A sharp, high-pitched metallic clang echoed from the liquid mass, and Gu Xichen felt thousands of sharp rays suddenly shoot out from the orb in his hand. He hastily recoiled.

Helmet, spaulders, vambraces, gauntlets, breastplate, backplate, tassets, cuisses, greaves, sabatons—the silver liquid surged with brilliant light, suddenly shattering into more than a dozen distinct segments of a full suit of armor, which whizzed toward Ducat. A thick layer of silver solution emanated from within Ducat’s body, swiftly merging with the incoming Flowing Cloud Rushing Water Armor from the outside.

A joyous roar of "Ha!" erupted. Slowly, an ancient, majestic suit of dark silver armor materialized on Ducat’s frame, subtly exuding the might of a hundred paces and the killing aura of ten thousand feet. There were no visible seams at the joints of the armor; though it was heavy metal plate, when Ducat moved, the armor undulated with a lightness akin to flowing water, emitting not a single sound.

Ducat swung his hands, and his gauntlets transformed into two metal globes nearly a meter in diameter, densely covered in sharp spikes as thick as a thumb. Anyone could imagine the result if one of these metal clubs struck a person’s body.

The gauntlets rippled like water, and in the next instant, a Zhanmadao (horse-slashing saber) two meters long appeared in Ducat’s hands. Gripping the saber with both hands, he swung it down fiercely. The air in front let out a violent roar, and a visible white shockwave scattered outwards with a crash.

Next came daggers, then dual blades, then a morning star, a meteor hammer, an iron staff, and a Fangtian Ji (halberd). In the span of just a few minutes, the weapons in Ducat’s hands had changed dozens of times. The armor on his body shifted in tandem: sometimes it was thin, tight-fitting clothing; other times, it was a soft, scaled armor completely covered in backward-pointing barbs; and at others, it was heavy plate mail as formidable as a city wall.

Finally, all the armor and weapons retracted back into Ducat’s body. He turned toward Gu Xichen, raised both hands without a word, and gave a thumbs-up with both thumbs.

"The weight should be enough for you to handle," Gu Xichen said with a hearty chuckle to Ducat. "Setting aside the innate material, I used nearly ten thousand tons of supplementary material post-forging. But you can feel that most of the weight has been sealed by the array restrictions. Once you possess sufficient strength in the future, you can release the seals to restore its full mass."

"Excellent!" Ducat’s evaluation was simple, yet it was clear he was absolutely thrilled with this Flowing Cloud Rushing Water Armor.

Rong Hua watched Ducat with a hint of envy, muttering under his breath, "What's the showing off for? We zombies only need our formidable physical bodies; we don't need external aids at all!" He flexed his right arm powerfully, proudly displaying his muscles.

Suddenly, Xiao Xiao’s voice rang out from the mothership: "Boss Gu, everyone—brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts—we are about to reach our destination, Mars. Huh, interesting, how come this so-called French cuisine involves eating snails? Uh, please secure your personal belongings and prepare to disembark... Tsk tsk, wow, the ancient Japanese people are truly a great nation; they’ve filmed so many wonderful public health instructionals?"

Gu Xichen and Ducat exchanged glances, speechless for a long moment before Gu Xichen finally roared, "Xiao Xiao, disconnect from the Earth Federation network! There is a lot of material up there that will corrupt the children!"

Xiao Xiao hopped down from the mothership's main console and bounced over to Gu Xichen, chuckling. "Uh? Corrupt the children? Well, then I won't browse anymore. But, I was just about to try contacting the managing super-brain of the Earth Federation Bank database—hey, that little guy manages a lot of money!"

Gu Xichen was speechless, but Rong Hua’s eyes flashed green. He quickly bounced over and grabbed Xiao Xiao. The mothership gave a gentle shudder, and ahead, the view suddenly brightened, revealing a planet colored green and red before them.

Alarm sirens blared frantically. A Roman patrol fleet cruising nearby had already locked onto the mothership.

Gu Xichen barked, "Xiao Xiao, eliminate this patrol. Ducat, navigate; we're heading straight for the Pantheon."

Xiao Xiao's eyes flashed red, and the mothership unleashed a barrage of fire. The five old-model warships of the Roman patrol fleet were pulverized into fine cosmic dust without any chance to retaliate.

The Shield of Yafik blasted through two meteors ahead, charging straight toward Mars. The mothership's impact velocity was extreme; the armed platforms and satellites the Romans had deployed near Mars hadn't even managed to fire before the massive vessel smashed them into fragments.

Silver light shot out from between Ducat’s eyebrows; he had interfaced with the mothership's main control super-brain. Xiao Xiao also leaped and dove onto the main console, a dozen thin data lines extending from his body, merging him with the mothership's super-brain just as Ducat had. Gradually, the red light flickering in Xiao Xiao's electronic eyes synchronized with the electronic glow constantly flashing in Ducat's eyes. At a glance, Xiao Xiao appeared to be Ducat's perfect clone; Ducat himself retained no discernible human aura.

The bizarre scene caused everyone present to instinctively gasp. Fuya.Ming hurried to Gu Xichen's side, grasping his hand, gently embracing Fuya.Ming. Gu Xichen sighed softly, "Xiao Xiao’s processing power is formidable, but it’s also... unsettling."

The Roman defense system deployed on Mars finally opened fire. Dense artillery barrages struck the Shield of Yafik, but they caused no damage whatsoever. Even the high-energy beams fired by the largest-caliber anti-aircraft guns used by the Romans only sparked negligible energy ripples across the shield’s energy field.

Fuya.Ming shook her head; compared to the planetary defense system of Planet Yafik, Mars's defense structure was like a child's wooden sword against a submachine gun.

All firing positions on the Shield of Yafik opened up. While a few main cannons at the bow and on the hull were only accumulating energy, the other high-energy weapons fired simultaneously. Nearly a thousand points on the Martian surface flashed with light, continuous explosions erupting everywhere, shrouding the ground in smoke and dust. Gu Xichen noticed that directly to the ship's front-left, a grand and majestic Roman citadel atop a thousand-meter cliff collapsed, utterly shattered by the streams of light blasted by hundreds of high-energy cannons.

Wherever the mothership passed, all Roman structures and military installations on the ground were pulverized.

However, what was surprising was that very few Romans managed to escape these structures; only a sparse handful of Spirit Clan vassal soldiers scrambled out, clutching their heads in panic.

"Strange, where is the strongest Roman combat platform?" Gu Xichen frowned.

Ducat shook his head in confusion; he couldn't figure out what was happening either. Mars's anti-air strength was at least halved from what he knew—the current defense capability was at best one-third of its former strength, and many Roman castles along their path were completely devoid of Roman personnel.

A sense of unease growing in his heart, Ducat accelerated the mothership's assault speed. The shockwaves generated by a three-hundred-kilometer behemoth flying at high speed within the atmosphere were terrifying. The Martian surface churned as the rolling shockwaves carved out a massive trench nearly a hundred kilometers wide and several kilometers deep. It made one wonder if the shockwaves would have split Mars in half had Ducat lowered the ship's altitude even slightly.

With earth-shattering upheaval all the way, the mothership gradually slowed only when it was less than ten kilometers from the Roman Pantheon. The violent shockwaves slammed into the structure, shattering nearby hills and kicking up massive stones that battered the Pantheon’s high dome, smashing several tall towers to pieces.

The Pantheon was the holiest site of the Roman Kingdom; any intruder would be ruthlessly executed. Yet today, despite the tremendous commotion, not a single priest emerged from the Pantheon. The tall, magnificent structure was deathly quiet, showing no sign of movement.

"Fuya, take command of reception protocols. Xiao Xiao, you follow Fuya's orders," Gu Xichen commanded decisively. "Xiao Xiao, Shixiong (Senior Brother), we are going down. Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning Four Generals, provide cover outside the Pantheon! Clairvoyant Eye and All-Hearing Ear, monitor everything around us at all times—if anything goes wrong, bombard the Pantheon!"

Rong Hua cackled, stamping his foot heavily. He roared, "What are we afraid of? The Romans must be shaking in their boots seeing something this massive! Hahaha! The Pantheon! How many good things are tucked away in there? Damn it, before the War of '93, the Romans sure stole a lot of our treasures!"

Fuya.Ming moved to the mothership's main console and took over command. A string of orders was issued: Hadwar's eight thousand mercenaries and hundreds of thousands of Yafik soldiers were made ready for deployment. !! In the orders transmitted to Hadwar's mercenaries, the mercenaries were assigned roles as an overseeing enforcement squad; any Yafik soldier who dared retreat a single step during the battle would be executed without mercy.

Gu Xichen drifted down from the mothership on a cloud of water vapor. Rong Hua flapped his wings and dove toward the Pantheon at top speed. Ducat, adhering to his old habit, descended like a heavy bomb from the sky. Before Ducat could hit the ground, a streak of green light flashed, and Lily slipped out of the mothership, catching up to him.

Ducat frowned deeply and shouted, "Lily, go back!"

Lily pouted, looking on the verge of tears.

Gu Xichen waved his feather fan and said in a deep voice, "Lily's strength is sufficient; ordinary people are no match for her. She's a good helper; let her come along!"

Lily’s face broke into a wide smile, and she grabbed Ducat’s arm. Ducat stomped his foot hard, climbing out of the large crater he had made in the ground, looking somewhat exasperated.

The Four Generals of Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning concealed themselves within the dark clouds summoned by the Rain Master, hovering restlessly around the Pantheon. On the mothership's forward observation deck, Clairvoyant Eye stared intently at the Pantheon, while All-Hearing Ear’s ears flickered constantly; no rustle of grass within a ten-thousand-mile radius could escape the two of them. Their ears were stuffed with high-precision earphones, and miniature microphones hung by their mouths—a perfect blend of high technology and supernatural arts.

For more novels, visit storyread.net.