Moving forward sounded simple, but it was actually far from an easy task.
Now they were trapped deep in the Crystal Nest, surrounded by a white expanse in all directions, unable to determine their position or whether they were ten thousand or eight thousand miles away from the mother nucleus.
Crystal particles could launch a violent attack at any moment, and he was in a half-sick, half-injured state. Anyone else in this situation would have used their remaining fifteen minutes to pray.
“We can first move in a general direction,” Jiang Jianming used his fingertip, which was stained with the blood Ryann had shed when crystal particles had pierced through, and drew a position map on the crystal surface.
“The equipment on the Black Shark Base was fitted with a positioning system. I had just asked about our current coordinates. I also remembered the coordinates of the Crystal Nest’s mother nucleus. Although there might be inevitable deviations, the rough relative position could be calculated.”
“The Pangu’s Axe would soon strike the Crystal Nest. If it could destroy the mother nucleus, everything would be fine; if not, the cannon’s light could guide our way. After firing…”
At this point, Jiang Jianming suddenly froze.
He seemed to have suddenly remembered something, and suddenly looked into Ryann’s eyes. His already pale face became even whiter.
“What’s wrong?”
Ryann’s eyebrows relaxed. He lowered his head and looked at his hands. “Do you find this strange? Then… I can put it away.”
As he spoke, His Highness’s hands slowly retreated and quickly merged with the crimson crystal substance, leaving only a head.
This scene was both terrifying and inexplicably amusing. But Jiang Jianming’s expression remained blank. He moved his lips but could not say anything.
After a while, Jiang Jianming looked at the crystal embedded with a head and shook his head. “…Nothing, I’ll continue.”
He quickly regained his composure and looked at the equipment from the Black Shark Base. “If we could take this device, we could enable real-time positioning for the base. However…”
Ryann: “Stop looking. It can’t be moved.”
Normally, his crystal bones could carry heavy-type mecha suits, so this mechanical equipment would be nothing. But now, weakened by injury and mental damage, he was unable. The remaining strength was reserved to protect his disabled human.
“Then we’ll leave it here.”
Jiang Jianming bent down and picked up the military coat he had just taken off. Naturally, this coat could not be taken either.
He used his finger to touch the clanging medals. “Since His Majesty made an effort, I’ll take one as a memento.”
As he spoke, Jiang Jianming removed one of them.
But it was not a medal, but an exquisite and delicate… diamond ring.
It was hidden beneath the largest Imperial Glory Medal, pinned to the military uniform, like some unspeakable secret love.
Ryann was slightly surprised and instinctively pressed his lips together guiltily. This was something he had secretly pinned on after Jiang Jianming’s hibernation in the previous life. He thought he had hidden it well, but how did Jiang see it?
“Cough… This, I don’t know which year I was suddenly inspired to hang this little trinket. Zhen has forgotten about it.”
“Is that so?”
Jiang Jianming smiled silently, carefully putting the ring on his ring finger. “Then this will do.”
Ring, ring finger – he put it on… Ryann’s heart trembled. He was actually so happy that he didn’t know how to express it, but deliberately maintained a formal demeanor:
“So many medals symbolizing supreme honor, many of which were only ever awarded to you, and the Commander just took a fancy to this?”
While speaking, he slowly lifted Jiang Jianming with his crimson gold crystal bones. “Change it, do you hear me?”
He transformed into a crystal state, carrying the disabled human, sliding through the earth’s crevices like a dragon fish, very much resembling the scene after the Crystal Nest had swallowed Gaius.
Jiang Jianming: “…”
Ryann continued to argue. “Getting a ring is not difficult. When we go back, we’ll discuss and pick an even better one…”
Jiang Jianming helplessly surveyed the Crystal Nest’s ground rapidly receding behind them, thinking: You’ve already carried me out thousands of meters, yet you’re still talking about changing the ring, what nonsense are you saying.
“Jiang,” Ryann blinked and leaned over to nuzzle him, “I didn’t know your preferences before, so I could only act on my own. When we go back, we’ll choose together…”
But this sweet talk was cut short, replaced by a suppressed groan.
“Ryann?” Jiang Jianming suddenly looked up. In his line of sight, a crimson gold crystal suddenly cracked and fell into his outstretched hand.
The crystal particle attacks from outside suddenly became fierce. The ground’s tremors grew increasingly intense.
Faint shooting sounds seemed to come from the distant sky – those were the starship cannons of the human military.
“—Concentrate fire!!”
The brutal war continued, accompanied by an officer’s roar. Millions of starships fired simultaneously, creating a burning inverted waterfall of light beams in the star domain.
After the last wave of missiles was smashed into the Crystal Nest’s location, the blood-covered army advanced like an iron wall, withstanding the crystal particles’ attacks.
Yes, they were advancing.
At this moment, the human empire’s space station was already in complete disarray. Its shell had been forcibly dismantled in multiple places, smoking everywhere.
Inside, it was long filled with countless wounded soldiers and corpses, the bloody smell lingering unabated, with destroyed starships and mechas too numerous to count.
Yet this fortress, miraculously, was not retreating but advancing.
Just days ago, merely holding its original position was considered almost impossible. However, at this moment, the space station was actually moving towards the Crystal Nest!
Before the vast white waves of crystal particles, a pitch-black mountain range emerged.
This was the starship army of the New Human Empire.
A humanoid mecha, like a divine being, charged at the forefront, its speed even surpassing battleships.
A silver body, deep red wing armor, resembling an iron-forged female war goddess.
In the cockpit, Lin Ge’s eyes were blood-red, demonic and ghostly, her hatred seemingly about to bleed out from her eyes.
She roared down. “Go… and… KILL!!!”
The next moment, the empire’s only second-ranked SS-level mecha, L-Iron Rose, suddenly extended its long mechanical arm, sweeping a laser spear—
The female emperor’s chilling voice echoed through the entire army. “Crystal Nest ahead, enemies ahead!! Zhen sees who dares to retreat. Those who shy from battle shall die!!”
A gyrfalcon swept past the female war goddess’s back, also a large-scale mecha.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!!”
Old Marshal Chen, exhausted, shouted from behind, “Your Majesty, look clearly, is the army retreating? It’s that you’re charging too aggressively and everyone can’t keep up!”
After calling out twice without response, Chen could only sigh helplessly.
Fine, the last time Her Majesty went mad was during the Lava campaign…
The old marshal could only connect to the Black Shark Base communication. “Your Excellency the Chief, Her Majesty is mentally unstable, please come and persuade her.”
At the same moment, Lieutenant General Celine suddenly looked up from the Golden Sun Wheel flagship’s command room, murmuring, “Iron Rose… Gyrfalcon… Her Majesty the Emperor and Marshal Chen have personally come!?”
“How is this possible? The Empire has already been affected by crystal particles for so long, yet they still have the capacity…”
How was this achieved? Where did these troops come from?
Commander Aslan’s parting words suddenly echoed in her mind. Celine took a deep breath, blankly thinking: Could it be… those ordinary people who had never even experienced the battlefield?
When the Commander spoke those words, she had merely thought it was to boost morale, an exaggeration.
But the current situation clearly demonstrated: Those citizens located in the deep rear had indeed provided an unimaginable power in this national defense battle!
…….
And so, the Crystal Nest became afraid.
Crystal particles released to the far reaches encountered stubborn resistance. Outside, the human army was rushing in recklessly, the Pangu’s Axe was about to fire, and inside, Kaios was approaching the mother nucleus.
Even with Gaius’s consciousness merged, the Crystal Nest’s mother nucleus could not understand how it was on the verge of defeat; how could the livestock they had implanted for hundreds of years turn the tables?
Humans, this race was always so unpredictable. It was merely one person’s words, a single gunshot, a splash of blood…
Or perhaps, behind it were millions of cries, millions of gunshots, and millions of instances of rivers of blood?
But what did that matter?
Only the shadow of destruction was closing in, regardless of whether the defeated accepted it. The mother nucleus trembled, letting out a final shrill scream, with attacks becoming chaotic and violent.
“…Indeed,” inside the crimson gold crystal, Jiang Jianming looked up and responded.
“When we go back…” he completed Ryann’s unfinished words, “we’ll choose a ring together, choose a wedding dress, and pick a good day to go public.”
“As for the wedding, keep it simple, no need to make it extravagant… I prefer a quieter atmosphere. Too many people would make me afraid.”
“Don’t be afraid,” Ryann’s face slowly transformed into crystal. He lowered his head and kissed Jiang Jianming’s forehead, then closed his eyes, “No matter when, I’ll be by your side.”
Finally, the master of this crimson gold crystal completely lost all human characteristics.
“…Ryann,” the tremors grew increasingly intense, approaching a massive earthquake. Jiang Jianming reached out to touch the cracking crystal, feeling the cracks expand beneath his hand, “…I am happy.”
At the far horizon, a light beam descended.
“No matter what outcome you and I face after today…”
The light was too scorching, too brilliant, seemingly able to penetrate everything.
So even within Ryann’s crystal protection, Jiang Jianming saw that line of light breaking through the night. He knew it was the cannon fire from the Pangu’s Axe, the Empire’s largest crystal particle annihilation cannon.
“I will consider it complete.”
In an instant, heaven and earth were illuminated.
Like an ancient giant lifting a divine axe, separating clear and turbid, yin and yang.
…..
It seemed everything had ended.
Yet it also felt like something entirely new was beginning.
When Jiang Jianming awoke, he found himself curled up on the ground of the Crystal Nest.
The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet. A faint something drifted past his blurry eyes and flew upward.
After the Pangu’s Axe’s strike, the Crystal Nest had completely transformed. The storm in mid-air had dissipated, and looking up revealed a clear universe with brilliant star rivers.
The originally transparent, white-tinted ground was now riddled with trenches and fractures, devastated. Crystal particles continuously dispersed and disappeared, like foam racing toward sunlight, or like an inverse snowfall rising from the ground to the sky.
“…Ryann?”
Jiang Jianming breathed weakly, attempting to support his involuntarily trembling body. He gazed blankly around, trying to find a focal point.
Beside him was empty.
Only dispersing crystal particles swirled around his clothing. Jiang Jianming swayed as he stood, a lonely figure standing on the damaged Crystal Nest ground.
“…”
His vision was dim. He felt his chest blood surging chaotically, his throat suddenly burning hot. Instinctively covering his mouth, warm blood stained his five fingers.
The Pangu’s Axe had fired a crystal particle annihilation cannon.
And Ryann Kaios himself was a half-human, half-crystal being. Affected at such close range…
“Ryann…”
Blood dripped from his loosely clasped fingers. Jiang Jianming took an unsteady step forward, gasping, “Are you still beside me?”
Fifteen minutes earlier, he had already thought of this.
And Ryann had undoubtedly realized it before that.
At that moment, during those brief silent moments, Jiang Jianming had considered much.
He had wanted to say, “Your Majesty, stay here, I’ll go find the mother nucleus.” But without Ryann’s protection, the disabled human could not advance a single step; and without his mental power to soothe, Ryann would always be at risk of another consciousness collapse.
So Jiang Jianming realized that perhaps this time, fate was destined to have them live and die together.
“Ryann, you’re… cough cough...”
Beyond the ground was a collapse. A descending, circular tunnel-like cave was exposed, with a dim white light deep within.
That was… the mother nucleus’s location…
Jiang Jianming staggered toward it, several drops of fresh blood sliding from his right hand and scattered behind him.
The diamond ring on his ring finger had, at some unknown time, crystallized into a crimson gold color.
