Chapter 451 Leap Completed

"……three."

"two."

"one."

"Leap complete."

As the system notification faded, the bizarre, colorful tunnel outside the porthole suddenly shrank into a single point, then exploded, transforming back into the vast universe.

Planet G-581, that yellowish-brown planet enveloped in a thin atmosphere, floats silently in the distance.

Inside the bridge of the "Great Wall No. 1" ship, everyone felt a slight sense of weightlessness.

The surroundings were completely silent, with only the low hum of the instruments running.

"Report the status of each unit after the jump." Zhou Jue's voice broke the silence. Her gaze remained fixed on the star map on the main screen, without the slightest relaxation.

"Great Wall One, all systems are normal."

"Great Wall II, normal."

"Kunlun-1, normal."

"..."

A series of reports rang out in the quiet bridge; everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Just as the last report faded away, a piercing alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire fleet without warning.

"Warning! A slight ripple has appeared in the spatial coordinates, causing the stability of the concealment formation to drop by 0.01 per thousand!"

"Warning! Abnormal energy residue exists at the jump exit!"

The atmosphere inside the bridge instantly tensed up.

“Locate the source of the anomaly.” Zhou Jue’s voice was completely calm, as if this unexpected situation was within her expectations.

A technical officer was operating the light screen rapidly. A few seconds later, he suddenly looked up, his expression somewhat strange.

"Report! The abnormal energy source is coming from... from the energy node of Kunlun-3."

"They were support personnel maintaining the formation. At the moment the jump ended, the spiritual energy output reached a peak, exceeding the threshold by three percent. Although the system balanced it instantly, it still left a trace at the exit."

Zhou Jue's eyes turned cold.

She didn't even need to investigate to know who was in charge of that node on Kunlun-3.

"Connect to Kunlun-3, Marcus."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it made the temperature on the entire bridge drop a few degrees.

On the screen, Marcus's smug face quickly appeared; he even straightened his flamboyant red robe.

"General Zhou, what are your orders? Let me tell you, that was really close. The energy node almost went out of control when the jump ended. Luckily, I was more skilled and used my God-King power to turn the tide, otherwise..."

"Shut up." Zhou Jue's voice froze the smile on Marcus's face.

"Your 'last-minute intervention' almost exposed everyone."

“Now, get back to your spot. If there’s a next time, I’ll personally throw you off the ship.”

Communication was unilaterally cut off.

Zhou Jue didn't say another word, but quietly watched the intelligence returned by the Kunlun Mirror, waiting for the enemy's reaction.

...

Meanwhile, in near-Earth orbit of planet G-581.

Three alien reconnaissance ships, shaped like black beetles, were hovering silently.

Inside the bridge of the main ship, a junior analyst looked somewhat uneasily at a set of data in front of him.

"Sir." He hesitated for a moment, then stood up and walked toward the captain who was reclining in the command chair, watching the video.

"What is it, Karl? Can't you see I'm admiring these interesting primitive creatures? Their structure is truly art." The captain didn't even turn his head, his tone languid.

"Sir, the space monitoring system just detected a very faint spatial ripple," Karl reported cautiously. "It was right at the outer edge of our star system, lasting for less than a thousandth of a second, and it looked very much like..."

"Like what?" The captain finally turned his head impatiently, his covered eyes full of contempt.

“Like the traces left by a short-distance spatial jump,” Karl said, forcing himself to speak.

The captain paused for a moment, then let out a low laugh.

"Leap? Carl, have you been watching too many history documentaries?"

He pointed to the analysis report on the Golden Record on the screen: "A civilization that hasn't even unified the language on its own home planet, a race that's still using chemical fuels to send iron cans into the sky, you're telling me they can perform space jumps?"

He stood up and patted Karl on the shoulder: "It was probably some stupid asteroid that crashed into the star."

"Write down the data and archive it. Don't let such trivial matters disturb my research on the next topic."

"Yes... sir." Karl lowered his head and returned to his seat. He looked at the data that had been reduced to zero, but the unease in his heart could not be dispelled.

...

Bridge of the "Great Wall No. 1" ship.

"They didn't respond." Zhou Jue listened to the system's report, his voice devoid of any emotion.

They mistook the ripple for a natural phenomenon.

Inside the bridge, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The enemy's arrogance is their best cover.

"Then let's not waste it."

Zhou Jue stood up and walked to the command seat. Her voice, transmitted through the communication system, instantly reached every corner of the twelve starships.

"All personnel, listen to my command!"

"Kunlun Fleet, disperse immediately! Form a Big Dipper formation and surround the target area!"

"Cloud Mist Formation System, Kunlun Sword Hall disciples, heed my command!"

"Using the starship as a base and drawing upon the magnetic field of planet G-581, we will deploy a massive 'net of heaven and earth' formation!"

The moment the order was given, the six Kunlun-class starships, like ghosts, silently glided toward the designated coordinates.

The armor on their bows slowly opened, revealing not menacing cannon muzzles, but honeycomb-like firing matrices gleaming with silver light.

"Deploy the array base!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

One by one, octagonal foundation stones, their surfaces engraved with billions of runes, were silently launched by electromagnetic rails.

They have no thrusters, yet they seem to have eyes, tracing precise arcs in the vacuum as they fly toward specific coordinates in the dark universe.

On the plaza of "Kunlun No. 1".

Cheng Gan, along with all the cultivators from China, were already sitting cross-legged.

Beside them were the Knights Templar of France, General Winter of the Grizzly Bear Kingdom, and even troublemakers like Thor and the Supreme Elder of the Azure Cloud Sect, all of whom were now sitting obediently on the ground.

"Everyone, listen to my command."

"Guide your Qi, concentrate your mind!"

" channel your power into the amplification array beneath your feet!"

Buzz—

The entire starship emitted a slight rumble.

Cheng Gan felt that the spiritual power within his body was being guided by a gentle yet powerful force, flowing along the array patterns beneath his feet and into a vast energy pool.

Then, this torrent, which gathered the strength of thousands of people, was transformed into an invisible energy wave through the starship's amplification system, shooting towards the array foundation stones that were returning to their positions in the distance.

All seven cornerstones lit up simultaneously.

Invisible rays of light rapidly connected between them, outlining a massive array covering tens of thousands of kilometers.

A vast net, woven from both technology and magical arts, has quietly been unfurled.

...

Inside the alien reconnaissance flagship.

The captain yawned, preparing to go to the rest cabin for a short nap.

Sudden.

The screen in front of him flickered for a moment, then turned into blinding static.

"What's going on?!" He suddenly stood up straight.

"Sir! Our...our quantum communication with our home planet...has been cut off!" A technician's voice was filled with undisguised terror.

"Radar! What's wrong with the radar?"

"Report! Radar signals are completely blocked by an unknown energy field! We...we can't see anything!"

The captain rushed to the porthole and stared intently at the seemingly empty universe outside.

"We're surrounded!" Technician Karl's voice, like a scream, ripped through the deathly silence of the bridge.

The captain looked out into the deep darkness; he could see no enemies and felt no threat whatsoever.

But his fighting instincts told him he had fallen into a carefully designed trap.

After a brief moment of panic, a raging fire ignited in the captain's eyes. He was being locked up by a group of "primitive monkeys" in a way he couldn't understand.

This is an insult.

This is a provocation against advanced civilization!

"Activate the 'Planetary Decomposition Rays'!"

He turned around, his voice as cold as ice.

"Since something has locked us up."

"Then tear this cage, along with everything around it, to shreds!"