706 The Battle at Venus! (1/2)
Daoist You Ran's order was transmitted throughout the base on Mercury. Dao Palace cultivators, as well as parasitic Never-Ending Clan members hiding in their host bodies and leading the Dao Palace cultivators, acted upon the order immediately. Because of greed and profit, a second great war had broken out in the Federation civilization!
The battle at Venus had commenced!
The Never-Ending Clan and the Vast Expanse Dao Palace seemed confident of their victory. There were no doubts that they would win this war. Their only concern was to do so with minimal loss while obtaining the greatest victory. The Federation's Anti-Spirit Bombs had made them cautious.
They were wary of the Anti-Spirit Bombs' power, as well as the Federation's display of its intent… to risk everything for the war!
Including, for example… blowing up a whole planet in order to kill its enemies!
Such a self-destructive method that caused harm to their own while inflicting destruction on the enemy was a source of frustration and annoyance for the Dao Palace and the Never-Ending Clan.
That was also the reason why, despite having taken over Mercury, Daoist You Ran hadn't immediately launched a full-scale offensive on Venus. He had instead waited for the Death Dao Battleship to be repaired to a level where it could overpower Venus' self-destruction before commencing an attack on the planet.
The Federation had known that this would happen. The main objective of this battle was to determine how to successfully initiate Venus' self-destruction and cause maximum damage to the Dao Palace.
It was a tough balance to strike. Despite a great deal of preparation, the Federation wasn't confident of its success. Timed too early, the self-destruction might be rendered useless. Timed too late… and they might lose all chances of even triggering an explosion in the first place.
That was why Li Xingwen and Duan Muque had decided to send the lunar stronghold over. The lunar stronghold was to hold off Daoist You Ran's battleship and allow the successful explosion of Venus.
That was why the Federation notified Wang Baole immediately when they had discovered movement from the Vast Expanse Dao Palace and the Never-Ending Clan troops. They instructed him to speed up and make sure he arrived in time.
Li Xingwen, Duan Muque, and the others in command also sent orders for all Federation cultivators and battleships to fall back and form a defensive formation around Venus. Nine strong defensive rows formed and awaited further orders. All mechanisms were activated. Array formations and large-scale military Dharmic Artifacts alike were kept running.
Numerous small teams that added up to tens of thousands of cultivators were spread out around Venusian galactic space. They were the first swords to engage in battle. Leading them were Sect Lord Xu of the Galactic Dusk Sect and the giant tree.
As Nascent Soul realm cultivators, they were given full responsibility of these teams. Li Xingwen was in charge of shifting the line of defense, while Duan Muque was to control the pace in which the battle would unfold.
They also had Feng Qiuran, the only Soul Conduit realm cultivator on base. Her cultivation had almost recovered to its former peak condition after a long period of rest. Her mission was to make use of the boost provided by the Solar System Array Formation, in coordination with her cultivation techniques, and create multiple doppelgangers to hold back Never-Ending Clan Soul Conduit realm cultivators!
It was an extremely heavy responsibility with grave consequences!
As Venus deployed its full defenses, the Vast Expanse Dao Palace troops were taking off from Mercury. The troops gathered and then fanned out into an offensive formation as they headed towards Venus. The day that the two forces were going to clash drew near. In the space between Earth and Venus, Wang Baole was commanding the lunar stronghold and speeding towards Venus. He was faced with a difficult decision.
\”City Lord Wang, based on the moon's current speed, we will need at least two weeks before we reach the Venusian line of defense!\”
\”Even if we were to risk everything and overload the engines, we can only shorten our journey to ten days. That is assuming everything runs smoothly during the journey. Such prolonged overtaxing of the engines brings a high risk of instability… If any accident were to occur, the moon might cave in while traveling at such high speed.\”
In the command center, Wang Baole's face was stormy as he listened silently to his staff's report.
Li Xingwen's instruction to him was to arrive within two weeks. However, Wang Baole knew that nothing was predictable on the battlefield. If luck were on their side, nothing unexpected would happen. But should the Dao Palace and the Never-Ending Clan arrive earlier than expected and initiate battle before the lunar stronghold could arrive, the Federation would be plunged into a dire situation.
We have to get there as soon as possible… Wang Baole narrowed his eyes, which flashed with determination. He immediately ordered for the stronghold to sustain the prolonged overtaxing of their engines. The other cultivators in the command center showed signs of hesitation after receiving his orders. Regardless, they chose to obey. As the moon sped through space, it suddenly quaked as its engines received another boost of energy. It had been relying on the occasional burst of propulsion to glide through space. Now, it propelled itself forward with a sustained thrust.