Chapter 1942

Creator Alliance.

Outer Domain Defense Line.

In the tranquil, soundless depths of space, a cluster of dozens of planets resembled scattered billiard balls on a pool table, haphazardly placed on the table.

Every planet's surface was pitted and scarred, like an apple eaten by worms, utterly ruined.

Except for the core reddish-brown planet still barely maintaining its rotation, the planets forcibly placed in this region were like the carcasses of dead giant beasts, slowly drifting.

Like a dead zone, there was no sign of life here.

If one looked closely, one could clearly see that within the asteroid belt surrounding the planets were mixed large fragments of warship wreckage and desiccated corpses; under gravity, these Fourth Stage corpses would even orbit the planets like artificial satellites.

Thud! Thud-thud-thud..

Heavy impact sounds rang out densely like raindrops.

Inside the warship's observation window, a burly man clad entirely in blue War Armor stared blankly at the corpses continually smashing into the ship.

The corpses shattered on impact, like dry, cracked wood, instantly splitting apart in all directions, with heads and arms flying everywhere.

The burly man's aura was powerful; even if he tried to restrain it, his whole body seemed shrouded in a layer of glass, slightly distorting space.

Having just finished a jump, as they shuttled through the asteroid belt, they were like trucks on a highway, not knowing how many 'flies' they had killed along the way.

After a moment, the Fifth Stage powerhouse whose strength reached Star-Destroying Level could no longer hold back, asking in a low, muffled voice toward the captain behind him.

"Is the Alliance's situation really this bad?"

"I remember coming here three or four years ago; there were no fewer than ten legions stationed here. Back then, this place was still prosperous..."

"The guardian on the main planet is an alien of the Alliance, right? I even drank with him..."

His eyes showed reminiscence; beneath his human-like appearance, the burly man's gaze was dazed, as if he had traveled through time, seeing the former bustling sight of this place that once accommodated hundreds of millions of survivors.

As an Outer Domain Defense Line, the main planet had at least one Star-Destroyer of the same level as him, plus over a hundred War Stars, and the population exceeded a hundred billion.

In reality, only three or four years had passed, but in that special scenario he had spent over seventy years; the tangled mix of time made him feel an intense sense of unreality as he gazed at the ruins before him.

It seemed as if just yesterday he had been on that largest main planet, chatting freely with that alien, agreeing to meet after his return to search for resources in some ancient ruin.

Yet in the blink of an eye, this place had become ruins; even these warriors' corpses could only drift forever in space, with no one to collect them.

"Lord Aryan (Qing Kai), the Alliance's recent situation is indeed terrible."

"You might have just come out of the dungeon, unaware of what has happened to the Alliance lately. Not long after you left here, the Alliance suffered an astral-space attack; those monsters destroyed this place in an extremely short time."

"If it weren't for two Star-Shatterers taking action, even the inner domain would have been in trouble. However, the problem isn't really solved; the Alliance used its meager point reserves to forcibly 'end' the disaster here."

Standing behind Qing Kai, a War Star Level Creator gave a bitter smile and replied in a low voice.

In the eyes of outsiders, perhaps the Creator Alliance is overwhelmingly strong, gathering seventeen Fifth Stage civilizations and hundreds of vassals, truly the hegemon of the star system.

But only they themselves know that the Alliance's point reserves are nearly exhausted, and soon more disasters will erupt.

For such an outer region, the Alliance can no longer manage it, leaving it to fend for itself. Even within the Alliance, over the past year, several minor catastrophes have broken out.

"I understand..."

Of the same lineage as Aryan, the Star-Destroyer titled Qing Kai let out a light sigh and no longer looked outside the warship.

"So the Alliance is about to collapse, right?"

"No wonder, as soon as I came out, the Alliance immediately assigned me a new mission. If we fail again this time, the Alliance will only be able to send in Star-Shatterer Level beings, right?"

"Yes, Lord Qing Kai. We've already sent a batch into this Skull Mission, including other nearby Alliances; their point reserves are also nearly exhausted. So... we can no longer offset this mission, and we even need you to complete it and bring out points to supply the Alliance..."

"Of course, rest assured! We will fully cooperate with you!"

Behind Qing Kai, the captain anxiously watched the burly man's complexion, fearing to displease him.

Speaking of it, it's indeed chilling.

This Star-Destroyer named Qing Kai is somewhat well-known in the Alliance, belonging to a group of extremely experienced Star-Destroyers. But having just finished a previous mission, the Alliance dispatched him to handle this Special Event.

Anyone in his position would likely resent it; moreover... the Alliance even regards him as expendable, prepared for another failure.

Strength is useless, not knowing what the enemy is, and not even knowing how to die—this kind of Special Event mission is practically a nightmare!

"Heh... rest assured, as a member of the Alliance, since the day I became Fifth Stage, I have already prepared myself for sacrifice. Otherwise, I couldn't have gotten to where I am today."

"I can understand the Alliance's predicament; those Star-Shatterers are the Alliance's last strength, and if they suffer any mishap, we would have no hope at all."

Qing Kai gave a low chuckle and shook his head indifferently.

The resources required to cultivate a Star-Shatterer are unimaginable.

Soon, as if he had thought of something, Qing Kai subconsciously glanced at the countdown in the mission information:

"By the way, I heard that before this mission, the Alliance discovered that an individual from a low-level civilization had come out of a mission. Although he only wandered around the entrance, his survival could still provide some information, right?"

"Where is the person? Didn't you send someone over?"

As his words fell, the captain's expression froze, then he spoke with a somewhat strange look:

"Lord Qing Kai, we have found the person; we intended to let him meet you. But the squad that went there seems to have encountered an accident, and we may not be able to bring him back."

"An accident? What kind of accident? Did the person die, or did our people run into trouble?"

Qing Kai startled at the words, blurted out a question instinctively.

The next second, the captain replied, seeming equally unable to understand:

"The person isn't dead; it's just that among the natives of that place, a Body System Fourth Stage Peak appeared, and that native seems to have intercepted our people!"

"Furthermore, according to the news sent back by Aryan, that native also intends to enter the Skull, and he's even bringing several Fourth Stage beings with him!"

After the captain finished speaking, even Qing Kai, a Star-Destroyer, was suddenly stunned.

What an absurd thing he had never seen before, but in a lowly civilization a Body System appeared, and it not only blocked their Fifth Stage, but also wanted to bring a batch of Fourth Stage beings into a Fifth Stage mission?

Putting together several pieces of information, he even wondered if he had misheard.

"Body System!? Did they eat their planet's cup? No, impossible! Even if it's a Body System Peak, Aryan's squad couldn't possibly lose, right?"

"Is that native crazy? Is he seeking death?"

Faced with Qing Kai's doubt, the captain also couldn't answer. In the message sent back by Aryan's squad, it merely vaguely indicated that they had been intercepted.

Maybe the Aryans wanted to monopolize Earth as their experimental field, or maybe they were ashamed to speak up, not daring to admit they had almost died at Lin An's hands.

In any case, after the information was sent back, it became like this.

Qing Kai sir, perhaps the Aryans fooled that group of natives? The message generated, the native who had entered the mission before will also follow in, so you'll be able to see him in the mission as well.

Their planet still exists, possibly precisely for that reason, Lord Aryan thinks this native of the Body System is rather special, so he might as well let him scout ahead for us? After all, the Body System is often the best cannon fodder, able to hold out for a long time...

Listening to the captain's explanation, Qing Kai frowned, also feeling it was somewhat plausible.

But before he could ask for more details, a sudden system notification sounded, startling him in place.

Beep, the Skull Event has been activated early.

Please all mission players prepare, transmission will begin in twenty-four hours!

The notification flashed.

Seeing the sudden mission prompt, Qing Kai's expression changed, and a sense of unease suddenly rose in his heart.

At the same time, within other civilizations, over a hundred fifth-stage Awakened Ones from different civilizations were also astonishedly watching the countdown.

Long'an Base, underground core.

Beep! The Skull Event is about to begin transmission; please prepare! This transmission will be initiated by the system opening a transmission channel; please ensure the surrounding environment is normal.

In a mass of azure-blue spiritual energy core, Lin An, standing like a bronze statue, suddenly opened his eyes; in an instant, a flash of supreme silver flickered and then slowly receded into his pupils.

Crackle.

After moving his body a bit, the high-voltage electric cores generated by the operation of electromagnetic regulations coursed across his surface like thunder dragons.

After finishing cellular activation, Lin An then suppressed all his strength within his body and turned to look at the system prompt.

He wasted no time; although his strength was now at its limit, for Lin An, before every life-and-death battle he adjusts his state to get as close to peak as possible.

Sure enough, it's a direct transmission; Dayanzhuzi's efficiency is high enough...

After confirming the information, Lin An didn't waste words, directly sending a message to Zhang Tie and the others, telling them to get ready as well.

The two sides did not set out together.

After telling 77 that he would bring people into the Skull, the Overseer committee member, Dayan, didn't say much more, just skillfully opened a back door for him.

Even if Gao Tian and the others entered the Skull scene from a copy found by Andre, both sides would enter the mission at the same time, synchronously.

Zhang Tie, Gao Tian, upon entering the mission, make contact with me immediately.

You can communicate more with Jiang Haochen and his group; those two might perform quite well.

But if you see my restart notification, do not hesitate; stay where you are and wait for my orders!

Received! Lin Dui (Lin Bro)!

Don't worry, I and that brat Gao Tian know what to do; hehe, I have an invincible system! Maybe this time, old Zhang will be the strongest!

Even if that thing can't kill me, I might be able to bounce it to death!

Lin Bro! You don't need to worry about us; no matter what, we won't hold you back!

His tone was extremely solemn.

He did not hide the fact that he had obtained the Eye of Creation; toward his squad members, Lin An trusted Zhang Tie and the others unconditionally, just as they would unconditionally die for him.

This mission is extremely difficult; any reservation is a hidden danger.

As Dayanzhuzi said, after the restart only he will retain Memory; this also means that if Gao Tian and the others 'die', after the restart they will still know nothing, and thus will inevitably die again unknowingly.

Therefore, after Lin An repeatedly rehearsed various possibilities, he simply told the two in advance about his means to restart.

The initial stage of the mission should be fine; it's impossible that we'd die as soon as we enter.

So I can completely treat the restart method as a game save; once I die, I will immediately mark all abnormalities that occurred then, to avoid repeating the same mistake...

Saying there's no pressure is false.

Lin An took a deep breath, not intending to say goodbye to anyone else, and the next second his form blurred, instantly vanishing from the spot.

He had arranged everything that could be arranged on Earth's side, and 77 even rarely expressed that he would look after Earth, so that Lin An wouldn't struggle to survive the mission only to find his home stolen upon returning.

From this, it's clear that 77 holds great expectations for him in this mission.

Hum!

Like a stream of light, he instantly broke through the atmosphere.

A few minutes later, Lin An, having directly broken through the near‑atmosphere region, silently gazed at the azure‑blue planet beneath him, awaiting the final transmission.

For some reason, thinking of Mo Ling's strange expression the last time they met, Lin An's heart kept flashing a hint of unease. He could only hope that perhaps what Mo Ling saw was the same as what Jiang Haochen saw.

Skull...

I don't even know what it will actually be...!

But no matter what, I will definitely make it out alive!

Beep, transmission will begin in ten seconds. This mission event 【Skull】 is a special event.

Current number of participating players: 119

Current time flow rate: 1:1

10..!

9...!

6...!

3..!

Transmission begins!

In an instant, as the system's cold countdown ended.

In deep space, Lin An suddenly looked up at the black void appearing above his head. Before he could react, the next second his consciousness darkened, and a strong transmission force suddenly enveloped him.

The world spun, and myriad streams of light rushed in like a kaleidoscope.

At the same time.

They were respectively in the skies above the planets of the Creator Alliance, the Troll Civilization, and the Stargazer Alliance, and the transmission was also opened simultaneously.