Chapter 119: Titan Colonization Armor

Just as they exited the ecological protective shield of No Man's Land, a ship exploded in the distance. Even though there was no sound in the vacuum of space, it didn't stop Li Yu and the others from imagining the deafening roar.

In the spot where the ship exploded, the void suddenly began to distort. One after another, crimson ships started to materialize.

That unlucky spaceship had happened to appear right where the fleet was warping in, getting instantly smashed to pieces.

There were nearly a hundred ships. Most were incredibly dilapidated, and the sides of their hulls bore an emblem of a bouquet of roses, looking exceedingly bizarre.

"The Red Rose fleet..." Hunter glanced at Li Yu. "Was this part of your plan too?"

Li Yu paused for a moment, then nodded. "Ah... right, right, right..."

The Red Rose fleet headed straight for the Stargate coordinates. The massive armada was an awe-inspiring sight in the starry sky, making Li Yu's ship look like a tiny ant in comparison.

At the Stargate coordinates... the colossal Stargate was currently only a partial framework. The Starlight Fleet guarded it from all sides, but their numbers were sparse. Counting the main ship, there were barely over a dozen vessels.

Starlight General's expression was grim. Opposite them... nearly a thousand battered Marauder spaceships stretched across the starry sky, each flying a different flag.

The arrival of Red Rose seemed to act as a signal. Simultaneously... eleven communication requests flooded into the Starlight main ship.

"Connect them!" Starlight General ordered, his face extremely gloomy. The massive holographic screen was instantly split into eleven sections.

The eleven Marauder leaders were equally furious. One Four-Armed Titan even started cursing the moment the channel opened.

"Star Glory Empire... I'll @#$% your @#$%, you @#$% are really a @#$%..."

A large string of profanities was automatically censored by the translator.

Starlight General remained unmoved. His slightly aged face was like weathered stone, stubborn and resolute, perfectly matching his personality.

"Black Skull... show some respect. He's an Imperial General, after all... If it weren't for this situation, we wouldn't even have the chance to speak to him," another Marauder leader said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Respect my @#$%! If you want to respect him, you go @#$% do it. This @#$% is a Stargate! Once it's built, this place will become the Star Glory Empire's backyard!"

The Four-Armed Titan known as Black Skull was seething with rage.

"Do you all..." Starlight General spoke up amidst the chaotic, wet market-like atmosphere, resembling a lion surrounded by a pack of wolves, "...wish to declare war on the Star Glory Empire?"

The moment those words were spoken, all the Marauder leaders fell silent.

An interstellar human slowly spoke up, "Why don't we let Mr. Bauhaus tell us if there's a solution? After all..."

He paused and adjusted the glasses on his face. "...he was the one who found the Stargate coordinates. If it weren't for Mr. Bauhaus's verification, we wouldn't have dared to believe that there really was a Stargate here..."

Bauhaus was among them. Due to his special merit in providing the Stargate coordinates, he was included in the communication, though he had remained silent the entire time.

Hearing this, Bauhaus felt his heart skip a beat. Sure enough, Starlight General's murderous gaze instantly shot toward him.

His mind raced. He absolutely could not take the blame for this. The Star Glory Empire might not be able to handle all the Marauders at once, but targeting one individually would be no problem at all.

"Then you are mistaken. I wasn't the one who discovered the Stargate coordinates..." Bauhaus shook his head with a smile. "They were kindly provided by an old friend of the Star Glory Empire—Mr. Li Yu."

To back up his claim, he even pulled out the anonymous message as proof.

"Tch... it's anonymous... Doesn't that mean you can just claim it's whoever you want?" a Marauder leader scoffed dismissively.

In truth, they didn't really care much for Bauhaus. After all, he didn't have his own large-scale fleet. Without sufficient firepower, his words carried little weight.

However, if Bauhaus hadn't notified them this time, they probably wouldn't have even known how they died.

But Starlight General didn't see it that way. Given the current situation, the high echelon of the Star Glory Empire was bound to be furious. He didn't want to be the scapegoat; someone had to bear the Empire's wrath.

Bauhaus wasn't quite qualified enough... Li Yu... this special figure seemed capable of sharing some of that fury for him.

What he needed to do wasn't just shift the blame, but ensure that the reason for the Stargate coordinates being exposed couldn't be pinned on him.

Facing the Marauders of the entire No Man's Land System, failure was excusable.

"Who cares about this Li Yu... For all we know, this person is completely fabricated, just an excuse by the Star Glory Empire." Another Marauder leader sneered, subtly mocking the Star Glory Empire.

Bauhaus's eyebrow twitched. Damn it... this bunch of Marauders really were a pack of bastards.

However, Starlight General didn't waste time arguing. He only had one sentence: "Will you fight or not?!"

"Your Excellency, General... this Stargate cannot be allowed to exist..." Bauhaus said carefully.

"Then there is nothing more to say..." Starlight General said expressionlessly, abruptly cutting the communication.

"Activate the Psionic Matrix! The Stargate must not fall!" he commanded from the command console. The Starlight Fleet converged above, below, and on all sides of the Stargate. Their hulls opened, and a massive diamond-shaped crystal slowly emerged from each.

Streams of silver radiance emanated from the diamond crystals, rapidly connecting with one another to form a gigantic silver diamond barrier that completely enveloped the Stargate.

"Haha... Radiant Star-grade Fleet... today, the fiery glow of your explosion will illuminate the stars!"

"Kill them!"

A massive number of Marauder ships began charging their weapons, all locked onto a single target!

Blazing firelight flashed across the starry sky. Li Yu and his group's spaceship was far away, observing some of the footage through long-range scanners.

"Was this your plan too?" Hunter drew in a sharp breath, staring at Li Yu in horror.

Rescue the prisoner, snatch the item from the Titan Ruins, and destroy the Stargate—all in one seamless stroke. Just what kind of monster was this kid?

'Was this my plan?' Li Yu was also a bit puzzled. 'Right... it should be. Such a perfect plan... it must be my masterminding...'

"You could say that..." he replied with a hint of uncertainty.

"Let's get out of here quickly..." Hunter was speechless. It either was or it wasn't; what did "you could say that" mean?

The air in the spaceship had finished purifying. Gore and the other person had already taken off their Dark Star armor.

Glazed Star's hidden agent appeared to be a somewhat frail woman. She had pale skin and was very quiet, keeping her head lowered. It was hard to imagine that such a person existed within Dark Star.

She gave a brief self-introduction, stating her name was Star Speech, and said nothing more.

"Just drop my father off at a nearby life planet. I will arrange for his departure," Glazed Star said, her face showing deep gratitude.

"Then let's go to the Heavenly Desolation Star... I'm somewhat familiar with it... and it's quite close," Li Yu decided after some thought.

"Heavenly Desolation Star..." Glazed Star considered it for a moment, felt there shouldn't be any issues, and nodded.

"Star Speech, go with my father. I will take you both to a safe place," Glazed Star told Star Speech.

Star Speech seemed to want to say something, but with so many people around, she simply nodded without speaking.

"As for that relic of the Titan Civilization, I will definitely find the key for you," Glazed Star stated with a firm tone.

"Alright, alright..." Li Yu nodded casually.

After disconnecting the call, he made up a random excuse and headed to the warehouse alone. The metal box belonging to the Titan Civilization lay there quietly.

"Let's see... what exactly is this thing..." Li Yu muttered, holding a green key in his hand.

As soon as he approached the metal box, the key automatically floated into the air. Li Yu didn't stop it; he just stood by and watched quietly.

Green patterns and a multitude of complex symbols surfaced on the exterior of the metal box, while a massive stream of symbols poured out from the green key.

The two sets of symbols combined on the surface of the box, erupting with a dazzling light. This appeared to be an extremely intricate unlocking mechanism.

With a click, a crack opened in the metal box. Li Yu couldn't wait to open it fully, feeling just like he was opening a treasure chest.

The brilliant radiance was incredibly blinding...

'Golden... Legendary!'

It was as if a voice echoed in Li Yu's ear. As the light faded, his smile froze on his face.

Inside the metal box was only a tattered piece of armor. The garment was riddled with holes, its gold-and-white color scheme looked rather dull, and it wasn't very thick—in fact, one could even say it was quite thin.

A giant question mark slowly floated up in Li Yu's mind.

'That's it?'

Feeling a wave of disappointment, he unwillingly searched for information on the Interstellar Network, but he couldn't find a single thing.

Left with no other choice, he had to resort to his humanoid database—Hunter.

As the former captain of a Radiant Star-grade Fleet, the things Hunter knew were truly extensive, and much of it was information that couldn't be found on the Interstellar Network.

"What is it... calling me down here all mysteriously and telling me not to alert the others," Hunter walked into the warehouse, full of doubt. He stared at the opened metal box and stood dumbfounded for a moment.

"You... you... you..." He pointed at Li Yu, failing to form a complete sentence even after uttering three words, clearly showing the sheer shock in his heart.

"You... actually had the key?!"

'So that's how it is...' Hunter finally understood. He had been wondering earlier how a guy like Li Yu could possibly do such a thankless task.

Going through all that effort to rescue Glazed Star's father, only to end up with a Titan Ruins box that he couldn't even open.

It turned out this bastard had the key all along... he was just missing the box!

"I picked it up off the ground... Don't worry about that. Do you recognize what's inside?" Li Yu asked impatiently.

"What's inside?" Hunter leaned over in confusion. The moment he saw the tattered armor, he let out a shocked cry, "Holy crap, the Titan Colonization Armor!"

"Titan Colonization Armor..." Li Yu murmured thoughtfully.

Hunter indeed hadn't disappointed his expectations.

"Is this thing powerful?"

"It's far more than just powerful..." Hunter was visibly excited. "This belongs to the absolute highest tier of individual armor from the Titan Civilization... Well..."

He pondered for a moment before continuing, "...I should say, it belongs to the tier that can grow to become the absolute highest..."

"As far as I know... the Star Glory Empire publicly possesses no more than five sets... and it is virtually impossible to reverse-engineer."

"What do you mean? What exactly is this Titan Colonization Armor?" Li Yu pressed on, already forming a vague guess.

Hunter stared intently at the torn armor. "The Titan Colonization Armor can continuously devour external technology to evolve, and this evolution has almost no limits."

"That is indeed pretty powerful..." Li Yu nodded.

"It's beyond 'pretty powerful'... with this symbiotic armor, you won't need any other protective gear. Rumor has it that there are even more functions, though I've never interacted with one personally..."

Hunter's eyes were glowing green with envy, looking at it as if he were staring at some incredibly explicit video.

"Oh..." Li Yu's reaction was flat. "I only have one question right now, and that's how to use it."

"Uh..." Hunter suddenly choked up like a duck grabbed by the throat, unable to speak. He shook his head and said, "You can't use it."

"Why not?" Li Yu was confused.

Hunter explained, "This thing is simply too old. It has degraded to its most basic, even damaged, form. Its energy is completely depleted... It requires a colossal amount of energy to fully reactivate its various functions."

"A colossal amount of... energy?" Li Yu's expression turned peculiar as he probed, "Exactly how colossal?"

Hunter didn't notice Li Yu's strange expression. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Do you know about the Stellar Furnace?"

"Yeah..." Li Yu nodded. "That's an energy engine that only A-rank armors and A-rank mechanical cyborgs can equip. The production cost reaches a hundred billion Star Coins."

"The baseline output of half a Stellar Furnace should just about do it..." Hunter sighed. "And that's merely for preliminary activation and restoring its devouring function. Without an entire civilization backing you, there's simply no way to sustain it."

"Indeed..." Li Yu nodded, then promptly added, "I got it. You can leave now..."

Hunter shook his head. If it were any other weapon, perhaps it could still be used. But it just had to be the Titan Colonization Armor. Precious? Absolutely. But practically useless.

However, just as he reached the door, he suddenly froze... Li Yu was standing perfectly still in his spot, not moving an inch...

A surge of suspicion suddenly rose in Hunter's mind. 'Does this kid really have no way to use it?'

Although he firmly believed there was no way Li Yu could find such a massive energy source, Li Yu's notorious habit of keeping dead quiet about his hidden trump cards made him highly suspicious.

"Let's head out together..." Hunter probed.

"Huh?" Li Yu found it baffling. "I'll head out as soon as I pack this thing away."

"I'll help you..."

Li Yu was speechless, simply staring at Hunter... Hunter dropped the act entirely and asked directly, "Do you have a way to activate it?"

'Has Hunter finally wised up?' Li Yu looked amazed. 'To think he actually guessed it. Is he starting to figure out my style of doing things? It might be time to silence him... ahem...'

"I knew it!" Seeing Li Yu's reaction, Hunter immediately grew excited. "Quick... let me see... I've never witnessed a Titan Colonization Armor in action before."

Li Yu stood still, rubbing his chin as he stared intensely at Hunter.

"What are you thinking about?" Hunter suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He hurriedly took two steps back, looking at Li Yu warily.

"I'm considering where to bury you..." Li Yu said with absolute seriousness.

"Haha... haha..." Hunter broke into a cold sweat, forcing a smile. "What kind of joke is that..."

"Haha..." Li Yu also burst into laughter. "You really do know me well. You could even tell I was joking."

Hunter's eye twitched violently, suddenly regretting running his mouth earlier. "You know what, if there's nothing else, I'll just take my leave."

"Don't go... stick around and watch me activate it," Li Yu said, stopping Hunter instead.

A fist-sized blue cube abruptly materialized in his hand, emitting a faint, glowing luminescence.

"How do I activate it?" Li Yu asked.

"You should just need to place that thing on top of it..." Hunter said with trepidation, while inwardly wondering... 'Is this thing the source of Li Yu's confidence?'

Li Yu slowly placed the blue Power of the Cube onto the tattered Titan Colonization Armor.

Instantly... a faint stream of blue radiance was drawn out by the Titan Colonization Armor. At first, it was very weak and slow, perhaps as if the Titan Colonization Armor was afraid this little brother couldn't handle the strain.

But soon after... a surging torrent of energy began to pulse. The brilliant blue light illuminated the entire warehouse as a thick pillar of energy roughly slammed into the Titan Colonization Armor.

Both the Titan Colonization Armor and the Power of the Cube slowly floated into the air, entwining with one another. The golden patterns on the surface of the Titan Colonization Armor began to glow, and complex symbols flashed incessantly.

The tattered sections began to mend. It was exactly like biological skin healing—not nanotechnology... but genuine, organic regeneration.

Hunter stared fixedly at the Titan Colonization Armor. He never expected to see the day when he would witness the activation of a Titan Colonization Armor anywhere outside the Star Glory Empire.

As time passed, the Titan Colonization Armor grew increasingly dazzling. Pale gold patterns adorned the white armor, making it look like a piece of ordinary clothing. There were no visible weapons whatsoever.

Finally, the Power of the Cube directly merged into the Titan Colonization Armor, forming a blue cube emblem right on the chest.

"Is it done?" Li Yu looked at the Titan Colonization Armor suspended in mid-air. It gave off a soft glow and looked like a ridiculously stylish outfit.

"Yeah... go up and touch it, that should do it..." Hunter gulped, his eyes glued to the Titan Colonization Armor.

Li Yu walked up to the Titan Colonization Armor and gave it a gentle tap. The entire suit of armor instantly flared with brilliance, seemingly turning into liquid as it slithered across the surface of Li Yu's skin.

"New lifeform signature detected..."

"Gathering lifeform data..."

"Collecting genetic traits... Confirming mental fluctuations... Binding in progress... Synchronizing..."

"Binding successful..."

A voice echoed in Li Yu's ear, followed by a massive influx of information flooding into his mind. He frowned, inspecting it carefully...

Just as Hunter had said, the Titan Colonization Armor was indeed incredibly powerful. However, it required a tremendous amount of energy to devour external technology in order to evolve itself.

Fortunately, now that it had fused with the Power of the Cube, it possessed a foundation for generating its own energy. It could be said that the most crucial initial stage had been completed.

The Titan Colonization Armor morphed into various clothing styles on Li Yu's body: a suit... a trench coat... even a long robe...

"At least I won't have to worry about being naked after my clothes get shredded in combat anymore..." Li Yu let out a long sigh of relief.

Hunter was completely speechless. 'Is that what the Titan Colonization Armor is used for?'

Li Yu then pulled out a metal grip—the Light Blade he had taken from Kalash. The moment Li Yu brought it close to his clothes, the Titan Colonization Armor immediately reacted.

"New technology detected... Initiate devour sequence?"

Naturally, he selected confirm... The Titan Colonization Armor extended tendrils of white liquid that completely enveloped the metal grip, beginning a fusion process that Li Yu found utterly incomprehensible.

It took about half an hour before the Titan Colonization Armor finally gave an updated response.

"Fusion complete. Please inspect..."

Li Yu's eyes lit up as he reached out his hand... White liquid flowed and rapidly shaped into a grip. In a split second, a golden Light Blade ejected outward, scattering glowing particles of light.

The moment he let go, the golden Light Blade vanished, leaving almost no trace behind.

Hunter stared enviously at the Titan Colonization Armor on Li Yu's body. What man wouldn't want a suit of armor that could evolve?