The flagship of the Crystal Cult streaked through the dark cosmic domain. The moment the Bishop of Destruction saw Jiang Jianming’s expression from afar, he understood everything.
Su closed his eyes, fingers twirling the small crystal on his chest, and let out a slight breath.
…But just as Jiang Jianming had predicted, the Crystal Cult had no other choice. Even if the Empire had set a trap, it was an unavoidable stratagem.
The order was given.
The Crystal Cult’s starships charged toward the Black Shark Base. Simultaneously, the Empire’s long-prepared mecha army launched their formation. Both sides engaged in fierce combat at the edge of the Omega Star System.
“Maintain the original coordinates, keep opening the wormhole… don’t be afraid.”
Jiang Jianming sat motionless in the control room, watching the crisscrossing artillery fire of the universe flicker before his eyes.
“Yes!” The base members responded, taking a few steps to reach the control panel next door, then suddenly turned back nervously, “Commander, remember your promise – you’re not supposed to join the battle this time!”
A helpless smile appeared on Jiang Jianming’s handsome face as he repeatedly said, “I know, I know, definitely, definitely…”
While saying this, he thought to himself helplessly: How strange, throughout history, hadn’t soldiers always wanted their commander to lead from the front?
How did it come to this, where everyone just wanted to keep him in the rear…
However, this time the Empire was actively setting an ambush, victory was assured, so whether he personally joined the battle or not didn’t matter much.
Plus, with the Black Shark Base members desperately trying to stop him, Jiang Jianming didn’t insist on joining the battle, instead staying at Black Shark Base to oversee the overall situation.
In the distance, a unique squad of mecha flew past his field of vision, and Jiang Jianming’s gaze followed.
He couldn’t help it – they were too eye-catching.
Looking out, that squad of mecha was entirely iron-black. There were nine units in total, with the central mecha only the size of an S-type, while the eight surrounding units were L-type behemoths, moving majestically with overwhelming pressure.
And all nine mecha were being controlled by one person.
Jiang Sheng.
—Mecha X-String of Pearls. The new “X” prefix symbolized the birth of the entirely new concept of “group mecha,” with String of Pearls being the first concept machine.
The pilot sat in the mother unit’s cockpit, able to simultaneously control multiple sub-units based on their spiritual power – one person becoming an entire squad.
Bang!!
The Mecha String of Pearls’ heavy fist smashed a Crystal Cult mecha in half at the waist, its mechanical arm gleaming in the flames.
This mecha was like a fish in water for Jiang Sheng. Sitting in the cockpit with a flushed face, he kept shouting into the communications.
“Ming Ming! Ming Ming baby—! Look at Dad, isn’t Dad amazing? Ahahahaha…”
Jiang Jianming: “.”
Jiang Jianming held his earpiece: “…Dad, focus on piloting.”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry, Ming Ming, didn’t you want to learn group mecha piloting techniques? Watch carefully, the biggest difference between controlling multiple mecha versus a single unit is…”
While Jiang Sheng was still cheerful, suddenly, a mecha shot out diagonally from the shadow of an asteroid on his flank, charging with a suicidal momentum!
Jiang Jianming’s expression changed slightly. “Watch out!”
The Crystal Cult member inside the mecha grinned, clutching the small crystal on his chest in his fist, showing a maniacal expression.
“Great Mecha Master, come join me in the embrace of crystal particles!!”
In a flash, one of String of Pearls’ sub-units swiftly slid sideways to block.
But unexpectedly, before the collision, that Crystal Cult member ejected from the cockpit, laughing as he leaped toward the mother unit where Jiang Sheng was!
The chaotic crystal particle flow from the acute crystal disorder outbreak was like a poisoned dagger lunging toward String of Pearls’ mother unit!
The next moment, String of Pearls’ fists collided with the Crystal Cult’s mecha, causing chaotic light to burst forth. The latter shattered into pieces, with countless smoking and burning debris flying into the distant universe!
“—!”
Jiang Jianming’s pupils constricted as he suddenly leaned forward to look out the window.
In the next second, exclamations of surprise rang out in the main control room.
The silhouette broke through the flames, and X-String of Pearls’ mother unit soared up like a phoenix reborn, completely unscathed.
“Ming Ming baby!! Were you worried about Dad just now? Dad’s fine–hahaha…”
Jiang Jianming’s eye twitched as he mercilessly cut off the communication.
…This stupid son-obsessed idiot!
On the battlefield, the Crystal Cult members let out screams.
“–Why!?”
Their faces turned pale as their trembling fingers pointed at the imperial soldiers they were fighting, as if they were looking at a group of demons.
“Why… aren’t the imperial troops… experiencing crystal disorder!!”
Indeed, not just Jiang Sheng, but it seemed all imperial troops could no longer be induced into crystal disorder!
The Crystal Cult’s suicide tactics were identical to those used at Alpha Alien Star years ago.
However, in less than two years, this tactic had become ineffective against the imperial army. Countless cries of despair from the Crystal Cult members echoed from all corners of the battlefield.
One Crystal Cult member who had tried to die together with the imperial troops suddenly broke down crying.
Like a madman whose faith had collapsed, he lunged towards Su’s direction, “Your Excellency, Your Excellency–!!”
Crystal clusters crawled up his face, his eyes bulging as he watched the imperial mechas pass through his line of sight with resentment.
“Why aren’t they experiencing crystal disorder–!!”
“…”
The Bishop of Destruction’s face stiffened as he stared at everything in disbelief.
The piece of clothing with the small crystal pinned to his chest became wrinkled under his palm, and was soaked with cold sweat.
Crystal Cult members bent over and vomited large amounts of blood. With their last breath, they let out a hoarse cry. “Why…won’t they…return…to the holy…crystal particles’…embrace…”
Before finishing the sentence, he fell, his body twisting into bloody crystalline chunks, dying with eyes wide open.
Until his consciousness faded, this Crystal Cult member couldn’t understand.
How could humans, a civilization full of selfish desires and base instincts, a weak species that had already been colonized by another race, possibly resist the Crystal Nest’s call?
Could it be that humans could actually overcome crystal particles? Could their native species actually possess such miraculous power?
But if that were the case, then what they had believed in until now…
What exactly was it that they had betrayed their compatriots and sacrificed their lives to pursue?
…..
Inside Black Shark Base, Diana lifted her face, her eyes bright. “Very good.”
She took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and said softly, “Very good, everyone did well, everyone worked hard!”
In this scene and moment, it seemed like a soliloquy.
Because in this vast laboratory, there was only Diana Lance alone.
Her elegant figure stood in solitude. Even her delicate voice was met only with echoes.
However, looking around.
The dim light shone behind her, and in the silence, thousands of oval-shaped capsules resembling hibernation pods stood vertically, densely packed like an ant queen’s nest, stretching beyond what the eye could see.
What had allowed the Empire’s soldiers to resist the onset of acute crystal disorder?
It was the crystal-resistant armor, the third-generation tranquilizers, the crystal particle shields…
It was various technologies that condensed the blood and sweat of researchers, pieced together bit by bit over decades.
The final trump card laid down was the “Base Body Project” that had finally achieved large-scale military implementation.
The Crystal Cult members could never have imagined that at this moment, those fighting in the space battlefield outside were all base bodies that had received mental consciousness projection!
These base bodies, developed specifically by Black Shark Base for the crystal particle campaign, were fundamentally different from the initial experimental bodies 000, 001, and 002.
Maximizing physical attributes and crystal bone grades went without saying.
The most unique point was that all combat base bodies were “manufactured” with a mild chronic crystal disorder state, precisely to allow soldiers to resist the danger of sudden death from acute crystal disorder outbreaks to some extent!
After receiving the projection while retaining their original memories, soldiers took about a day or two to familiarize themselves with their newly matched base bodies before quickly entering combat.
And so, on this day.
Crystal disorder, this illness considered both incurable and unpredictable…
Finally, after generations of accumulated grief and tears, along with the complete implementation of the Base Body Project, a corner of its ice mountain had been breached.
Like the fall of a fortress, or the collapse of an ancient city.
It was also like the old royal flag falling listlessly over Yongle Garden Star City as the sun rose in the east.
The base chief slowly extended both hands.
She removed her black mask, lightly shaking her hair.
In that instant, it seemed the surrounding starscape brightened a degree.
Behind the mask was no longer an elderly woman, but someone with smooth, fair skin, silver hair woven like frost and snow, and blue eyes as clear and moving as lake water.
Sylph stood there, holding her mask. Having just undergone gene repair surgery, she had regained her youthful beauty, like a lily swaying beneath the sea of stars.
“I once promised to complete the Base Body Project within my lifetime,”
The chief gazed at everything before her and said softly, “For this, I refused gene surgery, hoping to feel the speed of every second’s passage with my own body.”
“Now I’ve done it.”
Among her silver hair, tiny points of light flickered – a miniature earpiece connecting to someone beyond the sea of stars.
“I also promised you… if you would be the Empire’s light, I would be its shadow.”
“I will think of you across the sea of stars until the day we meet again.”
“Lin Ge, I once left you at the end of the long night to enter the depths of the universe, and naturally I will return to the home you’ve guarded when the light arrives.”
“Thank you for watching over the destination of all of us, all these years.”
…
In the distant White Jade Palace, it was a frost-white morning, with autumn dew hanging on golden roses.
The Female Emperor propped her cheek with one hand, squinting her slender eyes and brows, and smiled at the projection. “Is that so? Did that happen?”
“It was so many years ago, Zhen doesn’t remember.”
“However…” Lin Ge nodded wistfully.
“Little girl, you’re still as beautiful as this old lady remembers.”
