"The Command Post of the 775th Heavy Mechanized Division in the Thirteenth War Zone was attacked; all command staff officers below Esei perished." "The Command Post of the 633rd Heavy Mechanized Division in the Thirteenth War Zone was attacked; all command staff officers below Major General Zorin perished." "The Command Post of the 457th Heavy Mechanized Division in the Thirteenth War Zone was attacked; all command staff officers below Major General Tut perished." In the space of just ten short minutes, fifteen disastrous battle reports flooded in. Fifteen out of the thirty-five heavy mechanized divisions in the Thirteenth War Zone had their command posts wiped out! Hiss~ Mahu sucked in a breath of cold air with grim satisfaction. "Tsk tsk, Big Brother, now we don't even need to cause friendly fire!" "Damn it!" Banruo's eyes twitched with rage. He fiercely kicked Mahu nearly a hundred meters away. "Such massive simultaneous loss of high-ranking generals means we're in deep trouble too! The sharp blare of alarms continued to ring out, and a tide of increasingly bad news poured into the joint command system.

In just half an hour, seven forward bases under the Earth Federation Army’s Thirteenth War Zone had been struck. Thirteen field airfields were utterly destroyed. Thirty-nine field depots for light and heavy supplies were blasted clean. All medical personnel and wounded soldiers in eleven field hospitals were killed without exception. Even the three units—including the special operations contingent of 1,300 men recently dispatched by Wagri that Banruo and Mahu had just mentioned—that were currently advancing toward the H1 Luo 5 Heights encountered massive numbers of Roman bio-engineered beasts, which consumed everything, right down to their supply trains.

Intelligence indicated that the Romans had deployed no fewer than five new types of bio-engineered beasts never before seen, two of which—beetle-type creatures—seemed to devour hardened alloy steel as easily as if it were brittle chocolate ice cream. Furthermore, the morale of the attacking Roman forces was sky-high, and the psychic power emanating from every soldier was astonishingly potent. In just half an hour of offensive action, they had inflicted catastrophic casualties upon the Federation forces of the Thirteenth War Zone.

Mahu scrambled back to his feet, screaming, "Tell the brothers to organize a counterattack on the spot! Counterattack! Counterattack!"

Banruo kicked Mahu away again, roaring in a low voice, "Contract the defensive lines! Call for Medusa, Sidorov, Old Billy, and the others to establish defensive positions immediately and snipe the known enemies, covering the withdrawal of the frontline regular soldiers. Activate Operation BA. Establish the defense line centered on the War Zone Command Post. All participating units must deploy to their designated areas following the pre-rehearsed steps."

After a few cold laughs, Banruo nodded approvingly. "Truly worthy of being the First Prince of Roman. They come with ill intent; good tidings never precede such an assault! Heh heh, over the past year, we have forged the Thirteenth Star War Zone into a veritable hellscape for the Romans. If this First Prince can shatter every army in the Thirteenth War Zone, the merit he earns will be… Porphyry, Menopole?"

Mahu tilted his head in thought for a moment, then suddenly leaped up, roaring furiously, "Big Brother, didn't the Boss suddenly lose contact with Uncle Beard partly because of the intelligence supplied by this Porphyry?"

Banruo reached behind him and pulled out a string of prayer beads crafted from black jade, slowly counting them with his fingers. After calculating for quite some time, he slowly nodded. "That should be correct... Porphyry isn't just maneuvering against the Boss! Hmm, I’ve never heard of this First Prince of Roman before. It seems the Roman King is deliberately building up his profile. Could he be positioning this son to take the throne? Raising one thumb, Mahu exclaimed in admiration, "Big Brother, what a brain you have! Tsk tsk, it's certainly more useful than mine! Did that old immortal scratch two [**] into you back in the day?" Banruo, who had been deep in thought, nearly choked on his own blood. He stared at Mahu for a long moment, then suddenly exploded in rage, roaring, "Get out! Get as far away from me as possible! Hurry up and guide the forward troops to establish the line, or I won't spare you! Tell Medusa and the others not to engage in direct confrontation. If the Roman King is indeed planning to let Hexokin accumulate enough merit to seize the throne as I calculate... Hexokin’s Jieshi might not be any fewer than ours!"

Mahu fled in terror, covering his head. Banruo’s expression turned grim as he muttered lowly, "It’s highly likely we are facing the concentrated essence of the entire Roman Royal Guard, commanded by the Roman King. How many Jieshi do they command? The lifespan of Romans is longer than Earthlings. From the War of '93 until now, by Roman longevity standards, not even one generation has passed... How many Jieshi could they have? One thousand? Two thousand? Three thousand?"

"And who attacked the command posts of fifteen divisions? Phantom Assassins? How many Phantom Assassins did he deploy? To secure the Roman throne, how much capital is the Roman King willing to invest?"

Taking a deep breath, Banruo composed himself and strode to the central command console. He simultaneously contacted all frontline units, extending the signal down to the communication devices of the most basic squad level.

"Warriors of the Federation, I am Lieutenant General Jiang Long, Commander of the Thirteenth Star War Zone."

"According to intelligence, our adversary is the newly reinforced First Prince of the Roman Kingdom, Hexokin. His forces are likely the concentrated essence of the Roman Royal Guard."

"I have organized reliable units for local defense... Every single person—everyone except the soldiers of the mechanized divisions specifically designated by me—is to abandon any supplies they cannot conveniently carry and converge toward the War Zone Command Post, executing the Bdl (Reserve Defense Plan)."

"To all those foolish individuals harboring unrealistic dreams of becoming Federation heroes: be warned, our opponents likely possess thousands of Jieshi and psychics! They likely have a massive contingent of Phantom Assassins! Field engagements... you will not be a match for them. Preserve your lives and return here to execute the B Reserve Defense Plan! For your lives, and for the Federation!"

Closing the communication link, Banruo sighed deeply. "It’s best to pick on the soft targets... First Prince, if you insist on confronting me, then let us test our mettle!"

At Height Hl375, the corpses of Earth Federation soldiers lay scattered everywhere. The air was thick with the stench of char and blood. Several massive, ape-like bio-engineered beasts, huge as small hills, lumbered forward, grinding the Federation bodies into the ground beneath their heavy steps.

Porphyry, clad in a light gold robe and wielding a mammoth tusk scepter, calmly ascended from below the height. Two heavy naval cannons, each exceeding one thousand millimeters in caliber, hovered behind him, lifted by his formidable psychic power. A contingent of Spirit Race engineers rushed over, operating small engineering machinery to mount the two cannons onto a newly constructed turret platform at the edge of the height.

Porphyry smiled and nodded, pulling out a white handkerchief to wipe away some non-existent sweat. He spoke mildly, "Keep working hard, everyone. Remember, once this height is secured, it must become a volcanic spout of death. Heh heh, the Earthlings' command center is right ahead. Ah, the terrain of this height is absolutely perfect."

A large group of Roman warriors, riding two-headed bio-engineered wyverns, swooped past overhead, emitting piercing, excited cries. Occasionally, these fierce-looking twin-headed wyverns opened their massive maws and spewed a torrent of breath downward. Streams of black-red flames shot down nearly a kilometer, turning vast swathes of ground into blackened, glassy slag.

The smiling Porphyry looked up at the procession of twin-headed wyverns passing overhead, remarking with deep satisfaction, "Domela Fire Dragons. I never thought the genome of one was preserved aboard that mothership... This is the blessing of a great deity upon the great Roman people; we are destined to conquer the entire cosmos! Roar~" A gigantic ape-like bio-engineered beast roared, raising its thick arm, which was over ten meters long, and slammed it downward. A turret foundation pile, over ten meters long and nearly a meter thick, was driven deep into the rocky ground of the height. Accompanied by screeching metallic impacts, these huge apes continuously hammered foundation piles into the earth. Aided by the nearby Spirit Race engineers, a new turret platform quickly took shape.

Another young Roman, also wearing a golden robe, soared into the air. Floating behind him were one hundred large-caliber high-energy cannons. This youth was a head taller than Porphyry, with golden long hair, golden eyes, and skin so pale it was almost translucent, crisscrossed by dark gold arcane markings. The complex patterns writhed and snaked beneath his skin, covering his entire body. Visible streams of golden light flowed rapidly within the markings, and his body constantly radiated an almost suffocating energy fluctuation.

Porphyry bowed ninety degrees with utter deference to the youth. He said respectfully, "Great Highness, how could such crude work require your personal attention?"

The First Prince of the Roman Kingdom, Hexokin, cast a gentle look at Porphyry and smiled faintly. "To eliminate these filthy, ugly, base, and primitive creatures as quickly as possible, I can hardly worry about such trifles now. Are the [00] retreating?"

Porphyry straightened up with a smile. "Because of your arrival, the once arrogant Earthlings are in full retreat."

Hexokin shook his head, pursing his lips with a small smile. "Porphyry, you are quite adept at flattery." Waving a hand to stop Porphyry's self-defense, Hexokin sneered, "Since they are retreating, pursue them! Attack! Attack! Attack continuously! Have the warships unload all their ordnance immediately and join the attack sequence. Do not give them time to rest. Cockerel, advance! Attack continuously! Destroy them with the fiercest offensive! Kill them!"

"As you command, Great Highness!" Porphyry smiled gently and swung his scepter fiercely forward.

Nearly ten thousand Domela Fire Dragons, five thousand giant apes, along with tens of thousands of Roman traditional bio-engineered beasts like giant tigers and snow wolves—this massive tide of bio-engineered creatures, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of Roman soldiers, surged forward, forward, forward...

Warships descended from the sky one after another, rapidly unloading all their armaments onto the ground before immediately joining the attack sequence. Naval cannons roared; wherever the fleet passed, the ground was instantly pulverized into dust.

"For Roman, Forward!"

The high-pitched Roman battle horn sounded for the first time in the Thirteenth Star War Zone.