Chapter 690: Warfire in Space

A massive spatial rift slowly opened in the void, like a hollow eye spanning the sky above Xuji. Distant starlight and phantoms at the edge of the star gate flickered on the other side of this "eye." Then the Unified Fleet of immense scale ignited its engines. Six Wraith-class special operations bombers were the first to cross the gate passage, followed by shield ships carrying wide-area shield projectors and several large arsenal ships. The flagship "Mass Effect" and the remaining vessels followed close behind, accelerating through the enormous passage.

Deep within the distant Dark Meteor star region, at the border of the Hermit Order's territory, an energy burst exceeding system thresholds instantly engulfed the entire star gate!

Radiance surged at the center of the ring-shaped megastructure. Crimson light churned and heaved inside the giant ring like blood. A terrible rift tore through the entire spacetime on the inner side of the main ring. The star gate's normal transit operations were forcibly seized and interrupted by an external force. The immense energy accumulating inside the main ring instantly lost control, erupting into countless red arcs of lightning spanning thousands of kilometers!

The dim corona of the brown dwarf reflected this rapidly expanding red flash. In the first few seconds, the star gate garrison had no time to react at all—but those first seconds were already their last chance to close the gate. After the brief energy release and spatial tearing, the first attackers leaped out of that sea of red thunder.

Like a monstrous beast surfacing from a blood ocean, a Wraith-class special operations bomber entered the battlefield. Before the nearest Hermit Order warships could react, hundreds of graviton bombs had already been launched into space. These heavy bombs, equipped with micro-jump drives, instantly leaped behind the star gate defenders and then began to collapse violently. A continuous chain of gravitational collapse points twisted the distant starlight, dragging a large number of Hermit Order ships into fatal vortices.

At the same time the explosion flashes lit up that region of space, the second wave of shield ships that had jumped into the battlefield deployed thick protective barriers in front of the star gate. They began using their shipboard particle rapid-fire cannons to strafe the small anti-aircraft artillery emplacements set up around the star gate's main ring, as well as the drones and close-defense floating turrets that were hastily taking off from the ring.

After the shield ships cleared a safe position, the arsenal ships behind the protective barriers opened all torpedo launch tubes. Heavy fortress torpedoes leaped into space like a school of sharks, accelerating toward the most conspicuous armed star fortress standing in the void.

It wasn't until the first wave of fortress torpedoes slammed into the star fortress's armor that the gate's defense forces finally fully reacted. Amid immense terror and chaos, they attempted to organize a counterattack. However, the energy pulse generated by the simultaneous detonation of hundreds of graviton bombs had already completely severed the connection between the star fortress and the defense fleet. The energy shock released when the star gate itself lost control only plunged the entire battlefield into extreme confusion from the very start.

The electromagnetic environment was boiling. Temporary gravitational faults of various sizes cut across the battlefield. Communication channels sounded like an unceasing storm, filled with chaotic calls and warnings. Perimeter defense units too far away were frantically asking what exactly was happening in the rear.

"Star gate under attack! Star gate under attack! Unknown fleet appears at the jump force center; we are being bombed—"

"Not external! The enemy is behind us! The attack comes from the star gate direction!"

"By the name of the TM Sage! What the hell are you doing, can't you see that flash?!"

"Star fortress calling mobile fleet; flank needs protection; we are taking direct hits from fortress torpedoes… Any unit, respond immediately!"

"Sage, can someone close that gate… Detecting new large warships entering! They are still jumping in; repeat, the enemy is still jumping in!"

"The star gate is completely out of control… We're finished; quickly contact the home world—"

"What about the defense platforms? What are our heavy batteries doing?!"

"Safety protocols locked; battery AI refuses to aim and fire toward the star gate; need star fortress authorization to unlock!"

"So why hasn't the star fortress—"

A dreadful energy release swept across the entire battlefield. The communication channels of the star gate defense forces were instantly filled with immense noise and howling. The chaotic shouts and calls for help were all interrupted by this roar. Some Hermit Order fleet commanders seemed to realize something and immediately turned their eyes toward the armed star fortress standing near the star gate.

A glaring orb of light was slowly expanding near the middle-lower section of the star fortress, like an overly inflated balloon continuing to swell.

The main reactor had been hit. Millions of tons of macro-fuel were undergoing a chain reaction in the phosphor crystal lattice.

A silent "sun" erupted at the midsection of the star fortress. The remaining shield generators of the massive space station struggled a few times in vain, a faint flash briefly covering its wound. Then those shield generators, along with half the space station, vanished into the freezing void. The remnants of the star fortress continued to be torn into countless large and small fragments by the shock, flying across the entire battlefield.

Some of the ejected fragments fell into the capture range of the brown dwarf. Molten metal debris spun in space, descending together with the screaming priests trapped in safety pods, seemingly slowly falling into the dark red hot spots on the surface of that sub-star. More fragments were caught by the Unified Fleet's "salvage ships" and blasted into even smaller debris by subsequent concentrated fire.

Large armed star fortresses carried "disaster modules" that could eject several "sub-bodies" with command functions in the event of the station's main structure breaking apart, to maintain the command chain on the battlefield.

So experienced commanders, after destroying a star fortress, would at least perform one or two rounds of "finishing strikes" on those seemingly powerless wrecks.

A Dark Star cruiser drifted askew in space. The explosion flashes illuminated its dark red bow. Its aft section belched fire and smoke, gradually spreading into a persistent cloud in the void. High-energy beams crisscrossing and missiles skimming across the battlefield formed a net of death shrouding this seemingly disabled ship. Now and then, wreckage of various sizes swept past it, carrying destruction and death.

"Kill the lights! Kill the lights!" the ship's commander said anxiously on the bridge. "Maintain current course, minimum engine output, 'descend' toward the hot spot on the brown dwarf's surface—ship-wide communications silence. No one will notice us!"

Surrounded by smoke and flames, the ship moved like a destroyed wreck, drifting at a fairly slow pace toward the brown dwarf at the edge of the battlefield. The faint engine fire was masked by the flames spreading across the vessel, making it look almost identical to the other wrecks already captured by the brown dwarf's gravity.

But then a warning from spiritual intuition suddenly seized the commander's heart.

The Hermit Order commander felt the blood in his body freeze instantly. In the immense pain that gripped his heart, he instinctively looked up at the observation viewport.

Amid the fire and smoke surrounding the ship, a figure had appeared without anyone noticing—a slender, pale girl stood on a close-defense cannon near the ship's bow, wearing a thin white dress. The tips of her jet-black hair were gradually dyeing red.

Hong's eyes were closed, a smile spreading across her face.

"Someone's heart is beating on this ship."

The girl's voice was as close as a whisper, directly reaching everyone's ears. The ship commander even felt that icy breath blowing on the back of his neck. He staggered back in terror, and from the corner of his eye, he saw that part of the captain's seat had suddenly become as clear as a mirror. In that mirror was reflected the image of the pale girl.

In the end, he never turned around. A hand pierced through his back from behind, directly crushing his heart.

The commander's body fell heavily onto the captain's seat. Hong flicked her fingers, and the bloodstains on her fingertips quickly evaporated in the air. Then she turned, smiling, and walked toward the other Hermit Order cultists in the control hall.

In terror, the cultists launched a counterattack—psychic powers, spells, bullets, everything they had—all at once fell upon Hong.

But the slender black-haired girl walked through all the attacks as if strolling through a courtyard. Her figure seemed to be simultaneously refracted in countless mirrors set at various angles. Each step she took was merely an illusion presented by one mirror. The enemies' attacks refracted or even reversed in the mirror space around her, ultimately landing in the wrong direction.

Hong moved unhurriedly from one cultist to the next, reaping lives with cold precision. The smile never left her face. At the same time, her lips moved slightly as she muttered to herself:

"Control. Don't drink. Not good. Don't just drink…

"Either high blood pressure or high blood sugar, or high blood fat, and contagious. All low-quality blood. Control yourself, don't touch it…

"Restrain yourself, restrain yourself, or the old man will laugh at me…

"…Would the high blood sugar ones be a little sweeter?

"Maybe the high blood fat ones are richer…"

Warm blood soaked her fingertips. Hong tossed another cultist aside, lowered her head, and "looked" at her fingers.

Her eyelids twitched a few times, as if she wanted to open them.

But soon she shook her hand, letting the crimson evaporate into the air.

"It's been too long since I last used my hands. My self-control has slipped a bit."

She muttered softly.

"Monster! Monster!" "That thing isn't human!" "Run! Run!"

Panicked screams came from all around. The fear of death finally crushed the "piety" of those Hermit Order cultists. The surviving priests and followers scrambled to flee this place—and their noise made Hong frown.

"Shut up."

She raised a hand. Layers upon layers of mirrors materialized out of thin air, beginning to seal off the entire bridge.

But the next second, she suddenly stopped. Then she sidestepped sharply, her figure instantly "jumping" to the side through several mirrors that appeared in the air.

Almost at the same moment, a scorching beam of light cut through the bridge ceiling, blasting a large hole in the spot where Hong had been standing.

A blurry figure surrounded by holy radiance, with a pair of wings sprouting from its back, appeared in the light.