The light of the Subspace Teleportation faded, and Qin Feng materialized within a phantasmagorical Chaotic Star Realm.
This was the Taranis Vortex.
Cosmic dust and the remnants of shattered celestial bodies formed dazzling yet lethal nebulae.
Abandoned Interstellar Fortresses, like the skeletons of ancient beasts, floated silently in the darkness.
Occasionally, marauder ships emblazoned with menacing pirate insignias would streak past from behind distant Meteorite Belts, their long plasma tails exuding an aura of untamed anarchy.
A faint stench of blood, mixed with the tang of rusted metal and the taint of Spiritual Energy radiation, permeated the air.
Without a shred of hesitation, Qin Feng summoned a single-pilot assault craft from his Subspace Storage Unit. The vessel was pitch-black, its sleek lines embodying a violent aesthetic.
He sat in the cockpit, activated the wide-area life-detection radar, and his cold gaze swept across this vast and dangerous Star Realm.
Red dots, each representing a high-energy life form, periodically appeared on the radar display. Attached to each was a shocking wanted file from the Imperial Ministry of Justice.
Interstellar Pirates, traitors to the Empire, high-profile convicts sentenced to death who had "accidentally" disappeared during transport...
Countless dregs and dark elements of the Empire had been exiled—or rather, ’gathered’—here.
There was not a flicker of emotion in Qin Feng’s eyes.
Sixteen years of reflection had allowed him to see the logic behind it all.
"Hmm..."
As he piloted the craft through a belt of shattered meteorites, he calmly analyzed the situation.
’In reality, with the Empire’s current absolute Control over Subspace lanes and its omnipresent mission and teleportation network, it should be theoretically impossible for any marked Chaos Believer to cross the Empire’s borders alive and reach the true Battlefield of Ten Thousand Races.’
’Their sphere of activity is, in all likelihood, intentionally confined to these so-called ’chaotic zones’ by some higher-level powerhouses, using methods beyond my comprehension.’
’And within these chaotic zones are large numbers of Imperial Fugitives, death row convicts, and fallen Chaos Believers like Shi Dang.’
’The Empire... is using these outcasts—these ’poisons’—to carry out an immense and brutally cruel process of Raising Gu.’
’Of course, there are bound to be vicious incidents like Chaos Believers raiding merchant ships or attacking colonial planets.’
’On the vast scale of the cosmos, this is a type of ’attrition’ that’s impossible to avoid completely.’
’But the efficiency of the mission and teleportation network has already reduced the risk of this ’attrition’ to a minimum.’
Having figured this out, Qin Feng no longer felt the slightest confusion or anger toward the decisions of the Empire’s upper echelons.
’Unsatisfied?’
’Then change it.’
And the first step toward change was to personally crush the largest of these "Gu-worms"!
Qin Feng began to search frantically, discerning every wisp of abnormal Energy Fluctuation in this Star Realm.
Time ticked by, second by second.
「Ten hours later.」
Just as the craft entered a massive Broken Star Belt formed from the aftermath of a supernova, Qin Feng’s eyes snapped open!
His senses picked up an Aura of Chaos emanating from a derelict mining planet deep within the Broken Star Belt—an aura that was both incredibly familiar and yet countless times stronger than sixteen years ago, reeking of slaughter and blood.
’Found him!’
Qin Feng’s current life force index had already reached 108,000 points, the "Fourth Great Limit," and the acuity of his five senses had long since surpassed any technological creation.
Even across tens of thousands of kilometers of vacuum, he could clearly "smell" the fallen aura that belonged to Shi Dang.
WHIIIIINE—!
The craft’s engine roared, strained to its breaking point.
Qin Feng pushed the power output to its limit. The entire interceptor became a black lightning bolt, hurtling unhesitatingly toward the derelict mining planet!
The moment he locked onto his target, his target spotted him as well.
From the far side of the mining planet, a Chaos Battleship—nearly a hundred kilometers long, constructed entirely from twisted, blood-colored metal and some kind of unknown, ghastly white bone, filled with a blasphemous and insane beauty—slowly emerged.
On the battleship, tens of thousands of gunports flickered with destructive, crimson light at the same instant.
The next second, a torrent of death—a convergence of countless Chaos Energy Beams powerful enough to scour a planet’s surface—tore through the vacuum, irresistibly engulfing the entire expanse of space where Qin Feng was!
BOOM—!!!!!
Under this annihilating barrage, the craft didn’t last a single second, erupting into a brilliant, searing fireball.
Yet, from the very heart of the explosion, a tall figure in [Destroyer I-Type] power armor burst through the flames, like a god forging upstream!
An invisible force field, constructed from immense Spiritual Energy, surrounded Qin Feng, isolating him from the blast’s impact and intense heat.
His right hand tightly gripped the [Raging Tide] Long Spear.
His eyes, like two burning stars, fixed unwaveringly on the massive Chaos Battleship!
"SHI—DANG—!"
A roar imbued with Spiritual Energy thundered through the deeps of the cosmos.
He stomped hard on the void beneath him, and it erupted in a ring of visible spatial ripples!
Propelled by the terrifying recoil, he transformed into a meteor of light that tore through the void, moving several times faster than his ship had before!