“This is a trap!”
“Fall back! We have to jump out of this wretched space zone and the radiation range of the star!”
“Help! Help!”
“No. 4 base, do you copy? Please navigate us to a suitable jump point immediately. We—”
From the main warships of the ace fleets of the four families that were as magnificent as mountains, panicked orders and even cries for help were echoing.
But their responses came too late.
Long before they realized that they were caught in the dark abyss, the solar storm had swept across all the reinforcing fleets, space fortresses, and planetary bases they had at the edge of the Empyreal Terminus Sector indiscriminately, creating “mental plagues” in those places as well and transforming the Immortal Cultivators who were previously loyal to the four families into some sort of zombies, except that these zombies did not feed on other people’s brains; instead, they merely changed, assimilated, and corrupted them.
The fifth planetary base that the ace fleets of the four families just left looked like the end of the world too.
Countless people ran about holding their heads that had abnormally expanded, and while they were running, their brains exploded and the blood rose up into the sky like springs. Some of them even left the range of the artificial atmosphere and the gravity field, turning into bizarre-looking statues in the cold vacuum, which were then obliterated under the illumination of the sun.
Some people intended to flee out of the planets in starships, space shuttles, and crystal suits, only to be shot down by the soldiers who had been “awakened” with the anti-air cannons. They fell like flies with a helical tail behind them.
The soldiers who were still loyal to the four families gathered into islands and resisted the bottom-level soldiers’ attack in vain. However, due to the exhaustion of their souls and their extreme dread, their brains could be corrupted easily too. It was often the case that a “traitor” would emerge among them as they fought on. After a moment of stun, their eyes would turn deep dark, and they would stab their allies in the back.
BOOM!
There was no telling if it was done by the mad soldiers or the desperate officers, but the largest arsenal on the No. 5 planet was detonated, which caused the explosion of the crystals. The deafening noises split everyone’s ears. Materials weighing hundreds of thousands of tones were tossed into the sky, before they splashed down like burning meteorites, raising even greater damage.
The whole planet seemed to be on fire and ignited by the brilliance of the black sun.
The same scene was happening in all the areas of the space zone that had been occupied by the four families.
Not a single starship could launch a space jump and escape the swamp of the black sun in time.
Although only 20% of the “Next Sun Plan” had been carried out, the four families’ ace fleets already did not exist anymore. The iron tide had been degenerated into spreading mud. Every starship had been turned into a lone island of death. Every Immortal Cultivator was in hypnotization, panic, or desperation; their combat abilities gone!
The same thing happened to the Imperial Guards and the Deep Sea Fleet that belonged to the reformists.
The Imperial Guards and the Deep Sea Fleet were already prepared for it. Before the Next Sun Plan was activated, they had already docked their starships in the atmosphere and turned off most of the magical equipment units. Thanks to the protection of the atmosphere, they avoided the ultra-powerful radiations and particles caused by the solar storm.
However, the public communication channels on their starships were completely open to Wuying Qi, allowing Wuying Qi’s will to march in without any blockage.
The soldiers and officers who were wearing the black military uniforms of the Imperium a thousand years ago, like neat rows of statues, listened to His Majesty’s tutelage in silence. In peace and order, they received unprecedented epiphany, and hollow and creepy smiles appeared on their faces.
When they looked at space again, their moods were entirely different.
A moment ago, they might still be worrying about the upcoming catastrophe, but right now, they had absolutely no doubt about their victory and already couldn’t wait to accept the collapsed fleets in a few days.
They would be the first members of the glorious “capital fleet”.
They would be the contributors to the new Imperium, the ancestors of new human beings, and the first people to break out of the tiny universe.
Long live the Imperium! Long live His Majesty! Long live Blackstar the Great!
On the capital planet, the unparalleled might of the solar storm had consumed the place too.
Thanks to the protection of the thick, dense atmosphere, more than 90% of the radiations, powerful particles, and low-frequency electromagnetic waves were blocked. Therefore, the delirium and destruction in this place would be delayed twelve to twenty-four hours.
Even so, all kinds of anomalies were already presaging a doom.
The first to be affected were the sensitive birds. Since the organs in their brains that sensed the magnetic field were seriously disrupted, thousands of birds were soaring into the sky and flying around like headless flies. There were even tides of crows that raged among the skyscrapers and crashed into the buildings.
When those crows flapped their wings and tried to hover in the narrow rooms, their brains exploded all of a sudden. Such a nightmare would be an unforgettable memory for all the eyewitnesses.
The beasts were just like the birds. The residents who lived close to forests and mountains saw the most unbelievable torrents—the torrents made of snakes, rats, ants, wolves, tigers, leopards, and so on. They fled from their homes in panic and ran toward the cities where humans lived.
The beasts who were supposed to be natural enemies had no time to bother with each other or where they were going to. In many cases, they were simply running around the cities or following their own tails until they died of exhaustion.
Abundant rats also congregated into an overwhelming army that marched at the wilderness until they reached the cliff which was hundreds of meters higher than the ocean. Then, they jumped off and disappeared into the dark tide.
After accepting the offerings of those living creatures, the tide was fiercer and fiercer.
On the Silver Moon Ocean, an unprecedented level-twelve waterspout had already taken shape. Like a gigantic drinking straw that reached the sky, it was going to absorb all the ocean water into the atmosphere.
Super tornadoes that had never happened on the capital planet in the past ten thousand years slowly spread out their tentacles too, baring their sharpest tusks at the cities next to the seashore. Even without the detection-magical equipment of the meteorological agencies, one could see with their naked eye that half of the sky had been contaminated and completely turned into an astounding black sky. It seemed that the gigantic black spot was going to swallow the three-dimensional space very soon.
Such anomalies should’ve cast everybody in fear and mental collapse.
However, all the residents on the capital planet heard a mysterious voice.
The voice calmed them down and made them more focused than ever. They realized a certain grandeur destiny beyond their insignificant lives, and they were gradually transformed into literal ants. As long as the grandeur destiny could be fulfilled, their insignificant lives could be sacrificed at any moment. For the Imperium! For the ants!
Countless people trembled out of their rooms and shelters and gazed at the sun that was full of black spots. They accepted the bath of the black light without blinking, rejoicing even though their retinas were entirely burnt up.
Almost all the Immortal Cultivators and the senior lackeys of the Immortal Cultivators, who lived in the cities on the surface of the planet, were enshrouded by Wuying Qi’s will. They were either turned into abnormal monsters or patients suffering from radiation.
The “hominoids” who lived two hundred meters to twenty thousand meters below the ground were in a relatively better shape.
The atmosphere was the first protection, and the thick rocks were the second shell. Even the most powerful radiations and particles could barely pierce through the crust of the planet that was almost ten thousand meters thick. Even if they could, they would be too decayed after that.
Therefore, when the best experts on the capital planet and their lackeys were caught in the mental plague, those “humble” underground hominoids could still enjoy brief consciousness.
The Next Sun Plan required the radiance of the sun, but thanks to the “privileges” offered by the Immortal Cultivators, 90% of the underground hominoids had never seen real sunlight in their entire lives. Naturally, they could barely be corrupted by the Next Sun Plan.
Of course, Wuying Qi’s original plan never took the underground hominoids into consideration either.
After all, they were just weeds and ants that couldn’t change or influence anything.
Whether they were awake or delirious, they would be dead for sure in the upcoming disaster. As the fuel to propel the civilization, they could not raise the tiniest spark.
Inside the Gold Crystal Pyramid below the capital planet…
“I am the universe.”
Wuying Qi’s soul was boosted to the maximum, stretching out to almost the entire Empyreal Terminus Sector by the power of the sun. Under the reverberation of the souls of billions of people, he earned unprecedented epiphany too. He had never been more assured of it—that he was the sun and the universe, his victory was mankind’s victory, his future was mankind’s future, and he was the highest will of mankind… No, he was mankind!
“Hehehehe!”
Sensing the obedience and admiration that billions of people fed back into his soul, Wuying Qi was more confident than ever too. The pictures and information streams that he imprinted on those people had been washing and hypnotizing himself too, making him absolutely in no doubt of his destiny.
30% of the Next Sun Plan had been carried out. The most difficult part had passed.
The four families’ ace fleets had completely fallen into chaos, and it was impossible for them to recover in a couple of days. Besides, the four families did not have the courage to send any reinforcements into the Empyreal Terminus Sector that was enshrouded in the black sun.
The Imperial Guards and the Deep Sea Fleet were also being “awakened” in order. Very soon, their loyalty would be improved to a new level. Then, they would be able to accept the four families’ ace fleets.
Even though Lei Chenghu might be insubordinate, the chaos in the Seven Seas Space Zone would take at least ten to fifteen days to be cleaned up. By then, whether or not the Astounding Thunder Fleet jumped over, the new “Capital Fleet” would rise above the sea of stars under his personal governance!
Nothing could possibly stop him.
Nothing could possibly stop the renaissance of the civilization of mankind!
Wuying Qi dwelled in the soul resonation of billions of people and the worships and cries from them, unable to get away from the glorious and brilliant movement.
However…
The magnificent movement that covered from the beginning of life to all eternity seemed to be mixed with two minor noises.
The movement was so smooth and pleasant that the two noises were particularly earsplitting, as if they were mocking him.
“Huh?”
The black sun slightly opened its eyes and stared at the dust named “Li Yao” in the most rigorous way.
