Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 1192 A roadside creature, killed by a casual elbow.

Although Arngrim was speechless at the actions of the dwarven pantheon, he was too lazy to waste any more time arguing with these idiots.

"Speak, what exactly do you want?"

Hera Minax looked at Arngrim, dropped the pretense, and directly stated her purpose.

"Since you've put it this way, I won't beat around the bush anymore. We're here not to have a direct confrontation with you, but to take over the current operation of the Garden of Joseph."

With the Lord of the Golden Palace absent and the main forces away, a clear vacuum of stability has emerged in this plane, and continuing to maintain the status quo will only give external forces an opportunity to exploit the situation.

She softened her tone, but the content remained unchanged.

"Moradin's will is clear—we will temporarily control the deployment of troops and the core authority of the plane in Cheryl, and unify the command and reorganization of the existing heroes, spirits, and affiliated forces to ensure that the entire system will not collapse during this period, while also being able to respond effectively to external threats when necessary."

"This is the safest arrangement under the current circumstances. We will not interfere with your internal belief structure, nor will we arbitrarily change the existing order. We will simply take over control of key nodes so that the entire Garden of Joseph can continue to function, instead of being torn apart by various parties in a state of leaderlessness."

“You know very well that if we don’t come, even more people will come, and they might not be as willing to talk as we are.”

She slightly raised her battle axe, signaling to Arngrim to recognize the current situation.

"So I advise you not to put up a pointless resistance here. It's not a problem for us if you and your men continue to hold out here, but it will only make the situation get out of control..."

"You wouldn't want anything to happen to Josephine, would you?"

She added one last sentence.

"At that time, even more people will die, and the Garden of Joseph will only be dragged into chaos even faster."

Arngrim stood in the void, saying nothing more. His gaze fell on the three fortress ships that were pressing down on the tracks. If it weren't for these ships, he would have wanted to go over and slap Deadsea Ravenax right now.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do that. The God-King was not here, the six Crown-level beings of Joseph Garden had exhausted their power, and the Joseph Garden fleet was also taken by Odin, leaving all of their core combat strength depleted.

What remains is him, the son of twelve berserkers, scattered heroes, heroic spirits, and a defensive force that is not yet fully organized.

Under normal circumstances, these forces would be sufficient to support a high-intensity frontal war.

But now, they are facing a fully-equipped dwarven fleet.

Three fortress ships are positioned to provide cover, while the outer fleet forms a complete orbital control circle. The deep-earth raiders have begun locating the crystal wall nodes. Once the battle truly breaks out, the first wave of attacks will directly sever Joseph's defensive structure.

But more crucial is air superiority.

Once the fleet has achieved suppression, all ground forces will be locked within the battlefield. Arngrim didn't even need to do much deduction before he reached the conclusion.

If war breaks out now, the outcome will be simple: most of Joseph's fighting force will be annihilated, and what remains will be a long ground war.

Arngrim took a slow breath; he had almost never retreated in his life.

He was used to solving all problems through battle, tearing the situation apart in the most direct way. His name itself represented plunder and war, and his glory was built on one bloody battle after another.

But this time was different. Odin entrusted the Garden of Joseph to him, and he had to be responsible for the creatures in the Garden of Joseph.

"You may come in."

Upon hearing this, the twelve berserkers behind him were simultaneously startled.

But no one spoke; they just gripped their weapons tightly.

Argrim did not turn back.

His gaze remained fixed on Hera Mingfu, and his tone became extremely clear at this moment:
"The Garden of Joseph will open up some dimensional access, allowing you to temporarily take over some of the scheduling and defense structures, but you will only receive the portion that is rightfully yours, not control over the entire Garden of Joseph."

“If you act as you just suggested, then this matter will only be a temporary arrangement. Once the God-King returns, everything will naturally return to its original state.”

His voice lowered slightly.

"But if you dare to cross the line."

This time, he didn't use any embellishment.

“Even if you fight to the last man, the heroes and spirits of Joseph will drag you into hell.”

Hera Minf was very satisfied with this answer, though she knew perfectly well what was going on in her heart.

If we force our way forward now, we can indeed rely on the fleet to achieve orbital suppression and even dismantle Joseph's defense system in a short period of time, annihilating most of Joseph's combat units. However, once we enter into a ground war...

Those berserkers, heroes, and spirits will drag the battle into a quagmire in the most primal way.

These things weren't really a big deal for the dwarves, but considering that if Odin returned with a large army and found that their home had been raided and destroyed by the dwarven pantheon, they would definitely not be able to swallow their anger, she chose to accept Arngrim's proposal.

A slightly unrestrained smile returned to the corners of her lips, and with a slight turn of her tomahawk, her tone returned to its usual dignified and proper manner:
“That’s right. We didn’t come here to break ties with you. Moradin’s will is clear: we are only here to ensure that the Garden of Joseph does not collapse during this period, not to take it away.”

She looked up at the still-suspended Sky Garden.

"Don't worry, during the God King's absence, we will keep an eye on this place for you. Any external threats will be kept out of reach, and your heroes and spirits will not be mobilized at will. Everything will be done according to the principle of stability first."

She looked at Arngrim again.

The smile deepened a little.

"When he returns, what you will see will still be a complete Garden of Joseph."

After confirming that Arngrim had backed down, Hera Minax could hardly contain her suppressed excitement. She didn't waste any more time maintaining a negotiating atmosphere, but instead turned around and gave orders to the fleet, instructing each ship to deploy at various points on the crystal wall according to predetermined nodes, gradually locking down the spatial structure surrounding the entire Joseph Garden.

The nodes that were originally used for detection and defense were quickly replaced with dwarven-style anchoring devices, which were embedded layer by layer into the crystal wall, like rows of heavy steel nails driven into the boundary of this plane.

At the same time, she had already begun preparing for the next step: taking over the core of the plane. Once she accomplished this, even if it was only the lowest level of control, the operation could be declared a success, and the rest was just a matter of time.

She raised her hand, preparing to have ground troops deliver her.

At that very moment, a very deep vibration suddenly came from the crystal wall above the sky.

Something nudged her from the outside, and Hera stopped moving.

Arngrim also looked up at the same time.

The next moment, the crystal wall cracked.

Snap! Snap!
A massive, incomprehensible shadow slowly squeezed into the orbital layer of Joseph's Garden from the forcibly expanded passage. It didn't feel like a ship entering the space; it felt more like an asteroid being forcefully pushed into this space.

Blackrock Fortress—has arrived!
It appeared without any buffer or slowdown; it just appeared straight out, right in the center of the outer guard formation of the dwarf fleet.

The six frigates that were on patrol and alert didn't even have a chance to adjust their course. Their void shields had just lit up when they were crushed by the overwhelming size. The shields twisted violently upon contact and then burst open like overloaded containers. The ship's structure was then torn apart by the pure kinetic energy impact.

Six dazzling bursts of fire erupted at the edge of Blackrock Fortress, the shattered hulls scattering in all directions due to inertia, like metal debris casually overturned, leaving no trace of their original structure. They didn't even qualify as a slowdown for Blackrock Fortress; the mere appearance of this behemoth had casually killed six dwarven escort ships.

It squeezed into orbit and settled down.

Compared to it, the three dwarven fortress ships that were originally there to hold the line were just like the little Karami.

They looked like three exquisite iron blocks placed in front of a mountain, appearing so ridiculous.

Inside Blackrock Fortress, atop the Aetheric Throne.

Xia Xiu's consciousness had just completed the warp stabilization.

Before he could even fully adapt to the current coordinates, he had already seen the outside world through the fortress's perception system—the wreckage of the six escort ships that had been casually killed, and the three dwarven flagships that were clearly in a state of combat readiness not far away.

He tilted his head slightly and muttered to himself with a strange expression:

"Dwarfs... what are they doing in the Garden of Joseph?"

……

……

On the Garden of Joseph, Arngrim and Hera Minax stared blankly as a moving celestial weapon appeared in the sky. The Black Rock Fortress, nearly a third the size of the moon, pressed directly into the orbital layer of the Garden of Joseph.

Hera Mingfu's pupils visibly contracted at that moment. It was the first time she had ever seen such a massive, colossal weapon. The dwarven fleet's fortress ships were not even worthy of carrying its shoes.

Faced with such a massive celestial fortress, no one could help but feel despair.

What made the two even more desperate was what happened next: behind the Black Rock Fortress, an entire fleet was neatly deployed.

Thirty-six ships leaped out of the net channel simultaneously, without scattering or misalignment. All the ships had already completed their battle formation as soon as they entered the orbit. The highly unified rhythm made it immediately clear that it was the Courtyard Fleet of the Golden Tyrant Hugh Abraham.

Hera's expression changed completely at that moment.

She spoke almost instinctively, her voice carrying a clear hint of loss of control for the first time:
"How did Hugh Abraham's fleet end up here...?"

Beside her, Arngrim's reaction was completely different; he seemed to be nailed to the spot.

His gaze was fixed on the black stone fortress, his tone carrying a slowness he himself didn't realize:

"Is that... Blackrock Fortress...?"

"Why was it the Courtyard Fleet that brought back Blackrock Fortress...?"

His gaze swept over the neatly deployed fleet formation, and his voice lowered even further.

"Where is the fleet from Josephine...?"

The last sentence was almost a murmur.

"Where is His Majesty Odin...?"

……

……

On the Blackrock Fortress, on the Throne of the Psionic Forces, Xia Xiu paid no heed to the joys and sorrows of the dwarven deities and berserker heroes below. Whether it was the dwarven pantheon or the remnants of the Garden of Joseph, to him at this moment they all had only one identity—intruders who had entered his territory without permission.

Now that the Garden of Joseph is his territory, these fellows are intruders who have entered his home without his permission.

As for intruders, the way to deal with them has always been very simple; the Courtyard Fleet doesn't even need to give orders before it starts moving.

The instant the Blackrock Fortress stabilized its orbit, all thirty-six ships simultaneously completed fire control locks, and the macro cannon array and light spear system were activated almost at the same time, instantly illuminating the entire orbital space.

The first salvo – direct coverage.

Those dwarven escort ships that survived the collision were already in a state of unstable or even partially collapsed void shields. Their shield structures developed cracks during the impact, and their energy circuits had not yet been reconstructed.

And this round of firepower.

They were not given any time to be repaired.

The kinetic energy impact of the macro cannon struck first, tearing through the remaining shields. Then, several beams of light lances pierced through the hull, igniting the internal structure. The ship was hit in quick succession within seconds, and its propulsion system and core nodes failed one after another.

There was no second round.

After the first round—the dwarven frigate fleet was completely wiped out.

The mining ships and raiding ships behind them also failed to escape this round of attack. Their structures were more functional and they had almost no ability to resist frontal fire. One after another, they exploded on the track, and the debris was thrown into the sky, like a rapidly spreading cloud of metal.

The entire outer perimeter and support system of the dwarven fleet were completely wiped out within tens of seconds.

The dwarven pantheon now has only three fortress ships left.

Their void shields were complete and thick, managing to withstand the first wave of attacks, but the fact that they were being completely suppressed was already clearly visible.

And they did not choose to sit idly by and wait for their doom.

The counterattack was launched almost simultaneously.

The main gun arrays of the three fortress ships opened fire simultaneously, and heavy kinetic energy weapons and high-energy beams converged in orbit, all pointing at the same target—Blackrock Fortress.

That attack was enough to tear apart a conventional capital fleet.

However, landing on Blackrock Fortress had no real effect.

And the next moment.

Blackrock Fortress moved, and its attack method was very simple and unadorned.

Under Xia Xiu's control, the authority of the [Heavenly Lever] was directly embedded into the control circuit of the fortress, and the mass field of the entire megastructure was redistributed. The local gravity was amplified and tilted in a very short time, forming a forced gravitational collapse zone.

The three dwarven fortress ships that were too close together were pulled in before they could adjust their positions.

The massive hull lost its balance in the gravitational field, the structure began to shift, the stress distribution at the bow and stern went out of control instantly, the armor plates made a twisting sound under the pressure, and the core skeleton could not withstand this directional force.

Then, it shattered.

The fortress ships that the dwarves were so proud of for generations, those steel fortresses that they regarded as the crystallization of civilization and capable of dominating the battlefield, were no match for Blackrock Fortress. They were crushed instantly by the massive, almost celestial-sized structure upon contact.

They were like roadside weeds, easily killed by Blackrock Fortress.