ABRIWMTHM Chapter 116

In an instant, as several mother ships carrying personnel withdrew, the previously relaxed atmosphere along the boundary line was no longer present.

Personnel at the station were frequently coming and going, urgently preparing for the possible onslaught of the beast tide.

Satellite observations indicated that after migrating, Tan Jue quickly provided a timeline.

With so many star beasts heading towards their planet, the earliest arrival would be in three days, and the latest in five days.

According to the habits of star beasts, even if high-level star beasts serve as a kind of leader this time, an attack should occur on the day they arrive to probe the planet’s defenses and combat capability.

Upon returning to the station and arranging everything in an orderly manner, Shi Xing closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

His energy had been severely depleted.

After drowsily finishing dinner, he slept through the night and woke up the next day, finding Chi Yao’s presence had already vanished.

He had slept too long, and Chi Yao hadn’t the heart to wake him.

After getting up, washing up, eating breakfast, and undergoing a check-up,

the medical staff wasn’t much, having already been sent back to the Empire, but the daily staff checking on Shi Xing remained.

Shi Xing was in a special period, and Chi Yao wouldn’t allow them to return home.

Typically, a report that could be completed in ten to thirty minutes took nearly an hour that day.

The check-up results were good.

Perhaps due to absorbing the mental power of advanced mutated star beasts, Shi Xing felt great physically.

His body temperature, which had never returned to normal values, had even dropped several points in the last digit.

Er Ya checked Shi Xing’s mental sea and concluded the same as the report, “No problems, quite good.”

Shi Xing asked, “How many star beasts did I bring back yesterday?”

Er Ya held up one hand, five fingers.

“All of them are of decent rank, right?”

Er Ya replied, “Non-mutated and too low-level star beasts were handled on the spot.”

Shi Xing nodded.

Adjusting his cuffs, he turned to ask Yan Changyue, “Where is His Highness?”

He was informed that Chi Yao was in a meeting at the command center of the Third Army Corps.

Shi Xing didn’t speak further, quietly fastening his cufflinks. In that brief moment, he had already made a decision. Raising his head, he asked, “Fei Chu, Fu Qing, and Ying Geng Tan Jue are also at the Third Army Corps, aren’t they?”

Yan Changyue nodded.

Shi Xing said briskly, “Alright, let’s head over too, I want to hear what’s being discussed.”

At this time, the discussions were mostly about battle plans and defensive arrangements.

When Shi Xing arrived, they had just finished discussing the arrangements of the Third Army Corps for these days and shifted the topic to support for the boundary line.

From the Empire to the boundary line here, including the time needed for troop allocation, it would take at least five to six days.

If the star beasts chose to attack right away, they might have to deal with the current military strength along the boundary line.

The news wasn’t all bad.

There were also good aspects.

For insurance in this hunt, eight out of ten personnel from the First Army Corps were brought out, plus the original forces of the Third Army Corps and the nearby dispatch from the Fourth Army Corps, which made the available forces quite substantial.

Just dealing with this batch of star beasts was more than enough.

Of course, the precondition was that this was only that one batch of star beasts.

If another batch came afterward, it would likely be the limit of the current military capacity to handle. Beyond that, if more came, they would have to wait for reinforcements to arrive from the rear before making further arrangements.

Having understood, and with a basic grasp of the numbers, Shi Xing had lunch with Chi Yao in the Third Army Corps.

During this period, Lu Li came over to express gratitude to Chi Yao. Whether intentional or not, he mentioned in front of Shi Xing that he was relieved that his irresponsible younger brother had returned to the Imperial Capital.

Shi Xing felt Lu Li glance at him, and when he looked up, Lu Li had already turned his head away.

Shi Xing thought that this remark was meant for him.

He hadn’t considered Lu Lu at all over these days.

But recalling the other party’s behavior of getting closer to the mother ship, he thought it was not bad that he had left. At least he wouldn’t cause more trouble.

The current situation was chaotic; if he encountered Lu Lu, a conflict involving the Lu family could arise, which would likely be hard to handle.

Barring any unexpected events, the Third Army Corps would likely be the first to arrive for support.

If Lu Guangyu’s forces hastily came to offer support and learned that Shi Xing had reprimanded his younger son as soon as they arrived, even without openly addressing it, the relationship between the two sides would likely become awkward moving forward.

As the companion of the prince, Shi Xing didn’t want to stir up internal conflicts within the corps at such a time.

So, it was better that he left.

For peace.

They had hunted a considerable number of beast cores yesterday, and after lunch, Xu Jin was responsible for contacting Wen Xi, still sending everything to that mature Blue Star human in the Third Army Corps.

In the afternoon, Shi Xing participated in an internal meeting of the Seven Major Corps.

The marshals of the other six corps all gathered, and Chi Yao designated the forces left to defend and support.

The Fourth and Third Army Corps were the original stationed troops. With the boundary line undergoing movements, they were the first to be deployed for support.

In an unexpected turn, the Seventh Army voluntarily applied for support, with the commander being Tan Chi, who had only recently returned to the front lines.

When they weren’t in contact, it didn’t feel noticeable. After listening to Marshal Tan conclude, Shi Xing realized that it had been a whole year since he healed Tan Chi.

The Seventh Army’s tone was earnest, and Chi Yao agreed.

Shi Xing felt unexpectedly moved; the good deed from earlier had resulted in a good outcome.

With a star beast capable of controlling the beast horde present, nobody knew how large the beast tide would become. To be cautious, the entire Empire was mobilized.

A while later, Chi Yao represented the Empire and contacted the Alliance and the nearby planets stationed along the border.

He seriously and practically conveyed the current situation at the Empire’s border.

The previous diplomatic negotiations had been tricky, and Shi Xing thought the Alliance would still shove accusations back and forth, but they didn’t.

The attack of the star beasts seemed to trigger some signal; the Alliance and the neighboring planets immediately took action, demanding full and clear communication about the present situation with the Empire. With Chi Yao’s consent, it was assigned to the Foreign Affairs Department to handle.

With the establishment of the boundary line, the conditions for needing a certain amount of support troops and whether foreign aid was necessary had already formed a commonly accepted standard in the long-term resistance against star beasts.

After Chi Yao spread this news, planets closely associated with the boundary line in the Twin Star Galaxy received the information immediately and took certain actions.

After the meeting concluded, Shi Xing felt it was remarkable.

He didn’t mention it to Chi Yao, but the other side could see it in his expression. “Do you find their proactive attitude incredible?”

Shi Xing felt a bit embarrassed and nodded, “I thought it would be like in diplomacy, where they would always try to push back first.”

Especially since this beast tide originated from him.

Chi Yao smiled faintly, yet firmly asserted, “It won’t.”

“If there’s still something that unites everyone in our galaxy.”

“Then without a doubt, the answer is singular—”

“Beast tide.”

Three hundred years ago, during the protracted campaign against the invasion of star beasts, all planets lost far too much; even powerful entities like the Alliance and the Empire had only gradually recovered in the past two hundred years.

However, for many planets, the scars inflicted were irreparable—there were polluted mining planets no longer able to be developed, as well as stationed planets like the one beneath their feet, which had gone from once thriving to mere resource-exhausted wastelands, silent sobs etched on their surfaces in the cosmos.

Shi Xing somewhat understood; Chi Yao said no more and affectionately patted his head.

Many things needed to be experienced firsthand.

Simply speaking was useless.

Once Shi Xing had spent more time at the boundary line and witnessed more, he would naturally come to understand.

Military affairs were supervised by Chi Yao, so Shi Xing didn’t need to worry about anything; however, the Empire still needed to operate, and Shi Xing took on many internal political duties.

In communication with Ren Yan Yong, after discussing countermeasures, he rarely noticed the old president hesitating to say something.

“What’s wrong?”

Ren Yan Yong hesitated for a moment and finally said, “Within the Twin Star Galaxy, the issue of the beast tide is very sensitive. Although Little Prince, you are the safest back in the Empire now, from an identity perspective, staying at the boundary line would establish more authority.”

Shi Xing realized Ren Yan Yong was trying to think from his perspective.

Shi Xing smiled.

He hadn’t thought that complicated; the situation arose because of him, and with the prince at the front lines, it was impossible for him to leave.

However, he also appreciated Ren Yan Yong’s kindness and concern.

The situation hadn’t maintained a good direction and had even veered towards the worst.

On the third day, Tan Jue’s team detected a batch of high-level star beasts approaching the main star.

After rough estimates, the numbers were shocking.

The first batch they could detect was nearly equal to this incoming batch of star beasts.

What was terrifying was that, due to the high ranks, it was estimated that among them might lurk mighty star beasts capable of powerful spatial abilities, making their arrival time uncertain.

On the fourth day, all mutated star beasts arrived and, as predicted, mounted a surprise attack.

The momentum of the star beasts showed a worrying trend, primarily targeting the defensive barrier.

Lower-level star beasts even resorted to using their bodies to repeatedly crash into one spot, willingly enduring the massive energy backlash to break through the boundary line defenses.

Attempts to use unmanned battleships to lure the star beasts failed.

Eventually, teams had to be dispatched to eliminate them.

The outermost defensive barrier encasing the galaxy could not break. If the star beasts were organized and had intentions, a breach in the barrier would lead to the most direct consequence—they would be circled around by the star beasts, severing all support routes toward the area.

And with numerous high-level star beasts approaching in the distance, once encircled, the outcome for them could be imagined.

After the first day’s battle, cracks appeared in the area of the barrier being focused on by the star beasts.

They relentlessly crashed into the same spot.

Sometimes energy cannons were even fired at the star beasts, yet they seemed oblivious, willing to trade their lives for another attack on the barrier.

On the second day, a change in tactics was made; after discussion, a breach in the barrier was opened, allowing all approaching star beasts to be directed into the main star.

Shi Xing was nearing the end of his maturity period. Since absorbing energy from the mutated star beasts, his powers increased daily, alarming Er Ya, and slightly worrying Chi Yao.

But as long as his level of spiritual power dispersion didn’t rise, this growth was beneficial given the current situation.

In this battle, Shi Xing had basically mastered using his mental power to kill star beasts.

The highest-level mutated star beasts were all handled by Shi Xing and Chi Yao working together.

For the remaining lower-level ones, anyone could take care of them, and they were dealt with one after another.

Using this method to handle the star beasts for two days, on another day, Tan Jue reported that the distant high-level mutated star beast group would meet with the current star beast group in the afternoon.

However, the support troops arriving included only the three closest from the Fourth Army Corps and the Third Army Corps.

The speed of reinforcement lagged behind the arrival of the star beasts.

As if aware that the main force was close behind, on this day, the star beasts no longer sent divisions to attack, but rather all gathered to assault the defensive barrier—

attacking the defensive barrier.

This news was suffocating.

After several days of fighting, the scent of retreating white star beasts was detected for the first time via drone observation, positioned at the back of all the star beasts, undoubtedly leading them all.

Chi Yao asked, “When will the nearest reinforcements arrive?”

Tan Jue reported, “The three teams from the Third Army Corps, five teams from the Seventh Army Corps, and two remaining teams from the Fourth Army Corps will all arrive by tomorrow morning.”

A half day late.

Shi Xing inquired, “How much longer can the barrier hold?”

Tan Jue replied, “If no solutions are found, when the next wave of star beasts arrives in the afternoon, the barrier likely won’t hold.”

Silence fell across the room.

Shi Xing analyzed the images relayed back from the satellite around the defensive barrier repeatedly, discovering a clue, “The energy is only transmitted when the white star beast roars, causing changes in the star beasts’ attacks.”

After a pause, Shi Xing continued, “Without that white star beast, all the star beasts now would just be a scattered mess.”

“If we can eliminate all the star beasts on the outskirts within half a day…”

“When the next set of star beasts arrives in the afternoon, even if the defensive barrier is broken, we have enough troops on the main star that they wouldn’t have many to spare for encircling us.”

Realizing something, Chi Yao asked, “Are you suggesting…”

Shi Xing stood up straight, “Since they are coming for me, I am the only one who has information known to it. Since they can communicate, we must not let the next wave of star beasts meet with that white star beast.”

The amount of time the white star beast had spent in the surroundings was too long, allowing it to learn too much about them and Shi Xing, which was not good.

After a moment of silence, Shi Xing spoke calmly yet forcefully.

“Last time we let it get away.”

“Today, His Highness and I will go eliminate it together.”

As long as the white star beast was attacked, the pressure on the defensive barrier would lessen.

Chi Yao remained silent, staring intently at Shi Xing, with a swirl of complex emotions in his ash-gray eyes.

Fei Chu asked, “Isn’t that a bit too risky?”

Shi Xing, however, responded insightfully, “If the first wave collapses, our military strength will be dispersed and dismantled. Once they gain the upper hand, it would snowball.”

In the same vein, they were also like that; if the advantage resided with them, their operational advantage could also build up.

“Moreover, if a batch of star beasts comes, how can we be sure there won’t be a second or third batch?”

The question left one breathless.

There was one more thing Shi Xing didn’t mention…

“If they’re coming for you, just your appearance can redirect the focus of the star beasts’ attacks.”

Chi Yao voiced it for him.

Shi Xing smiled, “Your Highness is quite right.”

To a certain extent, this could also alleviate the pressure of this suicidal attack on the defensive barrier.

Yet Chi Yao’s smile had faded.

The room fell silent.

Whatever Shi Xing could think of, Chi Yao could surely think of, and perhaps even more deeply, further ahead.

Deep down, Shi Xing was not worried about Chi Yao’s choice.

After a slight pause, Chi Yao gently closed his eyes, no longer looking at Shi Xing.

When he opened his eyes again, he indeed gave the order, “Do as Shi Xing says, prepare combined battleships, he and I will go together.”