Chapter 1043: Chapter 567, All Members Arrive_2
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Duboâs strategy was correct.
Gu Hang indeed felt considerable pressure now.
This was the strongest opponent Gu Hang had faced since the Unclean One Gowaga.
The difference was that the battle with Gowaga took place within the Storm God Kingdom, his home turf, where his power could be greatly amplified.
Currently, although he was much stronger than when he had fought Gowaga, he lacked the home advantage and had to fight on the opponentâs turf, supporting so many Heroic Spirit Warriors simultaneously.
The pressure was indeed immense.
The most direct manifestation was that nearly a thousand out of tens of thousands of psychics in the Allianceâs Storm Mage Corps had been lost by now.
A seven percent casualty rate had already made a significant impact. Although not everyone diedâonly three to four hundred were shot in the headâthe remaining six hundred suffered injuries that could heal in the future.
But this was still painful to bear.
The Storm Mage Corps wasnât cheap either; itâs one of the family assets that Gu Hang painstakingly accumulated over the years. Quite a portion of the personnel were cultivated by Gu Hang using Gift Points.
One psychic costs a hundred Gift Pointsâenough to get a Genetic Seed!
Of course, the major investment in cultivating an Interstellar Warrior is in the preliminary selection and later training. The cultivation of a Psychic Mage is pretty much a one-time deal, and subsequent upgrades generally donât cost Gu Hang any more Gift Points.
Regardless, the loss of over three hundred lives meant thirty thousand Gift Points were gone. Not to mention, people with psychic talent are rare, requiring a large population base and a long time to screen to assemble this ten-thousand strong mage corps; itâs not easy.
Moreover, personnel losses wouldnât affect the overall strength significantly. After all, the core provider of power in the psychic confrontation is Gu Hang. However, the pressure and consumption during the confrontation require a myriad of psychics to share the burden with him.
As the number of his Storm Mage Corps reduced, the time Gu Hang could support so many Heroic units fighting within enemy ships while withstanding the power of the Neuron Progeny in space would be shortened.
Currently, itâs not obvious, but once the mage corps is reduced by 20%, 30%, the pressure on each remaining Storm Mage would significantly increase to an unbearable point. This could trigger a chain reaction, potentially causing the whole situation to collapse.
Without the entire mage corps as a backup, Gu Hangâs sustainability would be sharply reduced. At that point, it would almost be equivalent to Gu Hangâs failure.
By then, he would likely have to think about how to retreat with his ships rather than how to defeat Alfonsoâs Mechanical Fleet.
Of course, itâs not that dire yet.
Though the Heroic Spirits manifested within the enemy ships were locked in a stalemate, it didnât mean Gu Hang had exhausted all his means.
What would break the deadlock?
Naturally, it wasnât possible to directly teleport a Skyburn Torpedo over.
If he could, Gu Hang certainly would want to do so. Forget the Skyburn Torpedo; even sending in dozens of missiles like the Scorching East Wind would have devastating effects when detonated within the ship.
Unfortunately, psychic teleportation couldnât achieve that.
Currently, the Heroic Spirits fighting within enemy ships were essentially all manifestations of Gu Hangâs spiritual power, a reflection of subspace energy from the Storm God Kingdom. They appeared to wield firearms and wear power armor, but in reality, these things were just âappearances.â
Whether itâs bullets fired or slashes from power swords, essentially all were exhibitions of Storm Divine Power. The Heroic Spirits were just visual manifestations, a way to present the concept of Storm Divine Power in the physical universe.
They werenât material.
Unless he personally boarded the enemy ship, spending a few days establishing a stable exit, like those secret research institutes he built on Rage Owl Star for transferring black box creations.
But thatâs clearly impossible.
A temporarily torn subspace rift couldnât transfer physical matter.
And the capability of psychic teleportation?
Also wonât work.
Essentially, psychic teleportation involves a soul resonance with the target to send the soul and the life form it represents to the desired location.
This means that psychic teleportation only allows living beings with souls to pass through.
Each living beingâs personal equipment and weapons are fundamentally responsibilities of the individual, relatively limited in weight but emphasizing the binding of the âmachine soulâ with the life form.
As transcendent life forms, Interstellar Warriors possess extremely strong life force in both soul and body, allowing them to carry more, stronger, and larger equipment. However, transporting a Dreadnought Mech with full combat munitions almost maxes out the capacity.
However, any highly destructive weapon, like a Scorching East Wind missile, has a larger and heavier warhead, lacking the âmachine soulâ of armor or firearms, and the long-term binding effect with the user, making it impossible to be transmitted together.
While Gu Hang couldnât directly teleport bombs inside the enemy ships, he still had Interstellar Warriors who could be teleported.
Boarding actions by Interstellar Warriors were an excellent method for resolving such issues.
The carefully nurtured Phoenix Battle Group was meant to play a crucial role at such moments.
Currently, Gu Hang had another option: the Blood Sharks.
As a parsimonious warlord, if he could avoid sacrificing his forces and let the Blood Sharks, not yet part of his battle group, undertake difficult tasks, it seemed like quite a favorable situation.
Especially since the Blood Sharks were highly capable in combat.
However, after careful consideration, Gu Hang decided against it.
Firstly, the extent to which the Blood Sharks were willing to commit their forces was uncertain. Would they really throw their entire battle group into an enemy ship at Gu Hangâs command?
The Phoenix could.
Secondly, the Heroic Spirits fighting within the enemy ships were sensitive. Itâs hard to predict how the Blood Sharks would react if they witnessed them.
Thirdly, and most importantly, while the Blood Sharks were strong and adept at rapid assault, they still werenât as capable in battle as the Phoenix, who Gu Hang personally nurtured.
After all, he had elevated one-third of the Phoenix to be championship-level squads, with the remaining two-thirds all of Sergeant Major grade elites. This disparity in individual soldier quality was something no regular battle group could make up for.
The conditions for psychic teleportation had already been met. But Gu Hang considered the defensive forces on the top battleship Alfonso II must be formidable, so he didnât immediately deploy the Interstellar Warriors, instead waiting for the right moment.
At present, Gu Hang believed the time had come.
Before initiating the teleportation, Gu Hang sent a query to Matins:
âAre you ready?â
âNo problem.â
âAlright, then go!â
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A flash of light crossed, revealing a distorted and surreal scene constantly twisting before Salas Martinsâ eyes. At the same time, he felt a violent tugging, as if his body was being torn apart.
But these feelings had become somewhat familiar. Even though for some reason it was more intense this time, it was still within tolerable limits.
These sensations seemed to last long, but it was merely an illusion during psychic teleportation. In reality, everything was completed in an instant.
After feeling a push from behind, he took a step forward. The next moment, the Battle Group Leader, clad in expertly crafted Iron Mount-type Terminator armor, placed a heavy step on the steel floor.
With a âthudâ, he completed the teleportation.
And the sound of power boots contacting the floor followed in rapid succession.
Without orders from Matins, the Sergeant Majors of each squad and tactical group began headcounts.
Moments later, captains reported: All eight companies of the Phoenix Battle Group have arrived!