Chapter 1 Escaping

More than a dozen refugee transport ships sped through space, fleeing in a panic, while a World Tree fleet relentlessly pursued them, trying to encircle and intercept them.

The atmosphere inside the transport ships was tense. A large number of refugees were filled with anxiety, especially on the Bai Shan, the most damaged transport ship. The refugees inside practically had the word "despair" written on their faces.

"The reinforcements we called haven't arrived yet… At this rate, we're going to be caught."

The captain of the Bai Shan was sweating profusely, staring intently at the ship's inspection report on the virtual screen. The three-dimensional virtual model of the Bai Shan transport ship was covered in red, indicating malfunctioning modules. The entire ship was on the verge of collapse. A quarter of the twenty-eight thruster engine groups were damaged, and the energy core's power had dropped to seventy-four percent.

Because some areas had been frequently invaded by the World Tree and had become dangerous zones, some refugee planets were no longer safe. The Interstellar United Army had formed a transport force to relocate the refugees in these areas. This small fleet was tasked with transporting a portion of the refugees.

However, midway through the journey, they unfortunately encountered a World Tree fleet lying in wait within their territory, resulting in a battle. The smaller escort fleet was wiped out, and most of the transport ships were blasted to pieces on the spot. The remaining ships fled in panic, but were still being hunted down by the World Tree fleet.

The Bai Shan transport ship was the most severely damaged of the surviving starships. The ship's modules were experiencing cascading failures, and its speed was gradually decreasing, slowing down the entire fleet.

"At most, we can last another ten minutes before the engines experience a chain reaction and shut down. There's a numbered, barren planet ahead. Should we make an emergency landing?"

The adjutant's trembling voice rang out. The captain of the Bai Shan clenched his fist, hesitant and indecisive.

If they made an emergency landing, everyone on board would have nowhere to escape. They would have to rely on the guards on board to lead the refugees in hiding on the planet, stalling for time and waiting for reinforcements.

Suggestions came from other captains over the communication channel.

"Bai Shan, make an emergency landing. Your ship is no longer able to keep up with the main group. We can't slow down for you."

"You'll be isolated sooner or later. It's better to hide on a planet than to be stranded in space. At least there's a glimmer of hope."

"Bai Shan, stay behind and buy us some time, to save more refugees."

Some offered rational analysis, while others made blatant requests, with the underlying message that the Bai Shan should stay behind.

"I understand…"

The captain of the Bai Shan looked helpless and felt sorrowful.

He understood the mentality of sacrificing others to save oneself. From a command perspective, it would be best if a burden like them acted as a sacrifice, staying behind to delay the enemy and buy time for more refugees on other ships.

But despite that, he felt guilty. In the reports, these refugees were just a line of cold numbers, but now they were all living people. Using his ship full of refugees to help more refugees might align with a utilitarian calculation, but it went against his conscience. These refugees weren't soldiers and didn't have the awareness to sacrifice themselves. He couldn't discuss this decision with the refugees beforehand, or it would likely cause a mutiny. He could only silently lead them to stay behind, sacrificing their hopes of escape while they still held onto hope and still trusted the captain, which made him feel terrible.

Just as he was struggling, the barren planet came into view, and many captains' eyes lit up. A small, unmarked armed fleet was docked on the planet's surface. Only when they got closer did the radar detect their presence.

"There's a fleet lying in ambush here? They don't look like they're with the World Tree."

"Are they our reinforcements? Well, whoever they are, they're on our side in the interstellar society."

"Quick, contact them, send a signal!"

For a moment, many captains were overjoyed, thinking that reinforcements had arrived, and they eagerly sent out distress signals.

On the other side, Pan Ergon and the others, who were resting on this barren planet, were taken aback and began to discuss the situation.

"It looks like a refugee force fleeing from a World Tree fleet."

"They're asking us for help. What do we do, should we help?"

"Don't help. Why should we care about the life and death of interstellar citizens under the Three Civilizations? Let's go, don't get involved."

The group quickly exchanged opinions and reached a consensus.

These Avengers weren't on the side of the Three Civilizations in the first place. Even if the World Tree launched a full-scale invasion, it had nothing to do with them. It was already benevolent of them not to take advantage of the Three Civilizations' misfortune.

Pan Ergon was silent for a moment, then said, "In that case, reject all their communication requests and leave this place immediately."

The captains of the transport fleet were eagerly awaiting a reply from the unknown armed fleet, but all communication attempts were met with silence.

The next moment, their expressions changed. The unknown armed fleet took off on its own, ignoring the distress signals and heading straight in another direction. Clearly, they were moving away from them, unwilling to provide assistance.

"They're leaving. They're not our reinforcements."

"It seems we can't count on this fleet…"

The captains were disappointed and deflated.

Seeing that there was no turning point, the captain of the Bai Shan gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind, ordering in a deep voice, "Attention all units, detach the belly-mounted transport pod. All crew members are to board and make an orbital emergency landing. Set the detached outer hull to turn back and engage the enemy, providing cover for the brother units to escape."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions turned serious, knowing that the Bai Shan had chosen to sacrifice itself.

Although they had hoped for this outcome, they weren't particularly happy when it actually happened. Their emotions were mixed.

Soon, the two groups separated. The main force continued to flee into the distance, while the Bai Shan slowed down, detached from the group, and turned towards the barren planet. It looked like a solitary ray of light separating from a cluster of meteors.

In outer space, the Bai Shan quickly transformed. The heavy armor shell unlocked, and mechanical components activated and separated. The entire transport ship arched like a shrimp, and the belly-mounted pod detached, turning into an all-iron-gray escape vessel, much smaller in size and almost without any weapons components, heading for an emergency landing on the planet.

As for the remaining ship hull, it was like an empty armor shell. It turned around on its own, and the ship's turrets fired fiercely at the approaching World Tree fleet, attempting to block them.

Bang!

The escape vessel landed heavily on the planet's surface, creating a circular crater.

All the hatches opened at once, and the refugees, who had been forced to change into simple life-support suits, rushed out of the cabin, looking up at the sky with despair and fear in their eyes.

The World Tree fleet had already arrived in outer space. A round of concentrated fire destroyed their armor shell, which they had left in outer space, and slowly descended, gradually magnifying in their view like an approaching shadow.

"Why did you stop?!"

"Why did you land here? You're letting us get surrounded!"

The refugees stirred restlessly, glaring at the guards beside them with resentment and anger. Without their knowledge, the captain had ordered the ship to make an emergency landing, immediately turning their chances of escape to zero.

"Everyone listen up, follow the accompanying soldiers and scatter in all directions!"

The captain of the Bai Shan didn't explain. Now wasn't the time to say more. He could only keep a straight face and give the order coldly.

He knew that everyone's chances of survival after the emergency landing were almost zero, but he still wanted to make one last effort to lead the refugees into hiding.

However, the next moment, after seeing the World Tree warships' actions clearly, he finally despaired. The World Tree fleet's cannons were all aimed at the planet's surface, apparently intending to save time and simply bombard the area. There was no chance of survival.

"We're doomed… But letting the World Tree fleet waste time here with a few rounds of concentrated fire means my mission is complete…"

The captain of the Bai Shan clenched his fist, his expression changing rapidly. There was unwillingness, but also a hint of relief.

But just as the crowd raised their heads, meeting the planet-destroying cannons with fearful eyes, a brilliant beam of light suddenly shot from another direction in space, piercing through several World Tree warships and erupting in a shower of fireworks.

Everyone looked on in stunned amazement as a meteor enveloped in intense flames rapidly approached. Powerful martial arts aura spewed out like a heavy machine gun, firing at the World Tree fleet, blasting ship after ship into pieces.

Behind Pan Ergon were the armed fleets that had just left. Now, they had turned around and launched a surprise attack, crippling the World Tree fleet in the blink of an eye. The wreckage of a large World Tree fleet floated in outer space.

This brush with death caused many refugees to lose control of their emotions, and cheers of joy rang out.

The captain of the Bai Shan woke up as if from a dream. He quickly ordered someone to contact the armed fleet to express their gratitude. However, after defeating the World Tree forces, they were still coldly unresponsive and had no intention of communicating. It was as if they had only done a trivial favor. Without saying a word, they turned around and left, not even bothering to clean up the battlefield.

"This is clearly not the Interstellar United Army… What kind of force is this…"

The captain of the Bai Shan stared at the departing Avenger fleet, muttering to himself in a daze.

At this moment, Pan Ergon returned to the main ship, where his companions gathered around him with subtle expressions.

"You're really something. We agreed not to get involved in the war, and then you suddenly made us turn around and kill them."

"If we're targeted by the World Tree because of this battle, it'll be troublesome. It won't be good for accumulating our power."

"Whose side are you on anyway?"

Their attitudes were somewhat accusatory.

Pan Ergon didn't mind and waved his hand indifferently. "I changed my mind. Although we won't actively participate in the war, if we encounter something like this again in the future, let's help if we can. Our target of revenge is the power of the Three Civilizations. The ordinary interstellar citizens aren't our enemies."

"That's exposing our existence," one companion said with dissatisfaction.

"As far as Black Star is concerned, our existence is no secret. If we have a negative impact on the war, he can tell the Three Civilizations about us at any time. After all, he's never been on our side." Pan Ergon paused and said in a deep voice, "Besides, most of the interstellar society suspects that the World Tree's full-scale invasion was caused by a traitor leaking information. Do you think Black Star will suspect us?"

Everyone was stunned.

"In his view, we have plenty of motive to do so. If we don't express some goodwill, what if Black Star really thinks we did it? Therefore, even if we don't participate in the war, we can't completely stay out of it," Pan Ergon explained.

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other, wavering slightly.

*--You're clearly just a martial artist, but why do we always think you make so much sense when you're tricking us?*

…

Secondary Dimension World, somewhere.

A spatial rift opened, and Hailey Ann flew out from it, her figure semi-transparent.

Under the blessing of her special talent spell and the Cloak of Invisibility, her current state was almost "outside the Three Realms, not among the Five Elements," making it impossible to observe her normally.

"The Primal Chaos Snake's whereabouts are unpredictable. The Ancestral Tree only has the approximate direction and range, but no clear location. What should I do…"

Hailey Ann was a little troubled.

After accepting the mission from the Ancestral Tree King, she had been exploring and collecting information about the Primal Chaos Snake for the past half year, but she still couldn't find an opportunity to assassinate it.

Moreover, Black Star seemed to be guarding the Primal Chaos Snake all the time. For her, that place was simply the most dangerous place in the universe. Adhering to the principle of not taking risks if she could avoid them, she dared not approach it.

After much deliberation, the only feasible assassination method that Hailey Ann could think of was to add "snake-killing agents" created by the Ancestral Tree to some secondary dimensions in areas where the Primal Chaos Snake frequently appeared, and then wait patiently. If the Primal Chaos Snake devoured one of the secondary dimensions, it would be poisoned as a result.

Although this method had a high degree of randomness, she had no better way for the time being. After all, she couldn't control the Primal Chaos Snake's food source and could only cast a wide net and try her luck.

The only advantage of this method was that it was relatively safe. She didn't have to risk being exposed by approaching Black Star, giving her plenty of opportunities to try.

Hailey Ann raised her palm, and a mass of black-green liquid floated out. It was the "snake-killing agent" that the Ancestral Tree King had given her.

She flicked her finger, and a small drop of the black-green liquid separated and merged into the earth of this secondary dimension, with no visible change.

"I hope this method works…"

Hailey Ann muttered to herself, feeling uncertain.