Chapter 806: Battle Formation

“Break away at full speed and exit the battlefield,” Song Yu said without hesitation.

She had no intention of getting involved in such a meaningless war. The old Chancellor didn’t want to either. But Li Xiaofei had a different view.

“The transport ships are frantically moving troops. A battle like this, which requires conventional forces, absolutely won’t involve Yin-Yang Realm experts or higher. We’re not in any real danger. Since that’s the case, we should lend a hand. As fellow humans, how can we stand by and watch our own perish?” said Li Xiaodei as he advocated for joining the fight.

“You... you’re insane!” Song Yu fumed. “Don’t play with fire.”

The old Chancellor fell silent, seemingly deep in thought.

Li Xiaofei said, “In that case, let’s stick with the usual plan. The Shennong will fall back and leave the battlefield. I’ll go in alone. When the battle ends, I’ll return on my own, I won’t burden any of you.”

In the end, Li Xiaofei left the ship alone and headed for the front lines. Shin Koharu stayed behind on the ship for the time being. In the eyes of the others, she was just a weakling with mediocre strength and not worth paying attention to. Of course, Li Xiaofei took Ishihara Masami into the Secret Time Pavilion and kept her with him.

Wearing a standard human soldier’s powered armor, Li Xiaofei crept toward the battlefield. Eventually, he blended in beneath one of the transport ships and descended alongside the other deployed soldiers, air-dropping onto one of the planets.

It was a dead star. There were no plants or water sources. The terrain was rugged, mostly made up of ochre-colored hills and loess mounds.

Boom!

Li Xiaofei landed on the ground and sank into the loose yellow earth until half his body was buried. Li Xiaofei quickly leaped out of the dirt.

“Form up! Emergency assembly!”

“Quickly, everyone prep and gather. You have one minute!”

“You little bastards, move it!”

The team commander’s roar echoed through the public communication channel.

Soldiers clad in powered armor swiftly assembled. Li Xiaofei blended in among them.

The armor he wore was a cutting-edge model from Chongque City, featuring chameleon-like technology that allowed its colors and graffiti patterns to change. It was now mimicking those of the current squad.

“Roll call.”

“Huh? Who are you?”

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The squad commander quickly noticed Li Xiaofei.

But before Li Xiaofei could think of an excuse, the commander bellowed again, “Was there an airdrop error? Doesn’t matter. Now that you’re here, you’re one of mine. Fall in and move it! We’re heading out to reinforce the Quark Battalion brothers. Step on it!”

Just like that, Li Xiaofei successfully blended in.

In truth, it wasn’t uncommon for unit numbers and personnel to become misaligned during large-scale operations like this one with rapidly deployed reinforcements, leaving many unable to locate their assigned squads.

Li Xiaofei followed the team as they moved forward. It didn’t take them long to encounter ambushes from Reaper grunts.

This was Li Xiaofei’s first time participating in a battle on the Star Battlefield, and also his first time seeing a Reaper unit up close.

He was surprised to see that the Reapers bore a striking resemblance to humans. They didn’t look like the beast-like creatures he had imagined. They also wore metallic exoskeletons for protection and used firearms and ammunition just like human forces.

The squad of twenty Reaper grunts they faced was not weak. Li Xiaofei quickly assessed that these grunts were around the Star level. Their firearms were highly lethal, and accurate hits could even pose a threat to Neutron Star level beings.

Of course, the human soldiers were in no way inferior in equipment and weaponry.

After a fierce skirmish, the Reaper squad was completely wiped out. Li Xiaofei caught a glimpse of a rat-like face, baring its fangs with a grotesque and savage expression, beneath a shattered helmet.

So this is the true face of the Reapers...?

Gunfire and the clanking of exoskeleton power armor, transport ships and soldiers, a desolate battlefield...

Li Xiaofei felt as though he had suddenly stepped into the world of Star Battle Squad. After a grueling twenty-minute forced march, the squad finally reached their designated location, a mountainous area. After eliminating a few Reaper scouts, they secured the high ground.

They could clearly see a human unit trapped in the basin below, struggling to defend what appeared to be a metallic base installation. The Reaper forces surged forward like waves while the human defensive lines were being torn apart and steadily pushed back.

Whoosh!

A sharp, piercing sound tore through the air. A crimson signal flare streaked across the sky above the basin. Human forces suddenly appeared from the high hills surrounding the basin, launching a full-scale bombardment on the Reaper troops below.

As energy rounds burst forth, streams of fire swept in crisscrossing patterns across the battlefield.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Weapons resembling mortars fired shell after shell of tracer rounds, drawing erratic, jagged arcs through the air before landing amidst the Reaper forces. Each shell exploded violently, releasing intense heat that vaporized everything within hundreds of meters in an instant.

Zzzzzz—

The Reapers retaliated just as swiftly.

Disc-shaped devices, spinning at high speed, rolled up the slope into the crowd. Once they reached the center, they detonated with a sudden bang, unleashing a flurry of fragmented energy shrapnel that shredded countless soldiers in the blink of an eye.

The ground trembled and heaved. A massive yellow-brown creature resembling an ant, magnified several hundred times, burst forth from beneath the ground without warning. It unleashed a thunderous roar as it swung its terrifying forelimbs that were sharp as scythes at the human soldiers.

“It’s a Ground Scorpion! Scatter—scatter, now!” The squad leader roared out a warning while hoisting his high-explosive machine gun, unloading a furious barrage of rounds at the monstrous beast.

He knew all too well how dangerous these creatures were. If they didn’t have the support of heavy mechs, it was sure to be a massacre.

Damn it. The intel was wrong.

Why did the Reapers even deploy high-tier war beasts like this?

Despair filled his eyes.

And just then—

Shhhk!

A flash of sword light streaked through the air. The ten-meter-tall Ground Scorpion suddenly froze in place. Then, its head tumbled to the ground as if cleaved cleanly from its body like a sliced watermelon.

The squad leader was stunned and overjoyed at the same time. It was that same stray soldier, the one he had taken into the squad earlier, who had struck the war beast down.

When he saw the energy sword in the soldier’s hand, he shouted, “Nice work! Brother, are you a sword gladiator?”

Rumor had it that there were close-combat soldiers within the Human Martial Division who wielded energy-based cold weaponry. These warriors possessed terrifying melee capabilities, rivaling the Reapers’ high-tier war beasts. He hadn’t expected to encounter one here today.

Li Xiaofei didn’t respond. Instead, he struck again and again, swiftly decapitating all the Ground Scorpions emerging from the surrounding hills. Then, he transformed into a streak of light, diving straight into the Reaper formation below.

“So strong...” The squad leader watched in awe, utterly shocked.

This level of combat ability clearly wasn’t something a typical sword gladiator could display. He had to be a high-level powerhouse.

“Charge! Full assault!” The squad leader roared, ordering his men to storm down the slope.

Meanwhile, the Reaper formation had already descended into chaos. Li Xiaofei cut through the enemy like mowing grass, slicing down wave after wave of Reapers with unstoppable momentum. The tide of battle turned in an instant.