286: Chapter 286 The Most Important Trump Card

In the center of the massive fleet, a beam of white light erupted from the main ship's cannon, tearing through the air and piercing straight through a giant beast below.

The massive body of this Rank 5 monster froze in place, its upper torso still in a pouncing stance, while the center of its chest had been turned into glazed molten slag. A few seconds later, the colossal corpse crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Commander, the Magnetic Constraint Plasma Cannon is a hit!"

Inside the bridge of the main ship, named the Odyssey, an observer reported loudly.

"Very good, continue the pursuit," ordered a valiant blonde woman dressed in military uniform.

Her name was Vera Sophia, the captain of Verland's Second Aerospace Fleet. She had received a military education since childhood, and she had earned her way to this position step by step through military merit.

The Fifth Fleet had been unable to secure a victory after a long battle, so she had accepted orders to come here.

"Third-Party Technology..."

Vera watched the retreating defensive lines below, the corners of her mouth curling into a faint, barely audible whisper, "No matter where you came from, if you dare to become an enemy of Verland, you will all be eradicated."

In the face of an aerospace fleet with its natural advantages, this company's defensive line was like a paper window—broken with a single poke.

Victory was within reach.

"Commander, they've ceased fire and are retreating rapidly," the observer's voice rang out, tinged with a hint of confusion.

Vera looked over. Sure enough, the enemy forces and those giant beasts were receding like a tide, moving nimbly, and the opponent's long-range artillery had also fallen silent.

"Are they abandoning this world?" Vera frowned slightly.

Existing data indicated that the opponent was not native to this new world and likely came from another world.

To the well-educated Vera, the term 'parallel world' was not unfamiliar. In fact, the M-theory she had learned about long ago mathematically explained the existence of parallel worlds; it was just that current technology had no way to prove it.

"Commander, a new discovery!" a crew member suddenly said urgently, quickly inputting commands to project a captured image from fifty kilometers away onto the main screen.

In the image was a large Wormhole nearly five hundred meters high on the ground. Eerie blue light surged within it, like a gash torn into space, with things constantly moving in and out.

Vera's pupils constricted suddenly, a flash of undeniable heat flickering in the depths of her eyes.

This was the passage to the opponent's world!

She hadn't expected this company to actually possess the method to open a spatial passage. If they could obtain this technology, Verland could run rampant across countless parallel worlds and become a true interstellar hegemon.

Thinking of this, Vera said excitedly, "Quick, notify the ground forces to speed up and occupy that Wormhole at all costs! The fleet will provide fire support!"

"Understood, Commander!"

In an instant, Verland's combat units swarmed toward the fortress like a cloud covering the sky. Facing these enemies, the massive fortress seemed like a small boat tossed in a storm.

At that moment, an anomaly occurred.

Without any warning, a light screen spanning half the continent of Osialia suddenly rose in front of the fortress, clearly visible across the entire battlefield.

The image within the light screen was an eerie white face. Due to the expansion of the screen, it was so large it made one's hair stand on end.

The fleet before it was no larger than its nostrils.

"What is this?" Everyone was shocked, including Vera on the main ship. The face on the light screen had no eyebrows, yet it had the contours of facial features.

For some reason, an ill omen rose in Vera's heart. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the face in the light screen open its eyes. Its eyes were like black holes—a total void.

Immediately, a cold and ominous aura circulated through the battlefield.

Vera felt a chill, yet she didn't know where it came from; it seemed to stem from deep within her bone marrow.

"Commander, I feel like something's wrong with me..."

Hearing this, Vera turned around to see her second-in-command on the ship.

"David, what's wrong?" Vera couldn't help but ask.

The deputy looked at Vera with a blank expression and spoke: "I can't say, it's like someone is calling me."

"David, what do you mean? Explain yourself," Vera said, startled, as she stepped forward to check on him.

However, after Vera took only two steps, David suddenly began to mutter, as if talking to himself:

"Sorry, it's come for me. I have to leave..."

The deputy's skin lost its color at an incredible speed, replaced by a grayish-white. In just a few seconds, the man who had been talking to her turned into a lifelike stone statue.

"David! You..."

Vera was horrified, her pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks. What on earth was happening? She had never encountered such a bizarre occurrence.

Wasn't it just an image in front of them? What did the opponent do?

Suddenly, Vera felt a surge of panic in her heart, like a claustrophobic person buried in the boundless deep sea with no way out. She also felt a kind call coming from somewhere, making one unconsciously give up everything to pursue it into the depths...

No,

Feeling her consciousness being dragged into the depths by some unknown existence, Vera struggled desperately, trying to swim up from the deep sea, but the surface felt infinitely far away. At the end of her consciousness, she seemed to see a monstrosity composed entirely of vines, lunging at her with a sharp, malicious voice.

"Sister, let's play together!"

In less than a minute, everyone on the Verland Second Fleet's main ship had turned into stone statues. Outside, those black-hole-like eyes were still slowly watching the battlefield.

Every person met by that gaze fell silent; all life was frozen.

It wasn't until an hour later that the white face in the light screen slowly closed its eyes, meaning it had finished clearing everyone who had looked at it.

Subsequently, the light screen that spanned half the continent disappeared.

—

In the command room, Lin Fang took a sharp breath as he watched the images sent by the Quantum Information Satellite. This meme, codenamed Pale Face, was sometimes truly too unsolvable, easily taking the lives of millions.

This was a pattern Mite had discovered shortly after researching this meme: this kind of meme could propagate through any visual signal. No matter where you were, if you saw it, you would be haunted by this eerie thing.

Currently, there was no way to get rid of it.

Looking at it now, the decision to keep it back then was correct; it could often become an unexpected trump card.

Watching the fleet still suspended in the sky, Lin Fang's eyes showed a look of contemplation. As the enemy weakened and his side grew stronger, it was time for his counterattack.

He still had his most important trump card left to play.