31: Divine punishment descended, and everything was reduced to ashes.

Early morning.

The starry sky remained deep and cold.

But in the chat channel for Area 9527, it was as bustling as a wet market.

[Lin Yun (brotherhood leader): @Gu Pingsheng, you shrinking turtle! Come out! Weren't you acting all tough just now? Why have you gone quiet?]

[Lin Yun (brotherhood leader): Brothers, send out the coordinates! Anyone who can provide Gu Pingsheng's location will get double the bounty! 20,000 energy blocks!]

[Lin Yun (brotherhood leader): See this? This is my fleet! Fifty modified gunboats! Every single one is equipped with twin-linked autocannons! We could drown you in spit alone!]

To showcase his strength, Lin Yun even started a region-wide live stream.

In the footage.

Within a rugged asteroid belt filled with jagged rocks.

Fifty spaceships of various types were suspended in the void. Although the models were mismatched and some even had visible patches, gathered together, they still possessed the visual impact of a steel torrent.

Lin Yun stood on the bridge of the flagship, holding a glass of red wine, looking high-spirited and triumphant.

"Gu Pingsheng, I know you're watching."

He faced the camera, his face wearing a playful expression like a cat toy with a mouse.

"Kneel and beg for mercy now, send the woman over, and I might just leave your corpse intact."

"Otherwise..."

He made a throat-slitting gesture.

The popularity of the live stream instantly soared to hundreds of thousands.

The bullet chat was dense.

"Holy crap! Is this the strength of the Brotherhood? That's terrifying!"

"Fifty spaceships! Who can withstand that kind of fire coverage?"

"Gu Pingsheng has really kicked a steel plate this time."

"He's done for, he's done for. A rising star of a generation is about to fall before he even ascends."

"@Gu Pingsheng, just surrender quickly. While there's life, there's hope!"

The vast majority of people did not favor Gu Pingsheng.

After all, the difference in numbers was too great.

One was a lone wolf, the other was a massive force with fifty spaceships.

How could he possibly fight?

...Inside the spaceship, Captains Quarters.

Gu Pingsheng sat on a leather sofa, also holding a glass of red wine.

However, his wine was [Century Vintage (Purple)], while the glass in Lin Yun's hand was, at best, industrial alcohol diluted with water.

He watched the live stream on the holographic screen.

He watched Lin Yun's arrogant, distorted face.

It was like watching a monkey performing its heart out in front of the camera.

"Alice."

He gently swirled the wine glass, his voice calm without a single ripple of emotion.

"Present, Master."

"Are the coordinates locked?"

"Locked."

Alice's voice remained perfect and cool.

"Target: Area 9527-B, core region of the Abandoned Mining Asteroid Belt."

"Distance: 0.5 light-years."

"Ballistic calculations complete."

"Ready to fire at any time."

Gu Pingsheng nodded.

He raised his wine glass toward Lin Yun on the screen, offering a distant toast.

"In your next life, remember to be a bit more low-key."

Then.

He tilted his head back and drained the red wine in his glass.

As he set down the glass.

He softly uttered two words.

"Fire."

...At the bottom of the spaceship.

That ten-meter-long tungsten alloy rod, emitting a cold, grim glint, had completely extended from the launch silo.

The surrounding electromagnetic coils began to charge.

"Vrrr—!!!"

A low hum, as if coming from the depths of hell, instantly spread through the entire spaceship.

Even in the vacuum of space.

That terrifying energy fluctuation still caused the spaceship's keel to let out a tooth-aching groan.

Blue electric arcs danced wildly across the surface of the tungsten rod.

That was kinetic energy compressed to the absolute limit.

Boom!

There was no fire.

There was no smoke.

Only a streak of light almost impossible to capture with the naked eye.

Under the effect of electromagnetic acceleration, that tungsten rod instantly broke past the first cosmic velocity, the second cosmic velocity... until it approached sub-light speed!

It was like a spear cast down by God.

It tore through the void.

Carrying a will to destroy everything, it flew toward the far reaches of the starry sky... the Abandoned Mining Asteroid Belt.

Lin Yun was still talking eloquently in the live stream.

"See that meteorite? With one command from me, it will turn into dust!"

"This is power! This is authority!"

"In this world, those with money and guns are the bosses!"

He was immersed in his own world, enjoying the thrill of being the center of attention.

He completely failed to notice.

Deep in the starry sky above his head.

An imperceptible "meteor" was falling toward him at a speed that defied physical common sense.

In the live stream.

Suddenly, someone sent a bullet chat message.

"Eh? What's that?"

"Something seems to be falling from the sky?"

"A meteor?"

Lin Yun blanked for a moment.

He also subconsciously looked up.

Through the transparent dome of the bridge.

He saw a speck of light.

At first, it was only the size of a pinhead.

But in just the blink of an eye.

That speck of light became a blinding sun!

Getting bigger and bigger!

Getting brighter and brighter!

Until it occupied his entire field of vision!

An unprecedented fear instantly gripped his heart.

It was the instinctive reaction of a living being facing absolute destructive power.

"What is th—"

Before he could finish his sentence.

The light descended... There was no sound.

In the vacuum of space, sound cannot travel.

But that did not prevent that destructive scene from being deeply etched into the retinas of everyone watching the live stream.

That tungsten rod, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, accurately struck the core of the asteroid belt where Lin Yun's fleet was located.

At the moment of contact.

The hard asteroids were like they were made of tofu, instantly disintegrating.

Immediately following.

A visible shockwave exploded outward from the point of impact in all directions!

Everywhere it passed.

Whether it was massive meteorites or those seemingly sturdy modified gunboats.

Every single one was instantly vaporized!

Not even wreckage remained!

They were erased directly from the material level!

Lin Yun's flagship didn't even have a chance to struggle; it vanished into thin air like a pencil drawing erased by a rubber.

White light.

Endless white light.

It swallowed everything.

The live stream image froze at this moment.

Then, it turned into static... Dead silence.

The entire regional chat channel was quiet for a full minute.

No one spoke.

No one sent a bullet chat.

Everyone had their mouths wide open, staring blankly at the static on the screen.

The world-ending scene from just now still lingered in their minds.

What was that?

Was that a power humans could master?

That must have been divine punishment, right?!

Gulp.

It was unknown who swallowed their saliva first.

Then, the channel exploded.

"Holy shit!!!"

"What just happened?! Can someone tell me what just happened?!"

"Where's Lin Yun? Where's the fleet? How are they all gone?!"

"In that moment... I think I saw God..."

"Too terrifying! What kind of weapon was that?! It wiped out a fleet in one hit?!"

"Is this a fucking survival game? This is a fucking interstellar war, isn't it?!"

"Gu Pingsheng... that man... who exactly is he?!"

Fear.

Awe.

Adoration.

All sorts of emotions fermented wildly in the channel.

Those who had mocked Gu Pingsheng before were now all trembling with fear, wishing they could chop off their own hands.

He couldn't be provoked.

Truly could not be provoked.

To a powerhouse of this level, killing them was as easy as crushing an ant.

Just as the whole region was in an uproar.

That familiar ID appeared at the top position again.

[Gu Pingsheng: Who else?]

Three simple words.

No exclamation marks.

No emojis.

Yet they exuded a suffocating dominance.

Who else?

Who else dares?

The entire channel instantly fell silent.

Hundreds of thousands of people.

Not a single person dared to reply.

Even the trolls who usually loved to argue the most were now keeping their mouths shut tightly.

This was deterrence.

This was the truth... Captains Quarters.

Gu Pingsheng looked at the deathly silent chat channel.

The corners of his mouth curled into a satisfied arc.

"Good effect."

He set down his wine glass.

That feeling of controlling everything, of holding the power of life and death, was indeed intoxicating.

However.

He also felt a deep sense of fatigue.

Although Alice had operated that strike just now, as the user of the Hand of God, he had also consumed a large amount of mental energy.

And... Click.

The door to the Captains Quarters was pushed open.

Lin Qinghan walked in.

She was wearing that black Nano Light Armor, which outlined her perfect body curves. She held an electronic report in her hand, her expression somewhat solemn.

"Captain."

She walked up to Gu Pingsheng and handed over the report.

"The battle damage statistics are out."

"Although we didn't directly participate in the battle, that single shot from the orbital kinetic cannon..."

She paused for a moment, seemingly organizing her words.

"Caused the spaceship's energy reserves to instantly drop by 30%."

"Furthermore, the launch silo's cooling system is overloaded and will need at least 24 hours before it can be used again."

"In other words..."

Lin Qinghan looked up at Gu Pingsheng.

"Our current energy is only enough to maintain basic navigation and life support facilities."

"If we encounter another battle or need to activate the shields..."

"We will be in a very passive position."

Gu Pingsheng took the report and scanned it.

His brow furrowed slightly.

As expected.

Although the ultimate weapon was useful, its consumption was also staggering.

The price of that one-hit kill was nearly emptying his coffers.

"I see."

He closed the report and tossed it casually onto the table.

"I'll find a way regarding the energy."

"The current priority..."

At this point, Gu Pingsheng looked at Lin Qinghan.