Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 1373: Breakout Route

The two federal mobile suit pilots were soldiers who had undergone physical enhancements.

Their life levels were not exceptionally high, but they still surpassed the vast majority of Federation humans.

Unlike typical genetically enhanced soldiers, these two seemed to have received their primary modifications in their brains.

Around them, numerous federal soldiers lay either gravely wounded or already dead, while others had been captured by the intelligent robots.

Sein now had more than enough research material.

Through its relentless push for planetary colonization, the Gallant Federation possessed a population base more than ten thousand times larger than that of all humanity in the Magus Civilization.

Because of that, the Gallant Federation never lacked cannon fodder in war.

This fodder included not only drone ships and combat robots but also its vast ranks of ordinary soldiers.

Time was pressing, leaving Sein with no chance to study in detail whatever profound truths might lie within the bodies of the two captured federal pilots.

After a brief examination of the “specimens” and confining them, Sein turned his attention to Yuri, who had just completed her own task.

Sein still had plenty of spatial living storage at his disposal, especially since his alchemy skills had advanced far beyond what they were back in his Rank Three days.

Much of Master Jorces’ legacy within the Faceless Mask also centered on alchemy.

As Yuri landed at Sein’s side, the Rank Four intelligent robot named Thunderflame flew over too.

Perhaps because of their previous cooperation on the battlefield, Thunderflame no longer radiated the same hostility it had shown toward Sein before.

Hovering in front of him, Thunderflame first glanced at Yuri.

In her silver mecha, Yuri did indeed resemble one of Nexon’s robots in outward appearance. Many high-level intelligent robots were similar in both size and capability.

Among the robots, gender distinctions did not exist. They saw others only as either their own “kind” or not.

In that sense, Yuri’s silver mecha counted as one of them, though it lacked intelligence.

Still, Yuri’s mecha was capable of entering autopilot mode.

However, she rarely used it since the true essence of the Neisse Civilization’s engineering system lay in the synergy between pilot and mecha.

“Titanfang and Skyhold wish to see you,” Thunderflame said.

Sein glanced at the deep crimson metal crescent blade strapped to Thunderflame’s back, then hummed in acknowledgement.

***

Titanfang stood beside a massive warship that had already crashed, staring into the distant starry void.

Its electronic eyes seemed to pierce beyond Nexon, toward the Gallant Federation fleet regrouping and summoning reinforcements.

Skyhold, meanwhile, was occupied with tallying the losses suffered by the intelligent robots in this battle.

It was no exaggeration to say that the intelligent robots had never endured such devastating casualties since the birth of their kind!

The tragedy was magnified by the fact that they could not reproduce. Every new intelligent robot came into being only through chance and rare circumstance.

When the numbers showed hundreds of thousands of casualties, Skyhold felt as if its chest were being torn open.

For an artificial species, possessing intelligence was a blessing.

But with intelligence came human-like emotions, along with pain, despair, and all the darker feelings.

Still, Skyhold was no child. It knew better than to place blame on Titanfang or Sein at this point.

The question now was what they should do next.

Relying on Nexon alone to stand against the Gallant Federation was a dream at best.

Only by enlisting the might of the Magus Civilization would their kind stand even a sliver of a chance at survival.

Titanfang lowered his head slightly and asked, “Mage Sein, you mentioned that reinforcements from the Magus Civilization are on their way. Where are they now?”

Titanfang remained in its combat form, a state Sein was seeing for the first time.

The transformation likely amplified its combat power to a certain extent, just like Sein’s elemental body or demonic true form.

Of course, Sein could not admit to Titanfang that there were no reinforcements and that he had made it all up.

What Titanfang and the others needed right now was hope. And honestly, Sein needed it too.

“Right in the Alpha-007 Star Domain,” Sein said firmly. “If we break through in that direction, we’ll definitely link up with the Magus Civilization forces that invaded the Gallant Federation!”

His years of infiltration within the federation had not been in vain.

By now, he had a working grasp of the situation across more than seventy percent of the Gallant Federation’s star domains.

He might not know the exact troop deployments everywhere, but he had memorized the terrain and, more importantly, the star charts!

Alpha-007 was not particularly far from Nexon, though the journey would span the distance of three small star domains.

Fortunately, the Nexon Star Domain was nearer to the Magus Civilization’s border. Otherwise, it would not have been chosen as the main region for supplying the federation’s robot legions.

Theoretically, it was possible to break through Nexon and reach Magus Civilization-controlled territory.

Theoretically.

If Sein had known beforehand that the Clash of Civilizations would erupt in the middle of his mission, he would never have accepted this infiltration assignment under any circumstances.

Yes, he wanted to temper himself and witness more of the Astral Realm, but that did not mean he was ready to throw his life away.

By his own estimation, the odds of making it back alive to the Magus Civilization’s territory were less than twenty percent.

He regretted not spending more time with his family and mentors before he left. The least he could have done was leave a farewell note.

Though he felt terrible and looked terrible behind the Faceless Mask, he managed to remain calm in front of Titanfang and the others.

His composure helped steady them as well.

“Alpha-007 Star Domain?” Titanfang echoed. A beam of light shot out from its fingertip, projecting a near-complete map of the surrounding star domains.

Alpha-007 was not in a straight line between Nexon and the Magus Civilization. Its coordinates were somewhat off to the side.

The Netherworld Star Domain was closest to both the Magus Civilization-controlled territory and Nexon in a straight line.

However, that star domain had already been marked as one of the main battlefields for both sides during the Magus Alliance Conference.

The scale and intensity of the fighting there would go far beyond imagination.

While the Magus Civilization had poured countless resources and legions into the Netherworld Star Domain, the Gallant Federation had surely committed just as much.

Sein suspected the federation had made the first move. Otherwise, he would not have left Magus World without receiving any news about it.

This only confirmed his belief that the federation’s current deployment in Netherworld was massive!

Trying to take the shortest path and charge straight toward Netherworld now would be suicide.

No matter how many federation legions had gathered there, even a few fleets with power on par with Rank Six entities would be enough to wipe them out.

For Sein, the Netherworld Star Domain was definitely a trap he had to avoid at all costs. Instead, its surrounding star domains offered more hope.

With both civilizations focused on the Netherworld Star Domain and most of their forces committed there, the smaller battle zones on the periphery might provide opportunities for a breakout.

Alpha-007 was one such star domain, and it had three transit wormholes that Sein needed!