Chapter 289: The Master of the Night is About to Arrive at Your Doorstep!
“Commander, that exploration fleet’s signal disappeared somewhere around here.”
Inside a Batwing-12 type rapid ship, the data-monitoring robot extended its hand and pointed at a yellow dot on the virtual screen before it.
Beside it, Anya furrowed her brows tightly, not saying a word.
Nine days ago, an exploration fleet entirely commanded by the Undying Ones suddenly lost contact with the relay signal station while carrying out missions in the 【Seaweed Head】 Star System.
When nearby exploration fleets received the system’s emergency alert and hurried over to investigate, that fleet had already vanished without a trace. Not a single fragment of metal debris could be found floating in the starry skies.
This incident immediately drew the attention of the Silent Court’s General Command on Origin Star.
As the Silent Court’s combat commander, Anya contacted Bai Fu at once and personally intervened in the investigation.
Fortunately, since the ones who had been attacked were the Undying Ones, after staying on Origin Star for a short while, she was able to learn the whereabouts of the missing fleet from other Undying Ones.
The missing Undying Ones claimed that they had been ambushed. The attackers’ methods were extremely sophisticated—first, they hacked into the ships’ systems to seize control, and then they hurled several strange white bubbles.
Those bubbles could not be destroyed by cannon fire nor broken by fists. With a pop, they struck the ships and wrapped them up like balloons.
“They tried countless methods, but could never break through the white bubbles.”
“So that means, they didn’t even see clearly who ambushed them? They don’t even know where they are now?”
“That’s right. Once those white bubbles enveloped them, they couldn’t see a thing—not even access the star map.”
Then what else could be done?
Anya felt she could only investigate in person.
Surely she couldn’t let the Boss handle everything?
Those Undying Ones had said the strength of the white bubbles only equaled that of a weak Calamity-class.
Besides, she wasn’t afraid of death. After all, she could resurrect at the Ark of Paradise. From a certain perspective, she was also an “Undying One” now!
And so, Anya arrived at the 【Seaweed Head】 Star System.
She did not act rashly. First, she deployed a vast number of probes around the disappearance site.
Next, she dispatched an engineering team onto a nearby planet to construct a psionic relay station and miniature teleportation formation.
Against an unknown enemy, one could never be too cautious.
After all, she had roamed the Star Sea for more than a decade, and in the private armed forces industry no less. Surely, Anya was not lacking in professional competence.
The investigation lasted two days.
Two days later, instead of probe reports, Anya received a distress signal from a newly-built mining site nearby.
“Commander, disaster! We’ve been attacked by over a dozen ships! The massive data interference has completely crippled our ground defense systems—manning the coastal cannons manually isn’t enough to hold them back!”
Along with the cries for help came live combat footage.
In the firelit skies, a dozen ships in V-formation rained bombardments onto the surface. Their appearances were unlike any ship Anya had ever seen before. Sleek, intricate, and industrially beautiful—they were clearly crafted with great care.
“This clearly isn’t star pirates. Pirates wouldn’t decorate their ships so extravagantly. Looks like either we’ve run into some Dark Zone civilization, or some force is deliberately disguising themselves as one to ambush us—just like the Supernova Battle Group once did. Damn it, whatever they are, such arrogant enemies must be met with an iron fist!”
Anya’s fury soared.
After confirming the combat coordinates, she hastily led a fleet to engage.
……
Boom!
Boom!
Thunderous explosions echoed across the valley.
The bombardments from the ship cannons tore the once-flat ground into massive fissures.
Amidst the storm of artillery, some tried to dodge in desperation—only to be blown to bits before they could even scream.
“Looks like the battle will be over soon.”
Inside one of the ships, an armored psionicist wearing a white helmet, resembling an upright lizard, nodded calmly.
He turned, ready to order a descent to savor the spoils of victory, when one of his subordinates hurried over.
“Commander Bardan, it’s Governor Ruth contacting you!”
The psionicist named Bardan hesitated for a moment before pressing the comm-link his subordinate handed him.
After a beep, what came through was a furious roar.
“Bardan, do you have any idea what you’re doing?! Without reporting to the Interim Government Council, you rashly attacked another civilization based only on your whim—this is a crime! You’ll drag the Rayaas Civilization to total annihilation! Fool! Lawless fool!”
The torrent of abuse darkened Bardan’s face.
Suddenly, he sneered and cut Ruth off.
“Crime? No, I am saving our civilization! When we fled Rayaas, we carried barely any supplies. Worse, a traitor leaked our plans, and along the way we lost nearly ninety percent of what little we had! If this continues, more people will fall into treachery. Then you, me, and even the final embers of the Rayaas Civilization will all be snuffed out!”
“We don’t have the luxury of slow development anymore. To grow strong quickly, we must seize. Seize people, seize resources, seize everything that benefits us!”
“Today, by taking this Ice Crystal Mine, our ships won’t lack repair materials for years. If we find a suitable stronghold, we could even build dozens more ships!”
“Compared to such enormous gains, the risks of attacking a primitive civilization aren’t worth mentioning!”
“Ruth, have you still not recognized reality? To defeat the invading Holy City of the Apostles, to return home—we must be fiercer, crueler, more ruthless than them!”
“My affairs are none of your concern. Don’t interfere—or I’ll deal with you as well!”
With a snap, Bardan ended the call and tossed the device back to his subordinate.
He straightened his attire arrogantly and ordered the ship to descend.
The mine’s defenders had already been crushed. It was time to inspect the newly seized Ice Crystal Mine’s reserves.
Guided by prospectors, Bardan toured the mine, excitement growing with each step.
He had underestimated it—grossly underestimated!
The reserves here were several times larger than expected. Moreover, this was a new mine, barely touched.
“Commander Bardan, if we can extract all these Ice Crystals, within a few years your fleet will number over four hundred ships!”
The prospector trembled with excitement.
Even Bardan himself could not help but laugh aloud.
The Rayaas Exile Government currently commanded just over two thousand ships. If he alone controlled four hundred, would his status within the government even need to be questioned?
“Quickly, bring the mining equipment down!”
On his order, his men got busy.
Halfway through lowering the equipment, a warning came from the monitoring devices in orbit.
“Commander Bardan, a fleet is rapidly approaching us. Judging by their markings, they seem to be allies of the miners we just annihilated.”
Oh?
Bardan was mildly surprised.
He hadn’t expected reinforcements to arrive so swiftly.
But he wasn’t the least bit worried.
Sooner or later, they’d have to come anyway. He would simply crush them—he would never surrender this Ice Crystal Mine.
And if he failed?
Absurd.
His strength was no trifling matter.
Even if he were defeated, he had a backer.
Though the Rayaas Civilization had fragmented, it had once dominated multiple galaxy clusters. The Exile Government still housed Domination-level psionicists. Conveniently, his own backer was a famed Domination-level powerhouse of Rayaas.
That was why Bardan could completely disregard Ruth.
What if the enemy had a Transcendent?
He had considered that—and dismissed it as impossible.
The universe was vast. To think he’d coincidentally provoke a Transcendent over a mere Ice Crystal Mine?
Bardan didn’t believe his luck could be that poor.
After ordering his men to continue setting up the mining gear, Bardan personally led a squad aboard a ship, charging into space.
The moment they broke atmosphere, they encountered Anya—equally aggressive, charging straight at them.
Anya was fuming, eager to tear the enemy ships to pieces. But having grown up beside Bai Fu, she understood one principle from childhood: even in rage, one must never act rashly.
At the very least, she had to find out who these people were first.
If these people weren’t the attackers, but rather had been deliberately lured here by the victims in order to provoke conflict, that would be troublesome.
She did not want to cause Bai Fu unnecessary trouble.
Anya temporarily suppressed her anger and sent a signal to the opposing side, asking if they had destroyed the mining site and captured the missing Undying Ones.
Before long, a reply came back.
After being run through the translator, the meaning was more or less—
“It was me. So what?”
Along with the words came a dozen energy blasts.
“Shameless! Since you want to fight, then we’ll fight to the end!”
Anya waved her hand forcefully, at the same time reporting the situation to Bai Fu.
Hundreds of ships from both sides tangled in the starry skies. It had to be admitted, Bardan truly had reason to be arrogant. His ships were superior in performance compared to Anya’s, and though his numbers were far fewer, he still held the upper hand in battle.
This was partly due to the Rayaas Civilization’s foundation, and partly because the Silent Court had expanded too rapidly. In order to meet the massive demand for ships from Players, most purchases were rugged, durable models—not exactly poor in performance, but nowhere near refined either.
Yet precisely because of this, Bardan severely misjudged the strength of the Silent Court.
“Silent Court? The name sounds formidable, but in reality…”
Bardan couldn’t help but laugh.
Just a bunch of weaklings!
He stretched his body, and the Sky-class battle armor he wore instantly shifted into full-power mode. He decided to act personally to swiftly end the battle. He did not want his precious ships damaged or scrapped in such a skirmish.
“Royal Guard, hear my command! Fight alongside me!”
Bardan flicked his right hand, his cape fluttering. Standing against the light, he resembled a knight bathed in golden radiance.
Seeing him enter combat state, his subordinates all gazed at him with admiration.
Commander Bardan was the kind of man who had once fought his way out of an encirclement by the Holy City of the Apostles!
“Kill! Kill! Kill!
For the Rayaas Civilization! For Commander Bardan!”
Hundreds of lights shot out from Bardan’s flagship.
Clad in uniform battle armor, they streaked across the void like high-speed missiles, colliding with a Silent Court ship in an instant.
Boom!
Under the violent impact, the ship’s shields and side armor shattered into fragments.
The psionic summons and mechanical warriors inside hadn’t even realized what had happened before the magnetic shock pulverized them.
“Today I will show these ignorant primitive civilizations that even in decline, a super-civilization is still a super-civilization! They are not foes these country bumpkins can ever hope to face!”
Laughing, Bardan strode toward the ship’s central control room.
He intended to see if he could force the Silent Court to surrender directly.
Though inferior, these ships could still strengthen his forces if brought under his command.
“You—”
“Looking for me?”
Just as Bardan was about to shout toward the control console, a mocking voice suddenly rang in his ear.
He jerked his head around, but aside from his subordinates, there was no one else.
It couldn’t have been an illusion—then it was…
Clatter, clatter.
Before the thought could fully form, Bardan was horrified to see his men collapsing one after another, like wheat stalks flattened by the wind—strange and terrifying.
“Come out and face me!”
Bardan roared, trying to suppress the fear rising in his chest.
As soon as his words fell, a deep-purple gash appeared out of thin air before him, streaking straight toward him at incredible speed.
He reacted immediately, activating the defensive module on his battle armor. Yet he still underestimated the power of that purple slash.
With a sharp clang, cracks spread across the armor’s defensive module.
“What is this?!”
Bardan’s face changed drastically.
Holding the advantage, Anya gave him no chance to recover. She unleashed every technique she had—mental piercing, illusionary confusion, needle-riding strikes…
Against such psionic-style attacks, Bardan’s treasured armor was useless. Very soon, he was overwhelmed.
“So this is the so-called strength of a super-civilization?”
Anya sneered.
She had worried he might be hiding a trump card, but once she confirmed Bardan was only Calamity-class, her concerns vanished.
She had followed Boss Fufu for over ten years, consumed vast resources, and received personal instruction. Even the weakest would have grown strong under such guidance, let alone one with decent talent.
“You… you can’t be from some primitive civilization. Who exactly are you?”
Pressed hard, Bardan grew increasingly alarmed and finally shouted the question.
Anya stabbed again and again, shattering the left arm of his armor and, with another thrust, tore the arm clean off.
“Primitive civilization or not, I already told you—I am from the Silent Court!”
Bardan had lost all will to fight. He prepared to flee, but Anya, burning with fury, would never allow it.
Flee?
Taste my Tenfold Psychic Storm!
Buffeted until his mind spun, Bardan realized escape was impossible. He could only call desperately to his backer for aid, while also begging Anya for mercy to stall for time.
“After all this, don’t you find reconciliation laughable? If you want to atone, then go to the underworld and beg forgiveness from those you just slaughtered!”
Anya was utterly unmoved. With the Needle of Sin and Punishment in her hand, she had no need to worry about losing valuable intelligence even if he died.
Helpless, Bardan continued to flee.
Those subordinates who hadn’t followed him into battle were stunned at his miserable state.
What was going on? Hadn’t Commander Bardan said he would swiftly end the battle?
Oh—wait, being swiftly defeated also technically counted as ending it quickly.
“Stop! Stop! Stop!”
After being struck twice more by the Needle of Sin and Punishment, Bardan finally halted, raising his right hand and shouting.
He felt himself losing control of his own body. To survive, he had no choice but to resort to threats.
“Stop your nonsense!”
Anya ignored him.
At that critical moment, another voice suddenly burst into the comms.
“Release him, and I’ll return the people we captured from you. But if he dies, they all die with him!”
Anya’s expression turned odd.
Using Undying Ones to threaten her?
“Do as you please. If you want to kill them, then do it now.”
“?”
Bardan’s backer was stunned.
What? Why weren’t they following the script?
Weren’t these people supposed to value their comrades’ lives above all else? Why suddenly turn into cold-blooded butchers?
Fake.
This woman must be bluffing!
Bardan’s backer sneered: “Do you really think I won’t kill them?”
“Go ahead, kill them. The sooner the better. Saves me the trouble of rescuing them later.”
“…”
“Hey, hey, hey—why so quiet?”
“I really will kill them.”
“Then hurry up. I’m listening. If you don’t, I’ll start killing here first—make sure to keep up.”
Bardan and his backer were both about to go insane.
What kind of lunatic had they run into?
Since threatening with others was useless, only another method of coercion remained.
Bardan’s backer sneered: “You are very bold. I admire that. Release Bardan and submit to me, and I will spare you. You should be well aware that as a Domination-level, killing you would be nothing more than a thought.”
“Domination-level?” Anya paused for a moment.
Bardan’s backer said: “Do you think I am lying?”
Anya shook her head. “No, I just think you are not as frightening as you claim. Anyway, I’m hanging up now.”
She controlled the Needle of Sin and Punishment and stabbed Bardan viciously once again.
A scream exploded through the comm channel, driving Bardan’s backer into a rage.
It was one thing to be bullied by the Holy City of the Apostles, but now some Calamity-class who had popped out of the Dark Zone dared to disregard him entirely.
“You are seeking death! Very well—I have decided. You, your family, your subordinates, and your entire civilization, I will destroy them all!”
“Are you sure?”
“I am very sure—hmm?”
Bardan’s backer froze. This voice wasn’t the same woman he had just been speaking with—it was colder, yet far more melodious.
“Who are you?”
“I am Anya’s elder sister. I heard you want to kill me?”
“…”
For no reason, Bardan’s backer felt a wave of unease, though he forced himself to remain calm.
“So what if I do?”
“Wait for me. I’ll be right at your doorstep.”
With those words, Bai Fu directly cut off the conversation with Bardan’s backer.
“Hey? Hey?”
Bardan’s backer shouted several times but received no reply. His expression turned grim and uncertain.
Coming right away?
He tried to comfort himself that it was nothing but intimidation, but what if it was true?
In any case, relocating the ship took priority. As for Bardan—well, he could only wish him luck.
Bardan’s backer hastily ordered the ship to depart for another location. Moments later, one of his men came to report.
“Mr. Garcia, Governor Ruth wishes to see you.”
“I have no time for her right now. Tell her to leave.”
Garcia waved impatiently.
Those weakling faction trash did nothing but drag him down. Once he found a new foothold, he would seize the first chance to slaughter them all.