Chapter 599 - 582: Pre-War Mobilization
Chapter 599: Chapter 582: Pre-War Mobilization
Allen was unaware that deep within the Sea of Magical Power, a Three Morning Stars faction led by the Skeleton Duke was closing in.
However, he had already planned to thoroughly sweep through the Gray Channel. Kesuga’s escape and Sara’s invasion merely forced the progress bar of this "Great Purge" plan all the way to one hundred percent.
"Order," Allen said, leaning back in his chair, a calculated, ruthless gleam surfacing in his deep blue eyes.
"Recall all Golem Legions currently executing defense, security, and infrastructure tasks in the G-771 Plane—a total of twenty standard legions. They are to return to Cybertron within six hours to replenish their energy and ammunition.
"Awaken the twenty dormant standard legions. After completing their preparations, they are to assemble outside Cybertron.
"Ignite and bring all Magic Furnaces in Cybertron online. Activate all production lines. Spare no expense in producing replacement parts and adaptation modules for the Dragon Cavalry.
"The G-771 branch of Wesren Heavy Industry is to suspend all commercial production tasks and immediately transition to a wartime production state. Halt all civilian production lines and shift to manufacturing Red Lotus Magic Missiles, Magic Battery Packs, and Standard Golem Replacement Modules. All mine outputs must prioritize restocking the military supply warehouses."
[Command confirmed.] Jarvis’s voice was as steady as ever, but behind it, a massive torrent of instructions had already begun flooding the entire plane.
The colossal war machine was about to bare its fangs.
"What is the progress on the aftermath at Red Leaf Town?"
[The Grand Governor has completed the emergency pacification of the Seventh Administrative District. Compensation in Contribution Points has been distributed to the families of the fallen. The ruins clearance project in Red Leaf Town has begun and is expected to be completed within seven days. The social panic index in the three surrounding towns is decreasing, but remains three hundred and forty percent above normal levels.]
[The Grand Governor suggests that before the military operation, Gabriel should conduct a public Oracle broadcast to stabilize public sentiment across the territory.]
"Approved," Allen nodded. "Have Reyno handle it as well.
"And notify Colin for me."
Meanwhile.
Colin had just concluded a meeting with a major client from Hub City, securing a long-term supply order for Wesren Heavy Industry worth thirty million Low-Level Magic Stones.
He was holding a glass of expensive fruit wine produced in another plane, just about to celebrate with Vera, when his personal terminal received the highest-priority directive relayed by Allen through Jarvis.
The polite, commercial smile on Colin’s face vanished in an instant.
"Wartime state?" Vera leaned closer. A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes as she read the contents on the terminal. "What happened?"
"I don’t know." Colin set down his glass, his expression turning entirely serious. "But I assume the boss is making his move against those Black Wizards. Let’s execute the orders."
The two of them immediately sprang into action.
In less than ten minutes, all top executives at the G-771 branch of Wesren Heavy Industry received an emergency notice.
Half an hour later, a flurry of directives was issued from the Wesren Building next to Star Gate Square.
Out on the Gray Channel, over a dozen large commercial transport ships fully loaded with basic industrial goods and basic Golems simultaneously received a maximum-priority recall order.
"Return immediately? Are you kidding me?"
In the D-21 Flight Segment, the captain of Pioneer Seven stared at the directive in disbelief. "We are only three days away from the next supply point! If we turn around now, all the profit from this trip will be washed down the drain!"
"It’s a top-tier directive, Captain. All Wesren-affiliated merchant ships in the latter half of the Gray Channel must return to the G-771 Plane within seventy-two hours. Violators will be treated as defectors!" the first mate’s voice trembled slightly.
The captain fell silent. He looked out the porthole at the dark, abyssal depths of the Sea of Magical Power and finally gritted his teeth.
"Turn around! Destination: G-771! All engines, overload operation!"
All at once, merchant ships bearing the emblem of Wesren Heavy Industry began turning around regardless of the cost, like worker bees summoned by the Hive, returning home at full speed.
However, unlike the panicked atmosphere on the channel, Star Gate Square remained bustling. Small shuttle ships from various planes continued to enter and exit in an orderly fashion through the deep blue halo of the Star Gate.
High-value goods and distinguished guests took the most expensive and secure route.
At the Continent Supervision Council.
Speaker Reyno was currently surrounded by a group of frantically shouting council members, completely overwhelmed.
"Mr. Speaker! The news about Red Leaf Town has already spread! Now people are panicked everywhere, and many don’t even dare to go to work in the mines!"
"Yes, rumors are circulating that the Demons of the Blood God Sect have returned to purge everyone who abandoned the Blood God!"
"The Divine Kingdom must give us an explanation! Is our Lord, the God of Steel and Truth, going to sit back and watch his people get slaughtered?"
Listening to the incessant clamor in his ears, the veins on Reyno’s forehead throbbed.
At that moment, his personal terminal lit up, and a public message pushed directly by the Grand Governor popped up.
[Oracle: Evil has revealed its tracks from the shadows, and the wrath of God is about to descend like thunder. All subjects of the Divine Kingdom, do not panic, and witness the Divine Punishment.]
Reyno abruptly lifted his head.
Almost simultaneously, a tsunami-like roar of astonishment erupted outside the council hall.
He rushed to the massive floor-to-ceiling window and looked out.
On the main road, low and rhythmic vibrations approached from a distance. The ground trembled, and even the windowpanes emitted a faint HUM.
A river composed of steel was surging forward.
Leading the march were the Peacekeeper PX-3 Main Battle Golems. They advanced in a four-column formation. With every step, they left a web of fine cracks on the hard concrete road, and their heavy footfalls beat rhythmically against the air like war drums.
Behind the Peacekeepers followed dense square formations of other Combat Golems. One standard legion formation after another advanced in perfect unison along the main road toward the Cybertron Fortress.
The CLACKING of mechanical joints, the heavy THUD of feet rolling over the pavement, and the resonance generated by thousands of Golems marching in sync tightly gripped the hearts of everyone lining the streets.
"Is that... the Third Legion?" an older worker nearby identified the numbers on the Golems’ shoulder armor. "And the Fifth Legion... Good heavens, why are there so many?"
"I see the insignia of the Eighth Legion, coming from the eastern railway..."
More and more people began to gather on the sidewalks. Porters, blacksmiths, students just out of class, ration station administrators... They all stopped what they were doing and stood on both sides of the street, looking up as the torrent of steel rolled past them.
Most of these people had only ever seen security patrol Golems in the streets, servant Golems in factories, or the occasional passing squad of Combat Golems.
No one had ever witnessed a spectacle of this magnitude.
Aside from the Golems directly deployed nearby via Space Gates, Golems from remote areas were converging on the Cybertron Fortress in the center of the continent along five main railways and thirty-eight branch lines.
On the heavy-haul railways, a special train fully loaded with Golems arrived at Cybertron every half hour. Without even a moment’s pause after unloading, the Golems instantly formed up into marching columns and poured into the fortress from all four directions.
By the afternoon, military trains carrying Golems from different administrative districts were operating simultaneously on all five main railways, pushing the entire railway network’s capacity to its absolute limit. All civilian trains were completely halted, forcibly making way for war.
In the skies above the First Administrative Region, Storm Falcons occasionally swept by in diamond formations, the shrieks of their Magic Engines echoing through the city buildings.
Every resident of this city realized the exact same thing—
Something massive was about to happen.
At the exact same time.
A two-hundred-meter-long standard Wesren Heavy Industry commercial transport ship was completing its final departure checks.
Its appearance was no different from the other merchant ships bustling back to port, but its course was exactly the opposite of all the returning vessels.
While the Floating Ships of the peripheral merchant fleets filed through the Plane Crystal Wall and landed at the temporary berths outside Star Gate Square, this merchant ship was heading alone toward the exit of the Plane Crystal Wall.
[Commercial transport ship North Wind. Clearance Level: Maximum Priority. Issuing Authority: Direct Command. Mission Code: Covert Reconnaissance.]
The Celestial Net Plane Monitoring System read this log, lit up the green light, and immediately granted passage.
The North Wind glided smoothly out of the Plane Crystal Wall, plunging into the turbulent undercurrents of the Sea of Magical Power. The hidden engines, which had been insanely modified by Allen, instantly burst to life, propelling this bucket of bolts into the Gray Channel at an inconceivable speed.
Inside the North Wind’s cargo hold, all the lights had been turned off.
In the darkness, only two massive, blurry silhouettes stood in silence.
Their heights nearly touched the cargo hold’s ceiling. If the internal bulkheads hadn’t been dismantled in advance to open up the entire cargo space, this two-hundred-meter-long transport ship could never have fit these two behemoths.
They were the PX-5 Xiong Er and the PX-5 Xiong San.
The two eighty-six-meter-tall Heavy Armored Golems were secured in the cargo hold in a half-crouching posture. The surface of their thick Silent Extinction Silver Armor was completely sprayed with an Abyssal Lead coating, which diminished their Magic Power signatures to a negligible level.
To any passing ship on the Gray Channel, the Magic Perception signature of the North Wind was simply that of an ordinary, small trading cargo vessel not worth wasting a single artillery shell on.
No one would ever know that crouching inside the belly of this "cargo ship" were two mobile fortresses capable of fighting a Dawn Star Level Wizard head-on.
In the dark cargo hold, the sensor array on Xiong Er’s chest passively received external signals at an extremely low power output.
While the Abyssal Lead coating shielded their own signals, it also reduced the efficiency of passive reception. However, for a PX-5 equipped with three Dawn Star Level Magic Engines, even the degraded sensor accuracy was enough to precisely lock onto a Level 2 Magical Beast thousands of kilometers away.