13: It's a nesting doll! We're saved!

Many years ago, when White Shark was still a student at United University, he often wondered about one thing:

How spectacular would the scene be if an entire fleet fired a simultaneous broadside in one direction?

Now, the scene he witnessed firsthand answered his past confusion—

The unfamiliar fleet opened fire in perfect unison, and shells rained down on the outpost beneath his feet.

"Hoh ah..."

White Shark closed his eyes, his throat trembling slightly and involuntarily.

He began to recall, how many years had he been doing this job?

Counting from when he escaped that Space City at 16, it had been nearly 14 years, right?

Subtracting the four years spent at United University, that still left ten years.

Well, he had long anticipated that this day would come.

"Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!!!"

A series of loud bangs came, and the floor beneath his feet began to shake violently.

He lost his balance and fell heavily to the ground.

He couldn't be bothered to get up.

They say that when people are on the verge of death, they see a life review.

Is that true?

White Shark tried to focus his attention. The roar of the shells impacting gradually subsided, and the vibration beneath his feet also lessened considerably.

A certain foul-mouthed pink hair, the King of Endurance, appeared in his vision.

Wait, no?

Why is this guy the one I'm thinking of during my life review?

The style is all wrong!

"Hey, hey, hey!"

"What are you, a Human Machine, doing lying here!"

"Get up quickly! No sleeping allowed here!"

Why is there still sound?

No way, could it be that he...————

"It's unharmed?"

On the bridge, Xi Hai frowned slightly, looking at the outpost that was still standing in the image.

A single broadside hit only managed to scrape off a piece of the externally installed structure?

The exposed old armor plating inside—even the main cannon of the ruby couldn't penetrate it?

This armor technology... is seriously inconsistent with their battleship technology level?

Suddenly, night lamp popped up.

"Detected relic from the fourth era, 'Second Empire' period."

"Legendary Quest activated: Time-Space Walker."

"Quest Objective: Witness history."

"Current Progress: 0%"

"Quest Reward: Unknown."

A Legendary Quest?

That sounds high-level.

But how exactly does one "witness" this?

"What counts as 'witnessing'?"

"A glimpse, knowledge, acquisition."

"Seriously, that was as good as saying nothing."

Xi Hai was speechless, staring at the night lamp's screen.

Old man, subway, cell phone.

Forget it. This looks like a long-term quest anyway. Since night lamp isn't willing to talk now, there will be plenty of opportunities later.

First, let's deal with this space structure right in front of us.

"What about this space outpost?"

"After you personally make contact, I will access the Central Computer there and obtain the data within."

Hearing the required method of contact, Xi Hai was slightly startled.

"Do I have to go there myself?"

night lamp replied:

"Yes."

Xi Hai thought for a moment.

As the saying goes, if you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the cub?

Maybe there will be some unexpected gains?

It seems I have to go over there... "I'm actually fine?"

White Shark suddenly opened his eyes and sat up from the ground.

The first thing that came into view was Baili Ying, looking worried.

Something was wrong. How could this person show such an expression?

He must have been dazed by the shock and misread the situation.

He blinked first.

Sure enough, when he opened his eyes again, Baili Ying's expression had changed to one of disgust.

That's more like it.

"Of course you're fine!"

"But if you lie there any longer, you really will be in trouble!"

"You're still lying down after being shelled,"

"Are you seriously planning to become a Salted Fish who can't even bother to flip over?"

The person standing before him with hands on hips deliberately raised her voice, trying to mask the panic that hadn't completely faded.

However, since he saw her, he was likely still alive—

Although he didn't know how this pink hair managed to have such luck,

based on past experience, trying to kill her was quite difficult.

White Shark climbed up from the ground, placed a hand on Baili Ying's crown, and rubbed her slightly messy pink hair.

"There, there,"

"I'm up."

"Sorry you had to see that."

Baili Ying, whose head was suddenly pressed down, was like a pause button had been hit. It took her a long time to make a sound like a mosquito's buzz.

"Don't stop..."

As if he heard something incredible, White Shark took his hand away and asked in confusion:

"Huh?"

"What did you say?"

"Get lost!"

Baili Ying instantly became like a hissing, fluffy Hachimi, jumping away forcefully.

"Who told you to touch my head!"

"You Human Machine!"

Then, she turned her back.

White Shark smiled and said nothing, looking at the pink hair with steam seemingly rising from her head. Now was not the time to tease a child.

Let's see how long this little broken place can last after the recent attack.

Shaken up like that, it might even fall apart.

He tapped the Central Control Panel and brought up the outpost's status display.

The expected severe damage and screen full of red warnings did not appear.

"Hmm?"

"Did they miss?"

Looking at the main structure in the projection, it was almost entirely the green color representing healthy status. There was barely any yellow indicating minor damage, only a portion of the non-core outer shell showed detachment.

White Shark was greatly surprised.

In his impression, these small space structures shared three common characteristics:

open-air Starports, thin armor, and negligible counter-firepower.

White Shark, who had been running Underground Businesses for over ten years, knew exactly how fragile these structures were.

He had previously been hired to destroy the construction sites of certain Privateers.

A newly completed small space station would shatter into a field of floating debris after just a few rounds from a Frigate's main cannon.

Did they miss?

No, the vibration just now wasn't fake.

Furthermore, judging by Del's three Frigates that had already turned into large amounts of space debris, the opposing side's weapon systems were not just for show.

Could it be that this small outpost he accidentally discovered was something extraordinary?

When he first discovered this place, he clearly compared and confirmed its external structure, didn't he?

When he was at United University, he majored in Human History!

Isn't this just a small space structure from the period of the Fifth Great Decay?

Logically, the strength of the outer shell shouldn't be much different from the Sixth Era.

He looked at the fleet outside the window. The enemy seemed to have stopped attacking and had spread out, surrounding the structure he was in.

Were they waiting for something?

Suddenly, White Shark saw ten warships appear out of thin air in an empty area among the fleets in his visual display... Wait, there were no Void fluctuations nearby!!!

The enemy really popped out of nowhere!!!

At the same time, the Central Control Panel in front of him sounded a communication alert.

Those people outside were actively contacting him!