Chapter 2658 - Encounter in the Wilderness
The Swordgod Lin Clan's hundreds of sword-ships created hundreds of colorful streamers as nova source scattered from them. As the number one trading group in the Infinitum Mundus, for countless generations, the Lin Clan had been accustomed to piloting ships over long distances in the starry sky.
Their footprints covered the entire realm and they had established their presence in every helical-class world. For that reason, the coverage of the Lin Clan was even broader than that of the ebons, in a certain sense, and their experience in traversing the starry sky was more extensive.
The Lin Clan had been roaming the astralscape for many years, and were always under the threat of pirates. For them, space battles were commonplace! Their ships often carried large quantities of goods, and hijacking one would ensure a lifetime of comfort for many small-time criminals.
Because of that, since they’d embarked on the path of business, thousands of generations of the Swordgod Lin Clan had been researching how to survive in the starry sky, transport their goods safely, and ensure that their families smoothly reached their destinations!
They had standardized their astralships into the shape of sword-ships for a reason.
The ships conformed to the Lin Clan's sword traditions and were agile in the starry sky, ranking in the top tier among astralships of various shapes in terms of speed. More importantly, by using a single standardized form, they could better maintain their formation during large-scale travel, forming a sword formation. Whether it was in battle or a breakout, they would have a certain advantage in facing enemies.
On the other hand, the Second Exterminatus Army was entirely different!
The Second Exterminatus Army was primarily composed of the ebons, supplemented by the five Infinitum Regal Clans and many peak clans of Ebonia. The fleet’s ships came in all shapes and sizes.
Human heads, eyes, ships, beasts, and more. Looking at them, it was a complete hodgepodge, far from the neatness of the Star Hunters' ‘gears’. Moreover, they varied in size. Some leaned toward transport-type ships, which were large, but had weak combat power, while others were small but extremely fast.
The Second Exterminatus Army's various disorderly and mismatched aspects were a given.
Shenxi Tianxi and the others knew that, in terms of the uniformity of ship warfare, their ragtag army was far inferior to the Lin Clan. And whether traveling in unison or traveling light was better remained to be seen.
Before, they had been testing each other. Practice would yield results!
When the Dreamchild was defeated, Shenxi Xingtian had gone on the run and ordered them to take down the Lin Clan at all costs. The decision-making group of the Second Exterminatus Army, led by Shenxi Tianxi, Lin Jie, Shengkai Linyi, and dozens of others directly ordered all ships to launch an attack against the group of sword-ships ahead!
The battle would be fundamentally different from the previous defensive battle on the Sun.
For the ebons, the Sun had been the site of a landing battle, while for Tianming, it was a city defense battle! Backed by the Flameyellow Guard Formation, using the Sun as the battlefield and Yin Chen as eyes, they had set up a heavenly net to resist and strangle the enemy.
However, the confrontation between the Swordgod Lin Clan and the Second Exterminatus Army was an encounter in the wilderness. Both sides had no defenses to rely on.
In the boundless and empty starry sky, astralships were more agile and their travel speed was faster. Thus, a melee was often more brutal. The difference was clear in the minds of both sides.
The members of the council hall and branch masters were in constant communication through transmission stones.
"The enemy’s in dire straits and will definitely fight to the death! We have no way out! We must go all out, fight to the end, and seek a chance to escape and meet up with the Sun! Our goal is to migrate and minimize our losses!"
Everyone was well aware of that. At the moment, they knew that expecting the enemy to show mercy or not fight resolutely was impossible.
Before this moment, all members of the Lin Clan had been worried when they’d heard about the appearance of the Rex Mundi Meng Ying of the divine wonderian. However, news had come that Lin Feng was now in control of an infinitum-class Ninedragon Imperial Tomb and he’d spanked Meng Ying so hard they’d tucked their tails and fled in shame. The Lin Clan’s morale had surged to an all-time high with the news that the Sun had achieved a decisive victory. Their determination and willpower had reached their historical peak.
Everyone had eyes that blazed with determination while their chests filled with a blazing fire!
"The Sun won!"
"The rex mundi was routed, and the three million astral gods are like fish in a barrel. The Ebonfiend is also being hunted down by Etherean Gladeus!"
"It’s so satisfying!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill them all!"
"The ebons and their allies suffered heavy casualties! They no longer have an overwhelming advantage over us. If we can take a bite out of them here, we’ll have more than enough capital to stand on equal footing with them with the Sun and two infinitum-class astralships on our side!"
"As long as we make it to the Sun alive, the Lin Clan will truly dominate the mundus!"
The logic was clear even to a three-year-old child. Everyone understood how crucial it was to withstand the Second Exterminatus Army's final desperate counterattack.
Both sides were fundamentally different.
In terms of belief, the Swordgod Lin Clan was at its zenith, with everyone's eyes spewing fire and their enthusiasm soaring.
On the other hand, the Second Exterminatus Army appeared fierce and full of hatred, but the recent news had dealt a severe blow to their minds. It was as if they had been stabbed several times, and they knew that the upcoming battle would be their final struggle. They had to fight with all their might, but the wounds on their bodies were constantly tearing at their hearts and will.
The difference was clear even from how the astralships moved. The Lin Clan’s sword-ships stably hovered there, gleaming with sharpness. As for the Second Exterminatus Army, they launched themselves forward in a mad frenzy!
Lin Xiao, Lin Changkong, and the rest had already expected it and had constantly rehearsed their response in their minds.
Lin Xiao had often roamed the starry sky while he was young and had experience in countless astralship battles. Now that the opponent was running them down, they couldn't afford to retreat and show their backs to the enemy!
"All units, turn around! Form Sword Formation Eight! Wings, take off! Center, charge forward!"