Chapter 2931 - Glory of the Empire!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the sky of the capital city, the setting sun was as red as blood. Pale holes were appearing in the blood-stained atmosphere nonstop. Countless starship remnants, high-explosive rounds, and landing capsules were falling like shooting stars, leaving black spots behind them.
On the ground, thousands of air defense bases were guarding the central government area where the imperial city was located. Hundreds of thousands of crystal cannons were spraying fiery snakes that looked like sabers and swords into the sky at the same time, blowing the 'shooting star' into pieces in
the middle of the atmosphere.
However, there were too many weapons of mass and momentum that were projected from the synchronous orbit. The scanning and locking systems of more and more air defense arrays were malfunctioning, too. Fatal loopholes appeared in the dense fire net. More and more 'shooting stars' fell to the
ground. After earsplitting explosions, the mass turned into destructive blast that savaged every inch of the planet like burning tides, especially the central government district and the imperial city.
Holding the city wall, Li Jialing gazed at the mushroom cloud rising in the southwest, which seemed to be a giant black god that was trampling on his territory, his people, and his pride ruthlessly.
After several days of fierce battles, the last days of the collapse had passed. The little emperor was on the verge of death, too.
His black hair, which used to have a few golden threads, was now pale and yellow. His eyes were sunken, and his eyeballs looked like will-o'-the-wisps that could be extinguished at any moment. The thick veins on his temples were like earthworms that had been exposed to the sun and dried up. The
energetic young man suddenly looked twenty years older, like an evil ghost that had crawled out of hell.
His crystal suit was stained with thick smoke and blood. There was no telling whether it belonged to him or someone else, but he did not care about the dignity of the emperor and did not even have the time to wipe it. Several groups of enemies were already trying to break into the central administrative
area. In order to boost the morale of the imperial guards, he had to lead the charge and kill all the enemies in person.
But such resistance was only enough to delay the collapse for another day, half a day, an hour, or a minute.
"Your Majesty!"
Li Linghai, whose face was also covered in smoke, rushed over from the command center. "Our entire Spiritual Nexus system is still under the most intense attack of the enemy. About 70% of its functions are paralyzed. It will take at least one to two hours to repair it without interference.
"Right now, we have lost contact with the remaining fleets in the orbit, the legions on the ground, and the Gold Crystal Towers below the ground!
Li Jialing's lips twitched. He asked in a coarse voice, "No news from the east yet?"
"I's been a long time."
Li Linghai smiled bitterly. "since a week ago, the members of the Star Glory Federation have destroyed all the communication facilities in the periphery of the space zone and released a lot of interference bombs. They have been jamming the entire universe and blocking our communication with the
outside world all the time. Even if there is good news from Lei Chenghy, it cannot be sent in.
"Besides, it's only been a week. Ten days at most. More than ten days ago, Lei Chenghu failed to take over the Jade Tripod Sector. The four families still have an elite 'Returning Heaven Fleet' under their control. Even if the captains of the hundred thousand main warships of the Returning Heaven Fleet are
all pigs, it will still be impossible to capture a hundred thousand running pigs in the boundless sea of stars.
"So, so…"
Li Linghai sighed softly and stopped talking.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Right then, intense explosions and gunshots suddenly echoed in the southeast of the imperial city.
Very soon, a general of the imperial guards, who was covered in dust, came to report that a troop of battle puppets stationed in the imperial city had been compromised and 'defected'.
As for the Exo Society responsible for the team of puppets, a lot of their crystal suits had been infected by the enemy's virus, too. They were paralyzed or even worse. The enemy's virus could secretly activate the self-detonation system of their crystal suits and detonate them together with their owners
before the Exos realized what was going on!
Li Jialing's eyelids twitched.
"Order all the troops to turn off the external data interface of the crystal suits and all the magical equipment and enter the individual combat mode. Open fire at will.
Li Jialing gnashed his teeth and issued an order that was not an order.
Of course, he knew how bad the command was. The biggest difference between the army and the civilians was not the magical equipment or the level, but the high degree of organization and discipline. The organization and discipline had to be carried out through communication, which meant that the
Spiritual Nexus was completely cut off. As a result, the best troops would become loose sand in a moment.
Besides, in the current situation, even such an order that was not an order could not be delivered to every troop on the frontline.
Looking at the imperiled imperial city, Li Jialing suddenly felt dizzy and unsteady.
Li Linghai quickly extended his hand and held the emperor's shoulder.
This time, the little emperor did not refuse.
"Mother…"
Confusion finally appeared on Li Jialing's exhausted face. "Was I wrong?"
"No."
Li Linghai was silent for a long time. Then he suddenly smiled. "Your Majesty is not wrong. This might be the best ending for the Thousand Year Empire.
"No one is clearer than His Majesty about the conduct of Black Star Emperor Wu Yinggi, the founding elder of our nation, as well as his shady dealings.
"Although the founding of the Imperium of True Human Beings is not glamorous at all, at the very least, the kingdom born of injustice will die a glorious death instead of a disgrace so that the last Immortal Cultivators can look forward to it. Chances are that somebody will remember the courage of the
kingdom and avenge us in the near future.
"Is that so?"
Li Jialing was dazed for a long time. Then he suddenly smiled and strode down the gate tower. "You have a point, mother. Then, let me fulfil my promise and welcome the most glorious ending!"
The little emperor strode toward the space port on the south side of the imperial city.
Over there, his personal assault starship, 'Empire's Glory', was ready to go. His giant soldiers had been carried to the assault starship, too, ready to break into the sky like lightning at any moment!
'The last few thousand soldiers of the imperial guards had been waiting in the space port for a long time. Seeing the arrival of His Majesty, their blood was boiling, their morale soaring, and their courage to perish together with the enemy.
"Long live Your Majesty! Long live the imperium! Long live the civilization of mankind!"
'The imperial guards roared in unison.
However, when Li Jialing was about to board the warship to attack the enemy, the meteor showers in the sky suddenly became denser and hundreds of times more precise.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The debris of almost a hundred enormous starships and the high-explosive bullets mixed in the debris seemed to have eyes of their own and focused their attention on the space port inside the imperial city.
No matter how dense the air defense firepower around the imperial city was, quite a few of them still managed to escape and fell to the ground, enveloping the entire space port in scorching fireballs and devastating blast.
Even Li Jialing was blown hundreds of meters away by the blast and fell to the ground heavily. Despite the protection of his crystal suit and his spiritual shield, his internal organs were still displaced from the impact, and he vomited a mouthful of blood. Stars were dancing before his eyes, and his ears
were humming.
It was not easy for him to suppress the surging waves of blood and concentrate all his spiritual energy on his eyes. Looking ahead through the smoke and fog, he found that the royal space port was already a mess. Not only had alll the launch platforms been twisted, the flat ground was also riddled with
bumps and hollows. Countless soldiers of the imperial army had been burnt and vaporized before they realized what was going on. Even his 'Empire's Glory' had been torn apart and collapsed to the ground like a rotting whale.
One of the high-explosive bullets seemed to have hit 'Empire's Glory', which had not been able to raise its spiritual shield yet, together with the giant soldier inside. It had been blown to pieces and could not be activated without major maintenance.
Such precise and dense attacks indicated that the enemy was not talking nonsense but had secured the geosynchronous orbit and was about to land on the edge of the atmosphere.
Li Jialing narrowed his eyes and gazed at the boundless ocean of blood in the sky.
In the middle of the raging flames, he vaguely saw five devils baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, releasing their most hideous aura without any restraint.
They were… the five supreme fortresses of the Star Glory Federation!
The five supreme fortresses had all broken into the atmosphere of Empyrean Terminus. Ina sense, they had become the 'artificial satellites' of the planet, which made it easier to interfere and suppress the planet.
LiJialing stared at the magnificent figures reflected in the atmosphere of the five supreme fortresses until his eyes were bleeding.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Li Linghai and a large batch of imperial guards rushed close and asked in shock, "Are you alright, Your Majesty?"
"Of course I'm fine. How could I be fine?"
LiJialing spat out a mouthful of blood that was mixed with broken teeth. He unsheathed the gold saber whose edge had been broken and put on a brilliant and confident smile. "I am… the one who is going to grasp all the stars in the universe!"
"What do you want?"
Sensing the increasingly arrogant flames of war on his son's body, Li Linghai said in a trembling voice, "Splendid Empire has been seriously damaged. It is impossible for it to fight again!"
"So what? Didn't you see it? The main force of the enemy has invaded the atmosphere. There's no need for assault starships or giant soldiers. Just crystal suits will be enough to fly over and annihilate them.
Li Jialing looked around and said casually, "What kind of 'glory of the imperium is that? I am the real glory of the imperium. I will not let the infinite brilliance of the Imperium of True Human Beings be extinguished just like that!"
He closed the helmet of his crystal suit and turned into a golden lion again. He pointed his saber at the shadows of the five supreme fortresses in the bloody sky!
However, the tip of his saber started shaking.
Naturally, it was not fear or excitement, but a different, inexplicable, and vaguely resonating emotion.
It was anger.
He was angry because he had been infected by an extremely strong and furious existence in the depths of the sea of stars.
"Strange?"
The little emperor mumbled, "Why does the core of the enemy seem to be in chaos, as if—as if an unprecedented super crystal bomb has been detonated?"
"High-energy reactions. We have detected high-energy reactions and super space ripples from the periphery of the space zone. It is a space jump. A super large-scale space jump on an unimaginable scale. Countless starships have been jumping from various directions without the guidance of the stargate.
Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Almost at the same time, in the command center, a communication officer dashed out as if he had been tied up by invisible flames and shouted crazily, "Your Majesty, it's the Marquis of Liaohai—and the Star Glory Federation—"