Chapter 1

Deep within the X-cluster, sealed off by layers of divine power and practically a multi-layered superposition of alternate dimensions, war had raged for thousands of years.

The structure of space was fragmented, the laws of the universe were in turmoil, and nearly pulverized celestial debris mingled with various massive wreckage fragments, scattered throughout space like the wandering corpses of resentful spirits, clinging to an aura of death and desolation. The powerful forces and protracted attrition of the warring parties had completely changed the face of this star system. Unprotected minor celestial bodies and primordial planets had long turned to dust, and even once heavily armed starship fortresses could not escape the fate of scattering and collapsing—yet even at this point, the war would not cease.

Because neither side involved in this war had any reason to stop, they would not retreat a single step until the last one fell.

A planet enveloped in a faint light was the center of the battlefield. It had vast landmasses and ribbon-like oceans as embellishments. Except for areas near the coast covered in vegetation, the inland regions of the planet were almost entirely barren, expansive plains. Blue and white crystal clusters grew wildly on the dark plains, covering the earth as if to fill the void of missing vegetation in these arid zones. Huge electrical arcs danced between the crystal clusters, echoing the incessant discharges in the atmosphere, and the clouds almost never dissipated, shrouding the planet like a constantly flashing velvet blanket, concealing the true face of the planet's surface.

Thousands of years of war had unfolded around this planet. Countless armies of darkness surrounded it, layer upon layer, showering the planet's surface with artillery fire, as if a swarm of dark insects were trying to devour a faintly glowing fruit. The dark armies had bizarre shapes and forms, looking as if they had been plucked straight from some shoddy horror comic, hastily drawn by brainstorming and editorial deadlines, relying on outlandish creatures. Some were swollen fleshy masses floating in space, others were giants and beasts covered in festering sores and hideous faces, while still others were twisted, deformed piles of metal. These chaotic and blasphemous forms gathered into an army, with almost nothing in common with each other.

Some even larger shadows were mixed in with this legion: black interstellar ships, though their original forms were no longer discernible. Their metal hulls seemed to writhe as if alive, and grayish-black mist escaped from the seams of the ships, forming persistent fog banks in space. Almost every one of these ships bore the scars of battle, and proliferative limbs, somewhere between metal and flesh, probed out from these wounds, licking the ship's hull like disgusting tentacles or writhing madly in space—they would even ensnare nearby allies, dragging the struggling, screaming monsters into the ship's dark, gaping maws, as if preying on them.

Opposing these grotesque monsters was a black fleet, significantly outnumbered. This fleet formed a defensive line above the planet's atmosphere, constantly bombarding the enemy in space with energy beams and various force field weapons. Their primary targets were not the bizarre, gigantic creatures, but the black-painted, semi-biological, semi-mechanical ships within the monster horde.

Compared to the monsters of flesh and blood, the massive, sturdy, and heavily armed ships were clearly a greater threat.

A giant with a thick beard and hair stood on the observation deck of an orbital defense platform. The platform trembled constantly due to gravitational disturbances, but this trembling did not cause the giant to falter in the slightest. He looked up at the battlefield, his gaze piercing through the thick layers of defensive barriers, directly towards the grotesque monsters in high orbit.

"These blasphemous freaks..." Another, younger giant walked onto the observation deck and said with resentment, "Don't they know when to give up?"

"Neither do we," the giant with the thick beard and hair glanced at his younger peer. "This war will only end when one side is completely annihilated."

The young giant gritted his teeth, but did not say much more on the subject. He simply opened his hands towards space, bright light dancing between them. This light quickly coalesced into a relatively stable image, a chaotic and bizarre scene, with countless numbers and curves leaping across these images: "The number of spatial rifts has increased again. After this battle, the stability of order near the Nexus will decrease by another three-thousandths... The situation is not in our favor."

The giant with the thick beard and hair nodded to show he understood, and then asked, "How long until Agudar's Endtide Torrent is fully charged?"

"Three more minutes, my brother," the young giant lowered his head slightly, and after a moment's hesitation, he couldn't help but continue, "But... relying on Agudar's Endtide Torrent every time is not a long-term solution. The spatial stability and the order of the laws around the Nexus have deteriorated time and again, and the excessive release of Agudar's power is the most important reason for this. If this continues, one day we will be swallowed by Agudar ourselves."

The giant with the thick beard and hair pointed to the flashes of light constantly erupting in space: "Then we'll drag these freaks into the spatial storms with us. In any case, our mother's last relic cannot fall into the hands of these monsters. That is a fate far worse than our deaths."

The young giant said nothing more, respectfully nodded, and then left the observation deck.

The older giant retracted his gaze from space, turning his eyes to the distance—he could clearly see the curved edge of the planet's atmosphere beneath the orbital defense platform, as well as the energy barrier shrouding the atmosphere. In fact, the orbital defense platform he stood on was also protected by this barrier. The barrier was so thick that the entire planet seemed to be sealed inside a crystal ball.

Without this barrier, this sacred planet could never have lasted until today, and the outnumbered Nexus Guardian Legion could never have fought those twisted freaks on the front lines—after all, the doomsday weapon support from the planetary fortress, while powerful, had long cooldown and recharge cycles. Before the Endtide Torrent was activated, the guardians could only rely on their own strength to fight the enemy.

However, this barrier was not unbreakable. On the distant edge of the atmosphere, there was a clear fracture zone, where the planetary barrier appeared stacked and curled, and the atmosphere below the barrier was churning with a storm that had yet to dissipate. Huge electrical arcs even shot from the storm into space, making the scene incredibly spectacular, even when viewed from space.

That was the product of a battle more than three thousand years ago. The planetary fortress Naktal was torn apart after the Eternal Furnace collapsed, and the out-of-control doomsday weapon swept across the Nexus during its collapse, even piercing the planetary barrier in that area. Although the barrier had been repaired, an entire crystal matrix on the planet's surface had been obliterated in the bombardment.

To this day, it remained the most vulnerable part of the planet's defenses.

The giant with the thick beard and hair withdrew his gaze, calculating the time precisely. It was time to activate the Endtide Torrent.

A bright white beam of light pierced the darkness of space, rising from the direction of the sun, sweeping across space as solemnly as a sacred sword.

The army of twisted monsters and parasitic ships retreated in the face of this beam of light. Ordinary monsters were annihilated in the torrent of light with almost no resistance, while the ships, relying on their shields and thick armor, could only barely withstand it for a few breaths.

The Endtide Torrent slowly swept across space, as if a duster were sweeping away the dust and insects above the planetary barrier. Faced with this overwhelming power, the monster army finally realized that this attack could only go so far, and so they scattered like a swarm of insects, beginning to retreat into the dark depths of the universe.

The sweep of the Endtide Torrent lasted a long time. After the enemy retreated, it turned to space and performed a prolonged irradiation for several minutes. When the beam gradually extinguished, the entire battlefield was a mess.

Space was warped and shattered, with spatial rifts visible everywhere. Starlight from afar trembled violently in the gravitational whirlpools, forming a large area of ​​sparkling but deadly anomalous spatial structures.

These chaotic scenes gradually dissipated only after several hours...

The aftershocks of the war in the depths of the universe were blocked by the divine power blockade, unable to reach other parts of the X-cluster. When the crisis at the Crystal Nexus was temporarily resolved, Hao Ren had just returned to the Executor's homeworld.

"This is what we found over there," Hao Ren had the Data Terminal present the collected data to everyone. "It is indeed a dormant Star-Folk ship, but there's no way to awaken it. The consciousness and energy inside the ship are gone. According to these logs, this lost energy should have been transferred to a certain battlefield deep within this star sector."

"Battlefield?" Nangong Wuyue couldn't help but shrink her neck when she heard the word. "Are there other places here where there's fighting?"

"Not only are there, but the scale is probably astonishing," Hao Ren nodded. "We still can't pinpoint the location of this battlefield, but we can deduce the level of that battlefield simply based on the number of Star-Folk ships within the X-cluster and how much vast energy these ships can transmit."

Vivian picked up on Hao Ren's words: "Compared to this mysterious battlefield, the war between the Executors and the Planet Devourers can only be considered a group brawl."

Izhaks thought for a moment and offered an idea: "Speaking of which, can we find the location of the battlefield based on the energy transmission traces of the Star-Folk ships?"

"I'm afraid not," replied the Asuman Crystal. "The last energy transmission was thousands of years ago. Since then, the Star-Folk ships have been in a dormant state. Even if there were any traces left in the universe at that time, they would have long since dissipated over these thousands of years. Moreover, this star system has the interference factor of the divine power blockade, and the dissipation rate of lower-level energy is much faster than in other parts of the universe."

Hao Ren added from the side: "Judging from the logs, the war broke out very suddenly, so that the Star-Folk fleets scattered throughout the X-cluster didn't even have time to return to defend. They transferred all their energy in a very short period of time."

Nangong Sanba looked at Hao Ren thoughtfully: "Do you think the key to解除神力封锁 (jiechu shenli fengsuo, lifting the divine power blockade) lies on that battlefield?"

Hao Ren spread his hands: "We don't have any other clues right now, do we?"