Above Alliance Town, hundreds of technicians aboard the starship were busy trying to crack the internal system of the Philip Home Robots. They had been sending wireless commands to the 2,000 mechanical warriors on the ground, hoping to breach the control network. Yet, to their confusion, they couldn't pick up any signals in the area surrounding Salvation Alliance Town!

"How's the progress on the hacking?" Heinrich asked.

The technical leader, sweating nervously, had no choice but to respond, "W-We haven't made a connection yet."

"What?!"

The technician nervously wiped the sweat from his forehead and explained, "If the Main System were issuing commands remotely via wireless control, or if there was any data transmission between those robots, we should have detected something by now and used it as a breach point. But down there… there's just nothing, absolutely nothing!"

Heinrich was so frustrated that he almost wished he could return to university. He yelled at the poor head technician, "You can't even detect a signal! Are you implying that the main system somehow wired each of those mechanical warriors individually to control them?'"

The head technician also felt innocent and said, with an expression almost on the verge of crying, "But... but we really can't find anything! Our tech team can't just decode the air underneath...!" The rest of the words gradually became quieter under Heinrich's increasingly threatening expression, looking like he was about to eat people.

Heinrich slammed a large stack of documents onto the console with a loud slap. "Keep searching! There must be something that your tech team overlooked! What's going on with this Philip family? Investigate! Keep investigating! Apply to the Federation headquarters for an emergency arrest warrant, and bring the head of the Philip family and the technical director of the home robot company to me!"

After issuing a series of commands, Heinrich closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

At that moment, the deputy commander of the assault operation—a burly middle-aged man—spoke up. "General, since the internal breach plan hasn't worked so far, we should resume bombarding the defensive shield around Alliance Town! The main system clearly has grand ambitions. If we let our guard down for even a moment, it could pose a fatal threat to humanity!"

"General Kurt is right," Old Lucas agreed. "We should continue the attack before the main system's reinforcements arrive."

Heinrich looked around at his subordinates, who were all in favor of the bombardment. With a resigned sigh, he said, "Maintain energy-saving mode. Keep attacking the Alliance Town!"

Despite the relentless assault by 1,200 starships, the shaky little orange shield miraculously held out for an entire day without breaking. Some of the more laid-back ability users in Salvation Alliance Town even swaggered back home.

After all, the main system had promised that all hotels and apartments in the town would be free to stay in during the siege! Plus, no points would be deducted for taking a break here. Who wouldn't take advantage of free accommodations?

Meanwhile, the captured ability users weren't so lucky. Under the strict watch of the ever-dutiful home robots, some of the traitors with weak bladders couldn't hold it in any longer and ended up peeing in their pants…

Just as Heinrich found himself stuck, unsure whether to keep wasting energy stones on the bombardment, soldiers finally brought the chief engineer of the Philip family's robotics company aboard the mothership.

David Philip, dressed in a sharp suit, walked in under the watchful eyes of two soldiers. Seeing him, the frazzled Heinrich looked almost like a ravenous dog spotting a meaty dumpling, barely stopping himself from pouncing at the man!

"David! Philip!" Heinrich barked harshly. "Your family's company is suspected of supplying illegal war weapons to the anti-human AI—the Main System! What do you have to say for yourself?"

"My lord, our Philip family has never been involved in military goods," David replied calmly, his tone neither servile nor arrogant. "As for the Philip first-generation home robot you investigated yesterday, it's merely a domestic service robot! Our family has never ventured into anything related to military contraband."

Heinrich shot back, "Are you seriously telling me that those mechanical warriors down there, holding over a thousand ability users hostage with miniature laser cannons, are household robots?! Cut the nonsense and tell me exactly how your family colluded with the Main System and sold them those mechanical warriors!"

"My lord, even if you're a high-ranking official of the Interstellar Federation, you can't just accuse people without evidence," David Philip said, visibly upset at being falsely accused. "The so-called illegal household robot samples you mentioned have already been brought here. You and your tech team can inspect them right on the spot. As for our household robot production factories, you're free to conduct random inspections at any time to check for illegal items. I guarantee that every single screw in our robots is made from legitimate materials!"

Heinrich waved his hand, signaling the tech team to inspect the batch of household robots David had brought. They looked almost identical to the mechanical warriors wreaking havoc below—except for the miniature laser cannons missing from their left arms.

"But if your inspection turns up nothing," David Philip said with a hint of arrogance, "the Philip family reserves the right to sue you in the Interstellar Supreme Court for technological infringement! The first-generation Philip Home Robots are a milestone in the domestic robot industry, containing nearly a hundred cutting-edge technology patents. You can't just confiscate them at will!"

Heinrich's head pounded as if it had doubled in size. It seemed like the Philip family was another tough nut to crack. With time ticking away, he didn't have the energy to waste on a war of words with these crafty merchants.

Old Lucas and the deputy general exchanged glances, then quietly slipped out of the control room to make a discreet call on their communication devices. Thirty minutes later, the tech team concluded that this batch of robots was indeed entirely legitimate, built from nothing more than ordinary materials and memory systems. Even after a detailed inspection, they couldn't figure out what made these home robots so advanced.

"Heinrich, the Federation just held an emergency meeting. It was unanimously decided that the Salvation Alliance's Main System is to be classified as an extremely dangerous organization, and we will use all our military power to eliminate it! The Interstellar Federation will immediately cease all combat operations against the Zerg. Until the main system is destroyed, it is our greatest—and only—enemy! Our 8,000 massive starships are being mobilized and will arrive within an hour. We are preparing to launch a total annihilation strike on Salvation Alliance!"

Heinrich felt relieved now that he had full backing from the higher-ups. "Understood, President."

Luke Gaskell nodded before continuing, "Your only objective is to eliminate the Main System as quickly as possible. Don't worry about energy stone consumption. The Alliance has already mobilized all 10 million tons of our astral stone reserves, more than enough to reduce 100 Salvation Alliance towns to pieces!"

Heinrich was puzzled. He couldn't understand why the usually frugal Federation had suddenly decided to deploy such massive energy stones. "Luke, isn't this a bit reckless? If we exhaust the Federation's entire energy stone reserves, what will happen if the Zerg attack…?"

"No, Heinrich, you must remember that our greatest threat right now is the Main System! The dangers of artificial intelligence cannot be underestimated. Just follow the order!" Luke Gaskell said firmly.

"Yes, Mr. President!" Although Heinrich still found the president's attitude a bit odd, the urgency of the situation left him no time to dwell on it. He promptly issued another order to continue the bombardment.

An hour later, 8,000 massive starships arrived at the perimeter of Alliance Town, completely surrounding the small transparent shield that measured 10 by 20 kilometers. With Heinrich's command, all starships fired at full power simultaneously, turning the oval-shaped defensive shield into a blinding sphere of light!

The deafening roar and blinding light forced the ability users to shield their eyes and put on noise-canceling earplugs. Even Huo Li, showing rare mercy, guided the painted version of the Guardian to escort the captured traitors into an empty building, preventing them from being knocked unconscious by the intense light and sound.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the black-haired youth, long tired of sipping iced tea, finally grew excited. He eagerly watched the synchronized live broadcast in his mind, hoping to witness the grand spectacle of the shield breaking!

Amidst the flashing lights and thunderous noise, the fleet consumed tens of times more energy stones than its previous hourly rate of 800 tons. After flickering on and off for over ten minutes, the small orange shield finally shattered completely!

Tens of thousands of silver-purple beams shot past where the shield once was—only to hit another small orange shield that had just appeared 10 meters below…

"What the heck! How many shields does the Main System have?!" The black-haired youth couldn't help but shout in frustration as his hopes were dashed again.

If Xiao Yi had been watching this on TV, he would have smashed the screen by now. But since the live broadcast was happening inside his own mind, even an alien wouldn't try venting their anger on their own brain. Left with no other option, he turned around in disbelief and shouted at Huo Li, "Another shield?! When will the real battle start? I've been waiting for my Iron Man-painted Guardian to show off its power!"

Huo Li froze for a moment before hesitantly replying, "Xiao Yi, I just asked the main system for you, and it told me you don't need to wait anymore. Oh, and it also said… the scenery on Earth is quite nice, so maybe you should go enjoy it. Besides, if the Guardian gets injured and the Philip-brand home robots start bleeding, that wouldn't be good. You know I can only control fully mutated black threads and can't direct them to mutate on command, so I can't make their blood clot…"

The black-haired youth cut him off, exclaiming in surprise, "Is the main system paranoid or something? Just how many layers of shields has it installed on itself in times of peace?"

Huo Li, "Well, I'll ask again…"

.

Above Salvation Alliance Town.

"It actually has a third layer of shield! Increase the firepower and keep blasting!" Heinrich roared at his subordinates. "Blast it until this layer is destroyed, too! Even if there's a fourth layer, we must not give up! I refuse to believe that a tiny Salvation Alliance Town, in a place that rarely ever faces space invasions, has five layers of shields!"

The bombardment continued to light up the sky!

.

Meanwhile, on Earth, inside the villa…

Huo Li: "145 layers."

Xiao Yi slammed his head against the sofa and muttered gloomily, "Forget it. Let's just return to our bodies. Digging ditches is more fun than watching this…"

After a few months, Xiao Yi and Huo Li finally returned to their bodies, which were working tirelessly. The youth glanced around at the exhausted workers covered in mud and sweat under the scorching heat. After spending months doing nothing, he finally appreciated the sense of fulfillment that came with hard labor!

With that thought in mind, Xiao Yi enthusiastically began digging.

The people around him glanced over in surprise at the black-haired youth, who could have easily used his 4,000 Guardians to dig out several tons of mud per second yet still chose to do the work himself by hand. What a hard worker! They couldn't help but admire his dedication.

Meanwhile, Huo Li, now completely drenched by the searing rain, stood there blankly, flapping his wings like a windshield wiper. He thought to himself. In fact,Xiao Yi just wants to play with mud!

At the same time, Xu Yun Cheng, who was also part of the construction team, was forced to lower himself to manual labor despite his space manipulation ability and slowly walked toward them. Pretending not to know Xiao Yi, he turned his head to avoid the splash of water from Huo Li's wings and tried to slip past them toward another section of the canal.

"Hey, Xu Yun Cheng!" The black-haired youth, spotting the traitor who had once broken several of his ribs and nearly turned Huo Li into a pile of meat paste, called out with a mischievous smile. "Come here. I've got something to tell you!"

Xu Yun Cheng turned around, startled. He wasn't sure what trick this alien was trying to pull, but he cautiously approached nonetheless.

"What's the matter, Xiao Yi?" Xu Yun Cheng knew that tearing off the mask of friendship would not benefit him now.

Taking advantage of the pouring rain and the fact that no one was nearby to overhear them, the black-haired youth smiled and lowered his voice. "Xu Yun Cheng, would you like to know how your organization's rebellion plan was leaked?"

Xu Yun Cheng's pupils constricted. He hadn't expected Xiao Yi to blatantly expose the fragile truce between them. Since it had come to this, there was no point in playing dumb. "Was it Huo Li's mind-reading? But I know how his ability works—if he scanned a high-level ability user's memories, they would have noticed. Heh, maybe you're bluffing. You have no proof and are just guessing based on the nature of my abilities."

"Oh, really?" The youth chuckled softly, reaching out with his mud-covered hand to pluck a squirming black thread from Xu Yun Cheng's right shoulder. "Xu Yun Cheng, when will you ever learn?"