Chapter 444: Amidst Death...

A mass of gray-black crystalline matter, like a tangled weave of withered roots, floated silently in space, bathed in the glow of distant stars. The planetary shield of the Void Spirit Hub lay just a few dozen kilometers below, emitting a hazy shimmer.

That ugly seed had stopped at a place only a stone's throw from its final target—sleeping, or perhaps already dead.

The planetary defense forces, having been urgently launched, remained near the shield nodes, forming a defensive line around a towering immortal palace that had been hastily orbitally maneuvered to the location. Experts from various sects warily watched the strange crystal mass, ready for it to suddenly plunge toward the mother planet.

But several tens of minutes passed, and the Star-Borne remained motionless.

"Is it really dead?" Eileen pressed her face against the observation window of the command hall, staring wide-eyed at the wrinkled 'crystal mass' in the distant void, a mix of curiosity and tension in her voice. "Could it be that the C-Type Buckle was right, and this thing ran out of juice after coming all the way from Xuji?"

This unexpected situation left the experts from various sects gathered on the planetary defensive line in a dilemma, no one daring to make a snap judgment—should they attack or not? If they didn't, this thing was hovering right above the mother planet. If they did, what if it provoked a reaction? After all, it showed no 'intent' to initiate an attack at the moment… but the opponent was the Gloomy Angel. Did it even have such a rationally explainable concept as 'intent'?

Yu Sheng received a communication from the 'Tai'a.'

"We released a mechanism bird, but it showed no reaction to its approach," Yuan Hao's figure materialized above the communicator, his expression grave. "Divine sense can't penetrate the interior, but we can roughly tell there's some energy reaction in its core… We don't dare let anyone get too close, to avoid spiritual contamination."

Yu Sheng listened carefully, then slowly raised his head, gazing at the Star-Borne in space, as if weighing his options.

A moment later, he let out a soft breath and broke the silence. "I'll go over there."

"You…" True Person Yuan Hao opened his mouth, as if instinctively about to advise caution, but then stopped abruptly—he recalled the bloody storm on Xuji, his expression shifting slightly before he continued, "What are the odds?"

"Hard to say, but this might be the last chance," Yu Sheng said slowly. "I can't create another storm like that on the Void Spirit Hub. If the Star-Borne really does fall toward the atmosphere, even I won't be able to stop it—so it's better to take this chance while it's still inactive and try."

Yuan Hao looked at Yu Sheng through the communication interface for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Understood. What do you need us to do?"

"Nothing. Just pull back a bit further," Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then added, "And if I fail, you have to do everything you can to intercept it in the atmosphere—no matter what, don't let it touch the surface of the Void Spirit Hub."

"Alright."

Ending the communication with the 'Tai'a,' Yu Sheng let out a soft breath and rose from the captain's seat.

Huli immediately stood up beside him. "Benefactor, should I send you over?"

"No. This involves direct contact with the Gloomy Angel's core—too dangerous," Yu Sheng waved a hand. "I'll go myself."

"Then…" Huli thought for a moment, then reached behind her and pulled out a tail. "I'll send you over with my tail~"

Yu Sheng's eye twitched.

To be fair, in the Hostel context, that was a standard solution. Normally, he and this fox girl had always solved things that way.

But today, under these circumstances, he suddenly had a different idea.

"We do have a spaceship, after all," Yu Sheng grinned, a look of eagerness on his face. "I've got a new toy."

A moment later, Yu Sheng arrived in a compartment in the middle section of the Exotic Inn.

In the spacious hangar, a large number of intimidating silver-gray missile bodies were neatly secured on racks. A heavy fortress torpedo was being transferred onto a loading track by mechanical arms, while several other arms were busily dismantling the warhead protective cover of this fearsome weapon.

Yu Sheng stood beside this torpedo, which was about the size of a small carrier rocket, his eyes shining.

Eileen stared at the scene, dumbfounded. She looked up at Yu Sheng blankly. "…Didn't you say this ship's weapon subsystems were useless?!"

"They are useless. The fire control and guidance units are still offline," Yu Sheng said casually. "Only this one launch tube is operational—and I can only activate it by directly 'brain-controlling' it."

He paused, then added, "But with something like a 'torpedo,' you don't need complex subsystems for launch. It's a fixed target anyway. As long as I aim and fire it, the engine ignition will brute-force the rest."

Eileen was speechless. After a long moment, she finally blurted out, "So your 'new toy' is stuffing yourself into a torpedo and launching yourself?! Why don't you try something a bit more normal—if not, go back to the silly fox's tail! At least everyone's used to that aesthetic…"

Yu Sheng reached out and pressed Eileen's head.

"Huli's tail has poor armor penetration," he said seriously. "It's mainly explosive damage, and it would probably blow most of me into space. I need to 'drill' into the Star-Borne's interior. This boarding chance might be a one-shot deal, and a fortress-class torpedo designed to counter capital ships and heavy fortifications is the best choice."

The little puppet was bewildered. "…So this is actually your carefully considered result?!"

"Obviously! I always think things through!" Yu Sheng glared. "Ever since I learned about the Star-Borne, I've been racking my brain for ways to deal with it—do you think all my brilliant ideas and wonderful plans come from a flash of darkness?"

Eileen nodded blankly. "Yeah, where else?"

The moment she finished speaking, she instantly jumped behind Huli, poking her head out from a pile of tails to look at Yu Sheng. "Don't hold a grudge! Also, does this… 'move' of yours have a name?"

Yu Sheng couldn't be bothered to argue with the puppet. Hearing her last question, he just grinned and said casually, "Considering the nature and carrier of this tactic, I call it 'Boarding Yu Lei'…"

Eileen: "…?"

The little puppet racked her brains for a long time before figuring out how those four characters were put together. As she was about to say something else, Yu Sheng had already turned and walked toward the modified giant warhead.

The heavy fortress torpedo's warhead had been completely removed. In the empty payload bay, a fixed frame and a seat had been hastily welded in. Yu Sheng stepped in, strapped himself into the seat, and the nearby mechanical arms immediately began moving, welding the payload bay's protective cover into place.

Just as the shell was about to close, Yu Sheng sat inside and looked out, thoughtful. "Should I say something at this point? Something passionate…"

"Say nothing!" Eileen glared with her crimson eyes. "You pull off such an unholy stunt and now you want something holy?!"

Huli, on the other hand, stepped forward after a moment's thought. "Benefactor, come back for dinner when you're done."

Luna nodded beside her. "Yeah, right."

Yu Sheng, sitting in the torpedo's payload bay, suddenly felt life was a bit bleak. With such a brilliant idea met with these reactions, he couldn't help but lament the kind of people around him…

The next second, the space around him really did turn bleak.

"…Seems like I should have installed a light in here."

Yu Sheng thought belatedly in the darkness.

Then, switching to the Exotic Inn's perception and perspective, he gave the launch command.

A slight tremor followed, then acceleration that would kill an ordinary person instantly.

The airlock opened, the pipe depressurized, and along with trace amounts of gas dissipating in space, a silver-gray point of light flew out from the launch tube in the Exotic Inn's midsection.

After a brief coast, the torpedo's engine ignited. The specially modified 'ammunition' traced a silent bright line across space, flying straight toward the Gloomy Angel suspended silently in the distant darkness.

Countless immortal ships parked in high orbit simultaneously observed that tiny missile—though massive compared to a human, before that gray-black 'crystal mass,' it was still nothing more than an inconspicuous insect.

A moment later, the 'insect' made contact with the Star-Borne.

Neither the massive explosion nor the earth-shattering spectacle many had imagined as the 'secret weapon' displayed its power happened—the entire contact process was silent, with almost no fire. The fortress torpedo, stripped of its warhead, struck a knot of roots on the crystal mass, producing a small collision flash before directly smashing through its loose, fragile surface layer, breaking through several 'crystal branches' in succession, and finally getting stuck deep within the crystalline structure.

After that, the small amount of explosives carried in the torpedo's payload bay was activated, and a faint flash flickered briefly within the crystal mass.

And Yu Sheng flickered away with it.

A chaotic darkness, a sensory emptiness. Yu Sheng felt as if he were floating in a boundless void—a sensation so familiar it felt like coming home.

He had even become adept at rapidly reassembling his 'self-awareness' in this void and re-establishing his perception of the real world through the connection with his blood.

Like now.

He felt himself dispersing into a mass of cold, hard matter. He felt himself seeping into the crystal mass, as if into a new body. He felt himself making contact with something residual inside the crystal mass. He sensed faint light gradually appearing in the darkness… and sound.

"Go… find a new home, take root, and do whatever it takes to survive…"

He abruptly opened his eyes.

In the chaotic light and shadow, a vague yet familiar figure stood not far away.

"Fellow cultivator, you've come."