263: Chapter 263 As long as it's a living thing, it's under my jurisdiction!

“Rumble————!!!!!”

The moment AI Morning Star's scream fell!

Chen Xi and the others felt the broken planetary ruins beneath their feet let out a violent tremor ten thousand times more terrifying than a magnitude 100 earthquake! The five-thousand-meter-thick layer of hard rock and metal armor above their heads was actually being crazily gnawed and dissolved by something at a scalp-numbing speed!

“Chen Xi! Get out of there, fast!!!”

Over the communication channel came the heart-wrenching roar of Lei Zhentian:

“My God! What kind of monsters are these! Our fleet... our fleet is surrounded! They're eating our warships!!!”

Chen Xi snapped his head up. In his crimson-gold eyes was reflected a terrifying scene: the rock layer above had been corroded through, revealing what should have been the deep starry sky, but was now completely filled by a dense, nauseating silver tide of insects.

The crisis had arrived far faster and was far more lethal than imagined!

“Crunch... crunch, crunch...”

The scalp-numbing sound of gnawing, like billions of termites devouring dead wood simultaneously, passed through the thousands of meters of thick rock that had been corroded and reached the command hall five thousand meters underground with absolute clarity.

Chen Xi looked up abruptly. Through the high-dimensional vision of [Card Affinity Reflection], his crimson-gold eyes bypassed the obstruction of the planet's crust and looked directly at the scene in outer space.

In that instant, even he, who was accustomed to grand spectacles, couldn't help but have his pupils contract violently.

In the interstellar space above them, the Earth Expeditionary Force fleet, which had been floating quietly, was now completely surrounded by a vast "Silver Tsunami"!

Those weren't alien warships at all, but a [Cosmic Parasite Swarm] gathered from countless eerie beetles only the size of a fist, their entire bodies shimmering with the liquid metal luster of mercury!

“Warning! Warning! The flagship's external armor is being devoured by unknown silicon-based organisms! Energy shields neutralized! Physical armor damage rate has reached 40%!”

Over the communication channel came Lei Zhentian's roar, laced with fury and horror:

“Fire! All magic secondary batteries and point-defense cannons, blast these disgusting bugs away for me!!”

However, the images transmitted back via holographic projection made everyone in the underground hall feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

In space, the thousands of warships of the Earth Expeditionary Force opened fire with everything they had. Dense plasma beams, high-explosive armor-piercing shells, and various Forbidden Curses released by high-level Professionals exploded within the swarm like brilliant fireworks.

But those silver beetles didn't die after being melted by high temperatures or torn apart by magic! Their liquid-metal-like bodies squirmed and reorganized rapidly in the vacuum. Not only did they recover perfectly, they even treated the magical energy and metal fragments hitting them as "nutrients," their volume swelling instantly as they multiplied at a terrifying speed of one into two, and two into four!

“It's no use! Those are [Star-Devouring Flying Cockroaches]!”

AI Morning Star's holographic projection flashed red light frantically, its voice filled with deep-seated fear of this creature:

“Lord Administrator! These are the most terrifying hounds under the Tyrant's command! They have no independent souls, only pure devouring instinct! They can devour all metallic matter and energy wavelengths in the three-dimensional universe to undergo infinite proliferation! Conventional weapons and elemental magic are basically a nutritious tonic for them!”

“Devouring metal? Infinite proliferation?”

Chen Xi gave a cold laugh. He pulled out the chip carrying AI Morning Star's core data and stuffed it into the system space of his [Heaven-Reaching Divine Domain].

“In this universe, nothing is truly invincible. If something is, it only means our output isn't perverted enough!”

“Nirvana Battle Team, all members, take flight!”

“Since conventional weapons have become their fodder, we'll use unconventional means to give these cosmic pests a proper 'extermination'!”

“Boom——!!!”

Chen Xi didn't choose to return the way they came. Instead, he directly summoned a partial phantom of the [miracle mecha: xingtian] and shattered the rock layer above, which was already teetering from the swarm's corrosion, with a single punch. Five streaks of light emitting the terrifying pressure of demi-gods shot up like reverse meteors from five thousand meters underground straight into the vacuum of space!

When they burst out from the surface of the broken planet and truly stood in the vast starry sky, the scene before them was even more suffocating than in the holographic projection.

Trillions of silver flying cockroaches had already wrapped the Earth Expeditionary Force's fleet into massive silver metal spheres. The desperate roars of soldiers and the mournful cries of interstellar warships disintegrating intertwined. This invincible army of Earth, which had just stepped into the sea of stars, was facing a crisis of total annihilation by being "eaten" alive in its very first battle!

“Captain, I'll clear the way!”

Lin Shan let out a wild roar. His massive body, fused with the [Indestructible Blood Core], expanded rapidly against the wind in the vacuum. Facing the swarm pouncing like a tsunami, he didn't retreat at all and threw his arms wide.

“[Law of Causality · Wall of Sighs · Planetary Scale Deployment]!!!”

Hum——!!!

An ultra-giant energy shield emitting a dark golden divine glow slammed open in the vacuum! This shield was no longer protecting just a few people; with Lin Shan as the core, it forcibly expanded to a radius of hundreds of kilometers. Like a small dark golden planet, it wedged itself between the Earth fleet and the swarm!

“Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle——!!!”

Countless Star-Devouring Flying Cockroaches pounced and bit frantically at the dark golden shield. They tried to devour this energy, only to discover in horror that this wasn't ordinary three-dimensional energy at all, but a regulatory barrier mixed with [Causal Substitution] and [High-Dimensional Star Gate Laws]!

Any flying cockroach that attempted to gnaw on the shield found its devouring action turned into a reverse decomposition of its own structure under the twist of causality! Large swaths of the silver swarm turned into cosmic dust the moment they touched the shield, while all the backlash pain was borne by Lin Shan alone!

“Arghhh! Come on! Eat me! My flesh is so tough it'll break the teeth of you toothless bugs!!!” Lin Shan bled from his seven orifices, yet he let out a grin more savage than a star beast in the vacuum, single-handedly holding back the tide of the swarm rushing toward the flagship!

“Well done, Lin Shan! Leave the rest to me!”

Ye Fei floated behind Lin Shan, her brilliant blonde hair dancing in the void. Looking at the sea of insects that occupied almost her entire field of vision, the [Myriad Spirit Divine Seal] on her forehead erupted with an unprecedentedly piercing divine light.

“Since you're called 'Star-Devouring Flying Cockroaches,' and since you're biological... then as long as it's a living being, it's under the jurisdiction of me, the [Divine Maiden of Ten Thousand Spirits]!”