246: Expeditionary Legion, set sail!

As Lu Chen's domineering declaration, "Time to collect rent," fell, the entire "expedition" and the entire massive fleet seemed to be injected with a wild soul in an instant.

The steel behemoths, which had been silently suspended in the void, began to slowly adjust their postures.

The ghostly blue ion exhaust plumes, ignited and ejected by tens of thousands of fusion reactors, painted a breathtakingly magnificent star map against the dark background of the universe.

This was not a drill, nor was it a patrol.

This was the first time since the birth of human civilization that the entire race had gathered its strength to launch a war of total annihilation against the unknown deep space, against the ancient demon entrenched in the Galactic Center!

"Report to Commander Lu!"

The voice of "War Wolf" in the communication channel was rough and powerful, with the low roar of countless warship engines preheating as background noise.

"The 'Earth Expedition Legion' First, Second, and Third Joint Fleets, totaling thirty thousand 'shenzhou-class' battleships, have all entered jump preparation positions! All weapon systems have unlocked, and the 'dragon gall' star-annihilation cannons are fully charged! With just one order from you, we can blast that void ahead into slag!"

"Report!"

Immediately following was the cold, clear voice of Alia, Queen of the Winged Human Race. Although through a communicator, one could still hear the irrepressible excitement and thirst for revenge in her tone.

"The 'Holy Light' Revenge Legion's three thousand assault ships have completed self-checks of the 'heavenly craft' magic modification system! Our psionic radar has locked onto the frequency of the spatial fluctuations and we are ready to follow the main fleet for dimensional transit at any time! This time, the Winged Human Race will never retreat!"

Listening to these two completely different yet equally battle-hungry voices, Lu Chen, sitting in the captain's seat, raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

He looked at the dense light dots on the holographic screen; each light dot represented a warship loaded with destructive power, and each warship carried the lives and glory of thousands of warriors.

This was his trump card.

This was his capital to dare to unsheathe his sword against "God"!

"Very good."

Lu Chen's fingers tapped rhythmically on the armrest, making a "tap-tap" sound.

His gaze crossed the layers of ship formations and cast toward the distant and profound Galactic Center.

There, a massive black hole was greedily devouring everything.

There, a terrifying civilization named "Star Devourer" was waiting for its prey to arrive.

But what they didn't know was that this time, it wasn't prey that was coming.

It was—the undertaker.

"heavenly craft."

Lu Chen called out softly.

"I am here, Master."

The figure of heavenly craft appeared instantly. Her virtual image today had changed into a dashing silver military uniform, looking less soft and more iron-blooded and murderous.

"How is the loading status of the 'causality interference device' prototype?"

"Reporting to Master, the prototype 'Destiny' has been successfully loaded into the core cabin of the 'expedition'. As it is the first unit, its stability remains to be tested in actual combat, but theoretically," a trace of fanatical data flow flashed in the eyes of heavenly craft, "as long as there is enough energy, it can rewrite the probability of 'victory or defeat' in a local battlefield!"

"That is enough."

Lu Chen nodded, the light in his eyes becoming sharp as a knife.

"Notify the entire army that we are not taking the conventional route."

"The distance in three-dimensional space is too far; even with curvature flight, twenty-six thousand light-years would break our legs. We don't have that much time to play hide-and-seek with those bugs."

He stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling porthole, and reached out as if to touch the cold void.

"We are taking a shortcut."

"We are going to jump over from 'above'!"

Following Lu Chen's will, heavenly craft instantly transmitted the order to the entire army.

In the next second, a layer of strange fluctuations visible to the naked eye appeared on the surface of all warships.

That was the "dimensional anchor" activating, forcibly supporting an independent higher-dimensional bubble around the warships!

The originally smooth space began to twist and fold, like a crumpled piece of paper.

And at the very front of the fleet, ten of the largest "pangu"-class dimensional strike ships simultaneously fired ten blinding high-energy beams!

These ten beams were not used to attack the enemy, but to—

Tear space apart!

"Zzz—!!!"

Like a hot blade cutting into butter, the sturdy spatial barrier was forcibly torn open at this moment, creating a massive opening!

That was not a Wormhole.

That was a dimensional rift!

Through that rift, people saw no longer starlight, but a chaotic color that was bizarre and impossible to describe in words.

That was the projection of the fourth dimension, a forbidden realm that transcended the limits of human senses!

"Is... is this a Higher Dimensions channel?"

Su Qingying stood behind Lu Chen, looking at the rift, her beautiful eyes filled with shock and intoxication.

As a scientist, being able to witness this scene was truly a case of "hearing the Dao in the morning, one can die in the evening"!

"Correct."

Lu Chen didn't even turn his head, his voice terrifyingly calm.

"This is the path we must take."

"A path to godhood."

He turned abruptly to face all the officers and soldiers of the fleet, to that massive fleet poised for action, and issued the final departure order!

"Comrades!"

"I know the road ahead is dangerous, I know this trip is a nine-death-and-one-life chance!"

"But please remember, behind us is Earth, is home, is the fire of civilization we swore to protect with our lives!"

"We do not need pity, we do not need prayers, because the sword in our hands is our truth!"

"For this expedition, we have only one goal—"

"Fill in that damn black hole for me!"

"Tear apart that arrogant brood mother for me!"

"Drag that so-called 'God-level civilization' off the altar and trample it underfoot!"

"Attention, all troops!"

Lu Chen waved his hand, pointing to the rift leading to the unknown!

"Dimensional engine at full power!"

"Target: Galactic Center!"

"We—"

"Depart!!!"

"Boom—!!!"

With this order, the engines of tens of thousands of interstellar warships erupted with blindingly extreme light!

The entire star region seemed to be burning in an instant!

The massive fleet was like a group of Don Quixotes rushing toward windmills, but with a terrifying momentum capable of crushing all windmills, they rushed into that dimensional rift without hesitation!

Light and shadow flowed, time and space were inverted.

When the exhaust flame of the last warship disappeared into the rift, that huge opening slowly healed as if nothing had ever happened.

Only that still-dead starry sky seemed to echo with the unyielding roar of human civilization.

Inside the dimensional channel.

The scenery here was magnificent and terrifying.

Time and space lost their meaning here; the spaceship seemed to be stationary and yet also rushing at billions of times the speed of light.

Outside the window were twisted lines and broken images; those were projections of countless parallel universes, the concretization of countless possibilities.

"Steady your minds!"

Lu Chen's voice sounded directly in the minds of every soldier through the mental connection.

"Do not look outside the window! Do not try to understand those images! That is the flow of Higher Dimensions information, it will burn out your brains!"

"Trust in the navigation of heavenly craft, trust in your warships!"

"We are crossing dimensions, we are approaching the truth!"

Under the precise control of heavenly craft, the massive fleet maintained an astonishing formation in the chaotic Higher Dimensions turbulence.

The "dimensional anchor" of every warship was running at full load, like sturdy bubbles protecting the fragile carbon-based life inside.

I don't know how much time passed.

Perhaps an instant, perhaps ten thousand years.

The chaotic colors ahead suddenly began to fade, and a heart-palpitating, familiar darkness reappeared at the end of the field of view.

That was the background color of the universe.

That was—

The real world!

"Prepare to exit!"

Lu Chen's eyes became extremely sharp in an instant.

"Everyone, get ready for battle!"

"Weapon systems charging! Shield overload mode activated!"

"We have arrived!"

"Buzz—!!!"

Accompanied by a tooth-aching sound of space tearing, the massive "Expedition Legion" rushed out of the dimensional channel like a giant whale leaping out of the deep sea!

Back to the three-dimensional universe!

However, before everyone could recover from the dizziness of the space jump, the scene before them made everyone's heart stop for half a beat!

Bright!

Too bright!

Blinding light instantly filled the entire bridge!

This was no longer the "countryside" with only one star like the Solar System; this was the center of the Milky Way Galaxy! It was the prosperous area where stars were most densely packed!

Hundreds of millions of stars were squeezed into this small space, releasing terrifying light and heat!

And in the center of that endless ocean of light, a black sphere, so huge it was despair-inducing, was quietly watching this group of uninvited guests like a cold eye.

Sagittarius A* black hole!

And around the black hole, dense black spots spread like a plague.

Those were countless "Star Devourer" warships, those were the demon legions that had devoured countless civilizations!

They seemed to have long anticipated the arrival of humanity.

Countless giant cannons flickering with eerie death rays had already turned their muzzles, aiming at this fleet that had just jumped out of the void!

"Welcome to hell, guests."

A cold, grand, emotionless mental fluctuation exploded directly in everyone's minds!

That was the will of the "Star Devourer" brood mother!

That was the pressure of a true high-level civilization!

"Are you ready to become my food?"

Facing this overwhelming enemy, facing this suffocating desperate situation, the atmosphere on the bridge solidified to the extreme.

Fear?

Despair?

No!

Lu Chen slowly straightened his body and adjusted his slightly messy collar.

He looked at the huge black hole on the screen, looked at the countless hideous enemy ships, and instead, a graceful yet crazy smile hooked at the corner of his mouth.

He took the communicator and slowly retorted in a tone more arrogant and domineering than the other party:

"Food?"

"Sorry, you got it wrong."

"We didn't come here to deliver takeout."

"We are here—"

Lu Chen's eyes exploded with sharp light, and he waved his hand suddenly!

"To trash the place!"

"All troops—"

"Fire!!!"