"Lord Helios."
Cheche halted its advance.
A [Variant · Cruise-class] Honkai Beast, nearly half Cheche's own height, slowly approached.
"What is it?"
"The humans may have set an ambush."
The Great Whale offered its opinion slowly and cautiously.
The city was burning.
A single, simple volley from the Cruise-class beasts' light cannons had been enough to utterly overturn the entire city... and that was precisely the problem:
The Northern Legion's offensive had met with no resistance whatsoever.
To be precise.
From the moment they entered the northern coastline of the Mu Continent until now, the vast Cruise-class legion had not seen even a shadow of a human (or armed automaton)—on the streets Cheche had just crushed, traces of human life had not yet been completely erased, yet the entire city was already empty.
The Great Whale possessed high intelligence.
Although it was an Emperor-class Honkai Beast born from a medium-sized rift not long ago, if one were to trace the origins of its awakening as a Variant, the Great Whale's lifespan might be comparable to those two ancient Emperor-class beasts in South America that Elysia had eliminated.
This was also why the Great Whale had immediately expressed submission when Lu Xing came calling.
"Where would it be?"
"Above or below."
As a Honkai Beast living in the deep sea, the possible range of enemy encounters for a Cruise-class was highly three-dimensional—a "flattened" battlefield in a silent state usually implied potential threats from other directions.
Don't be fooled by the Great Whale's docile appearance before the Emperor.
As a Variant that fought solo, its ability to reach its current level meant it had definitely eliminated no small number of its Variant kin.
Its combat experience was even greater than Cheche's.
Humans were not a species skilled at digging, so—
"Ding!"
A slender halo materialized around Cheche's horns.
Cheche didn't possess an ability like super perception, but after Lu Xing obtained more Herrscher Authorities, the power bestowed upon it also began to grow exponentially—the spiritual power belonging to the Authority of Sentience could finally be truly wielded by Cheche.
The pure white halo spread towards the distance, 1 kilometer, 2 kilometers... all the way to an altitude of ten thousand meters—
"Found them."
————
Above the northern part of the Mu Continent.
North America's "Special Operations Air Wing for Honkai" had been lying in wait for a long time.
This massive air force was a somewhat experimental, black-tech unit permanently stationed on the Mu Continent by North America—jointly established by the North American military-industrial enterprise "FutureTech" and the Mu Continent's "Starport Research Institute."
It possessed 2 "Zeus-class" sky ships (Zeus and Hera), each equipped with 4 proton impact cannons; 4 "Argo-class" aerospace carriers (Jason, Medea, Atalanta, and Asclepius), each carrying over 40 various aircraft; 12 FTAC-X2 "Vanguard" armed gunships, each loaded with a single proton impact cannon; and 30 "Century" bombers carrying a massive payload of "Jethro" medium bombs.
It was currently the world's "largest" air wing by scale.
"This is Griffin-01, calling Zeus."
"This is Zeus, Griffin-01, go ahead."
The "Griffin," a six-engine heavy fighter and laser weapon test platform with variable-sweep (forward-swept) wings, was currently circling the Northern Legion in "anti-detection" stealth mode.
"Target cluster has entered the strike range along the predetermined trajectory."
"Repeat, target cluster has entered the strike range along the predetermined trajectory."
"Zeus copies."
"Please evacuate the target airspace as soon as possible. We will commence attack on the enemy in 15 seconds."
Lisette put down the communicator in her hand.
As the supreme commander of the Air Wing, Lisette was full of confidence for this battle.
North America's "Zeus-class" sky ships had a design philosophy vastly different from Shenzhou's comprehensive approach. They transferred all "mothership" duties to the accompanying "Argo-class" aerospace carriers, while they themselves were packed with as many heavy weapons as possible.
Calculated by firepower alone.
A single "Zeus" ship possessed ground attack firepower equivalent to four "Taixu" ships.
Combined with the 12 "Vanguard" armed gunships, the entire Air Wing's proton impact cannon count reached a terrifying 20—such firepower projection could instantly raze a city with a population in the tens of millions, and blasting apart the Honkai Beast legion below would be even easier!
"Main cannons, charge."
"Notify the escort group, all 'Apollo' units to Level 1 defensive status."
"Notify the 'Medea,' deploy all 'Hurricane' units to join the battlefield, intercept the Spicula-class counterattack."
Lisette hesitated slightly.
"Notify the 'Atalanta,' deploy 16 'Paladin' units to blockade the 2000-5000 meter airspace, coordinate with Griffin to annihilate the remaining Cruise-class."
"If they truly have any left..."
"High-energy detect—"
"Boom!!!"
————
Fireworks bloomed.
The flashing electrical light gradually subsided.
The dissipating Honkai energy receded like a tide around Cheche.
[Honkai Roar Cannon]
The [Honkai Roar Cannon], which had once destroyed the entire city of London, descended upon the Air Wing's two "Zeus-class" sky ships—the "Zeus-class" was not without energy shields, but they couldn't link their shield energy for combined stacking like Shenzhou's sky ships. Even worse, this time the humans hadn't reacted at all!
Energy shields, permanently supplied with 30% power, might barely manage against an Emperor-class's normal attacks, but wanting to receive Cheche's sixty-percent power [Honkai Roar Cannon] was pure fantasy!
In an instant.
The command center of the North American Air Wing, along with its two capital ships, directly transformed into spectacular fireworks in the sky. The explosion even spread to the nearby "Jason" aerospace carrier, which instantly lost half a wing and two engines, spewing thick black smoke as it plummeted towards the ground!
"Got them."
Cheche's voice was even calmer than the Great Whale's.
Having heeded the Great Whale's advice, Cheche had paused here for merely ten short seconds before resuming its advance southwards—towards the heartland of the Mu Continent.
"The rest are your and the Cruise-class's job."
"..."
"As you wish, Lord Helios."
The Great Whale's choice of words did not change, but its increasingly respectful tone was impossible to conceal.
That pillar of light which had pierced the heavens just now.
If it had struck itself and the Cruise-class legion... perhaps, they wouldn't even have left a trace of their existence.
"Awooo!!"
A high-pitched cry roared from the Great Whale's mouth.
Over 40 Cruise-class beasts simultaneously folded their huge fins, their colossal bodies slowly tilting upwards under the effect of a gravitational aura. The next second, the Cruise-class, leading their vast Spicula-class swarm, launched themselves from the ground, soaring straight into the clouds with movements that completely defied their size!
"Boom!!!"