Chapter 56: Dark Star Leads the Way

Because Mo Duo and Hunter were standing so close, they clearly felt the faint tremors vibrating beneath their feet.

The mechanical construct on Li Yu's chest shimmered with light, smoke still curling from the purple gun barrel. The sun of the Heavenly Desolation Star System bathed the entire planet in its glow, catching the spinning bullet in a brilliant flash.

Like a convex mirror reflecting the surroundings, the entire process from assembly to firing had taken less than five seconds.

Without a stabilizing bipod, Li Yu absorbed the full force of the recoil himself. Given his current physical strength, however, he could easily withstand it.

Through a narrow gap between the towering skyscrapers, a member of the Phantom Squad, clad in grayish-white armor, had just begun to pack up his sniper rifle.

"Captain, the assassination attempt failed," he reported. From beneath his black helmet, his voice was flat, completely devoid of surprise or regret.

"Evacuate," the Captain ordered curtly.

Bang!

"Yes... urgh!"

He staggered, and the long rifle slipped from his grasp, clattering to the ground.

"Number Six, what happened?" an uneasy voice crackled from the earpiece inside the punctured helmet, sensing that something had gone terribly wrong.

Only dead silence answered. There was no response whatsoever.

After a long pause, another voice echoed from the comms: "Number Seven, Number Six's vital signs have vanished. Go recover the equipment."

The barrel of the gun retracted layer by layer, seamlessly transforming back into a form-fitting chest plate that gleamed with a metallic purple hue.

"Is that... the sniper rifle you had earlier?" Hunter asked, his tone laced with uncertainty and confusion.

"Yeah," Li Yu nodded. He shot a glance at the red flying vehicle hovering in the sky. The thing had been tailing him relentlessly, clearly monitoring his every move.

"Let's get out of here first. The Phantom Squad is getting desperate," Li Yu declared, cutting off whatever Hunter was about to say next.

His shirt was in tatters. It had already been shot full of holes by Great Waves's subordinates, and now it was completely unwearable.

He briefly considered ripping it off entirely, but after a moment's thought, he decided against going shirtless. Forget it... he wasn't an exhibitionist. Whatever little it covered was better than nothing.

Dark Star had seized control of the area, but instead of leaving a trail of destruction, they had surprisingly maintained basic order.

There were plenty of places to rest and lay low. Seemingly casually, Li Yu made his way toward the Blue Sky Gene Tower.

Dark Star Main Ship

"Commander, the Phantom Squad is hunting down this Li Yu..." someone reported, pulling up a holographic projection. It replayed the exact moment Li Yu had counter-sniped his attacker.

"This mechanical construct..." The Commander, clad in scarlet armor, narrowed her eyes at the Purple Sniper integrated into Li Yu's body. It was yet another anomaly absent from their intelligence reports.

"Have we uncovered the origins of this Phantom Squad?" she demanded, her voice blending with the low hum of the ship's machinery.

"We can't find any background on them," an officer replied. "We've only managed to trace a few directives issued by the former Archon."

"Just whose faction do they belong to?" she muttered darkly. "Lure the Phantom Squad to Li Yu's location. Let these two unknown variables fight it out."

After paying ten thousand Star Coins, the trio rented a room, completely ignoring the bizarre, lingering stare of the Red Flame Lizard-Person working at the front desk.

"Damn shady merchants! A trashy room like this would normally cost a thousand Star Coins at most," Hunter grumbled, muttering curses as he scanned the space. It was nothing more than a standard lounge.

He performed a cursory sweep of the area and drew the curtains shut.

"The bold gorge themselves while the timid starve," Li Yu remarked, brushing off the exorbitant price. "Claptrap, check the Black Hole Network. See what the chatter is regarding Heavenly Desolation Star."

Nothing useful could be found on the public Interstellar Network, at least not within the borders of the Star Glory Empire.

Their only option was to scour the Black Hole Network.

The search didn't take long. Dark Star hijacking Heavenly Desolation Star was a massive sensation across the underground web.

Initially, people had treated it as a joke. Some Shadow Groups even opened betting pools to gamble on exactly how many hours it would take for the Star Glory Empire to reclaim their territory.

However, as time ticked by, the eerie silence and total inaction from the Star Glory Empire made everyone realize that something was terribly wrong.

This insignificant little planet on the empire's frontier suddenly became the absolute focal point of the Black Hole Network.

Major Shadow Groups scrambled to dig up classified intel, hoping to carve out a slice of profit from this highly unusual situation.

Wild speculations flooded the forums.

"The Star Glory Empire is playing a massive game of chess. They might use this as a pretext to invade the No Man's Land System." This theory came from a veteran slave trade organization.

It was by far the most popular and widely supported guess.

The No Man's Land System bordered the Star Glory Empire, and just beyond it lay the territory of the Radiant Council.

If Dark Star committed any unforgivable atrocities on Heavenly Desolation Star, it would undoubtedly trigger a thunderous retaliation from the empire.

The empire could even use the excuse of purging the No Man's Land System to officially deploy their military forces there.

It was a highly logical strategy, one that would easily allow them to manipulate public opinion within the Interstellar Alliance.

But Dark Star had refrained from initiating any massacres, effectively tying the Star Glory Empire's hands and delaying any armed intervention.

Without the deaths of tens of millions of citizens, how could the Star Glory Empire justify their righteous fury? And without that fury, how could they use this incident to their advantage?

As for the millions of lives currently trapped on Heavenly Desolation Star? Sorry, this was the Black Hole Network. Half the people in the comment sections were busy peddling smuggled Mermaids.

"It's entirely possible the Star Glory Empire is actually planning this," Li Yu muttered, stroking his chin. However, among the countless theories floated by the Shadow Groups, the one that caught his eye the most was an obscure post from the Machine Cult.

It was an unverified piece of public intel.

[The Star Glory Empire has been outplayed this time. Due to certain unspeakable factors, they are entirely incapable of responding.]

Naturally, this post hadn't caused much of a stir. How could one of the titan empires of the Interstellar Alliance be so easily outplayed?

Li Yu, however, didn't share the public's skepticism. The very fact that an exiled Imperial Noble had bafflingly arrived on this specific planet was a glaring red flag.

But this mystery didn't occupy Li Yu's thoughts for long, because the Phantom Squad had finally tracked them down.

Boom!

The metallic wall exploded inward, leaving a massive, jagged hole. A searing blast of electromagnetic waves shot through the breach. Instantly, the Purple Sniper on Li Yu's chest morphed into a one-way shield to protect his body.

The kinetic force sent him flying backward until he crashed heavily against the far wall. Two Phantom Squad members, fully encased in grayish-white armor, blasted open the mechanical doors and stormed into the room.

They wielded heavy Electromagnetic Rifles. Their hulking grayish-white armor stood over three meters tall, featuring heavily reinforced arms loaded with numerous auxiliary mechanical modules.

These operatives were clearly in a completely different league compared to the grunts he had fought at the Trash Recovery Pile.

'How did they find us so fast?' Li Yu thought in shock. With Dark Star occupying the entire capital, there was no way the Phantom Squad could operate this brazenly.

Unless... His pupils constricted as a chilling possibility crossed his mind. Dark Star was turning a blind eye to the Phantom Squad, perhaps even intentionally luring them straight to him.

"Targets acquired. Execute them all!"

The two Phantom Squad members moved with lethal, tacit understanding. Without a shred of hesitation, they leveled their rifles at Li Yu and unleashed a torrent of electromagnetic energy.

Brilliant azure lightning raged across the room, arcs of electricity hissing through the air like frenzied snakes. The Purple Sniper rapidly expanded into a heavy shield, absorbing the terrifying barrage of electrical power.