Chapter 1144: Luring the Enemy Successfully! Ling'er's Defection!

Chapter 1144: The Trap Successfully Set! Ling'er's Subversion!

"Do not underestimate the presence of any Imperial Sovereign."

"If the enemy dares to disregard the disparity in forces and sends troops to harass us, there must be a purpose behind it."

"If we actually send forces to pursue them, we would only be falling into the enemy's trap."

"Our most stable path to victory is to strike directly at their homeland, severing their very roots. Then, the enemy will crumble without a fight."

Os spoke calmly, then turned his indifferent gaze upon Him.

"And you dare question my decision, and that of the Grand Marshal of Chaos Spiral?"

"Go and face the consequences yourself."

"...Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy."

The general said nothing. Though he still harbored resentment toward Os's decision, he silently accepted punishment.

Seeing this, Os turned to the assembled generals and said, "Continue your deliberations."

"Let the Emperor go and take a look."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Having said that,

the generals once again began to discuss strategies.

Oss stepped directly out of the warship, summoned the ship's artificial intelligence in the sky, and activated the panoramic view to survey the surroundings of the entire army.

A moment later,

at the edge of the southeastern flank, he spotted Bai Yun and the others, the True Gods returning for a second assault, along with their cosmic Emperor vessel beneath them.

Bai Yun and her companions moved with astonishing speed—after completing a full volley of True God attacks that obliterated over 13 billion crimson soldiers, more than 500 crimson deities, and four crimson True Gods—they immediately returned to the cosmic Emperor vessel and swiftly fled toward the distance.

Oss frowned deeply.

He could clearly see that, had it not been for his earlier order—directing additional True Gods and high-ranking Crimson Imperial forces to reinforce the outer edges of the Crimson army—the casualties would have been far worse.

"At least a True God-class warship could stand a chance of stopping these Sun Empire True Gods."

Os immediately issued orders to the generals in the combat command room to deploy True God-class warships.

These were the highest-ranking vessels within their crimson army.

As for True God-class warships?

Even the advanced Crimson God Nation might not possess them—let alone these Crimson Empires.

To have True God-class warships was already an exceptional achievement.

Meanwhile,

After their retreat, White Yun and her group had originally assumed this would be just another ordinary raid. But when they saw the enemies pursuing them and, through the True God-level intelligent lifeform aboard the Cosmic Emperor Ship, identified them as one of the 93 Advanced Crimson Empires—the Xuan An Empire—they were first stunned, then erupted into joy.

"These fools," White Yun exclaimed with excitement, "finally couldn't hold back and have been lured out."

"It's not just the Xuan'an Empire. Besides the Xuan'an Empire, there are over 600 Crimson True Gods and more than 8 million Crimson Deities."

"Wow."

"Such a massive undertaking!"

"Have we really drawn out so many enemies?"

The generals were both shocked and exhilarated.

"Great Emperor, we must immediately report this to the Emperor!"

Bai Yun ordered instantly.

[Received, Commander of the Legion.]

The Universal Emperor's AI responded promptly and immediately relayed the message to Zhou Zhan.

……

The Eternal Fleet.

Within the Eternal Realm.

"I have seen it."

Zhou Zhan saw Bai Yun's message arrive, and a faint smile touched his lips. With a mere thought, Ling'er appeared before him, as if materializing from nowhere.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

Ling'er gasped at first, startled by the sudden appearance—but when she realized it was her brother who had teleported her there, her shoulders relaxed. Curiosity sparked in her eyes.

"Ling'er, our army has lured a group of enemies. Use your legendary recruitment ability to turn the high-ranking enemies from the Crimson Empire faction. Don't rush into internal conflict among them—hide them quietly, and wait for my command."

Zhou Zhan said.

"Got it, Brother!"

Ling'er immediately agreed.

Zhou Zhan nodded, then shared with her some operational details, before instantly teleporting her back into the ranks of her own army.

Then Zhou Zhan saw Ling'er leading a group of ranged spellcasters, driving another Cosmic Emperor-class vessel away from the perimeter of the Eternal Mother Ship. From the True God-level Interdimensional Cannon on board, she launched a distant volley at the enemy's True God-class warship.

To conceal the true rank of the Cosmic Emperor-class vessel, the shot was only at the True God Intermediate level. Yet even so, it pierced the lower True God Red Warship of the Xuanan Red Empire with a hole several hundred thousand kilometers in diameter—just barely threatening to detonate its engine and render the vessel completely inoperable.

This shot was deliberately misaimed.

And this was precisely what Zhou Zhan had told Ling'er to do.

The intention was clear: to allow the infiltrated spy to re-enter the Red army and blend in undetected.

Although the Red Warship wasn't destroyed, the strike still startled the enemy.

Instantly, the enemy responded with a counter-blast from their Red Warship.

The Cosmic Emperor-class vessel could have easily evaded it—but Zhou Zhou instructed Ling'er not to dodge, but instead to endure the blast directly.

And at the very instant the other side launched their counterattack, Ling'er immediately activated the legendary recruitment operation.

Then she smiled brightly, rushing to report the news to Zhou Zhan.

"Brother, I've successfully recruited over 32 billion Red Soldiers, more than 4,000 Red Deities, and six Red True Gods!"

Ling'er was ecstatic.

Was this the result of recruiting elite forces from an imperial-level faction? It was so astonishing it left her breathless.

Yet suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. He hesitated, puzzled. "I remember the maximum capacity for a legendary recruitment operation is only 1 billion troops. How could I have recruited so many soldiers?"

"I enhanced your Lord's innate talent and lifted the cap on the number of troops you can recruit."

Zhou Zhan smiled faintly.

As a Lord's Law Divine Spirit, he had not wasted any effort studying the Lord's Law.

On top of that, he was also the possessor of the All-Souls Saint talent.

With the two combined, merely enhancing the effect of the Legendary-grade Instigation of Rebellion was no difficult feat for Him.

"So that is how it is."

"Brother, I will transfer all these troops to you in a moment. My little kingdom has no use for so many soldiers and deities."

Ling'er suddenly remembered something and spoke in a hurried rush.

Ling'er's Elixir Kingdom was currently only at the level of a primary kingdom.

With such a vast multitude of soldiers, let alone a primary kingdom, it almost rivaled half the military strength of a primary divine kingdom-level lord's faction.

She felt somewhat apprehensive about accepting such a magnificent gift.

"There is no need to transfer all of them to me."

"We shall still follow the old rules. After the war, transferring twenty percent to me will suffice."

"It's not just you; the lord members of the Stellar Alliance are no different."

Zhou Zhan shook his head.

The lordly factions of the Stellar Alliance had all been influenced by His Lordly Gift of Peace and Prosperity, and were fully devoted to him.

These soldiers—no matter who held them—would always obey his commands.

Zhou Zhan chose to leave them with Him.

Compared to his own forces, the strength of his Stellar Alliance subordinates was still somewhat lacking.

In the future, these underlings would prove invaluable; thus, it would be wise to strengthen their power now, so they might serve him more effectively later.

"I understand, thanks, brother!"

Ling saw that Zhou Zhan was serious, not joking, and no longer hesitated, happily responding.

"Order your people to retreat back into the Crimson Army."

"Then we'll keep fishing!"

Zhou Zhan turned his head and looked at the virtual reality scene before him.

"Yes, brother!"

Ling'er nodded vigorously.