by <unknown>
“Don’t… Don’t care about us, he won’t kill anyone. We can’t… can’t be the reason to cause our entire team’s… destruction!”
The energy on Herlous’ body was flickering. He was resisting the Esper power from Ember, and even with all his might, he could only speak while stuttering. His face was ferocious, and every word sounded like he was spending all his energy on it. Through the time that they spent together, Herlous had gained some knowledge of Han Xiao. He knew very clearly that Han Xiao would not hesitate on something like this and would be able to make choices despite the enemy’s threatening, so he did not have to worry. He only spoke so that Han Xiao would not have any psychological burden.
“Hold on, there’s a gap in front. We can get rid of the enemies once we fly down.” Han Xiao nodded and increased the Car Ball’s speed. He did not waste any words.
Seeing that the Car Ball was about to leave his power range, Ember’s eyes turned colder, and he clenched his fists.
The higher ups did not allow killing, but as long as the target was alive, it would not matter how badly hurt they were.
“Argh!”
Herlous inhaled deeply with the scream stuck in his throat. His left hand changed shape noticeably, then slowly turned into dust and splashed on the floor. There was no blood and no metallic smell. The decomposition was spreading from his hand toward his shoulder!
“Ember…” A flash of rage appeared in Han Xiao’s eyes, but he had no time to look at Herlous’ injury. The most important thing at the time was to get out of Ember’s power range, and only then would the damage not continue to grow.
Sand fog flew out of Aroshia’s body, and she was being decomposed as well. She looked down at her body as confusion flashed through her eyes.
Most normal life forms would be curious about what came after death, but they would only have one life, and when they discovered the answer to that question, it would also mean that they had left the world of the living. Aroshia, on the other hand, had countless opportunities to try it, so death was not unknown or mysterious to her. She could see her own ‘ending’—a new life. She had been through it countless times, and she knew that she would not die. However, a new life meant that her memories would be reset again. She did not have any memory of what happened after death, and she could not remember anything about what happened before she died. She could not help but think of Han Xiao’s words.
If she did not have the memories of her past life, even if she received a new life, would she still be who she was now? Would that be just another form of death?
“So, I can die after all…” Aroshia mumbled. Suddenly, a sense of trepidation was born in her heart.
When this thought appeared, a change happened within her body.
Hum!
The feeling of her body being controlled suddenly disappeared. Aroshia realized that she could move now. The world in her eyes was different—it seemed brighter, and many small dots of light were swimming in the air like fish. Her senses became completely different from just a moment earlier. Then, she realized that she was floating, and she saw the shocked expression on the people beside her.
“What happened to me…”
Aroshia looked down at her body. It was not a physical body anymore but a half transparent luminous body with a dim glow of bluish gold. Light particles floated around her. Her senses were not her body and head anymore—it was like she was no longer limited by a physical form. With a thought, she suddenly turned into a sphere-shaped ball of light.
“This… This is…” Maple Moon was shocked.
“Energy life.” Han Xiao glanced over. He was shocked as well. The characteristics that Aroshia was showing now were the characteristics of energy lifeforms. Her physical structure changed, so of course, she was not controlled by Ember anymore. He did not have the time to think of the reason for this to happen, but a thought appeared in his mind.
“Try to touch the energy core.”
Aroshia did as Han Xiao said. A thin tentacle extended out of the ball of light, passed through the cockpit wall, and came into contact with the energy core. The light particles in her body flew into the core through the tentacle.
Buzz!
With the sound of electric currents, sparks appeared on the engine, and the output of the Car Ball increased tremendously and went into overload mode immediately!
The Car Ball’s speed increased instantly, it jumped right into the gap in front and finally got out of Ember’s power range. Herlous’ decomposition progress stopped at his left shoulder. He was covered in sweat, holding on to his hollow left shoulder, and his face was filled with agony. Other than him, the Volga brothers suffered some damage too. However, Ember’s main target was Herlous, who had the strongest resistance, so they were still in a relatively good state—none of them were maimed.
Ember and the others stopped at the edge of the gap and watched as the Car Ball extended its balance wings and flew away at a high speed.
Ember failed twice on the same target. He yelled at the communicator, “Is the search team here yet? Target has disappeared, track it immediately.”
However, the reply was very unexpected.
“One minute ago, the mothership sent out a new order. Give up this mission. Everyone, return to the mothership and retreat immediately!” The other side of the communicator sounded very anxious.
Ember’s pupils constricted in disbelief.
How could it be an order to retreat‽
The Secret Message Bead was very important to DarkStar. Now that they were not far from succeeding, unless there was an accident, it was impossible for them to give up halfway. And this accident was definitely something that the mothership could not deal with!
The order was not to be disobeyed. Even though Ember was very unhappy, he could only watch Han Xiao and the others get away while he turned around and retreated.
What had happened above‽
…
Fifteen minutes earlier…
“This is Shattered Star Ring Express News. I’m the frontline reporter, Brimner, reporting live on the battle near Planet 122 of Star Zone 4, Fawn Galaxy.”
A news spaceship stopped not far from the battlefield, reporting the situation live at the scene after hearing about it.
Brimner was the reporter hosting this live news. The news was playing on the Shattered Star Ring Current Affairs Channel, reporting live on things happening around the area to all the audiences in the Star Field. People and organizations of countless Galaxies and Star Zones were paying attention to this news broadcast.
“It is known that Fawn-122 planet is located at the border crossing of Holy Stone Civilization and Black Raven Civilization. A special battle has happened in this sensitive area. As everyone can see, the battle is between DarkStar and mercenaries. As reflected by witnesses, the battle has lasted for almost two days now. The cause of this is that DarkStar wanted to capture some mercenaries, and these mercenaries happened to belong to Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold, the three very well-known mercenary armies. Hence, a conflict broke out. The situation now is, Holy Stone and Black Raven’s armies are monitoring on the sidelines, while DarkStar and the mercenaries are in a stalemate. On the planet, the mercenaries who are being chased are unbelievably still running.
“According to our knowledge, the Godoran Civilization far away in the Garton Galaxy is already forming an army. DarkStar is a violence group acting against Godora, so they are naturally enemies. As DarkStar rarely appears and is very stealthy, it is very hard for Godora to trace them. Now that DarkStar has appeared publicly, Godora wants to hold onto this opportunity…”
As Brimner was reporting, a large object appeared on the edge of the image, flying toward the battlefield.
“Wait, there seems to be a change to the situation. A new force has appeared. That’s… Er, Floating Dragon Island?”
Her eyes widened in shock.
The interest of countless spectators in Shattered Star Ring who were watching the new
s rose immediately. Floating Dragon was ‘Dragon Emperor’ Ames’ territory—almost everyone in Shattered Star Ring knew that.
They were very curious. Why was Floating Dragon there?
Brimner paused and thought of a logical explanation.
“Our crew has just checked Floating Dragon’s route—it just so happens that it came to Fawn Galaxy Star Zone 4. Apparently, it’s just passing by out of coincidence. Holy Stone and Black Raven’s fleets are surrounding the battlefield. I believe after some communication, Floating Dragon will take a detour. This should not have any impact on the situation…”
Before she finished her sentence, Floating Dragon bumped straight into the Holy Stone fleet at the edge of the battlefield, without any intention to change course at all.
Chapter 400. The Arrival of Dragon Emperor! |
Holy Stone and Black Raven’s fleets surrounded half of the battlefield each. They were on level one alert. Countless cannons were aimed at both sides of the battle. Shivate stared at the battle and was on high alert all along.
A third-party conflict happening at the border had always been difficult to deal with, as guarding the border was the responsibility of the Guard Army. Firstly, interfering blindly would not grant any merit. As it would not be defending against an enemy, there would be no reward for winning, no compensation for damages, and very severe consequences if they lost. Hence, taking part in the battle was the worst choice. Shivate believed that, if his fleet suffered damage due to his decision, the royalties of his political opposition would definitely use him as an example to attack the political faction that he was in. As the Holy Stone was aristocratic with many factions, most of the army were royalties as well. Of course, there would be political opposition paying attention to what he was doing.
Luckily, the attacks from the DarkStar mothership and the alliance fleet were controlled within the area. As long as the situation did not escalate further, Shivate would be thankful.
At this time, a subordinate said in a hurry, “Commander, a large object is approaching the battlefield. Stream Light is on its route, please give the order!”
Shivate was shocked. He looked at the screen. A large object was approaching at a very high speed, and its energy reaction was through the roof. He adjusted the angle of the porthole and looked over, then he saw an ellipse-shaped golden object was shining in space, gradually approaching. Its size was dozens of times larger than a fleet. It was indeed Floating Dragon Island with its shield activated.
“That’s Floating Dragon Island. Is it passing by?” Shivate was surprised.
Seeing the Floating Dragon Island was still approaching and would crash onto his fleet soon, Shivate immediately sent out a message to Floating Dragon Island. “Attention Floating Dragon, attention Floating Dragon. I am Holy Stone Border Guards Army Third Formation Commander Shivate. A battle is underway ahead, and we have locked down this area, please go around.”
Just one second later, Stream Light received a reply. Jenny’s cold voice sounded, and she only said two words. “Give way.”
A tint of rage appeared on Shivate’s face. This was his first time meeting such an outrageous passerby. Not only did they not want to go around, they even wanted the entire fleet to move away. Regardless, Floating Dragon had the right to be this way, and Shivate did not dare mess with them.
Floating Dragon did not seem like it would stop at all. It approached in a straight line and would soon bump into the Holy Stone fleet formation. Shivate’s face was terrible as he clenched his teeth and gave the order. “All units spread out. Terminate the lockdown and give way to them!”
The Holy Stone spread out hastily and created a path. Floating Dragon passed through the formation and casually entered the battlefield. This was included in the news image, and Brimner’s always smooth tone was stuck. She was stunned for a while before saying slowly, “Err… As everyone can see, Hol— Holy Stone fleet gave way. It seems like the negotiation failed. Apparently, Floating Dragon does not care about the battle in front of them. We don’t know what will happen next…”
The viewers were awed by how dominant Floating Dragon was, but no one felt that Floating Dragon came just to interfere.
At this time, the alliance fleet still could not break through DarkStar’s defenses. They contacted the mercenaries who were being chased, but they could not pick them up. They could only watch as the communication channels became silent one after another. Their organization members were being caught right in front of them, and the rage from that was expressed directly in the strength of the alliance fleet’s attacks. From just wanting to go around DarkStar at the start to now being on a killing spree, it was getting bloodier over time.
Boom!
A part of the planet surface suddenly bulged. The ground cracked open, and a large ice pillar burrowed out and rose from the ground. Goa and her teammates came back to the surface on the ice pillar. Her white blue mage robe was covered in dust and holes, and her face looked exhausted. She had been chased by the troops till she had nowhere to run, so she channeled her power and released it on this one hit to finally return to the surface. Looking up, the astonishing scenery reflected in her clear, blue eyes.
In the dark blue, almost black outer space, countless fleets were fighting. Countless lasers and cannons were as bright as stars. On the lower heights, it was the DarkStar fleet that was going in circles and surrounding the area. They were rushing toward her, stirring up dust on their way and twisting the atmosphere with the heat from their thrusters.
“There’s… still no one to pick us up?”
It was like all the energy was being pulled out of Goa’s body. She slowly kneeled down, and her magic staff fell from her white hands onto the ground. She looked up at, watching the powerless alliance fleet who were supposed to be their saviors.
The color of desperation painted her pupils.
The three large armies were what made them struggle and resist because they knew that there would be fleets coming to the rescue. Everyone had gotten their hopes up. However, the reinforcements they had waited so long for could not save them. Their friends were captured one after another. Their last bit of toughness was gone. Who could save them in this situation?
Hovering ships surrounded them. Goa and her teammates beside her gave up resisting and let go of their weapons.
At this time, the Floating Dragon Island entered the battlefield. The fleets of both sides hastily moved aside. It was like the pause button had been pressed for the heated battle.
Sarota was shocked. “Why is there still interference? Didn’t Holy Stone and Black Raven lock the battlefield down? This is… Floating Dragon‽”
Both sides stopped. Floating Dragon became the focus of everyone. Everyone—including DarkStar, the mercenary alliance fleet, Holy Stone, and Black Raven—waited for it to leave as soon as possible. They were fighting properly, and suddenly, a passerby appeared. Plus, it was someone that they could not mess with. How were they going to continue fighting?
However, Floating Dragon Island stopped in the middle of the battlefield.
“What’s going on?”
“Why did it stop?”
The captains of all the parties were shocked. Was Floating Dragon not just passing by? They already moved away and cleared its path, so why was it not leaving?
This time, an extremely piercing alarm triggered on the detector of every battleship.
“Attention! Space ripple appeared nearby! High energy reaction! Calculating energy rank… The accurate calculation failed. Area of effect is fluctuating, cannot be displayed!”
A blue dot appeared above Floating Dragon and expanded quickly, turning into a spinning ring of light. Inside was a white fog that was only two to three meters large. It was nothing that people would pay attention to in the wide universe, but now, it attracted everyone’s attention.
High Grade Secret Spell: Physical Entity Teleportation Door!
Then, a snow-white long leg stepped out of the ring of light. Ame
s, who was in a black dress, ‘walked’ out. Her black hair extended from behind her back right to her ankles. On her beautiful face was her careless expression as always, like those countless battleships could not even make her eyebrow move even the slightest bit.
The commanders’ faces all changed.
“Dragon Emperor‽”
“Why is she here!”
Just as everyone was stunned and guessing what Ames’ motive was, it suddenly happened!
Ames saw DarkStar, and without saying a word, a violent force field gushed out. The armor of the dozen or so DarkStar battleships nearby bent inward and exploded like fireworks!
The entire process looked extremely easy. The battleships made from DarkStar technology were as weak as pieces of paper in her hands—she could turn them into paper balls in an instant!
Sarota’s face changed instantly, having not expected this at all. Why did the Dragon Emperor attack them‽
Everyone was shocked. Shivate suddenly realized and yelled, “She’s not passing by. She wants to help the mercenaries!”
The alliance fleet was stunned, then became overjoyed. Their morale grew tremendously.
“Dragon Emperor is reinforcing us! Everyone, attack!”
Panic finally appeared on Sarota’s face. The subordinates around all looked at him and anxiously waited for him to give an order.
“Info— Inform everyone to retreat immediately. No wait, inform the fleets to protect the mothership, form a defense formation, cover the mothership to escape!”
Dragon Emperor’s name was as impactful as thunder. When they met Ames, everything about the mission was thrown out of his head. Sarota only had one thought now—minimize the damage and run for their life! As soon as he gave out the order, he left the commander room and ran to an escape pod.
The DarkStar fleet contracted their formation, forming a shield formation and protecting the mothership like a wall, blocking the focus fire from the alliance fleet. Behind layers and layers of protection, the exterior of the mothership started to fade away. It started to go into stealth and back away.