Time flew by, and two years passed in the blink of an eye. During these two years, the Empire did not initiate any wars. After conquering [Ten], it focused on resting and recuperating, preparing for the next phase of its conquest plan.
Thus, Cornelia and Yang Hui, who had been staying in the Imperial Capital for the past two years, received orders from the cabinet meeting to immediately lead their troops to the Sakura Country to carry out a joint military exercise mission.
"I finally have a chance to move around. If I stayed in the Imperial Capital any longer, my body would have started to rust," Cornelia said on the warship, unable to wait as she stretched her limbs.
"Heh, you've just been bullied for too long and want to take it out on someone else. How hypocritical," Yang Hui rolled his eyes and complained unceremoniously.
At the mention of this, Cornelia's good mood vanished instantly, her face darkening so much it seemed ink might drip from it.
Over the past two years, it wasn't just the members of the Knight Order who had participated in Yang Hui's training; Cornelia herself had joined in as well. Yang Hui promoted the principle of competition, and outside of training hours, people would spar with one another.
Cornelia specifically enjoyed seeking out Yang Hui for spars—if not once a day, then at least five times a week.
But the results were obvious: Cornelia had never won.
"Hmph, don't get too ahead of yourself, Yang Hui. One day, I will defeat you." This had already become an obsession for Cornelia. Originally, she looked down on individual heroism the most, and her desire for personal strength was far less than her passion for macro-strategic command.
But who told Yang Hui to grind Cornelia's pride into the dirt? Having sparred countless times over two years, Cornelia hadn't even managed to touch Yang Hui's side. Every single time, she was defeated with overwhelming force, which was something she could not tolerate!
Regarding this, Yang Hui simply shrugged, unconcerned. To him, these were less like spars and more like ways to pass the time. Unless he was fighting someone at Graham's level, sparring held no difficulty for Yang Hui and would bring no improvement.
As it happened, no pilot of Graham's caliber existed in this world.
"They're in sight."
Everyone looked through the glass of the aircraft carrier's bridge. The welcoming party from the Sakura Country had entered visual range.
"Heh, these little bastards are getting more and more restless," Yang Hui sneered.
"Who told them they control 70% of the world's Sakuradaite resources?" Cornelia sneered as well. The Sakura Country thought that possessing 70% of the world's Sakuradaite allowed them to step on the heads of the world's great powers. They were truly overthinking things.
So what if they vigorously developed their military strength? So what if they were an economic powerhouse? The Empire's iron hooves could crush such false strength in the blink of an eye. When that time came, everything the little bastards owned would belong to the Empire.
"Imperial Sister, there's something wrong with the enemy's formation. They haven't come with good intentions."
As the distance between the two sides closed, Yang Hui saw at a glance that the Sakura Country's welcoming fleet was not in a welcoming or escort formation, but an offensive one. The wing fleets were even quietly moving to encircle them.
"Ho? Interesting. That's an encirclement formation for an annihilation operation."
"What's most interesting is that they aren't even flying their national flag," Yang Hui laughed. A fleet responsible for welcoming a foreign fleet for a joint military exercise didn't even have a national flag. Combined with their formation, their intentions were self-evident.
"Hmph, overestimating themselves. It's time to show them the might of the Empire," Cornelia said in a cold tone, immediately issuing an order. "Fleet, deploy. Members of the Knight Order, sortie with Type-C Equipment."
"Yes, Your Highness!" XN
Hearing this, the corners of Yang Hui's mouth curled up. Cornelia had been dormant for two years, and now the Iron-Blooded Goddess General was returning to the field. Although he was relegated to a supporting role, a supporting actor still had to play his part well.
As he stood up, he asked Regene Regetta beside him, "Is the Mobile Suit ready?"
"It is ready."
"Then let's go."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Looking at his Custom Machine, Yang Hui's lips quirked: "Though you're a far cry from the Dawn, you should be able to fight by my side for a while, shouldn't you? Athena."
With a streamlined body, unlike the Glasgow, it featured decorative wings (for easy future modification). Its head wore a golden helmet-like design, with upturned horns on both sides acting as high-performance antennas. The body was primarily white, with sharp-edged armor traced with golden patterns. Two sharp High-Frequency Vibrating Particle Swords were mounted at the waist, and the golden Vambraces on the arms could deploy to form energy shields or extend to be used as energy blades during an attack. Each hand held a V.A.R.I.S. Variable Ammunition Repulsion Impact Cannon, and on either side of the sapphire on its chest were rotatable Flying Swallow Claws.
Yang Hui's Custom Machine, the Z-00 Athena, a sixth-generation Knightmare, was a machine created by concentrating the technological essence of the entire Empire.
In this hangar, Athena was not the only Custom Machine. Four others stood on either side of her. One trailed a long tail like a scorpion's, the tip of which gleamed with a cold light; one had a silhouette resembling a serene young girl, its slender frame and back thrusters screaming the word "speed"; one had two sharp horns on its head and held a majestic warhammer; and the last held a shield in one hand and a spear in the other, with two high-frequency vibrating scimitars on its back spread out like ram horns.
The Z-01 Aries, Z-02 Dorothy, Z-06 Virgo, and Z-08 Scorpion were the Custom Machines Yang Hui had prepared for Jeremiah, Villetta, Joan Roe, and Regene Regetta, respectively.
The machines surrounding the four Custom Machines were all Gloucester units—the Knight Order's custom variants. Based on the improved fifth-generation Sutherland Knightmare, their performance was infinitely close to that of a sixth-generation Knightmare. Compared to the simple armor of the Glasgow, the Gloucester's armor was significantly thicker, resembling a Knight's plate armor. The traditional sensor on the head had been removed in favor of a new internal detection system. For weaponry, they still used standard equipment: a Knight Lance, a submachine gun, Flying Swallow Claws, Gauntlet Retractable Blades, and additional machine guns—all of which were weapons redesigned and upgraded by Yang Hui.
Additionally, there was the Type-C Equipment Cornelia had ordered, which all machines were currently equipping. These were giant pedals on the feet used for floating movement on the water's surface, installed after removing the land-spinners from the heels and adding auxiliary propulsion nozzles.
"Jeremiah, Villetta, Joan."
"Your Highness." X3
"After training for so long, your first mission has arrived. Are you excited?"
"Yes, Your Highness!" X3
Were they excited? Of course they were! Having trained arduously for two years, learning all sorts of knowledge and doing everything in their power to grow stronger—wasn't it all for this moment?
Furthermore, despite having no prior merits, they had received Custom Machines from Yang Hui's hands—machines that were once only possessed by the Knights of the Round Table. What an immense honor this was.
They had long been waiting for this moment to display the results of their training and shine brilliantly before everyone.
"A good answer. Orders: All members of the [Nightmare] Knight Order, do not fire a single shot. Capture the Sakura Country fleet."
"Yes, Your Highness!" X3
This order presented a difficulty for them. After all, annihilating an enemy and capturing them alive were two different things, and the restriction against firing made it even harder.
But they weren't afraid; instead, they grew more and more excited. The [Nightmare] Knight Order was Yang Hui's personal knight order; even the Emperor could not give them orders. They were the most unique existence in the entire Empire.
Being unique also invited criticism. During these two years without war, the entire Knight Order had been under heavy pressure.
And now, the time for their debut had come. Being able to complete a difficult task would prove their abilities, proving that Yang Hui's judgment had been correct and that they were qualified to be this singular exception.
The hatch opened, and sunlight flooded the hangar. Athena was the first to leave its cradle, stepping onto a pair of thin surfboards. Behind it were the Knights, their eyes glowing with a sinister green light.
"[Nightmare] Knight Order, sortie."
...
In the Sakura Country's welcoming fleet, the commander watched the approaching Britannian fleet and smiled sinisterly.
"Arrogant and conceited Britannians, they haven't made a single preparation. It's a pity we must fail your expectations."
"The Colonel is right. The Britannians have always looked down on us. This time, we must give them a harsh lesson."
"Mm, well said."
"It's all thanks to the Colonel's teachings."
"Order: the fleet is to slowly deploy. Once they enter our encirclement, then we shall..."
"Report! The Britannian fleet has stopped advancing."
"Stopped?" The Sakura commander frowned. The encirclement was almost complete, but the enemy had stopped, making him worry that his intentions had been exposed.
"There is no need for concern, Colonel. It is likely a routine communication."
"Mm, that's possible. Then..."
"Report! The Britannian fleet is launching multiple small units... performing comparison... This is! These are Knightmares!"
"Knightmares? How can they be Knightmares? Aren't those land weapons!?" the commander exclaimed in shock.
"Confirmed as Knightmares... They are so fast!"
"What!?"
Everyone in the Sakura fleet was stunned. They could see with their naked eyes that on the sea's surface, dozens of Knightmares were moving at high speed as if people were standing on surfboards, dragging long wakes across the water.
"This! How can this... Damn Britannians! All ships, deploy! Sink them all!"
"Hai!"
The Sakura fleet's original objective was to completely eliminate the Britannian fleet on the high seas. They were very confident this time. To prevent the Britannian Empire from finding evidence of their involvement, they flew no national flag, the soldiers wore no official uniforms, and a large group of hackers had even gathered at a land-based command center to attack the Britannian Empire's satellites.
When the time came, they would just shift the blame to pirates or terrorists. The other party wouldn't be able to find any evidence anyway.
This would not only showcase the Sakura Country's military might but also shake the Britannian Empire's status as a superpower. If they couldn't even defeat pirates or terrorists, what kind of superpower were they?
Therefore, no matter why the Britannian fleet had deployed Knightmares, they only needed to attack and kill every Britannian here.
But at such a distance, and with the speed of the newly upgraded Knightmares, the warship's turrets hadn't even rotated to the correct direction before the Knightmares were already right in their faces, dark muzzles pressed against the bridge windows.
"Surrender, or die."