Chapter 1072: Chapter 584, The Alliance is too enticing
The Alliance has achieved resounding victories lately, but itâs also clear that some are bearing heavy burdens to achieve them.
Take Gu Hang for instanceâhe nearly got drained dry in the Battle of Bowang, but after ingesting a Neuron Progeny, he was reinvigorated.
The Interstellar Warriors are another group carrying the weight of progress.
Whenever thereâs a ship capture operation, itâs always the Phoenix Battle Group that bites down on the critical parts, tearing them apart. Without these top-tier warriors, many victories wouldnât have been possible.
But fighting battle after battle like this, including those stationed in the warships and fortresses, the Phoenix Battle Group has suffered close to five hundred casualties.
Half a unit wiped out.
For most battle groups, this kind of relentless fighting would be utterly unsustainable. Unless itâs a fight of particularly significant importanceâan operation like sinking ships outright instead of forcing Interstellar Warriors to risk their lives to capture themâitâs not something anyone would agree to.
Not even with direct orders.
The Phoenix Battle Group followed orders anyway. Part of this is because Gu Hang holds considerable sway over them; another part is because Matins knows that the losses will be replenished quickly.
Unlike regular battle groups where losing half their brothers-in-arms would require endless years of selecting recruits, performing implant surgeries, and waiting for them to mature. Beyond that, turning fresh recruits into veterans or even core members could easily take decades.
For some less fortunate battle groups, recovering from a single devastating battle might take a century or more.
The Phoenix Battle Group is different.
Matins knows that as soon as he loses 500 warriors, in just a few months, Gu Hang will deliver 500 fresh recruits with Genetic Seed implants ready to report for duty.
Nowadays, even the Genetic Seed transplant surgeries no longer need to be performed by the groupâs Apothecaries. The new recruits come from numerous planets across the Dragonhawk Star Domain.
These recruits will rapidly become fierce, battle-hardened warriors, no weaker than veterans.
Given these conditions, what else could Matins say?
Under such circumstances, the decisions made by this battle group are fundamentally different from others. The Phoenix Battle Group is now equipped with elite soldiers, cutting-edge gear, and even batch-deployed Phase Swords. Not to mention that almost every member is outfitted in "Colossal" Power Armor, which clearly outclasses typical Power Armor. Their Iron Knight Terminators surpass standard Indomitable Terminators as well...
Besides these two points, consider their unique traits: fearlessness, constant replenishment, and super-fast recruitment...
Matins feels his battle group has become invincible.
Other battle groups? No, he even believes they could take on their parent group, the Phoenix Legion, without any issue. Phoenix indeed has more Champion Swordsmen. The group as a whole, especially in close combat scenarios, has inherited swordsmanship skills that outshine those of the Phoenix Battle Group. Moreover, as a newly-founded battle group, Phoenixâs individual combat prowess is likely still superior, arguably operating at the same elite tier.
Add their swordsmanship legacy, their advanced combat capabilities, and the techniques and equipment passed down from the era when humanity built the great Empire... Newly-founded battle groups are the pinnacle when it comes to unit strength.
And Phoenix, among them, is the cream of the crop. Yes, perhaps their Genetic Seed compatibility isnât perfect, which results in challenges in recruiting new warriors. Their sub-group numbers are small, and their population is sparse, which further impacts their political leverage at the broader Empire level. They couldnât compete with the influence of larger battle groups. But their pursuit of perfection embedded in their Genetic Seeds, combined with their exceptional swordsmanship, makes them the absolute top combat force among all newly-founded battle groups.
Nonetheless, if Phoenix were to face the Phoenix Battle Group, considering the latterâs willingness to sacrifice and super-fast replenishment rates, what could Phoenix even do?
Eventually, theyâd be worn down and destroyed.
Under Gu Hangâs leadership, the Phoenix Battle Group truly lives up to its nameâlike a "Phoenix," they are practically immortal.
Of course, this is contingent on them maintaining their integrated connection with the Alliance.
And in practice, that linkage isnât likely to be severed. As Battle Group Leader, Matins understands this well. If he ever decided to break from the Alliance, wouldnât every single member of his unit think he was insane and immediately tie him up to hand over to the Governor?
The only ones who might follow him into rebellion would be the other three veterans from the farthest reaches of the old deployment series.
Oh, even they likely wouldnâtâespecially Priest Rizzo, who definitely wouldnât join.
Then again, Matins himself acknowledges the absurdity of such thoughts.
Under the Allianceâs system, heâs living a comfortable and privileged life; only a madman would think about leaving.
As far as Gu Hang is concerned, replenishing the Phoenix Battle Group with 500 fresh recruits primarily consumes Gift Points.
Training a single elite veteran costs about 1,000 Gift Points per person within his battle group interface. This includes the Seed exchange, recruitment, and training costs.
However, this time, the actual expense wonât be that high.
While training the additional 40,000 Glory Guards, the selection process was essentially completed. The Glory Guards themselves were meticulously chosen using [Recruitment Tokens]. Among them, the most outstanding candidates, generally aged around 16, capable of reaching T1 training standards, are considered prime candidates to become Interstellar Warriors. Their Genetic Seed implant success rates are notably high.
Additionally, as the Phoenix Battle Group has been engaged in combat for five years now, theyâve managed to cultivate a batch of Genetic Seeds themselves. From the 400 warriors who fell in battle, most of their Genetic Seeds were successfully recovered by the groupâs Apothecaries.