Zhong Yun had initially planned to engage the enemy in a positional battle relying on the base, but upon seeing their lavish formation, he immediately recalled the mechs he had deployed and made his escape before the enemy fleet entered firing range.

Only a fool would fight them to the death.

Although Zhong Yun wanted to save Davo, he certainly wasn't going to sacrifice his own life.

Playing the hero was fine, but he’d let someone else be the martyr.

Although the enemy ships were closing in to surround them, they were no match for the Mars.

The main cannon, having completed its cooldown, roared to life, blasting a breach in the encirclement with four consecutive shots.

As the Mars accelerated through that gap, it was still hammered by hundreds of rounds from the nearby enemy vessels, causing the entire ship to shake violently.

Fortunately, the enemy’s main cannons weren't firing many shots at the Mars; only about ten impacts in total.

The damage wasn't as severe as imagined.

Once clear of the enemy's attack zone, Zhong Yun let out a sigh of relief.

The Mars had withstood the test.

While it was the first time it had been hit by such intense, simultaneous firepower, it hadn't sustained critical damage.

“What is the status of the Mars?” Zhong Yun asked Xiao Ling.

“Running self-diagnostics…” After a long pause, Xiao Ling’s voice finally returned.

“Propulsion core intact, oxygen generation room intact, energy core intact… Minor damage to two sections of the outer hull plating; repair bots have been dispatched.

Total losses include two external thrusters, eighteen secondary cannons, and fifty-seven light cannons.

No personnel casualties.” Zhong Yun stroked his chin, where stubble was already beginning to appear.

This level of damage was still within an acceptable range.

Tian Hai and Chen Wen were still somewhat shaken; the vibration they had just felt made them think the ship was about to disintegrate.

This was their first time on a battlefield, and they were seated aboard the Mars.

The Mars had never taken a hit before, and they had never experienced the sensation of being struck by energy cannons like that.

This was their first time.

In contrast, Zhang Xiao was much calmer.

After all, he had experienced life-and-death situations with Zhong Yun.

His composure was vastly different.

Liu Yunqi showed no change in expression from beginning to end.

It was as if she was naturally immune to fear, which left Zhong Yun feeling slightly disappointed.

He had been hoping the trembling girl would throw herself into his arms.

For every gain, there is a loss.

When your girlfriend is too independent, you miss out on that feeling of being the one she leans on.

Relying on an absolute advantage in speed, Zhong Yun led them in circling maneuvers, occasionally firing back a few shots.

Unfortunately, the Mars only had one main cannon in the stern, limiting its destructive output.

After losing three warships without managing to close the distance with the Mars, the enemy commander finally grew shrewd.

He ordered the fleet to maintain a position well outside the Mars’s firing range, keeping a distance.

Pirate ships relying heavily on speed like this were a huge headache.

If your warship wasn't faster, you couldn't catch them, forcing you to deploy massive numbers of vessels for encirclement.

What was even more vexing was that this pirate ship wasn't just ridiculously fast; it was also immense, far larger than a “Quasi-Satellite Class” warship.

Its defensive capabilities were astonishing; it shrugged off ten main cannon shots completely unscathed.

To make matters worse, the enemy’s main cannons were two full tiers more powerful than their own, with greater range to boot.

No wonder they dared to attack a nation’s capital with only a single vessel.

The opponent indeed possessed the means to do so.

The most critical factors in naval warfare—speed, main cannon power and range, and defense—were all vastly superior on the enemy’s side.

How could this battle be fought? It was fortunate that they only had one enemy ship; a few more, and the capital star itself would likely be in peril.

Now, all they could rely on was the superior number of their own ships for an encirclement.

At the very least, they could force the enemy to withdraw.

The High Command on Puji Star labeled the enemy a pirate for two main reasons.

First, they never expected Davo to possess such an advanced warship.

Since its first sortie, every enemy the Mars had encountered was often destroyed before they even registered its appearance, let alone reporting back to the Supreme Operations Department.

The second reason was that the High Command had already sent a probe force to the planet Mendes for reconnaissance, resulting in the loss of two destroyers.

They simply could not believe that Davo, possessing the capability to sneak-attack their capital, would leave the rest of its main fleet at Mendes.

This was a matter of conventional thinking: if they were the fleet commander who had successfully seized Mendes, and they had the opportunity to break through layer after layer of blockade to reach the enemy capital, they would only regret not having enough strength; they certainly wouldn't leave a portion of their forces behind at Mendes.

Unless the opposing commander was an idiot.

Zhong Yun quickly discerned the enemy’s strategy: they were waiting for reinforcements to arrive from the rear.

“If that’s the case, I won’t play along with you,” Zhong Yun sneered.

“Increase speed by fifty percent and shake them off.” The pursuing fleet sensed trouble as the enemy’s speed sharply increased and frantically accelerated to catch up.

But they could only watch as the pirate ship grew farther and farther away until it vanished from their sensors.

The High Command on Puji Star was thrown into near chaos, issuing rapid orders to all fleets, diverting every available warship in the vicinity to converge around Puji Star.

That pirate ship would never just leave; their destination had to be Puji Star.

However, the Mars’s speed far outstripped theirs.

The main force that had been chasing the Mars hadn't returned yet, leaving only three “Quasi-Satellite” class and five “Wushan” class warships near Puji Star, along with dozens of destroyers.

The moment the fleet guarding Puji Star detected the Mars, the main cannon fired.

Four enemy ships exploded simultaneously, and then the Mars hurtled toward the azure planet.

Having absorbed four energy blasts, the Mars sliced through the atmosphere of Puji Star in a razor-thin arc, resembling a burning meteor as it descended into the heart of the Hongxian Federation—the capital, Puji Star.

It wasn't that Puji Star’s defenses were inadequate; eight “Quasi-Satellite” class warships and thirty-three “Wushan” class warships constituted a defense force already double the size of a regular border defense sector, not to mention the even larger fleet stationed at the base near the spatial jump point not far away.

However, they were facing the highly stealth-capable Mars.

Caught completely unaware, a combination of surprise attack and sheer luck allowed them to wipe out nearly half their fleet in a matter of moments.

It was fortunate that the reinforcements from the spatial jump point base arrived just in time, scaring off the pirate ship.

But they never imagined the pirate ship would execute a swift return in less than a few hours, puncturing their thin defenses while the main rescue force was still en route, successfully reaching the planet’s atmosphere.

When a planet is breached into its atmosphere, it can be said that the planet is teetering on the brink of collapse.

Piercing alarms blared over every major city, and all anti-air turrets were instantly deployed, revealing their menacing forms.

The High Command issued the most urgent order, broadcasting distress signals to all surrounding fleets.

At that moment, five warships appeared on the scanners—the closest vessels to Puji Star.

Based on the signal signatures, they belonged to the Hongxian Federation.

Though their organizational structure was unknown, the High Command impatiently transmitted a plea for aid.

Those five warships indeed accelerated toward Puji Star.

However, the five ships sent back no reply.

By this time, the personnel in the High Command were terrified beyond measure and cared little for such details; they just needed the five warships to arrive quickly to assist.

Zhong Yun’s primary target was the city housing the Puji Star Presidential Palace.

Destroying it would equate to dismantling the entire command structure of the Hongxian Federation.

All hatches on the Mars opened, and countless mechs poured out in a dense swarm, like a cloud of black bees.

Inside a planetary environment, mechs were far more effective than massive warships.

In truth, the simplest method would be for the Mars to unleash a full barrage from all its energy cannons, reducing the entire city to rubble.

But doing so violated military law.

Article Five of the Military Code strictly prohibited warships from firing upon civilian cities while inside a planet’s atmosphere.

Of course, this wasn't due to any profound humanitarian spirit in Davo; it was a mandatory regulation imposed by the Grand Cosmos Federation.

In fact, more than half of Davo's constitution had been derived from Grand Cosmos Federation statutes obtained from their envoys when Davo ascended to intermediate civilization status.

If they wished to avoid military sanctions, they had to comply with such regulations.

Zhong Yun certainly didn't want to bring intractable trouble upon himself or Davo.

Therefore, the main force for the assault at this moment consisted of mechs and fighters.

When nearly one hundred thousand mechs and over one hundred thousand fighters flood into a city, what would the consequence be? The entire metropolis was instantly submerged by a sky-blotting army of steel.

A nation's capital is always prosperous.

Even with the alarms sounding overhead, some people remained on the streets.

They looked up, saw the mass of mechs blotting out the sky like storm clouds, screamed, and scrambled in all directions, desperate to find a safe place to hide.

All shops frantically slammed their doors shut.

In an instant, the entire city became eerily empty, save for the gigantic, provocative holographic images of beautiful women swaying alluringly on the commercial boulevards.

As for the anti-air batteries near the city, the Mars had already ‘marked’ them earlier.

Ultimately, the city was where people lived, and furthermore, the Hongxian Federation had enjoyed two thousand years of peace.

The anti-air defenses they maintained were merely customary; they seemingly never considered the possibility that one day their capital would be breached.

Yet, this reality was unfolding before their very eyes.

This day was destined to be a nightmare for every citizen of the Hongxian Federation.

They had never imagined that war would one day descend upon them.

In the propaganda of the Hongxian Federation, the Republic of Davo was portrayed as a backward, ignorant, weak, yet arrogant nation, lagging behind them by a thousand years in strength.

They believed that dispatching a single army could conquer the entire Republic of Davo.

The citizens of the Hongxian Federation believed this propaganda, which is why, even when war broke out, it always remained far, far away from them.

But now, they began to feel the despair and terror that war brought.

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