*Rumble!*
Xia Fei’s steely fist exploded on the dark golden warship, blasting through its structure and leaving a large hole!
Space was near-vacuum, so when large quantities of air leaked out, the interior of the warship became a complete disaster.
Xia Fei did not rest and charged into the ship, using his speed to do so back and forth, busting through walls and destroying any machinery he saw!
To Xia Fei’s surprise, this dark golden warship was being commandeered by a human. A man in his thirties was floating in the air. Xia Fei grabbed him and confirmed that he really was a human. He had a tattoo on his neck and wore a navy blue military uniform.
Suddenly!
The tattoos on the corpse began to bulge as if some lifeform was trying to separate from the body!
This was a shocking sight! A blue octopus creature slowly emerged; two pitch-black eyes then stared at Xia Fei!
*Bang!*
Xia Fei’s brows furrowed! A punch instantly pulverized this soft creature! Green viscous blood splashed over the walls!
“What is this? Too disgusting!” Phantom frowned and said, looking like he was about to vomit.
*Thump thump thump!*
Sensing that it was under attack, the warship intensified its offensive against the human warship. Xia Fei coldly snorted. “Forget him. Let’s kill them all first!”
…
Dazzling fireworks dissipated in the darkness of space. Xia Fei destroyed the energy system of the warship, triggering an intense explosion; after which, he busted through the thick armor of the ship and viewed the show from the sea of stars.
The explosion set off a chain reaction, and in a few seconds, the warship turned into a giant ball of fire. Countless pieces of metal shrapnel shot in all directions.
“We’re saved!”
“Thank god!”
Through the window, he could clearly see the crew of the Caracal cruiser cheering and hugging one another in celebration of their survival.
Xia Fei slowly approached and entered the ship through the boarding module.
*Snap!*
His helmet opened. Xia Fei looked around and saw several tired faces. After his encounter with those fleshy monsters before, Xia Fei was wary of these people.
“Xia Fei! You’re Xia Fei!” a muscular man with one arm wrapped in bandage excitedly called.
“You recognized me?” Xia Fei pointed at himself with a hand and asked.
“How could I not remember you? I’m Tiger! You led us to freedom from the cages of that bloody battleground. Later, we followed Big Bro Butcher to this strange part of space. I can’t believe it’s already been three years!”
“Tiger! So you’re Tiger. I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since we last saw each other that my memory has become fuzzy,” Xia Fei said casually. He truly did not remember Tiger, but this person knew about the Blood Matrix and Butcher; he presumably was not lying.
The crew members were all invigorated, regarding him as their savior. After all, Xia Fei had a resounding reputation in the Panhuman Alliance; he was the master of the Terminus Star Region and had once charged alone into the insectoid territory. Even now, this matter was still a hot topic of conversation.
“You’re members of Quantum Holdings’ exploration team then. Where’s Butcher?” Xia Fei asked.
Tiger’s face darkened, and the others shook their heads and sighed. It seemed that something had happened.
Xia Fei was treated with utmost respect on the Caracal. Once the initial excitement passed, Xia Fei was invited to the captain’s cabin by Tiger. There were two others also present, a female warrior called Enya and a short man called Li Rongguang.
They both claimed to have met Xia Fei at the Blood Matrix, but Xia Fei really could not recall their appearances no matter how hard he tried, so he only pretended to know them. The three were the chief officers of this warship and were all Butcher’s subordinates.
“So what’s going on here?” Xia Fei sipped on his tea and asked.
Tiger sighed. “About three years ago, Big Bro Butcher led us into the sea of stars in search of the legendary Eden. At the time, we had several thousand brothers and sisters, but now, only two hundred still live.
“Besides us, there were many other exploration teams of varying sizes, all of them seeking Eden. The journey was tough, and every team suffered losses. Big Bro Butcher, through his unique charm and methods, took over many other teams. I can say without exaggeration that we’re currently the biggest faction. This ship and the vast majority of its crew joined us later. The three of us were appointed as officers by Big Bro Butcher.”
Xia Fei nodded. Butcher had a drive, and his cultivation was rather decent. That he could lead so many murderers out of the Blood Matrix was A testament of his charm and leadership ability, so it was not impossible for him to have brought over these other groups.
“Since your group is the largest and has the most men, why were you being pursued by those monsters? Also, where is the main force of the exploration fleet?” Xia Fei lit a cigarette and sternly asked.
Tiger used his unbandaged arm to hammer his leg. “Several months ago, we arrived at this region of space, but for some reason, as we were preparing to advance further, we were intercepted by these dark golden warships, and they scattered our fleet. It was as if someone didn’t want us to advance any further.
“Our intelligence reports said that the migrants from Eden, who arrived three years ago, used this route to enter the Panhuman Alliance. Big Bro Butcher was very confused. Why were they able to pass, but we were inexplicably attacked? There’s something strange going on. Later, our radars started to break, and we couldn’t get a signal back to the Alliance. Thus, Big Bro Butcher chose to have the fleet rest on a nearby habitable planet so that we could discuss what to do next.
“Once we anchored the fleet on that planet, the nightmare began. Each day, our numbers dwindled. A comrade one day would just be a missing bed the next. Panic began to spread, and people began to spread rumors that we had been cursed by a devil, and the discipline of the exploration fleet began to dissolve.”
Tiger and the others covered their faces, grief-stricken as they recounted that painful experience.
“You know as well as I do that Big Bro Butcher is the hardened sort who doesn’t believe in such things. He decided to charge into this region of space and see what sort of secret was on the other side. Even though many people weren’t happy, they still decided to carry out Big Bro Butcher’s decision.
“We had 174 warships of various sizes; we arranged ourselves into an offensive formation and charged. For the first three days, things were strangely calm and we encountered no obstruction, but on the fourth day, we discovered that we were surrounded! Dark golden warships several times our number took aim at us and began to blast us to bits.
“We could only scatter to escape. My Caracal could be considered lucky, but many more of our comrades rest in the sea of stars or have been captured by the unknown enemies.”
Xia Fei massaged his temples. Tiger’s story had not mentioned those monsters that could infiltrate the human body, so Xia Fei showed a video that displayed the battle that had just taken place. All combat armors had recording functions, and Edgeless was no exception.
“Have you ever seen these monsters that can attach themselves to human bodies?” Xia Fei pointed at the screen and asked.
Enya’s eyes went wide. “I’ve never seen a monster like this, but I recognize the human that monster attached itself to. He’s part of the exploration fleet. He was a rather handsome guy, and I slept with him a few times. He’s one of those who disappeared on that habitable planet. How could he have joined the enemy?!”
Xia Fei glanced at Enya. It was her problem who she slept with. Xia Fei was simply inspecting the subtle movements on her face, trying to see how reliable her words were.
“These soft creatures are probably some sapient lifeforms. Their bodies are very weak, so they parasitize other lifeforms to borrow their power. I’m guessing that most of the exploration fleet members have become hosts for these monsters.” Xia Fei grimly determined.
As he looked out at the sea of stars, Xia Fei’s mind rapidly spun.
“This isn’t even the most frightening thing. If those migrants from Eden who entered the Alliance were hosts to those monsters, and the monsters used that chance to infiltrate the Alliance, then what if they reproduced and took control of more and more humans until they completely controlled the Alliance? The Alliance is in grave danger.
“As for your exploration fleet, you were the fish that was lured by the bait. The monsters were waiting to take over your body and brains to make you one of their own kind.”
Xia Fei paused and then he sternly continued. “It’s no wonder Butcher sent a warning message rather than a request for help. He was presumably warning the Alliance to watch out for those migrants from Eden. He knows that Charlie is the helmsman of Quantum Holdings and has many contacts, so he decided to send the warning straight to Charlie.”
Xia Fei’s analysis had Butcher’s three subordinates breaking out in a cold sweat. If what Xia Fei had said was true, there were numerous of these strange creatures breeding within the Alliance, controlling numerous people!
“It couldn’t be! That’s too absurd!” the short Li Rongguang said in shock.
“I hope that it’s not what I think, but I’ve always prepared myself for the worst-case scenario,” Xia Fei coolly said. “After all, the universe is very complicated and very dangerous.”
Xia Fei’s eyes subtly glinted as he came up with an idea.
“Hurry back to the Alliance. Remember: You never met me. When you get to the Alliance, don’t bring up this meeting to anyone. I will handle the rest,” Xia Fei sternly said.
The three of them nodded, agreeing to Xia Fei’s request.
Leaving the Caldari-class warship, Xia Fei watched it warp-jump. He then found a monster corpse in the wreckage, stored it in a box, and returned to the Hidden Realm.
Upon receiving the message, Dimsky, Warstar, and Sophie gathered in the conference room.
“You came back so quickly?” Dimsky asked.
Xia Fei recounted what he had just experienced, leaving the three mech survivors stunned. A massive conspiracy had been going on for three years with no one noticing it! It was difficult to imagine how far it had gone and how much damage it had done to the Panhuman Alliance!
Xia Fei showed two figures and sternly said, “Two things. First, Dimsky, immediately find out the weakness of this sapient lifeform; research a way to locate and kill them, too. Once you get the results, quickly deliver them to Tai along with my letter.”
Dimsky firmly nodded. “Relax. I will gather all the members of our medical and research teams. As for the letter, we have nanorobots. No one will notice us.”
Xia Fei said, “Remember to scan Tai first and confirm that he hasn’t been infected. There are also Charlie and the others. I need to know as soon as possible if my subordinates are safe.
“Second, Warstar, immediately deploy an army to the site of the incident. These soft lifeforms will have never imagined that a robot army is ready and waiting in the Hidden Realm! They can attach themselves to sapient lifeforms, but they’re helpless against you.
“Kill all the lifeforms you can, take all the resources you can, and burn what you can’t take!” Xia Fei coldly said. “In short, render this species extinct!”
