From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 746 You Can Call Me LLS943823
Duke Soren and Duke Duke fell into silence.

In other words, when the two saw the newly arrived Crown Fortress begin to transmit energy to the Gospel Fortress, they were shocked and speechless for a while, and even wondered if they were seeing an illusion.

On the tactical star maps of the core command rooms of their respective fortresses, the Gospel Fortress, which had been flashing a warning red light, gradually stabilized, and the sensors of all the warships in front of the front line came to the same conclusion - the artificial celestial fortress in front of them, which they had been knocking on for most of the day and was finally about to be knocked open, was becoming solid again with its battle-level deflection field.

At the same time, the Crown Fortress itself, which was slowly moving forward from the position where the jump ended, also unfolded a huge battle-level deflection force field, covering the entire fleet of the Princess and the Atlas Group.

Duke: "Does the artificial celestial fortress have this function? Why do I feel like mine is fake?"

"Perhaps this is the so-called 'latecomer advantage'. After all, the sixth artificial celestial fortress started construction the latest, so it's not surprising that some new technologies were used."

Duke Soran's expression also became a little strange: "But it is still a bit absurd that a celestial fortress helps another celestial fortress maintain its deflection field."

"What should we do now? Should we continue the attack as planned?" Duke asked. In fact, when he asked this question himself, he actually had an idea in his mind.

“No,” Duke Soran shook his head. “Let’s hold off on closing the distance and maintain the current formation! We have already lost the best opportunity to attack.”

Hearing his words, Duke on the other side breathed a sigh of relief.

If he had previously thought about cooperating with Duke Sauron to wipe out the Princess Party in one fell swoop, this idea has now been slowly rejected by him, especially after the Crown Fortress arrived and helped the Gospel Fortress Battle Group hold the defense line.

Duke Duke knew that if they continued to fight, both sides would suffer losses, and neither he nor Duke Sauron would necessarily win in the end.

It is obvious that the power of the empire will undergo a subversive reshuffle after today. The imperial power is doomed to decline, and the influence of several dukes will become greater.

So instead of wasting all your money here, it is better to start conserving your strength so that you can have more bargaining chips at the negotiation table in the future.
In Duke Duke's opinion, although Duke Soran's expression has not changed, this old fox has definitely measured the value of his "family assets" in his mind.

However, not everyone can think as far ahead as the two dukes.
"Your Excellency the Duke, please forgive me for being frank, but we already have an absolute advantage. The deflection field of the Gospel Fortress is on the verge of collapse. Even if the other side has the support of the Coronet Fortress, it is, after all, just an 'empty shell' as part of the coronation ceremony. If we continue to attack, we will definitely be able to completely defeat the princess and the Atlas Group's fleet." A combat staff officer who was already a little too excited raised an objection in confusion.

"Are you blind or have you gone insane? Don't you see it?"

Duke Soran pointed to the star map and said, "The Crown Fortress is providing energy support to the Gospel Fortress. This is completely beyond our intelligence range. We don't know what kind of combat power this fortress has. If we approach it rashly, we may fall into the opponent's trap. And the fleet in a tangle cannot be easily withdrawn."

Hearing Duke Soran's words, Duke Duke on the other side thought to himself, "It is so!"

This old fox, just as he expected, has already thought about cutting his losses in time and does not intend to continue "raising the bet".

Thinking of this, Duke Duke, who was composed of a holographic image, nodded, and then took over the other party's words and continued: "Duke Soran is right. We can't get carried away just because the battle is about to enter a white-hot stage. As a commander, we must remain calm. I also suggest maintaining a long-range shooting state and trying to send the reconnaissance ship forward. I want to know what is going on with the Crown Fortress."
-
At the same time, in the core command room of the Gospel Fortress, Duke Hastings and Duke Artesia were also shocked by the scene before them.

So much so that the two of them asked the same question almost at the same time.

"Wait. Man-made celestial fortresses have this function?"

As commanders of the artificial celestial fortress, the Duke of Hastings and the Duke of Artesia have always believed that although their understanding of the fortress cannot compare with that of professional engineers, they are still very clear about the fortress's functions, operating methods, personnel and armaments.

But the two were very sure that neither the Gospel Fortress nor the Serenity Fortress, which was undergoing major repairs, had the ability to assist the other fortress in supporting a campaign-level deflection field.
But the facts are now in front of the two of them. The tactical star map urgently updated by the fortress combat auxiliary personality clearly shows that the energy conduction beam extending from the Crown Fortress is continuously providing energy for the battle-level deflection field of the Gospel Fortress.

"This is simply a miracle," Duke Artesia muttered to himself, "I didn't expect that the Crown Fortress has this ability? This is completely beyond my comprehension."

"It may be a new function of the sixth fortress. After all, it is a fortress directly commanded by Her Royal Highness the Princess."

The Duke of Hastings answered calmly, but he felt a little suspicious about the fortress that suddenly appeared to save the situation. After a moment, he turned to the communications officer and said, "Immediately establish contact with the Crown Fortress. I want to know who is in command of that fortress."

The communications officer nodded, then quickly operated the console, trying to get in touch with the Crown Fortress, but he quickly shook his head again, and the expression on his face became a little strange:
"Your Excellency, the Crown Fortress refused to respond to our communication request. The other party only sent back one message, and it looked a bit like an automatic reply from the communication unit."

"read."

"This fortress only accepts the direct command of Her Royal Highness Princess Agnes. No communication links will be established with the outside world for the time being. All matters will be discussed after Her Royal Highness arrives."

"What exactly is going on"

The Duke of Hastings frowned. Although the automatic reply from the Crown Fortress seemed reasonable, he still found it a little strange.

But in any case, he had to admit that the timely arrival of the Mianlu Fortress at least temporarily stabilized the war situation and bought them precious time.

"Where is Her Royal Highness the Princess now?"

"My lord, the space plane that Her Royal Highness the Princess and her companions are on has taken off. Judging from the shared flight path, they should be heading directly towards the Mianlu Fortress."
-
Just as the Duke of Hastings was thinking about the issue of the Coronet Fortress, the space shuttle carrying Princess Agnes and others left the atmosphere of Saint-Saunière and entered the predetermined orbit.

Inside the shuttle, Agnes sat quietly by the window, and beside her was Natalia, who never left her side.

Through the porthole, they could see Saint-Saunière gradually revealing its entirety below, and the space in the distance shrouded in war.

The route chosen by the aerospace shuttle was to approach from the rear of the Gospel Fortress battle group, so it just avoided the battle area and was able to reach the Crown Fortress via the shortest route.

"Your Highness, we are approaching the Crown Fortress and have sent a landing request, but the fortress shows that your authentication is required." The shuttle pilot's voice came through the internal broadcasting system.

At the same time, a virtual screen popped up in front of Agnes' eyes, showing a complicated authentication program interface.

The Imperial Princess did not think much at this time. With the help of Natalia, she naturally took off a gorgeous necklace, and then placed one of the crystals on a ball of volumetric light at hand.

Soon, the authorization code that was only known to her was parsed and quickly sent to the Crown Fortress. The authentication process did not take too long. Before long, the space shuttle obtained the "landing permission" permission, and then the Crown Fortress began to guide it into the landing orbit.

After confirming that everything was normal, Agnes breathed a sigh of relief. She turned her eyes to the huge spherical structure outside the porthole that was gradually expanding. The appearance of the Crown Fortress was exactly the same as what she saw in the data. But at this moment, it gave her a completely different feeling, as if this was not an artificial celestial fortress that had just been installed and had not yet formed combat effectiveness, and was only there to go through the ritual process today.
Instead, it is a strategic weapon that can be put into battle at any time.

Thinking of this, Agnes whispered to Natalia beside her, "The Crown Fortress should not have completed all the tests, and even the personnel are not fully staffed. So theoretically, it should not be able to fight?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Natalia nodded. "At present, there should only be a construction team responsible for finishing the work and an engineering and technical team stationed in advance in the fortress. In theory, the combat troops and accompanying fleet should be in place one after another next month."

Agnes: "But judging from the current situation, the Crown Fortress seems to have directly provided assistance to the Duke of Hastings and his men. What's going on?"

"Um, maybe this is the new technology used in this fortress?"

Natalia didn't know how to answer for a moment. After all, she didn't know much about artificial celestial fortresses, especially those involving specific functions and parameters.

"Your Highness, this should be one of the many new technologies adopted by the Crown Fortress," Jacques Cole, the Imperial Finance Minister who had remained silent before, suddenly spoke.

"Oh~?"

"When the Ministry of Finance was approving the construction funds for the Crown Fortress, it did find that the fortress used some cutting-edge technology. This is why they sent us a funding application at the end of the project. I thought you knew about this."

Jacques Cole paused for a moment, then looked at Agnes with some confusion: "But now it seems that Your Highness yourself does not seem to know?"

“I really don’t know.”

There was a sudden silence in the air, and the expressions on the faces of Agnes, Natalia, Jacques Cole and others began to become more and more "exciting".

However, they had no time to continue the discussion because, guided by the landing procedure, the space shuttle quickly entered the No. 1 deployment bay of the Crown Fortress.

After passing through several huge airlock doors, it finally docked at a take-off and landing platform that had obviously been decorated.

When the shuttle's door opened, Agnes and her entourage slowly stepped off the shuttle via the gangway. They were surprised to find that the people who greeted them were not the Imperial officers and technicians who were expected to be in charge of supervising the construction of the fortress.

Instead, there were rows of soldiers in Imperial Navy uniforms. After seeing Agnes, they saluted her in unison.

"Wait. Haven't the troops been deployed yet?"

"Your Highness, these appear to be androids."

Natalia's prosthetic eye with scanning function flashed a few times, and then she stood calmly to the front of Agnes, ready to protect the princess behind her at any time.

"Welcome to the Crown Fortress, Your Highness."

A bionic man who looked like a leader walked up to the crowd and said, "Originally, there was supposed to be a grand ceremony, but now it seems that there is no time to hold it. Your Highness and everyone else, please follow me to the core command room. After all, this battle is not over yet."

Agnes exchanged glances with Natalia, Jacques Cole and others, and then found that everyone's eyes were full of confusion.

The current situation at the Crown Fortress is really too weird. Theoretically, it has not yet formed combat effectiveness, but it has directly provided support to the Gospel Fortress. Moreover, from the time everyone arrived until now, no real human has been seen.

Although the number of engineering teams, technicians and imperial officers is indeed very small for this artificial celestial fortress with a diameter of 180 kilometers, it is no exaggeration to say that it is just a drop in the ocean.

Moreover, this fortress was designed differently from other fortresses. It adopted a different set of operating logic that can achieve a high degree of automation, and in some cases it does not require humans to maintain operations.

But it shouldn't be that no one can see it until now.
To be honest, if the Crown Fortress had not made any abnormal moves since it left the jump until now, and had not always stood on her side to assist in the battle, Agnes would not have come to this fortress so easily.

But the same thing applies. We are here now.

Although the road ahead was full of unknowns, Agnes felt that she couldn't get back on the shuttle with a group of people and leave.

Not to mention that it would be embarrassing for the princess of the empire. If someone really wanted to do something bad to them, they would probably not be able to leave easily.

So Agnes finally chose to follow these bionic people and boarded the high-speed commuter train inside the fortress, arriving at the core area of ​​the Crown Fortress, and finally coming to the core command room of the fortress.

When the door of the core command room slid open, Agnes and her companions saw only a woman in the uniform of an Imperial Navy admiral standing in front of the holographic projection platform.

After everyone got closer, the woman turned around and gave Agnes a standard imperial military salute.

"Your Highness, I am the temporary commander of the Crown Fortress reporting to you."

"Temporary commander? I don't remember ever appointing a 'commander'."

Agnes looked carefully at the strange female commander. She had never seen this person in any records of the Imperial Military, and she was sure that she was not the supervising officer of this fortress.

What confused her even more was that even inside the core command room, apart from the androids also wearing Imperial Navy uniforms, there was not a single real human officer or technician to be seen.

The woman in front of him who called herself the 'temporary commander of the Crown Fortress' was no exception.

"Who are you?" Agnes asked in a serious tone, while Natalia beside her and the soldiers of the Princess Guard who served as guards also quietly prepared for battle.

"Your Highness, I am the temporary commander of the Mianluo Fortress. Of course, you can also call me LLS943823~"

(End of this chapter)