Traveler of the River of Time and Space

Chapter 587 57: Ook! Ook!

The orc spaceships appearing in the sky had a rather crude and simple appearance, resembling medieval pirate ships. Aside from their massive scale, pieced together with steel, their other structures were even inferior to twentieth-century battleships.

Yet, these heaps of scrap metal, the Orcs were able to pilot them at sub-light speed and even use wormholes for space jumps.

It was these broken toys that had once smashed countless advanced interstellar battleships.

The sky-darkening fleet gradually entered the atmosphere.

These gigantic steel battleships stretched almost beyond sight, their propulsion systems emitting blinding flames and billowing smoke, while at the top of the ships, a special banner was raised—a skull with power claws and a power axe crossed beneath it.

In an instant, their identity was crystal clear.

——"Space pirates!"

The Orcs' social structure was based on clans, but due to their inherently warlike nature, in the absence of an external enemy, they inevitably fell into endless infighting unless governed by a particularly powerful WORBOSS.

This infighting could last for a long time.

Eventually, once the internal strife within the Orcs was resolved and a powerful leader emerged, it inevitably led the clan to expand externally, thus igniting a massive WAAAGH.

However, not all defeated Orcs perished; some were exiled.

These exiled Orcs regrouped to form new clans, becoming roaming interstellar pirates.

These Orcs were known as outlaws, almost lawless, willing to declare war on any race, any power. Whether human, demon, or Spirit Race, they all fell within their plundering targets. Once they took form, they often occupied certain planets, after which the outlaws transformed into the regular Orc military, plotting larger-scale WAAAGH or getting defeated again, turning back into wandering interstellar pirates.

Judging from these enormous pirate fleets, they must have occupied at least one planet in the past and plundered it of all resources.

The outlaw Orcs differed little from regular clans, often even more powerful.

"Fire! Fire!"

On a massive steel battleship stretching several kilometers, dozens of goblin technicians shouted passionately. The enormous cannon barrels on the steel battleship turned, aiming directly at the Empire's positions. Then, a group of goblins busily loaded the ammunition, and even though thermal weapons were being used, the cannons fired blinding energy beams.

Aboard the Queen Isabella.

As the orc warships in the sky fired off energy beams, Empress Isabella stood up with a solemn expression and said deeply, "Iron Curtain! Activate!"

Buzz.

An outburst of dazzling light lit up the Titan-level interstellar mothership, followed by cracks opening on the ground beneath, suspending diamond-shaped pure crystals, and a semicircular light screen rapidly emerged, covering the entire battlefield with astonishing speed, blocking the energy beams descending from the sky.

Boom boom boom!

Explosions rang out one after another, hexagonal light shadows appeared on the energy light screen. Once an area was breached, new hexagonal light shadows instantly gathered, with only a few areas of concentrated fire breaking through and causing some damage, while other areas remained almost entirely unaffected.

"Interesting."

"Recombining the entire energy protection field into one? Lord Stephen might be very interested in this technology!" The golden-haired angel's eyes sparkled as she murmured.

The Empire's inherited legacy was extremely rich, some technologies even surprising to her.

To counter the threat of the Orcs, the Empire laid all its cards on the table, employing tactics even Su Ziyu had never seen, with some devices even being first activated by Empress Isabella.

"Should I take action?" The golden-haired angel placed her fingers on her brow, speaking softly.

Empress Isabella immediately shook her head, saying, "No need. We can handle it. The enemy's main fleet has not yet entered the battlefield."

These were just the Orcs' escort and destroyer units; the real main force remained in the rear as backup.

"Thunderbird Fighters."

"Launch."

"Ground forces, provide fire support!"

With the command issued from the control room, tens of thousands of fighters took off in an instant. The ground forces promptly adjusted their cannon muzzles. Amidst the overwhelming brilliance, beams of light launched a counterattack from the opened corner of the light screen barrier, with hundreds of other warships taking to the sky in the distance, but they were not Titan-level main battleships, just escort ships capable of sub-light speed flight.

Ultimately, the Empire was not the Empire it once was.

The failure of the Spiritual Ascension had depleted the Empire's vitality, requiring generations of effort to recover.

"Launch the fighters!"

"Rocket boys!"

"Follow me!"

The Empire's counterattack only heightened the Orcs' battle fervor. In Su Ziyu's incredulous gaze, he saw some bewildering scenes.

Orc aircraft poured out from the battleships, clearly old-fashioned in appearance, at best comparable to World War II standards, yet their speed was supersonic, stirring shockwaves that disrupted the clouds. Among them, flying devices akin to outdated helicopters, though equipped with only a cockpit and two propellers, ascended with incredible speed, immediately charging towards the positions on the ground.