Chapter 57: When the Thunderous Macro Cannon Booms Overhead, Today I Finally Know Who I Am

A gust from the battleship's engine whipped up rolling heat waves that brushed across the vast wasteland.

Feeling the hot wind slam into his face, the middle‑aged officer's expression grew solemn; faced with the tense gazes of the surrounding soldiers, the officer glanced cautiously, timed his moment, and suddenly spoke:

"Don't be afraid!"

"They can fly, but they definitely can't resist!"

Soldiers and officers: "???"

He stared with white‑eyed glare at the other side, his eyes filled with utter, wordless anger:

"Why aren't you finished yet?!"

The soldiers were angry, but they probably understood that once the battleship arrived, ordinary troops might have a chance of survival, while those leading the charge would surely die; the officers exchanged glances and finally gritted their teeth and rose.

Compared with the middle‑aged officer's already somewhat frantic expression, these lower‑rank officers still appeared relatively normal.

Facing the speechless soldiers below, the officers dared not resort to bloody suppression, instead using the gentlest tone possible:

"We are Rebel Forces; the enemy definitely won't let us go. Whether it works or not, everyone should at least fire a shot first."

The words were soothing, and they indeed made sense.

The soldiers below exchanged looks, finally gritted their teeth and pushed the anti‑air weapon out.

But faced with anti‑air firepower that, against the battleship, was barely more than a toothpick, not even the officers—let alone the soldiers who carefully compared their own cannons with the enemy ship—could do more than stare in doubt, instinctively looking at the middle‑aged officer.

"Will this work?"

His gaze asked the question, and seeing the soldiers finally listen, the middle‑aged officer sprang up, his face once again showing confidence.

"Don't be afraid!"

Before he could finish, the soldiers withdrew their gaze after hearing just those three words.

At the same time, resignation already evident on their faces.

Even the seer has spoken; that means we definitely can't move the enemy.

Watching the battleship draw nearer, the soldiers were still propped up by the fear of whether the enemy would even leave them a way out.

When the battleship entered fire range, the soldiers exchanged one last look and, gritting their teeth, fired the cannons.

A dense barrage roared toward the battleship, which resembled a flying fortress.

Then, under the crowd's tense stare, no image of the hull being blown into a field of debris arrived.

What came was a sudden, brilliant flash, the light so dazzling it turned the whole sky a deep blue, an oval shield enveloping the entire ship!

Even the startled Rebel Forces instinctively shut their eyes and buried their heads, while wondering in their hearts whether the shield power of a Sword-class Escort Ship could reasonably be this strong.

The Rebel Forces internally ranted, convinced the enemy not only could fly with a shield but that it was terrifyingly strong; the middle‑aged officer was utterly at a loss for words, only staring blankly as the battleship drifted closer, slowly swiveling the still‑functional side cannons toward the ground.

Meanwhile inside the battleship, Ana was frantically leading a crew of sailors with only two and a half minutes of training, tweaking various parameters.

Xisi waited for the shield's light to fade, then barely opened his eyes, a hint of speechlessness:

"Only twenty percent power—can the shield be this strong?"

Xisi muttered wordlessly, while Bunoke didn't understand at all, his face showing only pride.

Ana busied herself adjusting parameters to the actual situation, while only Youwa and Daiweiluo's faces were shocked to the extreme.

Leaving aside how exaggerated it is for a Sword-class Escort Ship's shield to reach such strength.

Just the fact that it can fly within the atmosphere leaves Youwa and Daiweiluo still unable to process it.

Daiweiluo fared relatively better, having personally witnessed a scene in Subspace, so all doubts could ultimately be explained by the Divine Emperor's Blessing.

Of course, depending on the situation, a Terror Blessing might also be added.

But Youwa had no idea; she only watched the battleship she and the Nest City workers hammered out by hand, alternating between admiring its exaggerated exterior and the armor plates she herself welded, and after much thought the only question in her mind was one that even made her chuckle.

"Did we really forge this with welding torches and hammers, hand‑crafted?"

"Our craftsmanship... when did it become this exaggerated?"

Youwa and Daiweiluo each mulled over it, Ana kept attending to the battleship, and with no one answering, Xisi could only focus on the bridge, staring at a mismatched Display cobbled together from unknown parts; Xisi had to call Bunoke.

Pointing at the Display—specifically at the stunned Rebel Forces within—it, Xisi said:

"Later I'll order the battleship to provide a round of fire support; you take five hundred..."

"Forget it, fifty. You take fifty people to eliminate all the Rebel Forces' senior leaders."

Looking at the hundreds of thousands of fully armed soldiers below, and hearing Xisi mention the fifty.

Although he knew those fifty were the Black Watch being reassigned and rejoined, Bunoke still frowned slightly.

Then, under Xisi's assumption that the other side found the numbers insufficient, Bunoke expressed some dissatisfaction:

"For such small fry, might fifty be too many?"

Xisi was speechless, and behind him Daiweiluo abruptly suppressed his shock at the battleship, his expression turning dead.

Then, watching Xisi and Bunoke seriously discuss how many to send, his eyes were left with only silence.

Because Xisi and Bunoke actually started treating these two thousand mortals like Astat!

Soon, while no one else was watching, the starboard side's only barely functional Macro Cannon began reloading under the stumbling assault of the boarding crew.

Finding the pace too slow, Xisi scanned the area, then pointed at several close‑range side cannons and said casually:

"First fire a round with the side cannons."

The surrounding crew naturally didn't question Xisi's order, so while the Macro Cannon was busy loading, the three modest side cannons, under the stunned Rebel Forces below, unleashed a barrage!

A dense cluster of small mushroom clouds suddenly burst out from the massed Rebel Forces!

The sudden roar startled everyone on the ship, Xisi included; faced with the screen's densely packed mushroom clouds, a flustered Ana angrily seized Xisi's cannon controls, while Xisi watched the tens of thousands of Rebel Forces below being flattened in an instant, awkwardly rubbing his nose.

Bunoke stared blankly at his feet, hesitated, then finally asked:

"Then... should I go down?"

Facing Ana's added task of checking firepower, Xisi quickly diverted attention:

"Go! Why aren't you going? Go down and help Ana check the actual impact results."

Bunoke silently nodded; after all, the Rebel Forces below had all become like this, is there really any need for inspection?

But when it came to facing Xisi, even having to go personally just to leave the increasingly restless Ana, Bunoke could only follow; then dozens of Black Watch followed behind Xisi, wearing Jet Pack, directly air‑dropping their bodies within the atmosphere.

Later, when Xisi arrived at a ground with no flesh at all, only a sheet of charred black glass, he couldn't help but click his tongue at the terrifying firepower.

Then Bunoke let out a light shout, drawing Xisi's attention.

It was unclear whether some evil god was blessing them, but at this moment, in a crater, a middle‑aged officer whose clothes were burned to strips, with a post‑shock solemn face, was maintaining the religious posture of praying to the evil god on the ground.

Then came the curious gazes watching Xisi approach, and, since no stop order was given to the head behind Xisi, an exaggerated Cannonball gradually emerged from the Macro Cannon.

The middle‑aged officer, watching Xisi, who found the side cannon insufficient and even wanted to use the Macro Cannon, twitched the corner of his mouth and suddenly experienced a great enlightenment.

It was unclear whether he was stunned, but the middle‑aged officer actually performed a religious grand salute to Xisi, speaking in a meek tone:

"The thunderous Macro Cannon descends from above, today I finally know I am myself."

"Sir, under the enlightenment of your Macro Cannon, I now understand."

"So you are the savior I have long awaited!"