The protective shield of the Neptune cruiser was cracking under the relentless bombardment, and it was only a matter of time before it shattered completely. The commander was anxious and advised, "Marshal, Admiral, Young Master Li, you should go to the escape pods. The moment the shield breaks, I'll launch an attack to cover your escape."
"Do you think we can get out under the siege of thousands of mechs and hundreds of cruisers?" Old Man Yan waved his hand dejectedly.
Li Yu gently patted the little Ming Rui in his arms, his tone light and cheerful. "Just wait a bit longer. Young Master Qi should have a plan."
"Brother Qi Ze is already working on something. We will definitely escape." Ming Rui pinched Xiaohei's little hand and asked, "Xiaohei, right?" The doll blinked its pitch-black eyes and then nodded slowly.
Li Ziqian said nothing, standing quietly by the boy's side. The subject of everyone's discussion was currently closing his eyes, seemingly dozing off or waiting for some opportunity. No one dared to disturb him.
The commander had been stationed at the Yan family's secret base for years, and had only heard that Qi Ze was a mechanical genius who had appeared out of the blue. But he had never witnessed those miracles firsthand. He could not agree with Li Yu's words, but he did not show it, and instead continued to adjust the communicator. But the communication signals had long been intercepted by the demon fleet, and they were like birds caught in a vast net, with no chance of escaping.
"Marshal, Admiral, please enter the escape pods as soon as possible. I'll ram a few cruisers on the left to cause them to explode, and the moment their formation is disrupted, I'll launch your escape pods. Immediately start the engines at full speed and leave the area. Don't hesitate," the commander said, full of despair, clearly prepared to sacrifice himself.
But as soon as he spoke, two massive cruisers exploded violently, and from the point of destruction, it was clear that it was the power core. The power core was the most critical part of a battleship, protected by layers of superalloy plates. Even if the Neptune cruiser had fired any missiles at that location, this level of firepower would never penetrate the power core's protective layer.
But they did explode. The lights of all the corridors went out instantly, and the once-bright aerial fortresses had turned into two dark, heavy masses, swaying from the shockwave of the explosions and colliding with the surrounding cruisers and mechs. Bang, bang, bang, one cruiser after another collided, causing a chain of explosions. The seemingly impregnable encirclement was shattered in just a few minutes.
The dense cannon fire became sparser, and the commander immediately grabbed the control rod, causing the Neptune cruiser to leap and dive continuously, dodging the cannon fire while searching for a breakthrough.
"Why did those two cruisers suddenly explode?" the commander was extremely puzzled, guessing, "Could there be a spy among the demon fleet?"
Old Man Yan shook his head, about to speak, but he heard Qi Ze say quietly, "It worked."
"What worked?" the commander glanced at him, and suddenly a golden circular pattern appeared on his brow, filled with dense runes. Sometimes they rotated clockwise, sometimes counterclockwise, and the runes were not fixed, constantly rearranging to form new sentences. Just glancing briefly, the commander felt dizzy and turned his head away, not daring to look anymore.
"I've got him," Qi Ze's eyes remained tightly closed, sitting cross-legged, his fingers following the pattern's changes, forming seals. The faster the pattern changed, the faster his fingertips moved.
Old Man Yan did not know what he was doing, but he could feel his effort. In just a few minutes, the boy was sweating profusely, his complexion turning from ruddy to pale, his breathing growing rapid. Li Ziqian and Ouyang Ye stood on either side of him, one removing his gloves and slowly moving his black hands, the other wiping a long sword with a velvet cloth. Both had stern expressions, as if waiting for a dangerous moment.
"What's he doing?" the commander asked cautiously while controlling the cruiser. He had a feeling that the boy's state was related to the chaos in the demon fleet, but how was that possible?
"I don't know either," Old Man Yan waved his hand and sighed.
"Perhaps he's doing what Mu Feixing has done before," Yan Zhongkui, a mentalist who had touched the threshold of divine consciousness, quickly guessed the truth.
"He's invading a battleship in the demon fleet? Which one?" Old Man Yan looked astonished.
"If it were you, which one would you invade?" Yan Zhongkui asked in a low voice.
Old Man Yan fell silent, staring straight at the display screen at the Desolate Emperor flagship. That was the command vessel of the demon fleet, known as an unyielding aerial island. With its unmatched firepower, Mu Yang had annexed over a dozen pirate bands and occupied three-fifths of the asteroid belt. As long as it was there, the demon fleet could never be defeated, unless two super mechs jointly ambushed it.
But now, the frail boy was trying to control such a vast aerial island from miles away with just a thread of divine consciousness. Was that possible?
The fact proved that Qi Ze never made meaningless moves. When the pattern's rotation slowed, the Desolate Emperor flagship turned its direction, activated all its gun turrets, and launched a ferocious attack on its own fleet. It left the original course, pushing the surrounding battleships away, one by one. Cruiser after cruiser was smashed into fireballs, like fireworks blooming in the festival.
The explosions were continuous, sounding like tolling bells to the enemies, but to Old Man Yan and the others, it was a delightful sound. They all turned to look at the boy, their eyes full of reverence. Without a doubt, the Desolate Emperor flagship's inexplicable betrayal was definitely related to the boy's actions.
"The opening is there, charge out," Qi Ze gave the order without opening his eyes, forming seals with his hands, "Speed is key."
With the Desolate Emperor flagship leading the way, even the tightest encirclement could be torn open. The commander, seeing the vast, boundless, and dazzling starry river reappear before his eyes, immediately rushed towards it. The Desolate Emperor flagship transformed into a guard cruiser for the Neptune cruiser, not only stopping all cannon fire but also blasting away enemy ships, safely escorting it to the end of the universe.
"Well, we made it!" The commander and the other pilots cheered, turning to look out the window and discovering that the Desolate Emperor flagship had shut down its engines and all the indicator lights, floating quietly in space. It was getting further and further away, smaller and smaller, turning into a real isolated island.
At that moment, the golden pattern on Qi Ze's brow finally disappeared, and he expelled a deep breath, collapsing in a sweat.
"Find a hidden place to stop. I need to retrieve something," he said weakly.
"Are you okay?" Li Ziqian immediately carried him to the sofa, wrung out a wet towel to wipe his sweat.
"It's Mu Feixing who's in trouble," Qi Ze laughed coldly, still panting heavily. He did not know who had invented computer technology, but the binary language it used could be perfectly converted into the form of yin-yang and the Eight Trigrams. They shared the same principle, a common inheritance, and as long as you grasped the pattern, you could rewrite each other. Therefore, all the formations he knew could be translated into computer programs.
He inscribed a soul-capturing formation onto a blank chip and input a wisp of divine consciousness. The moment Mu Feixing's soul appeared in the network of the Desolate Emperor flagship, it would be captured by the soul-capturing formation. Of course, a wisp of divine consciousness was too insignificant for a behemoth like the Desolate Emperor flagship, unable to completely control it. Unless Qi Ze imitated Mu Feixing and attached his soul to the control system.
Qi Ze was a cultivator and would never risk splitting his soul. But he had learned a lot of means from both the righteous and the demonic sects, and naturally thought of the eye-for-an-eye method, which was to swallow Mu Feixing's soul to strengthen his divine consciousness, allowing it to possess the powerful strength of a complete soul.
Using the soul-capturing formation as a medium, he frantically drew Mu Feixing's soul energy and continuously input it into his own divine consciousness, thereby taking complete control of the entire Desolate Emperor flagship. The process sounded simple, but it also involved many risks. It was the first time he had used an evil spell, not feeling guilt, only calm and justified. What was evil, what was righteous, had long ceased to exist since the destruction of the sect. Evil was not necessarily evil, and righteousness was not necessarily righteous. Everything was for the sake of survival and interests alone.
"Young Master Qi, have some water," Ouyang Ye supported the boy's head and slowly fed him water.
Ming Rui climbed onto the sofa, gently stroking his sweat-soaked hair and asked, "Brother Qi Ze, did you kill Mu Feixing?"
"Not yet, but it was close," Qi Ze was somewhat regretful, but not anxious. If it did not work this time, there would be another. They would face each other again.
"Master Qi, did you just invade that Desolate Emperor flagship?" Yan Zhongkui asked cautiously.
"Mm," Qi Ze recovered his strength and said indifferently, "What I wanted has arrived." As soon as he spoke, a mini mech flew over from the vast universe, circling around the Neptune cruiser hiding in the asteroid belt.
The commander was still digesting the miracle that had just happened, only noticing the magnified screen showing a small mech after being nudged by his deputy. It was bending its knuckles and knocking on the closed corridor door, its little head turning left and right, as if observing the surrounding environment, or perhaps on guard against any sudden danger. Its movements were incredibly agile, its red eyes shining brightly.
"What's this? A mech model?" the commander asked in disbelief.
"What nonsense? Hurry up and open the corridor to let it in. Didn't you see it when you opened the corridor to let them out before?" Old Man Yan rubbed his bald head, embarrassed by his slow-witted subordinate.
"Young Master Qi ordered me to open the corridor to let it out. I was busy dodging cannon fire and didn't see clearly," the commander immediately pressed the green button, letting the small mech in. He had assumed that Qi Ze was giving random orders, but he did not expect that the other party had such strange things in his hands. What kind of energy core could be installed in a mech model, and where did it get the propulsion to travel through the universe? This was too strange!
The small mech flew into the corridor, boarded the elevator to the command center, clicked and clacked to Qi Ze's side, and took out a chip from its abdomen, holding it up with both hands.
"Thank you," Qi Ze treated it as if it were a living, sentient being, not only saying a sincere thank you, but also suggesting, "Go to the power core and recharge. Later, I'll replace the chip with a high-quality black crystal for you." Compared to the other self-destructed mini mechs, this mech was particularly different. Qi Ze had performed a very formal spirit sacrifice ritual for it and dripped his own blood into it. It possessed perception, had judgment, and even had simple emotions. After continuous refinement, it might someday become a divine artifact.
The mini mech knelt with one knee and arched its hands, then blinked its bright eyes and headed straight for the power core, its back view swaying, as if it was very happy. Xiaohei watched it with curious eyes the whole time, jumping off Ming Rui's head when it left and following it.
These two were clearly just toys, but they gave people a lively feeling. Yan Zhongkui did not dare to ask anything anymore, seeing a glimpse through a tube, Qi Ze's tiny display was enough for him to understand the level of his strength.
The creation of things, the domain of the divine. He and the old man exchanged glances, feeling horrified. The commander was not stupid either, his gaze at the boy clearly filled with reverence.
"When invading the Desolate Emperor flagship, I also stole their secrets. See if it's useful. Isn't this what Mu Feixing loves to do the most? I'll make him taste how it feels," Qi Ze laughed with malicious satisfaction.
Yan Zhongkui received a treasure and immediately inserted the chip into the interpreter. Because the data was too enormous and complicated, the screen was crowded with folders, likely taking months to read through. Fortunately, Ming Rui was a superbrain mutant, able to process the pages of folders at a glance and pick out the most important information.
"Brother Qi Ze, they have a map of the asteroid belt," Ming Rui quickly opened a folder, then exclaimed in delight, "Ah, I know where their secret base is! Take a look!"
"Good, so good!" Old Man Yan stared at the screen, gritting his teeth, "Is there a communication signal? If so, call the base immediately and split the forces. One group will ambush Mu Yang's fleet halfway, and the other will raid their base!"
"The connection with the base has been established, and I'll send the map over immediately," the commander's voice trembled with excitement.
Old Man Yan rubbed his bald head and sighed, "Damn it, so the demon fleet had the Mu family backing them. No wonder they could always accurately intercept the empire's army and obtain large amounts of supplies. It was the Mu family leaking information to them! But wait, Mu Feixing could come and go freely in the network, so the one stealing military intelligence should be him, right? Has he discovered our secret base long ago?"
"He's already discovered it," Ming Rui opened a folder and said, "This is their battle plan. After your base grows stronger, they will first disrupt your network signals to paralyze your command center, then swallow you up in one fell swoop. Look, they are waiting for you to move all the Yan family's military supplies there. After intercepting the Neptune cruiser, Mu Yang will immediately launch a surprise attack on the base."
"Such a big appetite! We must quickly counterattack while that Desolate Emperor flagship is still out of control!" Old Man Yan immediately opened the communication channel to mobilize the fleet, and Li Ziqian also contacted his father, asking him to send reinforcements.
On the other side, Mu Yang was sitting on the ground, panting heavily. He had no idea what had happened. In a blink of an eye, Mu Feixing was trapped by a golden circle, the color of his body growing fainter. The sofa, coffee table, and coffee that had been formed by his consciousness had already turned into points of light and dissipated. He, who was always calm and elegant, looked like a trapped beast, roaring and struggling in the circle, looking extremely wretched.
Mu Yang had no ability to rescue him, flailing his hands randomly in the air, but only grasping at nothing. Even worse, the Desolate Emperor flagship had begun to lose control, blasting its own fleet and creating an opening, escorting the Neptune cruiser away safely.
Seeing that his painstakingly built demon fleet was about to be destroyed in an instant, Mu Yang had to draw out his particle gun and fire wildly at the control panel. All the instruments were destroyed, and the power supply was forced to be cut off. Only then did the Desolate Emperor flagship, which had gone crazy, come to a halt.
With bloodshot eyes, he looked at Mu Feixing, only to find that the other side was nothing but a transparent shadow, trembling and disappearing, with an expression of fear and ferocity on its face.
"Mu Feixing? Are you still there? Mu Feixing?" He spun around the command center in a frenzy, feeling like a trapped beast, full of fear. No wonder Mu Feixing had been so wary of Qi Ze; no wonder he had ordered him to send an entire fleet just to intercept a Neptune cruiser. The reason was precisely this. Unfortunately, he had realized it too late, and the demon fleet no longer had the capital to dominate the asteroid belt.
Looking at the two completely destroyed cruisers and the pitch-black command center with no lights, Mu Yang let out a blood-curdling scream. The few surviving cruisers and mechs slowly flew over, but they had no way to resolve the current predicament. If they wanted to tow these behemoths back for repairs, it would take months, and the noise would be too great, easily drawing ambushes from peers or encirclement from the military. The funds required would be astronomical.
The demon pirates had already lost most of their strength and had no choice but to cut their losses.
A cruiser broke open the corridor and flew into the mothership's interior, opening its power core and connecting to one of the mothership's lines, allowing the elevator to operate, finally reaching the command center.
"Leader, it's time to leave," the pilot advised, "Abandon this Desolate Emperor flagship. I've already looked. Besides the control panel, its power core was also destroyed. If we send a fleet to repair it, it will inevitably be ambushed by other pirate bands and surrounded by the regular military. We also need to reinforce the Third Young Master; we don't have time to waste."
Sending a fleet to repair would be ambushed, and towing it back would also be ambushed. This steel fortress had become a target completely. Abandoning it would be painful, but there was no other choice. Mu Yang almost ground his teeth to dust before speaking fiercely, "Completely destroy the command center to prevent the leakage of secrets."
"Yes," a group of people immediately dismantled the control panel, destroying all the chips, cables, and other items inside. They did the same for the two cruisers.
Mu Yang stood by the window, watching the Desolate Emperor flagship grow farther and farther away, gradually turning into an isolated island. Qi Ze, that name was deeply etched into his bones, accompanied by the shame and hatred that could not be resolved. If they met again, he would definitely cut off the other party's head with his own hands!
After Old Man Yan studied the map, Qi Ze slowly spoke, "You go and cut off Mu Yang's retreat. I'll go find Yan Junyu. Send me a copy of the map."
"There are hundreds of planets near the asteroid belt, and the terrain is extremely dangerous. Are you going to search one by one?" Old Man Yan sighed again for his grandson. Where could you find someone so loyal and capable? It was just a pity that his grandson did not have that luck.
"I'll use the soul-searching technique to look for him," Qi Ze took out a star chart from his Qiankun bag and said solemnly, "Old Marshal Yan, please give me a drop of your blood."
"Okay," Old Man Yan cut his fingertip without a word and dripped blood into a test tube.
"Thank you," Qi Ze held a handful of star sand in his hands, slowly sprinkling it onto the star chart. The star sand did not fall, but instead floated in the air, slowly condensing into planets of various sizes and shapes, orbiting along specific trajectories. Yan Zhongkui took a closer look and was shocked, "This, this is a miniature asteroid belt? How did you do it? What's the principle?"
Qi Ze had no time to pay him any attention, infusing spirit energy into the test tube while pouring the blood into it. The blood droplets that had been falling suddenly floated, moving toward a certain planet and then blending in, emitting light.
"If Yan Junyu is dead, the blood will fall directly onto the star chart. If he is not dead, the blood will drift toward the direction where he is. Which planet is this? Check the map," he said, relieved.
"This is the ME219 planet, still in a primitive state. Brother Qi Ze, Young Master Yan is on this planet? Then let's go find him?" Ming Rui reported the name of the planet at a glance.
Old Man Yan was shaking with excitement, repeatedly asking, "Master Qi, are you sure Junyu is not dead? He's on this planet? You really didn't make a mistake?"
"Whether we made a mistake or not, we'll know when we see it. Let's go." Li Ziqian and Ouyang Ye had already put on their battle suits and were checking their equipment. They never doubted Qi Ze's judgment.
"Let's go," Qi Ze summoned the recharging mini mech and gave the order decisively.
At the same time, Yan Junyu was sitting by the fire, staring intently at the screen of the smartbrain. The screen was constantly flickering, illuminating his emaciated face half-light and half-dark. He would sometimes stare intently, sometimes smile, no one knew what he was looking at.
"Your smartbrain still has a signal?" a man sitting not far away asked in a deep voice. He had a hideous scar on his left cheek, his combat suit was covered in blood, and bandages wrapped around his arm and thigh, looking very disheveled. In contrast, his eyes were deep and exuded a cold light, clearly not a pushover.
"No signal. I'm just watching videos from before," Yan Junyu answered without raising his head.
"At the brink of death, you still have the leisure to watch videos? How long has that thing been in you? Seven days or eight?" the man laughed sinisterly, "The longest one lasted eight days. I want to see if you can break that record."