Chapter 1693: The Final Line of Defense |
After completely extinguishing, only darkness and a piercing busy signal remained. "’Diamond Stronghold’ main gate section pressure surge! Detected Titan level biological signal approaching!" "’Sighing Corridor’ C-wing has discovered a massive teleportation reaction! Confirmed to be Jian Qi Wizard!" "’Emperor’s Crown’ Observatory artillery position is under saturation bombing by airborne Demon Engine cluster, air defense fire net severely torn apart!" "Palace River dike system sensors malfunctions in multiple areas! Suspected Nagor corrosion is damaging the basic structure!" The frantic warnings from staff officers hammered on everyone’s nerves like rapid drumbeats. On the full-view battle map, the warning red lights representing fierce engagements spread like a plague, with over seventy percent of the outer defense nodes of the Imperial Palace lighting up with ominous orange-red colors, indicating ’critical’ or ’imminent collapse,’ while the gold highlights representing the Imperial Guard mobile reserve force were pitifully few, most of them desperately jumping across the map from one crisis point to another, barely providing relief in each intervention. A combat staff officer’s voice carried an almost imperceptible tremble, "Marshal! ’Anvil’ confirmed fallen. Nagor plague legion is bypassing through the gap towards ’Rock Fortress’ flank! ’Sighing Corridor’ B-wing has been internally breached by the traitorous Jian Qi Mechanical Tentacles, defenders have suffered complete losses! Outer energy shield grid generator nodes are half destroyed or disabled by Nagor spore contamination! According to battlefield entropy model projections... the collapse of the outer defense system will be certain within the standard hour! We must contract the defense line, preserve the ’Core Dome Cluster’!" Yan Xinzhen, beneath the eternally cold bronze faceplate, swept his eagle sharp gaze across the worsening star map, then over the faces filled with restrained anxiety and despair in the command hall - they were the reserve staff officers, elite heirs from various Terra Noble Academies, but none had imagined their first real ’exam’ would be the Empire’s heart struggling in death throes. He saw the cold, brutal projection result on the staff data slab. Within an hour, the millennium-guarded walls of the Imperial Palace would face extensive losses. A cruel choice pierced his heart like an ice awl. Abandoning the vast outer defense circle, carved with countless legends and epics for ten thousand years, withdrawing the limited and precious Imperial Guard forces into the critical area surrounding the core secrets of the palace and the Emperor’s temple - the final fortress of royal power. This equated to deliberately setting the boundaries of a slaughterhouse for the enemy, relinquishing numerous defensive advantageous terrain, abandoning the courageous defenders living and dying with the palace walls... But it seemed the only option to keep the heart from immediately stopping. His tightly clenched fist made a slight dent on the cold command table edge. Silence lasted only a few seconds, before another wave of urgent alarms submerged the command hall; his clear, calm yet weighty voice spread through the speaker system across the entire space: ’Highest order: all outer defense zone defenders, change combat mission to... delay action. At any cost, obstruct enemy spearhead. Gather all core defense troops reserve, ’Silent Sanctuary’ Guard, ’Dawn’ Iron Guard Battalion. Abandon all outer independent nodes, observation towers, secondary pathways, and non-core artillery positions.’ The voice paused briefly, each word laboriously squeezed from a titanium mold, ’Establish the final defense line: fortify at the periphery of the Core Dome energy shield system and all paths leading to ’Emperor’s Crown’, ’Star Torch Base’, ’Golden Throne’ courtyard, and ’Ten Thousand Armies Armory’ core.’ All outer