Chapter 648: Simple

Boom!!!

Flames overflowed from the Spiritual Energy shield and swept the surroundings…

"Roar!!!"

The crowd still faintly heard a dragon's roar.

Immediately after, a blinding light erupted, causing everyone present to briefly lose their sight.

As for the spiritual coffins and the Royal Guard who were also staying here, it wasn't just a loss of sight; moreover, serving as their eyes, they were not affected by the blinding light at all.

However, their fate was far worse than mere blindness—anyone struck by the light was instantly scorched by flames and turned to ash within seconds.

Indeed, Space Death Spirits have no souls and, in theory, are unafraid of chaos or Spiritual Energy influence, but without Spiritual Energy suppression and with Spiritual Energy magnitude far exceeding the limits their living metal bodies can endure, they become no different from ordinary "creatures".

After the blinding light.

The interior of the entire pyramid no longer contained any spiritual coffins or Royal Guard; aside from the platform at the very top, everything else was empty.

Moreover, all Warrior Guard units survived, such as the two warriors who had previously suffered Xun·Ba La He Er's gravity attack and were forced to hold position within the Brilliant Star Map's defensive line, finally able to continue piloting the Centurion out of danger.

As for the platform at the very top…

"Sizzle... sizzle..."

It was covered with scorch marks, and some spots still emitted Mars and thick smoke.

The harshest area was where Xun·Ba La He Er had stood; everything was ash, with no trace of what had once been there.

"."

Seeing this, A Jia Ke Si and the others felt no triumph after defeating the foe, only remorse.

Because they all knew that if An Na Jin had not achieved a Spiritual Energy breakthrough at the critical moment, lifted the time weapon's restraint, successfully shrouded Xun·Ba La He Er, then voluntarily entered the Spiritual Energy shroud with Wokan and detonated himself to neutralize the Gauss eruption, they would have been completely disintegrated, their souls returning to the sea of souls.

Moreover, the Gauss eruption could easily penetrate their death‑spirit technology's defensive line and would also shatter the Brilliant Star Map.

At that point, it wouldn't just be their souls returning to the sea of souls; the entire Zero‑Three Galaxy metropolis would face collapse, the expedition would be declared a failure, and the Human Empire would suffer its first defeat since its founding, losing over a trillion‑billion in a "defeat".

That is a consequence they could not bear.

But fear remains fear; after all, the Brilliant Star Map remained intact, with no phenomenon of all the stars in the Zero‑Three Galaxy turning into supernovae, yet the death of an OriginalBody became a foregone conclusion.

Even if the expedition succeeded and all corps eradicated every death spirit, an OriginalBody still perished in the war for which their Sparta Corps was responsible…

That outcome is equally unbearable for them.

"Wo... Wokan?"

In contrast, An Na Jin, as the younger brother, slowly approached the edge of the eruption core, gazing at the devastation, kneeling on one knee, and raising his left hand to cover his face, trying to hide his tears.

Though sorrowful, An Na Jin did not scream hysterically; the only lingering resentment in his heart was his inability to be strong enough to protect his closest brother.

The fact remains, and he believes their father will take over Wokan's soul; before long, Wokan will return to the material universe in a "brand‑new state".

When that time comes, An Na Jin will devote himself even more to caring for Wokan as his "younger brother".

However…

"Clack... clack..."

??!!

Amid the chaos, a slight movement appeared, instantly catching the attention of An Na Jin, A Jia Ke Si and the others.

When they turned their gaze toward the source, they saw the once‑charred, fragmented "human corpse" inexplicably "expanding" at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Bones and flesh grew rapidly, and after a moment, before everyone's eyes stood a bald Wokan with a bare torso, exposing strong muscles.

Fortunately, Wokan's nano suit was not completely destroyed, covering most of his lower body and preventing embarrassment before his brother and the Astate elders.

"Brother!"

Seeing Wokan "revived", An Na Jin no longer cared about looking foolish; he hurried to Wokan's side, reached out to help his brother stand again, and said:

"Father is above! I thought you were dead, and I even prepared to become your elder brother!"

"."

Perhaps because he had just revived, Wokan was still dazed and did not immediately reply to An Na Jin's joke.

In fact, even Wokan hadn't expected he could die and be resurrected.

Earlier, when Xun·Ba La He Er attempted to detonate his body, causing a massive Gauss eruption, and to prevent the Brilliant Star Map from being affected, the best solution Wokan could think of was to, during the gap when Spiritual Energy suppression failed, also detonate his own Spiritual Energy to achieve neutralization.

It should have been a death‑bound act, but unexpectedly, after closing his eyes and opening them again, An Na Jin appeared beside him ecstatic and helped him up.

In fact, as the Emperor's direct descendants, OriginalBodies inherit all of the Emperor's traits, such as Magnus in terms of Spiritual Energy.

Moreover, all OriginalBodies possess the "Immortal" attribute to varying degrees, and although Wokan is among the youngest batch, he has the strongest Immortal constitution.

In short, Wokan can hardly die in the material universe.

Recovering his strength, Wokan slapped An Na Jin's head hard and said gravely, "I consider you my brother? Impossible—ten thousand years, a hundred thousand years, even billions of years—never. I will always be your elder brother."

"Hahaha!" Seeing his closest brother safe, An Na Jin laughed heartily.

And A Jia Ke Si and the Warrior Guard also eased their minds, the heavy burden on their shoulders finally vanished without a trace.

Next, they would contact the Leonida ship, share the Brilliant Star Map's coordinates with each division, remain stationed here awaiting reinforcements, and then everything would be "simple"…

That is, awaiting victory in this battle.

——

…

Meanwhile.

Within the five‑dimensional cosmos, fierce battles continued.

Even though Sparta Corps' AI Kotana successfully captured and seized the world engine, severe damage prevented it from exerting its full power.

Moreover, the Opatara Dynasty's warships on this side only increased in number, outnumbering Sparta's side by dozens and completely encircling them.

The naval situation became stalemated, and the Sparta fleet involved in this battle lost nearly one‑third of its forces.

However, just as the Sparta fleet was about to lose more than half…

Whoosh—!

Whoosh—!!

Thousands of slender light beams surged into the five-dimensional cosmos, striking straight to the outer perimeters of both warring sides.

And when the light beams reverted, it turned out they were exactly the Shadow Moon Grey Wolf and Dark Crow Guard fleets that, obeying John's command, left the fight, waited thirty minutes, and then re‑entered the battlefield.

This time, with the Sparta fleet operating deep in the enemy's core, the Empire side instantly formed a reverse encirclement formation.

(End of Chapter)