The middle!
Xie Yuduo’s eyes fixed intently on the center of the three white vortexes. That surface area looked identical to every other part of the Crystal Nest’s ground, not appearing to hide any secrets.
But after Jiang Jianming’s hint, a flash of insight struck the Major General’s mind: Indeed, it took three combined attacks from the Crystal Nest to withstand one strike from the Pangu’s Axe. If it wasn’t to hide the location of the mother nucleus, why not just concentrate into one force to fight against the giant cannon?
And if it had already split into three to hide its true form, why not conceal it even more thoroughly?
Xie Yuduo swiftly locked onto the position on the virtual screen before him.
The next second, all soldiers received a new attack target point, along with new orders:
“All forces change mobile targets, all mechas leave their ships and form ranks, charge downward!!”
By this point, Crystal Nest creatures were too densely packed on all sides, making it very difficult for medium and large starships to advance.
Xie Yuduo simply ordered all mecha soldiers who could leave their ships to join the battle. Abandon the covering starships and rely on mechas to force through the final distance against the crystal bones!
One mecha after another was knocked away, flashes of red as they were thrown backward.
Major General Xie led from the front. Outside the cockpit of mecha Tianshu, purple-black crystal bones suddenly expanded, countless protruding crystal edges colliding and shattering.
A rain of fire fell from above – that was the soldiers remaining on the starships, concentrating their final strength to clear a path forward before being overwhelmed by Crystal Nest creatures.
“Don’t cover the army!” The cockpit repeatedly shook violently as Xie Yuduo swallowed the blood rising in his throat and roared, “Any shells you have, blast them down at the center of the three vortexes!!”
Suddenly, his expression changed drastically.
Overhead, a barrage of artillery fire swept across, shattering that unchanging white crystal ground piece by piece. However, one area remained completely undamaged – forget about cracking, it didn’t even have a single scratch!
Xie Yuduo felt his whole body shake, and without thinking shouted. “That’s the spot, get me the coordinates!!”
But no one responded to his call. The Major General turned to look – the several soldiers inside mecha L-Tianshu had all collapsed in their pilot seats. They had all reached their limit and taken their own lives before acute crystal disorder could erupt.
“Damn it.” Blood suddenly surged in Xie Yuduo’s mouth. He quickly retracted the crystal bones, sealed the mecha cockpit, and with trembling hands turned to the calculation panel.
It was just remotely calculating coordinates for a specific location – normally this would only take half a second to lock on.
But now, in this environment with crystal particles dancing wildly, the calculations needed to first go through interference elimination procedures before gradually narrowing down the range, taking anywhere from five to dozens of seconds.
Countless crystals stabbed toward L-Tianshu at the front, the breath of death approaching.
Xie Yuduo stared unblinkingly at the rapidly calculating screen. If they could confirm the coordinates of the Crystal Nest’s mother nucleus, forget losing one Base Body – even if he truly sacrificed himself here it would be worth it, more than worth it!
In a flash, a crimson shadow suddenly accelerated from behind, blade light flashing as large chunks of crystal edges exploded into mist!
The newcomer came to an abrupt halt – it was L-Hephaestus!
Red Dragon shouted harshly. “Silver Big Dipper, what are you dawdling for!?”
Crystal particles howled like tornados, whirling the low-altitude air currents.
Another Crystal Nest attack came. Hephaestus swung its arm blade horizontally – the Thief Slaughter seemed like the flames of the fire god as it slashed down at the approaching white crystals!
The Silver Big Dipper’s mecha soldiers also realized Xie Yuduo was at a crucial moment, and all gathered back to protect him, shielding Tianshu in the center.
Tang Zhen’s sharp eyes caught sight of that unusual crystal surface and shouted. “Major General, is it there!?”
Bei Man’er stretched to look, “Is that where the Crystal Nest mother nucleus is located, with the Crystal Cult Archbishop’s consciousness also beneath that surface?”
Beep…! The intelligence prompt sounded by Xie Yuduo’s ear, now as wonderful as heavenly music – the calculation system had finally locked onto the initial coordinate range of the target location!
Xie Yuduo looked at the calculated numbers and let out a heavy breath, his back already soaked in cold sweat.
He immediately threw the results into the military channel. “No more talk. Those still alive, memorize this string of numbers. The first thing you do when you die, report it to Their Highnesses!”
Looking around after shouting, he discovered only a few hundred Silver Big Dipper mechas could still gather nearby.
Of the tens of thousands of Silver Big Dipper elite soldier Base Bodies that departed from the space station, this battle would likely claim them all completely.
Xie Yuduo’s eye twitched as he thought darkly: Next time when they needed to fight to the death, there would be no Base Bodies to die in their place.
This thought was immediately suppressed as the young general shook his head internally: Wrong, wrong, wrong. Haven’t all human wars throughout history been built upon flesh and bone?
With the decisive battle approaching, how could he get sentimental about matters of life and death? Wouldn’t that prove Little Excellency right – that they’d been spoiled by the Base Body program?
He looked back at the mecha screen before him. Due to the crystal particle density, communications could no longer reach the space station. They could only wait for Base Bodies to die and carry the coordinates back to Black Shark Base in their memories.
But Base Bodies were precious – suicide just for this seemed somewhat wasteful…
Xie Yuduo frowned in thought for a second, then took a deep breath. “Those who’ve memorized the numbers, follow me, continue descending!”
Let’s see what’s at those unusual coordinates. Who knows, maybe they could blast open a path straight to the mother nucleus?
“Yes!!”
The Silver Big Dipper soldiers rallied their spirits as the mechas reformed their formation.
Fighting bloodily all the way here, the survivors finally saw hope for victory. Their aching bodies and dizzy heads seemed to surge with new energy.
Far from afraid, they became excited as their blood boiled.
Red Dragon’s eyes darkened, “Very good, Gauis’s consciousness is most likely hidden underneath that ground.”
He suddenly called out. “Silver Big Dipper, fall back. We’ll clear the path for you.”
Tang Zhen was slightly shocked. “You…”
“…”
But Xie Yuduo silently ordered mecha Tianshu to retreat. Having fought the Lava Space Bandits for decades, Silver Big Dipper knew these space pirates’ style well enough.
Since they’d decided to do this, they were willing to do it. They owed no one, and no one needed to interfere.
Red Dragon chuckled. “Hmm, the General gets it.”
With that, the youth leaned back, sitting cross-legged in the mecha’s pilot seat, threw his head back with a laugh and said, “Lava brothers and sisters, let’s go!”
The Lava Space Bandits all roared excitedly, following their young chief’s Hephaestus as they piloted their mechas diving down.
It was as if they weren’t going to their deaths, but rather to drink and feast with long-lost brothers and sisters, settling scores with joy.
Tang Zhen and Bei Man’er looked at each other with reddened eyes, shouting in unison. “We’re going too!!”
The Silver Big Dipper soldiers followed close behind.
The surrounding white became increasingly blinding, along with cannon fire and blade light. Their ears filled with heavy explosions and crisp shattering sounds.
Mechas kept falling, warriors kept dying. But no one cared anymore, they just pressed forward under death’s shadow, leaving their fallen comrades’ remains behind as they advanced.
Fight, fight. They charged toward the enemy’s final fortress.
At some unknown point, when Red Dragon looked up panting heavily, no Lava Space Bandit mechas could be found in his field of vision.
The crimson Hephaestus was already in tatters, one mechanical arm broken off, the other barely hanging on.
The energy tank was billowing thick smoke – rather than flying, it was more like crashing in a fixed direction.
“Old Black Sheep,” Red Dragon said hoarsely.
“Looks like you won’t be able to go back to see your son.”
Behind the youth stood a tall space pirate with bronze skin. Blood flowed from Kenny Gao’s nose and mouth. Old Black Sheep smiled good-naturedly, his eyes showing a softness uncharacteristic of pirates.
“It’s alright, boss…”
The middle-aged man said with difficulty, “My boy said he’d bury me next to his mother.”
“Idiot,” Red Dragon cursed under his breath.
“You followed me, you all… followed me…”
“Old Black Sheep has been happy following the boss these years.”
Kenny Gao squinted his eyes, grinning to reveal blood-stained teeth, “Thank you, boss.”
White light filled everything above and below, like snow reflecting off a frozen lake.
Hephaestus descended through the white light. Red Dragon narrowed his eyes, remembering the fairy tales Old Black Sheep used to read to him when he was young.
Tales of ice-covered lakes, dense quiet forests.
Of kind villagers and children encountering adventures.
Do space pirates wandering the sea of stars still long for humanity’s homeland in their dreams?
Red Dragon knew Old Black Sheep’s talk of happiness wasn’t entirely true. At least not completely. He could sense this guy missed his wife and child, missed the days before becoming a space pirate.
As for himself… born on a starship, he had never lived in human star cities, so he had no concept of it.
The ground rapidly expanded – the mecha was destined to crash. Red Dragon gazed at that piece of Crystal Nest surface now within reach. Even now it remained without a single scratch, appearing smooth and beautiful.
It wasn’t for any racial survival. Just that this Crystal Nest thing was really irritating, Red Dragon thought.
Hephaestus fell downward. In the fierce wind, Red Dragon leaped out of the cockpit, retrieving the Bandit Slaughter from the mechanical arm that could no longer be raised.
His feet danced through the air as he leaped down.
Raising the long blade high—
The crystal bone weapon, illuminated by human will, slashed toward the ice-cold, pure white Crystal Nest.
****
Golden Sun Wheel space station.
For those here, every second after communications were cut was torture.
Several times Ryann had to restrain himself from charging to the front lines, each time held back by Jiang Jianming through both soft and hard methods.
Suddenly, alarms blared throughout the space station!
Crystal particle density data began growing exponentially. The virtual screens in front showed several windows going black one after another – nothing could be seen of the front line situation.
Both Their Highnesses reacted quickly, simultaneously abandoning the big screen and rushing to the porthole to look toward the distant Crystal Nest—
At this sight, both their expressions changed instantly.
More people saw the spectacular sight outside. Exclamations came from behind. “Your Highness, that’s…!”
Looking into the distance, the changes in the universe were now visible to the naked eye.
The Crystal Nest, dormant for many years, now seemed like a leaking giant ball, with magnificent streams of crystal particles frantically spilling outward.
The overly concentrated crystal particles condensed into fine white crystal grains in the vacuum, like a heavy fog spreading toward the space station.
Like a snow-white night curtain, slowly descending over humanity’s heads.
Ryann’s gaze was cold as he said deeply, “It seems the Crystal Nest’s mother nucleus’s true form has been breached.”
Jiang Jianming suddenly turned around, commanding sternly. “Communications are useless now, immediately contact Black Shark Base, ask if any Base Body consciousness has returned! I need to know the situation inside the Crystal Nest!”
