Chapter 1 Fire

Flames soared into the sky as chaos spread through the Ainiya Hub. A series of explosions rocked different districts, seemingly caused by someone detonating portable high-energy bombs.

Raymond received a message from his comrades and rushed to meet them. Fording and Aurora had no choice but to follow. Along the way, he quietly notified other Guard officers.

Since he needed to blend into the Punisher Alliance, it was inconvenient for him to take action himself. The Guard officers were his best helpers.

The situation had already exceeded initial estimates. To quell this sudden disturbance, the Black Star Army could not stand idly by.

Arriving at the military restricted zone, they found a chaotic battlefield. Garrison warships converged from all directions, using planetary weapons to attack the ground targets, mindful of the collateral damage to the city.

Gabra, the guardian of Ainiya, led a group of subordinates in a fierce battle against the Gray Faction. He was joined by Catastrophe-level colleagues. In total, seven or eight Catastrophe-level individuals were clashing, their aftershocks reshaping the area. The garrison urgently activated the city's Zenith Defense Shield to prevent the effects from spreading further.

The battle between Catastrophe-level beings meant the Punisher Alliance members present were largely unable to intervene. They could only help to fight against the main forces of the Gray Faction. The situation was intense.

"Help them!" Raymond shouted, joining the fray without hesitation.

Fording, protecting Aurora, only displayed B-level combat strength as he weaved through the skirmish, seemingly at ease. While fighting, he also pondered the situation.

"I didn't expect things to develop like this. These Gray Faction forces are united to seize the Evolver Totem. There must be an unknown force behind them."

Frowning, Fording mused, "It's too much effort to come all the way to the Empire to seize the Evolver Totem. It would be easier to seize it from other Star Field allied civilizations. It's too risky, this shouldn't be just for the Evolver Totem."

As he was thinking, another round of explosions occurred in various districts, indicating that there were still enemies in the shadows, setting off bombs and causing chaos.

Gabra dodged a heavy hammer blow from the Blood Hammer Bishop and glanced at the distant chaos. His anger surged, and he shouted, "Pull out some people to maintain order! Kill those bastards who are causing explosions everywhere!"

Upon receiving the order, some of the warships scattered to maintain order in various districts.

Boom!

At that moment, a huge explosion erupted in a distant district, collapsing a tall building and shattering the surrounding area. Another unknown Catastrophe-level aura appeared.

"There are more enemies?!" Gabra glared angrily, thinking it was enemy reinforcements.

However, the Catastrophe-level presence in the distance showed no intention of approaching, instead engaging in battle with someone over there.

"What's going on?" Gabra wondered. He couldn't afford to leave. In his view, the enemy's target was the Evolver Totem. If he left, the enemy might break through the defenses and steal it. He couldn't abandon his post.

After thinking for a moment, Gabra decided to temporarily ignore the unknown situation in the distance and focus on quickly eliminating the current Catastrophe-level rabble so that he could deal with the other situation later.

Fording also felt the aftershocks in the distance. He looked back and his pupils shrank.

If he remembered correctly, that seemed to be the direction they had come from... In an instant, Fording thought of the group of Catastrophe-level beings he had discovered. He could instinctively guess that they were probably fighting the bodyguards of the descendants of high-ranking Empire officials.

"This seems to be the same conspiracy..." Fording realized.

...

Meanwhile, in another district, a fierce battle was raging. The aftershocks from the Catastrophe-level beings' unrestrained clashes collapsed numerous buildings, turning many streets into ruins.

The combatants were the four ambushing Catastrophe-level wanted criminals and the two guards of the grandson of Lutherville.

In a four-on-two fight, the ordinary bodyguards around the grandson of Lutherville had already been killed or wounded. Only two Catastrophe-level guards were struggling to withstand the attacks of the four ruthless criminals, their wounds steadily increasing.

"Wh-who exactly wants to attack me?!" The grandson of Lutherville looked panicked. Although he was the descendant of a high-ranking official, he did not develop in the Empire's political circles, but instead chose to become a businessman. He never expected to receive such treatment.

He was currently protected by a temporary energy shield, unable to move. The shield was surrounded by aftershocks that were enough to crush him. Going outside would be fatal.

His two guards were high-level combatants directly cultivated by the Empire, loyal to their duty. Although they knew their disadvantage was great, they gritted their teeth and resisted the four criminals' attacks.

Bang!

Suddenly, one of the guards suffered a heavy blow and spat out a mouthful of blood mist. He was sent flying, crashing through a dozen buildings before landing far away.

The remaining guard was targeted by a concentrated attack and his injuries rapidly worsened. After all, they were not elite Catastrophe-level like Gabra, and these criminals were not simple characters. Taking advantage of an opening, one of the criminals severed the guard's arm at the root, causing blood to spurt out.

The man's face paled, but he only grunted and gritted his teeth to counterattack. However, his staunch personality did not provide any boost to his combat strength. His body was continuously bombarded by concentrated heavy blows, and he splattered blood as he moved through the air. His face grew paler and his aura rapidly declined.

Both guards were severely injured, and the grandson of Lutherville lost his protection, becoming a lamb to the slaughter, exposed to the four enemies' claws.

"Kill him!" The four men looked delighted and were about to join forces to eliminate their target.

However, at that moment, a sudden change occurred.

Beams of blazing light suddenly descended from the sky, attacking the area. The Catastrophe-level beings seemed to have a "Danger" sign appear above their heads. Sensing the danger, they hurriedly scattered to dodge.

Boom!

The light cannons struck the ground in front of them, shattering the earth and instantly crystallizing the soil with intense heat.

Along with the orbital bombardment, several figures descended, radiating powerful Catastrophe-level energy fluctuations, blocking the four criminals.

"Who are you?!" One of them immediately felt uneasy. The sudden appearance of these Catastrophe-level beings was not in the intelligence reports. They were not the Ainiya Hub garrison and gave them a sense of oppression that far exceeded the two guards they had just fought. They were definitely top-tier Catastrophe-level powerhouses.

"We are the Black Star Army Guard Officers. Who are you? How dare you cause trouble in the Empire?" Hadaway said with a cold sneer, scanning the group of criminals.

The criminals were stunned, and then their expressions changed drastically!

The Black Star Army?!

When did they come to the Ainiya Hub?! How did they not receive any news!

Crap, they ran into trouble!

The criminals' mouths felt bitter. If they had known that the Black Star Army was here, they would never have participated in this plan.

It was their bad luck to run into them!

"There are reinforcements!" In contrast, the two seriously injured guards were overjoyed, relieved and grateful.

Fortunately, His Excellency Black Star happened to be in the Ainiya Hub, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable!

The four criminals immediately wanted to retreat after hearing the name of the Black Star Army and abandon their mission, but Hadaway did not give them time to think. He led the Guard Officers to launch a fierce attack, and the two sides instantly engaged in a fierce battle.

...

On the other side, the battle in the military area had entered a fever pitch, with heavy casualties. Countless people had been blasted into dust, and even a Catastrophe-level being had his head crushed by Gabra.

However, although the Ainiya Hub garrison had the upper hand, Gabra could not eliminate all the enemies in a short time, and the chaos in the Ainiya Hub could not be quelled in a short time.

The Punisher Alliance members helped in a battlefield, and after fierce fighting, many members suffered injuries of varying degrees.

At this time, they officially experienced Aurora's healing power. No matter how serious the injury, it could be restored in a few breaths. The crowd was immediately energized, without any worries, they launched a fierce attack, bursting out with stronger combat power.

Even Sally, who was wary of the two of them, was now won over and was too embarrassed to say thank you when receiving treatment.

Aurora's ability had grown so much over time that the speed of life energy recovery far exceeded the past. The life energy consumed by treating B-level Supers was not even as fast as her own recovery, and there was no burden on her body.

While they were fighting fiercely, a projection of a adjutant suddenly appeared next to Gabra, sweating profusely and panicking, "Your Excellency Gabra, the Evolver Totem is gone!"

"What!" Gabra was shocked, and then a surge of anger, shouted: "How could you lose it, find it back for me!"

At this moment, he couldn't understand. The enemy was feinting to the east and attacking the west, luring the tiger away from the mountain. The strong attack outside was just a feint, and there were thieves taking advantage of the garrison being held back by this group of gray forces to quietly sneak in and steal the Evolver Totem.

The Evolver Totem was stored in a heavily guarded place, but the reason why interstellar thieves had business was because they could sneak into places that ordinary people could not enter and steal valuable things.

As things progressed to this point, even Gabra, who was quite proud, was amazed by the number of forces mobilized by the enemy, and was very curious about who organized this conspiracy.

It took so much effort, just for a totem? Gabra didn't think so.

Protecting the totem was just his duty, and he didn't really care about the totem itself, because they were also Empire allies and could buy new totems from the Black Star Army at any time.

Just as he was thinking, an opposing Catastrophe-level powerhouse launched a fierce attack on him, interrupting his thoughts. Gabra was suddenly furious - the totem could be lost, but these people must die.

"Let's solve the troublemakers first, and then deal with the stolen totem."

However, just as this thought flashed through his mind, several Catastrophe-level beings suddenly descended from the sky. It was another Guard Officer squad, who joined the battle without saying a word. With this fresh force, the balance of power was instantly reversed, breaking the deadlock.

"Reinforcements?!" Gabra was stunned, where did these people come from?

A Guard Officer joined forces with him to smash the high-dimensional magic entity summoned by the Blood Hammer Bishop. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gabra grabbed the Guard Officer and shouted:

"Who are you?"

The Guard Officer glanced at him indifferently, "Black Star's Guard Officer."

"It's you!" Gabra was overjoyed, he knew that Black Star had been running around in the Empire recently, but he didn't expect him to come to his territory.

It was really God helping me!

Without saying a word, Gabra shouted loudly, and the sound waves swept the audience:

"Black Star Army reinforcements have arrived, those who don't want to die should give up resisting!"

Many Guard Officers suddenly looked sideways.

We haven't announced our names yet, and you've already started? How come you look more like a Guard Officer than us.

But as soon as this was said, it had an immediate effect.

All the opposing members present changed their faces drastically. The name of the Black Star was known to everyone, and their hearts sank to the bottom in an instant!

On the other hand, the Ainiya Hub garrison was greatly boosted!

The thought of an Empire Super A-class standing behind them put everyone at ease.

For Empire soldiers, the Empire Super A-class was the spiritual pillar on the battlefield.

"The Black Star Army..." The Punisher Alliance and others looked at the Guard Officers in the field, and their eyes revealed a strange meaning.

This kind of great power that roams the universe was out of their reach and they couldn't even touch it.

At this time, seeing the famous Guard Officer group of the Black Star Army, everyone felt a little excited to see their idols. For Supers, this kind of famous Catastrophe-level group was not much different from the star idols of the Super world.

...

"The thing is in hand, let's go, let's go!"

At the same time, in another area, several thieves wearing anti-detection stealth camouflage suits were running away with the Evolver Totem, away from the battle area.

According to the plan, taking advantage of the garrison being held back, they sneaked into the secret facility and stole the Evolver Totem. As a group of interstellar thieves famous in the black market, these people not only had various high-tech equipment specially used for theft, but also had special abilities to match. Before being discovered, they stole the totem at the last moment.

Spaceships flew across the sky, searching for traces of thieves everywhere. This group of people hid everywhere, avoiding the heavy search.

Just as they were about to run out of an alley, their shoulders suddenly sank and they were pressed to the ground by a huge force, unable to move.

A faint breathing sound appeared out of thin air behind them. Before this, the people had no idea, and they were suddenly horrified.

Stiffly turning their heads to look, they saw two arms wrapped around their shoulders, and a handsome face gradually emerged from the shadows.

"Where are you going with the goods I sold?"

The tone was very light, but it sounded like a thunderbolt in everyone's ears!

This face was already well-known in the universe. Perhaps ordinary people didn't know him, but every named force would definitely recognize who the owner of this face was.

The Empire Super A-class ally, "Undying Body", "Enemy of the Void Spirits", "Lord of Evolution", "Dominator" - Black Star!

The bodies of several interstellar thieves froze, not daring to move.

Han Xiao snorted lightly, and nanites flowed out from under his clothes, turning into a confinement device, instantly controlling the people. Then, with a wave of his hand, a mechanical soldier walked out of the void and appeared next to him.

"You send the thing back to its original place." Han Xiao pointed to the Evolver Totem.

When the chaos just broke out, Han Xiao, who was in seclusion to train his Qi, noticed the situation and tacitly allowed the Guard Officer to take action to prevent this disturbance, and he discovered that the Evolver Totem had just been stolen.

After so much practice, Han Xiao had already established a soul connection with the Evolution Cube according to the information left by the Evolver civilization. The effect was quite similar to that of Sisko back then, and he could sense the location of the Evolution Cube.

Not only that, as long as he was within a certain distance, he could also activate his perception of the totem. To be precise, he could sense the evolutionary energy contained in the Evolver Totem.

The battle of the Catastrophe-level powerhouse didn't require him to take action. The Guard Officers under his command were enough to solve this group of enemies, but he couldn't stand by and watch the Evolver Totem being stolen, so he directly used a Void Jump to teleport from the spacecraft in the airport directly to the back of this group of thieves.

With the intervention of the Black Star Army, this chaos would soon be suppressed. When these people planned the conspiracy, they must not have thought that he would appear here.

Watching the mechanical soldier return the way he came with the Evolver Totem, Han Xiao retracted his gaze and looked at the thieves he had caught, with a meaningful smile on his face:

"Now... tell me everything you know."