Chapter 206: Combat Mode
Chapter 206: Combat Mode
In War and Conquest, players were randomly assigned to all kinds of planets when the game began.
The environments differed from one world to another.
So did their levels of technology.
Yet despite those differences, every civilization shared one thing in common.
None had entered the age of interstellar colonization.
Whoever reached space first would gain the greatest advantage.
At first, players believed they had all been placed in separate worlds.
But as they continued exploring the game and uncovering its secrets, the truth gradually emerged.
More and more players realized that becoming the ultimate victor of War and Conquest required conquering the entire universe.
Brennor was one of the players who had reached that conclusion.
Like Ivy, he was a game streamer.
His popularity was lower than hers, but his skill was far greater.
In the real world, Brennor was an A rank player.
He had earned that rank outside New Kirk, which made him genuinely formidable.
However, understanding the truth was one matter.
Reaching space was another.
The planet Brennor received at the start had already entered the information age.
Satellites filled the sky.
Missiles exploded across the world.
The advantage was that he did not need to struggle through the early stages of the technology tree.
The disadvantage was that the world was far too dangerous.
He never knew when someone might shoot him dead.
A nuclear bombardment capable of wiping the land clean was also entirely possible.
One mistake could plunge the planet into a nuclear apocalypse.
If that happened, the game would essentially be over.
In theory, achieving global conquest through military force was extremely difficult.
In summary, the pressure to survive was immense.
The difficulty was exceptionally high.
That was another form of balance.
Fortunately, Brennor possessed extensive gaming experience and excelled at strategy.
Soon after the game began, he led his faction in conquering a territory and established a firm foothold.
What followed was a long period of development.
Advancing technology.
Building the economy.
Expanding infrastructure.
And countless other tasks.
After enduring nearly twenty years, he finally turned his faction into one of the greatest powers on the planet.
Brennor looked upon his achievements with deep satisfaction.
It had not been easy.
Today was a day worth remembering.
A true milestone.
He stood on the roof of the spaceflight control center and gazed at the rocket standing in the distance.
Joy was impossible to hide from his face.
Brennor smiled at his livestream.
"Brothers, this is the space rocket I built. What do you think? We are about to begin exploring the nearest planet."
Comments flooded through the livestream.
"Congratulations!"
"Wow!"
However, even more messages appeared as meaningless strings of censored symbols.
"A space rocket? Do you know about ******?"
"*******"
"You **** while they *****"
"Damn, everything got censored!"
Because those comments involved information that could disrupt game balance, every one of them was blocked.
Brennor stared at the strings of symbols without the slightest idea what they meant.
In truth, the viewers were trying to warn him that Aquora’s civilization was roaming the cosmic battlefield in search of random opponents.
His planet could only pray for good fortune.
"Countdown beginning!"
"Three... two... one... ignition!"
Flames surged.
The immense thrust of the rocket engines slowly pushed the vessel into the sky.
It climbed faster and faster, piercing straight upward.
"Launch successful!"
Brennor cheered.
But his celebration did not last long.
A streak of light entered the atmosphere from space.
At first, it looked like a meteor.
Upon closer inspection, however, the object reflected a metallic gleam.
The rocket was still ascending and had not even left the atmosphere when the object struck it directly.
A brilliant fireball erupted in midair.
The rocket shattered into fragments.
Brennor froze.
He stared blankly at the sky.
"A meteor?"
Twenty years of research had vanished just like that.
The viewers were the first to notice something was wrong.
"No, that is not a meteor!"
Some of them felt the shape of the object looked strangely familiar.
Then realization struck.
They immediately switched to Ivy’s livestream.
"Everyone, I think we hit something just now, but it is fine. The shuttle is passing through the atmosphere and will soon land on the surface."
"Ivy is about to start beating up primitive people."
In the background, a mass of flames was still burning in the sky.
Ivy looked eager for action as she began checking her equipment.
A long series of ellipses appeared in the livestream.
"..."
"Well... I think this planet belongs to ******"
"That poor bastard..."
"Time to beat up primitive people!"
Some viewers hurried back to Brennor’s livestream and tried to warn him.
The entire screen filled with censored symbols.
"*******"
"************"
"Brennor, run!"
"Abandon the planet and run!"
Brennor finally recovered from the destruction of his rocket.
He stared at the wall of censored characters in complete confusion.
"Run?"
At last, he realized something.
His gaze locked onto the streak of light crossing the horizon.
A terrible possibility entered his mind.
His mouth fell open.
"No way... Is this real?"
Run?
Where could he possibly go?
His only space rocket had just become fireworks.
Several kilometers away, Derek lowered the telescope in his hands.
He had personally watched Brennor’s newly launched rocket get destroyed by what appeared to be a meteor.
Confusion filled his face.
"What just happened?"
Boom!
The space shuttle did not slow down or attempt any kind of landing maneuver.
It simply slammed straight into the ground.
The method was brutally direct.
Yet the protective technology within the shuttle made it perfectly safe.
Click.
The hatch opened.
Ivy stepped out wearing a completely sealed suit of futuristic armor.
The armor had been forged from material bound by the strong nuclear force.
It possessed no seams.
There were not even gaps between its atoms.
Its defensive strength could be considered the greatest in the universe.
While wearing it, Ivy could ram straight through an entire planet with her own body.
Moment had absorbed the armor technology of the Divine Realm Civilization and modified it with Aquora’s own advancements.
The result was even more powerful.
Conquering an entire planet required only one soldier equipped with this armor.
That alone showed how much confidence Moment placed in it.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The shuttle issued a series of alerts.
Ivy gave an order.
"Combat mode. Deploy all equipment."
The shuttle immediately transformed into an armory and entered full combat configuration.
It floated behind Ivy.
The steel wings unfolding from its frame made her resemble an angel.
A deep hum filled the air.
In combat mode, the compact antimatter annihilation reactor began operating at high output.
Abundant energy caused Ivy’s armor to glow brightly.
An armed helicopter flew overhead and attempted to investigate.
Light flashed within Ivy’s eyes.
She raised one hand and released a beam that destroyed the helicopter in midair.
Boom!
A ball of fire bloomed across the sky.
"Commencing conquest mission."