Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 326 - 132. Sky Ring Takes Off

Chapter 326: 132. Sky Ring Takes Off

Mechanical troops advanced slowly like a swaying forest, with Mobile Armor bearing its fangs and claws as if it were fiery flames. They marched with the storm, natural disasters at their side, yet none of it could influence their high-spirited and fervent will to fight.

In the past, they killed at will, establishing merits and accomplishments, invading countless times, making small nations submit and kneel. Now, facing the Red Arrow People’s destruction of the sacred rituals, they would naturally not hold back.

Li Aozi would be defeated in the most tragic way possible, his spine shattered, chained up, dragged back to his own country to face a global broadcast trial, and then executed. Only in this way could the citizens’ sense of stability be preserved, and only thus could the authority of Sky Ring be maintained.

To stroll with a natural disaster was a mad and shocking scene indeed: look at the thunder and lightning intersecting in the sky, like a million wild dragons frolicking across it. Immense dust and debris gathered in the wind speed of 680 kilometers per hour to form a monstrous storm, carrying tens of millions of tons of earth, sand, blizzards, and vapor, extending thousands of kilometers. It was a giant beast of destruction that leveled mountains and hills, tearing everything it saw into fine icy sand. Some areas started to show electric currents and sparks due to the friction being too intense.

Natural disasters are called so because people lack the ability to resist and confront them. The warriors of Sky Ring moved cautiously, maintaining tight formations. Each driver clenched the steering wheel tightly, resisting the assault of the fierce winds. Even tens of tons heavy Mobile Armor was nothing more than a slightly tougher piece of iron pastry before the force of nature.

Squadron Commander Shouye Asaichi was on high alert. As a veteran who had invaded Frost Plated before, he knew all too well that full strength was needed to catch even a rabbit for a lion.

More than a decade ago on the battlefield, the Sky Ring Army advanced triumphantly, conquering 12 forward cities within two weeks. The exhausted Madeleine government was busy suppressing the Rose Army, and was always lukewarm about resisting the invasion by Sky Ring.

Even then, the seemingly decadent Frost Plated Soldiers could burst forth with resolute determination, fighting to the end, holding the Sky Ring Warriors at bay in front of the strategic fortress for a full 72 days.

When the Sky Ring Warriors seized the living room, the Frost Plated Soldiers counterattacked in the kitchen. When the enemy stepped into the bedroom, the Frost Plated People made their last stand on the balcony.

The lengthy 72 days wore down the will of both the front lines and the upper echelons. Domestic war-weariness rose, and the frontline soldiers became numb, beginning to question the possibility of victory in the war.

After that period, the Red Arrow Empire had also settled its domestic rebellion. The Empire wasn’t too enthusiastic about the Frost Plated issue but knew that if Frost Plated were to fall, a tripartite balance would result in enduring disputes for the Empire. Therefore, they hinted subtly:

"Although life is a bit difficult in the Empire right now, and the economy isn’t very stable, we have enough control over our nuclear weapons."

Sky Ring was also a nuclear superpower, but the difference was that Sky Ring’s nukes were relics of the old era. Although numerous, they did not have the production capacity for a prolonged nuclear war. In contrast, the territory of the Red Arrow Empire was three times that of Sky Ring, boasting uranium and helium resources under the sea bed. In every aspect, the Empire was better equipped for a sustained war.

The People of Sky Ring weren’t truly keen on war; they were only eager for profitable invasions. The Red Arrow People went mad because they were already bent on mutual destruction with revenge in mind. The People of Sky Ring were different; they waged war to gain benefits and enjoy life. No one in their right mind would join them in their madness.

Shouye Asaichi was a man who had lived through the ’72 Days of Hell.’ Unlike the passionate youngsters of today, he witnessed firsthand how the Frost Plated Soldiers, known for running and surrendering, would launch countercharges against the Samurai amid the poison gas and flames, again and again. Taking advantage of the city’s streets, they turned off the artificial sun, using the darkness and cold wind to constantly harass and raid them, completely exhausting the Sky Ring people’s strategy for a swift and decisive victory.

General Quan felt quite relaxed about the battle because Li Aozi was only one person.

Just one person, on a modern battlefield, he could destroy dispersed air force units like those of Frost Plated, but he couldn’t inflict casualties on the cohesive, fully integrated Sky Ring Warriors.

But Commander Kariya Asaichi was very cautious about this battle because Li Aozi was only one person!

The truly frightening thing about Li Aozi was that he, as a single person, had caused destruction that only elite legions could achieve, it’s not that no Gamma Rank could level a city, but for a Gamma Rank to do it alone would require time and effort nearly equivalent to what an entire legion constructed with the same cost would need.

But Li Aozi was different, his abilities were very special, fire disaster, gravity, both were powerful area-of-effect damage, calling him a humanoid natural disaster was not an exaggeration.

Even though Li Aozi was just one man, he never dared to take things lightly, before joining the war, he actively sought meetings with intelligence officers from SCIA, acquiring and reading a vast amount of information on Li Aozi, down to the minutiae of his preference for shredded chicken with mashed potatoes.

According to his judgment, Li Aozi possessed great area-of-effect destructive power, somewhat lacking when facing individual powerhouses, yet the more he was swarmed, the more vigorous he appeared.

Furthermore, Li Aozi had a formidable intelligence gathering capability, the hydrogen bomb hidden by the Houjo Group beneath Abandon Mist was uncovered by Li Aozi in less than 10 minutes from the Houjo Tower.

There was evidence showing that Li Aozi also had impressive intelligence control power over small nations like the Grante Duchy, with hardly any fighters from the Resistance Army dying in the attack on Sulut Palace.

In Commander Kariya Asaichi’s view, Li Aozi was born for war, the official profile of Li Aozi was "a beauty of stunning appearance that could overthrow cities, who seemed too arrogant because he could have anything he wanted, not particularly smart, but cunning and compelling."

Some might breathe a sigh of relief seeing that his intelligence was not considered high, overlooking Li Aozi’s greatest advantage — immense charm.

Thirty percent of people in this world have above-average intelligence, but not all intelligent people become part of the high-income population.

But those with great charm almost never end up poor. The less fortunate among them may be prostitutes or socialites, but with a bit of education, they can become organizers, leaders, and advocates.

Why aren’t the highly intelligent people becoming leaders? Because those with high intelligence know to take care of themselves and never take the risk of being in charge.

A leader’s primary ability is not intelligence, but charm, cohesion, decisiveness, and if not that, then martial force, which often relates to how many people one can organize and mobilize. In other words, as long as you have charm, intelligent people will gladly serve you.

So, with such strong charm and a beautiful appearance, does Li Aozi not have any support at all?

Kariya Asaichi didn’t see it that way; on the contrary, he believed that there must be a massive support network behind Li Aozi.

If Li Aozi were acting alone, then making the Grante Duchy independent would be impossible. This matter involved the support of all three parties—the Red Arrow, Zhengxu, and the Sky Ring—slicing up the colonies and weakening Frost Plated.

After careful study, Kariya Asaichi quickly realized that Li Aozi was extremely adept at mediating among the Four Nations, leveraging one against another. He held a Red Arrow green card with no entry records, was born in Frost Plated, and frequently communicated with the people of the Outer World, purchasing arms from Zhengxu and making money from the People of Sky Ring... This man’s social network was too vast. As long as Li Aozi was willing, he could stand with any side at any time, except for Frost Plated.

Such formidable social skills were extremely frightening. Kariya Asaichi even suspected that Li Aozi had already prepared his troops, ready to launch a counterattack against them.

His concern was not unfounded. Li Aozi had frequently spoken about the ’Outer World.’ If Li Aozi had a significant reputation there, then it wasn’t impossible for him to rally an army from the Outer World and, with his connections to the Red Arrow and Zhengxu, arm them in preparation for an ambush.

Therefore, Kariya Asaichi deployed the Ninja Troops, sending these lightly armored scouts out in all directions to search and probe for ambushes.

The brothers in the sky, part of the Air Force, also patrolled everywhere. The drone formations activated optical stealth, using thermal imaging to scan the ground without missing a trace.

Many thought Kariya Asaichi was just making a fuss. Against just one person, and a defeated one at that, one who had fled after being beaten by Youhe Lai, why be so meticulous?

Being too tense would only waste resources and sap morale, an effort that was hard yet unrewarding. Soldiers wouldn’t want to listen to you then.

But soon, the soldiers would realize how right Kariya’s decision was.

"Signal from the Ninja Troops! At 10 o’clock, a thermal reaction has been detected."

In the temporary command post within the transport helicopter, the adjutant solemnly said,

"Lord Kariya, according to intelligence analysis, it could be a convoy, a fully armed convoy."

"Just as I expected, Li Aozi’s intelligence-gathering capabilities are as good as ever. Our movements must have been exposed a long time ago,"

Kariya Asaichi nodded his head; he had not guessed wrong.

"But we were moving along the path of the natural disaster. How did that guy manage to...?"

"Who knows? Maybe the headquarters haven’t kept a tight enough lid on things,"

Immediately, Kariya Asaichi let out a cold laugh and muttered,

"I hope it’s not really the enemy within the headquarters. I don’t want to get mixed up in a messy internal struggle—Sakata Squadron, change to the interception formation, call in our fighters, and take a bit of a detour. After engaging in battle, cut off their escape route."

"Uh, Colonel, something’s not right," the adjutant looked at the map, his face turning awkward: "Nearby seems to be Sunny Garden. The suspected convoy signal is coming from underground—there is actually a subway line here..."

"Are you talking about the Greening Base?"

"Yes, wouldn’t it be best not to start a conflict with those biochemists right now? If we go with the previous tactics... we’re bound to bomb their headquarters."

Considering the fanaticism of those green crazies, if they dared to burn a single tree, they would definitely launch a furious attack on his own people.

But not all madmen are created equal.

Kariya Asaichi hesitated slightly, then decided regardless,

"Don’t worry about it too much, they’re just remnants of the old era, dreaming of greening the world! After all, they are doomed to be eradicated by His Majesty the Ring King eventually."

"So, should we—"

"Continue executing the combat orders and also have the Sky Hawk fighters drop earth-penetrating bombs to flush out Li Aozi and his group!"

Kariya Asaichi took a deep breath, and his gaze suddenly shifted:

"Link up to the tactical platform, gentlemen, our chance for redemption has come. Long live His Majesty the Ring King!"