Chapter 153: 152. Song of Destruction 72K

The Federation's warship pierces the planet's atmosphere; if it discovers survivors of that civilization, it will display the power of thunder to them, descending upon the world in the guise of a savior.

If they are willing to cooperate, the March people will naturally show friendliness to this "Pioneer."

And if they refuse, the March people will not mind unleashing thunder upon them.

The warship, embodying the pinnacle of March civilization's technology, fires countless missiles into the distance, yet none hit their target.

Live ammunition, high‑energy beams—none of them can inflict any damage on the cities of the Pioneer civilization on the ground.

Exploration of the Pioneer civilization began millennia ago, but at that time humanity, thanks to its technology, was also exceptionally adept at exploring the cosmos.

Yet over the past few thousand years, as technology advanced, people acquired more ways to explore and study the universe, gaining a deeper understanding of it.

The few golden plates retrieved by the East Tianya Star Frontline Base were launched by the March people seven thousand years ago from their homeworld; they were the fastest craft they could build at the time, called the "Vanguard."

The Vanguard successfully completed its mission, allowing another civilization in the vast universe to receive its signal.

The awkward part is that, although the Vanguard was the first probe launched toward that target, it was not the earliest probe to reach the Pioneer civilization.

Seven thousand years is trivial in the cosmos, yet it is a sufficiently long span for a civilization.

Most planets in this star system have already been explored by the March people, except for a few with particularly dense atmospheres. For example, the place where Wang Wu and his companions normally live is impenetrable to probes.

After millennia of exploration and "probing," the March people consider themselves sufficiently familiar with this Pioneer civilization: it is a failed, even extinct, civilization.

Perhaps some survivors remain on the unexplored planets, but judging from the whole system, they have likely lost any ability to oppose the March Federation.

It's a pity, simply a pity.

The March people have no real objections, but there is no choice; the path of a civilization's development is like this.

Rough and arduous, there are no seniors to let you feel the stones across the river; you must stumble forward step by step on your own.

"Make them abort the leap! Quickly, quickly!!!"

In another warship that appeared over Tianyuan Star—the very planet where Wang Wu lives—the captain Su, staring at the sliced‑open friendly ship ahead, shouted loudly from the bridge, his expression horrified.

"Stop them from coming any further!! Initiate the self‑destruct sequence, destroy the Chess Abyss as well, quickly, quickly!!!"

Su instantly issued the order: destroy the enemy‑penetrated warship ahead and immediately trigger his own ship's self‑destruct, notifying the trailing allies to cease their leap.

Almost roaring these words, Su knew exactly what would happen if their warship—or even their people—were captured by these aliens.

The soldiers already dispatched to the ground are irrelevant, as they are not technicians.

But the crew aboard cannot be risked; the ship carries many technicians, and if they are captured, it would pose an enormous threat to the March Federation.

After the order, the crew froze briefly, then quickly recovered.

Having been dispatched to an alien world for a military mission, they had naturally undergone the requisite training before departure.

Facing the fate that awaits them, their hearts are a mix of emotions, yet none voice any complaint.

Everyone prepared themselves, sighing inwardly as they activated the ship's self‑destruct system and set all weapon systems to target their own friendly vessel.

Time drifted—ten seconds, twenty seconds, even a minute. The entire bridge fell into an eerie silence; no one spoke, and even their faces grew blank and rigid.

The silence wasn't limited to here; on the bridge's main screen, the sliced warship in the distance continued to float silently, neither falling nor being struck by friendly fire.

Su kept his hand extended forward; though his face showed no expression, his trembling pupils revealed a terribly poor mental state.

The silence lingered an indeterminate length; everyone aboard the warship had lost any sense of time.

It seemed the stillness would last forever, and that would be their ultimate fate.

Yet just as that thought rose in everyone's mind, the half‑sliced warship on the screen in front of them moved.

It began to descend slowly until it vanished completely.

After an unknown interval, the persistent silence on the bridge was finally broken.

Several footsteps echoed across the bridge; with that new sound, everyone quickly realized they could perhaps move again.

But only their heads.

"We never invited you here, outsiders of the March realm."

It was a language completely unknown to them, yet its meaning was transmitted clearly into everyone's mind.

"Language barriers" are evidently no issue in a fantasy world; you don't even need to study the other side's language seriously.

Directly transmitting the intended meaning into the other's mind is clearly a more cost‑effective method.

However, this technique is usually only usable by a stronger party against a weaker one; if both are of the same level, the opponent won't so easily lower their guard and let you probe their mind.

It's essentially a mental search; ordinary people should just converse with language, no need for such psychic means.

But when facing aliens far weaker than oneself, the method becomes very useful.

Bai He, head of the Profound Heaven Sect, a renowned True Dao practitioner of the present age.

Although the maximum speed in the Law Realm is only 120 Mach, far below the 380 Mach of the Heavenly Communication Realm, Bai He—though the foremost True Dao master—does not exceed this limit while in the Law Realm.

The past is past, the present is present. As the first True Dao cultivator to enter the Law Realm, Bai He herself discovered this realm.

Before the few techniques emerged from the Supreme Heaven Palace, Bai He had already faintly sensed the threshold of the next realm beyond the Law Realm.

After those techniques were released, Bai He directly forged the next realm of the Profound Heaven Sect's methods from a fragment of one of them.

Just as she once pioneered the Law Realm.

True Dao practitioners possess many bizarre abilities, and mental transmission and soul‑capturing are merely basic skills along the True Dao path.

The location where the two warships appeared falls within the Profound Heaven Sect's territory; as its head, Bai He will certainly intervene.

Three demonic cultivators of the Heavenly Communication Realm, four True Dao practitioners of the Law Realm, and Bai He, a "Breakthrough" cultivator, total eight elite masters, who in the shortest time seized control of all the aliens aboard the two warships.

As for their earlier attacks, to be frank, although the March civilization possesses long‑range leap technology even the Tianyuan civilization has never mastered, their weaponry is indeed rather subpar.

Their fastest missiles top out at 150 Mach, and their baffling beam cannons cannot even pierce a county's shield.

If it were only these, they couldn't even threaten the entire Tianyuan civilization; even a single nation among Wei, Chu, Zhou, and the other four would be enough to overwhelm the March people.

At this moment, three Zhou individuals join the bridge: Bai He, head of the Profound Heaven Sect; Ji, governor of Yan Province; and Yun Peng, head of the Yun Hong Sect.

Behind the three stand four March people: the former warship's captain Ke and three onboard technicians.

"I'm curious, these March people's armaments are weak, their supernal power negligible, yet they dare to wage war against my Tianyuan realm?" Ji, governor of Yan Province, asked, eyeing the immobilized March people on the bridge with curiosity.

"Who knows?" the head of the Yun Hong Sect shrugged; the Yun Hong Sect is a Demon Sect, and he himself is a demonic cultivator of the Heavenly Communication realm.

After all, the development of the true Dao path takes time, and a sect often needs some high‑level combat power to hold the stage.

Therefore, true‑Dao sects often also have some demonic cultivators and demonic techniques to serve as high‑level combat forces.

But a true "Demon Sect" is actually very rare in this era.

And the Yun Hong Sect is such a sect that goes against the grain; the overwhelming majority of its members are demonic cultivators.

"But their jumping technique is indeed exquisite," Bai He walked to the spot belonging to Captain Su and looked down.

"Though the flesh is weak, it has still forged its own path, hasn't it?" she said, smiling at the Governor of Yan Province beside her.

"Indeed."

Warships one after another sliced through the sky, were quickly seized, and landed in the ports of the various nations.

When they realized the crisis they had braced for was merely a minor issue, the four nations instantly fractured from a solid block into a splintered mess, and began to bicker.

There's nothing to be done; the big guys were never a family, and being able to set aside old grudges and unite in the face of crisis is already quite good, and one can't ask for more.

The March Federation sent a total of thirty‑five warships; after a series of negotiations and bickering, the final allocation of the thirty‑two ships was eight for each of the four major nations, with the Summer Nation receiving three.

According to the information obtained by Soul‑Searching, the language barrier means they can only conduct Soul‑Searching for now.

This is merely the March Civilization's advance fleet, used for preliminary probing.

Although it is also the pinnacle of March people's technology, even more advanced warships and weapons exist back in their homeland.

Upon realizing there was a neighbor right next door, all the nations inevitably formed their own thoughts at that moment.

At the same time, on Xiyun Star in the Stellar System, a group of researchers aboard the March Civilization's official advance exploration ship were guiding robots to wander the abandoned Great Summer city on the planet.

Of course they didn't know that their civilization's fleet had already been shattered on Tianyuan Star.

At this moment, everyone was still stunned by the brilliant history created by this already extinct "Pioneer Civilization."

After all, Great Summer indeed forged an incredibly radiant civilization; the cities they built on this alien world still hold great reference value for today's March Civilization.

The city also teemed with countless monsters, but they were not focusing on the roaming robots; instead, all their attention was on the massive research ship in the sky.

After all, that is where the flesh of the people controlling these puppets resides.

"Audience friends, behold—these are our pioneers. They once created an unparalleled glorious civilization; though it ultimately failed, every extinct civilization in the boundless universe deserves respect."

"Countless lives, countless civilizations—they all strive with their utmost effort to leave a trace in this dark universe, to perpetuate themselves forever."

"This is the romance of life, the finite's struggle against the infinite, and…"

The host‑controlled robot was speaking endlessly toward the city ahead, while scientists were scattered throughout other districts, probing the traces left by this civilization.

"Xu?"

In a corner of the city, Bai found his lover and saw her staring dreamily at a massive statue.

So Bai walked up and gently patted her shoulder.

The sensors on these machines give the operator an immersive experience. Thus, after the shoulder tap, Xu turned around.

"What's wrong?" she asked Bai, "Aren't you in the palace district here? Why did you come to my side?"

"I've seen you linger here for a long time, so I wanted to see what you discovered," Bai explained, then also looked at the statue.

They don't look much different from the March people; their bodily structure is the same.

This must be the normal appearance of those monsters roaming the city: tall, strong, and beautiful.

"Bai, tell me," Xu murmured, casting her gaze again at the statue before her.

"What exactly did they suffer to become like this now?"

"Do you not become such monsters after death?"

After Xu voiced that sentiment, a strange voice suddenly sounded behind her.

The two instantly turned around, then were startled.

It was a very odd tone, like that of a machine, and indeed it was a machine speaking.

Wang Wu cleared the blur, so the two could now notice him.

At that moment he was holding a cell phone, and his voice came from it.

He first muttered into the phone, and the phone translated his words into a language the two could understand.

That's right—it was translation software; Wang Wu was using it.

Free, average quality, but it works.

Seeing the two silent for a while, Wang Wu muttered a few more words into the phone, and the translation software said again:

"Why aren't you speaking? Can't you understand?"

"Y‑you, what are you?"

After that sentence, Bai snapped back to reality, looking at the perfectly featured person before him and stammering a question.

"I am exactly the form you mentioned earlier—the appearance of those monsters before they turned into monsters."

"I am… uh, I am human."

The translator spoke in a voice devoid of any emotion.

"You, are you a survivor of this civilization!?" At that moment, Xu, who had just recovered from Wang Wu's appearance, also stammered:

"You… you haven't gone extinct yet?"

"What survivor?" Wang Wu frowned at the remark, "We haven't gone extinct either. This place was just abandoned because of war and cost issues; our civilization has been fine."

"Huh?"

Both were startled, and then Bai, who knew more than Xu, suddenly realized something.

"I know you have many questions, but unfortunately not now." Before the two could speak, Wang Wu said first:

"Your civilization launched an aggressive war against us first; now you will return with us as defeated aggressors."

"And in time, you will learn what you wish to know."

"Wh-what does it mean..." Bai was about to ask, but when he said it and Wang Wu's finger pointed to the sky, Bai was also stunned.

More than a dozen warships appeared in the sky, already encircling their research vessel.

"We'll see each other later," Wang Wu said with a bright smile, gesturing to the two robots, then surged into the sky.

Because they were controlling robots, the two could see clearly; Wang Wu, in almost the blink of an eye, had already appeared just under a hundred kilometers away.

And this meant one thing: the opponent, relying only on a mortal body, had already reached speeds of several hundred Mach.

What does that concept entail? It means that along his flight path, the air will become ionized by the extreme heat, forming a liquid sky‑sea in his wake.

The March civilization does have transcendent beings, and those transcendants are absolutely the elite class within that civilization.

Just like Bai, Xu's boyfriend, who is a newly awakened transcendent.

Even though he has only just awakened, the physical qualities Bai possesses already far surpass those of the world's best ordinary athletes.

Moreover, he is top‑tier in every aspect, not like ordinary athletes who can only reach their limit in a single discipline.

More importantly, your so‑called "endpoint" is, for them, merely their starting point.

The strongest transcendent in the world can even break the sound barrier, shatter the wall of sound, allowing his own voice to reach you before his body does.

But today, when he saw Wang Wu, Bai felt only one emotion in his heart: despair.

Utter despair.

"We, we..."

At this moment, on the research vessel, everyone had already left the cockpit, because those aliens had already entered the ship.

Bai rose from the cockpit, escorted by several soldiers clad in heavy armor, and walked with his girlfriend toward a certain plaza inside the research vessel.

"We're finished..."

Bai murmured.

"Shut up! Say less!"

The soldiers spat out sounds that Bai could not understand at all, yet without comprehension he could grasp the meaning behind the words.

They fell silent until everyone on the ship gathered in the plaza.

This was also the place where everyone usually held meetings; the research vessel held only a little over seven hundred people, which, compared with this five‑kilometer‑long ship, was indeed a small number.

In the spacious plaza stood a crowd of people dressed in bizarre outfits, some of whom exuded an aura similar to theirs—the aura of scholars and researchers.

They were looking around with excited faces, while also carefully observing these March people.

At the center of this group stood the man with a celestial appearance that Bai and Xu had seen before.

"Everyone, I suppose you now understand your situation clearly."

Wang Wu stepped before the crowd, smiling brightly as he addressed the March people:

"As invaders, the most merciful way to deal with you would be to kill you. Yet since you are still alive, that clearly shows our kindness."

"Our... uh..."

"Tianyuan people," a scholar beside him whispered to Wang Wu.

"Ahem, we Tianyuan people," Wang Wu cleared his throat, then continued:

"We Tianyuan people are a very benevolent civilization; even though you initiated war and invasion against us, after we captured your troops we still did not cause much killing."

"Most of the soldiers who invaded our home are also still alive."

"We are all neighbors; I don't want our relationship to become so rigid, after all we see each other everywhere."

Wang Wu said this, a smile appearing on his face, and then he continued:

"Since we are all neighbors, why must we wage war on each other? Why can't we coexist peacefully and mutually benefit?"

Wang Wu wore a sincerely earnest expression as he spoke to this group of scholars from another world.

Perhaps Wang Wu's words convinced them, perhaps his face moved them. In any case, war still broke out.

Having seized the ship and prepared an army, they also obtained the warships' control systems from the surrendered March people.

Thus, the following year, the Tianyuan people piloted the March warships they had fully seized and improved, formally forming the Zhou, Wei, Chu, Xia Five Nations Allied Forces, and in the spring of the third year launched a military operation against the March realm.

The March people's translocation technology is still in its infancy; even an eight‑light‑year distance still requires three months to a year.

Wang Wu also joined this expeditionary force, after all he is currently the top master of the Tianyuan realm, and backed by the massive Extreme Heaven Divine Palace; he certainly had to come to show off.

The pitch‑black cosmic space rippled continuously, and massive warships tore through space, appearing here one after another.

In front of them lay an incomparably splendid starry sky.

Orbiting the planets were massive space stations everywhere, with countless ships buzzing among them like diligent worker bees in a hive.

Here, Wang Wu even saw the ring‑shaped residential belts that once appeared in his hometown's sci‑fi movies.

In planetary orbits there are often special points where the gravities of the sun, planet, and moons balance each other.

Therefore, objects at these points do not easily leave their positions and remain permanent.

These special points are naturally suitable for constructing megastructures in space; super‑large habitats built there can endure in the cosmos for a long time.

"How beautiful."

When the incoming ship finished its six‑month voyage and finally reached its destination, Wang Wu looked at the dazzling universe before him and uttered a response like that of the female March person on the shattered star years ago.

Wang Wu still remembered her name; she was Xu, one of the March people on that research vessel who cooperated relatively well with them.

Whether this counts as treachery, Wang Wu didn't know, but this military action by the Tianyuan people was justified, entirely legitimate.

Thus, after sighing twice, Wang Wu also left the ship and flew toward the March people's home planet.

It was a deep‑green planet with three moons; sixty percent of its surface was land, with few mountains and few forests.

Most of the region was plain, an endless expanse of plains.

Huge cities and equally massive rivers dotted the planet. Of course, there were also countless March people.

"Everyone, friends of the March civilization, greetings to you."

For the people on March Star, today is a very special day, as it is the last day of the old year and the new year will arrive tomorrow.

The March people's homeland is somewhere in the Eastern Hemisphere, so the New Year is naturally calculated according to that region's time zone.

And on this particular day, everyone on March Star heard that voice.

"I am Wang Wu from the Heavenly Origin Realm; you probably don't know who I am, but there's no need to know."

"You invaded us three years ago, and in the daily news over the past year you should have already seen a lot of things about our world over there."

"But it's a pity." Wang Wu floated in the sky, moving nonchalantly a few hundred kilometers away, and continued to speak calmly from the heavens there:

"Those are all false."

As the words fell, over a hundred missiles reaching three hundred mach surged toward Wang Wu.

In addition to the missiles, there were also massive high‑energy beams.

"Everything you saw on the live broadcast, and the intelligence you received from the Heavenly Origin Realm fleet, everything you have seen, is exactly what we wanted you to see."

Wang Wu raised his fingertip, which began to emit a dazzling light: "And now, the game must end."

A top speed of five hundred fifty mach, masterful manipulation of atomic power, and a preliminary control over matter and antimatter.

All of this has already granted Wang Wu, officially—uh, partially—the power to destroy stars.

A planet's core is merely fusion, but matter and antimatter involve a whole other level of energy.

"Annihilation."

With a single finger, a small portion of a planetary plate was instantly devoured.

This power is the "Annihilation," representing total extinction.

There were no casualties; only a crater two thousand kilometers in diameter.

Of course, rolling thunder also erupted simultaneously across every sky region of the planet's Eastern Hemisphere.

"Submission or death?"

"You have twenty‑four small… uh, a day‑long period to consider."

(End of chapter)