Chapter 240: If They Can Invade, So Can We! The Advantage Is Ours!
After wrapping up the conversation with V, Li Ang was confident that V now knew what needed to be done next—there was no need for him to micromanage the rest.
Although the megacorporation was reallocating troops and ships from across various universes to Universe 004, weakening security elsewhere to some degree, Ideal City's factories and the engineers and researchers stationed across different locations were working around the clock. Their goal was to maintain a solid stockpile of weapons and warships across all universes and remain prepared for any unforeseen incidents.
Universe 003, second in strategic importance only to Universe 004—the "Halo" universe—remained heavily guarded. V had not redeployed much of its defense force elsewhere.
At this moment, just after finishing his call with V, Li Ang was reviewing reports from different departments when he received a message from David.
It turned out that just recently, the transport shuttle carrying David, Rita, and the others had exited slipspace and arrived at Arcadia. From there, David and his team successfully infiltrated the enemy's core area and retrieved critical data from ONI's excavation site at the ruins.
Meanwhile, Rita, cage, and the others were covertly bribing local officials and gang leaders to map out Arcadia's defense layout and the internal structure of city hall.
It was obvious—they were planning to replicate their previous decapitation mission, aiming to seize control of Arcadia's central command and help the megacorporation secure the colony planet with minimal resistance.
However, without orders from top headquarters, they couldn't act rashly. For now, they would have to stay hidden and wait patiently.
Following his philosophy of remaining quiet until the decisive moment, Li Ang chose to focus on amassing sufficient warships, stockpiling resources, and preparing troops for multi-front warfare. At the same time, he planned to capture both the Shield World and Reach.
If war was inevitable, then he intended to go all in—leave no time or chance for the Covenant or UNSC to react.
Based on departmental reports, final preparations would take about another month.
During that period, the megacorporation also had to continue exploring the surrounding star systems near Prosperity extract local resources, and monitor the movements of the UNSC and rebel factions.
"Boss, David and the others have returned to the Multiverse Base headquarters with the Arcadia ruins data. Would you like to meet with them now?" a communications officer reported.
"Mm. Let them in."
Just as he finished speaking, a Falcon dropship appeared in the sky above headquarters, gradually decelerating and lowering its landing gear before coming to a smooth stop on the nearby landing pad.
The side doors opened, and David, and the other investigators disembarked, each carrying data cases as they made their way directly to HQ.
Only the Astartes warriors had returned this time. William cage had stayed behind, using his "Phantom Hand" tactics to buy favors and ensure these "walking tanks" could make it back safely.
Money talks—even in this world.
Thanks to those efforts, David and his team had been able to move back and forth between critical UNSC colonies and core installations as if they were strolling through their own backyard.
Three hours later.
With the help of the vital information David had retrieved from Shield World 0459, the AI Loki had managed to analyze part of the data:
[Boss, based on the Arcadia ruins information, combined with the Harvest ruins' coordinate system and data, we've successfully pinpointed the exact location of the Shield World.]
As he finished speaking, Loki projected a clear holographic screen displaying a fully marked star map of the Shield World.
[Shield World 0459 lies on the southern edge of the Orion Arm, approximately 425 light-years from Harvest, ( prosperity star ).]
Upon hearing Loki's report, Li Ang couldn't help but frown. He had known the Shield World was important, but he hadn't expected it to be that far away.
Even a fleet led by an Infinity-class warship would take considerable time to reach it.
If only we had a quantum catapult megastructure, Li Ang sighed inwardly. We could jump there in the blink of an eye.
Still, no matter how far it was, he had to send a fleet to launch an expedition to the Shield World.
[Additionally, we've determined that the Shield World is very close to Covenant-controlled space.]
[That means if we dispatch an expeditionary force, there's a high likelihood they'll clash with Covenant vanguards.]
Loki continued his briefing:
[If interstellar war breaks out, our long-range expedition may be at a disadvantage. Therefore, the decision to occupy the Shield World must be weighed carefully.]
Loki clearly understood the concept of "resting while the enemy exhausts itself." To reach the Shield World quickly, the megacorp's fleet would need to perform multiple slipspace jumps, which would heavily drain their energy reserves. By the time they arrived, they might be too depleted to fight off a Covenant vanguard.
However, even after understanding all of this, Li Ang had no intention of backing down.
The Shield World was rumored to contain critical information, advanced technology, and even remnants of the Forerunner civilization's "Neurophysics" techniques—all prizes the megacorporation would not miss for anything.
Distance and enemy interference weren't enough to make him abandon such valuable spoils. Anyone daring to challenge the megacorp for these treasures would be annihilated like the alien heretics they were!
"The ruins inside the Shield World are crucial to our foothold in Universe 004. I will not abandon our plan to seize it."
With the boss having made his decision, Loki naturally aligned with his mindset.
Their job was to provide intel and suggestions—the final judgment was Li Ang's. He was the one taking the risks, not them.
[Understood!] Loki replied.
Li Ang then turned to Loki again. "How's the decryption progress at the Harvest ruins?"
[Currently at 79%.]
Loki's holographic projection flickered as it displayed the core decryption results:
[We've unearthed Flood genetic samples at the ruins, coordinate data pointing to other sites, and relevant technological data.]
[However, to fully decode all the contents of the ruins, we'll need another 45 days.]
With support from AI Bartmos and Murphy the Webspider AI, Loki had been progressing smoothly—there were no major hurdles in the process.
Still, the remaining information was highly encrypted, requiring time and effort to unravel.
"Good. I'll continue sending teams to turn or capture more intelligent AIs to assist your decryption work."
Li Ang was fairly satisfied with his subordinates' performance, but if things could be accelerated, there was no reason to wait.
Efficiency was his creed—he wanted everything ready before the UNSC or Covenant could make any countermoves or launch an invasion.
Blazing through the entire campaign—that was a man's romance.
[Understood, boss!]
With that, Loki's hologram vanished, its computing power now redirected to continue the decryption.
Li Ang stepped away from the control console and boarded a Falcon shuttle, soaring above Ideal City. He looked out at the skyline and the towering cyberpunk holographic screens.
In this rare moment of solitude, his mind revisited all the recent operations and strategic deployments.
The megacorporation's current top priority was to seize Shield World 0459—located hundreds of light-years from Harvest.
After thinking it over, Li Ang decided to use the Long Night of Solace as the expedition's flagship and lead a massive force toward the system housing the Shield World.
He himself would remain at Multiverse Base as commander-in-chief, remotely directing the expedition via faster-than-light communication systems.
Since the Covenant fleet hadn't shown up yet to "glass the place," then if they can invade, so can he!
He would make sure the megacorp fleet struck first—storm the Covenant's turf, seize the ruins of the Shield World, and bring along Francis and other biotech division researchers.
And if they ran into any trouble they couldn't handle?
Then they'd unleash the Scorpia virus and wipe out every last alien heretic!
Covenant? Flood? If their genes matched the target parameters, the Scorpia virus would annihilate them all.
Now all that's missing is a generation-two Spartan!
In the Halo universe, aside from neurophysics and starlane tech, the next most valuable prize for Li Ang was clearly the Spartan augmentation protocols.
The pinnacle of the Spartan program—Gen II Spartans—were exactly the elite human-type combat units the megacorp needed.
After all, tank-like operatives like V weren't exactly ideal for infiltrating human societies or carrying out espionage and assassination missions.
And as the megacorp continued its multiversal conquest campaign, infiltration and recon would remain critical missions.
Unless, of course, they entered the Three-Body universe—where the Trisolarans' Sophons could monitor every microscopic move.
But even then, all those aliens could do was watch helplessly.
Faced with the megacorp's arsenal of high-tech weaponry, they wouldn't even have time to run.
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After all, the core flagships of the Megacorp's interstellar fleet were all equipped with faster-than-light (FTL) engines and protected by antimatter shields up front. Any droplet-class weapon sent their way would be destroyed on impact—dealing with the Trisolarans would be a breeze.
With that thought, Li Ang brought up a different holographic screen to check the positions of Reed and Jack Wells, along with the fleet they were aboard.
Not long ago, he had dispatched a warship to Reach, intending to covertly abduct Dr. Catherine Halsey and force her to work for the Megacorp in developing the second generation of Spartan soldiers.
In fact, two days prior, an Endless-class warship had already transported Reed, Jack, and the other Astartes warriors to a location approximately 0.5 light-years from Reach.
Thanks to the Endless-class warship's FTL engine, the fleet didn't need to fold through slipspace, making their trajectory completely undetectable to the UNSC.
Under Reed's command, the Megacorp fleet had successfully evaded UNSC surveillance and silently entered low orbit around Reach.
But this mission wasn't just about abducting the brilliant scientist Dr. Halsey—Reed's objective was to capture every single experimental subject, including Master Chief John-117, and bring them all back.
This meant Reed's team would certainly face fierce retaliation from ONI, and the Megacorp would have to prepare for a full-blown search operation by the UNSC, escalating until a direct and violent conflict broke out.
However, after days of careful preparation, Li Ang had already completed 80% of the major troop deployment. At this point, he had enough strength to completely crush the military forces of human civilization stationed here.
With Ideal City functioning as a massive industrial hub for resource supply, an overwhelming fleet poised for deployment, and Li Ang himself overseeing coordination from the headquarters, the operation was in full swing.
Compared to the UNSC and UEG, which were mired in civil wars and colonial independence movements—well, it might be too arrogant to say they could crush them effortlessly, but saying "the advantage is ours" was definitely a modest understatement.
Still, unless absolutely necessary, Li Ang had no intention of starting a full-scale war with the UNSC and triggering an interstellar conflict.
Even with the Covenant, hundreds of light-years away, he was still attempting negotiations and subjugation, hoping to win without fighting—an ideal strategic outcome.
Especially the Covenant—on the surface, they seemed united, always flaunting their brotherhood as they waged war across the stars.
But in truth, they were no different from humans—each faction had its own agenda and was willing to backstab its allies for personal gain.
You could say these space gangsters were like the Eighteen Warlords crusading against Dong Zhuo—when the battle was in their favor, everyone scrambled to grab the glory; when losing, they'd just sit back, waiting to scavenge the spoils.
If they spotted a target bleeding out, they'd rush in for the kill.
Even if that target was their own ally.
Because of that, Li Ang could exploit internal divisions among the Covenant, leveraging both incentives and pressure to splinter the alliance and absorb the faction into his own forces.
"I just hope things go smoothly for Jack and Reed," Li Ang muttered silently.
…
…
At this moment—Universe 003: Edge of Tomorrow!
More than twenty massive warships under the Megacorp's command were docked at a nearby shipyard.
A steady stream of transport vessels was shuttling between the base and the ships, delivering vital supplies and deploying vast numbers of combat personnel.
This expeditionary fleet, comprised of 26 starships, included 16 Hyperion-class cruisers, 8 RCS armored cruisers, and two Endless-class core flagships.
The Endless-class supercarriers, each over 5,000 meters long, capable of housing 40,000 personnel and large quantities of ground and air vehicles, remained the Megacorp's flagship of choice.
After all, deploying megastructures like Moon of War or dreadnoughts like the Long Night of Solace just to crush a few rebel factions was overkill—like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
Even this current fleet was already more than enough to handle a typical interstellar insurgency.
What's more, thanks to the tireless efforts of the core research team stationed at the Megacorp's scientific nexus megastructure, there had been a major breakthrough—
They had significantly reduced the production cost of one of the Reaper civilization's signature technologies: the energy shield!
The Reaper's energy shield functioned by drawing enormous power from a fusion reactor, using specialized equipment to bind this energy into a powerful magnetic field.
This field would then manifest as a visible physical barrier.
While the Megacorp's own antimatter shields offered superior performance and stronger protection, their production cost was extremely high—far too expensive to equip the entire fleet.
Only fleets tasked with critical missions could afford such luxury-grade defense systems.
Reaper-grade energy shields, though not as costly as antimatter shields, were still considered high-end defensive tech.
Mass deployment across the fleet had always been difficult—until now.
The scientific nexus had finally brought the price down!!
From now on, these energy shields could be widely deployed throughout the regular forces.
Furthermore, every warship's outer armor was embedded with magnetic displacement devices, creating an additional layer of energy defense in case the shield system overloaded or failed.
As for firepower, V had personally dismantled two Ulpan-class heavy plasma beam cannons from the Long Night of Solace, installing them on the two Endless-class flagships.
There was no choice—those plasma lances packed devastating punch, and compared to them, the Endless-class magnetic accelerator cannons just didn't cut it.
The fleet was also fully stocked with assets like quad-rotor Leviathan-class transports, 560 Stormhawk gunships and attack drones, and an arsenal of drop ships.
As for ground vehicles—Ronin Titan mechs, Ion Titans, Basilisk assault tanks, and Chimera battle tanks—all had been prepped and loaded for combat.
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