Upon settling all affairs in the Capital, Nero found a pretext for a tour of the western border of the Empire. He swiftly led the Wolf Knights and the newly reorganized Military Research and Development Team to make a high-speed jump to the Heka Star System.
The Heka Star System was one of the Empire’s foremost military star systems, established by Emperor Hiram who developed the Asimov Collar. There were no habitable planets within the star system, only rocky ones with abundant reserves of iron.
In order to transport a large number of starships and troops to the western border of the Empire, the former Emperor ordered the entire star system to be transformed into military camps, armories, and defense bases.
Therefore, from its inception, Heka Star System earned the notorious titles of ‘Fortress of Doom’ and ‘Imperial Arsenal’.
During the reign of Rupert, the Heka Star System was only given as a reward to the former Minister of War, Curtis David, along with seven other star systems on the western border of the Empire.
Nero had never truly visited the Heka Star System before. He had only learned about Heka Star System’s original appearance from the image data sent back by the Wolf Knights.
Even though more than 120 years had passed, the stellar-level military factories built by the former emperor were still operating efficiently. The vast expanse of interplanetary space between the planets was filled with stationed fortress ships and mecha fortresses. However, due to the neglect of Marquis David, most of the fortresses and strongholds had been abandoned and had become floating scrap metal in the dim void.
He knew that Heidrich had already begun hastily constructing the Heka Star System during the territorial campaign.
After being granted the Heka Star System as his fief, Heidrich had left without even saying goodbye, quickly departing and arriving two weeks before Nero.
Since the end of the territorial battles, the Star Provincial Committee had been reporting to Nero daily, and the outstanding generals selected from various imperial military academies, whether from the common people or the lower nobility, were all gathering at the Heka Star System at the highest speed.
The gathering of soldiers and generals in the Heka Star System was enormous, coming from different star regions of the Empire, with vastly different accents, training habits, and military ranks.
Nero was only responsible for continuously sending people to Heka Star System. As for how to allocate and coordinate, how to train the army, how to deal with the higher-ranked veteran instructors, or the talented but unruly new recruits, he left all of that to Heidrich, the Supreme Commander, to figure out.
Although he trusted Heidrich’s abilities, for any officer of the Empire, this task was quite daunting.
Out of consideration for the dignity of his subordinates, Nero did not inform the Heka Star System of his arrival time in advance, nor did he bring his imperial robe and crown.
As they approached the Heka Fortress, he blended in with a fleet of transport ships and quietly entered the Heka Star System.
Most of the planets in the Heka Star System had thin atmospheres, and the massive central star in the star system mercilessly roasted the sunward side of each star.
But when the hatch was opened, Nero did not see the glaring sunlight.
At first, he thought he was in the nighttime area of the planet’s rotation, so he casually opened a screen and calibrated the starship’s time against that of the Heka Star System.
However, soon a dazzling sunlight fell on the deck, passing like a blade over the entire ship, and was slowly swallowed up by a huge shadow.
Nero opened the protective visor on his armor and looked up.
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.
Blocking out the sky was a densely arranged grid of nearly ten thousand Titan-class dreadnoughts, which were conducting routine exercises in the vast expanse of space between the fortress and the central star.
Ktfrf raffi yftfwbatr, cfjgis atgff xlibwfafgr lc ifcuat jcv kflutlcu bnfg akb tecvgfv wliilbc abcr, jr lo mbcagbiifv ys rbwf uljca wfmtjclmji tjcv, kfgf qgfmlrfis mtjculcu atflg obgwjalbcr ab atf jabwlm rmjif jcv mbcalceberis olglcu rlweijafv yfjwr ja jrrewfv ajgufar ogbw atf ujqr lc atf obgwjalbc.
Ciatbeut atf oiffa kjr ralii atberjcvr bo xlibwfafgr jkjs ogbw atf obgagfrr, vef ab atf lwwfcrf rlhf bo atf Klajc-mijrr rajgrtlqr, atfs ralii jqqfjgfv lwqbrlcu ogbw atf ugbecv.
Nero’s expression remained indifferent, with only a slight raise of his eyebrows.
But the Military Research and Development Team on another shuttle had already begun to suppress their excitement.
The magnificent spectacle of witnessing the ‘Fortress of Doom’ on-site was incomparable to the experience of watching it on a screen. Any military enthusiast would know that the destructive power of a Titan-class dreadnought’s full-strength Judgment Beam was the ceiling of all the Empire’s starships.
A single shot fired at full strength could penetrate a Class-D planet.
Due to the enormous cost of Titan-class dreadnoughts, the high nobles could only afford to build a fleet of around a thousand ships to defend their strongholds; while in the territories ruled by the lower nobility, it was common for two star systems to share one Titan-class ship due to financial constraints.
Now tens of thousands of Titan-class ships were suspended overhead, a sight that could trigger human megalophobia and ignite the blood of even the most rational person.
The transport fleet found a gap and passed through the bustling herd of giants, heading deeper into the Heka Star System.
Nero had intended to land at the coordinates of the Heka Star System’s Star Province Committee, but the transport fleet they had infiltrated received some new orders and began to orbit the star system’s starless space.
It was clear that Heidrich had utilized the vast starless space in the star system to its fullest extent.
From the screen, Nero could see two unusually large Imperial fleets facing off in the dark void of space, engaged in large-scale live combat exercises.
Nero had frontline combat experience, and just from the formation layout, he could tell that the two fleets in the exercise were almost like clouds and mud compared to the garrison fleet responsible for escorting him during the Northern Border Tour.
It was difficult even for Nero to discern which fleet had the advantage in such a short time.
Soon, the flagship of the ‘Star Pirates’ faction, with its red light shield, and the ‘Empire’ faction, with its blue light shield, both realized each other’s intentions for a prolonged battle.
The exercise had strict time limits, and they had to earn as many points as possible for their teams before the time ran out.
The ‘Star Pirates’ faction was the first to feign retreat, luring the enemy into the simulated large nebula created in the war zone.
Through the observation angle set by Heidrich, Nero saw the ‘Star Pirates’ faction dispatching a large number of engineers to use beams to shatter all the simulated mineral star terrain in the war zone, creating an artificial asteroid belt and setting up ambushes behind large asteroids.
Three thousand peak-level spiritual mechas were lying in wait, only waiting for the enemy to advance.
The idea of creating an artificial asteroid belt was indeed novel, even Nero couldn’t help but be impressed.
Meanwhile, the ‘Empire’ faction, seemingly undeterred by any trickery, pushed their fleet directly to the simulated nebula.
Just as everyone was waiting for the ‘Empire’ faction to be surrounded, they saw the formation of the Imperial fleet suddenly change, with all starships pushing towards the flanks, completely clearing the central void.
At the same time, a massive black behemoth appeared seemingly out of nowhere, directly jumping from behind the Imperial fleet to the front of the simulated nebula!
A Titan-class dreadnought!
The two sides in the exercise each had a Titan-class dreadnought, but the ‘Star Pirates’ faction never expected the ‘Empire’ faction to place such a heavyweight ship directly on the front line of the battle.
The dreadnought’s size was too large, and although it had high offense and defense, it had the drawback of being difficult to maneuver in retreat, so few people would place it at the forefront during deployment.
As the members of the Military Research and Development Team discussed animatedly while watching the battle, they suddenly saw this huge steel monster, surging with layers of energy waves, finally channeling all its energy into the Judgment Cannon and firing it!
Nero smiled in front of the screen. Based on his combat experience, he recognized that the ‘Empire’ faction should be composed of students from the military academy’s command department, with good awareness but a somewhat reckless style of fighting.
All the beams and fires that appeared in the exercise were simulated according to actual power. When the ‘Empire’ faction fired the Judgment Cannon, not only was the artificial asteroid belt completely cleared, but even the mecha soldiers waiting in ambush behind the asteroids had their shields instantly turned red.
A red shield meant they had been killed, so the mecha soldiers of the ‘Star Pirates’ faction could only retreat with their heads down in frustration, their shields glowing red.
The retreat of the enemy army greatly encouraged the ‘Empire’ faction, and tens of thousands of interstellar battleships quickly surpassed the dreadnought, heading to chase the disordered ‘Star Pirates’ faction.
Caught off guard by the heavy blow, the ‘Star Pirates’ faction seemed completely at a loss, with their fleet scattering like headless flies.
Destroying enemy ships earned individual points, so the ‘Empire’ faction quickly pursued their advantage. However, due to the wide dispersal of the fleeing enemy, the ‘Empire’ faction’s formation also expanded significantly, making mutual support impossible.
At this moment, the last remaining unit of mecha soldiers from the ‘Star Pirates’ faction, in a desperate move, managed to sneak into the rear of the ‘Empire’ faction’s dreadnought by hiding in escape pods…
The simulated exercise fluctuated, with both sides closely contesting the scores, until the end, with the loss of the dreadnought and a large number of troops, the ‘Empire’ faction still stubbornly resisted against the ‘Star Pirates’ faction, ultimately losing by just one point.
Nero thoroughly enjoyed watching the exercise.
Compared to the time when he once encountered the Star Pirates in the North, where once the Emperor left the command chair, there was no one in the Empire capable of bearing the burden, this exercise clearly demonstrated to Nero the enormous potential of the Empire’s military.
The cold and stern expression of the young Emperor turned into a crescent moon-shaped smile. However, when he connected to the command room of the Heka Star System, the young Emperor quickly pressed his lips down, crossed his arms, and stood up straight, pretending to be indifferent.
“How much longer do you plan to show off? Aren’t you planning to let me land today?” he asked.
On the other end of the communication, Heidrich’s pleasant laughter finally came through.
After he finished laughing, he said softly, “Please be patient, Your Majesty. The exercise is not over yet.”
Nero furrowed his brows. “What else is there?”
Heidrich stared at him from the screen, his blue eyes looking very gentle.
But perhaps the more he was attracted by the dazzling light of the young monarch, the more he would be reminded of the cruel duty of the Sword Bearer. Heidrich’s eyelashes trembled, and he looked away.
He picked up the communicator and ordered the fleet that had just finished the exercise, “All exercise ships, listen up. Shut down the turrets, hoist the flags, and pay homage to His Majesty, the sacred Emperor of the Galactic Empire.”
The fleet seemed to panic for a moment.
Even the transport fleet that Nero had infiltrated fled like it was on fire.
But the response speed of the exercise fleet was also beyond Nero’s expectations.
In just a few seconds, the fleet, which had been scattered due to the exercise, began to spontaneously reform its formation, gradually arranging into a vast, chessboard-like, organized fleet of giant starships.
Two Titan-class dreadnoughts hovered up and down, together with their companions, silently displaying the insignia of the Silverleaf Rose in front.
In the dark and cold void, for that moment, a vast sea of roses blossomed.
Contrasted with the cold and tough iron hulls and the still hot barrels, it displayed an extreme beauty that was both cruel and romantic.
At that moment, Nero only heard a low whisper from the man.
“Your Majesty.”
“This is the Imperial fleet that is worthy of you.”
…
It just seem not fair to the hexagon. He’s the one with the heavy burden of killing Nero if he went berserk, thankfully it won’t happen.
But he’s the one who was rewarded the most (materially) and he was also given much power compared to the other gongs.
How romantic, he gave him a bouquet with his fleet.