Chapter 177: Audience with the Divine Emperor (Part Two)

The sky is filled with artillery fire that seems never to cease.

On the ground scorched by the bombardment, charred Tyran wreckage spreads everywhere.

An Imperial raider Titan lies on the ground, while three bombers scream overhead, their deadly missions unknown.

Several squads of Star Realm Army soldiers, led by a Limanlus, scramble toward a new position.

Standing beneath the raider Titan, watching these unfamiliar soldiers, Xisi's gaze lingered on Limanlus for an extra second.

Engraved on it was the insignia of his own legion.

"Ring the great bell once, activate the pistons and engine."

From behind came the Mechanical Church's soothing Machine Soul voice; wisps of smoke rose from the gear platform as Mechanical Priests, accompanied by countless servomechs, circled the Titan in continuous prayer.

Xisi withdrew his gaze and continued to channel golden light, teleporting toward the palace.

The Terra palace is protected by a powerful anti‑Subspace field, so Xisi cannot teleport there in a single jump.

He must resort to multiple short‑range jumps to make the journey.

Fortunately, Xisi is already on Terra, and his distance to the Emperor has finally shrunk to the kilometer range.

He doesn't need to worry about depleting his spiritual energy or divine power.

Soon, another flash of golden light flickered; under the silent stare of the surrounding Black Gold Forbidden Army, an Imperial 'Loyalist' radiating golden aura, wearing a Green Skin Crown, bearing a Terror Torture Red Sword at his waist, and wielding a Black Spear, appeared on the palace's high wall.

Chitinous torrents surged beneath his feet; Aolake dared not approach the palace any closer, and Tu Lazhen vehemently disagreed.

Thus the swarming insects around the palace remained tumultuous.

In fact, after Xisi left Aolake, the firepower boost waned, and Aolake's firepower returned to the level expected of the galaxy's premier flagship.

Within a radius of several hundred li, not a single insect dares to appear near Aolake.

But Tyran cares little about this, still recklessly charging the palace and Aolake despite knowing it's a suicide mission.

Not for any other reason than to see how much ammunition humanity can muster against this level of firepower!

After all, during the siege of Ocktarius, Tyran's ultimate victory over the Green Skin relied on sheer numbers, exhausting every bullet of the Green Skin and dulling every axe.

In the end, they surged forward and completely overwhelmed the unarmed Green Skin.

This time, Tyran aims to replicate that tactic on Terra.

Thus when Xisi reached the palace's high wall, fierce firefights still raged around him.

But these battles no longer mattered to Xisi, and Tu Lazhen, after receiving Xisi's reinforcements, finally withdrew his attention.

He watched Xisi arrive, straining to ignore Xisi's body covered in Alien Form and Heretic creations, then turned to clear the path behind him toward the palace's interior.

"Xisi... Sir, let us go. The Divine Emperor has been waiting for you for a long time."

Tu Lazhen's uneasy address of Xisi as 'Sir' stemmed from fear that Xisi might be masquerading; upon his return, he immediately sought verification from the Divine Emperor, whose final reply was that the Divine Emperor himself confirmed Xisi's identity.

Having heard the Divine Emperor speak directly, Tu Lazhen no longer had any reason to place himself above Xisi.

At this moment, publicly calling Xisi 'Sir' signified that Xisi, Kiriman, and Lai'ang Zhuangsen had officially become the Empire's three major Original Bodies!

Xisi, however, had no mood to care about the title; he glanced at the raging insects beyond the wall and stepped straight toward the palace:

"Lead the way."

Xisi spoke, and Tu Lazhen immediately moved ahead.

As they walked, Tu Lazhen explained the palace's defenses, and midway through, his voice took on a bewildered, disappointed, shocked tone as he pointed to a breach in the wall that Tyran had shattered.

There, a dozen or so members of the Black Gold Forbidden Army commanded scores of Imperial Fist troops, mortal soldiers, and even the Golden Forbidden Army, holding back the surging insects.

"Sir's Black Gold Forbidden Army truly has been a great help to us."

Tu Lazhen spoke with mixed emotions, his gaze toward the Black Gold Forbidden Army revealing an even deeper sense of loss.

After all, as the Emperor's most outstanding genetic engineering, the Forbidden Army had always believed itself to be the Emperor's perfect creation; even setting aside the earlier emergence of a Gray Knight, its overall capability still surpassed that of the Forbidden Army.

Now, with a Regiment appearing, it truly tramples the Forbidden Army's pride.

How shaken the Forbidden Army has become?

To put it plainly, as Xisi looked over, he saw a member of the 101 for some unknown reason removing his helmet to reveal a rare Eastern face, loudly berating two Forbidden Army soldiers on the chaotic battlefield.

Those two proud Forbidden Army troops, before the 101, though unwilling, bowed sincerely and admitted their mistake.

Oh, right—under that 101's feet were stacked two Norn Envoys.

Not only the reprimanded Forbidden Army and Tu Lazhen, even Xisi gave a slight glance.

Leaving aside the value of a single person handling two Norn Envoys, by Warhammer's unwritten rules, anyone without a helmet is extraordinary.

Tu Lazhen withdrew his gaze from the chastised Forbidden Army, his expression tinged with sentiment:

"Your Forbidden Army is already... formidable, but this individual as a squad leader is even more... 'non‑compliant' than we imagined."

It's rare for Tu Lazhen to resort to such odd wording to describe someone.

At this point, several members of the 101 spotted Xisi and hurried to stand by his side as bodyguards.

Hearing Tu Lazhen's words, Xisi entered the palace corridor while asking those beside him,

"Who is this person?"

A 101 bowed respectfully:

"Sir Wanfulian."

"He was the logistics officer of the 101 Regiment who followed you to the Supply Station during the Alert Star incident."

At this moment, Xisi had entered the palace corridor, and Wanfulian's figure had completely vanished.

Yet before refocusing, Xisi kept the name etched in his mind.

Soon, as they delved deeper into the palace, after passing an unknown number of grand doors, the outside clamor was completely cut off.

Within the vast, towering palace, distant silhouettes of massive stone statues loomed hazily.

Under the gaze of these vague colossi, a long corridor bathed in light stretched straight toward the darkness's end.

The 101 that had entered earlier lingered near the preceding doors; now, in the silence, only the crisp 'click' of Tu Lazhen and Xisi's steps on the golden floor could be heard.

Yet when they reached the final door, this time even Tu Lazhen halted his steps.

Not daring to approach the gate too closely, Tu Lazhen stopped far away, then turned to face Xisi, lowering his voice to the minimum.

Seeing Xisi, who had shown no sign of any "adverse reaction" all the way here, Tu Lazhen completely let down his guard, bowed respectfully, and after performing a grand salute to Xisi,

pointed toward the door behind him:

"Lord Sisi, Divine Emperor......"

"Just behind the door."