130: Weakness is the original sin

The war machine of the Blood Blade Pirate Group roared to life with a speed and scale far beyond the Human Federation's imagination...

In the star systems directly controlled by the pirate group, countless ports spewed out warships that blotted out the sky...

Forces from over three thousand star systems under the control of the Blood Blade Pirate Group gathered into a torrent of destruction, like a swarm of bloodthirsty bees returning to their nest!

The supreme commander, the "Star-Devouring Wolf" Worton, stood tall on the bridge of his flagship—the "wolf fang world-ending"!

This warship was even more massive than the "Blood Fang", with a bow like a wolf's maw tearing through the starry sky, and dark red energy veins flowing across its armor, as if it were a living creature.

His orders, like the decrees of the Grim Reaper, spread throughout the entire legion:

"Split into three routes! Grum, you are the vanguard of the left flank. Your target is the Human Federation's eastern Star Domain. Use the most explosive methods possible to tear open their defense lines!"

"Saron, you lead the right flank and infiltrate the Human Federation's west. I want the planets there to turn into dead zones in silence!"

"I will personally lead the center army to strike directly at the Human Federation's capital—Kunlun Star! I want to watch their civilization collapse beneath my feet with my own eyes!"

"Move out!"

No oath-taking, no mobilization...

For this pack of cosmic hyenas—slaughter was instinct! Destruction was glory!

Three massive fleets, like three rivers of death, tore through space and leapt into the dark, deep Universe.

They kept their "Shadow Stealth" active, spreading toward the Human Federation like an invisible plague...

Lorraine Federation—that 2.0 Rank civilization which had just humiliatingly paid fifty thousand origin crystals not long ago, begging for a thousand years of peace.

On the Capital Star "Heart of Lorraine", the highest administrator was holding a meeting.

They were discussing how to quickly replenish the national treasury emptied by the Blood Blade Pirate Group and incentivize their own Stellar-level Experts to re-condense origin crystals.

Suddenly! A piercing interstellar alarm blared across the entire planet with unprecedented, shrill frequency!!!

"Warning! Detected super-large-scale unknown spatial fluctuations! Right on the outskirts of the Capital Star system!!!"

"Energy Level... incalculable!!! Quantity... incalculable!!!"

The Stellar Level High-Rank administrator's face turned deathly pale in an instant, and an ominous premonition gripped his throat.

He rushed to the observation window, only to see the starry sky seemingly torn apart by an invisible giant hand...

Densely packed, hideous warships of the Blood Blade Pirate Group appeared like ghosts, surrounding the entire star system completely!

"It's... it's them! How did they come back?!" The administrator's voice trembled with despair, "Quick! Connect the communication! Ask them..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the public communication channel was forcibly cut into...

The massive and hideous projection of "Hammer of Destruction" Grum appeared on every screen in the Lorraine Federation, a cruel and mocking smile on his face:

"Lorraine bugs! Didn't expect this, did you?! You just paid the protection fee, so why are we here again?!"

The administrator suppressed his fear and squeezed out a humble smile: "Lord... Lord Grum, Lord... Lord Balem just left. May I ask what instructions you have? Our... our 'security Guarantee fee' has already..."

"Instructions?" Grum let out a deafening, wild laugh, cutting the administrator off, "Hahaha! The instruction is—your existence is an eyesore to me!"

The smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by endless violence:

"Over two thousand of my Blood Blade Stellar-level Experts are missing! Forty-eight billion Planetary Level lives lost! Twenty billion warships destroyed! Why?! You?!... are still alive!!!! We of the Blood Blade are going to do big things, and we need to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys! Unfortunately, you are that chicken!!!"

"Wh... why?!" The administrator screamed in a breakdown, "We have always been obedient! We paid our tributes on time! We never resisted! Why must you wipe us out?!"

"Why?" Grum tilted his head, as if he had heard the funniest question ever: "Because you are weak!!! Weakness is the original sin! Do I need a reason?!!!"

He stopped talking nonsense and waved his massive arm: "Boys! Old rules! Kill everyone! Loot everything! Burn it all! Don't leave a single screw behind! Let every civilization in this Star Domain see clearly the consequences of opposing us, the Blood Blade! Even if it's just an indirect civilization! We will drag them down with you!!!"

"No—!!!" The administrator let out a shrill wail! However, his voice was drowned out in the torrent of destruction...

The fleet under Grum's command didn't even use their main cannons. Countless small landing craft and assault ships swarmed toward the Heart of Lorraine planet like locusts.

The Planetary Level energy shields shattered like bubbles under the casual strikes of the Stellar Level Star Pirates...

Cities were shattered in swathes by energy whips, the ground was overturned by bunker-busting bombs, the oceans were evaporated, and the sky was dyed blood-red...

The Lorraine people tried to resist... Their fleets bravely took to the sky... but were turned into cosmic dust under the salvo of the Star Pirates' secondary cannons!!!

Their Stellar-level Experts, from Early Stage to High-Rank, rose up to fight... The lucky ones could self-destruct, dealing a negligible amount of damage to the Star Pirates... The unlucky ones were crushed by Grum with a casual flick! Their Soul was extracted, ignited amidst screams, and turned into flickering Soul lamps on the flagship...

To cut the grass, one must remove the roots! Grum didn't even care about the value of the origin crystals that Stellar-level Experts could condense... He only wanted to vent! He only wanted to destroy!!!

Grum grinned viciously and took action himself. A terrifying gravitational wave spread out from him as the center, precisely acting upon the other planets within the Lorraine Federation's Capital Star system! This was a natural disaster! This was a god of destruction!!!

On other colonial planets of the Lorraine Federation, the temporary survivors watched with despairing eyes through the not-yet-completely-destroyed interstellar network... They saw their fellow planets in the distant starry sky like eggs crushed by an invisible giant hand!!! Short and dazzling bursts of light erupted one after another!!! And then they went completely dark...

Genocide! Extinction! Fall of the nation!

In just a few short hours, a 2.0 Rank civilization—the Lorraine Federation—which possessed dozens of star systems and a history of over a hundred thousand years! Along with all its colonial planets and tens of trillions of lives, was physically... completely wiped out!!!

Only the broken remains of planets remained... floating metal junk... and the despairing Soul fluctuations permeating the Universe... proving that they had once existed...

Grum looked at this dead, silent Star Domain with satisfaction and licked his lips: "Tastes good! Next!"

"Although it's a bit like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs... but it doesn't matter... In a few tens or millions of years... new life will emerge again... Hahaha!!!"

"The most important thing is for me to vent my anger!!!"

Almost at the same time the Lorraine Federation was destroyed, the right flank of the Blood Blade Pirate Group, the fleet led by "Faceless" Saron, arrived at another 2.0 Rank civilization—the capital of the Kaster Commercial Alliance!

This was a civilization founded on trade and finance, with the planet's surface covered in iridescent skyscrapers and busy spaceports, wealthy and prosperous.

When Saron's fleet disengaged from stealth and descended like the Grim Reaper... the Kaster people hadn't even had time to sound the alarm!!!

Saron did not engage in cruel teasing like Grum. His style was absolutely cold and efficient.

His order was incomparably concise: "Purify!"

A strange, grey energy field, with his flagship as the core, instantly spread like ripples in water, enveloping the entire Kaster Capital Star.

There were no explosions, no flashes of fire. But, after the energy field swept over, all activity on the planet's surface stopped instantly.

Running people froze in place, and then, like weathered sand sculptures, silently decomposed into the most basic particles...

Towering buildings lost all structural integrity, slowly collapsing, and likewise turned into fly ash...

Aircraft fell from the sky like kites with broken strings, dissipating before they even touched the ground...

This was not destruction, this was... "Deletion"!!!

It was as if an invisible eraser had gently wiped the Kaster Capital Star from the canvas of the Universe...

In just a few short seconds, this once incredibly prosperous commercial star turned into a dead, silent rock planet covered in a thick layer of ash...

All life, all traces of civilization, were completely "purified"!

Saron didn't even look at the results; his fleet did not stop, like a cold scalpel... precisely pouncing on the other planets of the Kaster Alliance, repeating the same "purification" procedure!!!

Faith? Promises? In the face of absolute power and the desire for slaughter!!! These words were ridiculously pale...

Not long ago... these two civilizations were still holding onto the fantasy of paying money to avoid disaster, offering precious origin crystals to the Blood Blade Pirate Group, begging for peace...

Now!!! They didn't even have the qualifications to become "vassals" or "slaves"!!! Simply because the Blood Blade Pirate Group needed to "kill the chicken to warn the monkeys," needed to vent their anger!!! Needed to ensure that after "venting," no potential hidden dangers remained...

Being backward! It's not just about taking a beating!!! It is genocide!!!!! Even the qualification to preserve a spark of life is gone...!

On the way to the main shipping lane of the Human Federation, Worton's main center fleet was like the Grim Reaper taking a stroll...

It indifferently swept past thousands of primitive life-bearing planets still in their infancy.

The intelligent life on these planets... perhaps still fighting for tribal territories, perhaps having just ignited the flames of civilization, gazing at the starry sky, filled with curiosity and fantasies about the Universe...

They were completely unaware that the shadow of destruction was quietly passing by their stars...

Worton couldn't even be bothered to order an attack on these "insects."

However, the spatial curvature disturbance caused by the fleet's warp was, for these civilizations that hadn't even fully stepped off their own planets, no less than a natural disaster!!!

On a planet that had just entered the Bronze Age, a second "sun" suddenly appeared in the sky!

It lasted for a few seconds before disappearing... Subsequently, unprecedented earthquakes and tsunamis erupted across the globe!

Continental plates shifted, and the spark of civilization appeared so insignificant before the wrath of nature, extinguished in an instant!!!

On another planet currently in the Early Stages of the Industrial Revolution, their astronomers discovered in terror...

A previously unrecorded "comet" emitting eerie energy fluctuations swept past their star system in a way that defied the Laws of physics.

Subsequently, all electronic equipment globally failed instantly, and violent electromagnetic pulses destroyed all the newly established industrial foundations!

The progress of civilization was knocked back to the primitive era, or even worse...

On yet another planet, a certain high-energy radiation leaked from a cruiser of the Blood Blade Pirate Group swept across the planet like an invisible plague...

Causing the genetic chains of the entire biological population to collapse and dissolve within a short time, turning into a field of brilliant yet deadly crystalline dust...

These primitive civilizations didn't even have the qualifications to be "deliberately destroyed"!!!

They were like weeds by the roadside, unintentionally crushed by a passing giant elephant... not even attracting the slightest attention from the destroyers!

The dark forest law of the Universe was displayed vividly at this moment!!!

When you are so weak that you don't even qualify to be considered a threat...

Your demise... might... merely stem from an unintentional passing by a higher civilization, or an insignificant energy leak...

Human Federation, Frontier Observation Station "Eagle Eye No. 7"

Located on the eastern border of the Federation, the "Eagle Eye" space observation station was one of the outermost nodes of the Federation's "Sky Patrol" network.

Station Chief Wang Hai, a diligent old astronomer, was reviewing a massive stream of data from deep space.

This was a task assigned to him by Chu Yueyao, using a product personally improved by Your Majesty Su Yuan.

Suddenly, the signals from several deep-space communication repeaters belonging to friendly civilizations in distant Star Domains stopped abruptly at the same moment!

It was not interference, not attenuation, but a complete, physical disappearance!

Immediately after, the observation station's most sensitive gravitational wave detector captured an extremely faint, yet continuous, and rapidly approaching spatial ripple!

The pattern of this ripple had a ninety-three percent similarity to the anomalous data captured before the AG-7 Agricultural Star was attacked!

"My god...!"

Wang Hai sprang up from his seat, his face instantly turning pale, cold sweat soaking his uniform on his back.

Without any hesitation, he used trembling fingers to press that—the highest alert button leading directly to the Federation's Supreme Military Committee and the Pillar of Leaders!

"Warning! Warning! Detected a massive 'stealth' signal! Quantity... incalculable! Direction... directly facing our Federation Star Domain! Speed... faster-than-light warp!"

"Repeat! The main force of the Blood Blade Pirate Group... is here!!!"

The shrill alarm, like the wail of a dying star, instantly spread to every corner of the Federation.

Pillar of Leaders, Supreme Combat Readiness Command Center...

Mo Heng's voice carried unprecedented gravity:

"Confirmed... The Lorraine Federation, the Kaster Commercial Alliance, and all civilizations above Level 1.5 along the route... have all... been destroyed! Not a single survivor!!!"

Although the cruelty of the Blood Blade Pirate Group had long been anticipated...

But when this bloody reality was placed before them, that cold sense of despair still chilled everyone to the bone!

This is not a war!

This is... ethnic cleansing!!!

On the holographic star map, those three scarlet shadows symbolizing death and destruction, like scars on the Universe, were spreading toward the Federation's territory at an astonishing speed...

The Lorraine Federation, the Kaster Alliance... one by one, the once-shining points of civilization had been extinguished, turning into cold darkness, silently telling of the cruelty and violence of the Blood Blade Pirate Group.

Inside the command center, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt like it could be wrung out like water.

All the Federation bigwigs, Shi Yue, Li Qingshan, Mo Heng, Chu Yueyao... all wore solemn expressions, staring intently at the star map.

A feeling of oppression, like a storm about to break, permeated everyone's heart...

Although they had absolute confidence in the power of the Leader and the various Your Highnesses, witnessing such a large-scale extermination march, combined with the lingering pain of the AG-7 Agricultural Star tragedy, still made their Souls feel waves of chill.

Just in the midst of this killing intent and silence—

"It's here..."

A slow, leisurely sigh, like a stone thrown into a still lake, broke the heavy atmosphere.

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on the corner of the command center.

There, Chen Jun was still lounging in his custom-made floating lounge chair, his posture so relaxed that it was completely out of place with the surrounding tense atmosphere.

He held a cup of "Calming Tea" just brewed by Lin Wei, the swirling steam blurring his cheerful face.

He gently blew on the foam and smacked his lips, as if savoring the aftertaste of the tea, or perhaps evaluating the three aggressive pirate armies.

That tone was as flat as if he were chatting with a friend?!

However... these three light words! Seemed to carry some strange magic... instantly dispelling the haze and anxiety that filled everyone's hearts!

Ancestor Chen is so calm! Then what is there to worry about?!

The bigwigs' tense nerves involuntarily relaxed a bit, and hot light reignited in their eyes!

Chen Jun put down the teacup, his gaze calmly sweeping over everyone present... finally landing on the massive star map, his eyes deep, as if piercing through endless space to see the three fleets baring their fangs and brandishing their claws.

He seemed to recall something, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint arc, muttering in a voice only he could hear:

"Last time when the whole country was mourning, I told the children that blood debts must be paid in blood; if people offend me, cut the weeds and dig up the roots!"

"It seems... the children don't need to set out; the enemy has delivered themselves to our door..."

"These so-called Blood Blade Pirates, are they in such a hurry to collectively deliver their heads?"

His voice was very soft, but who among those present was not a powerful expert with sharp hearing? These words clearly reached everyone's ears.

Everyone was stunned at first, then assumed a posture of "sudden realization"! Looking at Chen Jun with just the right amount of "admiration" in their eyes, they whispered...

"So, Ancestor Chen had already taken precautions! Admirable! Admirable!"

"So, Ancestor Chen had already foreseen that the pirates would not give up their desire to destroy us back when the whole country was mourning the compatriots who perished at AG-7, and had already made arrangements in secret!"

"Ancestor Chen, what profound foresight you have?!"

"Ancestor Chen, what impeccable planning you have?!"

"We are not even one ten-thousandth of Ancestor Chen!"

...

Chen Jun watched everyone skillfully buttering him up, "seriously" praising him, their admiration like the waters of the Yellow River...

Chen Jun couldn't help but cover his forehead, feeling speechless inside...

Weren't you all present at the last meeting? Every time I say something, you all act like you understand? Then you add embellishments and praise me... Aren't you tired?

Thinking of this, Chen Jun simply ignored this group of Stellar-level Experts and calmly called out to the air: "Qinglan..."

There was no passionate tone, no deliberate summoning. It was as natural as talking to himself, just like calling the Chen Xi five sisters home for dinner on any ordinary day.

However, the instant this soft call fell—

"Hum..." The space of the entire command center, as if it were a lake into which countless pebbles had been thrown, rippled with layers of soft, visible waves!

The light became blurred, matter seemed to lose its inherent form, and the flow of time seemed to undergo a subtle change.

An indescribable, vast, and magnificent fluctuation of Law, transcending the realm of Mortal understanding, as if the Origin of the Universe had arrived in person, permeated the entire space silently like warm mercury!

Immediately after, under the gaze of everyone, shocked to the point of near-stupor—six figures, as if they had existed in this space since ancient times, or as if they had stepped back in one stride from the infinitely distant end of the Universe, appeared simultaneously beside Chen Jun's lounge chair without any warning.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no terrifying scene of tearing the Void Realm. Their arrival was so natural and harmonious, as if they were an indispensable part of this world all along.

The two leading them were none other than Yun Xi and Yun Qinglan!