Super Mothership
The Immortal’s condition had worsened compared to before.
Its leaves had turned yellow, its branches drooped wearily, and its body was covered in dozens of crisscrossing wounds. Though it was still slowly self-healing, the speed was clearly much slower than before.
After escaping from Kara Star, the Immortal endured a solar baptism and was intercepted twice by Gemini’s forces—three major damages in total. Although its self-repair each time was astonishingly fast, the cost was equally massive!
Rapid limb regeneration required various elements and substances, as well as a large amount of energy. The Water of Life was essential not only for accelerating recovery but also for driving the Immortal’s evolution.
Since bursting out of the star, the Immortal had been in non-stop combat, evolution, and repair. The pre-stored materials inside it had been severely depleted, and the precious Water of Life was almost entirely exhausted.
Add to that the enormous fuel consumption needed to move its massive body—even its core energy reserves were approaching the red alert line!
Even with mechanical bugs, the laws of conservation of mass couldn’t be violated—nothing comes from nothing. At this point, the Immortal was completely drained. If it didn’t get resupplied soon, it wouldn’t even need Gemini to destroy it—it would collapse on its own.
Fortunately, Gemini’s fleet still needed time to arrive, granting the Immortal a much-needed window for recovery.
Once the Immortal was taken in, Nie Yun’s ships immediately began converging toward it.
Dozens of thick branches extended from the Immortal, directly piercing into the circular hatches opened atop each ship.
“Glug glug glug~” Bumps swelled on the branches like straws, greedily absorbing vast quantities of nutrients and fuel.
These materials were sorted and transported throughout its body, replenishing what had been consumed during the journey. The Immortal’s recovery rate visibly increased.
A small transport ship flew out of the Sea Wolf and dove directly into the Immortal’s body, carrying over a ton of energy crystals—enough for the Immortal to unleash full firepower for three days and nights.
At the same time, the outer mecha units formed neat aerial formations and moved in groups into the Immortal’s prebuilt hangars for refueling and maintenance.
Although mechas had limited endurance, with the Immortal as their carrier, they became equivalent to carrier-based aircraft—dramatically increasing their strategic value.
The mass deployment of mechas also made up for the Immortal’s lack of flexibility, greatly enhancing its combat effectiveness.
A supercarrier, armed to the teeth and loaded with powerful aerial combat units, was beginning to take shape...
The Immortal’s arrival at the wormhole was a strategic victory for Earth civilization, no less than a modern-day “Long March”!
From now on, Nie Yun had a solid beachhead in the Proxima Centauri system—a gateway to a new world, no longer trapped within the confines of the Solar System.
And backed by the rapidly developing Solar System, the Immortal would receive a constant flow of logistics and supplies, entering a period of rapid growth!
“This supply cycle will last 5 hours and is expected to replenish 40% of the Immortal’s material needs. Barring any surprises, the next supply shipment will arrive in 40 hours...”
On the Fallen Angel, the AI unit Codename was reporting the Immortal’s status to Nie Yun.
“Good,” Nie Yun nodded.
He turned his eyes to the star map, watching Gemini’s fleet slowly advance toward the wormhole. The two factions had already merged their forces.
Though the enemy was powerful, the strength in Nie Yun’s hands was no longer what it once was. With an arsenal of cutting-edge weapons and the Immortal as a firepower platform, if Gemini insisted on a mutually destructive war—he would not back down!
Leaving the supply work to Codename, Nie Yun closed his eyes.
What came next... was a full-scale effort to complete parsing and absorption of the Sea Tribe’s flagship!
As one of Gemini’s large destroyers, the Sea Tribe flagship contained a wealth of advanced military technologies Nie Yun had yet to master. With such a treasure within reach, how could he let it go?
Although the Sea Tribe flagship had decent combat capabilities, it couldn't match the endurance of the Immortal. If it were destroyed during the breakthrough by Gemini’s fleet, that would be an unacceptable loss.
So, before the Immortal entered the star, Nie Yun had already dispatched a batch of mechanical bugs from it to board the Sea Tribe flagship. He then rerouted it away from the main battlefield to avoid direct confrontation. At its current speed, it would soon arrive at the wormhole to rendezvous with their forces.
But when it reappears... Nie Yun was certain it would deliver Gemini a very big surprise.
Thinking of a certain commander inside the Sea Tribe flagship who was still in deep sleep, a wicked smile suddenly appeared on Nie Yun’s face...
…
Five hours later, Isabel led the remnants of the Sea Tribe fleet to arrive first at the wormhole, confronting the Earth forces from a distance.
However, the formation of the two allied fleets was clearly divided, maintaining a subtle spacing—close enough to provide mutual support, yet distant enough to show implicit distrust.
Isabel’s previous command blunders had undoubtedly eroded the Sea Tribe’s trust to a critical low. Their dissatisfaction was now barely concealed.
But Isabel had never truly trusted the Sea Tribe fleet either. With Gustav’s betrayal as a cautionary tale, she not only had to command her forces but also guard against being stabbed in the back. The notion of true joint operations was merely wishful thinking.
With no better option, each fleet was left to fight independently, ensuring only that they could provide limited support if necessary.
Yet even with their cooperation strained and internal tensions running high, their combined presence still placed enormous pressure on Earth’s forces.
Although the Sea Tribe had taken a string of losses—including nearly an entire sub-fleet—after merging with Isabel’s forces, the two factions still fielded nearly four sub-fleets, totaling 75 warships—an overwhelming force.
The formation alone was enough to make many in the Earth Defense Force break into a cold sweat—it was their first time witnessing a fleet of this scale.
…
At this moment, Isabel was carefully analyzing the enemy’s formation.
Nine warships were deployed in a 5-1-3 formation: five Houyi-class warships at the front, the Sea Wolf in the center, and three EDF warships in the rear.
This vanguard group subtly shielded the vital core of the Immortal, forming a compact escort fleet.
The Immortal’s treetop canopy hung low, concealing the internal situation beneath its lush branches, making it impossible to clearly assess what was inside.
Isabel frowned slightly. She had already witnessed the terrifying firepower of the Houyi-class, and now the enemy had deployed five at once.
The Immortal was an even greater unknown in her eyes—its combat capacity was impossible to evaluate. Loaded with high-grade mechas inside, it was like a sheathed blade, hidden but deadly. No one knew when it might suddenly lash out with a fatal strike. This was definitely a tough nut to crack.
And then there was the Sea Wolf, sitting ominously in the center with an unclear role—this only highlighted how disadvantaged Isabel’s side was in terms of intelligence.
In any war, intelligence is the first battlefield. The more advanced the war, the more decisive intel becomes. It could even determine the outcome before a shot was fired.
Yet her side had suffered devastating intelligence leaks—even their own commander had been turned by the enemy. They had no secrets left.
In contrast, they knew almost nothing about the Unity of All Things' weapons, organization, or command style.
This gaping intelligence gap was demoralizing. Compared to that, Gemini had already lost a third of the battle before it even began.
On the other hand, with the enemy holding the wormhole, the longer they delayed, the worse their own situation would become. If enemy reinforcements arrived, Gemini would be the one forced to consider a retreat.
This battle—Isabel had no choice but to fight!
But before launching her attack, Isabel had to deal with a far more thorny problem...
Her eyes shifted to the side.
From that direction, a single warship seemed to intentionally arrive right on cue, slowly and steadily entering the center of the battlefield under the full attention of both sides—stepping into everyone’s line of sight.
Isabel’s gaze grew complex.
A former comrade, now serving a different master, about to clash on the battlefield.
She turned her head again toward the Sea Tribe’s fleet on her flank—and sure enough, their formation was slightly disturbed…
It might not result in a total combat breakdown, but morale had clearly taken a hit.
Psychological warfare!
Isabel sighed inwardly in helpless frustration...
TL Note- Conspiracy....
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