Kentarou and Lupica moved towards the police station with trepidation, and Lupica still said with shuddering fear, "Ghost Punch Rabbit, I still don't think this is a good idea; those Controllers will definitely find us."
Nevertheless, Kentarou was very decisive, "As long as we're careful, they won't. Right now, the majority of the Universe Army is fighting in the Xunyi Star Zone, and these Controllers' abilities are too strange and powerful. Our general Star Battle Weapons can't effectively eliminate them. Our Grey Hand Legion simply can't pilot fighters to attack them; instead, they would worm their way into the fighters and take control of us, turning into a tool that endangers others. At this time, we can only do whatever we can for everyone."
Lupica, with a face full of disgust but still admiringly, said to Kentarou, "You really have an excess of justice in you."
It had been three days since the conflict on Earth began. During these three days, the Controllers destroyed many more cities, but the damage they caused was lessened, as the Star Alliance's efforts for shelter had some effect. The counterattacks by the Earth Defense Force and Bionic Human regiments also had certain effects.
The Controllers had lost the boost from their Eternal Crystal Stones, which meant that they would no longer continue to split and reproduce. Yet their numbers were still enormous, and they had not decreased since their arrival because they had bred a new batch of Controllers upon arriving.
Xiao Yu led the Star Alliance's ground forces to an effective counterattack, particularly with the participation of the Bionic Human infantry who couldn't be controlled. The Controllers were at a huge disadvantage in large-scale frontal combat, and since they could not use the Star Alliance's weapons controlled by the Supreme Command, the puppets they controlled weren't as advantageous as on other planets.
However, the number of Controllers was simply too great. They were scattered across various continents and major cities. Even though Xiao Yu had divided his forces into seven main battle zones, with each zone commanding millions of troops, the recovery or rescuing of one city meant that Controllers still controlled other cities. Such a war was in no way inferior to re-conquering the entire Earth and the difficulty was even greater. Due to the properties of energy-based life, they were relatively difficult to attack.
What troubled Bai Zhongqi and Commander Xiao Yu the most was that these Controllers were not at all stupid. When they realized that it was difficult to win against large numbers of Star Alliance forces head-on, these creatures simply shrank to the size of micrometers and then scattered. Whether hiding in water, underground, or even dissipating into the air, it was impossible to know where these things were without extremely precise detection equipment, which naturally brought trouble to the Star Alliance forces' cleanup operations.
The Star Alliance troops entering the recovered cities didn't dare let the residents out of the shelters, nor did they dare to lower their Battle Armor shields, because several times, people did so, exposing their heads, and were immediately attacked by Controllers hiding somewhere.
If this continued, the Controllers might not achieve victory on Earth, but they would drag Earth down, making it impossible for the residents to live normally and turning the whole planet into a hazardous wasteland.
This was a scenario that Bai Zhongqi absolutely would not allow to happen. Therefore, he did not wish to let the Controllers drag things out; he hoped to immediately eradicate them from the planet. In the Xunyi Star Zone, leaders like Xu Lanzhou of the Universe Army did not wish for the battle to drag on; they hoped to quickly achieve victory, thoroughly defeat the three major enslavers coveting Taoran Star, and completely isolate the Controllers on Earth.
On the other side, the Controllers also wanted to quickly defeat the Star Alliance and obtain the Eternal Crystal Stones on Taoran Star.
Kentarou and Lupica were unaware of such civilization-level strategizing. For them, their homeland had been invaded by alien invaders, and they had to stand up to defend their home and the people around them.
The police station was empty, and Kentarou and Lupica sneaked in through the back door of the police station.
"Do you know where their equipment room is?" Lupica asked.
Kentarou also had a headache, but he could only say, "Let's go find it, one room at a time."
The two had no choice but to quietly fumble their way around the police station. There was no one left in the station; the police had either been killed in battle or evacuated with the citizens.
They had only taken a few steps when the loudspeaker at the police station suddenly blared to life.
"You two, why have you left the shelter?"
Kentarou and Lupica were startled, Lupica even involuntarily clutching onto Kentarou's lower back. Kentarou pushed his unworthy friend away and then asked loudly, "Who are you?"
"I am Yui, the artificial intelligence serving this police station."
Kentarou and Lupica exchanged a look of surprise and then said, "That's great, Yui. We're going to confront those damn Controllers, tell us quickly, where are the weapons in the police station?"
The artificial intelligence Yui refused directly, "Impossible, the two of you are still minors and cannot go off to your deaths. I will notify nearby personnel right now to take you back to the shelter."
Kentarou shouted, "No, you can't do that. We may not be adults, but we're only a year shy. We're part of the Grey Hand Legion; we're soldiers with an obligation to fight the enemy."
Artificial intelligence Yui fell silent for a few seconds, then said, "The Grey Hand Legion are mechanics, not mobile infantry. This is not your battlefield, and I am not giving you weapons; it wouldn't be in accordance with the Star Alliance's regulations."
"Dammit, can't you, an AI, be flexible?" Kentarou said, dissatisfied.
Lupica pulled at Kentarou and said, "If it could be flexible, it wouldn't be artificial intelligence. Alright, this really isn't our battlefield. Let's retreat. If we really make someone come for us, we're likely to cause trouble and danger."
Kentarou asked loudly, "When can the Star Alliance's forces arrive at Edo to save everyone?"
"The number of Controllers worldwide is too large. Neihong Country has been allocated the Earth Defense Force's Fifth Battle Sector, on the other side of the Edo metropolitan area. There's a troop of three thousand that just won a battle, but the Controllers are too strong and numerous, so they can only wait for new reinforcements to arrive. It's estimated that in 40 hours, they'll make a new attack on the Controllers in the Edo metropolitan area."
Lupica said anxiously, "There are at least two million Controllers in the Edo metropolitan area. Just a few thousand or tens of thousands of people can't make much of an impact."
Yui stated, "Unfortunately, it is all over the world. The Controllers are difficult for our fully armed military forces to defeat, but they cause tremendous harm to our civilians. There are too many of them; quickly resolving them is nearly impossible."
At that moment, several light spheres suddenly appeared on the ceiling, sending Kentarou and Lupica into a panic.