Chapter 181 The Ocean of Light

On the surface of that slowly surging dark horizon, like a curtain, there suddenly appeared continuous, shimmering waves of light.

After a few seconds, Hao Ren realized that the flashing waves were actually the Night Watcher forces composed of the Starry Sky People.

Clusters of spindle-shaped or disc-shaped lights emerged from the surface of the horizon, ranging in size from hundreds of meters to hundreds of kilometers—a vast difference. What they had in common was that they all emitted yellowish-white light, with electricity flashing within, and multiple bright cores wandering deep inside. These were the Starry Sky People in transition—they had left their starship form and transformed into a more primitive energy aggregate state to speed up their travel in the dark abyss. The sight of thousands upon thousands of Starry Sky People gathered together in this form could only be described as spectacular.

It was an ocean of light whistling towards them.

But behind this ocean of light, countless chaotic darknesses were chasing them.

"Attention, large-scale Mad Whispers leak detected, Derivative Entities sighted... All weapons unlock restrictions, lock onto firing range C-3 to C-6!"

As the Night Watcher forces disengaged, the dark horizon began to churn violently like a boiling pot of oil. Countless bizarre shadows broke away from the surface of the curtain and rapidly solidified into entities in space, transforming into all kinds of monsters that made one's scalp tingle at first glance—some were giants with countless limbs, some were chunks of meat covered in large and small eyes, and some were simply clouds of smoke, constantly spewing out festering flesh and torn faces. These blind, foolish Derivative Entities were nipping at the direction of the Night Watcher forces' retreat, pouring out in droves.

"Except for Annihilation Spears, all turrets, free fire!"

At Hao Ren's command, the protective barriers of the Watch Fortress immediately flowed with water-like waves of light. Hundreds of thousands of dazzling beams crossed the vast space, shooting towards the army of Derivative Entities that was constantly pouring in from afar.

At the same time as the Watch Fortress opened fire, the retreating Night Watcher forces also reacted—although it was the first time they were standing on the same battlefield, the two sides cooperated so well that it seemed as if they had rehearsed countless times. The large and small balls of light moved nimbly in space, dividing into dozens of "tributaries," bypassing the main firing paths of the Watch Fortress, and quickly gathering at the edge of the battlefield to begin transforming their forms.

The balls of light contracted and deformed violently, with electric arcs crackling and wandering on their surfaces, as if revealing their true forms after the thick fog had dissipated. Complex crystal structures probed out from within those light mists. After only a few minutes, those light clusters, which had originally been like mist, transformed into crystal fleets.

Their style was just like Asueman's.

After a brief adjustment of position, the crystal warships entered the optimal firing position: their seemingly solidified crystalline structures could actually change shape at any time, with countless large and small crystal clusters "growing" out of the warship's surface, and each crystal cluster was an extremely powerful laser turret.

"All Night Watcher forces have disengaged from the dark abyss!" an ethereal voice very similar to Asueman's came from the control tower communicator. "This is Attil, Supreme Commander of the Night Watchers, thanking the friendly forces for their assistance."

"Attil?" Leah asked curiously. "I remember the commander of the Night Watchers was..."

"Goddess, it is a pleasure to hear your voice again. Our commander was killed when the 'Prisoner' broke through the middle defense line," Attil's voice sounded without any emotional change. "The Night Watcher forces have lost one-third—what remains here is all that's left."

"...I understand," Leah sighed softly. "Your brave sacrifice has bought us valuable time, but now is not the time to rest—the contaminating forces that have infiltrated are constantly invading the real world. Please cooperate with us to eliminate them."

"This is the Night Watchers' mission."

The Starry Sky People's crystal fleet began to fiercely retaliate against the Mad Whispers Derivative Entities that had chased them out, while the Watch Fortress, while opening all its artillery, also released the drone swarms from each nest. Swarms of drone forces poured out from each launch port,迎向 those equally numerous monster armies. Interspersed among those heavily armed drones were a considerable number of new-type kamikaze drones.

Kamikaze drones were a traditional model in the drone swarms, but incorporating them into the front-line forces was a recent development—after statistically analyzing a large number of battle reports on the dividing line of the dark abyss, Hao Ren discovered that the Mad Whispers Derivative Entities pouring out of the dark abyss had higher combat power and offensive desire. In the face of these "elite cannon fodder," only the heavily armed drones could exert their usual combat power, while the light-type bodies could hardly survive the first round of attacks. Faced with this situation, Hao Ren simply recycled all the light-type bodies, dismantling the weapon modules and bomb bays and stuffing them with explosives...

Facts have proven that as units whose survival time on the battlefield is short, measured in minutes, kamikazes can indeed play a stronger role than traditional light combat models. After all, the latter are almost destroyed after firing only a few shots, while the former can at any time take away a whole group of people with a boom... including themselves, of course.

Standing on the upper viewing platform of the control tower, Leah expressionlessly watched the universe outside, where artillery fire was flying. Those ugly monsters were being annihilated in large numbers at least a million kilometers away from the fortress, but she could still clearly see every detail on those monsters. She gently shook her head: "There is almost no normal matter in the dark abyss. These flesh-and-blood monsters are actually all from nightmares, and... they are all 'new models'."

"New models?" Hao Ren asked curiously.

"Originally, the Mad Whispers Derivative Entities that appeared in the dark abyss would not have so many forms and varied attack methods. They were usually a chaotic cloud of smoke, and their attacks were monotonous and easier to deal with," Leah shook her head. "But these... they are obviously from clear nightmares, more complex, more diverse, and more cunning. This kind of monster with a definite form usually appears in civilized settlements with mental reactions, and here..."

Hao Ren frowned: "The Goddess of Destruction created them?"

"The Goddess of Destruction and I were once of one mind," Leah nodded gently. "And I am connected to almost ninety percent of the minds in the entire universe, including those of mortals and those demigods that I created. Their beautiful dreams and nightmares are shared with me... and naturally also with the Goddess of Destruction. What you see before you are the monsters that all intelligent beings in this universe have conjured up in their nightmares over the past tens of millions of years."

The entire universe, tens of millions of years, how many creatures have ever dreamed, and how many dreams have conjured up terrifying monsters? Just thinking about the quantity implied behind these few short words, Hao Ren could even feel his scalp tingling.

Vivian couldn't help but sigh softly: "In the Dream Plane... dreaming is really a high-risk thing."

A sentinel's voice interrupted their sighs: "The Mad Whispers reaction intensity is decreasing, the horizon is beginning to recover."

The monsters that poured out of the dark abyss were finally suppressed, and no new monsters appeared. The limited number of Derivative Entities on the battlefield were constantly being reduced by artillery fire and drone attacks.

The Lord of Mad Whispers, or rather the Goddess of Destruction, had not completely broken free from her restraints. Her main body was still suppressed by the last layer of barrier. What chased the Night Watcher forces were only the "shadows" of the Mad Whispers power in the border area, so their numbers were naturally limited. After a short but intense firefight, the battlefield finally gradually calmed down.

"Whew... I thought we would have to use the Annihilation Spears," Hao Ren breathed a sigh of relief, watching the distant "horizon" gradually calm down. "The last wave of counterattacks was really damn exciting."

Leah was also quietly watching the distant "horizon," but the expression on her face was not as relaxed as Hao Ren's. Her small eyebrows were tightly furrowed: "The speed at which the horizon is calming down is getting slower and slower... the Lord of Mad Whispers is struggling very hard."

Attil's voice came from the communicator: "From a long time ago, the Prisoner's reaction was obviously abnormal, and the changes have been the greatest in recent years. The collapse of the inner defense line began at that time."

A streamlined crystal warship disengaged from the Starry Sky People's formation and slowly approached the drone control tower. The drone swarm and the Starry Sky People's starship established a data link. After completing security authentication, a connecting channel probed out from inside the control tower and connected to an opening on the abdomen of the crystal warship.

A dozen minutes later, the entrance to the upper viewing platform of the control tower opened, and a crystal floating in mid-air entered the room. The crystal had a similar shape and texture to Asueman, and it also contained a nebula-like light, but the glittering nodes in that nebula light were obviously different from Asueman's—this was probably the identifier that distinguished the Starry Sky People from each other?

The crystal that floated in was the commander of the Night Watcher forces, Attil.

"How many years has it been..." Leah came to the crystal, her tone full of emotion. "Attil... I still remember how you volunteered to guard the inner defense line... I never thought we would have a chance to meet again."

"We heard the news of your fall, but we have always firmly believed that you will eventually return," Attil's voice was as pleasant as a wind chime. "Unfortunately, not all of our people can see this scene."

"The entire universe will surely remember their sacrifice—every sacrifice must be remembered," Leah said firmly. "But the prerequisite is that our world can survive this ordeal."

With that, she stepped back slightly, and Hao Ren walked up to Attil: "Hello, I am the supreme commander of this drone legion, and also the Observer of this universe. You can call me Hao Ren."

"We heard your name in the Interstellar Whispers, Observer," the light on Attil's surface flickered slightly, probably a courtesy. "Asueman told us about your deeds. What you have done in the Dream Plane can be called great."

"It's just within my duty," Hao Ren nodded slightly. "Now, tell us about what's happening inside the dark abyss."