Xyrin Empire

A blinding beam of light rose from the distant horizon, piercing into the deep space, and moments later, a sun-like flame appeared in the pitch-black universe. The alloy crust beneath our feet trembled slightly, and a low hum reverberated in the air. In the distance, a massive canyon split the earth open, with a red glow reflecting from within, casting a sunset-like shimmer on the translucent ghost energy shield high above. Torrid heat waves surged from the direction of the red canyon, emitting thermal radiation so intense it could almost instantly melt ordinary steel.

Amidst the rumbling earth tremors, the red canyon in the distance slowly closed, and the heat waves along with the high-energy beams beyond the horizon disappeared from view.

This is near the North Pole of the "Twilight No.3" planet battleship. The canyon that suddenly appeared and then slowly closed was actually its weapon cooling channel, whereas the beam beyond the horizon was the most powerful main cannon on "Twilight No.3," humorously called the "Legion Cannon." By stacking phases, it can align hundreds of galaxy main guns in a line. Thus, this monster's penetration power is astonishingly high, almost capable of breaching any law-level defense instantly, even if it's a thousand kilometers thick Xyrin starship alloy. Moreover, it also has offensive power against law defenses, which is what truly makes the weapons of a planet battleship more powerful than conventional weapons, although still incomparable to the true planet battleships of the old Empire.

Additionally, regarding the term "Legion Cannon," I know it sounds silly, but it's at least better than Qianqian's suggestion, "Dynamic Light Wave," right?

"Attack finished, weapon systems operating normally, damage level to target unknown, no signs of counterattack." The core cognitive system of the planet battleship reported the outcome of the attack in a mechanical voice, while Sandora, standing with me on the "North Pole Tower" of Twilight No.3 gazing at the sky, brushed her wind-tousled hair back, her eyes solemn: "Ah Jun, our time is running out."

"More than half of the forty-eight hours have passed, now less than ten hours remain, what exactly is that thing made of…"

I looked up at the sky, although it was all dark, the continuous flashes of gunfire faintly outlined an extraordinarily massive shadow, a nondescript polygon with many faces of varying brightness. Data from the probes indicated it's a gigantic dodecahedron structure, with a diameter reaching over twelve thousand kilometers. This enormous polyhedron hovers solitarily in an absolutely empty part of the sky zone, without any celestial bodies nearby, not even cosmic dust, the space is unbelievably "clean," making this massive polyhedron like an isolated island in a desert. The target is entirely black, with the light reflectance of each face showing a certain pattern. Face No.1 is a strange total reflection mirror, theoretically capable of reflecting shadows from the opposite end of the universe—if you have such good eyesight—while Face No.12, the counterpart of the total reflection face, can't reflect any photons and behaves like a "horizon" of a black hole. Xyrin Technicians speculate that these patterned surfaces might hide the secret to this polygon's formidable defensive strength. They've been studying it for two hours, and their only conclusion so far is that Face No.1 is damn bright…

This is our ultimate target: the control core of the shadow space, a vast, solid, inexplicably outrageous chunk of iron. And this outrageous thing has been standing firm under our concentrated bombardment for over an hour.

The enormous, bizarre facility, larger than our planet battleship, hovers above Sandora and me, its massive, dark silhouette occupying two-thirds of the sky. Looking up at it gives me a sense of heavy oppression. The probes we sent easily landed on this silent, strange facility, but the information they returned only revealed its bare surface: a dodecahedron, incredibly smooth except for the edges around each face, with no mechanical protrusions or functional structures found. No gun ports, no engines, no antennas, and not even any entry or exit passages. Were it not for the radar indicating its mass is uneven, I would almost think it's a solid iron block polished to smoothness.

Despite a fierce battle, the Revenge Army fleet in this universe is still vast, with only those enemy units that returned for defense from the real world and strayed into the ghost energy Death Star's range being eliminated. The rest of the Revenge Army remains scattered across the universe, and we naturally lack the resources to sweep them away one by one. Hence these Revenge Army fleets remain unscathed. However, strangely, ever since the Imperial Army entered the vicinity of this planet-sized control core, all Revenge Army attacks suddenly ceased. Probe data indicates that those ships didn't stop propulsion, just maintained an active state quietly observing us, much like the silent warships in Gnaku of the War Song. This situation is puzzling, and ultimately, I can only attribute it to PL-15's doing: he once again suppressed the berserker shells with the trapped Revenge Army spirits.

After entering range, the ghost energy Death Star began decelerating and now rests half a light-year from the control core. We have ultimately abandoned plans to ram it with the ghost energy Death Star. Including "Twilight No.3" beneath our feet, ten planet battleships detached from the Celestial System Fleet to attempt shelling this control core, but so far, everything has been in vain.

It's quite strange, as the gigantic Empire structure in our sight doesn't possess any special defense systems—not even a shield—which shocked us greatly during our first attack. A black structure without obvious reinforced armor, phase shift force field, or even shield, yet enduring a concentrated assault by ten planet battleships for an hour without a scratch, this has driven all the weapon control unit commanders crazy. Even more maddening, however, is the passage of time.

Another full-scale assault command was issued, and tens of millions of energy streams instantly illuminated the once dark outer space as brightly and dazzlingly as the surface of a constant star. The multi-surfaced control core, formerly indistinct in the darkness, became conspicuous under the stage spotlight-like focus of bright beams from all directions, except for the face at the center of our vision: it was black, as if nonexistent, giving an "empty" illusion, that is Face No.12, a bizarre surface reflecting no photons.

This time, the display was grandiose even in silence, but witnessing the explosion flames covering two-thirds of the sky, I could envision the spectacle of over a hundred suns devastating the target's surface simultaneously. Yet, our attack still vanished without a trace before fully releasing, no one knows where this energy was discharged to—perhaps the Void?

"I think even if the Ghost Energy Death Star really crashes into us, it won't make a difference."

I frowned, "Sandora, what is this Old Empire high-tech stuff?"

Sandora shook her head, "I don't remember the Old Empire having such a bizarre defense mechanism. It doesn't seem to defend against attacks but rather ignores any 'result' that could damage its structure. If it truly erased its destructibility, I have to say the Revenge Army made a shocking invention after losing control."

"Besides anti-phasing and parsecs, I really couldn't imagine such a weird thing."

I mumbled, my gaze drifting to Big Sister, "Sis, your new feature…"

"It's useless. It rejects any attempt to change its information. Anything that tends to alter its state gets intercepted," Big Sister shook her head. "Lin's brute force and Bingdisi's golden arrows had no effect. Lin hit it too hard and reverted to a child's intelligence, while Bingdisi is tricking her for scales to repair her arrows… Qianqian tried to reverse the time flow of several parts of the target, attempting to tear its information integrity with the timeline, but it failed big time and now she's drawing circles in her room."

I sighed deeply for various reasons.

"If we could contact that voice again, perhaps the issue would be easily resolved," I muttered, "PL-15 said he would reappear once you showed up, but now you're here, and he's ghosting you?"

Sandora didn't respond to my sarcasm but instead frowned and looked up with determination, "Ah Jun, you're right. Maybe I have to go for them to appear."

"Ah, ah?" I was taken aback and only realized Sandora intended to approach the strange control core herself. I quickly pressed her shoulder, "Don't. Calm down—it's the enemy's stronghold. Too many abnormal things about this space. This thing's defense has reached an outrageous level. If its attack matches its defense, it could be dangerous…"

Just as I spoke halfway, an emergency communication came through our spiritual connection, making cold sweat instantly cover my face:

"Alert! Alert! Mist God Star is under sudden attack! Defensive forces are retreating! The line is in danger!"

My face changed dramatically as I exchanged glances with Sandora and Big Sister, whose expressions also darkened instantly, speaking in unison: "The Revenge Army has found the target!"

But that was just the beginning of the turn for the worse. Just as I was about to dispatch some Planet Battleships to return to Mist God Star immediately (since there's no enemy attack here for the time being), a blinding flash suddenly split through space while our fleet briefly halted its firepower, followed by Twilight No.3 trembling violently!

"Encountered enemy Super Space-Time Strike! Revenge Army Fleet in Shadow Space resumes action!"

PL-15's suppression of those rampaging shells finally failed—yet why won't that guy come out and contact us to tell us how to open this damn core barrier? Could it be that they're really trapped inside the core, unable to communicate with the outside at all?

Lilina's little face also suddenly fell, and with a weathered tone, she looked up at the sky, lamenting, "Damn, this time we're all fucked…"

I looked at this fierce loli in utter collapse, pinching her ear, "Girl, can't you censor yourself when you curse?"

Lilina rolled her eyes, "Shit, this time we're all so fucking screwed!"

Can I ask what was with that censoring just now!?

The Revenge Army's sudden resumption of actions and direct attack on the Mist God Star caught us off guard. Two planet battleships were immediately ordered to exit shadow space, ensuring the absolute safety of the Mist God Star Base at all costs. Our need for military force in this universe isn't that high, so it's not an issue to deploy part of the fleet. But why the enemy discovered the secret of the Mist God Star, only heaven knows—looks like we underestimated the detection tech in the hands of the Revenge Army. The sky was once again ignited by artillery fire, and this time it wasn't just artillery fire that appeared before us; there were also the swarming warships of the Revenge Army. After PL-15's suppression failed, the enemy seemed to fully recover their operational capabilities, swarming from every corner of the shadow space to launch a fierce attack on the Celestial System Fleet and our ten planet battleships here. The escort fleet and servant army, which had just rested for barely one or two hours, immediately returned to the battlefield. Countless giant spaceships roared out of the hangars of the planet battleships and giant carriers, engaging the enemy who approached relentlessly. The air raid alarms echoed through Twilight No.3's atmosphere, the distant ground cracked open again, revealing the cooling grids of the weapon system, and beyond the horizon, massive beams slowly cut across the sky, slicing the two Revenge Army mother ships that suddenly appeared overhead in half.

Although we could never form effective damage on the control core, using the Legion Cannon to destroy conventional warships is a piece of cake.

"There's no time to think it over, even if it's risky, I must go over myself to take a look."

Sandora resolutely said, her eyes gazing at the giant polyhedron occupying two-thirds of the sky. I finally let out a sigh, "Alright, you're getting one thing wrong, it's not that you must go check it out yourself, it's us."

Before Sandora could respond, I pinched her cheek, "Don't forget, I'm your husband, and it's time for us to face this together."

Big Sister began coughing on the side, and Lilina pretended to be a shy, pure little loli, but I knew the information flowing through her head could fill twenty volumes of mature-rated literature. I should be glad Bingdisi wasn't present. Combined with Lilina, the world would be utterly darkened.

Getting close to the control core really didn't require any trouble, which was a very bizarre fact: Despite its astonishing defense, the control core showed no tendency to retaliate. Our vigilance was entirely based on the conventional early warning judgement, but in fact, since the first attack an hour earlier until now, the damage caused by attacking this polyhedron only resulted in Lin's temporary intelligence loss and a few of Bingdisi's arrows. Our probes could easily land on this thing's surface without any attacks. Seeing this, someone might say: if landing on the core is so easy, why go through the trouble of attacking it? Why not just land directly?

I feel I need to clarify this: what we want is to stop this damn thing. Standing on its surface does no good! Am I occupying this big iron lump just to build a three-room apartment?

If Qianqian were here, she'd probably nod in agreement.

Sandora and I thus smoothly arrived on the surface of the control core without facing any interception.

I found this surprisingly easy and enjoyable, and all the previous worries and sense of impending battle seemed completely unnecessary. Still, Sivis over there had already gone on high alert: two Imperial Leaders were standing recklessly at the enemy's main base entrance, unguarded, so naturally, their regular officers were anxious. Historically, most nervous breakdowns were suffered by bodyguards, while presidents were carefree—as seen in American blockbusters, or like me and Sandora.

We lightly landed on one face of the control core, which was as vast as a continent with no visible edges. A group of Imperial Agents and several hundred Atlantis Artificial Gods over two meters tall stood vigilant as if facing a great enemy, while I studied the material of the "earth" underfoot.

Smooth, capable of reflecting shadows but not slippery, with a crystalline sheen, yet not a crystal. Our hour-long bombardment earlier left no trace on it; the defense capability of this thing is horrifying.

The crossfire from the intertwined Galaxy Main Gun and various warship main cannons turned the distant outer space into a sea of flames, yet above this planet-sized control core, everything was silent. Both enemy and ally were careful to keep their attacks away from here. The Imperial Army feared accidentally injuring the two Emperors, while the Revenge Army clearly was afraid of damaging their own main base—showing that this thing could still be damaged by ordinary cannon fire, though exactly what strength of attack, and for how long, would be needed to breach its shell remains unknown.

"This is mutated starship alloy, but if it's just starship alloy, it shouldn't have such powerful defensive ability," Sandora said, frowning as she walked back and forth on the mirror-like ground, "It seems there's something mixed in them, not energy nor solidified force fields, but something purer, protecting this fortress. I can sense some familiar aura; they're just on the other side of this fortress. However…if only we could obtain a small sample, we might be able to break this outer shell."

I seriously speculated if Sandora planned to test the alloy's taste before making a decision: it seemed entirely possible!

We searched here for over ten minutes without finding anything resembling an entrance. Everything was smooth like a mirror, and this mirror-like surface covered the entire polyhedron. It was all one solid piece without providing us any channels for entry or exit. PL-15's voice had not been heard again, and I felt that the voice, whether trustworthy or not, might have stood us up.

But—oh, here comes this word again, and this time I find it much more endearing—but, a turning point often appears just when we least expect it.

When Sandora and I were both at a loss, a pure white light suddenly radiated from my body. Then, in a sacred and warm atmosphere, a pure white and extremely beautiful figure slowly appeared in the air—then promptly landed on the ground.

"Lord Brother, they're calling you in, so why aren't you going in?"

Alaya, while patting dust off her spotless dress and shaking her feathers, spoke curiously to Sandora and me.

"They?" Sandora and I said in unison.

"Many souls, they're just on the other side of this mirror." Alaya nodded firmly, pointing to the ground beneath us. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)