The overwhelming appearance of this joke-like notice caused panic among many civilians, who assumed someone was playing a prank. However, the military emblem sat in the most eye-catching position in the upper left corner of the screen.

Numerous netizens took photos and posted them online, tagging military headquarters and the Royal Family. Some even called the military headquarters’ public hotline directly and were informed that it was real, causing the volume of discussion to surge instantly.

Military headquarters posted a new update explaining the matter, stating that reporting rebels was not limited to internal affairs—anyone could provide clues, and as long as they were ultimately verified, a reward would be given.

Comments under the relevant topic:

“Turns out the military’s ads can be so down-to-earth too (doge)”

“I already have plenty of washbasins at home; can I trade for kitchen knives and frying pans instead? They can save lives at critical moments; living in Nanming Constellation is truly tough.”

“First-hand battle report from the front! The joint force of the Gao and Yi families has broken through Nanming Constellation’s defenses—the war is about to start!”

“Is the battlefield recruiting volunteers? Can bring our own kitchen knives and frying pans! Guaranteed to be obedient and never cause trouble!”

“Coordinates N001, my area is under martial law. Excitingly pulling out my AK gun model and polishing it over and over—a middle-aged otaku begging to fulfill a warrior’s dream!”

“Who on earth is still licking the Meng family’s boots? Are you all orphans with no family?”

“Dozens more garrison bases have issued statements severing ties with the Meng family!”

“The Meng family slaughters other races, tricks so many people into human experiments, and uses drugs to control modified humans to eliminate dissidents. No real human could follow such a devil!”

“Meng Jian, have you forgotten your old father still in Tianjiang Constellation? @MengJian”

Among them, a media company named Chuxin published a new post:

【The military hijacked our company’s resources without so much as a greeting—this is sheer bandit behavior!】

Military headquarters firmly reposted it with the caption:

【The military has the right to commandeer all resources during wartime.】

This media company posted several more updates in complaint. Before waiting for another response from the military, another company named Xingkong Media made a post.

Xingkong Media: 【Feel free to use ours as you wish, and we’ll add special effects for free @MilitaryHeadquarters】

Netizens looked into it, and well, the controlling shareholder of Xingkong Media turned out to be Wu Ya as well.

The comment section:

“President Wu pulled out his whole family fortune for his bro (doge)”

“Now who doesn’t know about Xingkong Media? Saved a fortune on advertising fees.”

“You can’t just look at short-term gains and losses—President Wu really has vision!”

“Our company’s ad screens were commandeered; the boss was so happy he gave everyone a 10% bonus this month, hehehe”

“Begging to be commandeered, begging to be named! Our company isn’t big, but we are super obedient QuQ”

“Just checked, Chuxin’s holding is related to the Meng family—no wonder they jumped out squawking.”

Immediately afterward, several other media companies spoke up one after another, expressing understanding and support, willing to do their part for the military.

Chuxin Media became a complete laughingstock, not only facing cold mockery across the entire network, but also having multiple major partner companies directly announce contract terminations due to force majeure. Their reputation was gone, their business was gone, and they had to pay a massive breach-of-contract penalty.

Soon, many news items about Sector One of N001 emerged under Nanming Constellation’s relevant topics.

【Breaking! Air defense alarm sounded in Sector One of N001! All residents within 500 kilometers of the garrison base are required to evacuate within one day!】

In the attached photos, the scrolling text on the ad screens had changed to evacuation details, bringing an immediate sense of wartime urgency.

“I’m in N015! Our sector’s air defense alarm went off too; we have to pack up and evacuate within an hour!”

“N042 has been ordered to evacuate as well! So nervous ahhhh!”

“Just now, N109 went off too!”

“They are all near bases that hadn’t stated their position earlier. Looks like the Royal Family plans to reclaim these bases first. Will the media livestream the war process? Really want to watch!”

“Follow me to watch the full livestream of the evacuation + transfer~”

“About to board the military ship! Wonder if I’ll run into the Second Prince by chance, hehe”

Military headquarters released three consecutive updates, issuing a final ultimatum to the garrison bases that had yet to state their position.

At the same time, the garrison base in Sector One of N001 was filled with low pressure. Panic and anxiety spread rampantly, affecting every soldier.

The command center was extraordinarily busy, with officers eager to report running back and forth, making it noisier than a wet market.

“Report! The Third Legion is approaching our airspace and will cross the atmosphere in two minutes!”

“Large-scale weapons are ready!”

“Mecha units are ready!”

“The destroyer fleet will depart from Apron No. 1 in fifteen seconds!”

“The Third Legion has arrived in our airspace!”

Listening to their reports, the alpha commander kept his eyes glued to the real-time monitoring screen, his palms soaked with sweat from tension.

The massive legion blotted out the sun, pressing down overhead like dark clouds drifting from the horizon, making it hard to breathe.

“When will reinforcements arrive?!” the commander asked anxiously.

The beta lieutenant colonel at his side was equally uneasy and hastily replied: “The Ninth Legion, leading nine other legions, is already on the way and expected to arrive in one minute and thirty seconds.”

With ten legions plus the garrison base’s combat power, even if the Third Legion was equipped beyond standard specifications, it would be more than enough to deal with them.

Despite thinking this way, bursts of panic still seized the commander.

An operator at the division console suddenly stood up and reported loudly: “Sir, a video call request from the Third Legion is connecting!”

The commander’s heart skipped a beat: “Do not accept!”

Yet right after he refused, a giant screen four to five meters high popped up on the monitoring console in front of him, and Li Xiao appeared in the frame.

Li Xiao had already become a terrifying presence to the Meng faction. Coupled with his powerful alpha pressure and the commanding aura of a long-time superior, his sudden appearance made everyone in the command center instinctively hold their breath, not daring to make a sound.

They all assumed the Second Prince was here to persuade them to surrender before opening fire, as the Royal Family couldn’t possibly leave the public unattended in the end.

The alpha commander had already prepared a line of rejection in his mind, planning to dampen the opponent’s momentum.

With ten reinforcing legions on the way, he had nothing to fear.

“Our side will execute a strategic transfer of the public within the designated area in one minute,” Li Xiao said expressionlessly, looking at the middle-aged alpha before the screen who couldn’t suppress his panic. “Regardless of your stance, anyone who interferes will die.”

Everyone was shocked.

He wasn’t here to persuade a surrender.

Had they already been given up on?

The commander was so flustered he couldn’t speak. Far from dampening Li Xiao’s momentum, he was defeated first by a single look from the other man.

Watching the video call frame disappear, the entire command center felt as if it had been vacuumed empty; for a moment, no one dared to speak.

The war hadn’t even begun, yet their morale was already lost.

The beta lieutenant colonel asked cautiously: “Sir, what do we do? Only forty seconds left.”

Before the commander could speak, a video feed popped up on the monitoring console again, making him flinch. He thought Li Xiao had returned, but it turned out to be Meng Tu, so he hastily reported what Li Xiao had just said.

Meng Tu: “Deploy marines to seal off the roads and waterways. Use every means to prevent them from sending the people out.”

The commander was anxious: “We only need to deal with the Third Legion—there’s no need to target the civilians, right? Letting them transfer out isn’t a big deal and could leave us a good reputation.”

Meng Tu: “Allow them to transfer, so they can free up their hands to deal with us?”

The commander choked on his words.

“Even if they free up their hands, they are still no match for us.”

Meng Tu: “The public is their weak spot; the longer this drags on, the more advantageous it is for our side.”

N001 Airspace.

After the Eighth Legion rendezvoused with the Third Legion, Li Ji transferred to the Third Legion’s main ship, while Gao Wanxin went to the Fifth Legion to meet up with his own people.

Command Cabin Conference Area.

Li Ji looked at the map of the Sector One Garrison Base of N001 floating in midair. Marked on it were weapon reserves like various models of mechas and fighter jets, personnel reserves, and the distribution of large-scale lethal weapons like missiles and light-energy weapons.

“The enemy outnumbers us by more than ten times; do we really not need to add more troops?” Li Ji looked at Li Xiao on his left.

Li Xiao: “Our forces are insufficient to begin with; this is already our highest configuration.”

On the virtual screen in midair, Gao Wanxin took over: “I can reallocate three more legions over there.”

Li Xiao shook his head: “Do not reallocate any more from your side; it will affect other war zones.”

Song Jin leaned both hands on the tabletop, looking at the holographic structural map of the garrison base: “This tiny number of people is nothing.”

Gao Wanxin glanced at Song Jin, asking calmly: “Can one against ten be suppressed?”

Song Jin: “Forget one against ten—even if ten more legions came, we’d still take them down.”

Just as they spoke, Yi Lian’s adjutant came over to report: “The Ninth Legion has entered the airspace!”

The holographic map updated the scan results from the monitoring system in real time. Densely packed red dots appeared above the structural map, completely overwhelming the blue dots representing the Third Legion in sheer numbers.

Yi Lian knitted his brows as he watched the Meng family army approach, asking Li Ji: “Should we temporarily hold off on the rescue operation? Drive them outside our attack range first.”

“No need.”

Li Xiao picked up the conversation, “They can’t reach our rescue ships.”

Yi Lian glanced at the positions of the two armies, thinking to himself that they could definitely reach them.

The public hadn’t been transferred yet, so they couldn’t use any large-scale lethal weapons, whereas the enemy had no such misgivings. Fighting under these conditions put them at too much of a disadvantage.

As they spoke, the blue dots on the structural map gradually lowered their altitude, spreading outward with the garrison base as the center—these were the rescue warships dispatched by the Third Legion.

At the same time, a section of the group of red dots opposite them split off and moved toward the blue dots, their altitude continuing to drop.

“No way, there’s no way to carry out the rescue like this!”

Yi Lian said anxiously, “They are determined not to let us transfer the people out!”

Li Xiao: “09, prepare to launch the light cannon.”

09: “Firing program ready!”

Li Xiao: “Destroy them all.”

09: “Locking onto targets—starting launch—”

In the blink of an eye, all the red dots moving toward the blue dots on the structural map began flashing, prompts popping up one after another—

【Target destroyed.】

Yi Lian and the other officers widened their eyes.

Yi Lian’s adjutant couldn’t help a low exclamation: “It won’t be suppressed even at such close range?!”

When crossing Jump Point 90, they thought they had successfully activated the light cannon because the distance was far enough and they had taken the enemy by surprise.

Who could have guessed the anti-interception system in the Second Prince’s hands was this awesome?!

Even in a face-to-face head-on clash, it could ignore the enemy’s interception and defense control systems, sending them packing with a single light cannon blast!

Li Xiao nodded: “Leave the reinforcements to you guys. Be careful not to let them drop below the safe distance.”

“Received!”

Yi Lian’s confidence instantly surged tenfold.

Li Ji glanced at Song Jin.

He hadn’t expected that besides being able to shift form freely, 09 could forcibly upgrade the anti-interception system as well.

Shengya was indeed a full step ahead of Danse in military weapon research and development.

After the war, he had to get Xiaoxiao to trick some advanced weapons out of Shengya.

“Achoo—!” Song Jin sneezed.

Li Xiao held his hand to test his temperature: “Are you cold?”

Song Jin: “Which old guy is thinking about me again?”

Li Xiao: “…”

Li Ji silently shifted his gaze away.

As long as there are enough desserts, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Sector One Garrison Base of N001, Command Center.

As the alpha commander listened to a group of subordinates discussing plans to stop the Third Legion’s rescue operation, intense light suddenly flashed on the monitoring screen. He turned to look, then stood up abruptly and walked over.

The moment the light cannon struck a warship, it exploded, and after the bright light faded, the warship vanished where it stood.

The commander urgently connected to the Ninth Legion’s command cabin: “What’s the situation?! Did you not suppress the Third Legion’s light cannon firing program?!”

The officer taking the call had a solemn expression: “The interception system failed and is being checked. You must cut off the Third Legion’s rescue operation!”

The commander’s scalp went numb, and the terror in his eyes couldn’t be suppressed.

He had taken it for granted that both sides’ large weapons would be suppressed, so their side’s ten-fold troop count would have no issue dealing with the enemy. As the garrison commander, he only needed to keep the base from being taken.

Yet the Ninth Legion was actually unable to disable the Third Legion’s light cannons?!

Meaning the Royal Family could level the garrison base to the ground with a light cannon blast at any moment!

They hadn’t done so only because the light cannon would affect nearby residents.

If the Royal Family successfully evacuated everyone, the garrison base could not be saved!

Thinking of this, the commander turned to shout harshly at the group of subordinates around the conference table: “No more discussions! Deploy all destroyers, mechas, and fighter jet units to intercept the enemy’s rescue operation with full force!”

The eyes of the subordinates turned sharp: “Yes!”

In Sector One, crowds of people stood watching the war situation on various city streets, countless people taking photos toward the sky, while many media outlets were conducting full-coverage livestreams.

The streets were overly noisy. A local media reporter held a camera, forced to use maximum volume to explain the situation on-site.

“Just now, the Third Legion fired light cannons at the Ninth Legion! Several warships were destroyed, and so far no counterattack from the Ninth Legion has been seen. It seems the Meng family does not want to attack the Royal Family, but rather the Royal Family is being so vicious toward its own military…”

As he spoke, a group of teenagers rushed into the frame, shouting loudly.

“Bullshit! The Meng family army doesn’t want to resist? They can’t resist!”

“If the Meng family army is really that good, why hijack us ordinary people to threaten the Royal Family?!”

“Everyone in the livestream, don’t believe this media outlet! Its controlling shareholder belongs to the Meng faction! They’ve been smearing the Royal Family since way back!”

A wave of rotten eggs flooded the livestream chat.

Other onlookers at the scene, hearing the teenagers’ shouts, directly snatched the reporter’s livestreaming gear and shoved him into a corner.

“Licking the Meng family’s boots, huh? If you’ve got the guts, don’t evacuate—stay here and live or die with the Meng family army!”

Pushed and shoved, the reporter could barely stand firm in the crowd, talking back angrily: “Whether I evacuate or not is none of your damn business! I’m a reporter! Everything I say is the truth!”

An hot-tempered uncle among the bystanders: “Say another word and I’ll drag you off to trade for a stainless steel washbasin! How shameless can you get?!”

“They’re here! The Third Legion’s warships have arrived!” someone exclaimed in the crowd.

The bystanders who were schooling the reporter looked up toward the high sky.

Both side doors of the warships marked with the Third Legion opened wide as rescue ships swarmed out, speeding toward various sectors and covering the residential zones in a grid pattern.

The subtitles on the giant ad screens on both sides of the street changed once more—

【Please inform one another to proceed to evacuation assembly points in an orderly manner according to the following routes.】

Which street’s residents should gather where and board which ship to leave were all clearly marked.

No one dared delay, moving toward designated locations according to the instructions.

Before taking more than a few steps, screams rang out in the crowd again.

“They’re fighting!”

“The Third Legion’s ships are surrounded and can’t descend!”

“The Meng family isn’t leaving anyone a way out!”

The Third Legion’s warships were surrounded by destroyers, and the rescue ships were also surrounded by garrison ships. What was even worse, people on the street realized the planned routes were completely impassable—they were all blocked by the garrison’s armored vehicles!

Someone tried to fly a car secretly above the armored vehicles, but as soon as they drew close, the vehicle’s AI sent an alert that the hovering system was under attack and needed an immediate emergency landing, making it impossible to fly over.

Third Legion Rescue Ship, Hangar Bay.

Jiang Hao, Lin Shuo, and a group of military cadets listened to their instructor explaining points of attention.

This time, the cadets were responsible for battlefield rescue and guiding the public to transfer as quickly as possible.

Instructor Zhao De listened to the monitor feed. Waiting for another lead instructor to finish speaking, he added: “Just received news that the garrison has deployed in full force to intercept us. Everyone pay attention: wait until mecha and fighter jet units clear the way before entering rescue zones to perform rescues.”

Jiang Hao and the others: “Understood!”

All students were split into fifteen-person squads, arriving beside designated military transport vehicles according to terminal prompts to await departure orders.

A group of soldiers wearing mecha pilot uniforms emerged in unison from the elevator.

Standing by the driver’s seat, Jiang Hao spotted his older brother Jiang Chi at a glance, his eyes widening abruptly.

“Bro…”

Hearing this, Lin Shuo looked in the direction of Jiang Hao’s gaze: “Which one is your brother?”

Jiang Hao: “The tallest one in front.”

“Turns out your brother is an officer in the Third Legion—that’s awesome!” The envy in Lin Shuo’s tone couldn’t be suppressed.

Unlike his brother, who was just an ordinary dirty merchant.

Watching Jiang Chi walk closer, Jiang Hao couldn’t help stepping up to meet him, asking in a low voice: “Bro, how did you sneak in?”

Jiang Chi: “…”

What kind of suspicious look is that?

“Time was tight, so I was temporarily assigned to the mecha unit. A new position will be arranged for me later.”

Jiang Chi tapped the chest badge representing military rank, “Though the rank is real enough.”

Jiang Hao was completely dumbfounded.

His brother was an unregistered star pirate—where did he get a military rank from?

Is the god-father he acknowledged this time that awesome?

With one look at his expression, Jiang Chi knew Jiang Hao didn’t understand, but he didn’t elaborate. He pressed his hand onto Jiang Hao’s head, rustling his hair vigorously, grinning widely: “This time I can take you into battle properly.”

Jiang Hao’s eyes flickered, his nose turning sour.

Yes, this was his original brother.

He had waited for this moment for a long time.

The departure time was almost up. Jiang Chi turned to head toward the mecha unit’s assembly point, but was called back by Jiang Hao.

“Do you even know how to pilot a mecha?” Jiang Hao asked seriously.

Lin Shuo beside them felt a little disappointed: “…”

Sounds like this brother is pretty unreliable.

The questioned Jiang Chi: “…”

If I don’t prove myself, this won’t do.

Main City Sector Streets.

The garrison’s blockades caused massive crowds of civilians to gather, curses ringing out everywhere, yet the garrison turned a blind eye.

With two armies locked in confrontation high in the sky, staying here meant waiting to die.

Anxiety and panic continued to spread, and the crowd erupted.

A massive crowd tried to climb over the armored vehicles, rushing toward the armed soldiers, determined to fight the garrison to the death.

“Move out of the way!”

“You are Danse’s military, yet you point your guns at Danse people!”

“Charge through! They won’t dare fire!”

The garrison soldiers all looked tense. Seeing the crowd about to charge over, an impulsive soldier chambered a round, raised his gun, and pulled the trigger on the crowd.

Bang! Bang—!

Two gunshots drew countless screams.

The scene lost control.

Seeing this, other garrison soldiers also pressed their barrels down.

“Nobody move!”

A row of armored vehicles parked across the street turned their cannon barrels, aiming at the dense crowd.

“Run! The garrison is killing people! Run—!” Several young men in the front row of the crowd screamed hysterically while raising their hands to signal a retreat to the rear.

“Hide inside the shops!”

“Get down!”

“Don’t come over anymore! Someone got shot and died!”

Shouts mixed with screams and crying dragged the entire street into deeper terror.

Were they going to die here?

Inside an armored vehicle, a beta second lieutenant heard orders from his superior and commanded loudly over the public channel: “We absolutely cannot let them pass through here! Fire!”

Just as the other garrison soldiers heard the order, a loud boom echoed beside their ears—a long blade nearly twenty meters long plunged straight down from above the armored vehicle.

The armored vehicle was instantly crushed out of shape and snapped into two halves, sparks crackling as several muffled explosions sounded from within.

Dark crimson blood dripped down the blade, pooling into a large stain on the ground.

Ordinary people had never seen such a sight; panicked out of their wits, they didn’t know what to do.

A black mecha swooped down from high altitude, grabbing the hilt and flicking it up—a row of armored vehicles was sent flying outward, crashing into the high-rises beside the street and embedding directly into the glass windows of various floors.

The remaining garrison soldiers turned pale, and before they could flee, they were struck by bullets fired from the mecha’s legs.

Before the people on the street could recover from the shock, Li Xiao’s calm voice rang out from the black mecha.

“The no-fly protocol has been terminated. Those with vehicles follow behind me, keeping a safe distance of two hundred meters. Those without vehicles, wait on the spot for rescue vehicles to arrive.”

“I-Is it the Second Prince?!”

“It’s Li Xiao!”

“The Second Prince came to save us in person!”

“Quick, move! His Highness said he’ll lead the way for us!”

Soon, a fleet of rescue vehicles flew in from the distance, slowly descending onto the street.

Military cadets got off with the Third Legion soldiers, arranging for the public to board in an orderly fashion.

Those with vehicles flew them to designated flight lanes, only to discover that mechas were everywhere across the entire urban sector.

The rescue vehicles followed behind the mecha echelons, descending to the ground to pick people up only after the mechas cleared enemy forces along the route.

To make it easy for the public to receive correct instructions, Li Xiao activated the local area public channel.

In every vehicle, everyone could hear Li Xiao’s commands through the vehicle’s AI, instantly feeling an overflowing sense of security.

Halfway through the flight, numerous silver mechas could be seen descending from garrison ships in the distance. A portion of them charged straight toward them, drawing exclamations from many people on the public channel.

“They’re coming again?!”

“Second Prince, be careful!”

“Using mechas against us, aren’t they overestimating us a bit too much?!”

Before the silver mechas could approach, another black mecha flew past at extreme speed, drawing its blade backward and executing several aerial flips, harvesting an entire mecha echelon in the blink of an eye.

“So cool!”

“This mecha pilot is so strong!”

“Could a general from the Third Legion have taken the field to help?”

“Since the Second Prince came in person, it wouldn’t be surprising if a general came too.”

“Compared like this, the gap between an ordinary soldier and a general really is night and day.”

“It’s not a general.”

Li Xiao’s voice came over the public channel, and everyone subconsciously paused to listen.

Watching that arrogant black mecha fly over, Li Xiao listened to the crowd’s praises and chuckled softly: “It’s my Little Jin.”

The black mecha appeared to just be passing by, not slowing down as it drew near.

As they brushed past each other, the two raised their hands simultaneously, their fingertips lightly touching.

The crowd following Li Xiao watched as the black mecha charged toward the enemy forces once more, clearing out another wave as if it were child’s play, making them draw a collective sharp breath.

It was actually Song Jin?!

Watching competitions through a screen before, they had already felt Song Jin was strong, but seeing it live on-site was so mind-blowing.

He seemed to control everything on the battlefield—every move decisive, ruthless, and without a trace of hesitation. Free, relaxed, yet power-packed, carrying a natural beauty in every movement, it was sheer visual feast.

The Second Prince was actually able to fight to a draw with a Song Jin like this?!

Just how strong must he be!

Could those old guys in the Meng family even stand up to this?