Chapter 593: Crash

The sky was shrouded in dark clouds, thunder rumbling continuously, lightning occasionally bursting from the clouds, powerful electromagnetic waves spreading through the air and disrupting all precise instruments.

On the planet Dagobah, in a dense forest, a green-skinned creature extended its palm toward the sky.

“The one foretold, the imposter—peace here will not last.”

A weary sigh escaped the green-skinned creature’s mouth, then it leaned on its staff and began to move.

Inside the starship, Ye Nan watched the frantic crew with a calm expression.

“We’ve lost the screens!”

“Should we make an emergency landing?”

“If this continues, when all instruments fail, we’ll crash—and none of us will survive.”

Panicked voices kept coming; some crew members had completely lost their composure, temporarily forgetting Ye Nan’s terrifying presence, spreading rumors of doom.

“If we keep going like this, we’re all going to die.”

“Shut up.” Ye Nan roared. The terrified crewmembers instantly fell silent, staring at him like frozen insects, gazing upon this bloodthirsty demon king.

“Emergency landing.”

The moment Ye Nan spoke, the crew broke into relieved smiles—as if his order were a divine decree of salvation.

“Initiate emergency landing.”

“Shut down radar.”

“Reduce engine output.”

“Deploy landing gear.”

A stream of commands poured from one crewmember’s mouth, and the team began operating in precise coordination to guide the ship down.

The Galactic Empire’s starships differed from those of the Space Empire: though they possessed certain intelligent technologies, they never integrated them into their starships, primarily fearing enemies might destroy the AI through special means during war.

For example, viruses, powerful electromagnetic pulses, or other methods—in cosmic warfare, intelligent life was the most unreliable.

Thus, intelligent life rarely existed aboard warships; even when present, it was severely restricted, to prevent enemies from hacking, corrupting, or disabling them via viruses or other means.

But without an AI, operating the starship required many people working in perfect unison—two or three individuals simply could not control it. That was why, even in despair, they never attempted unauthorized emergency landings—they knew such attempts would not succeed and would only cause the ship to malfunction.

As long as there was even a sliver of hope, they would never truly commit suicide.

Finally, they saw light: Ye Nan had given the order—they could now work together to operate the starship and execute an emergency landing.

BOOM!

A bolt of lightning shot from the clouds and struck a corner of the starship, sparking blue flames and triggering an explosion.

“The scanner has been struck by lightning—out of commission.”

“Why is the weather so bizarre? We’ve hit an event with near-zero probability. Did I offend God?”

“But luckily, it didn’t hit any critical systems—hurry and land. Quick, or we’re dead.”

“I know, I’m trying—don’t rush me, or I’ll make a mistake.”

“Mistake? You’re dead then. Don’t drag me down with you—I’ve already done my part. Landing gear is deployed, ready to absorb maximum impact. Just don’t screw it up.”

“Screw it up? If we wait any longer we’ll be dead! Land now, fix the damage later!”

Arguments erupted in the control room—blaming each other, yet also helping to ease the pressure.

They were racing against Death itself—every second mattered, the pressure crushing their breath, forcing them to relieve tension through laughter, curses, and shouting.

They had been this way before; now, they were still this way.

“Master Yoda… is that really you?” Ye Nan watched the crew bickering and shouting, lost in his own thoughts.

Upon landing on a planet, crewmembers would routinely scan its weather to find a suitable landing site; with the technology of a high-level civilization, accurately measuring a planet’s climate with less than 0.1% error was trivial.

Only Master Yoda could ignore scan results and natural laws, conjuring a thunderstorm in the shortest possible time—after all, this planet was his secluded retreat.

“Legend says Master Yoda was a Jedi skilled in prophecy, but as the Iron Curtain of Darkness spread across the galaxy, his predictions grew unreliable.”

Ye Nan pondered how to face Master Yoda. Originally, he had planned to build a good relationship with him, as he had with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

But now, his attitude worried Ye Nan—fearing Yoda had foreseen his future and developed murderous intent.

“Prophecy… is truly annoying.” Ye Nan murmured softly. Prophecy rendered lies meaningless—it made him feel sick.

BOOM!

Another lightning bolt struck the starship, causing it to shudder and plummet at extreme speed.

“Damn it, engines are failing!”

“Activate the backup engines!”

“Initiating now—but we need time. At this speed, we won’t have enough.”

A wave of despair spread through the control room; every crewmember felt hopeless.

At this rate of descent, the backup engines would not activate before the ship crashed—every soul aboard would be vaporized in a single explosion, leaving no trace.

“Let’s parachute out!”

Someone suggested it—everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Parachute? You want to spend the rest of your lives here?” Ye Nan sneered. “Clark, let’s go.”

“Understood.” Clark instantly grasped Ye Nan’s meaning.

The two became streaks of light, vanishing before the others’ eyes—though one at the front, one at the rear, they each bore the weight of the starship with their bodies.

“So heavy.”

The moment he supported the starship, Ye Nan felt as if a mountain had crushed him—his bones nearly shattered.

Of course, it was an illusion. His body’s durability was such that a direct collision with the starship would damage only the starship.

Still, the immense pressure left him struggling to breathe.

“The starship’s descent has slowed!” The control room erupted in cheers; those who had planned to abandon ship now forgot the idea entirely.

As Ye Nan said, abandoning the ship meant possibly being stranded here forever—and given this planet’s hostile environment, survival would be far from easy.

Yet now, a new emotion stirred in them: awe, reverence for Ye Nan’s power.

The same Ye Nan—a demon who killed without mercy, whose hands ran red with blood—was now using his strength to save them. This sudden shift from fear to admiration came effortlessly.

Suddenly, a flash of light shot from the clouds and struck Ye Nan directly.

“Fuck!”

Ye Nan finally cursed aloud, his body falling from the sky.

He felt his entire body go numb; already struggling to breathe, the lightning strike rendered him nearly powerless to control his limbs.

Fortunately, his body possessed Superman-level durability—this lightning, though powerful, could not kill him.

Above, the starship, deprived of Ye Nan’s support, could no longer be held back. It accelerated downward, soon to collide violently with the ground—resulting in a massive explosion.

“Oh no! The Emperor was struck!”

“That lightning was so strange—why did it hit the Emperor?”

If it had struck the starship, they could understand—it was large, a likely target. But Ye Nan was human-sized, and the starship towered above him—yet the lightning still hit him. It was unthinkable.

As if the lightning had been aimed solely at Ye Nan.

“Forget that—focus on ourselves! If the starship crashes like this, we’ll be buried in the rubble.”

“The Emperor slowed the descent significantly—the landing gear should handle the impact.”

“Should? Do you have confidence?”

“No confidence. Never encountered anything like this.”

“Stop arguing—the backup engines are about to activate. We won’t die.”

His words silenced the chaotic control room. Almost everyone held their breath, staring at the crewman frantically operating the controls, eyes filled with hope.

“Damn it.” Superman Clark strained every ounce of strength, yet could not halt the starship’s descent—he could only slightly slow its fall.

BOOM!

The hull shuddered; the rear thrusters ignited, spewing blue flames. The plummeting warship began to decelerate.

“Finally!” Superman Clark exhaled, quickly detaching from beneath the starship—he had no intention of becoming a dent in the wreckage when it hit the ground.

With Clark gone, the starship lost its resistance and accelerated again—but the crew was ready. Just before impact, they triggered the landing gear to absorb the shock, then descended slowly onto the surface. (To be continued.)