Chapter 436: Chapter 436: Circles

When a heavy crisis relentlessly pursues you, you find time especially vexing: it moves too slowly, preventing you from resolving the mess quickly, yet it also moves too quickly, denying you the chance to prepare for everything–this is our current predicament.

Nevertheless, everything still arrived.

About six hours later, the Imperial Fleet finally neared the navigational limits of the Twin Sisters after a series of accelerations and decelerations. Beyond lay a place of utter Chaos, a bizarre zone devoid of any laws.

It wasn’t a chaotic area of laws; it was a place where laws didn’t exist at all–complete void in all aspects. Sandora’s speculations were completely confirmed. This wasn’t merely outside a battlefield; the Big Bang had obliterated the battlefield itself.

“Void, or at least something akin to it,” Sandora spoke as a golden glow shimmered faintly in her hair. “Aside from the absence of Void Energy, this place is practically indistinguishable from the Void… Issue the command: all lower-class warships enter the mother ship’s force field, low-level Angels return to the Space Fold, and deploy the mother ship’s force field to maximum. We’re preparing to enter the Void!”

In this peculiar location, even the smallest scale spatial jump could trigger unpredictable consequences. Hence, the fleet’s transformation was entirely reliant on conventional engines–a process that consumed approximately thirty minutes. During this time, we released several probes into the surrounding space, yet as soon as they left the protection of the mother ship, they became remnants lost in the Void without exception.

“Who would have thought the Black Sun would harbor such dangerous places? It must be man-made,” Sandora said as she stretched her hand forward, as if to clench something in her fist.

“I want to crush it, no matter what it is!”

The fleet proceeded with extreme caution, all scanning systems operating at full power. However, with basic laws failing to function, the scan range was greatly diminished, restricted to within the force field of the “Imperial Admiral,” nearly at the limit of what the eye could perceive.

Thus, when the ship’s alarm sounded, we also directly saw with our eyes a strange shadow that suddenly emerged within the distant Chaos.

This was the first time we had directly seen something material within the Black Sun–although we had previously handled material items when “salvaging” artifacts of the Divine Race from the Pseudo Existence Zone, such equipment only emerged from the chaos through the effects of the spaceships’ spatial probes. However, that weird shadow in the distance appeared directly in the darkness: the only real substance within the chaotic Black Sun, and without a doubt, it was the source of everything.

Furthermore, the thing was indeed peculiar. Against the dark background, a black dot the size of a grain of rice couldn’t possibly be discerned by the naked eye, not even with titanium alloy dog eyes. But with just a glance, I was able to see that distant shadow clearly, despite its color being completely identical to the surrounding background. It seemed to possess some kind of magic power, effortlessly marking its existence.

We didn’t return to the bridge but stayed on the top platform of the Imperial Admiral. In this eerie place, the bridge couldn’t necessarily provide any additional protection. A projection system emerged before us, projecting the images captured by our probes.

“What is that?”

I asked curiously as an odd construct appeared before us, unclear yet easily distinguishable in its basic shape–it consisted of three massive rings nested together, angled sharply relative to each other around a common axis, slowly rotating with the angles between them constantly shifting but always remaining acute. In the core area of this bizarre structure was a huge black sphere. This was the second time witnessing such a peculiar sight, where another pure black yet distinctly sharp object emerged against a pure black background.

“Conqueror-class, that’s a Conqueror-class Giant Dominator Ship!!”

Sandora’s voice carried surprise as she stared at the slowly moving ring-shaped object in the holographic projection and exclaimed in shock.

“Ship!?” Qianqian was surprised, “How could that pile of hula hoops possibly be a ship?”

“And does this cross under your feet look like a ship?” I retorted, and Qianqian immediately deflated…

Alright, now wasn’t the time to discuss the aesthetic views of the Xyrin people, our attention refocused on that massive ring structure.

I had seen some information about the Conqueror-class before, but due to missing information, these files only described the Conqueror’s general abilities without any corresponding images, which was why I didn’t recognize that pile… of hula hoops at first.

This kind of giant warship was a monstrous result of the Xyrin war doctrine developing to a certain extreme, its appearance looking like a bunch of concentric rings at angles to each other. At first, I almost mixed up these rings with Visca’s Star Ring Corridors and ended up with quite a bit of wild imagination…

Despite its weird shape, no one dared to question the terrifying power of the Conqueror; because within the core area of the Conqueror, in the space distortion field formed by the overlapping power of several concentric force fields, hid three ultimate weapons: Revelation, Genesis, and Gospel Book.

Revelation, an ultimate war auxiliary system capable of state control over an entire star system; Genesis, an offensive weapon that could instantly annihilate an entire constant star; and Gospel Book, a defensive component capable of withstanding a doomsday scenario. When these three superweapons were combined, even a star system with advanced military technology would be at the mercy of the Conqueror, making the Conqueror-class also known as the ultimate battleship of the Xyrin– even the “Glory”, ranked above it, could not compete with it in terms of destructive power.

However, the Conqueror also had its massive flaws. The horrifying amount of energy required to activate all three components simultaneously, even if it were to draw directly from Void Energy, would take up to seven days of slow charging. Also, in order to equip and control these three extremely complex components, the Conqueror-class had to sacrifice all its conventional weapon systems and eighty percent of its armor, resulting in the Conqueror’s only means of attack being its three major moves. Moreover, before these three moves were fully charged, it was virtually a sitting duck. Inside the layers of concentric rings were astonishing flows of energy, with such intense interference that the Conqueror could not equip any form of energy shield. Therefore, if one could break through the defense forces around the Conqueror-class, destroying this overly extreme behemoth would be as easy as turning over one’s hand–but normally, tangling with the Conqueror’s defense forces would be as difficult as surviving under Genesis…

“Time itself was centered around that mysterious warship,” Qianqian asserted confidently, “I can feel that the flow of time in space becomes more stable the closer it gets to those hula hoops. It seems to be a radiation source, radiating stable laws throughout the entire Black Sun.”

Okay, sweetheart, your analysis is professional, but please stop casually naming the most OP warship of the Empire with terms like ‘hula hoops’, alright?

Law-level weaponry… I finally witnessed the Law Weapon created by the Xyrin people–of course, to speak scientifically, this should be called a “Cosmic Law Weapon”–despite its appearance bringing tears to our eyes, its power deeply shocked each and every one of us.

According to Sandora’s analysis, the component that the warship had currently activated must be “Revelation,” a Law Weapon capable of macro-manipulation across the entire star system. Since it could arbitrarily twist the universal constants and even the cosmic laws within the scope of the entire star system, creating a Time Law within the Black Sun would naturally be a piece of cake, undoubtedly, this was something the enemy used against us.

Consequently, it was only natural that the so-called Revelations that had been pervading the Kepulu Star Zone were also its power. By exploiting the nature of the laws to set a false fact within the Kepulu range that “Xyrin are invaders” was not too difficult a task, which explained why those common races were deeply influenced by the “Revelation”.

In an instant, I guessed the most likely enemy: the Fallen Apostle!

Who else but those neurotics could use the battleships of Xyrin Empire to attack us?

But I am indeed full of envy, jealousy, and hate… Here we are, still busting our heads over the technology lock, and they’ve rolled out even the Conqueror-class!

“Boss! What do we do now? Go straight in and smash their gear? It seems like they have no armor!” Lilina had completely given up on trying to contact Dingdang, and a green halo floated around her. The tiny girl was brimming with fighting spirit. I was certain that if I nodded at that moment, she would charge ahead, shouting, “In the name of Lady Goddess! Tear down those crisscrosses” with such a collapse-inducing fierce slogan.

I also looked at Sandora for advice. Lilina’s suggestion wasn’t unfeasible, the Sovereign-level Dominator Ship was powerful, but its fragility was well known. With no sign of the enemy’s defense force nearby, destroying it directly might just work.

“Wait a bit longer, I still feel something’s off…” Sandora frowned, “Where’s the enemy? The Fallen Apostle set us up with a series of arrangements to get us into this trap, would they really confidently leave everything to an unmanned spaceship?”

“Indeed, a cautious enemy, Battle Song Princess, Sandora Kaelvi Orasis,” just as these words left Sandora’s mouth, a very ordinary sounding voice, like that of an uncle working in a steel factory next door, without any distinguishing characteristics, suddenly surrounded us. There was a bit of hoarseness to this voice, as if sand was flowing through its sound waves, “If you really had charged over, it indeed would have saved me quite a bit of trouble.”

With these words, a faint grey shadow slowly emerged not far in front of us, then gradually became clearer: a mass projection of a man wearing a black cloak, but his entire face concealed in the deep shadows of his hood, making it impossible to see his features.

“We meet again, emperors of the Empire… Oh, of course, for you it’s the first meeting,” the mysterious man’s mass projection calmly stood less than ten meters in front of us, his tone as if he wasn’t facing a group of Imperial Leaders who could destroy an entire civilization in an instant, but just some harmless ordinary people. Then he slightly raised his head, the hood still shadowy, but I noticed that his gaze was focused on the small figure beside me, “Ah, who do we have here? 7535, it truly has been a long time, little clone…”

Visca’s body stiffened for a moment, as if about to lose control, but then she regained her composure and came closer, gently holding my hand, “Ocam, those kinds of things can no longer enrage me.”

“Oh? So your spirit has stabilized? How delightful, delightful indeed. With this, perhaps you too can truly appreciate… ah, the joy of death…”

The mysterious man spoke thus, his tone unfeignedly friendly, still carrying that commonplace amiability, deepening my wariness towards him: such an enemy was definitely a hundred times more dangerous than the idiots who come at you claws bared, ready to fight. He was more like a venomous snake lying in wait, its deadly fangs poised in silence.

“Which uncle is this?” I inquired of Visca through our spiritual connection, her response loaded with utter disgust: “Ocam, he’s given himself a title, ‘The Honest Man’, but in reality, he’s a supreme schemer… Back in Azeroth, he was responsible for overseeing the construction of the World Loop, but at that time… my condition…” Visca paused for a bit before awkwardly adding: “Anyway, aside from this, I don’t know much about this guy, but one thing’s for sure, Ocam isn’t someone skilled in combat.”

“So Uncle, before we start the fight, would you mind taking off your hat?” the fearless Lilina boldly proposed a deal with him, “I’m not used to chatting with a clothes hanger.”

The man known as Ocam was caught off guard, just like every other person who dealt with us for the first time, whether friend or foe. It took a long time to get used to interacting with our unpredictable bunch…

I pulled the troublemaking Lilina back and silently observed the mass projection not far away, wondering if the man’s entity was aboard that massive crisscross structure while asking, “Was this all your trap?”

“How could you call it a trap?” He responded with undeniably sincere tone, “I merely wrote a script, and you all cooperated wonderfully in the performance… But I really didn’t expect you to follow through to such an extent… Obediently coming to exterminate the Insect Race, obediently distracted by the tri-race uprising, obediently giving me the time to prepare this little gift… And lastly, obediently coming to this splendid tomb prepared just for you. Honestly, if it were any other way round, I would really like to say… it was a pleasure doing business…”

Ocam’s voice, by the end, carried obvious interference; his mass projection in front of us trembled, gradually faded, and finally disappeared into the air with a shrill energy whine. At the same time, the dark “Sovereign Ship” in the distance… No, it should be called the “Sovereign Ring,” was also undergoing changes.

On the monitored holographic projection, its three concentric circles were slowly rotating, and the angles between them began to shift. A red light emerged from the pitch-black core, resembling a bloodshot black eyeball, and then the entire Conqueror-class vessel was enveloped by a very thin gray barrier.

“As I thought… It’s the punishment mode of the Gospel Book,” Sandora’s face revealed a look of realization, “Thank goodness we didn’t attack rashly just now.”

As soon as Sandora finished speaking, I began rapidly searching through all the data on such a BT spaceship in my mind. Finally, in some obscure corner labeled “Other Dimension Knowledge–Mortals Keep Out” at some unknown time, I found relevant information.

The Gospel Book is essentially the most heaven-defying defense system created by the Xyrin, even regarded as an impenetrable barrier unless facing the armies of gods. The Conqueror-class’s fragility is well known, but it possesses such an ultimate defensive component. Once the Gospel Book is activated, the Conqueror-class can even withstand the apocalypse, shielding itself and all surrounding troops!

Yes, withstand the actual apocalypse. For example, if the ultimate doomsday of our universe were to collapse into a singularity, once the Gospel Book is activated, it could directly push the cosmic collapse back–this thing possesses strong rule-based properties, even partially reaching the level of laws. It is defined as “any threatening, indirect, non-law attack will produce the lowest damage,” and this minimum damage is an infuriating Level 1–slightly greater than the might of a bite from Gangya Dingdang. Although cosmic collapse is driven by laws, it is not a law attack itself.

The punishment mode of the Gospel Book is an extended ability of this defense component, designed as a compensatory module to make up for the slow activation time of the Gospel Book. Before the Gospel Book is activated, it forms a slightly weaker defense force field, yet its effect is extremely insidious: rebounding ninety percent of any attack below the level of a law.

If the Imperial Fleet had fired all its guns just now, we would have already lost more than half of our forces.

Now that the gray barrier has appeared, it proves the Gospel Book has finally completed its lengthy preparations and is fully activated. It won’t rebound anymore, but don’t even think about making a small dent in it!

At first, I didn’t believe this evil. I ordered the Imperial Admiral and all Eternal-class battleships’ Galaxy Main Guns to initiate a saturation firing, but the facts proved the strength of that bug-like shield was indeed not for nothing–the massive energy beams couldn’t even make the gray barrier splash!

“Is there any way to break through that thing?”

I watched morosely at the still leisurely rotating rings on the holographic image, feeling utterly infuriated.

“There aren’t many ways to counter the Conqueror-class. The first is to kill it before its shields are activated, the easiest method, achievable even by a heavy escort ship, but obviously, that’s impossible now. The second is to use law attacks. The Conqueror-class isn’t equipped with pure law weaponry, and its defense system isn’t very strong against law attacks, only equivalent to an ordinary Ghost Energy Shield; but right now, the Imperial Fleet’s law-level equipment can be counted on one hand, and we don’t have anything to attack with. The third method is to wait for the opponent to attack. The powerful interference during a Genesis attack will temporarily disable the Gospel Book. The opponent has no defense troops, so we could destroy the Conqueror in that instant. However, Ocam must have considered this. The fourth method is… numbers!”

Numbers, this is a theoretically viable method–as already mentioned, the Gospel Book is akin to an “enhanced version of a damage-definition system.” It can define any external attack to a minimum value, but this value still has damaging power. Again, I reiterate it amounts to the might of a bite from Gangya Dingdang. So if the number of attacks reaches a certain level, even if all are reduced to “one,” countless ones added together would be enough to destroy the Conqueror-class.

And now, here’s the question…

How many times does Dingdang need to bite to shatter a bunch of Sovereign Rings with a radius of two thousand kilometers, damn it!

(You read that right! This is the second update!)

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