Flying towards the iron star

  In the endless universe, a military transport vessel with the emblem of the Horsehead Empire is advancing alone. Inside the spaceship, thousands of new recruits are watching the scenery outside the porthole in the rest area.

  To the left of the porthole, outside the window is the magnificent Horsehead Nebula. Dreamlike colors are spread across the universe. Up and down, left and right, except for the twinkling starlight, it's endless emptiness. On the other side of the spaceship, a blue planet floats in space. That is Sanhai, the capital planet of the Empire.

  "Too beautiful! This is the Horsehead Nebula after all. Just how big is this anyway?"

  "Wow, look! The capital star! I've never seen the capital star before..."

  "Look quickly! That is Sanhaicheng. The intersection of three continents. It's the location of Sanhaicheng..."

  The soldiers on the spaceship are the latest batch of new recruits transported from the Left Bank Paradise Star to the front line. These poor children, many of whom are taking a spacecraft for space travel for the first time. The beautiful scenery that can usually only be seen in movies is now truly presented before them. How can such a magnificent sight not excite them?

  Three Seas Star is a sacred place in the hearts of all Ma Tou Empire people. Not only because it is the gathering place for imperial politics and economy, but also because of that great emperor on Three Seas Star, the Guangwu Emperor who led the Ma Tou people to recover their lost land.

  In the hearts of soldiers, the emperor who spent his whole life recovering nine occupied stars is great. He is the god of war in the hearts of soldiers.

  However, today these new recruits just passed by the Three Seas Star and didn't even get close to the nearest location. They only made a brief engine recharge in outer space before quickly starting their next space fold.

  The beautiful scenery of the Three Seas Star and the Horsehead Nebula has disappeared, replaced by an unfamiliar cosmic environment. A sense of desolation fills everyone's heart, including Lian Changwu, the commander of the Black Horse Legion.

  Hei Ma Lian boarded this transport ship ten days ago, after finishing their so-called three-month vacation, with a collective commendation order from the military department, and boarded this transport ship heading to the front line, accompanied by more than 1,000 new recruits of various types.

  In the long space journey, Wu Chang did not have a leisurely rest like his subordinates, but instead began to study the front-line battle situation with Merlin and others. For ten whole days, Wu Chang and his four squad leaders were in a state of closed quarters.

  "Tiě Mù Xīng is the last mortal planet of the Ma Tóu Empire that has been occupied. This is also the last stronghold of the Liè Shǒu people's attack on us. Three out of four space channels along the border between the two empires have been sealed off by us... Only the channel behind Tiě Mù Xīng can still be used by the Liè Shǒu people..." A row of Long Méi Lín pointed at the holographic map in the air, once again helping everyone recall the battle situation.

  "Now the Ironwood space channel is also gradually closing off. Although the Hunter's fleet is still confronting us, but the launch of a large number of mosquito-style suicide warships has already created a huge loophole in the Hunter's space defense... It is said that the enemy's supply quantity is now less than half of what it used to be..." Mary said.

  At this time, Lu Li scratched his head and suddenly asked, "Do you think there is a space channel in the dark sky? I remember that the space channel on the side of the rift was discovered just 100 years ago."

  "Wu Chang shook his head, 'I've researched a lot of materials. The dark sky between the Hunter Empire and the Horse Head Empire is classified as a third-class sky in academic circles. Its average width has already reached 33 light-years. To explore a new route through such a vast expanse of dark sky... it's impossible to complete without several hundred years of effort...'"

  "Moreover, the two empires have already squeezed out their last bit of energy for war. To think about organizing such a large-scale expedition... it's just a pipe dream..." said Wu Chang, turning his head to look at Qian Kun.

  "Three rows long. Why aren't you speaking? I remember you came here when you were a kid..." Wu Chang said to this money hawk.

  Qian Yunzhen didn't know where his soul had wandered off to. Wu Chang called out to him three times before he came back to himself "Oh... oh, sorry about that. I was just thinking about something from when I was a kid..."

  Qian Yun smiled apologetically "At that time, Tie Mu Xing was still under the control of the Hunter's Guild. The war did not affect this place. My father and I traveled here on vacation. We once encountered a Dark Elf... Now I don't know how that elf is doing..." For some reason, Qian Yun started to become distracted again as he spoke. He spaced out again.

  "Dark elf. Isn't that just a legend? Have you really seen one?" Mary asked in puzzlement.

  Qian You said with a sigh, "How pitiful... Three thousand hunters formed a human web to search for Ironwood Forest. In the end, only three hundred people returned alive..."

  "What's going on? Tell me in detail. Don't leave me confused......" Wu Chang also became interested.

  It turned out that when Qian Yun was six years old, he followed his father to Tie Mu Xing. After more than a month of semi-work and semi-tourism life, the father and son arrived at Yin Jiang City in the southern part of the planet, preparing to rest here before heading back to Tie Mu Forest for a stroll.

  It was a late afternoon that day. The summer thunderstorm had just passed. The clouds on the horizon were dyed red, covering half of the sky. In front of our rented house, there was a narrow alleyway. This place was originally a slum area. The roads were covered with mud everywhere. After a rain, it became even more muddy and slippery. Nobody wanted to come out and get dirty...

  "But just then, a woman wearing a black cloak ran out from the depths of the alley. She seemed to be injured, with her right hand covering her shoulder... A faint golden liquid flowed out... I didn't see it wrong. I really didn't see it wrong. It was indeed a faint golden color... Maybe that's her blood."

  "The woman stood in front of me, lifted her cloak and begged me to let her into the yard to take shelter... At that moment, I was really stunned. I couldn't imagine that there could be such a beautiful woman in the world, one who could leave an indelible mark on a six-year-old child..."

  The guy wanted to be silent again, but Mary gave him a severe head-butt, which finally made him sober up.

  "Oh, I agreed, of course. Then the woman hid in my house's courtyard. Before long, a whole squad of hunting soldiers came running from the depths of the alley, including three armored combatants. As soon as they opened their mouths, they asked me if I had seen a woman wearing a cloak. At that time, I was really quick-witted and directly pointed to the other end of the alley, leading these soldiers away..."

  "I didn't even have time to turn around and take another look at the woman before a group of soldiers came running out from the depths of the alleyway. This time, all twelve of them were armored combat troops. These thugs didn't even ask any questions, they just charged forward and kicked in the front gate of my house. A whole crowd of people rushed inside. Just when I thought something was going to happen to that woman, it wasn't even three minutes later that the soldiers all came running back out again. Judging from their expressions, it seemed like they had found nothing..."

  "After they walked away, I went back to the small courtyard and searched for her three times, but I didn't see that woman again, nor did I ever see her after that..."

  "Are you certain that woman is a Dark Elf?" Merlin asked.

  "Of course. Pointed ears. Pale golden blood. And a beauty that defies the heavens. What other race besides elves possesses these characteristics?"

  "What happened next?" Mary asked anxiously.

  Later, it was a shocking search for Ironwood Star. As many as 3,000 soldiers spread out and rushed into the primeval forest. But once they went in, they never came back. Later, Governor Ironwood Star became enraged. He assembled four satellites and hundreds of spy planes. In the primeval forest, he opened up a large net. More than 30,000 engineering soldiers recklessly built roads in the forest. They constructed a large network of T-shaped roads...

  "For three whole months, the iron forest was divided into large and small squares by roads. Countless soldiers began to search in the forest... Unfortunately, more than 50,000 soldiers searched for two months, but only found 300 wild men..."

  "In the end, that woman wasn't found either." Ruri asked curiously.

  Qian Yun nodded and muttered to himself, "I still can't figure it out. Where did she hide? The entire primitive forest has been turned upside down, but how come we can't find her? You know, the hunting tribe's espionage skills have always been top-notch. How could they not find a single woman?"

  The story of the Dark Elf Girl. It's just an interlude during the closed-door period. Everyone relaxes and calms down. Then, continue to start the battle simulation.

  "Tiemu Xing's outer space. Although our fleet has taken the upper hand, the Hunter People's fleet is still unscathed. Currently, a north-south confrontation is underway..."

  "The Fourth Fleet of the Hunter. Consists of one main battleship, 10 escort ships, and 4 aircraft carriers. The number of assault warships is around 60. Our fleet is commanded by the Second Princess, the famous Mayflower Fleet Cluster of the Empire. It consists of one main battleship, 6 escort ships, and 2 aircraft carriers. The only difference is that there are over 300 assault warships."

  "From the comparison of strength between both sides, our space combat capabilities are much stronger. However, since the Hunter's have added two aircraft carriers, they have been controlling the air superiority on the ground battlefield. This is something we must pay close attention to in the future..."

  Wu Chang said, "Here's the thing. Adding another sentence: 'With the Second Princess's personality, she won't engage in a battle without being sure of winning. Although we can win in space battles, it will definitely be a Pyrrhic victory. This kind of victory is not what Ye Wei wants. So, for future ground battles, we will still be harassed by the enemy's air power. This point probably won't change in the short term..."

  Time passed day by day. The battle situation became clearer and clearer in the closed-door meeting. Until after the last space fold, Wú Cháng finally saw the real battlefield.

  "Fleet! Our fleet..." Someone shouted first, and then the entire transport ship went crazy. Thousands of soldiers looked up at the massive main battleship in space. People cheered instantly.

  "It's the May Festival Number. It's the main battleship of the illustrious May Festival Number..."

  Wu Chang was also excited. It was his first time seeing a main battleship. His worldview was once again destroyed. He had thought that the Huang Quan, led by Minghe, was already an anomaly, but the 4-kilometer-long Huang Quan had made Wu Chang marvel at the technological wonders of this era more than once.

  But today, Wu Chang personally saw the May Festival warship with a length of over 300 kilometers and an average height of over 100 kilometers. A suffocating feeling of oppression made Wu Chang feel like he couldn't breathe.

  "What kind of warship is this? Isn't it just a space city?" Wu Chang said uncontrollably.

  Mei Lin stood beside Wu Chang, her eyes also shining with excitement "Right, this is the city, a man-made city in space, on the May Festival spacecraft, there are six large-scale munitions factories, just these munitions factories can meet one-third of the demand on the battlefield, not to mention that inside there is also a huge ecosystem, it is said that there are three farms and two pastures"

  "Damn it. Good man. I must have a spaceship like this in this life..." Wu Chang blurted out subconsciously.