121: This wine... is interesting.

The smell of rust and burning had replaced the flowers and fragrance that filled the city during the celebration three days ago, becoming the new keynote of this "Sleepless City."

Wang Xiaoshi curled up under the counter of his grocery store, which was covered in cracks from the tremors, his hands tightly covering his ears.

He tried to shut out the chaotic sounds from outside that were like the end of the world—

The shrill, distorted alarms never stopped, the dull and continuous sound of explosions came from the distance, and the hysterical cries, curses, and running footsteps of the crowd intertwined into a symphony of despair.

Occasionally, there was the unique "hum" of energy weapons slicing through the air and the thunderous roar of buildings collapsing.

“Xiaoshi... Xiaoshi...” His mother's trembling voice came from the inner room, filled with uncontrollable weeping. “Outside... what's happening outside? Is the army... is the army still fighting?”

Wang Xiaoshi opened his mouth, his throat too dry to make a sound... Fight?

With what?

He had just risked a peek through the crack in the door and saw a sight he would never forget for the rest of his life:

A small Star Pirates landing craft, painted with a hideous blood-fang insignia, hovered over the city as if playing a game. A crimson beam of light swept across... and the three-hundred-story Universal Trade Center, a symbol of the New Han Republic's economic miracle, was sliced like butter by a hot knife!

The upper half of the building melted and collapsed silently, kicking up dust that blotted out the sun!

No explosion, no resistance... only absolute destruction!

Suffocating destruction!

The army?

He saw the heroic "Cloud-Breaker" fighter squadron, rushing toward those Star Pirates landing craft like moths to a flame!

Then they were casually whipped to pieces by energy whips extending from the enemy's hull, turning into clusters of tragic fireballs in the sky!

He saw the projectiles fired by the ground forces' heavy electromagnetic cannons hit the energy shields of the Star Pirates landing craft without even causing a ripple, like raindrops falling into the sea!

This was not a war!

This was a massacre!

It was an emotionless cleansing of a lower civilization by a higher one!

“Mom... it's okay... it will be fine...” Wang Xiaoshi could only squeeze out such a pale and powerless sentence in the end.

He didn't even believe it himself!

He groped for and grabbed his mother's cold hand, feeling only the same trembling and despair!

The government's final announcement was still repeating intermittently over the emergency broadcast, in the heavy and sorrowful voice of the old man revered as "Master Lin"... admitting the existence of alien civilizations!

Admitting the arrival of the crisis!

Asking the people to stay calm, find cover, and wait... wait for that slim "Spark" project!

“Spark”? Wang Xiaoshi felt a chill in his heart... what did that have to do with ordinary people like them?

That was only a flame for the survival of civilization that a tiny elite could possess!

And for the 99.99% of them... the ending was already set—either turn to ash under that destructive fire or spend the rest of their lives in humiliating slavery!

He remembered three days ago, when he and his friends were cheering in the square... for the strength of the country... for Master Lin's great work... for the dream of touching the sea of stars... the pride and passion of that time, recalled now!

It was like a loud slap across the face of every New Han citizen!

It turned out... everything they were proud of!

Before a true cosmic civilization, it was nothing more than the ridiculous croaking of a frog at the bottom of a well!

...New Han Republic, 3rd Guards Division, "Steel Seventh Company" position, Qiming City outer defense line

Captain Zhao Tiezhu, the company commander, was half-buried under the ruins of the collapsed command post... his left leg twisted at a bizarre angle!

Waves of intense pain came, but they were far less violent than the despair in his heart!!!

In his ear, the communicator held only the crackle of static noise... occasionally mixed with short and shrill final transmissions from other positions:

“This is Eagle's Nest Three! We need air support! Repeat... static... need air support...”

“Coordinates B-7, defense failed! Our third platoon... ah—!”

“Reporting to the Company Commander! The entire third platoon... has been martyred!”

...Zhao Tiezhu struggled to raise his head... looking through the cracks in the ruins toward the sky... those few Star Pirates landing craft were still moving unhurriedly, like death gods wielding scythes, casually harvesting lives!!!

They didn't even intentionally attack military targets... they just aimlessly destroyed everything prominent—power plants, communication towers, large factories... and any unit that dared to fire at them.

He saw with his own eyes... the divisional artillery brigade concentrated all the heavy howitzers and rockets still in operation, firing a volley at a low-hovering landing craft.

That was a fire density sufficient to level a hilltop!

The shells fell like raindrops on the landing craft's light blue energy shield, yet they couldn't cause even the slightest tremor... immediately after, a thin red beam of light shot out from that landing craft, precisely targeting every set of coordinates of the artillery position... there were no explosions, only instant vaporization and annihilation!!!

The absolute technological gap turned courage and sacrifice into meaningless numbers... Zhao Tiezhu coughed up a mouthful of bloody spit... with his still-movable right hand, he groped and pulled out a photo half-soaked in blood from his chest... in the photo, his young wife and three-year-old daughter were at the Peace Plaza in the center of Qiming City, smiling like flowers... it was taken the day before the celebration!

“I'm sorry... Axiu... Nannan...” he murmured to himself, tears mixing with blood and dust, blurring his vision... he failed to hold this city!

He failed to protect them!

He didn't even know if they were alive or dead now!!!

A massive sense of powerlessness seized him!

They were well-trained! They were well-equipped! They had the firm conviction to protect their home and country!!!

But before an enemy that can cross the Universe in the Physical Body and crush an aircraft carrier with a wave of a hand, what difference was there between them and a naked infant?!!!

“Com... Company Commander...” a weak voice came from nearby... it was the radio operator, Xiao Li, also buried under the ruins.

His young face was covered in blood, his eyes beginning to lose focus. “Did we... lose?”

Zhao Tiezhu opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing... he just struggled to reach out and hold Xiao Li's gradually cooling hand... The answer!

It was self-evident... New Han Republic, Supreme Academy of Sciences Underground Command Center... the atmosphere here was even heavier than on the surface, as if the air had solidified into lead... the huge main screen originally displayed the global situation map and various data.

Now, most of the area had turned gray and red, representing loss of contact and destruction... “Report! The 'Spark One' ark was locked by an unknown energy field during its launch... the signal has vanished!”

“Report! The entrance to the 'Hope' underground bunker complex on the West Coast was precisely struck... all internal life signals... have been severed!!!”

“Report! Ninety percent of the global internet nodes have been destroyed, and the remaining network is being washed away by the enemy's information flow...”

Bad news after bad news, like cold iron hammers, pounded the nerves of everyone present!!!

They represented the pinnacle of this civilization's wisdom!

Yet now they could only watch helplessly as the fruits of their life's work, and the entire civilization, moved toward an irreversible end... “Master Lin...” Wang Lei supported the wheelchair, his voice hoarse... he looked at the Star Pirates landing craft hovering over Qiming City on the screen, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins and despair!!!

“Is there... is there really nothing we can do?”

Lin Fan sat in his wheelchair, as if all his life force had drained away... his withered fingers tapped unconsciously on the armrest, his gaze staring blankly at the screen.

He had tried every known method... a directed energy weapon attack concentrating global energy?

The enemy's energy shield didn't budge at all!!!

Trying to use an information virus to invade the enemy's System?

They couldn't even find the interface to the enemy's System, and their own network collapsed instantly under the enemy's countermeasure!!!

He even used a theoretically immature spatial perturbation device, trying to create a small-scale spatial fold to trap the enemy!

The result?

The device was smoothed over by an even greater power as soon as it started... and was annihilated along with the device itself!!!

The barriers of knowledge and the gap in technology were so despair-inducing!!!

The enemy hadn't even shown their full strength... they were just like a cat playing with a mouse, crushing their hope bit by bit in the most casual way... “We... underestimated the darkness of the Universe...” Lin Fan's voice was so weak it was almost inaudible, “and overestimated... ourselves.”

His life's work!

The countless steps he led the civilization to climb, before true interstellar power... turned out to be just the first steps of a toddler!

This first step might seem remarkable in one's own yard... but when you step out of the yard and face the vast and dangerous primeval forest... this step is ridiculously tiny!!!

Just as the command center was shrouded in the deepest despair and everyone believed the civilization was about to meet its end—

In the sea of stars... having completed the "cleansing" mission of the "Bone-Crusher" Gor's main fleet, a quite pleased Li Qingshan... just happened to pass through this Star Domain!

He was leisurely tearing through space, rushing back to the Pillar of Leaders to report to Ancestor Chen... just as he was about to step into the spatial rift!

His Divine Sense, as vast as a sea of stars, like the most precise radar, habitually performed a large-scale scan... this was the caution of a Sword Cultivator and the instinct of Stellar-level Experts controlling a Star Domain.

“Hmm?”

His brow twitched imperceptibly... he sensed, in that slightly turbulent nebula belt, dozens of small reconnaissance ships emitting the same origin as those Star Pirates just now, but weaker and more surreptitious... they were sneaking like hyenas smelling rotting meat toward a... planet with weak but definitely existing life fluctuations?

“Tsk, what bad luck. Are there still some small fry that escaped the net? Is there no end to this?”

Li Qingshan curled his lip, a trace of impatience appearing on his face.

He was eager to return and had no time to waste on trash of this level!

Although Ancestor Chen's life aura had been as weak as a candle in the wind for over two hundred years, it always stubbornly maintained that Spark of immortality.

But precisely because of this, it made "waiters" like Li Qingshan even more anxious, always having a sense of urgency that "if I don't perform well now, in case Ancestor Chen's last breath doesn't hold out one day, there will be no chance to perform."

Ancestor Chen's daughters were all naturally close to their father, especially Her Highness Yun Qinglan, an Innate Radiant Body!

Destined for a minimum achievement of Galaxy Level Peak, and even expected to peer into the supreme Realm above the Galaxy Level!

That is a great existence capable of traversing at least an entire galaxy!

If he serves Ancestor Chen well now, and in the future Her Highness Qinglan leaks just a bit of insight or resources from between her fingers, wouldn't there be great Hope for Li Qingshan to break through the Stellar Level shackles?!

Even if he cannot break through himself, after his time comes, if his Family descendants can receive even a little care from Her Highness Qinglan, their future would be limitless!

Descendants for ten million years! Or even hundreds of millions of years! They would all remember his kindness!

He, Li Qingshan!

Clear Sword Heart!

He calculated this account very clearly!

This is true wisdom! True Clear Sword Heart!

Thinking of this, he was even less inclined to delay... He curled his lips, "Wasting my time to go back and taste wine for Ancestor Chen."

The moment the words fell, he flicked his finger!

"Go."

He didn't even stop or turn around, but simply held his fingers together like a sword and, pointing towards that Star Domain across the endless Void Realm, as if brushing a speck of dust off his sleeve, he made a casual stroke... a clear, dazzling cyan stream of light, seemingly compressed from countless miniature stars... directly shattered space!

That cyan stream of light was like a living spirit snake, instantly leaving his hand and disappearing into the Void Realm... In the next second, in the nebula belt outside the New Han planet, in the center of dozens of Star Pirates' reconnaissance ships—

"Buzz————————!!!"

A cyan ring, purely composed of Sword Intent that couldn't be measured by any instrument, was born out of thin air at a speed exceeding light... and like a shockwave of cosmic energy tides, it expanded rapidly, silently but violently!

Wherever the cyan ring passed... space itself seemed to wail and distort!

The first to bear the brunt was the largest "Cunning Fox."

The sneer on the one-eyed captain's face hadn't even had time to turn into shock... the command cabin he was in... the seat beneath him... the control console in front of him... the power armor on him... the sturdy hull he relied on for survival... at the moment the cyan ring swept past!

It was like being thrown into a steel furnace of billions of degrees, or being cut into pieces by countless invisible divine weapons and sharp blades at the same moment!

"Crack... Boom!!!"

No process, no resistance... the "Cunning Fox" along with all the Star Pirates inside, in less than a hundredth of a second... were completely... disintegrated from the molecular level!

Shattered!

Not vaporized, not annihilated, but the purest, most violent, and most thorough—physical fragmentation!

The huge hull seemed to be made of building blocks, smashed hard by an invisible giant hand!!!

Exploding into countless burning, twisted metal fragments sparking with electricity, wreckage of pipes, and... unrecognizable organic residue mixed with charred flesh!

This scene of destruction was like the switch of a chain reaction being pressed!

The cyan ring didn't stop, passing through all the surrounding Star Pirates' reconnaissance ships simultaneously in an incomprehensible speed and manner!!!

"Boom boom boom boom—!!!"

A series of silent "loud noises" that seemed capable of shattering the Soul were actually illusions formed by the intense eruption of energy impacting perception, "echoing" in the vacuum!!!

One Star Pirate reconnaissance ship after another... regardless of size!

Regardless of model!

Regardless of how ferocious and terrifying they were before!

At this moment, they all met the exact same fate as the "Cunning Fox"!

They were like ignited firecrackers, or walnuts smashed by an invisible giant hammer... performing a grand and cruel firework show named "Destruction" in the starry sky!

The light of the crimson energy core's explosion intertwined with the metal Sparks from the hull's fragmentation!

Twisted armor plate fragments flew in all directions like scattering flowers!

Star Pirate limbs and broken power armor, unable to escape and with nowhere to run, mixed with leaking coolant and lubricant, solidified into strange and tragic floating objects in the vacuum... in just a brief moment!!!

The dozens of Star Pirate reconnaissance ships that were just showing off their power and planning how to plunder and enslave!

Along with all the Star Pirates inside!

Had already turned into a massive and chaotic metal wreckage belt filled with death and decay, expanding and spreading!

This wreckage belt, like a cosmic graveyard, floated quietly at the edge of the nebula belt... recording that destruction which was as brief as it was cruel!

No complete structure was left... those shattered hull fragments, twisted engine parts, and even some weapon fragments that weren't completely destroyed and flickered with abnormal energy arcs... all became witnesses to this destruction!

And became... in a sense, a "legacy"... Li Qingshan's Mental Energy swept through that newly formed "junkyard" like mercury on the ground, confirming no more life signs or threats existed.

"Hmm, clean now." He nodded with satisfaction, not caring about the mess he had caused.

In his eyes, this was just clearing a few piles of eyesore space junk... As for whether this "junk" would affect that primitive civilization?

That was not within his consideration.

In his heart, there was only Ancestor Chen, and that pot of newly brewed "Star Drunk" with a few more layers of rich taste.

His figure turned into a cyan sword light again, tearing through space and instantly disappearing... In the New Han Republic, all over the world... the heart-palpitating Star Pirate energy signals that shrouded the globe, the three landing craft hovering over cities bringing shadows of death... in the same instant, they all disappeared?!!!

No!

Not just disappeared!!!

Some large observatories and space monitoring stations that hadn't been completely destroyed captured scenes that left them dumbfounded—

In the direction of the nebula belt not far outside the planet... the signals of those Star Pirate ships originally detected were, in a very short time,

replaced by an incomprehensible, extremely violent energy reaction!

Then, those signals, as if crushed by a giant hand, exploded into countless tiny scattering signals representing metal and energy wreckage!

"Report! Direction of the nebula belt! Unknown energy explosion! All Star Pirate signals... have all turned into high-density wreckage signals! They... they seem to... have had internal strife? Or were... attacked by something?!!!"

In the underground command center, the monitor's voice became sharp due to extreme shock and disbelief!!!

Everyone was stunned... Wang Xiaoshi saw the sky return to tranquility through the crack in the door, with only smoke and dust slowly falling... Zhao Tiezhu and the surviving soldiers on the position stared blankly at the empty sky... then looked at each other, wild joy of surviving a disaster and huge confusion intertwined on their faces... Lin Fan suddenly grabbed the wheelchair armrest, his thin fingers trembling slightly from the force!

He stared fixedly at the huge, chaotic wreckage signal area on the main screen representing the destroyed Star Pirate ships... a light never seen before burst out of his cloudy eyes!!!

Not internal strife!

That pattern of destroying all targets simultaneously in an instant could never be explained by internal strife!

It's an external force!

An external force they couldn't understand, couldn't observe, and couldn't even imagine!!!

With a crushing posture, it instantly destroyed all the Star Pirates that brought despair to the New Han!

Not just the three landing ships! Even the dozens of warships in outer space! Wiped out in an instant!

Who is it?

Friend or foe?

What is the other party's purpose?

Countless questions instantly filled Lin Fan's mind, but at this moment, a stronger emotion overwhelmed everything—it was called Hope!

Questions are no longer important!

Civilization seems to have gained a breathing space!

"Quick!" Lin Fan's voice was hoarse with excitement, but it carried an unquestionable decisiveness.

"Immediately organize all available space forces! Send rescue ships and research ships to that wreckage area! Recover as much of that wreckage as possible! Remember, even the smallest fragment may contain technological information beyond our recognition! This is the only chance for our civilization's... Rebirth from the ashes!"

Orders were quickly issued.

The remaining New Han space forces, like sharks smelling blood, began to assemble with difficulty, heading towards that "cosmic junkyard" floating with destruction and hope.

They knew there were unknown risks ahead, but it could also be the key to civilization's leap... Pillar of Leaders, Chen Jun's residence.

Chen Jun was still slumped in his Wanxiang Eternal lounge chair, squinting his eyes, enjoying the afternoon tranquility.

"Ancestor Chen!"

Li Qingshan's figure appeared like a ghost, with a hint of travel-weariness on his face, but more of a relaxation from completing the task and... expectation?

He respectfully held an ancient jade pot with both hands, "I have fortunately fulfilled my mission, those annoying flies have been cleared. This is the newly brewed 'Star Drunk', please taste it!"

Chen Jun lazily opened his eyes, took the jade pot, pulled out the cork, and a clear wine fragrance with complex star flavor wafted out... He brought it to his nose and smelled it, then took a small sip.

The wine liquid entered his throat, as if miniature stars exploded on his taste buds, mellow, cold, and with a hint of the vastness of the Universe, with a long aftertaste.

"Hmm..." Chen Jun smacked his lips, a satisfied expression appeared on his face, and he nodded, "Not bad, this wine... is quite interesting."

Just this simple "not bad" and "quite interesting."

A brilliant smile instantly bloomed on Li Qingshan's face, like a child receiving the highest award... "It's good that Ancestor Chen likes it! It's good that you like it! Next time I will definitely find a better recipe and brew one that suits your taste even more!" He was so excited he almost danced.

Seeing Li Qingshan's happy look, Chen Jun shook his head with a laugh, slumped back into the chair, closed his eyes, and enjoyed that hint of star aftertaste in his mouth... As for the struggle of the Blue Star Hometown fellow, the destruction of the Star Pirates, whether the primitive civilization could seize the opportunity... what was that?

He didn't know at all... He just needed to win by lying down... He only knew that this newly brewed "Star Drunk" indeed tasted even better... Li Qingshan stood in attendance on the side, his heart surging... he had already begun to conceive how to brew the next pot of peerless wine that would make Ancestor Chen even more full of praise... That Star Domain he had casually turned into a cosmic graveyard, the civilization struggling for survival within it, and the tens of billions of ordinary people he had casually saved had long been thrown to the back of his mind... In his long life, hundreds of trillions of ordinary people in the Federation, generation after generation, from birth to death... a mere ten billion ordinary people who weren't even Federation citizens... hadn't even left a single ripple on his Sword Heart!!!