Chapter 214: First Battle of the Giant Spirit

Negotiations, completely broken.

Lie Ge's forehead broke out in a cold sweat.

Just then, Qin Hao's figure directly replaced Lie Ge, appearing in the virtual reception hall.

His voice was no longer transmitted via communications equipment, but seemed to ring directly in the opponent's main control core, with the force of thunder.

"We humans never submit to anyone, and we will never pay any form of 'tax'!"

"This star system is now our territory, and it will remain so in the future."

"If you want to lay a hand on it, prepare to pay the price!"

The mechanical voice fell silent.

That stream of data ceased its fluctuation.

A full three seconds passed before the cold voice sounded again.

"Erroneous data! Inefficient carbon-based life cannot comprehend the logic of an advanced civilization!"

"We are about to activate the cleansing program to correct the error."

The communication was instantly cut off.

The next second, the surface of that massive control satellite cracked open hundreds of silver holes.

Hundreds of drones, each the size of an aircraft carrier and resembling metallic locusts, shot forth from them!

Their speed reached an inconceivable level, instantly crossing the vast interstellar space, far surpassing the top speed of human main warships, and they swooped straight at the frontline defenses of the Yanhuang Star System.

"Fire!"

Zhang Xianzhong roared.

The Federal fleet, already battle-ready, instantly unleashed its most ferocious firepower.

Millions of energy beams, countless missiles and plasma cannons formed a sky‑covering fire net, sweeping toward those hundreds of dots.

However, a strange scene occurred.

The drones known as "Cleansers" faced the sky‑filling attack without dodging or evading.

Their surfaces flickered with a faint spatial ripple.

All energy attacks and physical shells, upon nearing them, were instantly broken down into the most basic particles and vanished.

Immediately, the Cleansers launched a counterattack.

From their heads shot dim gray beams, barely noticeable.

Where the beams passed, the energy shield of a Federal main warship showed not even a ripple.

But the next second, that kilometers‑long massive warship, as if erased by an eraser, began silently disintegrating from the bow, collapsing into cosmic dust.

Material structure disintegration starting from within!

This scene left everyone in the Command Center feeling a bone‑chilling cold.

"What kind of attack is this? Could it be a matter‑disintegration beam?"

Some scientists far away in the Solar System speculated.

The battle continued until an hour later.

Within just one hour, the Federal vanguard fleet lost tens of thousands of warships to this bizarre method, completely wiped out.

The atmosphere in the Command Center dropped to freezing point.

"All fleets, retreat!"

Just as despair gripped everyone's hearts, Qin Hao's icy order, transmitted via the supreme command channel, reached every warship.

Having received the order, the Federal fleet, though unwilling, immediately complied, beginning an orderly withdrawal to distance themselves from the terrifying "Cleansers".

The Cleanser fleet gave no pursuit, merely hovering in place, as if awaiting new orders—or mocking the Human Federal's feeble resistance.

Just then, a region of void within the retreating Federal fleet's formation suddenly twisted.

Five hundred pitch‑black ships, more menacing than ordinary warships, their hulls etched with complex energy patterns, glided out of subspace like ghosts.

They were none other than the Human Federal's strongest trump card, forged over nine years with all its resources and top‑tier technology—the Giant Spirit!

"Giant Spirit Fleet, first battle formation, target: enemy Cleansers, free to engage!"

The instant the order was given, the prows of all five hundred Giant Spirits blazed with piercing blue light.

No cannon fire, no beams.

Only countless invisible, transparent "Blades" tore through space!

"Space Cut!"

This was the first time the Human Federal employed a Third‑level Civilization attack method in actual combat!

Those hundreds of Cleansers detected the danger.

Their surfaces likewise flared with strong spatial undulations, layered folds of space forming their shields.

The next second, the invisible "Blade" and the invisible "Shield" collided violently in the void.

No earth‑shaking explosion—only a heart‑pounding distortion and collapse of space.

The two attacks annihilated each other on the dimensional level, canceling out.

Evenly matched!

Within the Command Center, a suppressed cheer burst forth!

We blocked it!

Our strongest technology can now go head‑to‑head with a Third‑level Civilization's attack method!

However, before the cheers faded, the battle situation shifted anew.

After the first wave was blocked, those Cleansers instantly changed formation.

They formed groups of three, each a triangular array, with energy circuits linking their frames via spatial connections, instantly becoming fully linked.

Their attack is no longer a single disintegration beam.

Instead, it is a gray spatial vibration wave whose power has been amplified dozens of times!

Buzz—

An invisible ripple sweeps over, and the spatial folding shield on a Giant Spirit battleship twists violently; although it barely blocks the attack, the shield's energy drops instantly by ten percent!

And the second round of spatial slicing launched by the Giant Spirit is easily nullified by the opponent's jointly constructed, more robust Spatial Shield.

The situation reverses in an instant.

Although the Giant Spirit is powerful, in terms of numbers and the degree of coordinated teamwork, it is far inferior to those drones controlled by a single master brain.

The Silicon-based Union's master control satellite, after briefly assessing the Giant Spirit's combat power, cracks open even more holes on its surface.

Hundreds, even thousands of Cleaners surge out from the mothership like a swarm, joining the battlefield.

The pressure on the Giant Spirit fleet suddenly increases.

One ship, two ships… the Giant Spirit's shields are repeatedly pierced under high‑intensity saturated attacks.

Although the spatial folding shield can divert fatal attacks at the last moment, each extreme maneuver imposes a massive strain on the hull itself.

At this rate, the annihilation of this Human Federal's most elite fleet is only a matter of time.

Everyone's hearts sink once more.

"Giant Spirit fleet, withdraw from the battlefield."

Just as the battle turns sharply downward and everyone bites their nails for the Giant Spirit fleet, Qin Hao's calm voice sounds again.

This order leaves everyone stunned.

Withdraw from the battlefield?

Does that mean we should abandon resistance?

But an order is an order; five hundred Giant Spirits immediately activate short‑range spatial jumps and vanish from the battlefield,

retreating to the rear of the Federal main fleet.

Without the Giant Spirit fleet's containment, those thousands of Cleaners, like unleashed wild dogs bearing the scent of death, charge ferociously toward the Human Federal's main fleet.

Inside the Command Center, a dead silence.

Everyone's faces are filled with incomprehension and doubt.

They don't understand why Qin Hao issued such a near‑suicidal order.