Chapter 1 Explosions

Rumbling--

Explosions rang out one after another, and pillars of fire burst outward, piercing the outer armor and blasting holes in the base. The positions of the explosions shifted constantly, and the battlefield moved rapidly.

Inside the base, the vanguard of the God's Domain Guild was already locked in a fierce battle with Darphus. The situation was extremely tragic. More guild players were still dropping like dumplings, joining the fray.

Swish, swish, swish!

The massive ax blade detached from the handle, wrapped in blue mech-force arcs, spinning at high speed like a buzzsaw. Splatters of fragmented blood and minced meat scattered everywhere, and shattered mechanical parts flew across the sky. A silver transmission tether connected the ax blade to the handle, writhing and coiling like a mad dragon, constantly emitting the hiss of the retracting tether. Seemingly chaotic, it actually strictly controlled the trajectory of the ax blade, offering both offense and defense.

Mech-Weapon Masters were masters of targeted use of technological weapons. They studied the performance and function of a weapon, developing specialized techniques for its use. This was their unique "Martial Dao Style." Therefore, Mech-Weapon Masters of the same style generally used the same type of mechanical weapon. The ax technique Darphus wielded was called the "rC-03 Whiplash Ax Technique." The essence of all its techniques lay in controlling the power of the tether and the variable-speed shaft. It excelled in combat in complex environments and was one of the styles he was proficient in.

Crack!

The spinning ax blade slashed past the players along the way and embedded itself in the chest of an Extreme Aberration, a player who had transformed. Still spinning, it sawed through large pieces of shattered bone and flesh.

"I've got him!"

The player adjusted their pain sensitivity to the lowest setting, feeling neither pain nor itch, and clamped their hands tightly on the buzzsaw-like ax blade, disregarding the blood flowing from their cut hands as their health plummeted.

The MT group's Extreme Aberrations rushed forward, one grabbing a section of the tether, pulling and tearing with force to control it, while the output group poured firepower at Darphus's main body.

Darphus twisted his hips, and a yellow energy shield spun out to protect his body. The players' attacks slammed into it, and the shield quickly filled with cracks amidst a series of colorful explosions.

Taking advantage of a brief moment, Darphus issued a command in his brain. Neuron signals traveled along the transmission lines into the ax's control module. In an instant, the tether snapped taut with a clang, and a plasma current flowed along the long rope, instantly blasting away the hands of many Extreme Aberrations.

Immediately afterward, the transmission device suddenly overloaded, and with a bang, the speed of the ax blade soared. It instantly severed the hands of the players at the end, retracted with the tether, and with a swish, cut all the Aberrations along the way in half. Finally, it returned to the handle, and Darphus spun around, swinging the ax blade to unleash a wide, silver shockwave wrapped in arcs of electricity, blasting away several Martial Dao-style players who wanted to take the opportunity to get close and unleash a barrage of attacks.

Although the players had the numerical advantage, a Calamity-grade being had an overwhelming advantage against B-grades. They could only use their lives to fill the gap, depleting Darphus's state. Before he was exhausted, the players basically couldn't catch his openings.

"Keep going, the sub-MT group, take the lead!"

"Pay attention to kiting, output group, spread out."

"Outer squads, block the small monsters, don't let them come in and mess things up!"

The God's Domain Guild was repelled again and again, and their formation was broken up again and again. But everyone fought fearlessly, and after getting up, they continued to surround him. The captain commanded the tactics with excitement in the team channel, advancing and retreating in an orderly manner.

For the players, the most uncomfortable thing was the absence of a hate mechanism. To control Darphus's attack target, they could only let the MT group go up to take the brunt and sell their blood, forming a defense line with their bodies.

Even so, Darphus would choose to bypass the MT and attack the fragile output dealers. Most of the time, they could only improvise and let the squishies tank the damage. Fortunately, the Black Star Army's standard armor was very sturdy, so that the squishies wouldn't be instantly killed, and they could still output if they were alive.

At this time, above the base, the God's Domain Guild's fleet was already engaged with the Heavy Armor Iron Guards' ship formation, and the two sides were fighting fiercely.

Due to their numerical disadvantage, the God's Domain Guild's fleet was slightly at a disadvantage, but by taking advantage of their superior performance and high-tech virtual interference, radar shielding, and other functions, they could also continuously disrupt the enemy's formation and erode their numbers.

The command room was constantly shaking. Jupiter pressed his hands on the console, closely watching the battlefield monitoring of the siege against Darphus, and said in a deep voice:

"No, the efficiency of the siege is too slow. At this rate, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on for long... Ignore the enemy's fleet, aim all weapons at the Boss, and provide fire support!"

"What about the people besieging him?" Poseidon asked.

"We can't worry about casualties. Tell them to pay attention to avoiding the attacks. If they get killed, there's nothing we can do about it."

Jupiter said decisively.

The order was issued, and more than a dozen guild warships simultaneously shifted their cannons, locking onto Darphus, who was moving inside the base. Rays of light cannons and triangular-shaped tracking missiles shot past.

Darphus's mech's built-in radar emitted a piercing warning sound. He cursed inwardly and quickly dodged. He saw beams of light piercing through the space he had just occupied like spears, chasing him all the way.

Many players had received the news beforehand and avoided the attack early, but there were always a few who couldn't dodge and were blasted into ashes by the justice from the sky.

If the opponent was just a group of B-grade Undying, it wouldn't be much of a problem for Darphus, but with the fleet's accurate fire support, he immediately became somewhat constrained.

The players weren't afraid of being bombed to death, but he couldn't. An ordinary Calamity-grade being couldn't withstand many high-energy warship cannon shots, and he was a Mech-Weapon Master with a mediocre defense. He didn't dare to test his luck.

Everyone rolled and fought fiercely, and the base was scarred and devastated. The God's Domain Guild's fleet was held back by the enemy ships, and could only occasionally break through the defense line to provide support. The aftershocks of the bombing gradually injured Darphus.

Watching another small team of Undying be covered by his teammate's firepower and blown to death, while the others still charged forward, shouting, Darphus's eyelids twitched a few times.

"Tsk, this group of lunatics..."

He couldn't help but feel like he had stirred up a hornet's nest, and he couldn't help but feel a little regret in his heart.

Strange, the Calamity-grades bribed by the three great civilizations aren't just me. There are Calamity-grades hunting Undying in every region. I haven't heard of anyone being hunted down for revenge. Why am I so unlucky?

Darphus dodged five Explosive Fireballs and glanced at the corpses of his subordinates all over the ground. His face became even more gloomy.

Although he personally wasn't afraid, the others in the base didn't have his skills. B-grade Supers were already considered the backbone of the Heavy Armor Iron Guards, but they were almost vulnerable under the God's Domain Guild's siege. A pile of his long-time cadres had died.

They were all talents who had been recruited with great difficulty. What a blood loss!

"This group of Undying came prepared. If I continue to waste energy, my stamina and physical strength will continue to decline, and it won't be good. And they're here for me. If I continue to fight here, the casualties of my men will only get bigger and bigger..."

Darphus's eyes flickered uncertainly. After hesitating for a long time, he took a deep breath and made his final decision.

The next moment, the qi in his body boiled. He swung the ax blade, spinning like a top, and threw out a ring-shaped blade wave with high-frequency vibrations, covering everyone present.

Swish!

The blue blade wave erupted from him as the center, spreading rapidly. The strong shockwave overturned all the surrounding players, and most of them were briefly stunned.

The players who were immune to negative status effects quickly got up, and were stunned to see that Darphus didn't take advantage of the situation to pursue them. Instead, he crashed through the wall, ran away all the way, and quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.

"He's running away?!"

Everyone's expressions changed, and they quickly chased after him.

However, when they chased to the end, they found that Darphus had already flown into space. His mech had switched to interstellar flight mode, and the thrusters were spewing flames, accelerating continuously, and escaping into the distance. His figure was getting smaller and smaller.

"Stop him!"

Jupiter's expression changed, and he quickly commanded the fleet to break through the Heavy Armor Iron Guards' defense line at all costs, wanting to chase after him.

Then, at this moment, all the warships' radars suddenly issued an alarm.

On the edge of the battlefield, a small fleet appeared, rapidly approaching. The outer armor had the symbols of the Feynir Civilization, and they were shouting in the wide-area channel:

"This is the Feynir Civilization's security patrol team. We have detected abnormal energy reactions here. Everyone, stop in place immediately and accept inspection!"

"The security team is here too?"

Darphus's heart moved as he was moving away.

His main base was located in the Feynir Civilization's jurisdiction, so naturally there was a security patrol team. Usually, they didn't interfere with each other. He didn't know if the security team's request to stop included him...

Just as Darphus was pondering, his mech suddenly received a communication. It was the Feynir Civilization's envoy who had come as a guest, with the background being the base's safe house.

"Don't stop, leave here quickly. The security team won't bother you," the envoy said bluntly, without further ado.

"Did you call the security team here?" Darphus understood.

"Nonsense, otherwise, who would protect me?" The envoy's expression was not good. "I'll have the security team hold them back for a while. Run as far as you can. I won't care if they continue to chase you after that!"

He was just here as a guest. He didn't expect to encounter such a danger. He was filled with resentment toward Darphus.

Because he was afraid of being killed by the aftershocks, he urgently used his authority to summon the security team to stop the battle and force Darphus away... In his opinion, since this group of Undying were seeking revenge, as long as Darphus went far away, he could lure the enemy away as well. That way, he would be safe.

"I'm leaving now," Darphus nodded. He originally intended to cooperate with the security team to wipe out the enemy, but now he had to agree to run away. He didn't want the envoy to be harmed.

The envoy hesitated for a moment and said in a deep voice, "Planet Bilger is nearby. It's a colony planet where low-value citizens live. I've already greeted the Star Chief. Go to Planet Bilger and stay there. Although there aren't many defense troops on it, those enemies wouldn't dare to violate the peace treaty and attack a colony planet."

"Okay."

Darphus hung up the communication and accelerated at full power. Although the guild warships had placed a space stabilization anchor, restricting warp jumps, his conventional flight speed wasn't slow. He turned into a stream of light and quickly escaped, gradually disappearing from sight.

Seeing this scene, Jupiter was immediately anxious.

They had only fought for a small part of the battle, and the Boss had already run away. What were they going to do?

"Oh no, this is a miscalculation. I told you your plan wasn't reliable. If people can't win, won't they just run away? Did you think you were playing a dungeon?" Poseidon slapped his forehead and complained.

Although a group of them could besiege the Boss, they could weaken the Calamity-grade being with their lives, and even have a chance to kill him. But if the Calamity-grade being wanted to run away, it would be difficult for them to stop him. After all, Atimos's desperate situation was difficult to replicate, and Darphus wasn't an ignorant bumpkin. Seeing that the situation was not good, he ran away directly. He wouldn't be stupid enough to stand here and fight a large group of Undying head-on.

"Shut up!" Jupiter's veins popped out. He cursed at him, then opened the wide-area channel and shouted at the security team without caring about anything, "Black Star Army is handling things here, please give us some face!"

"I don't care who you are. This is the jurisdiction of the Feynir Civilization. No one can do whatever they want here! Stop your ships immediately and accept inspection, otherwise, it will be regarded as disobeying the Feynir Civilization's security law and your records will be marked!"

The security captain, with the envoy's approval, wasn't willing to show weakness. He continued to command his troops to block the guild fleet.

"Then why don't you stop the one who ran away?!" Jupiter was furious and marked Darphus, who was getting farther and farther away.

"That's none of your business. I'm giving you a final warning now, stop your ships immediately!" The security captain roared.

Jupiter gritted his teeth. He had spent so many resources. To give up halfway would be a huge loss for the guild. He had planned this operation, and he would definitely have to take the blame. He immediately made up his mind.

"I have to get the Boss done today no matter what! Charge! Whoever dares to stop us, destroy them all!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the guild fleet no longer hesitated. Regardless of whether it was the Heavy Armor Iron Guards or the Feynir Civilization's security team blocking them in front, they fired directly at all the enemies, trying to break a path of blood.

The players who were still staying on the base were either recovered through tractor beams, or simply bombarded the base wildly, used up their qi, and committed suicide, resurrecting directly back on the ship.

The two sides fought for a while, and most of the players returned to the ship. Only a few people were left on the base, and Army Commander's Big Mecha was one of them.

"Damn it, you ran away, but don't even think about keeping your home!"

Having failed to block Darphus, Army Commander's Big Mecha was furious and took out a black spherical portable bomb.

This was a small-yield Dark Energy Annihilation Bomb that he had bought with a lot of savings. Before the God's Domain Guild contacted him, he originally wanted to use this thing to "perish together" with Darphus, but now he simply detonated it directly.

The next moment, dark red molten flows erupted!

Boom!

The light mass rapidly expanded, engulfing the entire base, and every inch of metal was annihilated within it.

The envoy, who was waiting for the security team's response in the safe house, didn't have time to react before being turned into ashes by the erupting dark energy. He died on the spot, without any pain.

Not only him, but all the Heavy Armor Iron Guards members who were staying on the base were also blasted into dust, and no one survived.

The security captain was immediately frightened.

"Are these people crazy? They dare to use such high-risk weapons in the civilization's jurisdiction!"

Dark Energy Annihilation Bombs, like Psionic Energy Bombs, were also high-risk weapons prohibited by most civilizations. Once discovered, they would be severely punished.

Even some wanted criminals wouldn't dare to do this. Wasn't the Black Star Army an orderly faction? Why were they so unscrupulous? Weren't they afraid of losing reputation?!

For a moment, the security captain was a little frightened. Anyway, the envoy had been killed. He simply had the fleet make way, fearing that these lunatics would also give him a Dark Energy Annihilation Bomb.

Without the security team's obstruction, the guild fleet broke through the siege, shook off the enemy, and chased along Darphus's flight path.

The warships were specially designed for interstellar travel, and their speed was faster than Darphus's. The distance between the two sides gradually narrowed.

Darphus also discovered the pursuers behind him. He was annoyed and cursed at the security team for not even being able to delay them. He had no choice but to focus on running away.

Leaving the space stabilization anchor area, the two sides entered warp mode at the same time, like two streams of light, one thick and one thin, one chasing and one escaping.

Before long, a planet magnified in their sight, and it was the Feynir Civilization's low-level colony planet, Bilger.

The residents of this type of colony planet were all slackers who were unwilling to work. They only accepted welfare and social security to maintain their lives. Basically, every civilization had such planets. They weren't valued and were usually not visited by outsiders.

"I'm here!" Darphus was overjoyed and quickly sent a landing request.

Because the envoy had already greeted them, Planet Bilger gave him special permission and approved his request instantly. The planet's defense fleet in outer space didn't stop him. Seeing this, Darphus plunged into the atmosphere without hesitation and landed in one of the cities.

At this time, the God's Domain Guild fleet had finally caught up and stopped outside the planet. The planet's small defense team gathered to stop them from continuing to advance.

Everyone's spaceship suddenly received a message. Another mech-wearer's figure appeared on the screen, and it was the Star Chief of Planet Bilger. His attitude was very cold.

"I'm the Star Chief of Planet Bilger. This planet doesn't welcome you. Please leave immediately, or I will immediately call the nearest garrison to expel you."

Hearing this, the guild core members in the main ship looked at each other, in a dilemma.

"President, what do we do now? This colony planet is clearly trying to protect our target." Poseidon looked at Jupiter, whose eyes were red, and said cautiously, "Why don't we retreat? According to the laws of interstellar society, we can't attack colony planets..."

Jupiter's face was tangled, and finally, he gritted his teeth and squeezed out a voice:

"I don't care who they are. I have to kill the target today no matter what! Don't let him run away again this time. Attack!"

On the other side, Darphus landed in the city. There were only a few pedestrians on the deserted streets, looking at him with suspicion.

Darphus ignored the passers-by and looked up at the fleet hovering in outer space. A trace of depression and anger flashed in his eyes.

He had suffered a great loss this time, and a large number of his cadres had died. His heart was bleeding.

If it wasn't for his scruples, he would have liked to kill all these Undying people and wouldn't want to accept the planet's protection.

'Forget it, a wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him. I'll let these people go today and break them one by one in the future. I'll slowly settle the score with the Black Star Army...'

Darphus gritted his teeth and took out the communicator to contact the envoy. He ran so fast that he didn't know that his main base had been bombed.

The number was dialed, but there was no response.

Just as Darphus was wondering, he suddenly sensed danger and quickly retreated!

Rumble!

The next moment, dense light cannons descended from the sky like a torrential rain, and the entire street exploded!

"What!"

Darphus's expression changed drastically. He suddenly looked up and looked at the fleet firing at the city in disbelief.

Just to kill me, they dare to fire at a colony planet regardless of civilian casualties?!

What kind of behavior is this? Don't they understand? Even the Super-A Grade Association, which is fighting against the three major civilizations, wouldn't do such a thing that goes against the world's expectations!

A cold air rushed from his spine to his brain, and his anger was instantly frozen.

At this moment, all that was left in Darphus's heart was a strong shock.

This group of people is completely lawless!