On the other side, in front of the East District refuge, hundreds of monsters had gathered, spreading across the streets and ruined walls like a tidal wave. Magic energy churned violently, and small lizard-like resonators slithered through the rubble, while invisible psychic waves rippled like threads, quickly permeating the entire battlefield.
“Psychic sea anomaly detected! Team-wide resonance levels rising sharply, exceeding critical alert!”
Inside the Silver Crown mech, alarms blared sharply, red lights flashing like blood.
“At this rate, the entire squad will fall into psychic resonance collapse…” Milton muttered under his breath, decisively giving orders.
The mech core hummed. Silver Crown’s right arm rapidly transformed, the shoulder compartment opening as a silver-black spiritual array spear sprung forth. Its shaft was veined like meridians, from grip to tip etched with faint golden runes, pulsing with spiritual energy, the aura of killing overwhelming.
Bang—!
The first shot fired, frost spiritual energy streaking out like an arrow, instantly forming a hexagonal spiritual array in midair. A ring of cold mist erupted from its core, freezing three magical lizards solid. In the next instant, the frost pattern shattered, the ice crystals breaking with a crisp, piercing sound, leaving the monsters as nothing but fragments in the air.
Inside Silver Crown, the array calculation interface appeared. Milton’s hands flew over the floating interface, firing continuously. Each frost shot triggered a different array—ice thorns to bind, condensed cold light to pierce armor, frost spreading to shatter limbs, extreme cold storms sweeping through enemies. Layer upon layer, like winter blanketing the battlefield, completely suppressing the enemy waves.
Boom! Boom, boom—!
Explosions like thunder. The frontline was swallowed by the icy onslaught. The approaching lizard monsters didn’t even have time to scream before being shattered into dust by the freezing vortex.
Amid the firelight and flying frost, Silver Crown stood like a god-descended weapon, spear pointing, all around bathed in white frost.
In just a few minutes, the nearly overwhelming monster tide was cut in half.
The comm channel went silent, until someone whispered in awe: “…He single-handedly stopped the entire monster wave…”
“Detection readings stabilized! Resonance interference greatly reduced!”
“The general has destroyed the psychic interference field. The team is stabilizing!”
Milton stood like a steadfast anchor in the center of the battlefield, single mech, single spear, suppressing the entire frontline.
He suddenly raised his hand, shooting the spiritual spear into the air.
Silver-white light flashed. At the spear tip, a three-dimensional spiritual array bloomed like a lotus, instantly covering the entire refuge above.
Boom!!
Ice pillars fell like divine thunder from the sky. The spiritual pressure struck down the lizard monsters and surrounding enemies alike, shattering them into nothing. Even the residual magical energy was purified by the spiritual light, leaving not a trace.
Dust settled.
Silence. The air itself seemed frozen.
The entire block lay as still as a graveyard. Silver Crown stood amid the remnants of the light array. Milton’s figure inside the mech cabin was resolute and stern, as if a god had descended.
Moments later, the comm channel erupted with deafening cheers:
“Silver Crown is unrivaled!!”
“Long live the general!!”
“Psychic sea readings fully stabilized. Frontline reformed!”
When the refugees of the East District refuge saw the silver-white mech descend from the sky, clearing the monsters from the ruined, blackened debris at lightning speed, rescuing the entire refuge from certain death, the place fell into brief silence.
Then, a tsunami of cheers erupted.
They couldn’t believe it—this was the insectoid race coming to save them, the same race notorious across the stars for savagery and bloodlust.
Some cried with excitement, some whispered in disbelief, while more waved their arms vigorously, shouting at the mech:
“Thank you!”
“You are our hero!”
“Insectoids… can have warriors like this?”
Silver Crown landed steadily. Milton Collins stepped out of the mech cabin at the refuge entrance. The atmosphere froze instantly. Someone gasped:
“That’s Milton Collins! The iron-blooded general of the insectoids!”
This silver-haired, purple-eyed general, occasionally mentioned on the star network, had once been the youngest legend in the insectoid military. Now he personally piloted the mech before their eyes to save them.
Some refugees instinctively stepped back, fearing this legendary “cold-blooded killer,” but most were filled with awe and confusion.
They had believed the insectoids would never ally with outsiders, never intervene to save others.
But now, that lone figure truly stood among the rubble and charred land, single-handedly holding back the tide of death.
Milton opened the comms, ordering: “Star Alliance Sixth Fleet and the Fili Squad, proceed immediately to the East District to evacuate the refugees to Navien’s temporary shelter.”
Upon hearing this, the refugees erupted with joyous cheers, some rushing forward with trembling respect to bow and thank Milton.
“Have we… all been wrong about them?”
“No matter what, today he saved every one of us.”
The stereotype of the insectoid race shattered instantly. Tears glimmered in the eyes of many, as they watched the silver-white mech standing amid the ruins, feeling for the first time emotions other than fear—shock, awe, and heartfelt gratitude.
What they saw was not an insectoid, but a warrior protecting them.
Among the crowd, an elderly man struggled to stand, raising a trembling hand in an old-style Federation military salute.
“I was once a medic in the First Beast Regiment… never imagined I would one day salute an insectoid general.”
Milton was silent for a few seconds, then returned a firm, proper military salute.
The old man paused, then smiled, his face flushed with emotion.
At that moment, a small voice broke the commotion—
“Brother, you’re so handsome and cool!”
A tiny interstellar child, no more than five or six, with gleaming skin and pointed ears, ran out from the crowd, gazing up at Milton with eyes full of admiration.
“When I grow up, can I be your partner?”
The child’s innocent words made the crowd fall silent for a moment, then laughter erupted like a spring, spreading warmth.
Milton was momentarily stunned, then revealed a softness unseen on the battlefield. In his mind, Gu Qing’s face instinctively appeared.
He bent down, gently ruffling the child’s hair, his voice soft as spring breeze:
“I already have a partner, so I can’t be your partner.”
The child pouted briefly, but quickly smiled again:
“That’s okay, you’re still my favorite brother!”
The child’s mother rushed over, blushing as she scooped him up, apologizing to Milton:
“I’m so sorry, General, he’s still little… General, thank you… thank you for saving us.”
Milton simply shook his head, his tone unusually gentle: “It’s nothing.”
The mother carried the child back to the evacuation line, quickly falling in step with the soldiers. Milton stood still, watching them board the starship with the Star Alliance team. As the starship lifted off, the child waved desperately from the doorway, shouting: “Bye-bye, brother! Stay safe!”
Milton watched the ship rise, waving back. His figure stretched long in the morning light. A strange warmth surged in his cold chest, as if sunlight had finally reached a snow-covered wasteland. He could not name it, only feeling his throat tighten and his heart squeezed, aching and heavy.
He had countless times heard the battlefield insectoid soldiers call him “General,” and had been lauded as the youngest tactical genius by the military.
But this call, filled with tears and hope—“General Milton”—he had never heard before.
—Gu Qing, do you see? I am protecting this world too.
Not for the insectoids’ glory, not for power.
He murmured softly: “Are you… doing alright over there?”