From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 740 Pain and Suffering
Amber felt a sudden tightness in her heart when she saw the close-range defense lasers on both sides of the main monitor on the head of the 'Apostle' shining towards the black man, causing the latter to flee towards the surrounding shelters.

After all, this 'Apostle' was not attacking anyone else, but himself.

Thinking of this, Amber no longer hesitated and directly controlled the machine to rush forward with the heavy sword. Seeing that the black man had no way to escape the pursuit of the "Apostle", he activated the heavy particle cannon. While the machine's fire control system locked onto the "Apostle", he shouted through the external loudspeaker:

"Get out of the way!"

After hearing his roar, the black figure dove to the side without any hesitation, just as Amber remembered, except that she experienced it from a different perspective.

The next moment, Amber finally rushed to the front of the 'Apostle', and the plasma heavy-slashing sword in HCP's hand drew a familiar blue crescent in the air, and chopped heavily on the deflection field automatically activated by the 'Apostle'.

In an instant, a silver-white arc of electricity exploded between the two machines. The dancing electric snakes were like ferocious demonic shadows, instantly devouring the surrounding grass.

Through the 'first-person' experience, Amber realized how dangerous it was at the time. The battle between two steel giants weighing nearly a hundred tons could affect the other self next to her if she was not careful.

After realizing this, Amber directly ordered the plasma propulsion array of "Woodwater" to propel at maximum power, and a brighter light suddenly burst out from behind the body.

Following this powerful thrust, Amber carefully adjusted the angle of the heavy sword, and then forcibly wedged the plasma heavy sword into the deflection field of the "Apostle".

Then, just as he had seen in his memory, the Heavy Slash Sword and the deflection field generator both short-circuited at the same time. The plasma blade on the Heavy Slash Sword went out instantly, and the deflection field that enveloped the 'Apostle' also dissipated.

"Boom--!"

The heavy sword, as thick as a door panel, fell heavily on the golden HCP after losing its obstruction, but it also had no effect.

But Amber's pre-charged and preheated heavy particle cannon had actually been waiting for this moment. This "shield-cheating cannon" operation is one of the most basic skills in the player's PVP battles.

There was almost no delay. As the deflection field disappeared, the heavy particle cannon locked onto the cockpit of the 'Apostle', and Amber opened fire without hesitation.

"boom!"

A beam of blue-white light instantly shot out, stirring up a violent storm that blew away all the surrounding debris and rubble, before quickly dissipating.

When the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, it was seen that the upper body of the 'Apostle' of the Martyr Corps had been completely melted by the close-range attack of the heavy particle cannon, leaving only the still standing feet and the remains of the mechanical arm scattered on the ground.

It was exactly as Amber remembered.

Then, he turned his head slightly, and the main monitor on the head of the machine, under the mapping of the control operating system, also locked onto the familiar black figure beside him.

Amber only saw from a third-person perspective how embarrassed she was when she encountered an accident during time travel.
Regarding this moment of "historic meeting", Amber originally thought that there might be some special conversation, but looking at himself in another timeline beside the machine, he didn't know what to say.

In the end, I could only say in a serious tone, just as I remembered: "I will cover your evacuation, follow me."

After saying that, Amber, who was embarrassed by herself, controlled herself and turned away, leaving only a handsome back.

"Hey, I'm really not trying to be cool, why can't I say anything when I meet myself?"

Amber was clearing the way ahead while thinking speechlessly. After the Martyr Corps found that the signal of the 'Apostle' had disappeared, and also after receiving the news that a red unidentified machine had broken into the Grand Palace, they immediately sent out a support force.

Although the commander of the Martyrs Corps couldn't figure out for a while why the machine driven by the man who was most likely the actual controller of the Atlas Group suddenly rushed into the Grand Palace alone.

But since the other party has given them this excellent opportunity, they certainly cannot let it go easily.

So Amber in the cockpit soon saw more and more marked red inverted triangles on the HUD of the omnidirectional screen. These were all detected enemy units.

"ATT squadron in position? I'm pulling out towards the west wing parapet of the Grand Palace!"

"Boss! We are already in position. A reconnaissance team from the First Army has also joined us. At the same time, two combat teams from the Immortal Legion are jumping off the orbital defense platform. They will also support us in the battle!"

The voice of the ATT squadron leader sounded in the communication channel, accompanied by some rapid breathing when he spoke. It was obvious that he was in the middle of a battle.

However, this kind of communication and command in combat is also considered basic skills for excellent pilots. After all, in some high-intensity battles, the enemy will not give you the opportunity to stop and communicate.

Amber also quickly received a notification that two combat teams of the Immortal Legion had joined the battle network. Because most of the main air defense positions around the imperial capital had been completely destroyed by orbital strikes, the Immortal Legion's units did not encounter any interception during their landing, and their icons were also displayed on the tactical situation map.

Judging from their equipment, these two Immortal combat teams, in addition to the conventional large power armor and heavy power armor, also had four additional heavy multi-legged chariots.

Since there were no human crew members and there was no need to consider issues such as comfort or whether they would be shocked to death, the airdrop capsule carrying the four heavy multi-legged vehicles descended at an extremely fast speed, and the final deceleration process was extremely rough.

The deceleration and reverse thrust engine had no stages that took comfort into consideration, and it just forcibly reduced its speed, and finally crashed to the ground with a loud 'bang'.

"Boss, the Immortal Legion's A4 and A5 combat teams are in place and are deploying!"

Seeing that the units that came to support him were already in place, Amber did not waste any more time and directly increased the speed of clearing the way. Any Imperial Guards or Martyrs units that came to intercept him along the way would be defeated by him.

It didn't take much effort for Amber to clear a passage leading directly to the west wing wall. This was also the area where she had parted with her "self" during the time travel.

At this time, Lilith's voice also sounded: "Master, a large number of enemy activity signals have been detected. At least one battalion-level unit is approaching your location. It should be the Martyr Corps unit that has already broken into the Grand Palace from another direction!"

"Good fellow, they have already entered the Grand Palace, but instead of looking for Agnes and the others, they are coming for me."

Amber complained as she opened the command interface, and quickly marked out a fire kill zone in the area in front of her, and then assigned this "urgent task" to the artillery brigade under the First Army.

At the same time, they also directly contacted Hogg and Van Fleet in Fortress No. 1 through the 'battle-level quantum entanglement communication network' specially built for this battle.

"Do you see the fire kill zone I marked? A battalion-level unit is approaching me. Let the artillery fire a few rounds in this direction first!"

"Boss, that's the location of the Grand Palace, right? If it's within the range of the deflection field, it may not be able to provide long-range fire support." Hogg said as he looked at the location of the fire kill zone.

"It's okay. The deflection field here has been destroyed by the attacking Martyr Corps. We have to thank them for helping us knock off the 'turtle shell' in this direction in advance!"

"Okay, Boss! I'll make the arrangements right away. Please be careful to avoid the kill zone!"

As the communication ended, a countdown appeared on the tactical situation map in front of Amber, on the fire kill zone he had drawn - this was the countdown for the first round of calibration shells to land after the artillery confirmed the mission.

Amber also turned around and looked at the other 'self' following behind him. After thinking for a moment, he controlled the body to raise the mechanical arm and pointed it at a nearby dilapidated building.

"After passing through this building, walk a little further and you will reach the west wing wall. A gap has been made there, and you can leave the Grand Palace through the gap." The voice in the loudspeaker of the machine was still so cold, and the black figure below was silent for a moment, and then responded loudly:

"Then what are you going to do? Judging from the commotion, a lot of the guards inside the Grand Palace should be heading here, right?"

"It's okay, just go ahead."

Although Amber couldn't see the expression of his other self under the tactical mask at the moment, he was sure that the other party must have cursed. After seeing his other self nodded, then left quickly and disappeared into the building, Amber was relieved.

"This should mean that this time travel is completely closed, no matter whether it is the 82nd year of the new calendar or the 592nd year of the new calendar."

It was at this moment that a doubt suddenly popped up in Amber's mind.

I heard myself in the machine say these words when I was traveling through time, and then I said the exact same words even though I didn't know what to say just now.

So are these words spoken out of one's own subjective will, or are they purely imitations?
If it is the latter, then is there no "source" at all, and it is just a "loop" formed completely like an Ouroboros?
"Time travel is really confusing."

Shaking off the sudden thoughts in her head, Amber refocused her attention on the battlefield. A large number of red frames marked in the HUD were approaching her, and she had to drag them within the fire kill zone.

"Lilith, assist energy allocation and fire control units, prepare for a full-power attack!"

"Yes, Master, I have taken over the energy allocation and fire control units. You can attack now!"

Lilith's voice sounded, and a row of icons representing the various types of weapons loaded appeared on the cockpit's full-circle screen.

"Very good, then let's start with a round of plasma rockets to liven things up!"

The aiming frame switches to 'rocket mode'!
Projectile prediction line activated!
All the rocket launchers mounted on the "Woodwater" also adjusted their attack schedules diagonally upwards as Amber aimed.

The next second, a shrill scream was heard, and sixty-four smart rockets using plasma warheads left the nest and fell to the ground in arcs under the hasty interception of the enemy in front. A wall of light formed by plasma fireballs also appeared in the devastated Grand Palace.
-
When Amber was executing the last step of "I save myself", the Princess Guards commanded by Natalia were also in a tough battle.

Because the gap in troop strength between the enemy and us in the Grand Palace area was still too large before the Atlas Group's First Army broke through the interception, the Princess Guards were unable to hold the Grand Palace's walls for too long.

As several walls collapsed and gaps formed under the attacks of the Imperial Guards and the Martyrs' Legion, Natalia, who was worried about being surrounded by the enemy, had no choice but to withdraw her troops.

Although the loss of the position further reduced the available space for movement, the area that needed to be defended also shrank at the same time. The defensive intensity on the same area actually increased a lot. Even though the Regent and the Archbishop ordered the troops to continue attacking, the offensive slowed down.

Natalia also had a chance to catch her breath. She knew that even if she couldn't hold on forever, it would not be a big problem for her to hold on until the arrival of Atlas' First Army.

“Just hope there won’t be any more accidents.”

Natalia was praying this in her heart, and then she suddenly felt a mysterious energy reaction under her feet, as if there was a huge heart buried underground, beating strongly.

At first, Natalia thought she was hallucinating, but when she saw her adjutant subconsciously looking down at the ground, then looking up at her in confusion, she knew it was not an illusion.

"You felt it?"

"Yes, sir, I felt something jump underground."

The adjutant nodded and was about to describe his feelings again, when the next moment, a majestic voice rang out in the minds of everyone in the Grand Palace area.

"People of the Empire. In the name of Frederico Rosa Leon, I order all units under Agnes Barbara Leon to stop resisting immediately!"

This sudden sound was like pressing the pause button on the battlefield. Except for Archbishop Jules Mazarin and some high priests, everyone on both sides of the war was stunned.

Soon, more and more people realized that this was the voice of Emperor Frederico!

Amber, who had just led a long-range artillery bombardment and severely damaged a battalion-level unit of the Martyr Corps, was also stunned, because he was very sure that he did not hear this sound when he traveled through time and space.

"The timeline has changed?! No. It's impossible. All the closed loops have been closed. According to Saleh's prediction, it will not cause any changes in the timeline."

Amber frowned as she felt the voice in her mind. It was majestic, solemn, full of the breath of time, and even had a hint of holiness.
"Could it be that because we enter a quantum state when we travel through time, we won't be affected by this kind of mental intrusion ability on this timeline?"

While he was struggling and guarding against further mental invasion, Frederico's voice continued to sound, and what he said was similar to what the archbishop and others had said before, which was to take back Agnes' inheritance rights and let her stop resisting immediately.

Amber could imagine at this moment that the shelter where Agnes and Jacques Cole were staying was in an uproar. With the old emperor personally coming forward to take back the inheritance rights, it could be said that Agnes was defeated in one blow.

This is not just a matter of shaking the morale of the army. It can almost be said that it directly crushes the princess party's determination to continue to resist.
"It's over. Did I really make a wrong bet this time?" Amber couldn't help but think of the worst outcome. He knew very well that this large-scale mental invasion ability should have been given to Frederico by the corpse of the star dragon.

In other words, Frederico controlled the corpse of the Star Dragon and used this legendary "dragon power" - different from the artificial dragon power of the imperial royal family, but the real dragon power belonging to the Star Dragon.

Just as Amber was thinking quickly about countermeasures and even planned to ask Lilith to quickly calculate the "sunk costs", Frederico's voice sounded again.

But this time, both the tone and the content seemed a little strange.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Get out of my mind!"

"Ahhh, I get it, I get it! It turns out you've never died. But even so, you have to submit to me. This is the fate of your clan!!!"

This crazy statement once again stunned Amber and the others.

This time, even Archbishop Jules Mazarin and others frowned, as this was obviously not part of their plan.

Before long, Frederico's voice became smaller and weaker, and finally disappeared from everyone's mind completely.

Immediately afterwards, a strong tremor like an earthquake, carrying with it an unprecedented energy impact, suddenly came up from the ground of the Grand Palace.

A strange and low voice once again sounded in everyone's mind.

“Pain.”

"suffering."

"My hatred burns in the abyss."

(End of this chapter)