Chapter 825: The Battle for the Universe Begins (1/2)

Chapter 825: The Battle for the Universe Begins

Lan Qing shook his head. “Don’t be hasty. We’ll call them when we need them the most.” He had his plans, the core of which were secret even to Kang Hui and Hua Li.

Kang Hui couldn’t help but admire the Admiral as he looked at his calm façade through the screen. It was more than impressive that he could maintain his composure in the face of this alien threat. No wonder he achieved the rank of admiral so young.

He made no further complaints. The Eastern leader’s fortitude washed away any final doubts he had.

Middle Heaven didn’t stop or slow after the appearance of this mighty impediment, and maintained the same forward momentum. Its honeycomb array of cannons stretched out, smoldering with orange light. They were ready to fire at a moment’s notice.

The three bastions and their twelve support fleets moved into battle formation.

The center of the alien force was the twelve crocodile titans and the twelve avatars that rode them. The rest of the horde spread out on either side, far enough to avoid taking too much damage from human long-ranged attacks. Measures were taken to even the playing field and reduce their enemy’s advantage, learned from a wealth of experience on the battlefield.

It was necessary. Out here in the emptiness of space there was nowhere to hide, and so long as they were outside of melee distance they were inhibited. What’s more, their loss at Angel meant they didn’t have a rear force to fall back on.

Somewhere behind them was Europa and their home worlds, trying desperately to succeed in their own breakthrough. But the aliens didn’t fear, they were confident the humans couldn’t break their line.

Lan Qing’s guess had been correct, the aliens had not used their full strength at the beginning this war. One important reason was they feared destroying the human soldiers outright would reveal to them how strong they would need to make their next attempt. The creatures didn’t want stronger opposition.

Now the human armada was proving to be more troublesome than they’d predicted. The only way to make sure they were stopped was to finally reveal the strength the aliens had been hiding this whole time. Victory would come at a cost, but it was necessary. If another group of humans of comparable strength showed up, they could negatively impact their masters’ evolution.

And so a dogfight was inevitable where the aliens would try to do as much damage as they could while maintaining their own numbers. As ever their goal was clear – stall for time.

So far, at least on the surface, they appeared successful. The humans had made it into the solar system’s interior, but it’d cost them dearly in time and resources. Every moment brought them closer to the ascension of their home worlds to godhood. Even if the humans sent another group, by the time they got here it would be too late.

Stretching over two thousand meters tall, the central avatar seemed to lead the others. Its head snapped up, quickly followed by the others. Twelve thunderous roars were released as one from the monsters they rode.

The waves of sound and energy were so intense they shook the empty space between the two armies. Miniscule cracks appeared in reality as the wave of power headed toward the human ships. A shockwave, their version of a long-ranged attack.

Lan Jue had provided his brother with more than news of their victory. He’d also handed over a full recording of the encounter, and with it integral information about this massive fiends. Armed with this knowledge Lan Qing had ordered all ships to have their ships on and at full capacity.

Middle Heaven responded by releasing a barrage of orange light back at them.