Salile turned his head and looked at Su Mo, solemnly saying, "Chief Su Mo, please decide the next course of action."

Su Mo's expression kept changing. Reason told him that, based on the current exploration, the chances of finding survivors within Freedom Fortress were slim to none.

However, emotionally, he had gone through so much to get here. If he didn't turn the place upside down to confirm there was absolutely no hope, he definitely wouldn't give up.

So, Su Mo raised his head and said, "Salile, how many combat personnel do we have available?"

"Reporting, Chief Su Mo, we have a total of 30,000 regular troops, all of whom can be mobilized and are ready to follow your orders at any time."

Salile responded crisply.

"Good, then issue a full combat order!"

Su Mo said in a deep voice.

In an instant, a rapid broadcast sounded throughout the Star Destroyer.

"Level One combat readiness!"

...

Soldiers ran in an orderly fashion towards the hangar.

The Star Destroyer Greyfin opened its disembarkation channels, and a large number of mechas rushed out.

At this moment, Su Mo, piloting the V-generation bio-mechanical armor, Light of Sin, flew to the front. He looked at his subordinates behind him and waved his hand, leading them towards the silent Freedom Fortress.

Their plan was simple: in small teams, they would enter the interior of Freedom Fortress through various openings, searching in all directions, leaving no dead corners, and incidentally clearing out the monsters within.

Star Destroyer Greyfin, command center, observation deck.

Gris looked through his optical telescope at the large number of mechas entering Freedom Fortress, and said to himself with some emotion.

"Ah, if we could have met someone like Chief Su Mo when we fell into this damn place back then."

At this moment, Salile walked to Gris's side and said, "Although I haven't spent much time with Chief Su Mo, and he's not a very talkative person, he gives people a special sense of security. It feels like even if the sky falls, he'll hold it up. Actually, when I received the mission to cooperate with Su Mo in this star sea, I was reluctant. I only cooperated because a soldier's destiny is to obey orders, but now it's different, I sincerely believe in him!"

"Haha."

Gris smiled.

...

Inside Freedom Fortress.

Su Mo, piloting his mecha, led his subordinates to search in all directions.

The originally silent Freedom Fortress suddenly became lively.

Su Mo walked along the way, kicking open or blasting open any closed doors he saw!

The commotion was considerable.

But that was the effect he wanted. Since they were preparing for a comprehensive search, there was no need to be timid.

"Today, even if we turn Freedom Fortress upside down, we have to find clues. Alive, I want to see people; dead, I want to see corpses. Team One, go left; Team Two, go right. If you encounter enemies, fight if you can win; if you can't, unleash your firepower and run. Comrades around you who hear the commotion will support you as soon as possible."

When Su Mo saw a fork in the road, he ordered his subordinates behind him to disperse.

"Understood."

...

As they went deeper, fewer and fewer personnel followed behind Su Mo.

Before long, Su Mo had dispatched all the squads that were following him.

But he didn't mind. He piloted his mecha forward to explore.

Just as Su Mo was exploring a short distance ahead, he suddenly heard an explosion from the area on the right. A search squad must have run into a monster.

Su Mo immediately turned his mecha and moved in that direction.

But as Su Mo walked past a corner, his expression suddenly tightened. He turned his mecha and subconsciously looked at the corner.

At this moment, a portable plasma grenade was thrown from the corner.

The red indicator light on the plasma grenade flashed rapidly.

*Boom.*

The explosion spread.

Unfortunately, this had no effect on the Light of Sin. Su Mo piloted the mecha, ignoring the explosion, and rushed around the corner, raising the black chain gun in his hand, ready to attack.

Suddenly, he froze!

He saw five people wearing mechanical armor. The style of the mechanical armor they wore was from the Hongji Empire. The leader was none other than Jialan.

At this time, Jialan was also stunned. She originally thought it was a monster attacking, but she didn't expect it to be a top-tier mecha. Who was this? Why was it here?

"Jialan!"

Su Mo shouted in delight.

When Jialan heard Su Mo's voice, she immediately reacted. She shouted with great joy.

"Su Mo?"

"That's right, it's me. I finally found you."

Su Mo replied excitedly.

...

Bottom of Freedom Fortress, core control room.

Li Ruiqi, the artificial intelligence Hei Zhou, and others all sat slumped together.

Everyone looked very haggard.

"Are we really going to be trapped here to death?"

A Federation officer said despairingly.

"It's better to live than die, right? It hasn't been that long. We survived underground for even longer back then."

The artificial intelligence Hei Zhou retorted directly.

Li Ruiqi also had a wry smile on his face. He didn't expect this situation.

Just then, the artificial intelligence Hei Zhou suddenly sensed something and shouted in ecstasy.

"There's movement above."

"What movement?"

Li Ruiqi asked, slightly taken aback.

"I controlled some hidden cameras to capture the sound of explosions. I'll see if I can capture the image."

The artificial intelligence Hei Zhou then tried to control those cameras that were not damaged.

It actually managed to capture the image.

The control panel displayed a series of images. A number of IV-generation pure mechanical mechas, Night Guards, were fighting a monster.

"Whose mecha is this? How are there so many advanced mechas, and so many of them?"

Li Ruiqi and the others were amazed.

"They're from Star Ring City. They must be here to rescue us. The distress beacon we deployed worked."

The artificial intelligence Hei Zhou shouted excitedly.

When Li Ruiqi heard this, he immediately issued an order.

"Open the passage and fight our way out!"

"Yes!"

The subordinates present responded with fanaticism.

...

Inside the passage, Su Mo, overjoyed, quickly asked Jialan.

"How many people are still alive? Are you all that's left?"

"No, there are still quite a few people alive, all underground. I was leading a team to investigate. Su Mo, why are you here?"

Jialan explained quickly.

"I'm here to rescue you."

Hearing Jialan's words, Su Mo couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

However, Jialan suddenly thought of something, and her expression became tense as she said to Su Mo, "Are your people searching for us everywhere?"

"That's right."

"Quick, get your people to gather together and hide with us."

"Why?"

"There is a very strong Blade Alien here, also called Blade Mutant. None of our weapons are effective against it."

Jialan said anxiously to Su Mo.

"Blade Mutant? Is it stronger than the pseudo-V-generation War Judge you created?"

Su Mo asked cautiously.