Chapter 599: Attack
Equally suffering under the poisonous hand of the Star-melting Cannon was Phobos, that small satellite.
Still from beyond visual range, a Solar Flare strike—a super torrent of light and heat—thoroughly melted this satellite, skin and bones, into nothing.
Under Mars' gravitational pull, the molten magma rained down, plummeting towards the Martian landscape. Without extraordinary powers to block it, this wave alone would be enough to destroy a quarter of the civilization on Mars.
"Let me take you to see the meteor shower... falling on this grassy land... letting your tears fall by my heart..." As a transmigrator, Qiu Yi was moved by the scene, inexplicably recalling his favorite song from his time on Earth.
Alas, this meteor shower had transformed into a deadly rain of fiery meteors. There was no lush green grass on the ground; instead, it was replaced by silicon-based plants of truly bizarre appearance and color.
Of course, this was also because his tribe possessed something beyond the primitive era—city defense shields—allowing them such ease.
The lava striking the city would be directly disintegrated by the shields arrayed within.
...
"Protect the city!" The powerhouses of other tribes, however, lacked his carefree ease. They flew into the sky with shouts, striking down anything that might threaten their tribes.
"Boom!"
"Bang!"
"Rip!"
...
The monsters each employed their unique methods: some violently punched the falling debris to smithereens, others used rock to strike rock, and a portion even unleashed their innate abilities, all just to annihilate the falling stones in mid-air.
They didn't even have time to fear the might of the Solar Flare, for behind them were their kin, their homes.
For a time, chaos reigned everywhere, shattered stones scattering like snow across the uninhabited land.
...
"If they fired a shot directly at the main planet... then it would all be over." Having witnessed the power of the Solar Flare, Qiu Yi couldn't even imagine such a scene. This planet simply had nothing that could withstand it.
"No, I can't just give up like this. I need to do a divination, let the will of heaven decide whether to surrender!"
Although he was already contemplating surrender, he still wanted some psychological comfort for himself.
Modern people's cherishing of life was utterly different from the primitive, brute-force idiots who would fight without regard for life or death at the drop of a hat.
Naturally, there were many other tribal chiefs, like Qiu Yi, who were wavering. After all, the power of the Solar Flare was plain for all to see; in just a few short hourglasses, both celestial moon-discs in the sky had been utterly annihilated, with hardly any remnants left.
...
"This show of force should have quite an effect." Standing in the Moon God's command center, Wen Jian was contemplating the next course of action.
Due to their intention to deeply develop Mars, they could no longer employ destructive Solar Flare strikes. Instead, they could only dispatch ground troops in coordination with the air force to conquer the planet.
"By using power so overwhelming that no thought of resistance can arise, we'll intimidate the Martian natives. I believe that as long as they aren't all thick-headed, a surrender faction is bound to emerge.
Then, by leveraging the strength of the surrender faction, we can culturally 'humanize' the Martians through indoctrination. The effect should be twice the result with half the effort," Mo Li continued, picking up the thread.
They all leaned towards controlling Mars in a relatively peaceful manner, so the path they chose was also comparatively gentle.
However, this so-called gentleness was only relative to Edward Teach's and Ramdo's proposals of 'leaving the land but not the people.'
With their differing cultivation methods, naturally, their views on the Martians as a valuable cultivation resource also diverged.
Edward Teach, who could cultivate by absorbing others, and Ramdo, who fashioned corpses into divine servants for his divine kingdom, both advocated for massive slaughter on Mars. Meanwhile, Mo Li, a sorceress inclined towards studying the mind, insisted that the majority of Martians should be kept alive.
Only living Martians possessed minds for her to study.
Amidst the debate between the hawkish and dovish factions, the Moon God gradually approached its predetermined operational orbit.
...
After the ejection of vast quantities of ultra-high-speed plasma, the Moon God had largely reached its target velocity range.
According to the plan, upon entering the predetermined orbit, some of the Moon God's gravitational equilibrium devices would shut down. At that time, the Moon would temporarily become a satellite of Mars, synchronously orbiting it.
"Li Shunsheng, this is your first mission. Good luck." Li Shunsheng, his face grim, prepared to lead the "Sinner Legion" vanguard in their landing, accompanied by a multitude of clone projections.
This special unit, named the "Sinner Legion," consisted entirely of prisoners from the Geocentric Grand Prison.
The Federation government had promised them that by earning sufficient merit, they could gain both a large sum of money and early freedom.
Observing this unruly, undisciplined unit, Li Shunsheng felt a headache coming on.
All his life, apart from diligent cultivation, he had cared about nothing else; naturally, he was completely clueless about command. Now, suddenly being tasked with leading thousands of people on a war mission, it was truly a considerable challenge.
Thus, he decided that as soon as the two armies engaged, he would act as the spearhead of the assault, simply selecting everyone and charging forward in a single wave.
As for the subsequent projection legions, he couldn't control them, nor did he wish to.
...
"Attention all units, the deployment of the Sinner Legion will commence in ten minutes. Please board the corresponding shuttles for descent."
"Repeating, attention all units, the deployment of the Sinner Legion will commence in ten minutes. Please board the corresponding shuttles for descent."
According to their different power levels, the Federation's military forces had varying weapon and logistical configurations.
For those of the First Tier and below, if required to participate in alien surface warfare, they were provided with a set of Second-Tier Spirit Energy power armor and boarded Class Three maneuverable aircraft.
For those of the Second to Third Tiers, if required to participate in alien surface warfare, they were provided with a set of Third-Tier elite power armor and boarded Class Two maneuverable aircraft capable of withstanding stronger acceleration.
Those of the Fourth to Fifth Tiers already possessed the ability to survive for extended periods in oxygen-deprived vacuum conditions. They required no external protective gear and boarded Class One maneuverable aircraft, specifically designed for superhuman beings, with acceleration that would cause ordinary people to explode.
As for the Sixth-Tier super-warriors, it might be more convenient for them not to take a shuttle at all.
...
"Surrender, no surrender, surrender, no surrender..." Qiu Yi tore off petal after petal of a flower called a single-iron flower. The single-iron flower, which always had an odd number of petals, seemed to expose his attempt at self-deception.
At the same time, tribes determined to fight to the bitter end began their final pre-battle morale boosting.
However, Qiu Yi, as a proponent of surrender, seemed to have forgotten one thing: how could he possibly communicate with a group of aliens who spoke no common language and shared no common culture?
Perhaps the gesture for surrender, popular on Mars, might be interpreted as a provocation in the eyes of the enemy.
PS: I am very sorry. The stock market was a bit volatile today, and I had too many things to deal with, so I only had time to write late into the night.
Comments