234: Their mother nest is located at the very center of the Milky Way!

As Lu Chen's words, filled with madness and ambition—"Let them deliver themselves to our doorstep"—still echoed in the air, the image on the holographic screen did not stop changing.

heavenly craft manipulated the ancient star chart extracted from the wreckage, her finger tracing a light stroke through the void.

The panoramic view of the vast, boundless Milky Way Galaxy instantly began to zoom in rapidly!

The surrounding stars flew backward like streaks of light; the line of sight seemed to traverse billions of light-years, rushing unstoppably toward that coordinate point emitting a blood-red glow, from a god-like perspective!

The closer they got to that coordinate, the more astonishing the density of the stars became.

The empty universe around the Solar System, where there was only one star every few light-years, became incredibly crowded here.

Countless blazing stars, like a swarm of fireflies trapped in a cage, were burning, spinning, and colliding frantically in this confined space!

Intense radiation storms, like the most violent tsunamis in the universe, raged through every inch of space!

The gravitational field here was extremely chaotic, and space-time was twisted into bizarre shapes; any spaceship that rashly intruded would be torn into atomic fragments in an instant!

This place is a forbidden zone for life.

It is the purgatory of the universe.

It is also the Galactic Center!

"Beep—"

The image finally froze.

In the center of the screen, surrounded by those billions of stars, was a black hole so huge it was indescribable!

It was like a gaping abyss, greedily devouring all matter and light around it.

And around the accretion disk of that black hole, on the edge of the event horizon from which even light could not escape, floated massive super lairs made of black metal, so huge that planets would appear tiny beside them!

They were densely packed together, connected to form a massive, hair-raising circular network, like a black chain tightly locking onto the most terrifying beast in the Milky Way Galaxy—Sagittarius A*!

"Th-this is…"

War Wolf pointed at the screen, his hands, which were usually as steady as Mount Tai, were trembling violently at this moment!

Not just him, all the Super Soldiers present, and even the usually calm Su Qingying, felt a chill shoot from the soles of their feet to their scalps; their blood seemed to freeze in that instant!

"Galactic Center…"

"Their Star-Devouring Hive Mother is actually at the Galactic Center?!"

Su Qingying's voice was as dry as a traveler who had walked in the desert for three days.

As a top scientist, she knew better than anyone what this meant!

The Galactic Center is the place with the strongest gravity, the most intense radiation, and the harshest environment in the entire Milky Way Galaxy!

The supermassive black hole there—Sagittarius A*—has a mass 4 million times that of the Sun!

Establishing a base in such a place is like setting up a tent on a volcano crater or building a villa at the center of a nuclear explosion!

This is simply beyond the scope of what "technology" can explain!

This is a miracle!

It is a forbidden realm that only a true "god-level civilization" would dare to set foot in!

"heavenly craft, analyze the data."

Lu Chen's voice remained calm, but if one listened carefully, they would notice his speaking speed was 0.5 seconds faster than usual.

Clearly, the scene before him was a huge shock, even for him with the system.

【Yes, Master.】

heavenly craft's figure appeared beside the screen, and countless data streams flashed frantically in her brilliant eyes.

【Conducting environmental simulation】

【Target area: Galactic Center nuclear bulge.】

【Distance: Approximately 26,000 light-years.】

【Stellar density: 10 million times that of the Solar System's surroundings.】

【Radiation intensity: Lethal level.】

【Gravitational environment: Extremely chaotic.】

【Conclusion】

heavenly craft paused and turned to look at Lu Chen, her virtual pretty face showing unprecedented solemnity.

【This is a natural cosmic fortress.】

【Any conventional fleet wanting to attack here must first pass through thousands of light-years of high-density stellar regions and endure terrifying radiation capable of melting warship armor.】

【And then face the black hole gravity capable of tearing apart space-time.】

【Most importantly】

She pointed to the massive black hole accretion disk.

【They seem to be using this black hole to obtain energy.】

Boom!!!

This sentence was like a heavy hammer, smashing hard into everyone's hearts!

Using a black hole to obtain energy?!

What the hell kind of concept is this?!

Humanity has only just mastered stellar energy and is feeling complacent about the prototype of the Dyson Sphere they are about to build.

And the enemy has actually started snatching food from the mouth of a black hole that devours everything?!

The gap between this is even greater than the gap between primitive humans and nuclear weapons!

"No wonder"

Lu Chen narrowed his eyes, his pitch-black pupils flashing with a dangerous light.

"No wonder they are called 'Star Devourer'."

"No wonder they can possess that kind of nearly endless army of nanobots."

"It turns out they are backed by the largest 'power bank' in the entire Milky Way Galaxy."

He finally understood.

Why that prehistoric civilization, that powerful civilization possessing warships of the 'ark' level, eventually ended up perishing together with them.

Because their opponent was simply not an existence on the same scale!

This is like a group of ants trying to challenge a giant dragon perched on a volcano crater!

Courage is commendable, but the ending is destined to be tragic.

"Lu… Commander Lu"

War Wolf swallowed his saliva, his voice sounding a bit tight.

"Then are we still going to fight?"

Although he is not afraid of death, he is not a fool.

Facing an enemy of this level, rushing up is just suicide, and the kind of suicide where you don't even make a splash!

A distance of 26,000 light-years!

Even if the 'expedition' has a Warp Engine with ten times the speed of light, it would still take 2,600 years to fly there!

By that time, it would be way too late!

Not to mention that it is the enemy's home turf, the Galactic Center known as the "forbidden zone for life"!

"Fight?"

Lu Chen turned around and suddenly smiled at his subordinates, whose morale had instantly plummeted to the bottom.

"Of course we have to fight."

"If we don't fight, are we supposed to wait for them to eat all the stars in the entire Milky Way Galaxy and then casually wipe us out too?"

"But how do we fight?"

Su Qingying couldn't help but ask, her brows tightly locked together, her eyes full of worry.

"The distance is too far, the environment is too harsh, and the enemy's strength is unfathomable."

"We can't even get close to them right now."

"That's right, we really can't do it right now."

Lu Chen nodded, admitting this without any evasion.

He walked to the huge porthole and looked at the vast and cold starry sky outside the window.

"We are like a child who has just learned to swim; it is normal to feel fear when looking at a behemoth on the other side of the ocean."

"But"

He turned back sharply, his eyes instantly becoming as sharp as a knife!

"Who said we were going to go die right now?"

"Who said we were going to fly this broken ship across more than 20,000 light-years?"

"Huh?!"

Everyone was stunned, a trace of confusion flashing in their eyes.

Not go? Then how do we fight?

Are we going to shout them to death?

Lu Chen looked at the confused expressions of the crowd, a mysterious and crazy curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

He reached out and pointed to his own head.

"Distance is indeed a problem."

"Energy is indeed a gap."

"But in this universe, there is a power that can ignore distance, ignore energy, and even ignore time."

"That is"

"The Rules."

"Since the system gave me this mission and let me see this star chart."

"That means there must be a way to let us cross this chasm!"

As soon as he finished speaking!

The system in his mind that had been silent all along, as if to respond to his wild words, suddenly burst out with a harsh notification sound!

【Ding—】

【Detected that the Host has successfully located the position of the "Star-Devouring Hive Mother"!】

【'starry sea' series ultimate main mission (five), triggered!】

【Mission Name: Decapitation Strike!】

【Mission Description: You have looked into the abyss, and the abyss is also gazing back at you. Facing that terrifying existence perched at the heart of the galaxy, there is only a dead end if you escape! The only way to survive is to face your fear and sever its head!】

【Mission Objective: Destroy the Star-Devouring Hive Mother!】

【Mission Reward: Unlock 'Dimension' technology tree! Unlock 'Causality' weapon arsenal! Unlock】

【System ultimate authority!】

Hearing this series of rewards, Lu Chen's breathing instantly became heavy!

Dimension technology!

Causality weapons!

Ultimate authority!

Any one of these is enough to make a civilization directly ascend to godhood!

And now, the system has actually bundled them all into the reward list for this mission!

What does this mean?

It means the difficulty of this mission is definitely hell-level!

But it also means that as long as this mission is completed, he, Lu Chen, will truly possess the divine power to set the rules in this dark forest!

"heavenly craft!"

Lu Chen shouted loudly, the madness in his eyes almost overflowing!

【Yes, Master!】

"Engrave this star chart, that black hole, and all the details of that Hive Mother deep into the database for me!"

"From today on, this is our only target!"

"We must use every means, every resource, every bit of wisdom!"

"To find that 'God-Slaying Sword' that can pierce through this black hole and take down that Hive Mother!"

"But Master," heavenly craft's voice was a bit hesitant, "with our current technological level, even if we develop for a thousand years, I'm afraid we won't be able to build a weapon capable of striking across 20,000 light-years."

"Current technology won't do."

Lu Chen looked at her, wearing that familiar, demonic smile that made all enemies tremble with fear.

"Then—change our thinking."

"If the path in three-dimensional space doesn't work"

"Why don't we try"

He pointed to the void above his head, which seemed empty but was actually full of infinite possibilities.

"Jumping over from above?"