From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 816: The Mianluo Fortress is not just big!
The shrill screams tore through the silence of the cell. It was no longer the pain from the body, but the wail of a soul that was forcibly torn and peeled off.

Prince Valerius's proud head tilted back suddenly, his handsome face became hideous due to extreme distortion, his eyes were wide open but out of focus, as if he had seen the most horrifying scene in the world.

The spiritual energy in his body was completely imprisoned by Amber's power, and he could only watch as his consciousness was invaded and stirred by an unparalleled force.

Natalia and the captain of the elven guard subconsciously took a half step back, and the sensors of the heavy power armor and psychic armor simultaneously issued an alarm of "psychic out of control".

"Isn't this a bit too cruel?" The captain of the guard swallowed and said with lingering fear.

Natalia licked her dry lips: "Why didn't you say anything just now?"

"."

Agnes stood a little further away, listening to the seemingly nonsensical conversation between the two, but did not say anything.

Because she could feel that Natalia and the captain of the Elf Guard were both in a very frightened state at the moment, and the conversation between the two was more about easing their nervous emotions.

She stared at Amber's calm profile. There was no anger or cruelty on that face, only an almost mechanical concentration.

It's like a non-'4+4' surgeon is removing a malignant tumor, the process is bloody but the purpose is pure.

This huge 'contrast' made her feel a complicated chill in her heart.

Prince Valerius' screams gradually weakened, eventually turning into suppressed whimpers, and then disappeared completely.

Amber withdrew the spiritual energy lingering on her fingertips. The blue light in her eyes slowly faded away, leaving only a bottomless calm.

He loosened his hand, and Prince Valerius slid off the restraint chair like mud with its bones pulled out, and collapsed to the ground.

The eyes of the once proud elven prince were now empty, with a trace of crystal saliva hanging from the corner of his mouth, and a meaningless "ho ho" sound coming from his throat. Those eyes that were full of arrogance and fanaticism were now filled with only foolish turbidity.

The Phoenix King's younger brother, a former elven prince, was reduced to a fool who could only drool.

"I didn't expect that even he didn't know much. The core plan is directly controlled by the queen."

Amber's voice broke the silence in the cell. He rubbed his brows and sorted out the chaotic and violent fragments of memory that were forcibly stripped from the prince's mind.

"Their primary plan is to launch a surprise attack while the Phoenix King is discussing matters with us, control the Phoenix King and his supporters, and effectively seize power."

Amber turned her gaze to Agnes. "Then kill all the visiting human leaders and pin the blame on the Phoenix King. Use this as an excuse to completely turn to an extremely xenophobic stance, and then carry out another deeper 'big plan'."

"This plan has obviously failed." Agnes said in a deep voice, her eyes sweeping over Valerius on the ground, "But I believe they should have a backup plan."

"That's right, and that's exactly what I'm worried about, because deep in his memory, I came across an even crazier backup plan, but the information was very vague and protected by several layers of mental barriers. After I forcefully broke through, the information completely shattered, so I only know that once the seizure of power fails, they will launch a plan that will make everyone irreversible."

Amber nodded and spoke with a serious look.

It cannot be undone.

These four words were like a huge rock, weighing heavily on everyone's heart. The atmosphere in the cell was more depressing than before. Unknown threats were far more terrifying than known enemies.

At this moment, the communicator on the waist of the captain of the Elf King's Court Guard suddenly made a rapid beeping sound.

"It's the emergency channel of friendly forces!"

The captain of the guard was refreshed and immediately walked outside the cell. With trembling hands, he answered the call. A hoarse voice came out of the communicator:

".This is the 3rd Squadron of the Silver Moon Guard! We are guarding the corridor on the west side of the temple! I repeat, we are guarding the west corridor! The queen's rebels have been temporarily repelled! His Majesty the Phoenix King..."

"How is His Majesty?" the captain of the guard asked anxiously.

"The battle between His Majesty and the Queen on top of the temple has come to a temporary halt. Both sides were injured and neither of them gained an advantage." The voice on the other side was breathing heavily after surviving a disaster. "Now, both sides are gathering their troops! The Queen has summoned all the extremists lurking in the royal court and the guards who have been instigated. The number of people is far beyond our imagination! And we are also gathering loyal forces. I judge that a larger-scale battle will break out next! Where are you? We need support!"

The captain of the guard quickly reported his position and briefly explained the situation. After the communication, he returned to Amber and Agnes, his face full of worry, while constantly looking at Amber with hope.

"Mr. Amber, Her Majesty Agnes, Sir Franklin, the situation is worse than we imagined. This is no longer a surprise attack, but a full-scale civil war. We may need your support."

Agnes walked over to Amber and whispered, "What should we do now? The amount of troops we have thrown into this is like a drop of water into boiling oil."

"Then we need to find a way to deploy more troops. It's not like we don't have any, but as a guest, I think we should first listen to the 'host's' opinion."

Amber paused, then looked at the captain of the guard on the other side and continued:

"Please find a way for us to get in direct contact with the Phoenix King."

Soon after, a soft beam of psychic energy gathered in front of everyone, forming a slightly unstable holographic projection.

The slender and tired figure of the Phoenix King appeared among them. His gorgeous robe that symbolized royal power was stained with dust and dried blood, and his originally bright golden hair also looked a little dull.

"My human friends," the Phoenix King said with deep regret, "I'm sorry for dragging you into the civil strife of the Thousand Star Empire. This was originally our own problem, but it put our allies in danger."

"Your Majesty, now is not the time to talk about this." Agnes stepped forward. "Prince Valerius has confessed. We have reason to believe that the rebellion is related to the Forerunners. If everything is as you described to us before, then this is not just your country's internal affairs, but a crisis concerning the survival of all civilizations in this universe."

The projection of the Phoenix King nodded slightly, with a trace of pain and determination in his eyes: "Yes. We have no way to retreat. But, what can I ask you to do? The battle here has gone beyond the scope of conventional warfare."

His words pointed out the core of the problem. Everyone present, except Amber, could barely protect themselves in this battlefield dominated by high-level psychics.

There are indeed land combat troops in the accompanying fleets of the Empire and the Federation, but their conventional weapons are obviously not so suitable in a psychic combat environment.

“We can help.”

Amber's voice was not loud, but it instantly attracted everyone's attention. He walked to the projection of the Phoenix King and looked directly at the elven monarch.

"But I have two conditions."

A trace of displeasure flashed across the faces of several elven nobles around the Phoenix King, but at this moment, no one dared to question it out loud.

"Please speak, Mr. Amber," the Phoenix King gestured.

"First, I need you to immediately find a way to restore stable communications between the ground and orbit. We need to get in touch with our fleet. Second, I need your authorization to allow human armed forces to land in Eldaram on a large scale." As soon as the words fell, several elven nobles behind the Phoenix King were immediately furious.

"Ridiculous! Allowing the human army to set foot in the holy city of Eldaram? This is a blasphemy against our ancestors!"

"For tens of thousands of years, no alien army has ever entered the royal court! This is absolutely not allowed!"

The proud elves could not accept this proposal. Their traditions and honor would not allow their home planet to be trampled by the boots of aliens, even if they were allies.

Although Agnes's guards had just fought fiercely
"enough!"

The Phoenix King growled, stopping the quarrel behind him, his gaze lingering on Amber's face for a moment, as if trying to see through his true intentions beneath his calm exterior.

Finally, he slowly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, all that remained was the decision of a king.

"I agree. Immediately organize all the psychic technicians we can find to open up communication with the garrison fleet at all costs! As for Mr. Amber's second request, in the name of the Phoenix King, I agree to allow human combat troops to land in Eldaram."

"Your Majesty!" The high-ranking elf behind him exclaimed, but was stopped by the Phoenix King who raised his hand.

“Tradition is important,” his voice echoed in the empty corridor, “but if the homeland is overturned, where will the tradition be attached to?”

Agnes looked at Amber with a hint of confusion in her eyes: "Amber, even if our troops can land, the unsuitability of equipment is also a realistic problem. In a psychic combat environment, the casualties of conventional troops will be unacceptably high."

"Who said we were going to use conventional troops?"

Amber's mouth curled up in a meaningful arc.

"The Crown Fortress is not just big in appearance, the many production blocks inside are not just for show~"

He turned to look at Agnes and Franklin who was silent beside him: "As long as the two of you agree to gather the land forces of your fleets and send them to the Crown Fortress, I promise that when they set foot on this land again, they will be wearing 'new clothes' that are enough to deal with this war."

Until this moment, Agnes and Franklin did not really realize the purpose of the original design of the Crown Fortress.
It is not only an indestructible mobile turret, but also a giant front-line base that can be deployed on any front, integrating production, maintenance and modification.

Under the Phoenix King's command and the elven technicians' selfless efforts, a weak but stable signal finally pierced through the psychic interference that enveloped the entire Eldaram and connected with the elven garrison fleet anxiously waiting in orbit.

The communication link was quickly transferred, and Lilith's familiar avatar finally popped up on Amber's personal terminal.

"Master! I'm glad you're okay!" The voice of the android Lilith was not as playful as her original form, but the slight ripple in her tone revealed that she was not completely emotionless.

"I'm fine~ Lilith, the most urgent task now is for the Crown Fortress to start implementing the 'Furnace' plan. Order all industrial blocks in the fortress to enter the highest power operation state, prepare to receive the ground forces of the Star Dragon Empire and the Federation, and upgrade their equipment to 'specialized in psychic combat'! All production lines, three shifts, I want to see efficiency!"

Lilith was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

"Understood, Master. The order has been issued! In addition, just now, we received the highest priority encrypted data packet sent by the Eternity after it was forcibly released from the jump. It came from Her Excellency Saleh."

Amber's heart sank. Forced to leave the warp? He immediately realized that the data packet sent by Saleh was definitely not simple, otherwise the other party would not transmit the information in such a dangerous and urgent way.

Amber quickly reviewed the information in the data packet, which then collided and reassembled with the fragments of information he had grabbed from Prince Valerius' mind.

Then, a complete and terrifying picture slowly unfolded before him.

His face turned as pale as paper in an instant.

"So that's how it is," he murmured in a low voice, "So, this is the real purpose."

"Amber?" Agnes noticed his abnormality and asked with concern.

Amber raised her head, and the calmness in her eyes was replaced by an unprecedented solemnity.

He looked at everyone and said word by word, "We all think too simply. Seizing power is only their superficial plan. Their real back-up plan is a plan that is enough to overturn the entire chessboard. A plan of sacrifice."

He revealed all the information that Saleh had risked her life to bring back, the plan called "Final Return".

A super-giant array composed of countless hidden celestial bodies with Eldaram as its center.

A 'time and space homing beacon' that uses the core of a planet as energy and the souls of billions of creatures as fuel, and is used to forcibly summon the forerunners.

When the glory of the Phoenix King is extinguished and the empire falls into civil strife, that is when the beacon is activated.

What they want is not a new empire, but to welcome the return of the so-called "true God" and to exchange the destruction of the entire civilization for what they see as an "eternal rebirth."

No matter whether they were human or elf, everyone who heard this plan felt a chill running from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads.

Because this is no longer a simple war, but the eve of doomsday.

"Now, we have no choice." Amber's eyes swept across everyone and finally fell on the projection of the Phoenix King. "We must fully assist you to win this civil war... before they activate that damn beacon!"

Above Eldaram's orbit, the background of the universe is no longer dead black.

Warships painted with the golden dragon emblem of the Star Dragon Empire and federal warships with relatively plain paint, like a swarm of bees returning to their nests, all approached the artificial celestial body that was suspended in the void like a miracle.

The huge deployment bays of the Crown Fortress were opened one after another, and the guiding light beams pulled the transport ships to land smoothly.

The hatch slid open, and the Star Dragon Guards and Federation Marines, dressed in standard power armor, stepped onto the ground of this giant fortress with shocked and solemn expressions.

They already know what they are about to face and what mission they are shouldering. No matter where they came from or where they belonged to,
But at this moment, the 'Imperial Dogs' and the 'Federal Pigs' will all stand on the same front.

And deep in the fortress, the sleeping industrial behemoth has awakened.

In giant industrial blocks that are large enough to accommodate small mountains, tens of thousands of robotic arms dance in the air like resurrected steel forests. The blazing plasma furnaces spew out dazzling light, melting high-strength alloy materials into liquid. The huge automated production lines run with a deafening roar.

The soldiers' power armor was quickly disassembled and sent to the conveyor belt. After being recast with psychic-resistant materials, engraved with complex energy-conducting patterns, and integrated into a small psychic shield generator,
Each piece of traditional equipment originally used for internal confrontations among humans is being reshaped into specialized weapons to fight against psychic energy.

The entire Crown Fortress has turned into a huge furnace that is running madly for war. In this cold universe, it is forging a "death army" to prevent the arrival of doomsday with unprecedented efficiency.

(End of this chapter)