The surface of Callisto II was a stark expanse of ice mountains, or perhaps, frozen plains. Either way, the landing craft of the Spec-Ops team found a relatively flat valley to set down. The hatch swung wide, and a contingent of special forces troops disembarked with wary precision.

Once their boots hit the ground, they immediately fanned out, seeking advantageous terrain, setting up various communication and reconnaissance gear, clearly preparing to establish a temporary camp.

Their movements were utterly seamless. It was evident they had undergone intensely rigorous training, and judging by the decisive confidence in their actions and the killing intent glinting in their eyes, they had clearly seen combat against the Ape-men before.

The force deployed to Callisto II comprised a single special operations battalion, numbering around three to four hundred men. Among them, one company was outfitted in white powered armor, colors that blended almost perfectly with the surrounding glacial expanse.

Once the environmental reconnaissance was complete, a soldier made a 'secure' signal toward a Major. The Major nodded curtly, and the soldiers clad in powered armor began unloading a metal crate from the landing craft.

They opened the box, and from it drifted numerous surveillance devices, each roughly the size of an eyeball. They hovered densely in the air, some rising, some dropping, creating a sight that sent a shiver straight down the spine.

The Major approached a device standing waist-high, flipped the switch on its console, and swiped a key card. A row of red indicator lights instantly blazed to life, only to transition, after a moment, to green.

The Major nodded, tapped a few commands on the console, and the floating eyeballs immediately dispersed, their color gradually fading until they became transparent, like pure glass beads.

As these glass beads ascended to a high altitude, their speed spiked, and they vanished in a flicker, gone without a trace like lightning into the void.

Even for someone with the sharpest vision, discerning these glass beads against the monochromatic canvas of the star-dusted sky and the snowfield would be a monumental task.

“Qingfeng, my immediate task here is done. The eyes are deployed. I’m just waiting for intel to trickle back so we can start making trouble!”

The Major spoke, his voice steady and deep. He knew perfectly well that sound couldn't travel on Callisto II, but the built-in comms in their helmets made communication possible.

“Got it, Mingyue. Don’t shout about such trivialities. One of the Infantry Support Vehicles on Landing Craft Three is malfunctioning—the hover system won't kick in. I’m wrestling with it now. When this mission wraps, I’m definitely finding the maintenance crew for a reckoning!” came Qingfeng’s voice, laden with his usual complaint.

Mingyue sighed and looked down. “Qingfeng, our team leader this time is Master Garcia! A man who has reached the realm of transcendence! Even the Abbot hasn't reached that height; he’s still lingering at the pinnacle of the mortal realm. Being assigned to a mission with him, listening to his personal guidance—that’s an opportunity we’ve waited ages for. When the Master arrives, don't be so volatile in front of him.”

“Enough, Mingyue, when will you ever shed that fussy, mother-hen demeanor? I’m sick of hearing it!” Qingfeng’s tone was sharp with impatience.

These two were Qingfeng and Mingyue, former junior Daoists from the Tai Chi Temple who had served for many years. Since being assigned to the 13th Fleet, their status as Awakened individuals earned them the keen eye and promotion of Randolph. When Randolph transferred to command the 3rd Fleet, he made sure to bring them along.

After all, Awakened individuals possessed broader mental capacity and absorbed knowledge faster than ordinary people. With their mastery of all special forces combat doctrines, they were sought after everywhere. Randolph had no intention of leaving them behind for rivals to poach.

A short while later, the escort fighters descended from the sky. They were the elite of the 3rd Fleet—besides a dozen Psyker-class fighters, the rest were first-generation Ghost fighters manufactured by the Trant Corporation.

The lead Master-class fighter landed first. The cockpit canopy slid open, and Master Garcia lightly leaped onto the ground.

“Master!”

Qingfeng and Mingyue quickly approached, briefing him on all situations around the landing zone.

“You’ve done well,” Master Garcia smiled after listening. “To avoid exposing our movements, the Spec-Ops Command has frozen all long-range communications. I have some good news you likely don't know yet. Master Tuxin just informed me via telepathy. Now, I’ll tell you.”

“What is the good news, Master?” the two asked, curious.

The other special forces soldiers, hearing Master Garcia’s voice through their comms, immediately gave the matter their utmost attention, their movements slowing by a beat as they focused.

If Master Tuxin, a man of Master status, had to use telepathy to relay information to Master Garcia, this piece of good news must be extraordinary.

Master Garcia chuckled. “According to the message from Master Tuxin, the ground forces on Callisto IV have wiped out a million combat robots from the Ancient Legion and have breached the main gate of Fortress Two!”

A stunned silence fell.

Two seconds later, the crowd finally reacted.

“They’re already inside?”

“Are you sure he didn’t misstate it? How long has it been?”

“Idiot! How could Master Garcia be wrong! If anyone misheard, it was us!”

“That’s unlikely, not everyone would mishear. It must be true.”

It was as if a pot of water had just boiled over—the entire group began murmuring excitedly.

“All of you, quiet down!”

Qingfeng spun around, glaring, his sharp tone immediately silencing the soldiers.

Mingyue stepped forward and asked, “Master, the Ancient Legion’s defensive system at Fortress Two was fully established. Our plan projected it would take at least twelve hours just to reach the fortress walls. Furthermore, the plan estimated the defensive robots wouldn't exceed twice our force strength—say, six hundred thousand. But now, they’ve crushed a million? Did something entirely unexpected happen?”

Master Garcia smiled and nodded. “You are correct, Mingyue. Something quite unexpected occurred on the ground battlefield of Callisto IV. Do you recall that new weapon deployed by the Trant Mercenary Group?”

“We remember,” Mingyue nodded. “The colossal assault mech, twenty stories high, which showed unstoppable siege capabilities when attacking Fortress One?”

Qingfeng clenched his fist. “I remember that thing! It was called the Thor, right? It was truly an incredible behemoth!”

Master Garcia wished to review the reconnaissance data, so the three walked together while speaking, arriving at the controller unit for the ‘eyes.’

Several holographic screens were now relaying images from the surveillance devices. Most displayed icy surfaces, occasionally patrolled by monitoring robots sent out by the Ancient Legion. Patrol intensity varied across locations, and the Spec-Ops team’s landing spot happened to be in an area with lower patrol density.

As Master Garcia switched views to observe conditions everywhere, he explained, “The Thor is a weapon from a bygone era. Its external armor proved unexpectedly resilient. After it destroyed several Level Six hammer-launch cannons defending Fortress Two’s ground access, the enemy lost the means to pierce its armor. They withstood massed robot assaults, neutralizing numerous defensive turrets, thus freeing up the ground forces’ artillery assets. Under the overwhelming advantage in firepower, the ground troops were able to eliminate the combat robots so smoothly and advance to Fortress Two’s perimeter.”

Master Garcia concisely relayed the combat progression to the special forces troops. Because special forces personnel possessed a greater sense of honor and confidence than regular soldiers, the achievements of the Callisto IV ground forces immediately ignited their morale. They began itching to achieve something worthy, unwilling to be outshone by their comrades on another moon.

The special forces soldiers began whispering amongst themselves. During this lull, Master Garcia reviewed the imagery transmitted by the deployed eyes, finally freezing the view on one specific ice mountain. He turned to Qingfeng and Mingyue. “Look, this is our target: Fortress One of Callisto II.”

This ice mountain was one in a cluster of peaks, seemingly identical to the others, yet halfway up its face was an extremely wide, square aperture leading deep into the mountain’s interior.

Master Garcia summoned a dozen ‘eyes’ and guided them into the passage. After flying perhaps a hundred meters inside, they emerged into a colossal cavern—it seemed the entire mountain had been hollowed out.

This space branched into several other tunnels leading to unknown depths. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of robots patrolled the area under the direction of various Ape-men; each Ape-man seemed capable of commanding several robots.

The robots’ programmed logic capacity was severely lacking; they could not execute combat tasks independently. If a battle broke out and no Ape-man issued an order, they were prone to making foolish errors that could lead to total annihilation.

Master Garcia maneuvered the ‘eyes’ around the main chamber, then dispersed them, each finding a separate tunnel to penetrate further within.

As a military stronghold, the fortress was, naturally, equipped with anti-reconnaissance capabilities. Despite appearing accessible, the fortress was riddled with detection sensors. Since reconnaissance devices like the ‘eyes’ rely on specific methods to transmit data regardless of stealth, the fortress’s sensors could detect intruders by monitoring signal flow within the structure.

Master Garcia was well aware that the ‘eyes’ would eventually be discovered. The priority was gathering sufficient intelligence before that inevitably occurred.

As for the risk of alerting the enemy, that was unavoidable. It was far preferable to charging in blind, knowing nothing of the fortress’s interior.

Fierce fighting raged on the nearby Callisto IV, and the apes had detected their landing on Callisto II even as they touched down. Regardless of whether the fortress garrison was aware of prying eyes, their defenses would not be lowered.

Along their routes, the ‘eyes’ passed weapon armories, infirmaries, recreation halls, and repair centers. One of them reached the entrance to the Command Center and floated inside.

The Command Center featured a tiered structure—lower in the front and rising toward the back. Each tier held rows of control consoles, each manned by an Ape staff officer who maintained constant contact with the Ancient Legion fleet in space while also monitoring various conditions within the fortress.

At this moment, one Ape suddenly turned and reported to the stout Ape seated on the command throne at the highest point in the rear of the chamber: “Lord Gang Di, there are over a dozen unapproved signal sources within the fortress! Analysis suggests they are enemy probes!”