The moment the APE Quasi-Master fell, the eyes of the hundred-plus small ape-men soldiers in the third-floor corridor flashed with manic aggression, and they let out wild roars, instantly casting aside the gap in their strength. They whipped their weapons around, unleashing a barrage of energy beams.

Blade moved with steps as swift as the wind, effortlessly weaving through the beams, casually sweeping his lightsaber to reflect vast swathes of the incoming fire back at the attackers.

The ape-men struck by the reflected beams saw their attack intensity rapidly diminish. After a few seconds, the beams fell silent.

The human soldiers who had been maintaining a standoff against them cautiously stepped forward to check for survivors. After all, the Earth Forces were unfamiliar with the internal layout of this fortress; while data could be gathered, they needed some of the familiar ape-men to explain things.

Since this group of ape-men worked under the fortress commander, they evidently possessed a deeper understanding of the structure than common apes. If even one or two mouths could be pried open, it could save a lot of trouble.

Seeing this, Blade instantly thought that if he had managed to save the commander’s life, the gains might have been even greater. But then he shook his head, dismissing the thought—it wasn't practical. The Ape Quasi-Master had already been willing to sacrifice his life; how could his mouth possibly be pried open now?

The Quasi-Master’s mind had basically reached a state impervious to persuasion. Once he was set on a course of action, not even a Master-level expert casting mind-influencing magic could sway his resolve.

Moreover, even if the Ape Quasi-Master was completely immobilized, he could still cause immense destruction through sheer psychic power alone. Killing him now had simply eliminated a future complication.

Viewed from another angle, although this Ape Quasi-Master fought on the enemy's side, his actions were worthy of respect. It was better that he died by his own hand than suffer the tortures of interrogation by the Unenlightened.

The Psionic Quasi-Master, who had observed the entire engagement from the sidelines, had clearly heard of Blade's name. After the fighting ceased, he approached for a brief chat. However, the area around the fortress was not yet fully secured, and sporadic explosions could still be heard. Thus, their conversation did not deepen beyond a few pleasantries before they parted ways.

Leaving the warehouse, Blade continued to patrol the fortress, assisting wherever he encountered resistance. In the tight confines of a structure like this fortress, the execution speed of a Quasi-Master was formidable. Even if the enemy held advantageous terrain, a simple Blink-Dash could smash through their ranks.

Although the ape contingent still had some High Apes within the fortress causing considerable casualties to the Earth Forces soldiers, the strongest among them was only at the High Ape level. After inflicting significant damage on the Earth Forces troops, they were engaged by the Psionics who had breached the fortress and were soon pushed back by the continuous stream of Earth Forces reinforcements.

The only places still offering resistance were heavily fortified strongholds or sectors guarded by High Apes.

Blade traversed half the fortress, slaughtering any ape resistance he found. He killed two or three dozen High Apes, all of them relatively strong ones. He encountered few Apprentice-level High Apes, likely because, with their level of strength, they couldn't withstand the Earth Forces’ sheer numbers and were eliminated quickly.

Once the last pockets of resistance fell, the entire fortress fell silent.

As the commander of the landing force’s voice rang out over the communication channels, announcing the complete capture of the fortress, a chorus of crisp, loud cheers erupted inside.

The space-suited soldiers pulled off their helmets, raising their hands to proclaim their elation to the surroundings.

Blade walked down a corridor and saw a squad of soldiers at the far end joyfully tearing off their helmets, immediately tossing them upward. But the space was too narrow; the helmets struck the ceiling and fell back down, bonking them on the head. They clearly didn't care, though, and instead burst into laughter at their comrade's misfortune.

Blade retraced his steps to the grand platform beneath the main gate, where several officers were organizing troops and assigning personnel throughout the fortress. Looking up, he saw more figures still descending from those thermal vents, joining the ranks gathering in the plaza.

This main gate was rarely used because of its immense size; it had been designed for the ingress and egress of large formations. If ground troops needed to move out, after the main gate was opened, they could use several massive elevators to reach the surface.

Fighters took a different route. About ten meters below the main gate, there were several cavernous tunnels wide enough for three fighters to fly abreast. These led to the fighter hangars. Once the main gate opened, the fighters would emerge from these tunnels and fly directly outside.

Because the main gate spanned several hundred meters, opening it without first following a specific procedure to evacuate the air would result in a rapid, massive loss of atmosphere, much like the air currently leaking from the thermal vents.

However, it was fortunate the air hadn't been evacuated. Blade pushed off with both feet, leaping high into the air, drawing upon the surrounding air to lift him upward and out through one of the thermal vents.

Just outside the vent, a soldier was preparing to jump down. He suddenly saw a figure rocket up from below and immediately stumbled back three paces in shock.

Blade, noticing his arrival caused a minor commotion, paid it no mind. He immediately Blink-Dashed to the edge of the impact crater, summoned his Spectre fighter, settled into the cockpit, and flew toward his main force.

In the air, he could see the three Thunder Gods guarding the perimeter of the impact crater. Their massive forms and impressive armaments provided the troops inside the crater with a strong sense of security.

Earlier, after the three Thunder Gods had partially disabled the fortress cannons, they had halted operations at the request of the landing force commander. Since the fortress occupation was proceeding smoothly, it was conceivable that soon these fortress cannons could be repurposed for Earth Forces use, rendering all the enemy’s…

Flying above his unit, Blade saw the tank corps had retracted and reformed, moving toward the impact crater in three neat lines on the ground, flanked by the giant mechs. The Spectre fighters and medical transports flew overhead.

Blade connected to the comms of the Tank and Artillery Colonel, inquiring about the battle process and losses. He learned that over a dozen tanks and several giant mechs had been destroyed by the cannons of Fortress One. Fortunately, because the protective measures for the crews within the tanks and mechs were extremely thorough, all the crew members survived and were currently receiving treatment in the medical transports.

These losses were indeed negligible. This low casualty rate was achievable because Blade had dispersed the ape air force guarding Fortress One early on, allowing Earth Forces air superiority units to join the assault on the fortress sooner. The fortress possessed a significant number of defensive cannons, but faced with thousands of starfighters, they were inevitably shattered one by one.

When combined with the attacks from Blade’s one hundred and seventy uranium cannons, plus the bombardment from the landing force’s artillery and the siege tanks, those defensive guns were dismantled at an astonishing speed.

Furthermore, the fortress's strongest defensive asset—the three Level-Six Hammer Cannons covering a radius of several tens of kilometers—were instantly neutralized by the three Thunder Gods, leveling the entire hilltop and disabling a large swath of peripheral defense weaponry along with it.

Coupled with the large contingent of Earth Forces artillery drawing fire, this accounted for the fact that the originally quite robust fortress defense system inflicted such low damage on the Trant Mercenary Corps.

“The battle for Fortress One lasted only four hours from start to finish, and that includes the time spent reforming and marching. This is two hours ahead of schedule. This victory gives our Jovian campaign an excellent start. Colonel Yang Ying, I have heard about the outstanding performance of your regiment’s Colonel Blade; it is truly impressive. I sincerely hope we can award him a Solar System Medal.”

The high command officers of the Joint Fleet convened again in the virtual conference hall. This statement came from Marshal Alexander, who appeared visibly pleased by the smooth progress of the ground forces.

Hearing his name called, Yang Ying leaned slightly forward and replied with a smile across the virtual desk, "I thank the Marshal for his compliments on Blade’s behalf first."

Earning a Solar System Medal was not simple; applicants needed to have rendered exceptionally distinguished service, made a decisive contribution to victory, and the award required approval from the Joint Council and the signature of the President.

Yang Ying himself possessed one, awarded for saving three hundred thousand citizens of the Light of Titan.

Marshal Alexander nodded once, then continued, "Speed is essential. Preparations for Jupiter’s Moon Callisto Fortress One are already underway. Next, we look to our new objective.”

He raised his Marshal’s Scepter and tapped the ceiling.

“Observe.”

Everyone looked up to see a holographic projection of Callisto appear beneath the ceiling. The sphere of the moon was marked with two colors on its opposing sides, representing the ancient legions in red, and Earth in blue.

“As you can all see, although we have taken Fortress One, half of Callisto is still controlled by the Ancient Legions. The apes have another stronghold on this planet—Fortress Two. It still possesses considerable defensive capabilities.”

Alexander tapped the scepter again. In the center of the red zone, a bright red dot began to blink. Clearly, this indicated the location of Fortress Two.

“Marshal, please issue your orders! We will take Fortress Two immediately,” an impatient Lieutenant General spoke up immediately.

“The problem is more complex than that!” Alexander shook his head. “After the fall of Fortress One, the Ancient Legions reacted swiftly. According to intelligence relayed by the unmanned reconnaissance drones, they have dispatched three main fleets, and four more main fleets are en route. They are now consolidating their defenses around Fortress Two, preparing for a major engagement with us.”

The image changed, displaying the orbital space near Fortress Two. A dense cluster of warships was positioned there, a number sufficient to make the commanders in the conference room frown deeply.

“I didn’t expect the apes to react so fast, not even giving us this much time.”

“Seven fleets combined with the ground fortress—that’s impossible to assault.”

“Three plus four… that must be the entire fleet strength of the Ancient Legions in Jupiter orbit, right?”

“Is it possible that the campaign has only just begun, and the Ancient Legions intend to force a decisive battle upon us?”

The virtual conference hall immediately erupted in a clamor of voices as the senior generals present began conferring amongst themselves. Judging by their expressions, their confidence in attacking Fortress Two was severely lacking.

At noon today, while taking a stroll, I suddenly felt a tremor run through my body. It felt as though the scorching sun overhead suddenly melted away, transforming into three massive English letters: U. A. C.! Then, it shifted into five blazing bolts of lightning that crashed down upon my skull, leaving me roasted crispy on the outside and tender within, nearly scattering my soul to the winds.

One hundred and sixty-eight uranium cannons on the floating batteries, divided by twelve, equals fourteen, not thirteen!

Alas! I am ashamed. I have returned my multiplication skills to my primary school teacher; I am truly unworthy of your readership.

I hereby issue an urgent correction: the single uranium cannon at the conical tip of each floating battery is to be modified into a twin-mount, changing the number of uranium cannons on each battery to fourteen.