“Why… why has the war started again…”
A resident of Charon Star System was knocked to the ground by the fleeing crowd. Decades of survival experience in wartime made him quickly cover his head with his hands and support his body with his bleeding elbows, crawling to the side of the street to avoid being trampled.
The cruelty of war is never the same for the commander, the soldiers on the starships, and the civilians on the ground.
For the commander, war is a matter of light points and numbers on a star map, a rush from one coordinate to another.
For the soldiers in mechas and starships, war is the beams of light piercing the dark void, the moment when a comrade’s ship shatters and the ensuing screams.
But for the civilians left on the ground, every interstellar war is akin to the end of the world.
A massive fleet passed overhead, like a group of sky-covering whales, instantly swallowing the artificial sun of the Charon Star System, plunging the surface into darkness.
But the night sky had no moon or stars, only the bloody red torn by countless beam cannons.
Nero’s Heka Star System’s forces stationed in Charon Star System retaliated swiftly as soon as they were attacked.
The fleets clashed intensely just a few kilometers above the crowd’s heads. Countless mecha and starship fragments fell from the sky like burning metal buildings, plummeting straight toward the people below.
“Run! Run!!”
“Ah…!!”
Since Nero recaptured the Charon Star System, it had enjoyed less than a year of peace and stability.
Now war had descended again, the streets filled with screams of agony, and the crowd fell like withered trees being felled in large swathes.
“The Scorpion Tail is expanding the combat zone, trying to affect more refugees!”
The commander responsible for Charon Star System’s defense broke into a cold sweat under his military cap.
He was from the northern fortress and had feelings for the Charon Star System, which belonged to the north. Seeing the Scorpion Tail clearly not intending to tangle with the defense forces, using shields and star destroyers to withstand the beams while faster winged boats pursued the crowd, their cannons aimed at the modular cities on the ring.
He couldn’t help but shout into the communication channel:
“Estimated casualties will exceed one million! Requesting reinforcements from the Capital—wait! The Scorpion Tail just sent a negotiation request, we’re preparing to accept…”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Yes, Your Majesty…! But—”
“The Heka Star System’s forces will support jump point Z0-23, expected to arrive in 30 minutes; the Northern Border Defense forces will support jump point L25-9, expected to arrive in 11 minutes. All Charon Star System’s ships, turn to a semi-circle formation, prepare to coordinate with support forces to complete the blockade and annihilation.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty!”
The Charon Star System’s commander glanced at the refugees still fleeing for their lives, closed his eyes tightly, then turned around and swiftly executed the orders.
The streets were already ablaze.
The Scorpion Tail’s fleet moved swiftly towards the city, raining down a barrage of beams on the streets, turning everything they touched into rolling waves of steam.
The fleeing people screamed and wailed, some even kneeling in place to pray in sheer terror.
The brief period of peaceful life seemed like a collective beautiful dream.
Now, the dream had shattered, and everyone was forced to fall back into the harsh reality of suffering and gunfire.
“All residents of Charon Star System, the Star Provincial Committee continues to broadcast.”
Amidst the rumble of artillery fire, the calm broadcast from the Star Provincial Committee spread across the entire planet.
“By His Majesty’s decree, the committee will immediately execute evacuation tasks. Please follow the prompts on your personal smart brain to enter the nearest modular building.”
As the first star system directly governed by Nero, the Charon Star System’s Provincial Committee had diligently implemented personal terminal registration. Now, except for a few residents with electronic phobia, personal smart brains were as common as identity IDs.
In their panic, the crowd immediately looked down at the smart brains on their wrists.
Dispatched by the emergency command center of the Star Provincial Committee, each personal smart brain displayed the safest route to the nearest module.
Due to the economical use and wide promotion of modules, modular buildings were easy to find in the Charon Star System. People fleeing in the streets could easily enter a mall or office building and find themselves in a modular structure.
“Why are they telling us to go into buildings?”
The Charon Star System’s residents who frantically poured into buildings followed the instructions instinctively in their panic, but once inside, they were all stunned.
In the past, it was common knowledge that during wartime in the interstellar era, one should stay as far away from buildings as possible.
Starship beam cannons were not like the hot weapons of ancient Earth; they could reduce buildings to rubble, and the people inside to nothing but blood and flesh.
“What if the building collapses?!”
Before the words were even finished, a beam cannon hit the top of the building!
“Ah—!!”
Everyone screamed, covering their heads.
But after the screams, they looked up and found themselves unharmed:
Only the topmost layer of the modular building had melted and deformed; the rest remained intact.
“Right! I can’t believe I forgot—modular structures are made of Eurite! The same material used to build space starships!”
“Even though it’s second-class Eurite, it’s still the material for civilian transport ships, designed for structural integrity!”
“It’s time for His Majesty to review the achievements of the Charon Star System. We’re the first truly functional Star Provincial Committee in the Empire, we can’t fail now.”
In the emergency command center, several members of the Star Provincial Committee watched the battle.
They were the young elites who had been sent to Charon Star System at the beginning, now looking much more mature and serious, with most of their hair gone.
However, the fervor in their eyes had not diminished.
“Let’s show the entire Empire what the ‘new order’ we’ve been upholding looks like.”
Most of the personal terminal signals in the combat zone had moved into modular buildings. While sending rescue teams to the immobile signals, the emergency command center issued a command to take control of all modules in the star system.
The next second, the metal bases of all modular buildings began to glow!
Whether taking refuge in public modules or hiding in their own, the residents of Charon Star System felt the ground rumbling beneath them.
Soon, the shield generators on the bases charged the entire modules, raising starship-grade shields around them.
“Combat zone and pre-combat zone shield coverage complete. Initiating first-level evacuation protocol.”
In the path of Scorpion Tail’s firepower, all the towering buildings, which looked like ordinary structures, suddenly emitted the sound of engine thrusters.
Then, under the Scorpion Tail’s fleet’s nose, they began to fly like massive transport ships.
When tens of thousands of modules comprising the buildings moved simultaneously, their speed was astonishing. People inside were thrown about, screaming, but thanks to the balance devices installed in the modules’ design, there were no significant injuries except for civilians unaccustomed to the acceleration, who ended up vomiting profusely.
Before long, the dark mass of buildings completely evacuated the combat area; soon, they were mere black specks on the horizon.
Scorpion Tail’s firepower paused momentarily before they resumed, targeting the retreating buildings. However, their beams deflected off the shields surrounding the buildings.
Winged boats continued to pursue the civilians, but midway through, they were intercepted by the Northern Border Defense forces that had finished their jump.
Now, the vast combat zone was left with only empty streets and exposed metal bases.
“Did His Majesty foresee this battle when designing the modules? How is that possible?”
The Charon Star System’s commander, who had been watching the evacuation, suddenly seemed to remember to breathe and took several deep breaths.
“Otherwise, why would every function of the modules be designed for defense and refuge?”
His gaze shifted from the ground to the sky. Compared to the empty ground, the aerial battlefield appeared extremely crowded.
In front was the Charon Star System’s fleet, arranged in a circular formation, and behind was the Northern Border Defense forces, which had just completed their jump, trapping the Scorpion Tail’s fleet in the middle, now at a loss for their next move.
“Battle recorder.”
The Charon Star System’s commander turned his head, flashing a bright smile.
“His Majesty just asked you to count the number of enemy ships. Have you finished?”
Yessss. Wipe them all out!!! Good bye scourges!! 👋
Thank you for the updates ❤️
Lmao, I was imagining the smart brains as brain implants, it’s nice they’re way less invasive.
Also I love how much attention the author/Nero pays to civilians.
Thank you for another batch of exciting chapters!
🫶🫶🫶
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Finally caught up!
As always, thank you for your translations❤️
Nicceee
I can’t decide if I want this novel to be over faster or slower
I’m just imagining flying buildings 🤣 Also thank you for the chapter
Thank you for your work (￣▽￣)b
Ohhh, wow! Thank you for the chapter!
The enemy: “Where did all the buildings go?! They couldn’t have just up and walked away!”
Nero: 😏