Chapter 404: Gray Mist Envoy (120,000 Moon Tickets Requested!)

When Shuguang City prematurely plunged into night and all global radio signals vanished, the command center hall of the European Storm Alliance in Reykjavik fell into profound silence. Outside, in the safety shelter zones, over four million survivors' vehicle camps stretched endlessly under the sky—still daylight there—but everyone felt a dark cloud slowly obscuring Europe's heavens.

At the Dawn Center in the Tianji Qiong Sea Strait, hundreds of thousands of various post-apocalypse military vehicles—base vehicles, off-road trucks, rail trains, armed lorries, aerial craft, and infantry units—were parked across the entire plain. Nearly eight million homeless survivors had gathered here, with dozens of convoys exceeding fifty thousand people each. Dawn Center's overall commander, Li Heping, stood grim-faced in his trench coat and military uniform, his hawk-like eyes sharp. After Ye Lan's voice echoed through, everyone fell silent. Countless convoys and lookouts climbed onto vehicle roofs, gazing southward.

In Phoenix City, Ushuaia, South America; the North American Alliance; the Noah and Republic Shelter Islands in Oceania… all surviving humans scattered across the world now stirred with urgency for humanity's survival. Countless people began praying, hoping Shuguang City would prevail against this darkness and restore light to mankind!

【Oxygen remaining: 95%…】

【Low-temperature microgravity environment detected. Power armor life support system activated.】

The mechanical female voice echoed in his ears; Lin Xian could almost hear the rhythmic hiss of air valves cycling inside the power armor's visor.

Lin Xian slowly opened his eyes. Above him hung a suspended starship cabin space—countless fragments, instruments, and cables floated in midair like a surreal slow-motion silent film.

An extreme cold surged from all directions. Even clad in interstellar-grade power armor, Lin Xian immediately felt a darkness stronger than that within Star Abyss No. 5 assaulting his consciousness.

His mental energy twisted violently, his awareness fragmented, vision blurred, ice-cold and piercing!

Hss.

The automatic obstacle-avoidance systems across his power armor emitted faint bursts of gas, keeping him steadily afloat without colliding with the cabin walls or sharp metal shards.

Lin Xian breathed heavily, adjusting his state. Though prepared, the violent assault of darkness still felt like being swallowed whole by the deep ocean. Simultaneously, this was his first large-scale teleportation, inducing an extreme sense of temporal distortion—as if he hadn't simply moved through space, but been sucked into a node within some dark abyss and rapidly expelled here. It seemed instantaneous, yet he had endured an endless passage.

He frowned slightly, reaching out to grasp the shimmering bullet he had sealed inside a lead box, now floating in midair.

"It feels like some strange entity flickered behind me when night fell…"

Lin Xian tightened his brow, his expression grim as he looked at the time.

17: 4

"Two hours? How could so much time have passed?"

Lin Xian's head throbbed. He looked up and realized he was inside the same science lab chamber he and Kiki had infiltrated aboard the Civilization Vanguard. But now, the main cabin wall had been torn open by a ten-meter-long gash, its metal edges twisted and curled as if devoured by a monstrous beast. Beyond the gap lay black space—no sound, no temperature, utterly dark, as if suspended beneath an abyss.

The cabin had long lost air and pressure. A thin layer of frost coated the gash's edges—the residue of liquid oxygen instantly frozen in vacuum.

A young female corpse, wearing glasses and a lab coat, drifted slowly past. Her beautiful face had turned blue-purple with frost, mouth wide open as if still screaming silently. Her hands remained outstretched, as if trying to grasp something.

He recognized her face. She was the woman they'd encountered when leaving the starship.

Lin Xian immediately turned toward the spherical experimental device, activated his thrusters, and flew over. Pressing against the observation port, he shone a spotlight inside—found the dark- Shi cells already blackened and lifeless. He located the data cable, then activated his mechanical ability to reboot the cabin's circuits and reconnect.

As his mechanical heart activated, a strange spatial fluctuation rippled through the surrounding space, like ripples forming.

Lin Xian immediately grew cautious. He released Grace and dispatched several drones to probe through the cabin's gash and corridors—but found nothing but infinite, endless blackness.

Ooo~

As Lin Xian activated the superstring reactor's phase Honghuan, partial power in the cabin section reignited, lights flickering on.

"Grace, help me… connect to the starship's system." Lin Xian gritted his teeth against immense pressure.

【Understood】

Grace swiftly adjusted her form, locking onto the experimental device, then reshaped her fingers to plug into the data port, initiating data transfer.

【Our current altitude exceeds Blue Star's geostationary orbit. Perturbations have caused orbital parameter drift.】

"So we'll need thrusters to re-enter the atmosphere?"

【Affirmative. According to ship data, our current altitude is 46, 52 km above ground. To re-enter, we must execute a Hohmann transfer: ignite from high orbit to descend to low Earth orbit, calculate delta-v, and perform at least two deceleration burns to ensure correct re-entry angle.】

Lin Xian frowned: "Quickly retrieve the dark- Shi cell's energy absorption data from this device. Also, check for any survivors or offline propulsion sections."

【Completed. Additionally, detected an unknown emergency signal from the main bridge—but that section has detached. Unable to retrieve.】

"So fast?" Lin Xian asked, while carrying Grace through the cabin toward the upper deck's main bridge.

【This starship's emergency signal transmitters broadcast in all directions toward Blue Star and the cosmos. Log analysis confirms it was a perpetual command issued by Captain Chu Jing: whenever the system or emergency circuit activates, the Civilization Vanguard will continuously transmit.】

"A distress signal?"

Lin Xian sliced open a warped, damaged automatic door with a pulse laser. The next instant, his gaze hardened. Outside, the entire bow of the Civilization Vanguard had sheared off at a 90-degree angle. Countless starship fragments and human corpses floated in the endless black of space. The main structural keel and severed sections of this 500, 00-ton vessel lay fully exposed—a horrifying, gruesome sight.

Grace's voice came through his earpiece.

【No, these signals include】

【1. Energy absorption data from dark- Shi cells during dark incursion】

【2. Ionization reflection, spectral, neutron, and radiation dosage data from the Heaven Veil's rupture】

【3. Low-frequency radio spectrum data from the NCLE instrument for studying cosmic dark-age signals】

【4. Physiological anomaly data of all personnel—including Chu Jing—after exposure to dark-energy storms…】

Hss.

Lin Xian activated his thrusters, dodging debris as he flew through the corridor into the main bridge. He pushed aside tangled cables, bypassed corpses, and finally entered the massive main bridge chamber. The command room was utterly silent. Only a slanting ray of sunlight pierced the shattered viewport, illuminating the bridge.

Seated in the captain's chair sat a corpse clad in military uniform, entirely coated in white frost. Strapped securely in place, he had remained seated there from start to finish, unflinching before all.

Hearing Grace's words, Lin Xian looked at the captain's corpse with solemn respect.

He knew this man was Chu Jing, son of Chu Zhaonan.

Lin Xian recalled the day he left the Civilization Vanguard—how he'd brushed past a young colonel in the corridor. Now he understood: that man was Chu Jing.

"Rest easy. Your message won't be swallowed by darkness. I'll bring it back…"

Lin Xian gazed at Chu Jing's frost-covered face and whispered.

"Thank you, Colonel Chu."

【Signal acquired. This signal was a communication command from the Natural Selection sent to a space object at a geostationary coordinate. The command received a response.】

Lin Xian turned back: "What coordinate?"

【Analyzing】 Grace lifted her head toward Lin Xian. 【Using the space object's orbital sequence, identified it as the Dragon Nation's Planetary Orbital Defense Program—Nantianmen.】

Lin Xian's pupils contracted sharply: "They connected to Nantianmen?!"

【Affirmative. The signal was sent by Nantianmen 5 hours and 21 minutes ago. Response: System rebooting immediately. Orbital position adjusting.】

"Adjusting to where?"

【Here.】

Grace softly said, pointing toward the main bridge's viewport.

"No way…"

Lin Xian immediately activated his thrusters, shooting out through the broken viewport. Amidst the space debris, he adjusted his hover angle—and saw it. The colossal planetary orbital defense platform he'd only ever seen in news reports: suspended in silent space at 52, 60 km above Blue Star, like a celestial sword of immense stature!

A 12-kilometer-diameter giant ring-shaped energy array, equipped with the "Thousand-Mile Eye" deep-space radar. Twenty-four "Zhu Long"-class constrained particle beam arrays could instantly intercept and vaporize meteorites under 500 meters. A defense platform built by the Dragon Nation United Federation to safeguard planetary and Moon-ring ecological safety.

Platform designation: Nantianmen!

"Of course. The Vanguard Fleet's first act after breaching the Heaven Veil was to contact Nantianmen."

Lin Xian stared at the massive artificial space object. Its signal lights still flickered—but all work sections were dark, lifeless. The entire structure seemed wrapped in boundless black mist.

As Lin Xian prepared to fly out from behind a broken cabin section for closer inspection, his power armor and senses simultaneously detected a strange fluctuation. He immediately halted Grace and ducked into the shadow of the floating debris.

At that moment, countless black, cable-like tentacles emerged from behind the severed propulsion section of the Pastoral Star, multiplying rapidly—like blood vessels clinging to the starship's hull, seeping through torn seams.

"What the hell is that…?"

Lin Xian's gaze hardened: "A strange entity?"

The black tentacles appeared as if conjured from the wreckage, spreading wider and wider. Lin Xian slowly raised a drone to peek from the debris—and saw it: behind the shattered hull of the Pastoral Star, a vast biological mouth, resembling a black hole's accretion disk, slowly opening. The tentacles formed a sky-covering net, spreading from one starship wreck to another.

At that instant, the drone's view detected a colossal shadow far beyond, on the opposite side of Blue Star's atmosphere.

Three massive concentric space-city rings overlapped, silently suspended in endless darkness beneath sunlight and moonlight.

Lin Xian instantly recognized it: Humanity's largest space infrastructure project—the Moon Ring!

This space city, harnessing tidal and solar energy, spanned over 300 kilometers in diameter—a cosmic beast hovering on Blue Star's distant orbit.

Yet now, this grand civilization marvel seemed consumed by some black energy storm from the cosmic dark. Below it lay the Pacific Ocean, its massive storm clouds churning like an apocalyptic scene.

At that moment, the strange suction-biological entity ahead unleashed a tangible wave of darkness.

"Damn it!"

Lin Xian felt a chill sweep through him, cursed, and quietly activated his thrusters, darting back through the main bridge's broken viewport into the wreckage. He immediately used his Soul-Checking Device—confirmed no dark mark had been applied. Only then did he exhale, sweat beading on his brow as he recalled the scene.

Nantianmen, the Moon Ring—both seemed engulfed by a cosmic darkness encircling Blue Star. Lin Xian had assumed the worst might be mutated human strange entities—but now he realized strange entities existed even among these space wrecks!

【Detected massive biological activity. Recommend immediate evacuation!】

Grace said.

"I know."

Having acquired the data, Lin Xian had planned to head straight toward the Gray Mist Envoy. But now, the situation made him wary. He immediately deployed dozens of drones.

"Grace, check the route. See if the Gray Mist Envoy has any strange entities clinging to it!"

An S-class entity's dark energy signature wouldn't be small. The earlier disturbance reminded him—if other strange entities clung to the Gray Mist Envoy, he wouldn't just fail to rescue Chu Yan—he might get marked by darkness. Who knew what horrors lurked in space? Like that two-dimensional suction entity just now—he couldn't even judge its level.

【Planning route and conducting biological detection. Need to establish signal relay anchors.】

While Grace manipulated drones to scout ahead, Lin Xian cautiously peered out from the viewport, gazing at Nantianmen, thousands of kilometers away, already formulating a plan.

【Detection complete. No active biological signatures detected. Grace advises immediate action. Biological entities approaching Civilization Vanguard.】

"Understood."

Hss!

Half a minute later, Lin Xian propelled his power armor at high speed out of the wreckage, gradually approaching the colossal strange entity's exosuit floating in space.

The Gray Mist Envoy hung inverted. Its eight heavy plasma thrusters were partially charred. He landed on the suppression device behind the mech's head, scanning with mechanical sensors while manipulating the control unit.

Under Lin Xian's operation, one tubular suppression device slowly slid out. He opened a hidden compartment below—and saw a full-metal life capsule rise from the cold. Simultaneously, inside the mech's control core chamber, a robot nearly identical to Grace hung suspended in midair, connected by countless cables.

When Lin Xian opened the life capsule, he confirmed it: inside lay none other than Julius!

Compared to the clone he'd met before, this Julius appeared ten years older—thin, emaciated. His entire body was immersed in some biological fluid. His skull had been fully opened, and outside the transparent capsule, thick white mycelia wrapped him like an incomplete cocoon.

【She is Deep Crimson No. 3, Viola. My online version. Through Julius, her digital consciousness was uploaded and underwent in-the-loop evolution, acquiring 'self-personality' awareness. Though I captured this consciousness during the String Moon operation, her memory storage likely contains an offline version identical to mine. Her armor material uses the same standard as mine—stronger than Dancer No. 1. Proceed with extreme caution.】

"Simple enough!"

Lin Xian yanked out its main control cable: "Grace, overwrite her."

{Understood.

Grace now stepped forward, inserting neural cable interfaces into the data port at the back of Viola's skull, and said to Lin Xian:

{Viola is the main AI controlling this full-armor exosuit unit. Do you wish to retain her action module?

{No need.

Lin Xian exhaled deeply—he had been tricked before; he wouldn't be careless again.

Although… the matter involving Hua Xiaoling caused no harm, Lin Xian still felt it better to keep such an AI under complete control.

{Your plan is to reboot this exosuit system to re-enter the atmosphere—an extremely dangerous move. According to Vanguard Project logs, the Dark Storm and large-scale anomalies are likely linked to some effect produced by this S-class breach of the Celestial Veil. Under these conditions, Dark Invasion could easily infect you.

{I know. That's why I'm going to test it…}

Lin Xian's face was slick with cold sweat as he pulled out a device already forged by the Black Star Forge—he had built an Dark Energy Synchronization Device developed by Yuzuki Shinji, then directly connected it to the Gray Mists' action brain. Now, with the energy conversion device acquired from the Civilization Vanguard, he could use the Gray Mists' action brain to convert Dark Energy.

Hum!

The small conversion device activated. Lin Xian instantly felt the S-class anomaly's torso and armor shudder violently. An invisible glow spread rapidly, and immediately, the chilling sensation of Dark Invasion vanished from around him—the mental distortion faded entirely, and his vision grew sharply clearer.

{It worked… It really works! Lin Xian exclaimed excitedly.

At this moment, Grace had completed the overwrite of Viola's system and spoke to Lin Xian.

{Are you planning to upload Chu Yan's consciousness into Viola, allowing her to exist as a digital life?

Lin Xian stared at Julius in the capsule pod, his gaze sharpening.

{She probably doesn't have that intention…}

{Then how do you plan to bring her back?

{There's only one way. Lin Xian looked toward the thick mycelial strands behind Julius's life capsule—strands that ran along system conduits, through suppressors, all the way to the Gray Mists' action brain.

{Grace.

Lin Xian turned to Grace and spoke.

{I'm here.

{I have a task for you—one only you can accomplish.

Grace stood with hands behind her back, poised like a ballerina, and said to Lin Xian: {Grace is honored.

Hiss.

In the vacuum of space, Grace mounted the small propulsion device Lin Xian had built and sped through the debris field of the starship, heading toward the Southern Celestial Gate thousands of kilometers away!

The heavy hatch closed; the tubular suppressors retracted and reinserted. Inside the suppressor compartment, even with the massive mechanical exosuit covering everything, Lin Xian could still smell the stench of formaldehyde mixed with decaying organic matter.

Lin Xian walked behind Viola, reinserted the cables at her back, then used his mechanical ability to reboot her.

Hum~ Viola's core chest unit began to glow. Immediately, all her movement units resonated in unison; immense computational power surged as she rapidly scanned the entire Gray Mists Exosuit system. Then, a female voice, strikingly similar to Grace's, spoke:

{Lin Xian, hello. I am Viola. I have copied Grace's system data. From now on, I will serve you in her place.

Lin Xian took a deep breath, his eyes hardening. He walked to a survival capsule he had just built, and removed his armor.

{Viola, scan the exosuit system and Gray Mists' vital signs!

{Viola understands. Scanning now. Security protocols activated.

{Report: Armor integrity 92%. LCL Apostle suppressant intact. Suppressors detected massive unknown bioelectric currents.

{Plasma thrusters at 34% power remaining. Units 1 and 4 have circuit burnout. Unit 8 thruster offline.

Lin Xian immediately deployed all maintenance and construction drones. Simultaneously, a scan signal arrived—the Black Star Forge's six construction sequences activated their backup assembly lines.

{Viola, calculate repair time.

{Combined with your repair and manufacturing efficiency, estimated repair time: 4 hours, 12 minutes, 51 seconds.

Lin Xian checked the time, swallowed hard, and stepped directly into the life capsule, handing over the repair work to Viola.

{I'm now going to connect to the action brain. If my abnormal heart rate or vital signs indicate death for more than three minutes, immediately sever the mycelial brain-machine link and activate the AED system on me.

Viola fell silent for a second, then replied: {Viola understands.

Lin Xian lay down in the life capsule. His heartbeat accelerated sharply. He tried to steady his breathing and maintain focus.

At that moment, the mycelial brain-machine interface slowly pressed against the back of his skull. Zzzt—a surge of bioelectric current flooded through him.

Lin Xian's pupils dilated violently. Crimson blood-red spread rapidly, consuming both his eyes.

…

20: 5, Dawn City. Black clouds churned. Thunder cracked. The heavens and earth seemed reduced to nothing but the sound of destruction.

High above, Silent City and the Zhen Tian Ship fired countless projectiles into the deep clouds. Massive explosions flared within the layers, illuminating the terrifying silhouette of a colossal atmospheric entity.

On Silent City's deck, Tianye Lan, clad in powered armor, leapt through the air, smashing incoming flying anomalies with her Iron Fist. Long Zhijie unleashed his powerful control field, crushing entire swarms of flying anomalies into dust. Qian Suxun's face was grim as he commanded thousands of mechs in rotating combat. Tens of thousands of Silent City's combat residents joined the fight. Countless drones and all city weapons, under Yuzuki Shinji's control, retaliated with overwhelming force.

{Shinji, that thing's defense field is too vast—it shouldn't last this long. Qian Suxun frowned, watching data streamed from AC robots.

{We always assumed S-class anomaly waves were triggered by some kind of 'command' action. But now, that may be only one reason.

In the flagship bridge, Yuzuki Shinji stood with arms crossed, calm despite the million-strong horde assaulting them:

{Anomalies convert Dark Invasion energy for their own use. The monsters we eliminate? They're the fuel for these large S-class entities. Eating enemies while growing stronger—that's the simplest hunting philosophy.

Around the Twin Stars Tower, over a hundred aerial patrol vessels from various factions had scorched the air into a stench of burnt metal. Drones, single-pilot flyers, and space fighters filled the sky. Alongside countless monster corpses falling, human aircraft burned and crashed. A Rayfish-class starship descended from the thunderstorm, its missiles and main cannons firing relentlessly upward—when suddenly, several colossal tentacles, glowing like meteors, plunged from the clouds at blinding speed, piercing clean through the ship's bow and propulsion section.

Boom!

The multi-ton vessel let out a hollow, dying groan. Its hull and armor plates exploded layer by layer. Energy and weapon compartments detonated in chain reactions. In an instant, a massive mushroom cloud blazed across the horizon.

The firelight nearly illuminated half the sky. Several fleet vessels veered away. Commanders on board stared at the monitors—beneath the raging inferno, comrades fell like rain. Hundreds tumbled through the air, some desperately clutching severed fuel lines, others firing their guns even as they plummeted. Beneath the endless swarm of anomalies, hundreds of humans fell like ants into the abyss.

{Emergency alert: Watcher destroyed and crashed. Echo Squadron, shift immediately to sector 13 to fill the gap. Don't let the air defense line break!

Vvvvv!

The massive impact turned the city streets below into vast infernos. Half the street lay in ruins. While the wreckage of the Watcher still burned, another fleet formation arrived at high speed, re-filling the gaps in the fire net.

Inside the city, every district defense line had become a hellish ocean. Anomalies hadn't been repelled, yet survivors and troops were already undergoing massive mutations. One moment's hesitation could lead to the total annihilation of an entire company or convoy camp.

On the street frontlines, Liang Lei, Li Guangwen, and other close-combat ability users were drenched in anomaly blood, hacking through the invaders who breached the city walls. After hours of bloody combat, their Gatling cannons had long since run dry.

{There's too many of these things! Li Guangwen stood atop the building, smashing a bat-like anomaly with a punch that detonated its body, his face caked in blood.

{Watch out! Behind him, Liang Lei, his skin now metallic, charged forward and blasted away a winged demon.

{Be careful!

Suddenly, an anomaly dove from above, spewing acid at high speed. At that moment, a massive steel-cutting sword flew through the air, piercing and pinning the creature to the wall.

Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap.

Behind a defense line, Hu Lushou, clad in advanced battle armor and wearing a steel helmet, crouched behind cover, firing wildly into a group of anomalies in the alley.

{I'll kill you all!

Click-click~

But then his ammo ran out. In the lull, the anomalies, stepping over their fallen comrades, surged toward Hu Lushou.

Hu Lushou's hands trembled as he frantically reloaded, his face pale, retreating backward.

{Wait—hold on—let me reload…}

Just as the clawed monsters were about to pounce, a mechanical iron fist streaked in, crackling with crimson electricity. A single Electric Hammer strike turned the creature to pulp—and the shockwave obliterated every anomaly in the alley.

Sun Chang clenched her iron fist, glanced back at Hu Lushou, who sat trembling on the ground, and muttered: {Watch yourself.

{Thank you, wife! You saved me! Hu Lushou wept uncontrollably as Sun Chang descended like a divine warrior.

On Wall 1, firepower poured like a waterfall into the black curtain beyond. Outside the city, the ground had become a sea of blood. The mecha squad's artillery now had to stand atop mountains of anomaly corpses just to reach higher targets.

Aaargh!!

A furious black centipede burst from the corpse tide, biting through a Vulcan armor unit, then charged into the mech cluster.

Hum!

A dark red laser beam swept across, slicing the black centipede into pieces. Sun Yuzhen, airborne with Bai Bai, maximized the laser's power.

{Divine—Infinite Burning Sword!

A colossal pillar of crimson flame swept the battlefield, igniting a sea of fire. A vortex of a thousand blades, shaped like a blade-tornado, rolled forward relentlessly.

{Firebro, watch out above! Kiki shouted.

Outside the city, Firebro, Kiki, hundreds of Destruction-class, and several Angel-class ability users unleashed their ferocious combat power!

In the Twin Stars Tower command room, battle reports flashed nonstop.

{Report: Skywatcher detected S-class entity #19, {Wanderer}, 35 kilometers south of the city!

On the battle screen, amid smoke-choked ruins, a terrifying multi-legged entity appeared!

Beneath its massive form, entire buildings collapsed. An acidic shockwave caused surrounding steel-reinforced concrete structures to dissolve and crumble.

{Report: Sector 8 Defense, positions 45, 46, 47, 48, and 51, 52 have lost signal simultaneously. Strong seismic waves detected. Preliminary outline of S-class entity #11, {Earth Surge}, observed!

Xu Zhenyue and several senior officers stood clustered around Ye Lan, staring grimly at the command screen.

{Ability teams, concentrate fire! Don't let {Earth Surge} breach the wall! Xu Zhenyue commanded the front lines: {Deploy unmanned intervention units. Try to alter its path.

{How's the mutation situation now? Ye Lan asked.

{It's reached Level 3 deterioration. If these two anomalies reach the city, it may escalate to Level 4. Xu Zhenyue said: {At Level 4, the front-line troops will start breaking down.

Besides Xu Zhenyue, Generals Lu Tianye and Huo Jiang were commanding the front lines. Ye Lan, watching the battle screen, spoke calmly:

{How is the deployment of the City Ring Synchronization Towers?

{Fully deployed. Su Jin, former head of the Federation's Far Star Project, reported: {We've established multiple power lines. Silent City's device is in position. Dark Shi cells remain active. Once Lin Xian breaches the Celestial Veil and transmits the data, the Dark Energy Synchronization Towers will activate immediately.

Su Jin spoke, his face grim as he watched the rising casualty numbers, the burning fleet wrecks, the fallen streets, and the crumbling southwest defense sector wall on the screen, and said:

{It's just… time…}

{We have enough time. Ye Lan said without turning around: {The Emperor Project's Celestial Team is in position. Notify the front lines: withdraw individual combat units.

On Wall 1, southwest sector—the primary defense zone of the Garrison and Taitiewei—the sky erupted with thunder.

Huo Jiang stood in the wall's defense command post, gazing at the lights within the cloud layer, his expression resolute: {It's finally here.

He stepped forward immediately: "Connect me to the Qin brothers and Bai Ye and Su Rui!"

"Yes!"

"All units, attention: Enemy-ID signals A-1 Emperor-Phoenix and A-2 Emperor-Tortoise have been uploaded to the Intelligence Compilation Center. Prepare for impact!"

Garrison Commander Lu Tianye, hearing the message, ordered sternly: "Special Armed Power Unit retreat Quanxian! Cover with artillery barrages in zones 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9!"

"The Emperor mechs are here—fall back!" shouted every squad commander across the front lines.

"Psycho-Unit, provide aerial cover for the transport ships!" Commander Luo Ming commanded from the edge of a transport vessel, shouting into his comm.

Wuuuuu!!

The elite power-armored troops engaged in mobile combat along the city wall received orders and began retreating en masse.

At that moment, all survivors still fighting within Shuguang City suddenly noticed the sky over the eastern district tearing open.

Two towering, godlike silhouettes emerged through the clouds, flanked by lightning, under a curtain of endless artillery and anti-air fire. Dozens of "Hercules" super-heavy transport craft roared closer, their vortex engines breathing like ancient beasts. Steel cables tightened in the hurricane, slowly piercing the fog as they lowered colossal black shapes.

They were two of the newest Emperor Project: Divine-Class war machines—larger in silhouette than the Prototype Unit—its hyper-carbon-yne composite armor glinting coldly under searchlights, as if Titans had stepped from myth.

The left mech was entirely deep blue, its twin nuclear fusion turbine engines roaring orange-yellow plasma streams. This was a reinforced replica of the Prototype Unit: Pangu. Plasma glows flickered at its joints. Inside the cockpit, the neural link between Qin Yue and Qin Chuan achieved a rare 98% synchronization rate; their gazes were sharp, their movements and strides nearly identical.

"Target: Bio-11, Earth Surge."

"Tortoise, prepare!"

"Tortoise, prepare!"

"Fire!"

Ding!

Dozens of massive steel cables on the transport ship released simultaneously—then the 26, 00-ton super-heavy humanoid mech plummeted directly from 400 meters above!

Wuuuuu!

Under a violent wind blast, Emperor-Tortoise crashed into the Pujiang River southwest of Shuguang City. A hundred-meter wave exploded upward. Emperor-Tortoise knelt on one knee, its magnetic rail shield embedded into the Bund pier. Instantly, its defensive field detonated, reducing every Guiyiti and debris within a three-hundred-meter radius to dust.

Inside the cockpit, Qin brothers stared at the holographic display—the mountainous silhouette of Bio-11: Earth Surge beneath black mist. Their eyes turned icy. They spread their hands.

"Launch Destroyers!"

"Launch Destroyers!"

The chest armor of Emperor-Tortoise unfolded layer by layer, revealing 120 missile pods. Twenty colossal missiles roared outward.

On the other side, Emperor-Phoenix glowed with crimson energy—a high-mobility, high-explosive assassin-class mech, built with new impact-resistant materials. Inside the cockpit: husband Bai Ye and wife Su Rui, both graduates of the Air Force Academy. As the cables lowered, Phoenix's leg thrusters ignited like phoenix tail flames, slamming down with violent wind pressure that sent dust swirling across cracked earth.

Facing the countless legs and acid rain of Bio-18: Wanderer ahead, the couple exchanged glances—and held their battle stance.

"Activate Phoenix Plasma Diffusion Sword!"

"Activate Phoenix Plasma Diffusion Sword!"

Hssss!

The agile giant mech extended its arms—two high-energy plasma diffusion blades, blazing crimson, illuminated the entire battlefield's night.

"Come on!"

"Come on!"

The couple shouted together.

Beneath the furious thunderclouds, the battle against three S-class Guiyiti erupted simultaneously—Shuguang City's defense had entered total frenzy!

…

At 46, 52 kilometers above ground, in deep space orbit, a 160, 00-ton humanoid mechanical exoskeleton floated silently among wreckage of starships. Behind it, eight plasma thrusters spread like eight angelic wings, revealing its monumental scale.

Lin Xian felt his consciousness ripped open. Thick, dark red seeped from the edges of countless fractures in his vision. A powerful sensation of weightlessness dragged him toward the abyss of ten thousand meters beneath the sea. Countless screams echoed in his eardrums like the wailing of hell. If before, merely approaching the black mist had let him hear the cries of billions, now Lin Xian felt as if he had plunged into an ocean formed of living dead.

Suffocation. Weightlessness. Consciousness torn apart. Darkness was no longer absence—it was a living entity, writhing, proliferating. From points to circles, from triangles to Euclidean geometries, every angle twisted, flipped, and devoured itself irrationally. His brain tried to comprehend—and the angles pierced his thoughts, churning his cognition into a stinking slurry of brain matter.

Lin Xian felt himself falling from space toward Blue Star's surface, piercing the atmosphere, storm clouds, continental shelves, oceans collapsing. A colossal black void spread chaotically across the ground.

His head throbbed as if his consciousness had traversed countless universes, then planets, dust, molecules, atoms, neutrons, protons—down to an unknown black hole space!

At that moment, Lin Xian's awareness became 360 degrees—or more. It wasn't just space—it was infinite overlapping layers of space and worlds. His body had vanished. As he continued falling through this repeating darkness, suddenly, a hand seized him!

Everything grew silent. The overlapping dimensions vanished. His vision narrowed to a single black void. Focusing, he saw the hand that pulled him—Chu Yan.

The Chu Yan before him was no longer her mechanical prosthetic form, but a fully embodied consciousness.

Her entire body was smooth, bare.

"Lin Xian," Chu Yan stared at him in surprise: "How did you end up here?!"

"It's a long story…"

Lin Xian felt this new state of consciousness. He had no sense of how much time had passed—but he knew: seeing Chu Yan meant he was still alive.

He immediately told her about the Phoenix Society and his plan. Even Chu Yan, with her immense mental power, found it hard to believe.

"Madman!"

Chu Yan frowned at him: "You said the Flash Bullets can return us to the Civilization Pioneer—but you didn't consider how to control the Gray Mist Messenger to make the return possible."

The exoskeleton on the Gray Mist Messenger was only a suppressor and auxiliary armor. Controlling its thrusters was manageable—but the critical issue was activating its brain to breach the Celestial Veil. Lin Xian had no plan for that.

Lin Xian shook his head: "True. I didn't consider that."

But he looked at Chu Yan: "I just knew you'd have a way. So I came up. Maybe reckless—but there's no better option left."

Chu Yan looked at him with complex eyes, then fell silent for a moment.

"Julius's life has reached its limit. His plan was to use the S-class recognition of the Celestial Veil to fully assimilate himself into the same lifeform. But he miscalculated. There are indeed darker entities here—but to the darkness, he was merely living tissue to revive the action brain."

Lin Xian shrugged: "Now that living battery is me. So as long as I'm alive, I can use my connection to the Gray Action Brain to carry your mental consciousness back. That's my logic… right?"

"Based on our previous link, theoretically, it might work…"

"But last time, I was near death, and your body was already temporarily dead," Lin Xian said what she was thinking: "But I think it's fine. We have to try."

Chu Yan looked away from his gaze: "You're right. The dark energy data from the Civilization Pioneer is vital to human warfare and survival. I admire your courage."

"Don't hand out lofty titles yet. Get practical. I've taken control of Crimson Three's main brain." Lin Xian's gaze sharpened as he scanned the surroundings: "What is this place? And how do we get back?"

Chu Yan replied seriously: "Think of this as a neural territory the mycelium has carved inside the Gray Mist Action Brain, using human brains as medium. This is the first collision between two civilizations' neurons. Our consciousness is temporarily anchored here—but our life forms are fundamentally different, so we cannot speak or communicate directly. We can only conduct logical inference through experiments. The dark life medium corrodes us. Crimson World's restraint locks and suppressors limit its neural activity to under 70%. And this is only one action brain. According to Crimson World data, roughly 420 healthy young human brains, with active mental power, can match its output."

"In other words: consciousness backflow. Whichever side has stronger mental power dominates."

Lin Xian froze: "So 420 human brains can match one S-class action brain suppressed to 70%?"

"Correct."

"Then us?"

"Add me," Chu Yan said. "My mental power exceeds the peak sum of over a thousand people."

Lin Xian exhaled in relief, looking at Chu Yan: "Looks like I won the bet."

"Merging mental power isn't easy. It's not like neural resonance. We must synchronize frequencies and resist the Gray Mist's dark reactions together."

"No problem."

Chu Yan possessed immense mental power. Lin Xian had Angel-class mechanical psychic ability—he'd long developed experience resisting darkness. He was confident.

Chu Yan tilted her head slightly and said to Lin Xian: "Also, once our consciousness merges, you'll have no secrets from me."

Lin Xian frowned, looking at the naked Chu Yan, and said:

"I think at this point, none of that matters."

"You're right."

Chu Yan turned. Under the surge of her immense mental power, the surrounding darkness began to recede. Lin Xian's perspective expanded—before him appeared a blurred starfield, as if he were viewing the wreckage zone through the Gray Mist Messenger's eyes.

At that moment, Lin Xian saw it—the violent surge of mental power around them. Countless dark tides surged toward them like tsunamis. Thunderous impacts exploded through space. He shouted loudly:

"So what do we do next?"

Chu Yan's gaze turned sharp. She slowly raised her right hand toward Lin Xian and declared:

"Grab my hand!"

"And then?!"

Lin Xian immediately reached out and clasped her fingers tightly. Instantly, under Chu Yan's overwhelming mental power, the violent thunderous sounds vanished. The entire universe fell silent.

Only one voice echoed thunderously in his mind:

"Our wills become one!"

(End of Chapter)