Chapter 456

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

The brutal tug-of-war lasted a full three days.

The land of Middle City had long been soaked in blood, the alloy streets of the industrial district blasted into potholes, and beneath every inch of ruins lay corpses.

The Lower City Allied Forces on the Southern Route had already been routed countless times.

Casualties among the Scavengers, gang members, and civilian militia had broken seven figures; mangled corpses piled into low walls along the streets.

Dark brown blood flowed down the slopes, pooling into foul-smelling puddles in the depressions.

The Chaos Army was like an endless tide — beat back one wave and another surged up.

Where those beguiling demons passed, soldiers either fell into madness and slaughtered each other, or their bodies twisted and mutated into mindless flesh monsters.

The Thousand Sons sorcerers stood behind the positions; every wave of their staves brought psychic firestorms raining from the sky, turning whole street districts into purgatory.

The civilians of Lower City had already fought to the point of exhausted ammunition and supplies.

The dozens-of-kilometers defensive line shrank again and again, retreating from the Middle City Lower Entrance all the way to the Giant Gate at the boundary between Lower City and Middle City.

Were it not for the heavy alloy armor of the gate barely holding, the Southern Route would likely have collapsed completely long ago.

The situation on the Northern Route was equally grim.

The Vanguard Army's elite troops, coordinating with the State Religion Battle Nuns, launched seven large-scale charges; each tore open Chaos's outer lines and advanced hundreds of meters.

But every time the battle line broke through even slightly, it was immediately met with an even more ferocious counterattack.

More and more demons walked out of the Warp Domain; the Supreme Servant Corps' Thousand Sons warriors coordinated seamlessly.

The coordination between front-rank and rear-rank sorcerers was watertight, forcibly repulsing the Vanguard Army's offensives time and again.

The Warp Domain was still expanding slowly but steadily.

Under the Blasphemy Barrier, Chaos's power grew stronger, demon manifestations grew more solid, and sorcerer spells grew more savage.

In orbit above, on the bridge of the James Tong, the atmosphere was equally oppressive.

On the massive holo-screen, the Blasphemy Barrier's energy curve kept pulsing; red alarm lights flashed silently in the corner.

Dominic stood before the command dais, red hair above a face etched with exhaustion; for three days he had barely closed his eyes, trying every possible method.

Macro-cannon volleys, Light Spear concentrated fire, torpedo saturation strikes — yet all attacks hitting the barrier were either easily blocked or absorbed and reflected back as backlash.

"Adult, the third volley data is out." Deputy Colonel Karen stepped forward, voice carrying a hint of hoarseness.

"Same as the first two times — after the barrier absorbs energy, the counterattacking psychic laser cannon's power increases by another seven percent."

"If we keep firing, we probably won't hold out first."

Dominic said nothing, gaze fixed dead on the peaks and troughs of that energy curve on the screen.

In three days he had ordered the fleet to conduct seventeen attacks of varying intensity, from single-cannon probes to full-ship volleys; every data set was recorded in detail by the Mechanical Priests.

Simultaneously, on the surface of Brevis, Lena also conducted uninterrupted psychic detection of the barrier through the Bug Swarm Shadow.

The two data sets cross-verified, ultimately pointing to the same startling conclusion.

"The energy peak occurs at the moment the vortex counterattacks, then drops rapidly."

A Mechanical Priest pointed a metal finger at the trough on the screen, voice carrying a dry mechanical synthesis.

"At the moment the vortex fully dissipates and reintegrates into the barrier, the energy reading drops to its lowest value — only seventeen percent of the norm."

"Seventeen percent?" Dominic's brow twitched. "Meaning that's when the barrier is weakest?"

"Theoretically, yes." The Priest paused, optical lens flickering once.

"But it still maintains the barrier's function."

"Conventional shells and energy beams, even if they barely penetrate, will be deflected by spatial distortion, or even directly sucked into the Warp, rendering them meaningless."

The bridge fell into a brief silence.

They had found the weakness yet still could not exploit it — a feeling more stifling than not finding it at all.

Just then, the navigator who had been standing in the bridge corner with eyes closed the whole time suddenly opened them.

He was an old man in a deep blue gown, a third eye faintly closed on his forehead, a faint Warp Aura swirling around him.

He walked slowly to the command dais, voice low and ethereal: "Adult, since physical shells can't penetrate, what about the ship?"

"The ship?" Deputy Colonel Karen frowned. "What do you mean?"

"At the vortex's lowest ebb, that place is essentially a mass of dissipating Warp energy turbulence, not much different from a small Warp Storm."

The navigator's gaze fell on the screen's trough, speech slow but clear:

"If a warship with its Gellar Field activated charged into the vortex at the moment of lowest energy, it might not be unable to pass through."

Those words were like a bolt of lightning, cleaving the bridge's gloom.

The Mechanical Priest immediately bowed his head to calculate, fingers flying across the console.

After conducting a ritual, praying to the God of All Machines, strings of data flashed by rapidly.

A few minutes later, he raised his head, optical lenses blazing:

"Theoretically feasible! Success rate... approximately forty-seven percent."

"Only about thirty percent higher risk than standard Warp travel."

Forty-seven percent.

A fifty-fifty success rate; a fifty-fifty chance of being torn apart by spatial distortion in the vortex, or lost forever in the Warp.

"No! Too risky!" Deputy Colonel Karen immediately objected, looking at Dominic with urgent tone.

"Adult! You are an Internal Affairs Department Tax Officer, not the garrison general of Brevis!"

"You've already done enough for them these past half month, fulfilling all obligations! There's no need to risk yourself for a remote planet!"

"Yes, Adult!" Several officers nearby chimed in agreement.

"We've already done our best. If it really won't work, retreating to the star system edge to await reinforcements is also a method."

"If something happens to you, how do we answer to the clan?"

The opposing voices were very sincere.

In their view, Dominic originally came to collect taxes; being able to halt the fleet to help fight Chaos was already an enormous favor.

No need to gamble his life on a less than fifty percent success rate.

Dominic did not answer immediately.

He faced away from everyone, gaze cast through the porthole at that blue-gray planet shrouded by the Desecration Barrier.

The Eagle Badge on his cuff reflected the bridge lights, cold and striking.

He was right; he is a Tax Collector, not a Planetary Governor.

From the standpoint of duties, he could completely take the fleet and turn around, leaving Brevis's mess to the Star Region Command.

Even if this planet completely fell, it wouldn't have too much relation to him.

But he couldn't do it.

These three days, he watched those poorly equipped civilians on the ground, holding machetes and weapons like scrap iron, charging at demons.

Vanguard Army soldiers fell batch after batch, yet the defensive line behind them did not retreat a single step; Combat Nuns sang hymns, bodies wreathed in flames, dragging demons into Hell.

He thought of Brevis's young Governor, Keli Feng.

Clearly just a remote planet's Governor, yet always able to produce a different trump card in desperate straits.

He still had many questions unasked.

The Frost Dragon's truth, the Ice Worm Zerg's details, and that strange aura both holy and cold...

He wanted to ask Keli Feng in person, who exactly he was.

"Relay my command."

Dominic finally spoke, voice not loud, yet carrying an undeniable Ice Cold Determination.

"Prepare a Sword-class Frigate, select the most experienced crew and Spirit Energy Users, make a Transmigration attempt."

"Adult!" Karen still wanted to dissuade.

"No need for more words." Dominic waved a hand, red hair strands jumping in the light.

"I am an Imperial Navy Major General; as long as I'm in this star region, fighting Chaos is my duty."

"Besides, just sending one frigate to probe first, I'm not stupid enough to risk myself."

He looked toward the navigator: "Precisely detect vortex energy readings, three-minute warning before lowest valley appears."

"Yes, Adult."

The attempt would formally begin in half an hour.

The selected "First Drop of Blood" Sword-class Frigate quickly broke away from the Fleet Formation.

It was like a cautious lone wolf, swiftly approaching the Desecration Barrier.

When not under attack, the barrier is in a relatively calm state and will not actively counterattack.

First Drop of Blood smoothly reached a position less than one hundred kilometers from the barrier, quietly lying in wait for the optimal moment.

On the bridge, the captain gripped the handrail tight, palms full of Cold Sweat.

Crew members each performed their duties, not daring to breathe.

The Spirit Energy User responsible for driving the Gellar Field sat in a specialized chair, eyes tightly shut, fine sweat beads seeping on forehead, all Spirit Energy already connected to the force field core.

"Energy readings dropping, thirty percent, twenty-two percent..."

The navigator's voice came through the encrypted frequency, steady with a trace of tension.

"Ten seconds until lowest valley, five seconds, three, two, one."

"Right now!"

"Full speed ahead!" The captain ordered loudly.

Engine Boom— First Drop of Blood fiercely accelerated, like a silver arrow, charging straight toward the center where the vortex dissipated.

What hit them was a more maddened energy turbulence than expected.

Colorful Warp Energy twisted wildly around the hull; countless Psyker Lightnings struck the Gellar Field, blasting open rings of dazzling light patterns.

The hull violently trembled, like a lone boat in a raging sea, possibly torn apart at any moment.

Alarm shrilled, Gellar Field energy bar plummeting at visible speed.

"Force field loss forty percent!"

"Spirit Energy User overload!"

"Left armor showing spatial erosion!"

Bad news came one after another; the captain gritted teeth, staring dead at that distorted light mist ahead:

"Hold steady! Continue charging forward!"

Vortex center, countless distorted phantoms skimmed along the force field — Warp Demons sucked in by the energy turbulence.

They roared, scratched at the Gellar Field, emitting tooth-aching Shrill Cries.

The Spirit Energy User maintaining the force field trembled all over, fresh blood seeping from nostrils and ears, blood vessels bulging under skin like green earthworms.

His Spirit Energy was rapidly consuming, soul feeling like it was roasting on a fire.

But he did not let go.

The lives of the several thousand soldiers on the ship, the hope of the tens of billions of civilians on the Ground, all pressed upon the Force Field he Maintained.

"Soon, it'll be soon..." the Captain Stared at the Front, murmuring to himself.

Just as the Spirit Energy User's entire body smoked, his Consciousness about to dissipate, the Distorted light mist before his eyes suddenly dispersed.

Before his eyes was finally no longer the blinding Radiance, the Rampage Vibration instantly calmed, the piercing alarm also ceasing along with it.

The First Drop of Blood, successfully passed through the Desecration Barrier.