Chapter 342: Judgment and Truth

Yanhuang Civilization, First Administrative District, the original capital star of the Biteen Empire.

Inside a grand judgment hall, the atmosphere was stern and lethal.

At the center of the hall, Shadow Blade, tightly bound by spatial shackles, and the leaders of other rebellious civilizations, knelt on the cold metal floor.

Their faces were filled with fear and despair.

And on the judge's bench sat not officials of the Yanhuang Civilization, but two figures who once made the entire Milky Way Galaxy tremble—Bijialie and Kehuang.

This was Qin Hao's order.

He wanted the entire Milky Way Galaxy to see the fate of those who betray the Yanhuang Civilization.

He also wanted all civilizations to understand that the former hegemon is now merely a loyal hound of the Yanhuang Civilization.

This trial, via the public network, was being livestreamed in real time to all member states of the Interstellar Civil Commonwealth.

Bijialie looked down at the kneeling Shadow Blade, his eyes complex. Once, he too had been high above, judging others' fates.

And now, he has become a knife in someone else's hand.

The power of the thought seal prevented him from generating any notion of defiance.

He cleared his throat and, with a solemn and icy voice, recited the charges against Shadow Blade and the others.

"... Inciting rebellion, attacking the Yanhuang Civilization's logistics fleet, betraying the Milky Way Galaxy Fundamental Law—your crime deserves death!"

Kehuang stood aside, supplementing in his signature rough voice:

"According to the Milky Way Galaxy Joint Defense Act, in a state of war, any form of rebellion will be regarded as treason against the entire galactic civilization! All that awaits you is purification!"

Watching these two former "dual emperors" solemnly pronounce his death sentence, Shadow Blade suddenly laughed.

He laughed loudly, bending forward and backward, his body shaking violently from the hysterical laughter.

"Hahaha……hahahahaha!"

"Pawns! You're nothing but pawns too! Two pitiful worms!"

Shadow Blade lifted his head, his eyes bloodshot, staring fixedly at the two on the judge's bench, and behind them, the enormous Yanhuang Star Dragon Flag.

"Judging me? What qualifications do you have to judge me?!"

"You're just like me, toys in Qin Hao's hands! No, you're even more pathetic than I am! At least I fight for myself, while you have lost even your own thoughts!"

His words instantly turned Bijialie's and Kehuang's faces ashen.

"Shut up, you traitor!" Kehuang slammed the table and shouted angrily.

"Traitor?"

Shadow Blade laughed even more wildly, "The true betrayers of the galaxy are you! Qin Hao! You're deceiving everyone!"

He turned toward the broadcast camera and roared with all his might.

"You think the Devourers are far away? Wrong! They've already arrived, they've set their sights on the galaxy. Qin Hao concealed the truth; he merely wants to use this opportunity to seize total control of the Milky Way."

"You'll become his slaves, food for the Devourers! Hahaha! We're all going to die—no one can escape!"

Shadow Blade's mad words, via the livestream, instantly spread throughout the entire Milky Way Galaxy.

Countless viewers watching the livestream felt a flicker of doubt and panic arise in their hearts.

"Could it be that the Yanhuang Civilization really concealed something?"

Just then, a plain voice sounded within the hall.

"Is the performance over?"

Qin Hao's holographic image appeared at the exact center of the judgment hall.

He didn't even glance at Shadow Blade, merely calmly observing all the spectators before the screen.

"He got one thing right."

Qin Hao's words left everyone stunned.

"The Devourers are indeed arriving earlier and more covertly than we imagined."

He raised his hand, and a segment of footage was projected.

It was a chaotic mental realm, countless twisted and fragmented memory fragments flashing by at high speed.

"This is something I just extracted from his mind."

Qin Hao's voice caused Shadow Blade's manic laughter to cease abruptly, replaced by boundless fear.

"Mental Search!"

"Qin Hao actually forcibly searched his memory!"

Before Qin Hao's will, vast as a deity's, Shadow Blade's mental defenses were as fragile as paper, torn open without mercy, all secrets laid bare.

Qin Hao quickly locked onto a core memory.

In the image, three months prior, after a failed interstellar jump, Shadow Blade's starship crashed onto a barren planet.

"At his moment of utter despair, when his resentment toward the Yanhuang Civilization peaked, an almost imperceptible, mysterious mental force silently infiltrated his brain."

"That force did not control him; it merely amplified his inner ambition, resentment, and destructive urge."

"It gave him a 'revelation,' making him believe he was the 'chosen one,' the hope to overthrow the Yanhuang tyranny."

"It also gave him fragmented intelligence shards, letting him 'know' of the Devourers' existence and the Yanhuang Civilization's 'conspiracy.'"

"This is a Devourer sub-body, which, during our last clash, scattered 'mental spores' throughout the galaxy."

"Qin Hao's voice explained the truth to everyone."

"These spores actively seek individuals whose hearts are filled with negative emotions, who possess ambition and resentment."

"They do not directly control, but act like catalysts, guiding these individuals to create chaos from within and undermine our unity."

"Shadow Blade is merely the first pawn they selected."

"The truth is revealed!"

"The entire Milky Way Galaxy instantly shifted from panic and doubt to boundless anger and fear toward the Devourers."

The Yin is treacherous! This method is simply impossible to defend against!

Before a frontal invasion, first use this method to disintegrate the enemy from within.

Qin Hao looked at Shadow Blade, whose face was ashen and completely collapsed, and there was not a trace of pity in his eyes.

"I really underestimated the enemy's treachery."

"But you also underestimated my resolve."

His gaze turned to Bi Jiale and Ke Huang.

"Carry it out."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The two immediately rose and performed a respectful salute.

Under the gaze of the entire Milky Way Galaxy, a beam of annihilation descended from the heavens, utterly reducing Shadow Blade and all the rebel leaders behind him to nothing.

Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

After doing all this, Qin Hao's image did not disappear.

His expression became unprecedentedly solemn.

"Everyone, this is only the beginning."

"From Shadow Blade's memories, I have seen something even worse."

He waved his hand, and another segment of the image extracted from the deepest part of Shadow Blade's memories was projected forth.

That was in the dark core of the Andromeda Galaxy, the Abyssal Nest.

Boundless living warships are gathering.

The ferocious "War Beast" releases the "Harvester" that spreads mental contamination, as well as many never-before-seen,

more terrifying biological weapons… Their numbers are a hundred times, even a thousand times, that of the previous scout fleet!

A force capable of crushing any civilization below the Fifth-level, a true expeditionary legion!

At the forefront of this terrifying legion, that purple core with a diameter exceeding a planet—the Devourer Sub-body—is slowly pulsating.

Its will has locked onto a coordinate on the star map.

The Milky Way Galaxy!

"Based on their assembly speed and jump trajectory, we can project."

Qin Hao's voice, like the death knell of the apocalypse, rang in everyone's hearts.

"Estimated time of arrival…"

"Five months."