Chapter 73: War Cruiser Returns to Me

Summit base.

Under heavy anti‑air fire and pursued by Tairen and Green Skin aerial units, ultimately fewer than half of the transport aircraft withdrew safely.

But at this moment, whether it was Xisi and Fanluosi's party retreating to the base or the garrison left behind, none of them showed any relaxation; instead, with no time to rest, they immediately grabbed weapons and turned to join the resistance.

With support from the returning squad, Oumia Group's fire finally managed to barely suppress the surging enemy masses.

Fanluosi awkwardly withdrew his gaze from the front line.

Because the troops now at the forefront were no longer the army Fanluosi had led, but fresh recruits Xisi had trained with Oumia for several months.

However, the several Oumia Groups that set out have now been largely shattered, with their numbers sharply reduced.

He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but Fanluosi glanced twice, his seasoned eyes still feeling that the Oumia soldiers who had survived up to now…

Seemed somehow tougher than the Zhongsi Storm Soldiers of his Judgment Court?!

A doubt rose in his heart, and even his brows knit because this little episode was too "bizarre."

Only when the roar of another transport aircraft sounded behind him did Fanluosi hurriedly refocus his attention.

After all, compared to this side note, getting Xisi out alive was the top priority.

A transport aircraft, after refilling its Phosphorus, had its jet engine, denied any moment's rest, spew rolling heat waves from its glowing red interior.

Ana, leading a contingent of Black Watch, kept boarding the transport, while Xisi stood at the doorway facing the crowd that remained.

But unlike the Xisi about to depart, those staying behind cast worried looks toward Xisi.

Fanluosi gazed at the dense anti‑air fire below the mountain and the distant swaths of biological cannonballs sweeping across the sky.

Add to that the warship on orbit that seemed on the verge of crashing, and taking off now, no one would envy it.

When Ana and the others successfully boarded, facing the remaining Fanluosi, as well as his own veteran crew Bunoke, Daiweiluo, and the vast majority of Black Watch, Xisi instead stood at the rising transport's hatch, calmly reassuring them:

"I'll be back in a moment to pick you up."

Fanluosi: "......"

Astat, Battle Nun: "......"

The crowd fell silent, and even Fanluosi's soldiers subtly lowered their gazes upon hearing this.

After all, in this situation, there's no need for everyone to watch.

Only when the transport fully left the ground and the surface heat waves dissipated did they look up again, gazing at the transport heading toward the warship, unshielded and ready to force through Alien Form interception.

Under their watchful gaze, as massive Green Skin fighters and clouds of biological cannonballs gathered, a dark cloud suddenly veered, as if a gigantic maw suddenly swallowed the transport; instinctively, everyone furrowed their brows and closed their eyes, and Fanluosi felt his heart stop beating in an instant.

After a long wait without any explosion, the crowd cautiously looked again and saw a swirl of gold and crimson light tightly enveloping the transport.

Continuous Divine Emperor and Terror Blessings were being channeled onto the transport through Xisi's Gilded Silver Armor and Terror Torture Red Sword.

Under the protection of those two‑colored lights, despite the surrounding eruptions of corrosive plasma and large‑caliber shells, the transport still staggered upward into space.

Only when the transport pierced the rolling smoke and entered the war cruiser did those below bow their heads again, faces full of bewilderment at how the Divine Emperor could produce two kinds of Blessing light.

Fanluosi also withdrew his gaze, and, facing the odd expressions around him, clenched his teeth, preparing to find another excuse for Xisi.

But this time, no noble Judge needed to step forward to explain for Xisi, because as soon as Fanluosi spoke, the people below immediately tucked away their strange looks, daring not to show any doubt, yet their faces were fully understanding:

"Understood!"

"Throne's Blessing."

Seeing the group feign ignorance in unison after catching up, Fanluosi felt a suppressed resentment in his heart, being a Judge yet forced to explain for Terror.

But now he could only swallow that resentment, silently noting a to‑do in his mind.

After returning, aside from Lord Sisi's people, everyone else, one by one, must undergo memory erasure!

Of course, if they can return.

Fanluosi noted it in his mind, and in space, as the war cruiser's crew stared dumbfounded at the incoming transport, they were all frozen in place for a moment.

Only when Xisi stepped down did Ana, with her people, immediately begin taking over the war cruiser's control, prompting a group of dissatisfied senior officers left on the cruiser to approach.

Seeing the leading Imperial Navy Commander, Xisi completely ignored the other's angry face, pulling out Fanluosi's handwritten order and thrusting it before the opponent.

"Fanluosi should have notified in advance; this warship is now mine."

Xisi was blunt, while the war cruiser's original captain—now the Navy Commander—showed unmistakable unwillingness on his face, gritting his teeth to retort:

"A Star Realm Army member serving as war cruiser captain?"

"Even though Lord Fanluosi has ordered, it must still follow procedure..."

A single Explosive Gun blast turned the babbling captain into mush.

Xisi raised his hand and fired; Fanluosi had already issued the order, yet you still cling to procedure—this isn't a procedural issue, it's that the other side simply looks down on Xisi and refuses to cooperate.

And for such people, Xisi truly had no energy to waste any more time.

The surrounding crew, startled, tried to draw weapons, but the Black Watch had already raised theirs, pointing their barrels at them.

The crowd was held in check, Xisi glanced at the heap of mush beneath his feet, then looked up again toward the chief mate behind him and the Mechanical Priest.

Holding the Explosive Gun like that, Xisi spoke haltingly:

"Return to post; I will command the battle."

The surrounding crowd exchanged glances until Xisi, walking through them, handed Fanluosi's order to the chief mate, who finally, gritting his teeth, turned and began to cooperate.

Even as they moved, another massive Green Skin anti‑ship cannonball struck, blasting the hull into a spray of fragments.

Lights flickered, the crowd staggered, but after this interlude, everyone finally turned back, racing to their stations.

Seeing Ana bluntly seize mechanical control, the Mechanical Priest, after a brief combat calculation, politely addressed Xisi.

Following Xisi, watching Ana continuously reassign the warship's system ownership, the Mechanical Priest's facial instruments, rigid and mechanical:

"Regardless of what the lord's next plan is, this ship likely cannot execute it."

Xisi remained unmoved, still standing on the Bridge, while below Ana swiftly overrode system ownership.

The Mechanical Priest, seeing this, aimed its Prosthetic Eyes at Xisi, rotating them left and right a few times.

Confirming that Xisi truly intended to pilot the war cruiser into continued combat, the Mechanical Priest's expressionless mechanical face stayed still, but its head involuntarily straightened.

After that, he even stopped relying on calculations, personally glanced at the surrounding scene, confirmed that the war cruiser was already on the brink of collapse, and then reminded Xisi again:

"Sir, according to my verification, the battleship's various capabilities are down to only ten percent; such efficiency is impossible..."

"Machine Soul! Machine Soul!!!"

The Mechanical Priest's words were cut off by a sudden, terrifying blast that erupted on the Bridge.

The crew below, even some low‑rank Mechanical Monks, stared at the performance readouts on the instrument panel before them, and each of them leapt up from their seats in sheer terror.

They kept repeating 'Machine Soul' at the edge of their mouths, yet in the end they had no words to describe what they were seeing.

Moreover, the explosions on the hull suddenly vanished, the long‑dormant shield flared up with power far exceeding its peak state, and the cloud of biological Cannonball projectiles surrounding the ship was cleared away by the secondary guns in a massive sweep.

The Mechanical Priest stared blankly for a moment, and amid the half‑a‑minute of suppressed 'Machine Soul' sounds ringing in his ears, he involuntarily felt puzzled.

"When did this secondary gun switch to the main‑cannon caliber?"

"And the main gun—when did it acquire the secondary‑gun rate of fire?"

The Mechanical Priest's face was full of confusion, and the suppressed 'Machine Soul' that had been building below finally burst out as a reddened crew member clenched his teeth and shouted in response.

"Machine Soul!"

"Machine Soul is at its climax!!!"