Chapter 352

Alive?!

Zhang Xianzhong heard those two words, his eyes nearly popping out.

He suspected his ears had malfunctioned.

What a joke!

That's a Devourer Sub-body!

A terrifying entity whose volume surpasses a star and whose strength reaches the fifth-order high stage!

Even if it is now infected by a virus and its strength is diminished, it is not something human power can contend with.

Moreover, we still need to capture it alive?

This is more than a hundred times harder than killing it outright!

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Zhang Xianzhong's tone was urgent to the extreme: "This is too dangerous! We don't need to take this risk! If we just give us a few more hours, we can wear it down with artillery!"

"We don't have several hours."

Qin Hao's voice interrupted him.

He raised his hand, pointing at the main screen.

On the screen, the curve representing the stability of the dimensional pocket had already fallen below the warning line.

One after another, shocking spatial cracks spread across the pocket's inner wall, like glass covered in fissures.

The Devourer Sub-body, upon sensing that it was being corroded by the virus, became even more frenzied.

It abandoned command of the fleet and abandoned its own defense.

It gathered all its remaining strength into a single point.

Attack!

Attack that damned prison!

"Boom——!"

A deafening roar that could not be described by sound exploded on the spatial level.

The sub-body's countless energy tendrils coalesced into a massive spike over ten thousand kilometers in diameter, which slammed hard into the weakest point of the dimensional pocket!

"Crack——!"

A crisp cracking sound echoed across the entire battlefield.

The wall of the dimensional pocket was forcibly gouged open, creating a breach!

Although the breach is small, and under the effect of the spatial wrinkle generator, it is rapidly repairing.

But this is undoubtedly an extremely dangerous signal.

It proves that this prison cannot hold it for long.

"Do you see that?" Qin Hao's voice was calm: "It's fighting desperately."

"Once it escapes, all our previous efforts will be in vain."

Zhang Xianzhong fell silent.

He stared fixedly at the breach, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He knew Qin Hao was right.

But…

"But capturing it alive…… is absolutely impossible!"

"In my plan, there is no such thing as 'impossible'."

Qin Hao turned around, facing the floor-to-ceiling window of the bridge.

Outside the window lay the infinite starry sky and the battlefield that was collapsing.

"A living specimen of a fifth-order high-stage civilization is worth far more than a corpse."

"Its genes, energy core, and brain structure…… are the stepping stones for us to reach a sixth-order civilization."

"This risk is worth taking."

Qin Hao's tone lacked any emotion, as if stating a cold fact.

Zhang Xianzhong opened his mouth, still wanting to persuade.

But when he saw Qin Hao's back, he swallowed all his words.

From that back, he felt an unshakable, absolute confidence.

It seemed as if everything was still under his control.

"Alright!"

Zhang Xianzhong could only reply hoarsely.

"All units, execute the order immediately! Retreat two astronomical units! Build the final defensive line!"

The order was issued.

The vast United Fleet began to slowly retreat.

Only one hundred thousand "God-Warlord"-class warships remained in place, their dark muzzles pointing far at the dimensional pocket about to shatter.

They are Qin Hao's personal guard.

They are also the final insurance.

Inside the dimensional pocket.

After the Devourer Sub-body successfully punched through a breach, it became even more violent.

It ignored the increasingly severe viral corrosion on its body, again and again hurling its massive form against the fragile wall.

"Boom!"

Boom!

Boom!

Every impact made the entire dimension pocket violently tremble.

Space cracks, like a spiderweb, quickly spread.

The pocket's collapse has entered a countdown.

"Report! The dimension pocket's structural integrity is below 10%!"

"Energy output has reached its limit! The space fold generator is overloaded!"

It is expected to completely fail in three minutes!

Inside the Voidwalker's bridge, the AI's alarm sounded repeatedly.

But Qin Hao remained standing in place, motionless.

He was waiting.

Waiting for the best opportunity.

Finally.

After another impact of the Devourer Sub-body, which was also the most violent.

"Bang—!"

The dimension pocket, a magnificent prison forged by the Yanhuang Civilization's highest technology, trapped over a hundred billion enemies.

Finally, it reached its limit.

It shattered.

Countless space fragments, mixed with violent energy turbulence, swept in all directions.

A cosmic storm sweeping across several light-years formed.

And at the storm's center, the Devourer Sub-body, already covered in wounds.

It emerged!

It finally escaped from that damned cage!

"Roar——!!!"

A roar filled with the joy of surviving catastrophe and endless vengeful will swept across the entire star field.

Its remaining body, covered in virus pustules, tens of thousands of scarlet single eyes slowly opened.

All gazes precisely locked onto the not‑far‑away black flagship that remained steadily hovering in the cosmic storm.

"The Voidwalker."

And Qin Hao in the bridge.

It recognized this aura.

It's this ant!

It designed all of this!

It destroyed its expeditionary force!

It let itself fall into such a miserable state!

Kill him!

We must kill him!

In the most cruel, painful way!

In the Devourer Sub-body's will, only this thought remained.

Its massive body began to contract and writhe.

All remaining energy gathered toward its core.

It was gathering power.

Preparing to unleash a thunderous, fatal blow!

At this moment.

Qin Hao also finally moved.

He slowly raised his right hand.

He lightly touched his own brow.

"System."

"Unlock, second form."

On Zhang Xianzhong's command ship, all the Yanhuang officers who heard Qin Hao's whisper showed bewildered expressions.

They had never heard of Qin Hao having any "second form".

In their view, Qin Hao was the strongest of the Yanhuang Civilization, an omnipotent spiritual pillar, almost a god.

But he was still, after all, a "human".

However, the next second.

Through the real‑time image transmitted back by the Voidwalker, they saw a scene that would be unforgettable for them, even overturning their worldview.

Inside the Voidwalker's bridge.

As Qin Hao's command was given.

His body began to glow.

Not the light of energy.

But a pure light, originating from the source of life, golden in hue.

In the light, his bodily form was undergoing a drastic change.

His black hair, at a speed visible to the naked eye, transformed into flowing golden flames.

His eyes turned pure gold, like two miniature suns.

On his skin's surface, countless profound and complex golden markings appeared, those markings constantly flowing, as if containing the ultimate truth of the universe.

More importantly, his aura.