Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 1378: Apocalyptic Weapon

“Do not fire! Dr. Bell and the others are still on BHR678! Most of our academic achievements from the past ten thousand years are there too!” Dr. Blake shouted with urgency inside the R7 Fleet’s capital ship.

If two federal soldiers had not restrained him, the emotionally charged scientist might have lunged forward and grabbed General Lambros by the collar.

Too bad Dr. Blake was only an elderly scholar with little physical strength.

In peaceful times, scholars like him commanded respect and high standing in the Gallant Federation, enjoying generous research stipends and funding.

In wartime, however, their influence waned significantly.

After all, this was a battlefield—a domain overseen by the military.

Dr. Blake’s words carried no weight when it came to wartime decisions.

In truth, he and his team had only just arrived at the R7 Fleet.

Having fled from BHR678 Space Station, they brought with them not only around twenty percent of their salvaged research but also valuable intel on Nexon and its surroundings.

This included records of the robots’ growing self-awareness, detailed data on every high-tier unit within Nexon, and confirmation that a third layer of restraint code had been placed on Titanfang and the others back at the station.

All of this information was compiled by Lambros and passed straight to the federal military.

Soon after, Lambros received his orders to annihilate Nexon completely.

The military also informed him that their “apocalyptic weapon”, the Deepspace Well, which had been on standby at the front lines, would be providing long-range support.

At the same time, other major federal fleets stationed near Nexon also began mobilizing toward the star domain. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

However, they arrived a little later than General Lambros had expected.

“What the hell is wrong with headquarters? How can it take this long to process a simple order? And what are those fleets doing? Why can’t they get here on time?!” Lambros roared, banging on the display screen with his fist.

The general was usually a calm man who rarely lost his temper. His impatience now was fueled by the major setback he had suffered earlier at Nexon.

Lambros remained convinced that his directives had been flawless. To him, the setback was entirely the fault of false intelligence from headquarters and their gross misjudgment of the Magus Civilization infiltrator hiding within Nexon.

Nexon’s intelligent robots had gained enough self-awareness to start a rebellion, yet the federation failed to notice a single sign beforehand!

That was negligence on the part of the Ministry of Supervision and not the military’s fault.

Meanwhile, Lambros had grown impatient with the constant protests of the federal scientist named Blake.

He refused to believe that the deputy chief scientist of BHR678 Space Station had not seen any warning signs before Titanfang and the others developed self-awareness.

Why had Blake not reported this sooner and given the federation time to prepare?

General Lambros lived by a simple principle: a soldier’s duty is to obey orders.

It was not that he looked down on Blake or the other scientists. They were just too clever for their own good and always overanalyzed everything.

Michaelis, Blake, and the others valued their tens of thousands of years of academic achievements above all else—even their own lives.

But Lambros valued military orders and the security of the Gallant Federation above everything else.

After venting his frustration at the slow response from the military and the other fleets from nearby star domains, he turned and pointed at Blake.

“Take him away!” he ordered.

“As for the researchers who evacuated from the station, send them all to Flemming VIII. Have the garrison there register them and carry out a full spy screening,” Lambros ordered.

“No! You mustn’t attack BHR678! Dr. Bell and the others are still there! Our life’s work is there too! That research could spark another great leap forward for the federation!” Blake cried.

But the soldiers had already grabbed him by the arms, dragging him out of the control room.

Despite having lived for over ten thousand years, the old scientist in a white lab coat broke down, crying like a child with no regard for his dignity.

Pinned down by two soldiers, he beat at his chest, sobbing, “I’ve failed Dr. Bell and the others...! I’ve destroyed our research...!”

And in some sense, he was right.

It was Blake’s intel about BHR678, submitted by Lambros and processed by the military’s supercomputers, that led to the decision to wipe out Nexon entirely.

For that, Lambros had also been granted authorization to use an apolyptical weapon.

Lambros snorted coldly as he watched Dr. Blake being dragged away.

“In war, everyone must be ready to sacrifice themselves!”

His words might have been aimed at Blake, but they were also meant for everyone else in the control room.

“The lives of a mere hundred scientists stranded on a space station hardly matter. Every one of us, even the entire R7 Fleet, must be ready to sacrifice ourselves if that’s what it takes to secure victory in the Clash of Civilizations!” Lambros roared.

General Lambros’ words commanded the solemn respect of every soldier, technician, and officer aboard the ship.

Only after Dr. Blake had been dragged out and General Lambros’ anger had cooled a little did his longest-serving aide finally speak up in a quiet voice.

“The slow response from headquarters and the other fleets is probably due to the volatile situation at the front, and the chaos our civilization has been dealing with lately.”

General Lambros acknowledged the logic of his aide, but answered only with a cold snort and nothing more.

A war between two top-tier civilizations was never going to be simple!

The Magus Civilization was certainly no pushover!

Though the Gallant Federation had fired the first shot, the Magus Civilization had retaliated fiercely. Supercomputers across every warfront were already pushed to their absolute limits.

Even the federation’s most advanced quantum computer was likely working at full capacity.

Under such conditions, command delays were inevitable.

As for the chaos his aide mentioned, General Lambros knew all about it.

With the Clash of Civilizations in full swing, trouble had flared in other star domains across the federation as well.

This only proved that while the Gallant Federation had long been preparing for war against the Magus Civilization, the Magus Civilization had also been preparing for them just as long.

Otherwise, such widespread infiltration would never have been possible.

Still, the disturbances within their own borders were only minor issues that could be rooted out one by one.

Those agents would not be able to stir up any real waves anyway.

The true course of the war would be decided on the main frontlines.

A sense of urgency pressed on General Lambros. He was determined to resolve the issue in Nexon quickly so that he could lead his fleet into the larger battlefield.

He cast another look at the star map and the movement of support fleets displayed on the crystal screen before him.

“How much longer until the apocalyptic weapon is ready?” he asked his aide.

“137 quantum hours, with a launch window of 24 quantum hours,” the aide replied, checking the panel in his hand.

General Lambros nodded with an unreadable expression.