As the shouts of battle from the training ground pierced through the soundproof glass of the observation tower, Lin Yi was pressing his knuckles against his temple.
The pale golden mark behind Su Qing's ear kept flashing in his mind, like an inextinguishable flame—was it left by the envoy of the advanced civilization before he left last time, or was it some kind of mark from the interdimensional mother nest?
The sandalwood scent drifted over before the figures even appeared.
The moment he gathered the power of space and time at his fingertips, a figure in a moon-white Taoist robe stepped out of the shadows.
Xuan Mingzi's jade pendant jingled softly at his waist, and the silver hairpin in his hair reflected a cold light. Even the fine lines at the corners of his eyes carried his usual composure: "Young friend, your guardedness is as if you've encountered a mortal enemy."
Lin Yi released his grip, and the pale purple mist dissipated into the air: "Last time you said you were going back to the system core to find a way to break the deadlock, how come, so soon?"
Xuanmingzi raised his hand, and a rhombus-shaped crystal floated in his palm.
The surface of that thing was shimmering with starlight-like bands of light, each line seemingly cutting through space, even causing the air to ripple with fine waves: "I spent three days and three nights searching through the regulatory codes left behind by advanced civilizations."
This 'spacetime prism' can disrupt the dimensional anchoring of the mother hive, creating a three-minute vulnerability in their defense matrix—enough time for your fleet to penetrate the core.
The moment the crystal touched his palm, Lin Yi's pupils contracted slightly.
A flood of information poured in: the structure of the Mother Nest defense network, the location of the energy nodes, and even the attenuation coefficient of the Night Owl's most proficient "Shadow Erosion" ability during the vulnerability period were clearly presented.
His Adam's apple bobbed: "This thing...how much risk did you take?"
"It's just risking half my life in the system firewall," Xuan Mingzi chuckled, a corner of his Daoist robe fluttering in the wind, revealing a faint scorch mark at his waist. "Compared to watching Earth become the second civilization to be wiped out, it's worth it."
The alarm blared sharply, shattering the brief silence inside.
Before Lin Yi and Xuan Mingzi could react, Chu Yao's projection suddenly unfolded between them, a pale blue stream of data surging in her eyes: "Commander, all channels are broadcasting your image—the team members say they're coming."
Before he could finish speaking, the alloy door of the observation tower was slammed shut with a loud bang.
When Long Wu squeezed in, his dragon scale battle armor was still covered in the smoke of the training ground, and he carried the Xuan Tie heavy sword on his shoulder: "Old Lin!"
"I heard there's something good?" He craned his neck to look at the crystal in Lin Yi's palm, his dragon tail sweeping behind him with a whooshing sound. "Damn it, if this thing can blow up the mother nest, I'll go chop off Night Owl's head right now!"
"Brother Long Wu." Su Qing followed behind him, the golden mark behind her ear flashing with her movements. She clenched her fist and pressed it against her waist. "I've checked ancient books. This pattern looks like a locator from an ancient starship—maybe it can help us pinpoint the weakness of the mother nest." At this moment, everyone was wondering if this was related to the pale golden mark behind Su Qing's ear.
The dark figure leaned against the door; he was a technology expert with experience in researching space-related technologies.
A silver mask covered half his face, but couldn't hide the scrutiny in his eyes: "Validation needed." He extended a fingertip, and a dark purple energy touched the crystal surface. The light band instantly twisted into a vortex. "Spatial disturbance rate increased by 47%. It can indeed break through defenses."
Chu Yao's terminal suddenly beeped. Her fingers flew across the virtual panel, a few strands of hair sticking up from the rapid movements: "Morale monitoring shows that the combat index of all team members has exceeded the critical point—the third squad has completed mech loading ahead of schedule, and the fifth squad is recalibrating the railgun parameters." When she looked up, the light patterns at the corners of her eyes were astonishingly bright. "They say... this is the best pre-battle gift."
Lin Yi watched as the team members surged into the observation tower.
Someone patted him on the back, someone else waved weapons and shouted slogans. Long Wu's dragon tail wrapped around Su Qing's wrist and pulled her to the front row. Even the usually calmest sniper had tears in his eyes and pounded the wall: "Finally, we don't have to just wait to get bombed anymore!"
The crystal felt hot in my palm.
He suddenly remembered when he first met Xuan Mingzi in the beginner village, the other party said, "The dice of fate have just been thrown."
Looking at the light in everyone's eyes, he suddenly realized that the so-called mythical profession was never an invincible asset—these people who were willing to entrust their backs to him were the real trump cards.
"Quiet." He raised his voice, and the spacetime prism in his palm rose, casting a galaxy-like halo above their heads. "Three days from dawn, we will storm the core of the Mother Nest."
The cheers made the glass of the observation tower vibrate.
Long Wu slammed his heavy sword into the ground, causing the floor to crack in a spiderweb pattern: "I'm going to carve a dragon mark on Night Owl's face!" Su Qing laughed, clutching the hem of his battle armor. The gold mark behind his ear flickered like an inextinguishable star.
During the three days they waited for the battle, the team members sat together and began to share various topics.
Long Wu excitedly patted the sniper's shoulder, "Hey bro, keep a close eye on Night Owl for me, and let me know immediately if anything happens!" The sniper rolled his eyes, "Don't worry about it, my gun won't miss a single target." Then, Long Wu began to recall past battles, "Remember the last time we fought those alien monsters in Misty Valley? That scene was so exciting! One swing of my axe and those monsters fell down in droves." The sniper also got excited, "Yeah, if it weren't for everyone's good teamwork, we might not have escaped unscathed. But my shots were pretty good too, hitting the monsters' weak points directly."
Su Qing then pulled Chu Yao aside to discuss the pale golden mark. "Yao Yao, do you think this mark might be the key to unlocking the secrets of the Mother Nest?" Chu Yao frowned, her fingers rapidly swiping across the virtual panel. "We can't be sure yet, but we can investigate further." At this moment, the shadowy figure quietly approached and interjected, "I encountered a similar mark during a previous interdimensional exploration; it might be related to some ancient energy." Su Qing's eyes lit up. "Then tell me the details." The shadowy figure then slowly recounted that mysterious experience.
As everyone was chatting enthusiastically, one of the team members suddenly asked, "If we win this battle, what's the thing we want to do most?" Some said they wanted to go home and spend time with their families, others said they wanted to sleep for a few days, while Long Wu shouted, "I'm going to have the most sumptuous meal of all, to make up for all the delicious food I've missed during these years of fighting!" Everyone burst into laughter.
Just as the team members were cheering and basking in the excitement of the upcoming battle, Chu Yao's fingertips suddenly stopped.
Her gaze, fixed on the terminal, shifted abruptly, her eyelashes fluttering rapidly: "Commander... the energy monitoring network has detected abnormal fluctuations." She activated the holographic projection; countless red dots were approaching Earth at faster-than-light speed. "Coordinates locked... it's the direction of the Mother Nest."
The air froze instantly.
Long Wu's dragon scales bristled half an inch, and his heavy sword clattered to the ground: "Damn it, this old bastard made his move ahead of time?" Su Qing's fingers dug into her palm, and the golden seal suddenly emitted a scorching light.
The shadowy figure's mask glowed with a ghostly blue, and energy patterns moved around him as if they were alive.
Lin Yi rubbed the spacetime prism with his thumb, and could clearly hear his own heartbeat.
He looked up at the window and saw that the once clear sky had been filled with dark clouds. The wind was blowing sand and gravel against the glass, like some kind of giant beast knocking on the door.
"Activate Level One alert." His voice was as steady as inscriptions carved in bronze, his gaze sweeping over every tense face. "Clean your weapons—"
A deep, rumbling sound came from afar, like a giant hammer pounding the atmosphere.
Chu Yao's terminal glowed a bright red, and when she looked up, the data streaming in her eyes almost overflowed: "The fluctuations... are closer."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com