859: During halftime, the alien race of a thousand stars reacted to the stress.

It was the ninth month, the beginning of autumn.

The flames of war that had scorched the entire Thousand Star Battlefield suddenly ceased.

Just as the war had suddenly erupted, with the 'Red-Blood Human Race' leading the Machina in a massive invasion, its end was equally abrupt, perhaps even inexplicable.

One second, those fearless Red-Blood Human Race warriors were igniting all their extraordinary power to the sound of resounding horns, leading masses of Machina while charging recklessly with broadswords.

The next second, those Red-Blood Human Race warriors, still in the middle of their charge, vanished without a trace.

It was not just the Red-Blood Human Race invaders.

The endless, countless war Machina brought by the Red-Blood Human Race—which had destroyed untold numbers of cities, islands, and even entire continents and Small Worlds—all vanished in an instant.

If not for the destroyed cities, collapsed mountains, cracked earth, and dried-up rivers and lakes still scattered across the land, the Fierce Eagle Clan Chief, Ying Cang, would have thought the experiences of the past period were merely a mirage, a nightmare.

"Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo~~~"

As a sound like a charge horn, seemingly etched deep into the Soul, echoed in the high sky, the Fierce Eagle Clan Chief, Ying Cang, subconsciously ruffled all his feathers, his body involuntarily performing an evasive maneuver.

After a long while, having not received an attack, Ying Cang stopped his evasive maneuver and stared intently at a young man of the Fierce Eagle Clan in the distance holding a golden horn.

"Ying Fei, what the hell are you doing?"

Just as Ying Cang finished speaking, a streak of black light sliced through the sky, piercing straight through Ying Fei's chest and snatching the horn from his hand.

Ying Fei, having taken a kick, looked down at the gaping hole in his chest where flesh was writhing and knitting together.

He then looked at Ying Li, who stood nearby with feathers standing on end and veins bulging on his hands, a mocking smirk appearing on his lips:

"That is their charge horn, you know~"

"Do you dare to crush it?"

Ying Cang, who had just flown up to the two, shivered at these words.

Only then did he remember that the horn in his hand was the charge horn of the Red-Blood Human Race.

Once the charge horn sounded, it meant abandoning life and death, and the entire army attacking.

As for having designs on the charge horn?

Thinking of that clansman who had sneakily stolen a charge horn from a horn player and casually crushed it, Ying Cang couldn't help but shiver.

That led to being ground to dust, Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, even having one's true spirit dragged out, whipped repeatedly, and lit as a heavenly lamp, never to be reincarnated for all eternity.

Ying Li wanted to put down the horn in his hand, but seeing the clansmen gathering around, his expression shifted to one of fury:

"Am I afraid of them?"

Ying Fei sneered:

"If you aren't afraid, why did you only dare to hide in the back during the great war, controlling your feathers to fight from afar?"

"If you aren't afraid, why are we all severely wounded while you only lost a few feathers?"

"Now that those Red-Blood Human Race have inexplicably disappeared, you suddenly dare to come up and touch their charge horn."

"Why didn't you move before?"

"What are you posturing for?"

At this point, Ying Fei added meaningfully:

"Although those Red-Blood Human Race have inexplicably disappeared, it does not mean they have lost control of the Thousand Star Battlefield, nor does it mean they won't appear again."

"Tell me, what if they invade the Thousand Star Battlefield again next time, and they find out you smashed their charge horn?"

Looking at Ying Fei's meaningful expression, Ying Li's face froze completely.

Ying Cang, having arrived close by, took a deep breath and took the horn from Ying Li's hand.

"The Red-Blood Human Race are indeed terrifying, but our Fierce Eagle Clan is not to be trifled with."

"It is, after all, just a small horn used for blowing; if it's broken, it's broken."

With that, under the gaze of the Fierce Eagle clansmen, Ying Cang crushed the horn in his hand.

He had to crush it.

It didn't matter when the Red-Blood Human Race were present.

Not taking action against the charge horn and the horn player could be excused by saying they were too well protected.

But now that the Red-Blood Human Race had disappeared, if they didn't even dare to crush a horn—which wasn't even considered a 'tool' in the hands of the Red-Blood Human Race—the blow to morale would be too great.

Ying Cang didn't even dare to imagine how low the morale of his clansmen would sink if this horn remained clearly visible on Fierce Eagle Planet.

Long after the horn was crushed, Ying Cang, his body still tense, secretly let out a breath.

He was truly afraid that a pair of heaven-covering hands would descend from the sky, skin him alive, and take his Soul to light a lamp.

'Even when their precious charge horn was crushed, they didn't appear. Have they really left?'

'But why?'

'They clearly held the upper hand in the war.'

'Could it be that their home planet encountered a formidable enemy?'

As these thoughts turned, he looked at Ying Fei again:

"Why did you blow their charge horn?"

Ying Fei crossed his arms, the mockery on his face undiminished:

"Why blow it?"

"Are you not afraid that they are just hiding, preparing to strike us hard when we let our guard down?"

"They treat the charge horn as their life; once the charge horn sounds, their blood surges, and they dare to disregard life and death."

"If they are hiding in the shadows, the sound of the charge horn might just make them reveal their tracks. Why not blow it?"

At this point, he cast a mocking look around at the clansmen surrounding him, who were glaring at him:

"Or is it that you are afraid?"

As his sneer faded, he patted the wound on his chest that had already healed:

"Are you afraid that those Red-Blood Human Race will reappear and let the war continue?"

"Or did you get triggered just by hearing the charge horn sound?"

Having said this, he dragged his body—which looked fine on the surface but was actually riddled with wounds, broken, and on the verge of collapse—through the crowd and flew toward the direction of his home.

Although his home had long been shattered in the flames of war, it was the only place that brought him peace of mind.

Ying Cang watched Ying Fei leave, then looked around at his clansmen, all of whom were wounded except for Ying Li, and opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But before he could speak, someone in the crowd spoke up first:

"Clan Chief, what should we do next?"

"Ying Fei isn't wrong. What if those Red-Blood Human Race are hiding, preparing to launch an attack when we lower our guard..."

As the voice rose, the crowd suddenly became noisy.

"Why don't we just leave? It's not like we haven't found other habitable planets over the years. Although the Spiritual Qi on those planets is a bit thinner, it's enough for our Legacy. Why must we insist on staying at the ancestral planet?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Ying Yang is right. Why insist on holding onto the ancestral planet? Besides, I feel like those Red-Blood Human Race are training their troops."

"Has everyone noticed that at the beginning, whether it was the Red-Blood Human Race or their Machina, they seemed to be fighting individually?"

"But as the war continued, they gained tremendous improvements in both coordinated combat and other abilities."

"By the way, Ying You discovered their planet-destroying warships in outer space. Those planet-destroying warships didn't even participate in the battle."

"Their war potential is immeasurable. With the experience from this war, I don't think we can stop them if they come again."

"Why not ask other races for help?"

"Ask other races for help? The Red-Blood Human Race didn't just invade our Fierce Eagle Planet; the ancestral planet of the man-eating Giant Crocodile Clan next door was wiped out too. Every race is having a hard time. Who can we go to for help?"

"Do you think, since our Fierce Eagle Clan doesn't really eat humans, if we surrender to the Red-Blood Human Race, would they accept it?"

"They would, right? Didn't the Jade Rabbit Clan get accepted when they surrendered?"

"But the Jade Rabbit Clan was once an ally of the Human Race."

"Rather than living under others, I would rather wander the Universe..."

In the Thousand Star Battlefield, countless alien races were amazed and suspicious at the sudden disappearance of the 'Red-Blood Human Race'.

At the Earth Expeditionary Force Base, Yang Dian also began to listen to the reports from Lei Ming and Ya Zi, tallying the losses and gains of this short expedition...