Him and their stars.

Chapter 2225 They are the true epics
His demigod-level spiritual senses, already spread out like a net, had captured the battle taking place within the fortress, which spanned two astronomical units. He couldn't yet hear the gunfire and commotion within the fortress, but he could sense the profound feeling of countless lives being lost.

He also detected familiar spiritual fluctuations, clearly those of Krell, Ash, and Thea.

"...Well, these three must have had a lot of interesting stories happen to them hanging out together," Yu Lian muttered to himself.

"Isn't this a good thing?" Little Grey let out a pleasant chuckle.

Indeed, in areas unknown to him, his old comrades and subordinates had accomplished such a feat, leaving Yu Lian with nothing but admiration and pride.

Even if it was a suicidal act of folly, even if the chance of victory was almost nonexistent, in fact, the moment a group of desperate soldiers and refugees rose up in the rear of the empire and launched an attack on the fortress in the heart of the empire, they had already won.

In short, Yu Lian was surprised to find that he didn't feel any negative emotions at all. There was no jealousy, fear, or sarcasm, and he felt none of the insecurity that comes with being a "superior" because his old subordinate had slipped out of his control.

He truly felt only admiration.

While I'm not exactly a pure revolutionary, I'm not a bad person either. Yu Lian smugly tapped his chest, then activated the dragon for another spatial warp. After only a slight spatial ripple, it quickly closed to within an astronomical unit of distance of the Elicel Fortress.

His senses became increasingly sharp, and his grasp of the current situation in the fortress became clearer.

This half-built fortress should have at least 40,000 garrison troops and staff, but it is clear that they are the ones who are at a disadvantage.

Sure enough, at this close range, Yu Lian's (with the boost from Xiao Hui) terminal finally connected normally to the fortress's communication channel. He then heard: "Quickly, quickly go and call back the grenadiers from Istar-1! What about the rest of the fleet?"

"Marshal Ester is still at the front line, but has already ordered the Hirug fleet to come over!"

"What about the capital? Have you notified the capital?"

"Notify the capital? Isn't that Marshal Ester's duty?"

"Yes, you're right. That is indeed Marshal Ester's responsibility. We can't go over his head. Hey. It's really thanks to your reminder, otherwise I would have almost made a mistake."

Well, the imperial officers were certainly in a lot of turmoil. But even in such a critical moment, they didn't forget to absolve themselves of responsibility, which is a characteristic of bureaucracy, I suppose.

So here's the question: how did such a small force manage to corner the defenders of Elathel Fortress with such a surprise attack, mainly by creating a central breakthrough within the fortress? How exactly did they manage to do that?

It took Yu Lian three minutes to extract some useful information from the numerous, chaotic, and incoherent communications. The large commando unit had infiltrated the fortress aboard a Ketai envoy ship before launching their attack.

More specific details are probably only known to those involved, but it is certain that the small envoy ship could not accommodate too many people. At most, it could carry three or four hundred people, and the amount of heavy weapons and auxiliary combat robots it could carry was also limited.

However, this assault team continued to advance, invincible in its path.

Yu Lian's terminal even entered their communication channel, and then he heard a familiar voice: "Hahaha, you little brats of the Empire, who among you will be the next person killed by King Nokono Motong!"

The voice was familiar, but the maniacal laughter was completely unfamiliar.

Besides, your name is clearly Claire Belmont. Who the hell is Nokono Motong King? Some kind of protector duke in Kaitai? Why do you smell like fermented green tea?
"Immediately seal off the passage from Sector B. Yes, blow it up. Do you have any more ion salt bombs?"

That's unmistakably Babaru's voice. Seriously, you got a philosophy degree from Ocean University, right? The way you speak so fluently makes me wonder if you actually spent a few years as a mercenary leader!

"No bombs needed! Behold my explosive weapon! Nobody's better at explosions than me!"

That's Ash, of course. He still sounds quite energetic. Besides, while he's energetic, he's not completely insane, which is quite reassuring to Yu Lian.

After Miss Tina Moen passed away, there was a time when I was really worried that Ash would break down.

But now it seems that he is at least a very qualified rebel.

As for the so-called explosive artifact, it's actually just the "smoking stick" taken from the Enlightened Ones' ruins, a trophy that Yu Lian gave to that guy back then. One of its functions is to create explosions.

A sudden roar filled Yu Lian's ears. He looked at the fortress a unit away with his naked eye. Although he could only see a speck of dust at most, he subtly felt that the thing tremble.

"There's a Legion Giant company ahead, and the leader is confirmed to be a psionicist! Oh... they're dead already?"

"Ignore them, keep going! I've already cut through the path ahead!"

Well, as expected of Tai'a, they're all about cutting down anyone who disagrees. This third-generation Double Flower Red Stick of the Spirit Research Association didn't hide her spiritual traits; she's currently in a berserk, bloodthirsty state, which makes it all the more remarkable that she can still answer so clearly.

In short, although the Imperial garrison's resistance was quite tenacious, it was like frozen butter meeting a red-hot knife in front of this commando team composed of psionicists, battle veterans, and outlaws.

The Imperial army's defenses were being rapidly breached. "They actually managed to do this... I still don't know how they could be more familiar with the fortress's environment than the garrison, but that's no longer important," Yu Lian exclaimed. "What matters is that this is a truly epic expedition!"

"An expedition?" Little Grey seemed to have also awakened his skills in playing the straight man.

"A little over a year ago, Ash and Barnacles' rebel organization had just left the Alliance. They were more like exiles than on an expedition. Ten months ago, Krell's New Independence broke out of Earth. At the same time, Taia and his men retreated to the New World along with the main force of the coastal fleet that had withdrawn from the Battle of Said. They weren't on an expedition either, but rather the remnants of a defeated army fleeing in disarray."

Little Grey nodded slightly.

"And now, only ten months later, they've launched a counterattack deep within the empire's borders, directly threatening their most important strategic weapon. If this isn't an expedition, what is?"

"It was conducted at the same time as your expedition." Little Grey seemed a little regretful: "Even if they succeed, they will still be a parallel backdrop to the legend you created."

“I didn’t create a real legend.” Yu Lian shook his head frankly, expressing his regret: “If I hadn’t found the Wide-Range Silence in the Abyss, I would have just wanted to cause some trouble on the border of the Empire to prove that ‘if the enemy can go there, so can I.’ But in the end, the strategic value of such an action is only reflected in emotions.”

"Oh? Emotionally?" Xiao Hui couldn't help but draw out the sound, probably not expecting Yu Lian to be so frank.

"Without the Silent Ship, the glorious achievement of directly attacking the Heavenly Realm would not have been possible." Yu Lian shrugged: "After picking up the remaining comrades of the raiding fleet, I will choose to lead the troops to break through and return to the New Divine Continent."

As for war, perhaps we'll consider whether we can break the deadlock from the direction of the New World. Yu Lian thought.

Xiao Hui chuckled, "I think, given your personality, you'd probably settle your subordinates first, then personally infiltrate the capital to assassinate the emperor or something. That would be like working as an assistant to Mr. Lan Jiufeng."

Yu Lian had to admit that what the other party said made sense: "In that case, future history would probably have to be a chronicle of assassins, right? But now, I have even more legendary achievements. Isn't that also due to the power of the Enlightened One's legacy? Behind the dazzling brilliance is a blessing that transcends the times. How kind the Enlightened One has been to me. But, thinking about it carefully, it is a bit unethical."

Xiao Hui glared at Yu Lian with disdain: "Really? You're really something! You took advantage of her and now you're denying it? Now you're thinking about martial ethics, huh? I never knew you were this pretentious type."

"No, I have never denied my achievements," Yu Lian said proudly. "The Enlightened Ones' artifacts are also weapons, excellent tools. If I used the tools well and created great achievements, how could I deny it? I did indeed create a legendary expedition! I will have my own page in most textbooks from now on!"

"Well, so I've become a tool again." Little Gray sneered, "Then..."

"And my comrades are using their ordinary wisdom and strength to create a real legend."

He had barely finished speaking when Krell's loud laughter came through the communicator: "This door's closed again? Smash it! Smash it! Gentlemen, clear the way ahead!"

"A mortal? Hah... a mortal." Little Grey tilted its head and looked at Yu Lian.

"Well, relatively speaking. His psychic abilities were cultivated by himself, so..." Yu Lian said with a serious expression:
"People like me create miracles, but the people create history."

"Really? But there are too many people who say that heroes are the ones who make history."

"We cannot deny the role that heroes play in driving history forward, but most of the time they actually create emotional value. We just make history more interesting."

Xiao Hui looked Yu Lian up and down and felt that although this guy's performance was a bit exaggerated, his self-deprecation was genuine, and his deeper respect and admiration were also genuine.

"Clearly a follower of the Forbidden Matters school, yet a collectivist at heart." She scoffed, "What's the difference between that and a scientist who doesn't do experiments but stays home all day alchemizing?"

Just because I'm a psionicist doesn't mean I have to be a follower of the Forbidden Matters school. To be fair, my awakening of psionic abilities in both of my lives was a natural process, and essentially, it was for self-preservation.

Yu Lian really wanted to say that, so he thought about going over to help.

"It's difficult for three hundred people to operate a colossus. But with me, maybe it will be possible." That's what Yu Lian was thinking.

"Have you ever considered that if you actually did that, you'd become a hero, a deus ex machina? You'd be stealing the credit for the people making history!"

Yu Lian truly never expected that the other party could talk nonsense from this angle.

"History is history. Merit is merit. Know that I am also a member of the people. You mere silicon-based zero-element female ghost, stop spouting nonsense!"

"Oh well, so I'm a female ghost again?"

Amid Xiao Hui's furious outburst, Yu Lian closed his eyes again to search for spatial folds—even with Biefles' abilities, it would take some effort to fly past an astronomical unit—but this time, perhaps because he was getting closer to the star and the gravitational pull was starting to entangle him, he didn't succeed immediately.

At the same moment, another violent jump disturbance occurred in the outer space of the galaxy. Immediately afterwards, a colossal ship with an imposing silhouette plunged into space.

(End of this chapter)