Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!-Chapter 991 - 688: Despair (Part 2)

The orbital defense is on the brink of collapse.

The three main battleships of the Seventh Legion, under precise point shots from the Bug Race's giant ships and harassment from floating organisms, soon had one cruiser hit by plasma beams, losing most of its power, and drifting towards the planet, trailing smoke.

Another destroyer was surrounded by dense floating organisms, continuous spiritual energy pulse explosions caused a massive overload and paralysis of its internal systems, while subsequent acid barrage pierced the hull, exploding into a fireball in space.

The two orbital defense platforms bore even greater pressure.

The interceptive fire they launched was mostly neutralized or disrupted by suicidal floating organisms, and their harassing shots at the Bug Race's giant ships yielded little effect due to the enemy's high-speed maneuvers and spiritual energy shields.

Soon, the point defense array of one platform failed completely due to overload and corrosion, submerged by the swarming floating organisms and the subsequent acid flood, the structure moaned under the intolerable burden, exploding in multiple places.

On the ground, the "Sky Dome" shield of New Jing City wavered intensely under intermittent orbital bombardment from the Bug Race, consuming an astonishing amount of energy.

Although most citizens had entered shelters, panic still spread like a plague.

Everyone watched the desperate battle scene in space through observation screens or occasionally through the explosion light that pierced the clouds.

"Sir... our orbital defense is rapidly collapsing!"

Gong Yan's voice echoed in the command channel, filled with uncontainable anxiety, "Energy reserves are declining quickly, the Seventh Legion has lost over a third! At this rate, we won't hold much longer!"

Driving the Star Emperor, Bai E dashed through the battlefield.

He could devastate nearby floating organisms, could use the Devouring Star Blade to fend off sporadic attacks from giant ships, and occasionally seize the chance to inflict surface damage on some giant ships.

His combat skills remained exquisite, and the perception from the Insect Race Killer allowed him to avoid most lethal attacks.

But the results were limited—

His speed in eliminating small Bug Race units was far slower than the Bug Race's speed in devouring the Mine Star's overall armed forces.

Unable to protect all defense lines simultaneously, he couldn't break through the tactically sophisticated blockade.

It's like being stuck in a viscous mire, with abundant power but unable to effectively exert it, forced to watch helplessly as his side's living forces were slowly consumed.

He looked around—

As the battle continued, members of the mobile warrior squads were forced to withdraw or directly perished due to mecha damage, energy depletion, or severe injury.

Even Catherine and Victor's core mainstay mechas were heavily scarred, compelled to retreat for preservation following orders.

Ultimately, the once bustling sortie airspace gradually turned into only the blue-white Star Emperor mecha, still stubbornly shuttling, charging, parrying, and counter-attacking amidst the Bug Race's fleet and countless floating organisms.

He became the most dazzling yet loneliest target in the starry sky, attracting most of the Bug Race's firepower and attention.

The Bug Race's tactics were clear: using minions and harassment to exhaust, using giant ship maneuvering to evade, using overall superiority to crush his companions and homeland.

The longer Bai E fought, the more Bug Race units he killed, the more it highlighted the limitations of his personal power in a cosmic fleet war of such scale—

He could be an indomitable sharp blade, yet unable to simultaneously transform into a shield covering the entire planet.

Bai E's heart sank continuously.

Personal power, in the face of such a vast cosmic battle situation, ultimately seemed insufficient.

He could devastate nearby floating organisms, fend off sporadic attacks from giant ships, yet unable to protect all defense lines simultaneously, nor break through the Bug Race's intricately arranged tactical blockade to engage in boarding combat.

At the moment when the entire Mine Star's defensive system was nearing collapse, despair shrouding every inch of space, Bai E's spiritual energy perception suddenly captured a strange fluctuation.

It was neither from the Bug Race, nor from any of his own units.

It was a... profound, converging, and gradually heating "thought".

They came from the underground shelters of New Jing City.

From those miners, immigrants, soldiers, children, who huddled in the refuge, tightly embraced together, gazing at the starry sky, silently praying or murmuring his name...

From those figures who ignited symbolic candles in the Pioneer Memorial Hall, silently kneeling.

Although Bai E had repeatedly publicly stated he did not need personal worship, the miracles created during the Karian campaign, the power he demonstrated daily, and his current blood-soaked battle in defense of them had already ignited a near-instinctive fire of faith in countless hearts.

In the desperate situation where life and death hung in the balance, this faith was no longer reserved, but transformed into the purest and strongest spiritual power—

Trust, plea, and the will to completely entrust one's fate.

This power, though individually as weak as a firefly, when hundreds of thousands, millions of thoughts spontaneously converged and resonated in fear and hope, formed a trickling stream, beginning to flow towards that brightest, most steadfast "beacon" in the starry sky—Bai E's spiritual body.

Bai E trembled all over.

Such a feeling... how similar it was to the overwhelming power that gathered the survival will of fifty billion souls at the last moment of the Karian battle!

Except, the scale was much, much smaller.

The population of Mine Star was far less than the fifty billion of Karian; the power of faith gathered, though pure, fiery, tinged with the unique resilience and expectation of Mine Star's people.

But in terms of "quantity", compared to the "brilliance" that burst out in the human worst-case scenario during Karian, capable of briefly illuminating high-dimensional space, there was a world of difference.

Nevertheless, this relatively weak power infusion revitalized Bai E, making the operation of spiritual energy much smoother and the link with the Star Emperor mecha even closer.

More importantly, it brought a clear "echo"—he was not fighting alone.

Behind him, there was an entire planet's worth of people pinning all their hopes on him.

"Not enough..." Bai E thought to himself.

This power might allow him to endure longer, react faster, but it was far from enough to unleash the dazzling posture needed to slash a ship and reverse the situation like in Karian.

After evolution, the Bug Race fleet has strengthened further, with strong tactical targeting.

Even with this slight enhancement, he still could not break through the blockade, nor easily slay any giant ships.

The situation continued sliding into the abyss of despair.

If it drags on, maybe eventually he will become the last human combat unit in the starry sky.

While the planet beneath his feet, freshly revived, will likely not escape being devoured.

So... should he also be buried alongside this planet?

...

"Looks about right."

The Peak Alliance member observed the situation from afar with furrowed eyebrows.

The defeat of this Mine Star was faster than he thought... perhaps because Bai E's exaggerated performance led him to overestimate the combat strength of his subordinate forces in his subjective impression.

Facts proved, apart from Bai E himself, these combat forces under his command were far inferior compared to any main member state within the Peak Alliance, let alone compared to the three major powers of the alliance.

"Maybe let them act."

"If we drag on and really let those bugs completely devour this planet, who knows what changes might occur."

"Just wait... he hasn't died... he hasn't died..." A pair of steadfast eyes coldly watched the solitary fighting silhouette in space.

They abandoned the honor of being human, abandoned the bottom line they held to in their youth, setting up this current deadly scenario, precisely to eliminate that guy.

Mine Star? New Bauhinia?

Who cares?

Without Bai E, these are just marginal scraps that no one pays attention to.

It is because of Bai E that they managed to ascend to the stage of the universe.

"No need to wait..." Another voice said: "Afraid even when everyone on Mine Star is dead, he might still not die... let those Elves act! Destroy everything indiscriminately!"