Chapter 692

The ground was trembling slightly, not as if from the planet itself, but as if pulled from afar by some immense mass.

This phenomenon further disrupted gravity across the entire star system; the Hive Fleet, the Imperial Fleet, the World Engine, and the Tyranic planetary bioships all lurched chaotically. Three Tyranic planetary bioships already shattered by the Aurican were now glowing clouds of sparking energy, frantically devouring stellar energy to replenish their withered bodies.

This star system was shrouded in thick warp shadows cast by the Tyranic Hive Mind; the warp held absolute dominance here. As a god of the material universe, the Aurican’s power felt like moving through thick mud.

His authority ultimately relied on reality itself, yet reality here was riddled with holes—each use of power drained him immensely, forcing him to barely replenish himself by consuming stellar energy.

At that moment, the Aurican sensed the disturbance caused by the immense gravity.

It was a gravity well—an unprecedentedly massive gravity well pressing toward the Tiamat system.

This was the Hive Fleet’s unique warp travel method: they carved gravity well tunnels using a massive gravitational source, enabling rapid transit toward their target.

This gravity well was so vast it seemed as if an entire Hive Fleet was about to descend upon the system’s edge. What gravitational source had the Hive Fleet used to achieve such a colossal gravity well jump?

The Aurican could not immediately conceive of any massive gravitational source capable of this, but he knew what he must do.

He had to twist this gravity well and halt the Hive Fleet’s advance.

The star’s light dimmed sharply; intense light and heat transformed within the Aurican’s body. His will fused with the structure of reality itself, lancing toward the gravity well—and beyond it, toward the gravitational source.

A nearly solid question mark emerged on the Aurican’s head.

He could scarcely believe what he saw was not an illusion. He followed the gravity well—and saw. Saw a star.

That—was a star, surrounded by near-infinite light and higher-dimensional matter, woven into geometries so complex even a newborn star-god’s mind could not comprehend them. These geometries flickered constantly, as if reflecting the star’s mad thoughts.

Insane. The Hive Mind. How dare it.

The Aurican felt his observation had been detected.

The Mad King sensed His presence. A gaze of hunger, impulsiveness, madness, and despair traveled along the skeleton of reality, striking toward the Aurican.

Before that gaze even reached him, the Aurican felt its madness—those thoughts like howling razors, tearing him apart at the most microscopic level, shredding him, flooding him with a cascade of delirious hallucinations.

He saw molten black-gray plastic, dice bouncing, sacred texts written in unknown script, a world measured in inches, ink, keyboards, screens—everything.

Unfathomable images leapt and exploded; his mind stretched into a thin thread, spiraling, spiraling, spiraling.

“Holy shit, the Outer One!” In Yumisaka’s home, Om Misaiya . Xiaofu screamed, dropping his controller.

Zhou Yun caught the controller and took over control, while Om Misaiya . Xiaofu stared in horror at the real dimension—he was the second to realize what the Hive Mind was using as its gravitational source, after the Aurican.

His last surviving brother—the madman driven insane by Xigaoqi.

The Jester deceived Him, forcing Him to consume too many other star-gods. Their wills never fully vanished; they dwelled within Him, amplifying His power while tormenting His mind, eventually shattering His sanity and driving Him to drift beyond the galaxy, sinking into autism.

He was the Outer One, Saranoga—a god of autism, a Mad King, a fused star-god containing countless others. Theoretically, no being in the material universe could match Him; even the gods of the warp might not rival His dominance within material reality.

All beings should be grateful for Xigaoqi’s unparalleled deceit: after crafting such a monster, He predicted it would be driven mad and retreat into autism, sealing itself away. For tens of millions of years, countless races in the galaxy fought bloody wars among themselves—yet all avoided touching this autistic bomb.

But in that instant, the Hive Mind exploited the Outer One’s own immense gravity, carving a gravity well tunnel straight to the Tiamat system, attempting to thrust the main tentacle of the Leviathan Hive Fleet into Tiamat.

“These outsiders have no manners!” Om Misaiya . Xiaofu cursed.

Oh, by the ass of a medieval knight, this was too much—it was so outrageous that Om Misaiya . Xiaofu ’s uncle would kick the Hive Mind’s ass with his giant boots.

Om Misaiya . Xiaofu extended his hand into the real universe; His body was composed of the Dragon of Mars—or rather, He was fundamentally the Dragon of Mars.

His hand rested on the Aurican’s back, instantly yanking the Aurican’s will back and severing His gaze toward the Outer One.

The Outer One’s gaze grew momentarily confused, then puzzled, then agitated, then restless; mad geometries began spreading outward.

At that moment, mocking, taunting, derisive voices echoed from the void. A jester’s mask appeared before the Outer One, hurling words to attack His existence, provoke His mental illness, and intensify His autism.

Moments later, under the jester’s mockery, the Outer One seemed to psychologically collapse—then swiftly retreated back into autism, offering no further response.

Throughout this, no faction in the galaxy or the warp dared interfere with the jester. All held their breath, watching his maneuver.

In the Black Library, Xigaoqi wiped sweat from his pale forehead with a handkerchief.

Another day saving the world. How exhausting.

Simultaneously, Xigaoqi silently cursed the Hive Mind’s madness and stupidity. It was pure gambling—betting the Outer One wouldn’t break loose, betting it could successfully borrow the Outer One’s gravity to deliver its fleet to Tiamat without triggering a reaction.

What troubled Xigaoqi and Om Misaiya . Xiaofu was that the Hive Mind had actually won.

The Leviathan Hive Fleet tore open a gravity well, plunging straight to the edge of the Tiamat system. Vast numbers of Hive ships flooded into the system, reinforcing the nearly shattered Tiamat Hive Fleet. Dense swarms of insects surged toward the Rock Fortress, toward the Aurican, who dwelled at the system’s center.

The Aurican’s body withered, its power waning. Thin reality, the Outer One’s mad whispers, and the ebbing energy all drained Him. He violently devoured stellar energy to maintain His star-god state, squeezing power from the fragile skeleton of reality.

Antimatter meteors spontaneously formed beside the Aurican, tearing through space to strike the Hive Fleet. The blinding flashes of matter-antimatter annihilation forged a searing wall of fire across the system, halting the Hive Fleet’s advance.

But as more Hive ships arrived, the warp density in the system surged again. The entire system seemed submerged in warp shadows.

The thick shadows extinguished the fire and heat in space, as if devoured. The warp’s Yazhili surged. The Aurican felt His connection to reality grow ever thinner. He had ascended through reality—here, in the warp, He had no place, no power.

Meanwhile, the Leviathan Hive Fleet advanced toward Ziafrya at a speed unprecedented for a swarm. The battle’s tide had turned—due to one micro-manipulation, one gamble by the Hive Mind.

Though Xigaoqi and the Aurican cursed aloud, Zhou Yun remained calm.