Floating Island - Triple S Talent

In the sky, Efan stood like a war god watching the world from his throne.

In front of him hovered a massive holographic screen displaying the map of Main Fortress #8. Dozens of blue dots covered the map, filling the entire area of the Invictus sect's headquarters. They were robots—duplicates created by Lein over the past five hours. Their total? Over thirty-seven million.

"Still not coming out, huh," Efan muttered with a wide grin. His gaze stayed fixed on the hologram, monitoring the battlefield at Main Fortress #8. Thousands of blue dots blinked across the screen—all of them remote-controlled robot units.

Despite the staggering number—over thirty-seven million units—Efan understood their limitations. These robots could only rival the strength of a tier-3 lord. If they were to encounter enemies beyond that level—masters or even grandmasters—they would be nothing more than butter under a hot blade.

His mission was simple but crucial. Lein had tasked him with drawing out the enemy's strongest fighters. Only once all the master and grandmaster-level opponents revealed themselves on the battlefield would Lein make his move.

Lein was not the reckless type. He knew that charging into enemy territory to kill grandmasters directly would be suicidal if a hidden king-tier lord was lurking nearby. So, he devised a strategy of push and pull.

A shadow appeared beside Efan. It was an old bald man with an orange sash draped across his shoulder—one of Lein's highest-ranking commanders.

"Sir Efan, most of their forces have been pulled back," the old man reported with an enthusiastic tone. His eyes shone with hope, as if victory was already in hand.

Efan gave a slow nod. "Good… keep an eye on the front line. Lead the master-tier troops to crush their fortress. Don't give them time to recover."

"Yes, sir!" The old man gave a short salute and vanished as quickly as he came, leaving a small gust of wind to flutter Efan's cloak.

Left alone again, Efan stared at the hologram. His fingers moved across the transparent screen, zooming in on enemy territory. Every movement, every position change—he tracked them closely.

—

Meanwhile, on the front line—just outside the walls of the Invictus sect's Main Fortress—Lein moved swiftly from point to point. His steps were light but authoritative. Around him, dozens of tier-2 soldiers busied themselves with setting up heavy equipment.

"Line them up properly," Lein said calmly to a group of soldiers pushing a large cart. Atop it was a long-barreled energy cannon, its rear end bulkier, with a glowing circular emitter on top.

"Yes, Elder Lein!" responded a female soldier. With her team, she quickly maneuvered the cannon into position, lifting and setting it exactly where Lein had instructed.

Lein stood beside a tall tower that had just been completed. A system notification flashed before him.

[Construction complete (Galactic Fortress)]

He looked up at the top of the tower. "Good," he murmured, half in awe. "I wonder how strong the star troops from this tower really are."

This was the 125th Galactic Fortress he had built at Main Fortress #8. All of them stood tall, facing the enemy base—like massive spears poised to pierce the heart of enemy defenses.

Until now, Lein had constructed thousands of Galactic Fortresses across the Divine Sky Realm, but he had never actually used them in a full-scale war. His power was so overwhelming that no one had dared to challenge him directly. But now… the situation had changed.

The soldiers finished positioning the energy cannons around the tower. Lein stepped closer, inspecting their alignment.

"Line them up with the others. Set the spacing at two and a half meters," he said, pointing to the marked lines on the ground.

Immediately, the soldiers moved efficiently, adjusting the cannon placements to match Lein's instructions. They worked with discipline, no wasted movement, a sign of experience and professionalism under direct orders from Lein. Once everything was in position, Lein began activating the fortress's main defense system: the Galactic Fortress.

But before he could ignite the tower's power core, his eyes caught something suspicious in the distance. The western sky darkened, and without warning, massive gray hands emerged from the clouds. There were more than ten of them, all surging toward Efan's robot army, ready to crush them in an instant.

Lein narrowed his eyes. "Not happening," he whispered, almost inaudibly.

Without rushing, he raised a hand and made a simple motion, as if slicing through the air in front of him. The movement was almost lazy, like someone swatting away a fly. The soldiers nearby glanced at each other, puzzled. They didn't understand what he was doing. There were no explosions, no thunderous blasts—just a single hand gesture.

But when they looked up, their confusion turned into shock.

A massive crack split one of the giant hands in the sky. The sound echoed like shattering glass across the night sky. Then another hand split… and another. One by one, the hands were torn apart by some unseen force. Then a blinding golden light shot down from above, striking the final hand and blasting it to pieces, sending shockwaves through the air.

In the distance, a bald monk hovered in the air, facing off against the enemy who had summoned the colossal hands.

Lein gave a small nod. "One grandmaster has entered the fray," he murmured, turning his gaze back toward the tower. "Let them deal with it for now."

He didn't look alarmed—in fact, he calmly resumed his main task: building towers and escalating the chaos. For him, the more enemies that emerged from hiding, the better.

After confirming that the "sky hands" situation had been handled by his allies, Lein activated the Galactic Fortress's power core. He placed his hand atop the control crystal and channeled a massive amount of power essence. Soon after, a system notification echoed in his mind:

(Star Army) The Galactic Fortress summons star troops to assist the lord in battle on the lord's island. 100 power essence per troop.

Without hesitation, Lein sacrificed one million power essence.