168: Everything is ready

"So, you all heard it too?"

"Yes, Your Excellency, I heard it too. I am a candidate for the God of Space, ranked over 470 billion..."

"I am a Sea God candidate, ranked over 290 billion."

Sailos and the Marshal of the First Legion, Igeus, who had just woken up, spoke with similar surprise.

"You're both god candidates? Why did I hear Paladin candidate? My rank is over 800 billion... uh... it just dropped to 900 billion!"

The Marshal of the Second Legion, Herilier, looked somewhat indignant.

"That goes without saying, it's obviously because you're the weakest, haha!"

Kols crossed his arms and mocked him with a tilted head.

"Kols has finally told the truth for once," Marshal of the First Legion Igeus agreed with a smile and a nod.

Only Sailos remained silent, leaning against the corner of an instrument, looking every bit the expert.

"Lord Herilier, perhaps the gods of the Holy Light Path have not fallen, while the gods of other paths have."

Gore, standing alone to the side, guessed tentatively.

"Well said. Perhaps a powerhouse of my Holy Light Path, a single Paladin, can rival the gods of other traditions."

Herilier's expression softened slightly, and he forced a smile as he looked at Gore.

"I remember you're called Gore, right? Reaching SS-rank at such a young age, you're a promising lad."

"It's all thanks to Lord Zhang Huaiyuan's favor."

Hearing this, Gore looked gratefully at the smiling man beside him.

He had originally been just a Captain with a bit of strength on the border, with no background or resources; the highest he could have reached in his life was Major.

But since following him, he had been promoted to Lieutenant General in just over ten years, commanding a Battalion within the "Wings of Freedom," the strongest legion of the Star Alliance.

Now, his talent had even been promoted from Over-rank to Gods Chosen, and his strength had broken through to SS-rank, second only to the legendary figures of the Star Alliance before him.

Choice... really is more important than effort, he couldn't help but think to himself.

"That's right, Your Excellency. Thank you for setting aside past grievances and enhancing our strength."

The two Marshals and Kols also turned and bowed upon hearing this.

"There's no need for that. When the crisis arrives, I hope you all will fight to the death."

"Naturally, we will do our utmost."

Seeing their unhesitating stance, Zhang Huaiyuan smiled slightly. Recalling the data he had just seen, a look of deep thought flashed in his eyes.

Inheritance of the God of Wind, completion 11%.

Does reaching 100% mean becoming the true God of Wind?

What exactly are these so-called "God of Wind" and "God of Space"? Have they all fallen?

How is the inheritance determined? Does a promotion through technological means also count?

Furthermore... these people were observed as soon as he promoted them through special means. Could it be... above this place and those so-called Higher Worlds, there is a group of truly supreme beings watching, like raising Gu, selecting the talent they need?

"Forget it, there's no use overthinking. I should solve the immediate crisis first."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head and said, "A new Cataclysm-level Disaster Zone seems to have appeared on the outskirts of the Watcher Galaxy. Go and deal with it, and familiarize yourselves with your power in the process. Additionally, your latest transcendent weapons are already being forged and are expected to take about nine months."

"Understood, Your Excellency."

They all bowed simultaneously.

"Mm. Statue of Liberty, Asroth."

After giving them their orders, Zhang Huaiyuan looked at his left and right wrists and said, "The modification plans and design blueprints for the new troop types have been uploaded. Prepare to begin full-scale production."

"From today, the Free Star Alliance will enter a state of combat control. No private trading of ore, energy, or any military-related resources is allowed. Once discovered, severe punishment will be dealt without leniency."

"Yes, Excellency/Master."

...December, Liberty Year 3659.

Under the full control of the Statue of Liberty, all production plans were completed as scheduled.

One after another, the data models constructed in Zhang Huaiyuan's mind were finally born into the world.

Almost all of the original fleet was scrapped and reforged. Using the resources of a territory spanning eight million light-years, a total of five legions were built.

Each was equipped with 12 million "Legend Generation III" series starships and over 300 million battle robots.

They were each equipped with one "Phase Disintegration Cannon," four "Curvature Tracking Missiles," and eighteen anti-matter annihilation secondary batteries shared by the Star Dome Empire.

In terms of defense, the "Phase Shift" defense system replaced the original Ion Shields.

Upon being attacked, the phase system would temporarily transfer the damage received to another Ethereal Space. Its protective capability far exceeded the previous "legend generation ii."

Furthermore, its six "Void Infinite Energy" reactors could almost guarantee full-power operation under conventional conditions without pressure.

Aside from its structure still falling within the category of a Grade 9 starship due to resource and material limitations, its offensive, defensive, and power supply systems had reached combat standards under level 2 rules, far exceeding the limits of Grade 9.

Zhang Huaiyuan exceptionally rated it as Grade 10.

In addition, 100 battle robots were stationed on each Assault Ship.

Zhang Huaiyuan had implanted them with chips containing parts of the "Miracle Algorithm." In terms of war intelligence and execution alone, they even far surpassed veterans of a hundred battles.

They would not fear or flee; in any desperate situation, they would calmly make the choice most conducive to victory.

The deputy commanders of these five legions were the five people who had been strengthened earlier, including Kols.

Except for Gore, whose strength was slightly weaker due to insufficient cultivation time, the other four had completely reached the standards of Elite Living Beings under level 2 rules in terms of estimated combat power after obtaining their custom-made T9-grade transcendent weapons.

They mainly led the SS-rank and above powerhouses from the Star Alliance's Transcendent Association, responsible for dealing with troublesome individual enemies.

Of course, besides these, Zhang Huaiyuan had made multiple preparations.

For example, engineering robots were buried deep underground on all planets within his control.

If the war was eventually lost, these robots would reorganize within one second, build a base within one hour, and drain the entire planet's energy within one day to perish together with the enemy.

"Everything that needs to be prepared is ready. The rest depends on destiny."

Zhang Huaiyuan took a deep breath, closed the combat readiness report projected in front of him, and said calmly:

"Statue of Liberty, send a message to Emperor Luo for me. Since the Orr Empire is unwilling to cooperate and has been confirmed to have issues, let's wipe them out together first to avoid being backstabbed later."

"Excellency, I'm afraid it's too late for now."

The Statue of Liberty's voice rang out, sounding somewhat grave.

"Just now, seven Signal Blackout Zones suddenly appeared within the Star Alliance's borders. Even with Asroth and me working together, we cannot penetrate them."

"The war is about to begin."

...