From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 749 Starry Sky Dance
"I promise, Your Highness. Once the current threat is resolved, I will explain the whole story to you. Please believe me, the Atlas Group's desire to cooperate deeply with the Empire has never changed."

Amber nodded immediately, and then turned to the female commander who was still looking at her with increasingly fanatical eyes, "LLS943823, what attacks can the Crown Fortress launch at the moment?"

"Master, the Coronet Fortress has not yet been equipped with a convoy and HCP, so the only weapons available are the main gun 'Focusing Rainbow-Modified' and the heavy particle cannon array, which can launch attacks at any time! The unmanned damage control teams and bionic reserve teams in each area have completed their standby. According to the current situation of the Coronet Fortress, two full-power irradiations can be carried out within 120 seconds."

LLS943823 took a step forward, summoned the structural diagram of the Crown Fortress on the holographic projection platform, and highlighted the fortress's weapon system.

"But after the second round of irradiation, some components of the 'Focusing Iris Modified' will be permanently damaged. It will need to be replaced with spare parts before it can continue the attack. The whole process will take approximately .94 minutes."

Amber nodded after hearing this: "It's okay, let's start preparing for the attack. We only have the first two chances to attack, and we must kill this star dragon in these two attacks. If we can't even destroy it in the first two attacks, let alone whether we have enough time to replace spare parts, even if we can successfully launch a third attack, it will not be meaningful."

"As you command, Master!"

The bionic commander, who was the incarnation of LLS943823, responded swiftly, and then several indicator light-like devices near her temple began to flash, and she directly decomposed and distributed the task instructions to various parts of the Crown Fortress.

Agnes and others in the command room suddenly felt that the artificial ladder fortress under their feet had completely come alive. A surge of energy began to generate in the core of the Crown Fortress, and a large number of energy circuits like blood vessels were also activated. The "Focusing Iris-Modified" located in the middle of the fortress also slowly opened the armor at the end of the acceleration track. Under the action of the vector control unit, the entire fortress began to adjust the ray axis.

On the other side, Amber contacted Salih who was on the Dawn:

"I say, the situation is not good. This thing is much more powerful than the information you gave me before. Is your information reliable?"

"Of course I am reliable! Amber, you can question other aspects of me, but you can never question my professional level."

Just like Isabel's persistence in 'pure love', Lilith's persistence in 'making trouble', Ellenita's persistence in 'the united front of friends', Agnes's persistence in 'the dignity of an imperial princess'. Everyone around Amber has their own 'persistence'.

As a deacon of the Pioneer Think Tank, Saleh also has her own persistence in "academics".

“I know that this star dragon seems to be a little bit abnormal, but the main reason is that it has completely integrated the ‘eternal cells’ and gained extremely high physical activity and regeneration capabilities. In addition, there are differences among individual star dragons. Perhaps this star dragon just has a certain talent in combat.

But please believe me, if Amber is attacked by a sufficiently strong force, even the king of the star dragons will be decomposed into elementary particles."

"Okay, I believe you." Amber nodded, "But the problem now is how to hit this giant star dragon or make it stay in one place so that we can attack it. Otherwise, with its current ability to jump short distances in space, it can completely avoid the attack of the artificial celestial fortress."

To be honest, Amber did not question the fact that 'the Star Dragon can be destroyed by conventional attacks'. He was more worried that his own attacks would not be able to hit this extremely flexible Star Dragon.

Just like the legendary pilot Char once said, as long as you can't hit it, it's no big deal.

Similarly, no matter how powerful the firepower of the fleet or artificial celestial fortress is, it will be meaningless if it cannot hit this giant star dragon.

"Maybe you may have to make a sacrifice, Amber."

Salih was silent for a while and then continued, "Although I don't know why, I found that this star dragon seems to be very interested in you. If we use this feature and let you become the 'bait' to seduce this star dragon, the net stagnation field equipped by the 'Dawn' before sailing will have time to lock on the target, and then the fleet and the celestial fortress will be able to attack calmly."

"Wait, you mean to ask me to go out and seduce this giant star dragon that can perform short-distance space jumps?!"

Amber was stunned when she heard the plan that Saleh said.
"Aren't you afraid that he will flash in my face and smack me to death?"

Saleh nodded: "Of course I am afraid, but this is the only way now. Otherwise, just like what you said, Amber, we will not be able to hit this star dragon at all."

"No, is this how you Jeram people attack the Star Dragon?" Amber asked back unhappily.

"If we want to capture a lone Star Dragon alive, we will indeed send out a special 'Dragon Hunting Team' to lure it out."

"The Star Dragon is so smart, would it fall for this trick?"

"After half of their tribesmen were killed or captured by us, the blood feud between the remaining star dragons and us was enough to make them rush up and destroy the 'lone' Jeram warship at all costs after discovering it."

Saleh's tone was calm, but the facts she described were bloody. It was hard for Amber to imagine what kind of outrageous things these Jeram people had done to make these star dragons lose their minds and attack them.

"Master, feel free to attack. I will have the unmanned fleet provide you with high-precision fire support."

Lilith's voice also sounded at this time, "Through the records of the Star Dragon's attack methods during this period, we have roughly grasped its characteristics and habits of short-distance space jumps. The unmanned fleet said that there is an 87% probability that it can predict the opponent's landing point, and this probability will become higher and higher as time goes by."
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Amber finally adopted Saleh's plan, which sounded almost crazy - using herself as bait to completely attract the attention of the Star Dragon and create opportunities for subsequent actions.

His eyes swept across the Imperial people in the command room, who all had different expressions, and finally landed on Agnes's face, which was trying to remain calm.

"Lilith, and you too." Amber looked at the android commander who called himself LLS943823, "Watch this place. I don't want any 'accidents' to happen before I come back."

Amber's tone was calm, but it carried unquestionable weight.

LLS943823 stood at attention immediately, his voice calm, "As you command, Master! The security system of the Crown Fortress has been upgraded to the highest level. Any unauthorized actions will be prevented."

Agnes clenched her fists and stared at Amber coldly, feeling somewhat aggrieved by his actions: "I already trust you, but Mr. Amber, you still don't trust me?"

"No, Your Highness, don't read too much into it. This is just a safety measure. After all, I think everyone should hope that the next battle can go smoothly without any problems, right?"

"."

Seeing that Agnes had fallen silent, Amber said no more, turned around and strode out of the core command room.

When he stepped into the deployment bay of the Crown Fortress again, the 'Dawn', which had slowly maneuvered to the vicinity of the Crown Fortress, also made new moves.

The electromagnetic acceleration track of the Dawn was seen flashing with lightning, and then several peculiarly shaped parts were quickly ejected and formed a formation to fly towards the Crown Fortress.

After Amber piloted the 'Woodwater' again after replacing the subcritical reactor fuel rods, the components that received the signal also approached the 'Woodwater' accurately.

This is a new space combat kit called "Silver Thunder of Psychic Power". Different from the previous high-speed flight kit, it focuses more on maneuverability and firepower in space combat, and adds glowing psychic crystal frames to key locations.

This is the result of Saleh's research based on the psychic crystal technology currently mastered by humans. It can greatly enhance the perception and reaction ability of psychics when driving HCPs, and can even use these psychic crystal frames as the psychic's "extended body" to directly use psychic energy.
The scarlet 'Woodworth' quickly changed into the new kit. The overall shape became larger, and the torso looked more flexible and powerful.

Amber took a deep breath, and covered the entire body with her psychic energy through the psychic crystal frame. Then, she felt the synergy and amplification effect transmitted back by the body through these psychic crystals, and suddenly felt full of "throwing tiles".

"No wonder Saleh said that equipping this kit can give a single machine the ability to suppress an area, but it also requires the pilot's psychic strength."

After quickly adapting to the 'Silver Thunder of Mental Power', Amber's voice resounded in the core command room of the Crown Fortress: "LLS943823, sending a communication request to the Gospel Fortress, contacting the Duke of Hastings." "Connection established, Master"

Soon, the slightly tired but still majestic face of the Duke of Hastings appeared on the holographic projection, and next to him stood the equally worried Duke of Artesia.

"Your Highness, are you okay?" The old duke subconsciously looked at Agnes who was standing in the middle. He always felt that something was wrong with the Crown Fortress, but after seeing Agnes, he relaxed a little.

Agnes took a step forward, looking at the Duke of Hastings' worried eyes, and quickly weighing the pros and cons in her mind.

Reveal the truth about the Crown Fortress? That would certainly make Hastings and Artesia try to rescue him, but it would only make the already chaotic situation more complicated, and might even shake the already unstable morale of his own army.
Eventually, the rationality in her heart overwhelmed the anger and humiliation that no longer mattered.

"Your Excellency, I am fine and safe now."

Agnes' voice regained its usual calmness and majesty. "The arrival of the Crown Fortress has won us valuable help. Our primary target now is the out-of-control star dragon. Mr. Amber has already attacked. Please fully assist Mr. Amber and the Atlas Fleet and make sure to annihilate it!"

The Duke of Hastings was stunned for a moment. He stared at Agnes carefully, as if trying to figure out whether the princess was being coerced.

However, Agnes's determined eyes and the sense of crisis brought by the raging star dragon in the distance finally made him put aside his suspicion temporarily. He nodded solemnly: "Yes, Your Highness! I will have the Focusing Iris prepare for the attack, and the fleet will also cooperate with the Atlas fleet to fight."

The Duke of Hastings' order was quickly passed down, and the formidable main gun on the huge body of the Gospel Fortress began to gather energy and emit a low hum.

The Princess's fleet and the Atlas unmanned fleet surrounding the two fortresses also began to adjust their formations, with countless gun barrels turned towards the huge dragon shadow that was wreaking havoc in the enemy fleet.

The scarlet 'Woodwater' was like a meteor, accelerating continuously and suddenly rushed towards Sartario.

Almost at the moment Amber appeared, Sartharion, who was originally enjoying the pleasure of slaughter, suddenly turned around, and his vertical pupils burning with anger locked onto the tiny human who had just escaped from his claws.

Hatred and a certain obsession overwhelmed the desire to destroy. It let out a silent roar, and its huge body accelerated again, rushing straight towards Amber!

"Here it comes!" Amber's eyes flashed.

"Master, the unmanned fleet is in place and ready to provide fire support at any time." Lilith's voice sounded calmly.

Sartario's speed is astonishingly fast, and the "jet propulsion" mode adopted by its wings under normal conditions makes it look like a meteor passing through the universe.

As the distance was rapidly shortened, ripples began to appear in the space around it again - this was a short-distance space jump!

"Predicting the landing point based on the characteristic data, the first wave of the unmanned fleet is ready to concentrate fire!"

Amber didn't need to say much. Lilith had already calculated the possible landing points with these high-level shipborne control personalities of the unmanned fleet. At the moment when Sarthario's figure disappeared, the firepower team composed of dozens of Atlas unmanned warships opened fire instantly, and the dense heavy metal particle jets and charged particle beams accurately covered the predicted area.

"boom--!"

Sartharion, who had just completed the jump and whose body had not yet completely left the hyperspace, crashed headfirst into the rain of death light.

The impact of the explosion and the turbulent energy caused its huge body to shake, and the attack it was about to launch was abruptly interrupted. Although these attacks were not enough to cause fatal damage to it, they successfully blocked its actions as Lilith had judged.

Amber seized this fleeting opportunity and controlled the aircraft to adjust its direction. The plasma propulsion array behind and attached to Woodwater was fully powered, creating distance between the aircraft and the dragon again.

At the same time, several strange disc-shaped devices were released from the side of the hull of the "Dawn" in the distance, and began to emit invisible waves to the surroundings - this was the "secret weapon" prepared by Saleh, a device used to generate a large-scale net stasis field.

Although it is also a "hand-kneaded product of the Salih Workshop", it is not as strong as the original version of the Forerunner civilization and cannot completely trap the star dragon, but it is enough to interfere with its actions.

The fleets of Duke Duke and Duke Soran, which had been turned upside down by Sartharion, finally recovered from the initial shock and chaos after the Star Dragon left.

Looking at their fleet that had suffered heavy losses, the giant dragon rampaging in space, and the equally annoying red HCP, the two frantic dukes almost simultaneously issued orders for indiscriminate attacks.

"All units! Fire freely! Target the Star Dragon and that red HCP! Shoot them down together!"

For a moment, the entire universe completely turned into purgatory. Countless light beams, missiles, and physical projectiles intertwined and flew, and the light of explosions rose and fell, illuminating the dark background of the universe like daylight.

The princess's side, the Atlas unmanned fleet, Duke Duke, Duke Soren's battle groups, plus the crazy star dragon and Amber shuttling among them, formed a picture of war that was extremely chaotic.

Amber was driving the 'Woodwater', maneuvering through this death zone full of gunfire. He felt his mind was highly concentrated. Through the psychic crystal frame, every subtle change of the body, every pulsation of the subcritical reactor, and every charge of the weapon system were as clear as an extension of his own senses.

At this moment, he was no longer simply driving a machine, but felt that he had become one with "Woodworth".

At this moment, he finally understood the famous words of a legendary pilot.

“I am HCP!”

As the psychic energy further resonated with the psychic crystal frame and even the body itself, Amber felt that her thinking was becoming clearer and clearer.

When this feeling exceeded a certain threshold, he could even begin to vaguely predict Sarthario's next move.
Every flexion of the dragon's muscles, every gathering of energy, and every subtle fluctuation before a spatial jump seemed to be clearly reflected in his mind.

Accelerate in advance, turn and move sideways, and brake urgently to change direction. The originally desperate chase has now turned into a thrilling duet with a certain strange beauty.

Amber controlled the scarlet HCP like a skilled bullfighter, dodging and maneuvering with ease under the attack of the raging dragon and the artillery fire. This tiny red figure, at this moment, exuded a light that could not be ignored in this chaotic battlefield.

This scene was presented to all spectators through various sensors.

In the core command room of Gospel Fortress and Coronet Fortress, Duke Hastings, Duke Artesia, Agnes, Jacques Cole and others held their breath, their eyes filled with disbelief.

On the other side, Duke Soran and Duke Duke looked at the incredibly agile red light on the tactical screen and the giant star dragon that seemed to be being toyed with by it, their faces becoming increasingly gloomy while showing extreme shock.

They had never thought that a human being, merely driving an HCP, could actually deal with the legendary star dragon to this extent. This completely overturned their understanding of individual strength and the form of war.

And such a person is still their enemy.

(End of this chapter)