165: misfortune

When Ghost Hand led his "Ghost" special forces team, following the Infinite City's extracted strongholds, everyone fell silent.

"Report, Captain, a total of twelve bodies, all killed with a single blow."

"There were no signs of struggle, the alarm system was intact, and even... even the coffee in their hands was still warm."

A team member reported with some disbelief after checking the scene.

Ghost Hand indicated he didn't want to talk...

He raised his hand.

"Deal with it, we'll follow."

Just when they thought they had adapted.

They arrived at the area that Pupil was responsible for.

The scene before them was a living hell.

The gate of a fortress was wide open, and bodies lay scattered haphazardly inside.

Some soldiers died by their own comrades' guns, others embraced a metal pillar with a happy smile on their faces, but a dagger was plunged into their chests, clearly a suicide.

And still others had smashed themselves to death against the wall, their brains splattered everywhere.

"Boss... this... is this mass possession?"

A young team member's face was pale, and the hand holding his gun trembled slightly.

Ghost Hand didn't answer. He quickly walked into the fortress's command room and saw the last surveillance footage still on the tactical screen.

He saw the leader of the white-robed figures.

He merely strolled past.

Then, those Dark Star soldiers began to kill each other as if they had seen a ghost.

"Gulp."

Ghost Hand swallowed, feeling a chill run down his spine.

He had fought for many years and seen all kinds of ways to kill.

But he had never seen this.

Silently destroying your mind, letting you perish in the hell you created yourself.

This could no longer be considered a battle...

"Captain... how... how should we write our mission report?"

A team member next to him asked softly, with a hint of a sob in his voice.

"We can't just write... the enemy decided to ascend on the spot, can we?"

"Shut up!" Ghost Hand roared, kicking aside a helmet at his feet.

"Hurry up, keep moving."

He suddenly understood why General General Wei was so polite to the young Lord Su Jin.

A lord with such a force could no longer be measured by conventional standards.

When Ghost Hand and his group finally made it to the designated rendezvous point, they saw a scene that would be etched in their memories forever.

On the Gobi Desert under the night wind, Shadow One's black-clad troops and Pupil's white-clad troops stood distinctly separated, quietly awaiting.

The black was as profound as an abyss, the white as ethereal as an immortal.

Two completely opposite temperaments, yet both exuded a terrifying sense of oppression.

They just stood there, as if they had been waiting for a long time.

Ghost Hand opened his mouth, feeling that his proud "Ghost" special forces team was like a group of toddlers who had just learned to walk in front of these people.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and pointed to the area ahead where space was distorted and light was hazy.

"Coordinates confirmed, the Dawn Star is at the core of that 'Erosion Domain'. How... how do we get in?"

His voice, he didn't even realize it himself, had unconsciously taken on a tone of inquiry.

Shadow One's gaze passed over him, looking towards that strange domain, and he spoke calmly.

"Break in."

He furrowed his brows.

"And, it seems there's a change."

No sooner had Shadow One finished speaking.

Before Ghost Hand had time to ponder what "there's a change" meant.

"Boom--!"

A brilliant white energy beam, like a pillar reaching to the heavens, shot up from the core of the Erosion Domain without warning.

It tore through the pitch-black night, illuminating the entire Gobi Desert as if it were daytime!

The power of the light beam was vast and immense.

Even Ghost Hand and the others, dozens of kilometers away.

Could feel the scorching heatwave rushing towards them, and the "zzzt" sound of the air being forcibly ionized.

Immediately after, as if the first domino had been pushed, a chain reaction began.

"Crack... crunch..."

The sound of a mirror shattering rang out.

Centered on that beam of light, space began to ripple violently.

Cracks visible to the naked eye appeared out of nowhere, like a giant shattered glass.

The distorted light and hazy phantoms were rapidly sucked in and annihilated within the cracks.

The strange domain known as the Erosion Domain, which enveloped this place, was collapsing!

The shattered illusions receded, revealing the true scene that had been obscured for several days.

It was a massive, yet battle-scarred, steel fleet.

Hundreds of warships were scattered haphazardly, "stranded" on this Gobi Desert, like a group of dying giant whales washed ashore.

The largest one, the flagship Dawn Star.

Its hull was covered with charred black patches eroded by energy, and some of the armor had even peeled off, revealing complex internal pipelines that flickered with dangerous electrical sparks.

The other frigates and destroyers were even more tragic; some were directly broken in half, while others were mere empty shells.

Around the wreckage of the entire fleet, a large number of Dark Star Empire military units and defensive fortifications were scattered.

They had evidently been established to besiege the fleet during the existence of the Erosion Domain.

With the disappearance of the Erosion Domain, both sides were exposed to each other's view.

After a brief silence, the entire battlefield was instantly ignited!

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! The Alliance fleet has broken through the Erosion Domain!"

"Open fire! All units, free fire!"

Piercing alarm sounds rang out from the Dark Star Empire's positions.

Countless energy beams and solid shells, trailing long contrails, rained down overwhelmingly on the newly freed fleet.

Ghost Hand and his "Ghost" special forces team members behind him were somewhat dazed on the spot.

A "buzz" went off in Ghost Hand's head, and his mind went blank.

What's going on?

What about the infiltration we agreed upon?

What about the penetration reconnaissance and intelligence gathering we agreed upon?

What the hell is this?

This isn't infiltration, this is preparing for a frontal assault!

One second, they were still terrified by the Infinite City troops' unpredictable methods, lamenting that they could only follow behind and clean up.

The next second, the entire battlefield switched directly from special infiltration mode to group charge mode.

This massive change almost broke his old back.

He now felt that.

The title of his mission report.

Perhaps it could be changed to "On How to Effectively Play an Innocent Little Blade of Grass Swaying in the Wind in the Center of a Battlefield Where Immortals Fight."

Unlike the collective bewilderment of the "Ghost" squad, Shadow One's and Pupil's reactions were astonishingly fast.

The two exchanged glances and instantly reached a consensus.

The plan had changed, but the objective remained the same.

"Act."

Two words, simultaneously uttered from Shadow One's and Pupil's mouths.

The next moment, a black tide and white streams of light, like two arrows released from a bowstring.

Raced towards the center of that distant steel graveyard—the Dawn Star!

The Ling Shu Sword Guards flickered, leaving continuous afterimages on the Gobi, like a group of banished immortals treading on the moon.

And Shadow One and his subordinate "Shadows."

Completely merged into the huge shadows cast by the warship wreckage on the ground, silent and incredibly fast.

"Boss..."

A team member nudged Ghost Hand with his elbow, "Are we... still sweeping?"

"Sweeping my ass!" Ghost Hand snapped back to reality.

He felt a surge of hot blood rush to his head, put on his mecha suit, took his rifle from his back, and pulled back the bolt.

"Follow them! We are the guides! We can't let our allies get lost on our territory!"

Ghost Hand roared, "Even if we can't get the meat, we have to go up and drink the soup!"

"Yes!"

The "Ghost" special forces team members shouted in unison, all the long-suppressed frustration turning into fighting spirit at this moment.

They might not have the unpredictable methods of the Infinite City troops, but they were also top-tier warriors, and they had their pride.