Chapter 418: Crisis Brewing

In the No Man's Land, within the Guixing Expeditionary Force, Horus was holding his daily routine meeting. Because the Radiant Council cooperated with them, they were able to resist the Star Glory Empire's fierce Counterattack.

They even stabilized the situation, dragging the battle out for a long time.

Projections of numerous High Echelon generals appeared on both sides of the conference table. At the very head was Horus's projection, but it was blurred, only showing a pixelated projection.

Seeing their Boss's projection, the expressions of the many High Echelon generals were somewhat strange.

Ever since he was inexplicably ambushed by the leader of the White Uprising Army last time, Horus no longer appeared before everyone with his true face.

Actually, when a few closely related High Echelon generals communicated privately...

They would occasionally reveal that they didn't know what was going on, and occasionally an impulse to slap Commander-in-Chief Horus's stinky face a few times would arise.

Many secretly guessed if Commander Horus had been cursed. The scientific name was—Information-State Entanglement Toxin, which would affect the subconscious of creatures around the target, and even cosmic rules.

However, Horus had long since undergone countless tests from inside out, from top to bottom, all Gained Nothing.

There was even a rumor that a certain Divine Spirit with the word "Justice" in their Divine Name almost got into a fight with Horus.

It was exactly because of this series of events that Commander-in-Chief Horus, while depressed, was showing a trend of developing towards a Tyrant.

Various thoughts surfaced in the minds of the High Echelon generals, but they didn't dare to show them, honestly sitting in their Seats.

After everyone arrived, Horus started the meeting, which was mainly to make some summaries and outline the next phase of the combat plan.

After the routine summary was finished, Horus looked at one of the many High Echelon generals and said in a deep voice:

"...Batchel, how is the investigation going?"

Batchel's heart shuddered, and he hurriedly answered, "Commander Horus, regarding why the Four-Armed Titan Legion came here, I have found a few unconfirmed clues."

This godforsaken place, the No Man's Land, had no resource reserves. At most, it brought some strategic significance due to its geographical location.

But it shouldn't have been enough for the three major factions to beat each other's brains out.

Yet the Star Glory Empire didn't even hesitate to dispatch two powerful Colonial Legions here.

Just because the Troll Legion came here, causing unrest in the Boundless Border Territory they guarded, the Star Beast Tide impacted the Star Glory Empire, bringing quite a bit of turbulence.

In the past, with the Troll Legion guarding it, that place could be said to be the Star Glory Empire's "vegetable garden." If they lacked any materials, they just had to go look inside.

But now, it was causing some minor trouble for the Star Glory Empire, forcing them to temporarily mobilize other fleets to resist it.

Not to mention the Gurathes Nebula guarded by the Four-Armed Titan Legion, that gathering place of a large number of small civilizations, hadn't been peaceful lately either.

It could be said that the longer the Troll Legion and the Four-Armed Titan Legion dragged on here, the bigger the trouble caused for the Star Glory Empire.

Under this situation, the Star Glory Empire still dispatched military forces completely disproportionate to the gains, so they definitely had other motives.

"Tell me about it..." Horus's tone was calm, letting him continue.

Batchel organized his thoughts. "The biggest possibility is the undercurrent of the recent 'Gensokyo Incident.' Everyone should have heard about it. Many large civilizations and factions have intercepted mysterious Hard Drives claiming to be the location where Gensokyo will appear."

"This famous yet mysterious Half-Dimension World once brushed past the Star Glory Empire. If this is true, then the Star Glory Empire will absolutely not miss it."

Many High Echelon generals nodded one after another upon hearing this. Because they were in the No Man's Land, Returning Star's Intelligence Bureau had also contacted them, hoping they would pay attention to this matter.

It's just that no one could confirm its authenticity.

Horus was Noncommittal, remaining silent.

Batchel paused, then continued, "Secondly, perhaps they want to use this to test our Returning Star's bottom line."

"Majesty Digor initiated this battle. If the time we can hold out is too short, then His Majesty will undoubtedly become a joke on the Interstellar level."

Regarding this reason, many High Echelon generals all fell silent.

Initiating a war must yield gains. Returning Star as a whole desired resources, while these High Echelon generals desired military merits.

But in the No Man's Land, firstly there were no resources, and secondly they were being chased around by the Star Glory Empire, so where would the military merits come from?

Their enthusiasm for fighting wasn't actually that high.

"What else?" Horus didn't delve deeper into this issue, but directly skipped it.

"Also..." Batchel was somewhat hesitant. This last reason seemed very difficult for him to say. It wasn't until a moment later that he gritted his teeth and said, "It could also be because of Duke Li Yu!"

"Li Yu?" Horus's eternally unchanging tone finally showed a slight ripple.

The rest of the High Echelon generals also seemed deeply taboo about this name.

A suddenly emerging, extremely dazzling star was too blinding for these veteran generals.

It constantly reminded them from a side angle that compared to Li Yu, they were like trash.

Batchel explained, "The Star Glory Empire very likely learned in advance that Duke Li Yu would take over as the Commander of the Black Pupil Fleet, so they sent the Four-Armed Titan Legion over."

This reason was a bit far-fetched, but not impossible.

The grudge between Li Yu and the Star Glory Empire was too big, and he had many secrets on him. Some time ago in the Stuart Civilization, his world-shocking punch brought him even more Attention.

When he heard this news, he was speechless for a long time.

"You continue to negotiate with the Intelligence Bureau. Information regarding Gensokyo must be synchronized at all times..." Horus responded to Batchel's speculations one by one. "And strengthen patrols with The Council, guard against The Empire's sneak attacks!"

"As for Li Yu..." Horus paused before asking, "Where is he now?"

"He's still within the territory of the Stuart Civilization. Hannibal has protested multiple times and requested Returning Star to pay for the losses suffered because of Duke Li Yu,"

"Nonsense!" Horus coldly shouted. "What time is it now, and he's still staying in Stuart."

"Notify him to hurry over as soon as possible, stop wasting time!"

The meeting ended, and the numerous generals went to their respective work according to the instructions they received.

...

On the other side, Li Yu slowly opened his eyes. Because Horus mentioned his name, the ward Li Yu placed on him reacted, allowing him to learn part of the meeting's details.

And right now, he had already left the Stuart Civilization and was heading to the No Man's Land battlefield.

"Sounds like Horus's injuries have recovered quite nicely." Li Yu teased a bit, then opened the System.

After this period of time, Clone Three could be deployed again.

[Searching for World Deployment... Data analysis in progress... [World List] opened, please check, Host.]

Li Yu opened the [World List], and three world names flashing with special colors appeared before him.

[Wandering Earth World]

This world was quite interesting, but the valuable things in it, especially things useful to Li Yu right now, were basically non-existent.

[Transformers World]

Tsk tsk, another Old Friend. If it was this world, Li Yu actually had a goal.

Last time, he had the Avatar retrieve the Allspark, but ended up only getting a fragment. This time, he could go and get Quintessa's Scepter.

Although that Scepter's performance in the movies was mediocre, it definitely possessed extremely powerful abilities.

Hmm... let's see what the next world is first. Li Yu looked down.

[Pacific Rim World]

He didn't expect it to be this world. If it was when he was weak, this world would absolutely be a good choice, but unfortunately, it wasn't of much value to him now.

Without hesitation, Li Yu decided to deploy the Avatar to the [Transformers World].

[Transformers World] -- [Mission Mode] -- [Obtain Quintessa's Scepter]

[Clone Three successfully deployed. Please check the Task Log after the mission ends.]

After deploying Clone Three, Li Yu flipped through the [System Log]. Second Clone's rewards were fairly good.

[Obtained Special Item—Bounty Hunter's Kill Order: Bounty hunters never work for free!

After the Host kills the locked target, they can choose any optional loot from them, including but not limited to Weapons, Gene Chains, Superpowers, Cybernetic Enhancements...]

Recently, Number Two often mingled with bounty hunters, and two consecutive important rewards were tied to bounty hunters.

As for the rest, there was nothing worth looking at, all sundries. Li Yu glanced at them and directly accepted them all.

Having handled these two very important matters, Li Yu's mood was much more cheerful.

It had been about three days since Siegel left. Li Yu made a verbal promise that as long as he collected enough Artificial Gods he needed, he would return freedom to the Black Blade, which served as some psychological comfort to Siegel.

Making this legendary Assassin embark on a miserable path of "redeeming himself".

And subsequently, Li Yu learned the specific information about Titan Artifacts through Returning Star's classified data.

The origins of Titan Artifacts were similar to what he guessed. They were Weapons meticulously crafted by Titans, usually with various advanced Technologies attached to them, bringing about all sorts of unimaginable abilities.

And things like the Apostle and Titan Symbiotic Armor, although powerful, still couldn't escape standard restrictions and couldn't be called Titan Artifacts.

Every Titan Artifact was unique, and the conditions for use were extremely harsh. The specific records in the data provided by Returning Star were very vague.

However, not all Titan Artifacts could be used for combat; their focuses were different, some strong and some weak.

And above Titan Artifacts, there was something that even the Titan race valued highly and treated as a treasure.

Returning Star called them Titan Relics!

Even the Titan race found it very difficult to manufacture Titan Relics independently, needing to rely on the rules and power of the Universe.

And as for exactly how powerful their abilities were, the data didn't mention it at all, merely glossing over it.

"Good heavens, there are even Titan Relics. How did such an awesome race die out?" This classic question surfaced again. Li Yu subsequently threw it to the back of his mind; anyway, he couldn't find the answer for the time being.

...

And not long after Horus's routine meeting ended, in the Starry Sky not far from the Guixing Expeditionary Force, a large number of hexagonal shuttle-shaped battleships hovered in the Starry Sky.

The prisms flashed white, but the Armor covering the exterior was golden.

They surrounded a fortress as dazzling as a star—the God-King's Crown, with a giant "Sun" Emblem in the center.

And in one of the massive halls, over a dozen Divine Spirits were arguing endlessly over a certain issue.

"Why should we launch an attack on Returning Star? We have already signed a wartime alliance treaty with Returning Star. If we attack rashly, we will be despised!"

This Divine Spirit, who looked awe-inspiringly righteous, shouted. He had the word "Justice" in his Divine Name and couldn't stand this kind of treaty-tearing behavior the most. He also had to reprimand it to practice the way of a Divine Spirit.

Another person said in a deep voice, "This is the directive of Your Holiness Solar. If you don't like it, you can go and negotiate with Your Holiness Solar personally."

"The alliance was his idea, and breaking the treaty is also his idea. You are his Subordinate Deities, but I am not!" The God Of Justice didn't back down.

The Radiant Council seemed to be a whole, but that was externally. In reality, their internal conflicts had already reached an irreconcilable point.

And there was another group of people who didn't approve of this proposal either.

"We also refuse to execute this directive. Your Holiness Nightmare didn't mean this." Their Aura was entirely eerie, completely different from the Solar Councilor's Subordinate Deities.

The Radiant Council's external operations needed to follow an Unspoken Rule: at least two Councilors' Subordinate Deities, along with Neutral Deities, must form an external operational force.

This was to avoid personal factors affecting the interests of the Divine Spirits as a whole.

Aside from the twelve Chief God Councilors and their Subordinate Deities, the Radiant Council also had a massive number of Neutral Deities.

Every Councilor had once been one of these Neutral Deities, but they also all wanted to eliminate these Neutral Deities to consolidate their Status.

But the Divine Wars that occurred in history because of this had all led to the fall of at least one or even several Councilors.

"You are disrespecting Your Holiness Solar!" A certain Subordinate Deity shouted angrily, his body occasionally changing into various creatures, accompanied by deafening sounds of prayer.

"Then where do you place Your Holiness Nightmare?" Another Subordinate Deity asked in return.

The situation reached a stalemate. At two against one, the Solar Councilor's directive couldn't be executed.

However, right at this moment, a deep Black Mist surfaced behind a certain Nightmare Subordinate Deity and gradually began to spread.

Except for the Nightmare Knight's Subordinate Deities, the rest of the Divine Spirits all avoided it like the plague.

The Black Mist enveloped the Subordinate Deities, and a few lines of divine text surfaced—

Execute Solar's command, launch a sneak attack on Returning Star.

But wait until Li Yu arrives, and... spare no effort to snatch Li Yu into our hands!

These were two directives from the Nightmare Knight. His numerous Subordinate Deities all praised the name of Nightmare in unison, and a certain Divine Spirit at the very front raised his head.

The ferocious and twisted flesh and blood on his face intertwined like dry bugs, making one shudder. His scarlet gaze fell on the two divine words "Li Yu", flashing with a bizarre color.

(End of this chapter)