#993 - Advance

The morning light gently sprinkled the earth.

Never before had Europe experienced such a tense moment. Everyone was working overtime to ensure the production lines correctly manufactured the planned products—

Transport vehicles were driven away by drivers and remote control engineers as soon as they were produced; weapons, drones, and combat robots were transported as soon as they were manufactured; soldiers were on their way to the front lines before they even received their weapons.

Many even completed the calibration of their brain-machine interfaces on the way, experiencing the real battlefield in virtual reality.

And the real battlefield had already erupted in war.

There were no war drums or roars, only the low, resonant rumble of machinery.

Titan mechs crushed the yellow sand, steel-boned warhorses carried scouts swiftly across fields, hills, and deserts, and swarms of drones scattered for reconnaissance. Everything seemed orderly.

[Titan Pilot #0212: This is the largest military operation on this planet since World War II. We are encircling the entire Middle East, which is more than 250 times the size of Latvia.]

[Titan Pilot #0116: It feels strange. We and the EU were unfamiliar neighbors just a few years ago, and now we're fighting side-by-side.]

[Christopher: No one wants to be made into a specimen by robots.]

Although the Titan Pilots were separated by real-world distances, network technology connected them closely—

The King's Seat served as a signal base, with drones acting as relays to extend the battle lines. On this network, hundreds of Titan Pilots and tens of thousands of soldiers were united, and hundreds of thousands of drones and armed vehicles advanced towards the front lines.

Christopher, as the captain of the Royal Guard and Latvia's first Titan Pilot, often faced questions from many new recruits.

Although the country believed in Riel's abilities as king and was unwavering in its faith in the future he offered, not everyone had Christopher's mindset. They would be afraid, they would be fearful, they would be suspicious.

A real, broader world.

[Titan Pilot #0212: We're going to strike at Ultron, attack that robot's palace like we're attacking the former Grand Duke's head, at any cost!]

[Titan Pilot #0212: But I don't understand, why do we need to maintain such a large front?]

Although knowledge could be crammed into the memory of their brains, and skills could be directly called upon using skill chips, perspective and awareness could not. The current batch of Titan Pilots and regular soldiers, although possessing strong wills and excellent execution, could not understand many things.

For example, in their minds, taking out the leader of a battle meant winning more than half the battle. They could completely launch a full-scale attack after defeating Ultron's factories, so that the efficiency of the raid could be maximized, instead of confronting Ultron's army head-on from the start.

How were they going to intercept the enemy in such a vast area? Why did they have to disperse their forces to such an extent, even to intercept Ultron?

[Christopher: If Ultron develops more troops, it can launch attacks on other areas of Europe at will, and then we'll be on the defensive. It's best to control it while its first wave of attacks has been repelled and the robot types and numbers are still manageable.]

Although the scale of the war was large, it was actually a blitzkrieg compared to historical wars.

If it turned into a war of attrition, then Ultron would only need to drop bombs everywhere to blow up farms and factories, and human society would be finished—

Who knew if a self-iterating AI would evolve more exquisite tactics and strategic thinking from the history of human infighting?

At least for now, Ultron's terror still lay only in its terrifying production capacity, and its first round of offensive thinking was also very simple: concentrate forces to seize territory.

If it discovered the effectiveness of harassment strategies, there might never be living people outside the major cities.

But Christopher knew what his compatriots didn't understand: the EU's armies were still undergoing reorganization and upgrading, which meant that the first wave of attacks, especially the vanguard, were basically Latvians.

Although they believed in Riel, believing that the King's decisions were the heavenly voice leading them to victory, when they were living miserable lives, not so many Europeans were willing to risk their lives to save them.

[Christopher: To save humanity—we can say that now. Humanity is counting on us.]

[Titan Pilot #0212: That sounds like a crusade story written by the church, defeating evil artificial beings and saving the world or something.]

[Christopher: Unfortunately, this isn't a story. We really are saving the world.]

[Titan Pilot #0154: I believe that just because Europeans can't be counted on doesn't mean we can't. Ultron's target is obviously not just the EU. It's not, uh, a racist. It's a species extermination robot!]

[Titan Pilot #0054: I agree. Other people can't be counted on, but that doesn't mean we should give up on this world. His Majesty has given us everything. For the future, I will execute his orders without hesitation.]

[Titan Pilot #0212: Me too—guys, you misunderstood me. I just wanted to liven things up a bit.]

[Titan Pilot #0099: Don't liven things up anymore. You're not suited for it.]

[A01 Theater Warning: Anomaly detected.]

[Scout #0876: Shot down an Ultron drone. We're approaching its area.]

[C09 Theater Report: Firefight in this area!]

[F05 Theater Report: Multiple large Ultron robot formations confirmed, deploying fixed turrets—]

Ultron's robot army poured out, artillery fire and missiles streaked across the Middle Eastern sky, and the battle had completely begun!

The advancing front lines began to report the discovery of enemies and the outbreak of firefights. On the holographic map in front of Riel, the front lines of different theaters began to turn yellow and then turn red—

A large number of mechanical factories and transport convoys were observed in the desert, as well as Ultron robot armies being mobilized!

This was a full-scale firefight, and the facts also proved that Riel's ideas and front-line planning were correct:

Firefights broke out in almost all theaters!

In cyberspace, Ultron's hacking signals also launched a full-scale attack on the combat network. The information distortion rate continued to increase, and the pressure on the front lines suddenly soared. Ultron had launched a counterattack!

As Riel had predicted, Ultron's forces far outnumbered those of Latvia!

The moment large-scale firefights broke out on the front lines, Riel judged that they would be at a disadvantage—

But the King's Seat still remained in the high sky behind the front lines, with no intention of joining the battle.

The King's Seat had to wait until the location of Ultron's central core was confirmed before joining the battlefield!

[D11 Theater Discovers Anomaly!]

[We've detected strange optical scan data!]

[The earth is covered in metal!]