Chapter 158 Finals (XII)

"Have you obtained information about a massive energy explosion at the core of the Black Tide Star Sea?" The commander-in-chief asked with a serious face during an emergency meeting of the military headquarters.

"Yes." Musa frowned. "The information comes from the original Tenth Star Base in the Northern Star Region. A large number of giant radar energy detectors have been deployed there. The data returned indicates that the core of the Black Tide is about to experience an energy explosion."

"Will the explosion range affect the central star field?"

"Yes, it won't even exceed the star line. We haven't received any feedback from the monitoring stations near the star line." Musa said.

"No action will be taken for now." The commander-in-chief pondered for a moment, then said, "Remain alert and be on standby. If you have any news, report it immediately."

Musa nodded and hung up the call.

He pondered for a moment, then sent the relevant information to Mu Boxing. Although he knew that the other party was currently competing in the Star Navigation Competition and could not receive any information for the time being.

At the same time, Hao Ru and An Qiang had returned to the space station with all the information received from the tenth planet.

"The teams heading to the sixth and third planets have seen the entrance to the rescue base, but haven't found a way in yet."

The defense system brought back from the Tenth Planet was undergoing a virus screening. They left the starport and entered the rest room while chatting.

Despite receiving intelligence that the Black Tide's core energy explosion would not affect the central star field, the Second Legion was still on standby as a precaution.

It was just that Hao Ru and An Qiang had just returned, and according to the legion regulations, they were given three hours of rest time.

The two men changed out of their combat uniforms, and then sat side by side on the bench in the lounge, turning on the live broadcast of the Star Navigation Competition in tacit understanding.

He had expected to see a dazzling display of fierce competition, but inside the live broadcast room, the plush rabbit was communicating with the Star Navigation Competition staff with a worried look on his face, while the game screen nearby was filled with a chaotic noise.

"...What's going on?" Hao Ru frowned and opened the live discussion area.

"What happened? Another accident!" The atmosphere in the discussion area was extremely tense, with comments rapidly appearing one after another. "Just like the last match of the Central Star Region Star Region Tournament..."

"It's not that bad. No matter what, I can't be so unlucky... Isn't this starry sea uninhabited? And the organizing committee must have done a thorough inspection and cleaning before setting up the venue."

After a moment, the plush rabbit hung up the communication with the staff.

"The rescue starship has arrived at the Killer Squadron's location." He breathed a sigh of relief. "The special communications ship in the rear has also caught up! The scene is being restored..."

A few bright ripples flashed across the light screen, and then the images taken by the communication starship appeared.

The communications starship, equipped with signal-boosting equipment, followed the rescue ship, still some distance away from the Slayer's position. To its left, the white rescue starship was rapidly advancing, and further ahead was the Slayer's large warship.

Through the dense dust rings, Hao Ru saw the huge black battleship belonging to the Killer floating in the universe.

As the communication starship approached, the picture gradually became clearer.

The surface of the Slayer warship appeared unscathed. Its black muzzles were unlit, and no rescue pods had been ejected. Everything seemed perfectly peaceful.

The rabbit commentator felt a little relieved.

"Although we don't know what happened, the Slayer's warship is intact and the contestants are not in danger."

"The rescue starship is attempting to dock with the Killer... Could it be that the Killer accidentally pressed the alarm button?"

He himself was somewhat skeptical, but when the medical starship was sending a communication signal to communicate with the killer, he cut the camera to the ranger...

The screen switched, and a black starship was floating in the universe, intact.

That was the Ranger's competition battleship. There was also no sign of any fighting struggle, and no rescue capsule was ejected.

Plush rabbit: "..."

The plush rabbit's heart was lifted again.

"Strange." He murmured, "What happened to these two teams..."

There was a momentary pause in his voice, and then his voice suddenly rose, "Another emergency call?! This time it's from Qiehua?!"

The alarm sounded continuously. The rabbit's forehead was sweating as he read out the alarms one by one, "There are also red and white roses, ducks rushing..."

In the list of participating team information, a bright red distress sign was hung behind each team.

"What... is going on?"

Team after team was sending out urgent calls for help. Even though the footage sent back from the scene showed that the Killer and the Ranger were not damaged or crashed, this situation was definitely not normal!

Rescue starships were dispatched one after another. However, the Star Navigation Competition had not anticipated the situation where almost all teams would request assistance at the same time, and the number of rescue starships soon became insufficient.

"There aren't enough rescue starships to dispatch to each team individually," the plush rabbit explained to the audience as he reconnected with the competition staff. "Right now, we're using the communication starships to explore the nearest route."

"Qiehua's location isn't far from the Killer! So while the rescue starship was waiting for the Killer's response, the communications ship had already changed direction and rushed to Qiehua's location."

"They left a follow-up camera on the rescue ship so we wouldn't lose sight of the Slayer... The comm ship is steaming at full speed!"

"Alright! The Eggplant Team has now appeared in the newly opened split screen. They look..."

The rabbit commentator looked stunned.

Then he suspected that he was dazzled, so he rubbed his eyes, moved closer to the light screen, and carefully identified the image on the screen among the dusty star rings.

He still saw the black starship.

Rabbit explained: "..."

His breathing became a little rapid.

"Nightflower looks like...it's in trouble!"

"...Why?" someone in the competition discussion forum was puzzled. "Isn't this starship also intact? Why are you saying Qiehua's situation is not good?"

"...Maybe it's not just the Eggplant Flower that's in trouble." After a moment of silence in the discussion forum, someone replied, "Take a close look at the color of the Eggplant Flower starship."

"It's black," someone else continued, "but the Eggplant Starship's paint job was originally purple, right? I remember when the rabbit cut to the scene just now and saw them dealing with the white target penalty, the starship was still painted purple... How come it turned black after just a few minutes?"

"The Killer and Ranger's starships are painted black, so it's hard to tell at first..."

"Was it burned by special energy?" someone immediately speculated, "Is there special energy or special star beasts in this sea of ​​stars? We didn't discover them when we were setting up the venue for the competition, but they attacked the participating teams?"

"I don't know. Can the commentator show us the Slayer or Ranger's battleship? There's a difference between the burnt black and the original black paint! But I didn't pay close attention just now."

"Did the Slayer respond to the rescue ship's call?" The Slayer's supporters were even more anxious than the others. "Something must be wrong! White Elephant and the others would never press the emergency button for no reason! Something must have happened!"

"It seems the communication hasn't been connected! Look at the new split screen added by the rabbit on the left. The rescue starship can't receive the killer's communication response and is about to initiate a forced docking."

The white rescue starship was adjusting its direction and floating in the universe parallel to the killer.

"Is the black paint used on the Killer Starship a matte finish?" The rescue starship's observer observed the scene ahead carefully and said casually, "It looks different from ordinary glossy paint."

"Is there any abnormal energy?" The driver operated the starship to approach the killer and asked cautiously.

"I can't see anything unusual right now, but there are too many energy jammers around here, so my psychic vision isn't clear." The rescue starship's observer frowned. "We're still three miles away from the killer. We need to get closer to see clearly."

"It's too dangerous to get any closer," the pilot objected. "We're beyond the safe distance for a starship rescue. If the enemy starship suddenly makes a move, we won't be able to escape."

"Let's connect the plug first," he said. "Force the connection with them and send the rescue robot up to take a look."

As he spoke, he pressed a button, and a special insertion plug popped out from the lower side of the abdomen of the white rescue starship.

The front end of the metal insertion bolt is fork-shaped.

This plug is designed for emergency situations and is specifically designed for the A8-type large starship. It fits neatly into the docking hatch under the Killer starship and unscrews the latch of the Killer docking bay.

Under this plug insertion program setting, when the docking bay buckle is unscrewed from the outside, a prompt light screen will pop up in the starship cockpit.

If the pilot of the rescued starship suspects that the starship attempting the forced docking has ulterior motives, he or she may choose to refuse. The fork-shaped insertion bolt will be forcibly ejected and the latch will relock.

However, the killer clearly had no such doubts.

"They didn't refuse." Aboard the rescue starship, the observer reported to the Star Navigation Competition emergency response team. "The signal here is a bit noisy... What did you say? Hello?"

He turned to his driver and said anxiously, "I can't quite hear what they're saying over there."

"There are a lot of jammers deployed along this route. It's a low-visibility section within the maze." The pilot pulled up a star map and took a look. "My mental acuity is even weaker than yours. If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have been able to see the Slayer's docking port in my mental field of vision."

"Rescue robots prepare to enter the Killer Starship." He said as he issued instructions.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan, and there was no immediate danger. However, in the communication they couldn't hear clearly, the Star Navigation Competition staff spoke in an anxious tone.

"Something's happening over at Qiehua. The color of their starship's hull has changed. We're not sure the cause yet, but it could be a special energy in the starry sea, or a special star beast!" A competition staff member pressed the communicator. "Hello? Rescue Starship Number One! If you hear me, please answer! Hello?! What did you say?"

Just as he was trying hard to hear the response from the rescue starship, a deep black color was spreading from the killer along the fork-shaped insertion plug to the white hull of the rescue starship.

"Qiehua what?" The rescue starship's observer was also trying to communicate with the staff. "Do you want us to go to Qiehua's location right now? Hello?"

"Buzz—"

And in the seemingly silent universe, special high-frequency energy waves are transmitting outward.

This same energy was masked by the jammer and did not attract the attention of the observers on the starship.

"Food," it repeated in a language almost no one could understand. "So hungry... fresh food..."

"It seems the rescue ship hasn't received the latest intelligence yet." On the livestream, the plush rabbit looked anxious. He cut out more screens, simultaneously broadcasting the progress of thirty teams. However, within this screen, several teams had yet to send out a distress signal. Unaware of the unusual situation at the competition, they continued with their events.

"I hope we don't receive any more distress signals," someone in the discussion forum prayed. "I always feel like things are a little scary..."

The colorful silver-white starship is sailing towards the center of the maze.

They followed the direction cues they received and entered the vertical channel above.

Because of the existence of the energy jammer, Mingyu could not see the turning point at the end of the channel clearly, and the starship was not rising fast.

"There's a new fork in the road about four stars away." The young man carefully examined the situation ahead. "The upward route ends at the fork in the road in four stars. You need to choose left or right."

As he was speaking, he suddenly frowned.

In the second stage of the final, all the blockade lines at the edges and ends of the lanes were completed by laser.

But the end of this vertical channel seems to be a little different.

"Wait, Brother Mu." Mingyu said cautiously, "Stop."

The silver-white starship hovered in the center of the channel.

"Buzz..." Above, the Hunter, clinging closely to the laser, vanished behind a dense cloud of suspended dust. Its energy fluctuations were also hidden in the chaotic energy flow, but Mingyu could vaguely sense something was amiss.

Although it was only for a moment, he did feel a very familiar and strange energy fluctuation.

At this moment, Mu Baixing also frowned.

"One more star," he said, "I'll use Susceptibility."

As the starship rose, Mingyu suddenly thought of something and his face changed.

The existence of that strange energy was not obvious. If Mingyu had not fought against it in the Black Tide Star Sea before, he would have missed this subtle abnormality.

This energy is like a dark cloud in the sky, about to bring down thick black acid rain that can corrode everything.

Mingyu's expression suddenly changed.

"...Brother Mu." He said hoarsely, "I think...it's the black tide energy."

Mingyu is very confident in his mental acuity.

He couldn't have made a wrong judgment, but...how could it be possible?!

He really couldn't believe how the energy fluctuations of the advanced black tide creature moth could appear at the scene of the Star Navigation Competition!

Mu Baixing's brows jumped, and he said coldly, "Moth."

As he opened his mouth, the black energy rushed down impatiently without waiting for the prey to get close.

A golden-blue shield suddenly unfolded above the starship. The immense impact of the energy collision caused the starship to shake.

The distance between the starship and the enemy entered three miles. In the susceptible zone, he could see the scene above clearly.

This is a moth with white eye-shaped patterns on its wings.

He is of the same type as the "coachman" that Mu Baixing and Mingyu "hired" in the Black Current Star Sea.

This is undoubtedly a true high-level black tide creature.

Seeing that its attack missed, it immediately folded its wings upwards, trying to hide behind the chaotic energy flow.

Of course Mu Baixing couldn't let it go.

The starship's golden shield folded inward, transforming into an extremely powerful beam of fire that shot straight upward.

The dark golden mental power dyed the moth and burned it into a flame.

"Why is it here? Is it just this team or are there other teams in the same group?!" Mingyu asked hurriedly, "Xiao Zi! Can you get through to the Star Navigation Competition Organizing Committee?"

Mu Baixing's expression was cold.

He hit the target with one strike, but did not stop there.

The ribbon-like main gun barrels on the starship's bridge glowed.

At this time, they no longer cared about the rules of the Star Navigation Competition.

The fiercely burning wide artillery fire swept in all directions, turning into light waves to clear obstacles, melting the lasers and energy jammers deployed on all sides of the Star Navigation Competition, destroying them completely.

Artificially demarcated waterways have been eliminated.

Amidst clusters of golden flames burning in the sea of ​​stars, the silver-white starship suddenly turned and soared vertically along the path that the moth had just intended to escape.

The main gun barrels under the cockpit and the gun barrels on the bridge charged at the same time, and the light became brighter.

Dark golden mental power burst out.

This shot was extremely wide and powerful, like golden magma rushing into the sky, passing through the starry sky, as if it was going to break the sky.

The golden torrent paved the way for the colorful starship, but in the cockpit, Mingyu and Mu Baixing's expressions changed again.

The dust floating around the gas planet was also completely dissipated by Mu Baixing's shot.

In the starry sea without the dust particles that blocked the view and the energy jammer, the true situation in the universe finally emerged.

The end of the dark golden mental cannon sank into the darkness of the universe, but did not move straight forward.

It seemed to have undergone some kind of refraction, bending at a distorted angle and connecting to a space that should not be there.

Mingyu looked at the image in his mental vision and was stunned for a moment.

"...Another spatial rift involving the Black Tide Star Sea." He whispered, "How could it be...?"

A strange feeling flashed through the young man's mind.

Are spatial cracks appearing so frequently?! With "Albin," with "Ming Zhuofeng," and with these white-eyed moths...

What's more, the appearance of the space crack this time is very different from the previous two times.

In front of the starship, the black crack where Mu Boxing's artillery fire fell was extremely narrow.

Unlike the massive gaps caused by energy explosions Mingyu had seen twice before, this spatial crack was not noticeable. It was very narrow, even too narrow.

Just like the cracks on the wall of an old house... small, inconspicuous, yet real.

It becomes a tunnel for insects outside the house to enter the room by squeezing their bodies as hard as they can and passing through silently.

This metaphor couldn't be more apt.

Because at this moment, behind the gap in the universe, several large moths are gathering.

They tentatively extended their antennae, folded their wings, and scrambled to squeeze their bodies through the narrow gap.

Although this crack is very narrow, it is very long, extending to the distant starry sea that is still affected by the interference device.

...It is even possible that the entire second stage of the competition map has been included.

"The energy jammers around most of the shipping lanes are still working." Ming Yu's heart sank. "Other teams may have been attacked. Xiao Zi, have you connected with the competition organizing committee?"

"The communication is connected! But they can't seem to hear me clearly." Zimao stood in front of the communication station, holding the fixator and looking back at Mingyu, his tone anxious, "I just heard them talking about a rescue starship..."

Mingyu: “…”

My premonition must have come true.

The presence of a rescue starship proved that other teams had also encountered problems. And because of the presence of the energy jammer, the moths were extremely difficult to detect.

Not to mention other teams...

If Mingyu hadn't accidentally entered the Black Tide Star Sea before, he would never have been able to detect it!

He was even worried that the rescue ship would not be able to detect their presence.

"As long as the space crack exists, more and more moths will enter the arena." Ming Yu took a deep breath. "But even if we carry an energy generator and can close the space crack by creating a reverse wavelength, to do this, we must know the exact location of the Black Tide Star Sea on the opposite side..."

Because the algorithm of starship space travel determines the wavelength of energy vibration by inputting coordinate points.

But they knew nothing about the connection of this crack!

Mingyu fell into the Black Tide Star Sea and saw only darkness. The Black Tide Star Sea was vast, and he could only judge from the energy density of the Black Tide that the location on the other side of the crack must be deep in the Black Tide, but he had no idea where it was!

Mu Baixing turned his head to look at him.

"Resonance." The man's tone was concise, with a convincing calmness and cold sharpness.

Mu Baixing: "Mingyu. Fire again."

The man's gaze fell on the distant space crack outside the porthole.

He couldn't force the space crack to close.

But together with Mingyu, we can use burning mental power to completely and thoroughly fill this crack.