Chapter 176: Audience with the Divine Emperor (Part One)

Xisi worries that after he leaves, Aolake will be besieged.

On the ground, Xiulun's propulsion speed appears negligible due to the lack of fire support.

The choice left to Xisi is, of course, the path that no other house would even dare imagine.

Even when Xisi begins to power Aolake, the Ancient Ship that had been patiently waiting in the distance suddenly halts its cruising hull.

Then, carrying the biological cannonballs accumulated for half a day, it stares blankly, not seeking a fight, but slowly approaches the opponent on the surface.

The countless huge eyes on its body no longer blink, and it watches Aolake slip into the cover of ground‑orbit firepower.

Then it carefully examines Aolake's size, and then carefully examines its own size.

The Ancient Ship even drifts slowly toward a nearby water planet, feeling a massive number of biological cannonballs captured by the strong gravity and pulled toward the surface; only then does the Ancient Ship hurriedly steer its hull away from the planet.

Then, with even greater bewilderment, it watches Aolake glide smoothly into the atmosphere.

"It's not..."

"I thought my mass wasn't much larger than yours!"

"How can you enter the atmosphere?!"

The Ancient Ship, or rather the will of the insect hive behind it, looks at Aolake from all directions.

Not only the Ancient Ship beyond orbit, but also the boundless Terran War Beasts on the surface.

The biological ships beyond orbit merely watch, but the Terran War Beasts on the ground begin, as a huge "steel city" gradually appears overhead, to have their bodies, under the strong gravity, slowly "fly" upward.

The distant Terra Guard watches the scene, their mouths gaping.

The ordinary soldier who just pointed at the sky and shouted "The sky is falling, Astat!" now again gapes, pointing at the ground beneath Aolake's massive body and shouting:

"Insects!"

"The insects have ascended!!!"

The surrounding comrades silently glance at the guard, then look back to the distance, trying to find a less frantic description, but after a long pause, they still don't know what to say.

Because as the countless Terran War Beasts are pulled by gravity into the air, struggling and flailing weightlessly, after thinking it over, only this kid's description seems fitting for the moment.

Meanwhile, at the Terra Palace.

Tu Lazhen doesn't even have time to first check the Emperor's defenses; after assigning 101 and the Imperial Guard to the ground defense, he rushes to a high spot in the palace to view the distant scene.

Watching Aolake's massive body slowly press down the cloud layer, the powerful heatwaves from the ship's side engines even instantly blow the surface Terran insect swarm into "insect husks", and Tu Lazhen unconsciously opens his mouth.

Tu Lazhen raises his right hand, trembling slightly, pointing at Aolake as it enters the atmosphere, his face showing startled doubt as he says:

"Th-this..."

"Even if it's really the Dream Illusion Vessel, I've never heard of one that can enter the atmosphere!"

Tu Lazhen is astonished; others may brag about the Dream Illusion Vessel, but Tu Lazhen has actually seen it, even once boarded it with the Emperor, piloting the Dream Illusion Vessel to wage war across the galaxy.

Therefore Tu Lazhen is far more shocked than anyone else; he is one of the few present who truly knows the gap between Aolake and the Dream Illusion Vessel.

Because he knows, his rare shock even shows a hint of panic.

The ground guards and the void Terran are left speechless by this scene.

But on the Bridge, watching the stunned projection of Xiulun opposite, Xisi sits on the Mechanical Throne and calmly replies:

"Your fire support has arrived."

After speaking, regardless of Xiulun's face full of "Is this necessary?"

Xisi turns his head to stare directly at the projection of the boundless chitinous frenzy on the ground, then, with all the crew around him watching and awaiting orders, suddenly waves forward:

"All gun positions."

"Firepower full on!"

In the sky above the chitin sea, on both sides of the Flying Great Cathedral's hull, even the battleship's underside, numerous cannons begin to swivel their barrels.

Although these cannons are far inferior to the Macro Cannons on both sides, and cannot match the ship's spine Gauss Light Spears.

Yet their sheer numbers and "just right" power can precisely fill the gap in ground firepower.

Thus, after Xisi's wave command, within the chitin sea, using Aolake's floating massive silhouette as the center, a ring of firepower spreads like scattered flames, beginning to sweep the insect swarm.

And those far away who can even see this scene with the naked eye, especially Tu Lazhen, have faces turned completely stone.

Only while watching the exaggerated fire sweep, they furrow their brows, feeling something is off.

"This is..."

"Close-range cannon???"

Tu Lazhen seriously asks himself, then looks at Aolake's true main cannons on both sides, confirming his doubt.

Then he lets out a huge sigh, glad that Xisi didn't go mad enough to use the main cannons to sweep the Terran.

Otherwise, after sweeping, not only the Terran would be gone, but the ground too.

Tu Lazhen feels sorry for Terra's surface.

But the watching Empire guards have little concern; they are now immersed in the exaggerated firepower of the massive reinforcements.

Especially watching a medium close-range cannon swivel its barrel, aiming at a biological Titan slowly climbing Nest City in the distance; after a burst of wheel acceleration, a massive cannonball forms a barrage, striking the biological Titan hard.

Then, in the desperate, horrified eyes of the Nest City guards, the image of the biological Titan's flesh tearing open, wailing as it falls to the ground, is reflected.

The barrage continues without pause, following the Titan's movement, directly before the guards, using exaggerated firepower to blast the biological Titan into a sky of debris.

Then the close-range cannon doesn't even pause for breath, nor does it give the stunned guards a moment to breathe.

The massive barrage, accompanied by a long string of explosions, continues to strike another Titan.

At this moment, from the high perch of the distant palace, the guards can only see the giant ship continuously firing a sky of projectiles in all directions, several of which strike Titans, wiping out rows of biological Titans as if they were being shot one by one.

And the once‑impressive formation advance now looks like a queue of executions.

Umm...

Titan? Queue execution?

Although everyone thinks this description is highly problematic, given the scene before them, they truly can't think of any other wording.

It wasn't until Aolake was fully docked on the surface, completely hidden beneath Terra's dense anti‑Orbit firepower net, that Xisi finally rose from the Mechanical Throne.

"Have Tulazhen mobilize the anti‑Orbit firepower, and be sure to prevent the Terran from launching an attack on Aolake from overhead."

"Then give Xiulun the order, telling him that all of Aolake's support firepower is now under his control."

Xisi spoke while packing his gear, strapping the Red Sword, Black Spear, and crown onto his body.

Fanluosi hurriedly recorded from beside him, curiously watching what Xisi was about to do.

After Xisi finished speaking, he finally had all his equipment ready.

He then steadied himself, turned his head toward the port window, and looked at the most striking building outside.

Fanluosi followed his gaze; there stood the Terra Imperial Palace.

"Next......"

"We should go meet the old man now."