As the Battle of Pinqifa Sen commenced, Sha Luo, the Great Emperor Salyan of the Xiaoxiqu Lun Bei Yuan lineage—a being of the Fourth Level—led a coalition of forty races, comprising fifteen million warships, toward the Berkele Sector. Their objective was strikingly clear: to assault Ai’er, the very heart of the Protoss civilization.
The location of the planet Ai’er had always been shrouded in secrecy. However, following the great war between the Protoss and the Burkes, it was revealed to the myriad races of the Orion Arm. The extraordinary technology displayed by the Protoss in crushing the Burke Empire had caused a massive stir throughout the Arm, becoming the primary topic of conversation for quite some time, only beginning to cool down as the grand expedition was launched.
The colossal fleet of the allied races emerged from hyperspace, materializing near the orbit of Ai’er.
In the eyes of the coalition high command, their armada resembled a dazzling, boundless starscape. Standing before them was a single, small planet, appearing utterly defenseless. This sight left no doubt in the minds of the allied races regarding the outcome of the battle.
Just as they were basking in the confidence that their sheer military might would instantly annihilate the Protoss and allow them to claim those glorious technological achievements for their own species, the void before them suddenly warped. A tide of interceptors surged forth like a tsunami!
The Protoss hyperspace detection network had already registered the allied forces the moment they began exiting hyperspace toward Ai’er. Their scale, trajectory, and intentions were no secret to the Protoss.
Upon receiving the intelligence, Yang Ying immediately grasped the entirety of the situation. While somewhat tricky, there was nothing to truly worry about; this had been anticipated. He had long since made thorough preparations for any offensive the allied fleet might launch against the Protoss.
At this moment, the main Protoss fleet had already positioned itself around Ai’er. Over a million carriers, shielded by the Observer’s cloaking field, had already assumed their attack formation. Facing the aggressively invading allied armada, any attempt at parley was deemed a waste of time. Thus, the moment the allied forces appeared, the Protoss immediately launched a preemptive strike.
A billion interceptors swarmed the allied fleet like a hive of insects. Their primary weaponry was the pulse shockwave. While the damage inflicted by a single interceptor was low, thousands or tens of thousands striking in concert could penetrate the shields of the enemy warships and even sink them in a short span.
The allied fleet instantly deployed its embarked fighter squadrons, mecha units, and unmanned drones to counterattack, engaging the interceptors in a deadly aerial melee.
But it was then that hundreds of thousands of sustained light beams lanced out from the void, focusing entirely on the largest and most heavily armored vessels of the coalition.
Initially, these beams were thin and rather dim, their destructive power seemingly negligible against the high-energy shields of the colossal ships—like mere pinpricks. However, as time progressed, these beams rapidly thickened and brightened. Within ten seconds, they had ballooned into thick, blinding pillars of light!
The commanders aboard the massive ships watched in horror as their shield energy levels plummeted in a straight line!
They immediately issued orders to evade the light columns. Yet, after several evasive maneuvers, the dreadnoughts discovered they could not break free from the beams!
Their movements had been locked down by the Protoss’s new vessel: the Void Harbinger (Void-Light Ship)!
The Void Harbinger was a high-end weapon integrating the Protoss’s mastery of both Light and Dark technologies, specifically engineered for siege warfare. Its energy matrix and Void energy were perfectly fused within the design, granting it immense destructive capability.
The Void Harbinger housed a powerful energy source: the Prism Core, normally encased by phase crystals arranged in a petal-like configuration. During an attack, the mechanical arms controlling these phase crystals would unfurl like a blossoming flower, guiding the Core’s energy to focus into a devastating beam—the Prism Ray.
The Prism Ray’s initial output was not high, but as the phase crystals continued to open, the energy focused exponentially, causing the beam’s intensity to surge by orders of magnitude within mere seconds!
During the war with the Burkes, the number of Void Harbingers was small, and their impact limited. But ever since Yang Ying became an Imperial Consort in the Empire, the massive influx of resources provided by the Royal Family had vastly increased Protoss production capacity, allowing for the mass production of the Void Harbinger.
This time, the Protoss deployed all three hundred thousand Void Harbingers. The Prism Rays they unleashed quickly shattered the shields of three hundred thousand coalition dreadnoughts. The beams then pierced through the massive hulls like long spears, tearing through the thick armor as if it were mere paper!
In those critical ten seconds, the coalition lost three hundred thousand of their largest capital ships. The Cycro Star Destroyers, the most advanced and powerful warships among the Orion Arm races, suffered the most catastrophic losses!
Two-thirds of those lost behemoths were Cycro Star Destroyers!
As they were being struck by the Void Harbingers, Sha Luo activated the God Core System he had obtained from Sandvor. He maneuvered his fleet to dodge the focused Prism Rays, but found evasion impossible!
He managed to save a few thousand Star Destroyers from complete destruction, but this number was insignificant compared to the nearly two hundred thousand he had already lost.
Sha Luo instantly realized that the Protoss possessed their own God Core System. The focused beams were targeting lock-ons controlled by Fourth Level entities, and the sheer number of opponents capable of controlling the God Core System at its limit was staggering!
“Based on what just happened, that Protoss assault was launched by at least ten entities no weaker than myself at the limit. How is this possible? Is the main force of the True Human Empire arrayed before me?”
Sha Luo had always suspected the situation wouldn't be as simple as Sandvor had described. Given how highly Sandvor regarded the Protoss—to the point of handing over the God Core System—it was clear they harbored immense hidden strength.
This was why he had rallied forty races into a coalition: to secure ample cannon fodder to bleed the Protoss dry.
However, ten supreme entities coordinating with a fleet utilizing the God Core System surpassed even Sha Luo’s most dire prediction.
“Attack! Attack! Keep firing! Do not hesitate, unleash your strongest power and assault the enemy!” Sha Luo’s enraged roar resonated throughout the coalition fleet.
Having suffered such devastating losses right at the start of hostilities, intense fury began to brew within the allied ranks. Under Sha Luo’s bellow, they launched a fierce counterattack against the Protoss fleet!
While the Protoss fleet enjoyed the protection of the cloaking field, certain technically advanced races within the coalition, such as the Cycros and the Lyoans, possessed stealth detection capabilities. They transmitted the coordinates of the detected Protoss ships to all vessels in the coalition, and the counterattack commenced.
The Cycro Star Destroyers, the strongest warships in the alliance, had lost roughly half their number in the initial volley—down from six hundred thousand to three hundred thousand remaining. They aimed their main cannons directly at the Void Harbingers, the greatest threat to them, and unleashed a full salvo of Level Ten main guns!
Sha Luo divided his attention into three hundred thousand threads. He projected the entire operational state of the Protoss fleet into his High Spiritual Sense, simultaneously observing fluctuations in the River of Time while rapidly processing vast amounts of data.
At this moment, aside from his Star Destroyers, the other large and medium-sized Cycro vessels also targeted the Void Harbingers. Even the hard-hit remnants of the other allied forces viewed the Void Harbingers as the enemy that must be eliminated first.
Although the allied fleet’s overall power paled in comparison to the Cycro fleet, each of their warships carried at least several Level Seven or Eight main cannons. Sha Luo calculated that this wave of attack would unleash at least a hundred million lethal energy beams, believing they could destroy at least the majority of the Void Harbingers—about two hundred thousand ships!
But just as the coalition’s ship guns were about to fire, the Void Harbingers underwent a transformation: one became three, three became nine, and they multiplied further!
Three hundred thousand Void Harbingers suddenly multiplied into tens of millions!
This was the Protoss Illusion Technique, capable of deceiving enemies with hyper-realistic phantoms. Even if the allies could detect the cloaked Protoss ships, the illusion technique was impervious to standard reconnaissance equipment. These phantoms were virtually indistinguishable from actual warships in every aspect except for their lack of offensive capability. Furthermore, simultaneously with the appearance of the illusions, the real hulls would instantly shift position, making them impossible to lock onto, maximizing confusion and scattering the enemy's fire!
Though unable to discern the illusions, the coalition still unleashed their salvo. Countless thick light beams, brighter than the starscape itself, shot into the Protoss formation. A massive number of phantoms were instantly shattered.
After an intense burst of light, the Void Harbingers lost perhaps a thousand units, and a few hundred carriers suffered collateral damage. However, compared to the devastation the Protoss fleet inflicted on the allies, this loss was negligible.
The coalition had grossly underestimated the Protoss strength at the outset, treating the battle like a leisurely outing. Before the fighting even began, they had failed to establish a unified command structure!
This joint fleet, though massive, could only perform optimally when its offensive proceeded smoothly. Once disadvantaged, it instantly descended into chaos. Their attacks were dispersed, formations fractured, and every ship sought cover in less exposed positions behind the main lines. A few weaker and more cowardly races even considered retreat, turning their sterns and bolting, leaving the rest of the coalition to cover their rear!
“No retreat! Maintain order and obey my commands!” Sha Luo’s voice boomed through the allied fleet, ringing with thunderous authority.
In the void outside the fleet, Sha Luo’s colossal phantom materialized, towering over one hundred thousand meters high, solid and lifelike—clearly borrowing the energy of the entire Cycro fleet via the God Core System.
The towering Sha Luo raised his hand and projected a golden sphere of light, bright as a small sun, emitting myriad rays that seemed to illuminate the vast, pitch-black emptiness of space!
The billion interceptors encircling the allied fleet were instantly drained of their plasma shield energy under the golden illumination and exploded one by one!
This spectacle sobered many who were contemplating flight. Sha Luo then gestured again, and the golden sphere released a fan-shaped burst of light toward the fleeing vessels. Their shields rapidly dropped to critical levels!
They immediately turned back, rejoining the allied formation, daring not to flee further.
The appearance of the golden sphere instantly stabilized the entire allied front.
Sha Luo immediately began issuing orders, commanding the allied forces to consolidate in front of the Cycro fleet to act as a shield. The energy powering the golden sphere was entirely drawn from the Cycro fleet's reserves via the God Core System; should the Cycro fleet be annihilated, Sha Luo would be unable to execute maneuvers of this magnitude.
However, precisely at this moment, ten massive saucer-shaped vessels emerged from the Protoss fleet. These ships were three kilometers in diameter, glowing brilliantly as if forged entirely from gold and crystal—magnificent, artistic structures embodying ultimate splendor and beauty.
These were the ultimate weapons of the Protoss, super-dreadnoughts that synthesized the pinnacle of Protoss technology: the Mothership (Mothership)!
Yang Ying no longer wished to delay the engagement.