's own power.

Although Moon People were arrogant, deep down they were much the same as Martians. Martians needed to be beaten hard to have the brains to be convinced, while Moon People would be convinced as long as they felt it.

To enter the Tyrant Body, the training volume could not be lacking. Every day, the body needed to be exhausted to the limit, while sufficient nutrition and sleep allowed the body to recover quickly so that the state could be maintained the next day. Powerful Soul Power was another key to recovery. Li Hao first paved the path for them, making all of this seem like a matter of course.

Makemu also showed concern during this period; he was a bit worried that Li Hao wouldn't be able to control the situation. Makemu came from the Army and later entered the Air Force, so he naturally knew the situation here. He also had a sudden thought and worried whether bringing such a group of proud people together would cause an explosion. However, in reality, the group was unexpectedly hardworking and united. It was just that the training method seemed a bit rough and incomprehensible. Every day, they would exhaust themselves to death and then meditate motionless one by one, as if they wanted to consume the Golden Zone completely. The prepared food was tripled. It looked boring, but the next day, everyone's focus and spirit were better than ever, and they were all very desperate.

In Ma Long's words, these guys were all benefiting. If it weren't for this expedition, if they were only used in Tianjing Martial Arts or here on Earth, they could have pinned the other federations to the ground and rubbed them repeatedly this year. The intuitive effect of the Tyrant Body was to raise the upper limit of Human Warriors. Not only could the intensity of the Golden Zone be further improved, but the burden on the body during use would also become smaller; some people even felt no burden at all. Everyone in the Hunter Battle Group had different feelings, but without a doubt, they all felt a new world.

And all of this was brought by their Group Leader. After about half a month, basically everyone had entered their own rhythm. What followed was combat. For the level of Maxis, Chao Qinglong, and Basta, Li Hao usually fought two at a time. If he was happy, he would fight three or four. The more people there were, the harder he beat them. Li Hao also started to feel comfortable, feeling that children were raised to be beaten.

As for others at the level of Dita and the others, Li Hao could fight more than ten at once. Once they got familiar, there was nothing to hide. Through the constant collision of various Soul Powers, everyone was improving rapidly, and Li Hao was like a combat machine, never knowing fatigue. Invisibly, the Hunter Battle Group coalesced. Of course, those led by Luo Bi and the others always claimed to be the core of the Hunters; they were old Hunters, and their bones were filled with smugness.

In over a month, Li Hao did everything he could, at least making the Warriors of the Hunter Battle Group ready for this war.

It was just a pity that the opportunities to meet A Youyou were really too few. She participated in the fleet's war planning and was also one of the staff officers. News from the Solar System was constantly updated, but the situation on the Kepler side was very bleak. Upon entering the star field near Kepler, the entire fleet had entered a state of combat readiness, and a portion of the Hunter Battle Group had already returned to their respective warships, including Anluo Dan and others. They were ultimately from the Starship Department, and each was a future officer; it was highly likely they would not participate in Mecha combat, but this month-plus was not the same experience for everyone.

With the battlefield approaching, most people were not afraid; there was more excitement, nervousness, and even anticipation. Relying on superior power, Humans must fight a beautiful annihilation battle this time.

The fleet's reconnaissance planes had already approached Kepler first. Kepler's ocean didn't know when it started to be shrouded in fog. Some Giant Insect motherships were floating in Kepler's low orbit. This quantity posed no threat to Humans at all. However, Humans had already had several engagements with the Giant Insects. Although the scale was not as large as this time, they also knew that the Giant Insect motherships possessed a peculiar stealth ability, which was very difficult for current Human detection methods to discover from a long distance. Added to the fact that the ground base had already fallen, and there were Human traitors like Noah's Ark, this situation was problematic.

Makemu was still very cautious. Although it might alert the enemy, he still dispatched the Fifth Legion of the USE to take the initiative. This was the Vanguard Legion of the entire Expeditionary Army. When the legion was five hours away from the Kepler Planet, the Giant Insects clearly discovered the traces of Humans. Those motherships suspended in the sky city exploded one by one like fireworks. Following that, the sky of Kepler began to rise with motherships like dandelions filling the sky. At this moment, in the Command Room of the Cloud Top space fortress, everyone watched as dense red dots filled the screen. At the same time, when partially zoomed in, they also saw many new varieties, which made everyone's heart numb.

"The Fifth Fleet definitely won't be able to hold on; this quantity is too large. Should we provide support?" Pang Pai said in a deep voice.

Makemu watched the battle situation with an expressionless face. This advance had been too smooth, so smooth that it gave him an ominous premonition. The Kepler problem of the Solar System Alliance had always been his responsibility. He had been dealing with Giant Insects for these years and deeply felt the wisdom of the Giant Insects and their asymmetric space capabilities. This time, the Nimeier Civilization was unearthed. Currently, it was impossible to determine what secrets the Nimeier Civilization still had, but the Giant Insects were very likely under the control of the Nimeier Civilization. Damn Noah's Ark; if they had known about these things earlier, the Alliance could have reduced a lot of losses, and it wouldn't have caused five bases to be lost at the same time, leaving them with no knowledge of the interior of Kepler now.

"Based on our past experience, the Giant Insects are very cunning and good at surprise attacks. There should be more than this. The Fifth Fleet needs to hold on for a while," Wufa said.

(End of chapter)