Chapter 1 The Beginning

Just as the alarm sounded on Beacon Star, on the edge of the guarded sector, the Fallen Ark's more than three million warships formed long dragon-like formations, constantly penetrating into the heart of the defense line.

On the flagship, Yishen (Different God) and his capable subordinate Hakisen were looking at the star chart. Beacon Star, marked as a red target, was gradually getting closer to them.

"Boss, we have entered Beacon Star's alert range. Radar shows that the patrolling Imperial fleet is heading towards us and will engage us soon."

Hakisen spoke, scratching the back of his neck with his long tongue.

"Try to speed up as much as possible and don't get bogged down."

Yishen's tone was indifferent. This time, it was not an avatar but his true self.

Hakisen flicked his tongue and clicked his tongue. "Even with the cooperation, the Void Spirit Religion is still wary of us. They not only didn't reveal their specific action plan, but also changed the location of their secret stargate. They are obviously guarding against us. I don't know when they will attack or from which direction."

Yishen didn't care. Cooperation between the two sides was like seeking skin from a tiger, and mutual vigilance was normal. Just like he wouldn't tell the Void Spirit Religion where his secret stargate was built.

Taking Beacon Star as the center, the guarded sector, which served as a buffer zone, was very large. Once the enemy was discovered, there was ample time to mobilize troops, and they would not be able to reach Beacon Star in a short time. Therefore, although the Void Spirit Religion kept their actions secret, Yishen could guess their thoughts.

They simply wanted him to be the vanguard. With the scale of his fleet, it was not enough to make the Empire abandon the Beacon Star outpost. Once he broke through all the way to Beacon Star and entangled Black Star and the other two Super-As, preventing them from easily escaping, the Void Spirit Religion would attack. The reason for doing so was to prevent scaring away the enemy.

Yishen felt that his guess about the Void Spirit Religion's intentions was almost accurate. The only suspense was how many high-level combatants the Void Spirit Religion had sent this time.

The Empire had three Super-As. Milizaus's combat power could barely be compared with his own, so the Void Spirit Religion only needed to deal with Black Star and Beyoni.

However, there was still a considerable gap between the combat power of these two and the top Super-As. To be on the safe side, the Void Spirit Religion could crush the opponent by sending four or more Super-As.

'I wonder who the Void Spirit Religion sent this time…'

Yishen narrowed his eyes. If the people who came were too strong, he had to be careful not to be double-crossed.

At this time, the Imperial fleet that came to meet them finally arrived and appeared on the radar.

Hakisen looked at Yishen's expression. Seeing that his boss had no intention of speaking, he issued the order for Yishen.

"Everyone, open fire freely! Destroy all enemy ships that block our way!"

…

Beacon Star had entered the highest state of alert. The three Super-As followed Tarrokov to the remote operations command room.

The room was filled with a large number of officers and personnel. Countless pieces of information were transmitted back from the battlefield and handed over to them for processing. Tarrokov stood with his hands behind his back in front of the huge three-dimensional battlefield projection, his eyes fixed, his face solemn.

The battlefield projection showed the scene of the Fallen Ark fleet engaging the Imperial outer guard fleet. The enemy and our ships were reduced countless times, completely restoring the scene of the battlefield, as if two miniature fleets were fighting in front of everyone, vividly. Around the battlefield projection was a reduced star chart of the guarded sector. Beacon Star was marked as a key point. The reduced planet projection emitted light and extended a red line to connect with the enemy fleet—this represented the current distance between the two sides.

"The enemy has approximately 3.2 million warships. This is a huge fleet. The force that can send this fleet into the Shattered Star Ring is very powerful. We can't tell their origins from the ship models."

A staff officer said.

"The most likely possibility is the Void Spirit Religion." As he said that, Tarrokov glanced at Han Xiao, then continued: "But we can't rule out the possibility of other forces."

Han Xiao noticed his gaze and said in a firm tone: "It's the Void Spirit Religion."

Tarrokov looked at him again, nodded slowly, and said in a calm tone, "Understood."

Han Xiao looked calm on the surface, but his mood was extremely solemn.

His words were not conjecture. As soon as this mysterious fleet appeared, his panel popped up a mission trigger prompt. The mission introduction revealed that this was an action by the Void Spirit Religion.

[You have triggered the urgent mission [Karma]!]

[Mission Introduction: You stole the Evolution Cube, attracting the hostility of the Void Spirit Religion. Today, they have finally taken action and decided to launch a thunderous strike against you to reclaim the Evolution Cube in your hands!]

[Mission Requirements: Defeat the enemy or escape successfully]

[Failure Conditions: 1. Death]

[2. Loss of the Evolution Cube]

[Reward: 24 billion ~ 45 billion experience, Legend Degree +1, Random Reward x3, Unknown Character Card x3]

Han Xiao was shocked when he saw the reward.

A minimum of 24 billion experience points?! When he fought Heber, the highest reward for the mission was only 8.5 billion experience points!

Even from his perspective, this was a huge amount of experience!

Han Xiao couldn't be happy at all, because the reward was proportional to the difficulty. Such a high reward meant that the Void Spirit Religion's attack this time would be unprecedentedly terrifying! A maximum of more than 40 billion experience points meant that five or more Super-As were coming!

Who could withstand this!

Although Han Xiao had secretly hired other reinforcements for insurance, he couldn't help but retreat, but at the same time, he was also vigilant:

——If he ran away through the stargate now, it should be very safe in theory, but there was a reward of at least 20 billion for a successful escape. Would it be so easy to complete the mission?

Maybe the Void Spirit Religion had some unknown means. If he ran away now, would he be caught alone?

He was under heavy protection and was currently safe. If he ran away as soon as he saw the enemy, he would be looked down upon by the Empire. After considering it, Han Xiao didn't act rashly for the time being, but followed Tarrokov to the operations room, intending to observe the situation.

The buffer zone was wide enough. He could decide whether to run or not after seeing the situation.

'The mission is called Karma… Heh, as expected, other people's cosmic treasures are not so easy to take.' Han Xiao grinned secretly.

However, no one present knew his psychological activities.

Tarrokov stared intently at the changes on the battlefield and slowly issued an order:

"Notify all Imperial allied forces exploring outside, and all Super-A level combat forces will return immediately and rush to support Beacon Star as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Han Xiao's eyes lit up and he nodded secretly.

Obviously, Tarrokov had also noticed this. This commander-in-chief still had vision.

There were still three Imperial Super-A level combatants exploring the Shattered Star Ring: Heber, Ravenlaude, and the Mechanic Maxirol he had met once. If they all rushed back, and six Super-As gathered, then they would basically not be afraid of the enemy.

Not knowing how many high-level combatants the Void Spirit Religion had, Tarrokov didn't care about making a fuss. His style was stability and not being afraid of trouble. Even if it proved to be redundant afterward, it was better than regretting it.

"The Imperial fleet in combat sent a message for help. They can't stop the enemy. Commander-in-Chief, should we dispatch the outer guard forces from other areas to support them?"

Tarrokov narrowed his eyes and observed for a while, "Only mobilize the guard forces in that direction. The outer forces in other directions should not move. The rest will be sent by the Beacon Star headquarters."

Beyoni was a little surprised, "Sending a fleet from the headquarters will delay a lot of time on the road. These enemies will advance a long distance. Why not directly mobilize the outer fleets?"

Tarrokov said in a deep voice: "The enemy's fleet is going deep alone and has no markings. I think this is not the main force of the Void Spirit Religion, but a vanguard. The purpose is to entangle our outer defense line and create gaps in the guarded sector. Their main force will take advantage of the loopholes in the guarded sector to break through from other directions, forming a two-sided or even multi-sided attack, making us unable to take care of everything. This should be the tactic of the Void Spirit Religion."

After listening to the commander-in-chief's explanation, everyone looked at the situation again and had to admit that this was a very likely plan adopted by the enemy, which was seen through by Tarrokov. There was nothing wrong with this approach.

"But this is only a temporary response. Next, we need intelligence. We must find out how many Super-A level combatants are in this enemy fleet."

Tarrokov turned to look at the three of them, his meaning self-evident. Only the same level could force the same level to take action.

"Leave it to my remote forces."

Han Xiao nodded. He was the target of the enemy and the key figure in this battle. In this case, the three Super-As were not suitable to be separated.

And the remote forces he had sent out during this period could now play a role.

…

"What? Beacon Star was attacked?!"

Renor Star Cluster, War Realm Fleet, Heber, who was soaking in the star, quickly received the news from Jode, and his expression changed.

"The enemy is the Void Spirit Religion, and the target is Black Star. Commander-in-Chief Tarrokov wants us to go back to support… Your Excellency Overlord, what do we do?" Jode asked cautiously.

Heber frowned. The two still had grudges, and he didn't want to help Black Star.

However, he immediately thought of something, and his frown slowly relaxed.

"Since it's the Empire's order, let's go to support them. Notify my headquarters fleet and go to the nearest stargate jump point at full speed!"

Heber's fleet quickly turned around and headed towards the stargate leading to Beacon Star at full speed.

Although he had grievances with Han Xiao, this matter concerned the dignity of the Empire. As a member of the Empire, maintaining the Empire's position was in his own interests.

On the other side, Gaul Star Cluster, Arcane Research Institute Fleet.

Ravenlaude also received Tarrokov's message for help. After reading it, he was expressionless.

Black Star's life and death had nothing to do with him. He couldn't wait to have one less competitor…

But unfortunately, his forces were in the Central Star Sea, relying on the care of the Empire.

It was not appropriate to disobey the Empire's orders in such a small matter, so he had to take his people to support.

Soon, he discovered an annoying thing. The stargate transportation network built by Black Star in the Gaul Star Cluster suddenly became a fast support channel, providing convenience for reinforcements. Even if he wanted to delay midway, he had no excuse.

At this moment, Ravenlaude had a flash of inspiration and suddenly realized.

——Could it be that Black Star built the long-distance stargate channel because he had foreseen this?!

That's right, that must be the case. Otherwise, he couldn't imagine what Black Star would have to give up his own interests and actively build a long-distance stargate channel.

Ravenlaude suddenly understood that he had only now understood Black Star's "true intention". Before that, he even laughed at the other party's ideas. Even though his skin was not thin, he couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

…

Yishen's fleet gradually penetrated into the depths of the guarded sector, fighting with the Imperial fleet while advancing, and the battle line was stretched very long.

The Imperial fleet released bubbles along the way, stabilizing the space-time coefficient, so that both sides could not enter the warp state. The speed of Yishen's fleet inevitably slowed down and was constantly harassed.

Millions of warships exchanged fire, forming a picture of a large-scale interstellar war.

Various dazzling energy beams crisscrossed, cutting through the dark universe, silently carrying a cold killing intent. One warship after another was destroyed, turning into fireworks in the universe.

In the midst of the battlefield, there was a special group of combat units. It was the remote mechanical force sent by Han Xiao. Like a flock of crows, they shuttled back and forth in the formation of the Fallen Ark fleet, shooting out waves of psionic beams between the lightning and thunder of machinery, detonating a group of psionic chain explosion energy clusters on the shields and armor of the tetrahedron warships.

This mechanical force had more than 100,000 mechanical soldiers, which were in a state of mechanical force bonus. Its performance had been greatly increased, reaching the combat power level of Super-A. It was invincible in the battlefield, killing seven in and seven out, destroying a large number of enemy ships, and its own casualty rate was quite slow.

Energy burst! Three more enemy ships were destroyed by concentrated fire. The mechanical force was about to look for the next target. At this moment, a surging black and red energy column pierced through the explosion flame group of the warship and blasted into the formation of the mechanical force, instantly engulfing half of the force.

After the light column passed through, the hit mechanical soldiers had long been turned into charred abandoned parts.

Han Xiao, who was remotely controlling from Beacon Star, narrowed his eyes.

"The enemy's Super-A has taken action! The power of such an attack… is not an ordinary guy."

Through the vision of the mechanical force, Han Xiao stared firmly in the direction of the attack, wanting to see who the enemy was. Yishen's figure immediately entered his sight.

The next moment, Tarrokov, Milizaus, and Beyoni next to him saw Han Xiao's face suddenly change.

"Did you see clearly who the enemy is?" Tarrokov hurriedly asked.

Han Xiao exhaled and said with a solemn expression, "It's actually… Yishen, or rather, his true form!"

As soon as he said this, everyone was stunned.

"Isn't the enemy the Void Spirit Religion? How could Yishen be here?!"

Beyoni was shocked, because he had personally fought with Yishen, he knew Yishen's strength very well and was very afraid of him.

Tarrokov's expression became even more serious, "The Void Spirit Religion must have provided Yishen with assistance, allowing him to leave the Central Star Sea. Damn it, for the Evolution Cube, they actually joined forces with such a person!"

Yishen's combat power was known throughout the universe, but this time, there was also a long-established top Super-A level powerhouse on their side.

Milizaus shook his head, "I have fought Yishen many times. Stopping him is not a problem, but I can't be distracted when dealing with this guy, so I can't free up my hands to do other things.

In addition to Yishen, the Void Spirit Religion must have other high-level combatants. The situation is unfavorable to us. Commander-in-Chief, what do you think?"

Hearing this, Tarrokov fell into thought.

Now the enemy has a Yishen and millions of warships on the surface, and at least three Super-As and more fleets are eyeing them in the dark.

On their side, there were three Super-As plus Beacon Star's four million stationed fleets. Their combat power was naturally behind, but with the depth of the guarded sector, they had the capital to delay time, and the Empire had more fleets in this star field, rushing to support from various areas.

Tarrokov was considering whether to retreat immediately or hold on until reinforcements arrived.

The enemy's target was Black Star. If they retreated now, they should be able to protect Black Star, but the Imperial outpost would definitely be destroyed by the enemy after losing its defense. Losing resources was secondary. The main thing was to prevent the enemy from controlling the stargate here, so it must be closed. Then the Empire would temporarily lose the transit core of the stargate transportation network, greatly reducing its mobility.

With this in mind, he looked at the battle again. In addition to the Imperial fleet that was fighting Yishen, the outer defensive fleets distributed in other directions of the guarded sector remained in place, always maintaining the guard work in their respective areas of responsibility.

Before, he had also sent some of the Beacon Star headquarters stationed fleets to be distributed in the deep area as rapid reaction forces, so as to save the headquarters' support time and prevent the second batch of enemies from taking the opportunity to attack.

After thinking about it, Tarrokov let out a breath and said in a deep voice: "Although the situation is not good, we have the capital to persist. Try to delay as much as possible. As long as the reinforcements arrive, we will be sa…"

Woop woop woop!

Before he finished speaking, an ear-piercing alarm suddenly sounded in the operations room.

"Alarm! Alarm! Abnormal space-time fluctuations detected in the outer orbit of the planet! Space-time coefficient deviation, a wormhole is forming!"

"Wormhole? Teleportation portal?"

Tarrokov was surprised. The appearance of the wormhole did surprise him, but not because he was not prepared. With the technology of the Crimson Empire, Beacon Star must be equipped with anti-teleportation devices. The Void Spirit Religion, as a cosmic civilization, could not possibly not know this.

What he didn't understand was, how could the Void Spirit Religion make such a destined futile attempt?!

The picture was transmitted back. In the outer orbit of Beacon Star, a twisted and wrinkled space suddenly appeared. This was a sign of the emergence of a wormhole. The garrison of Beacon Star immediately reacted and activated the space stabilization device. The effect was to directly interrupt the formation of the wormhole, regardless of whether the cause was magic or technology.

However, what happened next stunned everyone present. The artificial wormhole anti-device, which had been tried and tested, did not take effect. The spatial wrinkles did not stop, but the wormhole did not appear either. Instead, a strange scene occurred.

Blurred shadows of warships gradually appeared in the outer space, like a mirage.

Just as everyone was stunned, the next moment, the wrinkled space instantly seemed to be ironed flat by an invisible iron. These shadows suddenly became solid, instantly turning from illusory phantoms into real entities!

And this fleet was actually the Void Spirit Religion's warship, also with millions of ships, including the famous Butterfly flagship!

In an instant, millions of fleets directly descended on Beacon Star!

They directly ignored the depth of Beacon Star. On the contrary, because Beacon Star sent out a lot of headquarters fleets, the defense force of Beacon Star was weakened——this was the tactic of the Void Spirit Religion.

Tarrokov suddenly thought of something, his face changed drastically.

"This is not a wormhole teleportation. Only the Radiant Federation's strategic cosmic treasure [High-Dimensional Apocalypse Transporter] has this effect!"

"This! The Void Spirit Religion has actually joined forces with the Radiant Federation?!"