Chapter 52: I Can

In front of the sole Nest City of Oumia No. 3.

A group of civilians with varied equipment stood together with two thousand black-uniform soldiers.

And in front of them, Xisi stared at the Nest City before him, while the female noble Youwa stood behind Xisi, facing the mysterious Planetary Defense Force commander, her face bearing extreme caution.

She slightly bowed, trying to make herself as low as possible, and Youwa carefully spoke:

"I've seen the warship before; it's a standard Sword-class Escort Ship. Though it's only an escort ship, it would be hard for my people alone to repair it."

"Unless we can mobilize the entire Oumia No. 3, I can't guarantee it."

Youwa spoke while carefully observing Xisi, for even if she ignored the ten Oumia No. 3 units Xisi carried, the recent slaughter of two thousand cold‑weapon troops by ten thousand hot‑weapon troops already indicated that both sides' strength and status were in a completely unequal state.

Seeing that Xisi showed no displeasure at her inability to meet the demand, Youwa's expression relaxed slightly, and after a moment she mustered the courage to continue:

"Additionally, let me remind you, sir, setting aside whether Oumia No. 3 alone can fully repair the warship, even if it can be repaired, a warship that has crashed to the surface lacks the power to overcome gravity and reach space."

"Unless we not only fully restore the warship's engine but also provide at least five times the power..."

"You need not worry about the power issue."

Xisi finally spoke, and his words were completely indifferent.

Youwa watched Xisi's iron‑clad resolve to repair the warship on the surface, her expression freezing completely, because she truly could not understand why they would expend such effort to fix a warship that could never take off.

When Xisi heard Youwa claim that merely five times the power would enable lift‑off, he oddly began to worry that the extra power might be too strong…

Youwa said nothing further, merely bowing her head in helplessness; she lacked the courage to continue opposing Xisi.

Xisi then pointed toward the Nest City, far smaller than the Alert Star, and asked:

"What is the defensive force inside the Nest City?"

Youwa looked up in surprise, not answering immediately, but instinctively glanced at the two thousand under Xisi and then at the Nest City before her.

She then stared blankly, even frowning as she added her own over a thousand people.

But after looking back and forth, no expectation appeared on Youwa's face; instead, her cheeks, filled with disbelief, began to twitch.

Until Xisi, frowning slightly and turning his head back, Youwa, with a death‑gray face, opened in despair:

"Inside there are at least a million defense troops, with roughly fifty thousand elite private soldiers."

"With only our three thousand plus, we probably can't even get through the gate…"

Seeing Youwa apparently think she would be used as cannon fodder to die, Xisi gave her a glance.

He cut her off directly:

"What about heavy firepower?"

"Heavy firepower is scarce; most of it was sent by the Governor to attack other strongholds that defied him."

"Now the Nest City only has some fixed artillery and infantry heavy firepower."

Xisi nodded:

"So the main defensive force inside is essentially just infantry?"

Youwa found Xisi's point odd; although his remark wasn't entirely wrong, with our three thousand versus their over a million, even if it's just infantry, what difference does it make?

Having gotten the answer from Youwa's reaction, Xisi withdrew his gaze and stepped directly toward the Nest City.

The two thousand Black Watch immediately followed; seeing Xisi truly intend to attack the Nest City, Youwa's complexion froze completely.

She didn't dare bring her own over a thousand militia, which couldn't defeat the defense forces, and Youwa forced herself forward:

"Sir…"

"You don't need to come."

Youwa's opening was cut off by Xisi; she froze again, watching Xisi walk away alone, finally realizing.

These people actually planned to take a Nest City with just two thousand!

Moreover, Youwa observed the soldiers' faces; none showed shock, all wore an air of inevitability, making Youwa wonder whether they were hallucinating or she was.

Because of this absurdity, none of them thought anything was wrong!

Their expressions seemed to say: 'It's just a Nest City, and we have a full two thousand; taking it is only natural.'

Youwa watched the scene, her mind growing confused, and when the distant Nest City gate began to react, she still forced herself forward.

After all, Xisi had already slain ten thousand defense troops; facing the Governor's impending retaliation, Youwa desperately needed Xisi's help defending, and she could not watch Xisi lead people to a 'suicide mission'.

She hurried up and quickly spoke:

"Sir, the opposite gate is sealed shut, and we have no heavy firepower; attacking now…"

Youwa's words halted abruptly, because under her gaze dozens of Black Watch donned the final batch of Jet Packs and switched their heat‑ray guns to a super‑long‑range sniper mode aimed at mortals.

At that moment, the rebel defense troops on the distant wall burst into uproarious laughter.

They had long noticed Xisi's group, and seeing the notion that the opponent truly had two thousand men to launch an attack finally provoked their unrestrained mockery.

Some even stood on the wall, performing various humiliating gestures toward Xisi and his men.

The humiliating gestures even made Youwa blush slightly and look away.

Xisi, however, showed no change in expression, merely waiting for the jet troops to be ready, watching dozens soar into the sky.

Then the sniper rifles transformed into a 'Gatling'!

Of course it wasn't a Machine Soul's delight, but the dozens acted so exaggeratedly that they didn't need to aim; their blind fire merged into a Gatling laser sweeping across the wall.

The previously mocking guard was almost instantly cleared, only those who had crouched fully behind cover survived.

Seeing even the comrades behind the wall, where any exposed limb meant a single shot death, the dead's terror fell entirely onto the living.

An officer, watching this exaggerated scene, froze instantly, his throat subconsciously tightening, then looking at his rear position, his eyes showing immense dread and relief.

Turning back to the defense troops behind him, the officer suppressed his tremor and spoke:

"Fortunately, we're behind them."

The officer sought some feedback from the soldiers behind, hoping for a bit of comfort.

But when he looked back, he saw the soldiers' faces pale, all eyes wide as they stared up at the sky.

The officer's posture froze; he turned slowly, with sweat beads constantly seeping from his forehead, and followed the view.

The strange black soldier flew higher into the sky, the view widening, and now was holding a heat gun, pointing its barrel at them.

Then, a black soldier tapped the city gate with his Rifle.

The meaning could not be clearer; the officer strained to pull his gaze back, faced the fearful questions of the soldiers beside him looking at him, and after a moment of hesitation, glared:

"What are you all just standing there for?"

"I can't open the gate by myself!"