Chapter 269: Chapter 269: Hidden Dragon, Spy Shadow? Chapter 269: Chapter 269: Hidden Dragon, Spy Shadow? Piercing sirens suddenly resounded through the sky, followed by two blinding white lights slicing through the heavens.
Huge space internal bombs traced bright parabolas in the air, then melted two vast voids in the defenses of the assembled demons, signaling the ultimate commencement of this decisive battle.
A robust and heart-shaking battle cry thundered across the battlefield after a second of silence, as a blanket of demons furiously took to the air, lunging towards the assault fleet that had emerged through layers of dark clouds. Atop the wave energy towers, pale light converged, the low humming of energy forming a deep and continuous roar like suppressed waves. Then, in an instant, countless luminous arrows dispelled the murk around them, shooting towards the distant horizon. In response, the mother ship hidden from view unleashed a more lethal barrage of cluster bombs, instantly twisting and melting the sturdy steel towers in a deafening explosion that lit up Tirisfal in the flames of war.
From high above, a dense swarm of black shadows charged with unstoppable momentum towards the Tirisfal Forest, fortified with a thicket of defense structures. The initial contact between the two sides burst into bright flashes of light that spread like water, expanding into complex patterns resembling the stars of a galaxy, clearly outlining the distribution of firepower among the troops. As the main forces of both sides officially engaged, the scattered points of light immediately boiled over, like two fiery chunks of iron clashing and sparking an unprecedented radiant brilliance.
“The battle has started, huh…”
Distant booms of explosions and flashes of light reached from afar. I turned around for a glance and then sighed.
“Rather than worrying about the safety of those warriors, I think you should reconsider this harebrained scheme you’ve embarked on… Good lord, I can’t believe I’m out here going crazy with an idiot like you. If we survive this, I’m definitely seeking a psychiatrist.”
Lin Xue’s biting sarcasm was as predictable as ever, but I chose my usual tactic of ignoring it—Wait, why am I saying ‘usual’?
“According to Visca’s intelligence, our current position should be here,” Sandora opened the holographic map, pointing at a twinkling dot, “The Fallen Apostle has set up a dense network of jump inhibitors, clearly worried about us launching a surprise attack with our space troops. Even Asida and Asidora can only teleport us to this position… Lin Xue, can you see anything?”
“We’re safe for at least ten more minutes. The interference is too strong beyond this point, so anything further becomes unclear. Regardless, doesn’t this seem too reckless? Chen Damuto being an idiot is one thing, but you’re a scheming queen. How could you join in this madness?”
“I used to be known for launching surprise attacks,” Sandora put away the map, discerning the distant landscape, “And yet, despite your constant complaints, here you are with us, right?”
“I’m just here so there’s someone to take me home if you all die… Um… There will be two assembled demons passing by in nine minutes. Should we avoid or eliminate them?”
“Better safe than sorry, let’s avoid them.” Big Sister opted for caution, a choice that we all agreed with.
We returned to the camouflaged ‘Fighting’ transport ship and quietly left the area following the route Visca had provided.
Me, Big Sister, Qianqian, Sandora, Lin Xue—we five were the members for what Lin Xue dubbed the ‘most brainless, idiotic, crazy, foolish, suicidal stealth operation in history.’
After dismissing some of the needless hyperbolic expressions from Miss Lin, our plan would be more aptly named: Shadow Dragon Espionage…
I admit, even that name wasn’t much better.
Infiltrating behind enemy lines, delving into the heart of Dark City to detonate the World Loop—the stuff of major productions and nearing the madness of a lunatic. Lin Xue’s description was somewhat fitting, after all.
I knew this plan sounded insane, but the immense strategic advantage it promised if successful was fatally enticing. Moreover, technically speaking, the success rate of the plan was quite high.
Visca had brought us valuable intelligence, including the Fallen Apostles’ common ciphers, the deployment of all the troops in the Tirisfal Region, the Fallen Apostles’ squads’ operational habits, and even a schematic of the World Loop and its ancillary equipment. Even though these might have changed after her defection, much of it couldn’t be altered within three days. That alone increased our chances of success to fifty percent. Then, considering our abilities: Big Sister’s misfortune shield could reduce any unexpected occurrences to zero, Lin Xue’s prediction ability allowed us to avoid any exposure or encounters perfectly for the next few minutes, Qianqian’s time control could even salvage the worst situations, and both Sandora and I were the key to destroying the World Loop. With so many favorable conditions combined, our seemingly far-fetched plan had a chance to succeed.
Even though I knew that as the leader of the army, carrying out such an operation was a bit brain-dead… But how should I put it? In large-scale battles, my talent… you know, I’ll skip the explanation.
Another thing to mention, Miss Lin actually volunteered to come with us, although right now this prideful girl completely denies it…
Speaking of which, there was actually no need for Sandora to accompany us. Compared to personally participating in this surprise attack, Sandora’s military talents are better suited for commanding the intense battles that are happening on the front lines. But she shut down all my attempts to dissuade her with just one sentence:
“If something unexpected really does happen, I can’t allow only Qianqian to have the chance to die with you… So, leave this place to Sivis, and I’ll come with you.”
And then, I knew that nothing could persuade her.
“Don’t look so doomsday-like,” Sandora seemed to guess what I was thinking, “The success rate of this operation is actually very high, and… if we don’t do this, it would be really hard for our fleet to break through the defensive line before the World Loop starts, right?”
“I just remembered something you said before we left, and got all emotional.”
Sandora’s face turned a slight red, and then she laughed and said, “Well then, continue being emotional…”
Sandora was right, despite the current military strength comparison, we are capable of defeating the Fallen Apostle, who are already struggling to reinforce their troops. However, it is impossible for us to breach the nearly thousand-kilometer-deep antiaircraft firepower network in three days.
The outcome of this operation was critical; the Fallen Apostle had gone mad. As they brought all their mobile defenses to the forefront, the progress of the Imperial Fleet was severely hampered.
“Patrol Soldier,” Lin Xue, who seemed to be meditating with closed eyes, suddenly opened them, and a flash of silver light swept across her pupils. “Don’t avoid them, use the fourth identity recognition scheme, and then there’s one more identity verification, I am calculating—it will be on time.”
A few minutes later, two patrolling “Reaper” Mechas indeed turned around from behind the energy furnace ahead. Upon seeing our troop carrier, they immediately stopped and pointed their weapons at us.
“Identify yourselves, you’re not on the scheduled vehicle plan.”
The harsh metallic voice came from the communicator, and Sandora, who was in charge of operating the troop carrier, immediately submitted the identity recognition code.
This was one of the pieces of information provided by Visca—one unique identity recognition code for every numbered unit within the Xyrin Army. And what we were pretending to be was a transport ship delivering supplies to the energy modules of the World Loop.
“Identity verification passed. Please submit the second layer of identity verification code.”
As expected, after Visca’s betrayal, the Fallen Apostle had updated the identity verification scheme for all members of their legion.
Just as I hesitated whether to burn those two Mechas, which had started to raise their cannons, into ash, and change our operation codename from “Hidden Dragon, Shadow Spy” to “Metal Bullet,” Lin Xue, whose forehead was slightly sweaty, finally opened her eyes.
“ES37-165835EFFCJ35-08155.”
“Identity confirmed as the 155th Crystal Transport Ship. You are three minutes and twenty-seven seconds later than the scheduled arrival time on the vehicle plan, totaling a delay of five minutes and eighteen seconds. Speed up, Soldier!”
This was why Lin Xue told us not to avoid the two Patrol Soldiers. Every individual in the Xyrin Army was part of a massive scheduling plan. Without any unexpected factors, what time a certain soldier would pass through a place, when two vehicles would meet, everything had to be precise to the minute. Of course, it’s impossible for reality to always align perfectly with the plan—accidents will always exist. But even in case of unforeseen events, this schedule would adjust within a thousandth of a second. It’s precisely because of this that spy activities are nearly extinct within the Xyrin Army. If Lin Xue hadn’t told us which encounter was a key point in this schedule, within minutes, our transport ship that had slipped off the surveillance net would be noticed by the supercomputers of the Fallen Apostle.
“Phew…” Once we finally left their sight, I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. “That was really thrilling.”
Even though it would have taken me less than a second to deal with those two imposing Mechas, the chain reaction their alarm could have set off was enough to make my palms sweat. No wonder they say the true test of courage in war isn’t the charge at the front lines, but the spy battles behind enemy lines. There’s so much truth in that saying.