Chapter 1 Anti-Monopoly

As soon as the anti-monopoly regulations of the three major civilizations were released, the effect was equivalent to war mobilization. The four star clusters in the Free Competition Zone immediately became turbulent, and all the waiting forces made their choices.

A small number of forces were unwilling to get involved in the war, painfully gave up their investments of several years, and withdrew from the competition. Most forces, however, were unwilling to be eliminated. A large number of star system-level and star cluster-level civilizations and various private armed organizations dispatched troops to stand in the camps of the three major civilizations and the major agent forces of the Super Star Cluster Alliance, launching a frontal battle in the inner and middle rings of the star clusters.

Just as the major civilizations had predicted early on, when the fourth phase of territory exploration was completed, the ethos of free development would gradually turn into frequent armed plundering. With the outbreak of large-scale conflicts, the flames of war spread rapidly. Under the attention of the entire universe, the Free Competition Zone entered a state of war.

The armed forces of many factions launched blockades, and the expansion trend of the Super Star Cluster Alliance was immediately contained. Countless fierce battle lines were drawn in the four star clusters, and the stronghold planets on the edges of the territories were constantly repeating the process of being lost and regained, weaving into a jagged distribution map of forces.

The Emerald Star Cluster was divided into fourteen war zones, most of which were located in the inner and middle ring areas, while the bridgeheads of the Super Star Cluster Alliance sparsely distributed in the outer ring areas were subjected to the most intense siege. Their fortresses connecting to the outside of the star cluster were rapidly falling.

However, because everyone's goal was to seize territory, the intensity of the war was under control. Everyone tacitly banned planet-destroying weapons, mainly using fleet operations and ground operations. After all, if the planet was destroyed, there would be no territory to seize. Therefore, various ground combat weapons and superhumans played a very important role.

Large-scale wars meant the rapid consumption of warships, ammunition, and weapons, and demand determined the market, giving many consortia the opportunity to profit from the war.

Many consortia that had expanded their business in the Shattered Star Ring were selling various war resources on a large scale, and the order volume of the Black Star Army and its Germinal Financial Group was also soaring. The logistics department's assembly line was in full operation, and ships of arms were shipped to the Free Competition Zone.

On the other side, under Han Xiao's order, the armed forces of the legion gathered at the legion's forward exploration strongholds, and attacked the Ferdinand Star System war zone where the Modo Civilization was located in batches.

Currently, the regular army of the Super Star Cluster Alliance was still standing still, while the agent forces were wrapping their territory as an outer defense line. The fleet of the Black Star Army advanced straight forward, deep into the defense line, and exchanged fire with the agent forces of the Super Star Cluster Alliance.

…

Inner ring area of the Emerald Star Cluster, a stronghold planet on the edge of the Super Star Cluster Alliance's territory, was captured by a large armed organization under the Super Star Cluster some time ago, and a main force was temporarily stationed there.

And today, this planet was suddenly attacked by the vanguard of the Black Star Army.

With the ground stronghold as the center, a hemispherical sky-blue energy shield was buckled on the ground, covering a radius of thousands of kilometers. Above the shield was a fierce space battlefield, and the defending fleet was struggling to resist the attack of the Black Star Army's fleet, being killed in a mess and already in a state of defeat.

The rotating rapid-fire turrets of the Black Star Army warships swung out whip-like light chains, sweeping and whipping in the battlefield, interweaving into a light net. Along the way, fireworks lit up from time to time. In this bright and brilliant scene that illuminated the universe, there was a dense silent killing intent.

Small special guerrilla ships were like agile hummingbirds, wandering in the battlefield where light cannons crisscrossed, sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes left, sometimes right, using thrilling maneuvers to avoid artillery fire, and occasionally firing assault pods, shattering enemy shields, deeply biting into the armor of the ships, and helping the players to land on the enemy ships.

The blue tail flames of the thrusters at the tail of the heavy assault ship formation left traces of light on the battlefield, shining like a meteor shower. Under the powerful power support of the dark energy engine, the assault ship array split the waves and tore the enemy's defensive fleet formation into pieces, crushing the enemy's coordinated combat defense line.

The legion commander was one of the top mechanics in the universe, and the logistics department's warship manufacturing technology was also excellent. The performance and firepower of the legion's warships had an advantage. Under the fierce covering firepower strikes, dense energy beams penetrated the defensive joint shield of the stronghold's defenders, like a torrential rain, crackling and hitting the surface of the blue shield, stirring up thick arcs of electricity like dragons, shaking out cobweb-like luminous cracks.

One by one, tetrahedral land torpedo missiles detached from the ship's belly and fell from the sky, drilling into the stratum, trying to pass through the base shield from underground. However, the underground of the stronghold base was also equipped with defensive measures, so only the ground around the shield could be seen fluctuating and undulating, bulging up one after another, like the planet growing pimples. When it expanded to the peak, it burst suddenly, and countless mud, sand, and stone mixed with fire mushroom clouds soared into the sky, and the shock wave sweeping along the ground blew up sandstorm-like dust.

In the headquarters of the ground base that was constantly vibrating, the atmosphere was extremely tense, and the base commander stared at the durability reading of the shield, his tone anxious.

"Has the reinforcement not arrived yet?"

"Commander, other allied organizations are unwilling to fight the Black Star Army head-on, and have refused to provide reinforcements. Only the Modo Civilization, which is closest to us, has sent troops and is rushing here through the warp base."

"Damn, these bastards... notify all captains, absolutely do not let the Black Star Army break through the base shield. Once they mass-drop the Undying onto the surface, we're done. Hold their fleet back for me!"

The base commander shouted.

Now, the player's nickname of cosmic cancer has already spread throughout the Star Sea. They are almost the kings of ground warfare. If the battle is maintained in fleet operations, it can last for a while, but if the Undying forces break into the ground defense line, there is only one result, and that is a one-sided rout.

Faced with the Undying, who are fearless, resurrected, and indifferent to life, no normal soldier will not feel apprehensive. Encountering such opponents, no matter how much damage is inflicted on the enemy, it is useless. The ground army has no morale or will to fight. Once they enter contact warfare, it will inevitably be a bloody massacre.

Not to mention, the Black Star Army has an Undying legion of tens of millions in size, and now they are rushing towards the war zone controlled by the Modo Civilization, which is simply a walking meat grinder.

Even most of the Super Star Cluster Alliance's agent forces, because of their apprehension, hurriedly moved away from the Black Star troops' advance direction, not daring to hinder the legion. Their goal was clear, they were only heading for Modo, and no one wanted to waste their forces here.

"Commander, the energy durability reading of the base shield has dropped below 20%. Three energy furnaces have already overheated and are expected to shatter in eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Please issue instructions!" The operation leader's tone was flustered.

The base commander looked at the retreating fleet, gritted his teeth, "The reserve fleet is ready to take off at any time to seize air supremacy. Preheat all anti-aircraft turrets, activate all missile silos. As soon as the shield shatters, fire immediately. All mechanized divisions, armored divisions, and superhuman forces prepare for ground combat..."

A series of orders were issued, and the dark mass of armored soldiers and vehicles quickly took their places, staring at the space battlefield above their heads. The sound of soldiers nervously swallowing saliva could be heard from time to time in the communication channel.

In the tense atmosphere, time passed minute by minute in the fierce battle, and every day felt like a year. Under the horrified gaze of the base soldiers, the blue shield that enveloped their heads shattered suddenly, exploding into a sky full of luminous dust.

The next moment, a series of whistling sounds of breaking through the air rang out.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

One by one, airdrop pods with shields passed through the fire net interwoven by anti-aircraft turrets and slammed into various locations in the base, burning with hot white smoke.

The hatches slid open, and teams of fully armed Grade B players stepped onto the earth and launched a fierce charge towards the ground forces.

The approaching Undying forces were like approaching devils in the eyes of the base soldiers, who mustered their courage and roared as they rushed up.

Bang—

Two torrents of steel collided on the ground!

Grade B was already a backbone force in the universe. As soon as they made contact, hundreds of thousands of players smashed through the ground armored division defense lines and rolled over them in a mighty frontal crush. The earth, rolled up with yellow dust, rose up with fire from exploding vehicles and armor.

The wave formed by the players devoured piece after piece of soldiers, submerging the positions made of steel and flesh, causing huge casualties.

It wasn't that no players were besieged to death, but the base troops watched as every player they killed with all their might was resurrected on the battlefield the next moment. They were completely doing useless work.

An atmosphere of despair spread in the hearts of every soldier, and the seeds of fear blossomed and bore fruit, solidifying into the deepest nightmare.

Soon, the first warrior whose mentality collapsed appeared, running away in panic. This was like a signal, and more and more soldiers fled in all directions, and the entire line collapsed.

"They are devils!"

"This is a battle that is bound to be lost, run away!"

"I don't want to die meaninglessly!"

Desperate cries rang out in the communication channel, and the base's defense forces quickly disintegrated.

The base commander wanted to go to the front line to encourage morale, but a sniper player with a super-long-range condensed solid energy bullet turned him into ashes.

Just then, a flash of light appeared in the space not far from the planet, and the Modo Civilization's support fleet appeared at the jump point. Seeing this scene, they immediately knew that there was no way to recover.

"We are too late. They have already been attacked by the cosmic cancer and have been driven into their position. They are beyond help."

The captain didn't say a word and ordered the fleet to turn around immediately, instantly turning into streams of light and fleeing, being very decisive in his cowardice.

…

Bang!

The meeting table was heavily slammed.

"Tell me, how are we going to solve the problem of the Black Star Army!"

Rodick, the commander of the Modo Civilization's expeditionary fleet, roared, his roar echoing throughout the conference room.

Before the war, because the Super Star Cluster Alliance helped each other, the Black Star Army could not attack the territory of the Modo Civilization alone, but now the various Super Star Cluster Civilizations were taking care of themselves, which was the best time to attack.

Now should have been the agent war stage, the Super Star Cluster Civilizations were temporarily standing still and watching the situation, but because of the Black Star Army's launch, only the Modo Civilization had to personally come down early, losing the qualification to watch the situation, and became the worst member among all the Super Star Cluster Civilizations.

"Most of the allies we recruited are unwilling to confront the Black Star Army head-on, so we can only resist them ourselves. We can't just let them break into our territory."

"Other Super Star Cluster Civilizations will provide some help, more or less, and won't sit idly by and watch our defense line be easily broken."

"Even if they help, the support is limited. They can't take care of one thing and lose sight of another... and the Black Star Army's public goal is very clear, only targeting us, and others are also worried that too much intervention will completely drag the Black Star Army down, so they would rather sacrifice us to hold them back."

Everyone whispered, and the atmosphere was gloomy.

If it was an ordinary armed organization, then the problem would not be so big. The Modo Civilization was still a Super Star Cluster Civilization, and its armed forces were still very powerful.

But the current war intensity was limited, and the role of superhumans was very important, and the Undying troops of the Black Star Army were too rogue. Even if they could be blocked for a while, their own family could not withstand the casualties. This reality made everyone present feel heavy.

"We can only use Undying to deal with Undying. We have also recruited many Undying organizations. As long as we give enough money, we may be able to uniformly dispatch them to resist the Black Star Army?" Lagos suggested.

"That's all we can do now,"

Letting the normal superhumans that they had worked so hard to cultivate fight the players was simply a blood loss. Only the Undying were most suitable to deal with the Undying.

Rodick's expression was gloomy, "It's a pity that it's a temporary solution. If we want to get rid of this situation, we must let the Black Star Army withdraw."

"Then what should we do, do we have to reconcile with Black Star?"

"Impossible." Rodick shook his head decisively, "Only by killing Black Star himself can we make the Black Star Army fall apart... but we simply can't do it."

"Well, changing direction, as long as we create some trouble for Black Star, so that he has no time to take care of us, it is also possible."

"Do you have a plan?"

"Not yet." Lagos shook his head, thoughtfully, "But I may have an idea to deal with Black Star..."