From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 753 Where is the Regent?

In a closed compartment next to the core command room of the Glorious Fortress, the air was as heavy as a block of lead.

The lighting in the compartment was not as clear and bright as that in the command room. Instead, it was adjusted to a softer tone in the meeting mode, outlining only the contours of a few people in the room.

Duke Soran was still slumped in his chair, his face haggard and his eyes empty. His former majesty was replaced by deep fatigue.

Although the death of old Emperor Frederick was a fact, the old duke was still a little dazed, immersed in grief and had not recovered.

Sitting on the chair on the other side, although Duke's face was equally gloomy, there was a barely perceptible calm and calculation in the depths of his eyes. It was obvious that the old emperor's death had no effect on him.

After all, no matter who is the emperor, he is the Duke of the empire.

So all he has to do is to secure his position and seek more benefits at the same time.

The Star Dragon Empire certainly cannot be without a ruler for a day, but it also cannot do without these imperial dukes.

At least it used to be like this
The metal door of the compartment slid open silently, and two figures were "invited" in by expressionless military police - they were the two most trusted aides of Regent Norton II.

Duke Soren and Duke Duke naturally would not do anything extreme to these two imperial nobles who were also of high status. They had only placed them under house arrest.

At this moment, Perseus' hair was disheveled, but his eyes were still as sharp as an eagle, staring at the two imperial dukes in front of him with unyielding anger.

Astral beside him remained calm. He looked at the two dukes, and his mind became active. He knew very well that some emergency must have happened, so the two dukes brought them to this meeting room.

When Perseus's eyes swept over Duke, his pent-up anger instantly erupted: "Duke! You despicable traitor! How dare you sit here?!"

"A wise bird chooses the right tree to roost in, and a man of insight becomes a hero. The art of following a dragon is also a science, Perseus. But it is obvious that you are not very good at it." Duke Duke did not react to Perseus' anger, but responded very calmly.

"I'm a dragon from hell, you despicable traitor!"

"Perseus!" Astral said in a low voice, holding down his companion who was about to rush forward excitedly, "Calm down first."

Then, he turned to Duke Soran, his tone calm but with unquestionable force: "Duke Soran, before we answer any questions, I want to know, what exactly happened? What is the situation of the battle outside?"

Duke Soran moved his lips, as if he wanted to say something, but hesitated.

Duke Duke spoke at the right time in a low voice: "Sir Soran, it is meaningless to hide things at this point. We are now facing a common enemy. If we want to make the right judgment, we need to be honest and cooperate."

He looked at Astral and continued, "We will tell you what you want to know. But in exchange, I hope you two will not hide anything from us later."

Duke Soran struggled for a moment, and finally sighed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders, and spoke in a hoarse voice: "His Majesty Frederico has passed away."

This short sentence was like a thunderclap, instantly shocking Perseus and Astral to the spot, with disbelief written all over their faces.

When they were under house arrest before, the two of them had witnessed the scene where the Regent Norton II pledged allegiance to the old Emperor Frederick. In their opinion, this also meant that the old emperor still maintained control over the empire. His previous behavior of hiding in the basement of the Grand Palace was probably just pretending to be sick.
But they never expected that Frederick would be finished after being under house arrest for a while?

On the other side, Duke Soran did not give them much time to digest the story and continued to tell them everything that happened after they were placed under house arrest - how the old emperor transformed into a giant star dragon and rushed out from underground, and how he suddenly lost control when the overall situation was almost decided.
The devastating power of the star dragon, the crazy slaughter after it lost control, and finally, how this legendary creature was completely destroyed by the main gun bombardment of the princess's two artificial celestial fortresses and the fight with the red HCP.

Astral and Perseus went from being calm at first, to disbelief, then slowly opened their mouths, and finally were simply stunned, as if they were listening to an absurd myth.

It was not until Duke Soran retrieved some of the battle footage recorded by the Glorious Fortress—the huge, ferocious dragon wreaking havoc in the fleet, two beams of light piercing through the sky and earth crashing down, and finally the tiny but fearless red machine rushing towards the wreckage of the giant dragon—that the cruel reality finally shattered their doubts.

"This, this is actually true? There are actually real star dragons in the world." Perseus murmured absentmindedly. For him, this ups and downs of the "plot" was still too shocking.

Astraal didn't say anything, but frowned, thinking about something.

"The current situation is that we have temporarily ceased fire with the princess, but the fleet has suffered heavy losses, and communications with the ground have been interrupted due to strong electronic interference."

Duke Soran rubbed his tired temples. "The most urgent task is to find the Regent. We must confirm his current condition. What was his original plan? Does he have any hidden tricks? We need to know these before we can decide what to do next."

The old duke paused, looked up at the two regents' aides in front of him, and finally said somewhat unnaturally: "Since neither of us supported Princess Agnes's ascension to the throne before, it means that she is our common enemy, so... maybe there is still a possibility for us to cooperate?"

"cooperate?"

Perseus seemed to have heard a huge joke, and laughed in anger: "Duke Soran, you know to use an umbrella when it rains, and you know to be afraid when a knife is put to your neck? I am not afraid to tell you now."

"Perseus"

Astral wanted to stop Perseus from continuing, but it was too late. He could only hear Perseus continue:
"According to the original plan of the Regent, you and the old nobles around you were already on the liquidation list! Now that the old emperor is gone, your biggest backer has fallen, and you are desperate and you are thinking of seeking cooperation?"

His words were like a cold knife, mercilessly piercing through the cooperation that Duke Soran had proposed in order to save himself.

The atmosphere in the compartment dropped to freezing point again. Astral sighed and said nothing more, while Duke remained silent and continued to knock on the armrest again and again.
-
At the same time, on the bridge of the Dawn, Amber, who was still able to rest, changed into clean clothes and was communicating with the airdrop fortress group on the ground through the direct communication maintained by Lilith.

On the holographic screen, Hogg and Van Fleet of the Atlas First Army looked a little tired but still maintained a resolute expression, especially the latter, who revealed an excitement that he could not conceal.

"Boss, the Grand Palace area has been basically cleared. The remaining imperial guards have given up resistance, and the main force of the Martyrs' Legion that was still resisting has also been wiped out. Only a few small groups are continuing to attack us.

We have now taken control of the core area and surrounding areas of the Grand Palace, and found the bodies of the Archbishop and a number of high priests at the attack position near the main gate of the Grand Palace. Their deaths were very strange, and after examination, we found that their brains seemed to be cooked." Hogg fluently reported the battle briefing that had been prepared long ago to Amber. The wolf-headed man has now become more and more accustomed to this position.

"Very good, continue to wipe out the remaining enemies and eliminate all hidden dangers." Amber nodded, and then continued to ask: "Where is the Regent? He should have been with the Archbishop and others before. Have you found any trace of him?"

Hogg shook his head. "Boss, we actually ordered the troops to search for the Regent first, but we haven't found any trace of the Regent yet, and the surrendered Imperial Guards can't explain his whereabouts. But one thing is clear. According to the preliminary battlefield inventory and the prisoners' confessions, at least one reorganized Imperial Guard unit has disappeared from this area and their whereabouts are unknown."

“I don’t know where he went.”

Amber frowned when she heard Hogg's report, then turned to look at Agnes beside her.

"Is there any place near the Grand Palace that can hide a large number of troops?"

"There are indeed many backup underground bases in the nearby area for storing various equipment and military supplies." Princess Agnes did not hide anything anymore and answered directly.

"Could you please point out the approximate location, Your Highness?"

"This"

Agnes hesitated, and Amber continued, "Your Highness, the most urgent thing now is to find the Regent. From the current situation, I suspect that he has left the Grand Palace area with a group of loyal troops. I guess the next step is to try to get in touch with the battle group in orbit. It will be difficult to deal with it then."

After hearing what Amber said, Agnes thought for a moment and finally sighed. Then she walked to the holographic projection platform and operated it a few times. Several marked areas appeared on the map.

"Hogg, send reconnaissance units to these areas immediately. Send the reconnaissance HCPs over as quickly as possible. We have to hurry."

"Yes, Boss!"

Hogg quickly issued the order, and everyone did not have to wait too long. Just over an hour later, the news came back.

The communication channel directly connected Monton and Telak from the First Heavy Combined Brigade, and their voices were also a little hurried: "Boss, General Hogg! According to the coordinates you provided, our reconnaissance unit has discovered the entrance to a large underground facility about 140 kilometers away from the Grand Palace! And the disappeared Imperial Guards are building a solid defense line at the entrance. After our vanguard launched a tentative attack, it was immediately counterattacked by the enemy. Obviously, there are things or people inside that they must protect!"

"really."

Amber's brain was working rapidly, and a possibility became clear in an instant: Norton II was most likely in that underground base!
Almost at the same time, Agnes also thought of this, and her face changed slightly: "If the Regent is still alive, Duke Soren and Duke Duke should try to get in touch with him again. I believe they will not just watch me complete the succession."

"That's right, so we have to capture the leader first." Amber's eyes flashed with a gleam, "We can't give them this opportunity!"

He immediately gave the order: "Hogg, Van Fleet! I order the First Army to launch an attack on the underground base immediately at all costs! I will be there soon!"

"Yes! Boss!"

"Lilith!" Amber called Lilith in the virtual space in her mind.

"Master, I'm here~"

"Continue to control all communication attempts between Duke Soran and Duke Duke's battle groups and the ground, especially quantum entanglement communication. Cut it off! Make sure they cannot get in touch with the ground in a short time."

"Understood, Master! Judging from the current interference intensity and the other party's technical level, they will not be able to restore stable high-bandwidth ground communications in at least the next six hours."

"Six hours? That's a bit tight, but it's enough."

After confirming this, Amber turned to Agnes and said in a serious tone: "Your Highness, the matters on the track are left to you and Duke Hastings. Keep a close eye on Duke Soren and Duke Duke, and don't give them the opportunity to make small moves. I will let the Atlas fleet continue to support you."

After saying that, he did not stop, turned around and strode out of the bridge, "Prepare a single-soldier airdrop cabin for me!"

A moment later, a vertical catapult channel on the deck below the Dawn flashed with lightning again.

A single-soldier airdrop capsule painted in Atlas standard gray was ejected, and with the propulsion of a rear-end acceleration rocket, it plunged headlong into the thick atmosphere of Saint-Saunière without hesitation.

The airdrop capsule let out a sharp whistling sound as it rubbed violently against the atmosphere, and red-hot plasma enveloped the outer shell of the airdrop capsule.

Inside, Amber, with the assistance of Lilith, adjusted the additional vector nozzle of the individual airdrop capsule based on the precise coordinates previously transmitted from the ground, drew a precise arc in the sky, and flew at high speed towards the underground base in the northwest where a fierce battle was taking place.

At this moment on the ground battlefield in Saint-Saunière, after receiving Amber's order, the Atlas First Army launched a fierce attack on the heavily guarded underground base.

The heavy troops rolled through the ruins under the defenders' artillery fire, and while firing back, the heavy power armor covering the large number of Immortal Legions began to launch an attack.

At the entrance of the underground base, the remaining imperial guards relied on the solid fortifications to resist stubbornly. As the Atlas ground forces pressed forward, the defense system inside the base was also fully activated.

A huge deflection force field twisting with silver-white arcs suddenly rose up, like an invisible giant bowl turned upside down, covering the entire entrance area of ​​the base. The conventional firepower of the Atlas combat forces hit the force field, but it was like a drop in the ocean, only causing ripples.

"Attention, First Artillery Combined Brigade, Airdrop Fortress Group Long-Range Firepower Units! Target, estimated area of ​​enemy deflection field generator! Use super-heavy assault warheads, saturation coverage strike!"

Van Vliet's voice came through the command channel, with an excited tone.

(End of this chapter)