Blood Mist and Catalyst

Although the two hadn't met or communicated for some time, their conversation now felt just like it did back in the recruit camp villa.

The conversation was relaxed and natural, and Major Qi inadvertently revealed some information about the Federation Military District.

"However, your situation is a bit troublesome now!"

"Your previous actions were too impulsive! If you had spared Titus' life, things would have been much easier. Now, trying to give you a spot in the 39th Army is facing too much resistance!"

"You might have to stay with the Arcane Army Group for a few more years!"

There was no real blame on Lister; Major Qi's words were filled with regret and remorse.

Originally, it was out of good intentions, to help Lister gain more military merits and grow up quickly.

Who knew this would happen, making the already precious quota for transferring into the Central Army even more difficult to obtain.

"Major Qi, actually, I've had a pretty good time in the Arcane Civilization Army."

"You don't need to ask me for a spot anymore, I'm actually planning to..."

Before Lister could even begin to explain his plan to form Civilization Army, Major Qi waved his hand to interrupt him and began to admonish him.

"You're too young, and you haven't been in the Federation Military District long enough to understand the difficulties of future promotions."

"Like this federal draft, it was through my connections that I got it done for you, so you can accumulate military merits and be promoted to major faster."

"Once you are promoted to colonel, you will better understand how precious military merits are in the Civilization Army. The only way to quickly gain military merits and improve your strength is to join our Central Army..."

Major Qi believed he understood Lister's current thoughts very well.

He had met outstanding officers who, like Lister, had started their careers in the Civilization Army.

Even when he was a junior officer or had just been promoted to major, he never considered joining the Central Army.

But once they've been there a long time, they realize that no matter how many tasks they complete, they're still far from the military merits required for future promotions, so they eventually resort to using various connections to get in.

At this moment, he simply assumed that Lister's ideas were the same as these people's, and somewhat naive.

"I'll try my best to help you with the quota, but I'm afraid you'll change your mind after you've been promoted to major for a while!"

"Never mind, let's not talk about that now."

"Let's focus on this recruitment mission for now. You can remind Captain Boren later."

"All we need to do is intercept; there's no need for a direct confrontation! We'll fight once our ships arrive!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Major Qi seemed to receive some news and hung up the call.

At the same time, Lister felt a jolt in the room that was different from the one that struck the small celestial body.

When he returned to the control room, the enemy warships had been spotted and the battle had begun.

The mission only indicated one small cruiser, but in reality, they were facing four additional frigates.

Without Lister's prompting, Captain Boren had no intention of engaging in a direct confrontation.

After firing the first neutron cannon shot, they immediately created distance between themselves and the opponent.

The main operational tasks were handed over to Chief Radar Truman.

The polar magnetic chaff and flares are being unleashed indiscriminately, primarily designed to disrupt the control and operation of warships.

It must be admitted that our own A73, as a cruiser, is quite experienced in fleet operations.

They perform with great ease, especially when there is no need for direct confrontation.

Now we're just staying within the effective range of the enemy's neutron cannon, silently following them.

Meanwhile, various chaff and jamming missiles were frequently launched from inside the ship, rendering the opposing patrol ship unable to maneuver or perform any maneuvers effectively for a time.

"Captain, the third escort ship on the enemy's flank appears to be the one that escaped from our first coordinate."

Truman was able to maintain control of the situation while simultaneously broadcasting investigative information; the operation was currently operating entirely within his comfort zone.

"Keep a close eye on them, don't rush to act, wait for SA199 to arrive first."

After a moment's hesitation, Captain Boren gave the order and then turned to look at him.

"Lister, I'll find a chance to let you board this frigate first, and try to leave no survivors."

"Clear!"

Lister immediately nodded in agreement.

He understood that when Captain Boren reported the first coordinates, the frigate had not recorded any escaped warships.

After all, if the mission is not completed at a discounted rate, the reward for military merit will also be reduced.

Now that they've reappeared in their sight, they must be silenced.

At that point, all will be well if the source of the frigate is simply pushed into the reinforcement fleet of the Silver Mutual Aid Society headquarters.

SA199 arrived faster than anyone had anticipated.

Although they were both small cruisers, the Central Army's combat capabilities were far more ferocious than people imagined.

Under the same barrage of neutron cannon fire, the Central Army's warships directly rammed into the enemy.

While the two sides' neutron cannons were still locked in a stalemate, Major Qi detached himself from the warship and appeared in space.

A cloud of blood mist appeared out of nowhere in the entire space environment and quickly enveloped all the enemy warships.

Before everyone's eyes, the blood mist continued to gather, eventually seeping completely into the warship.

Just as everyone was wondering about the purpose of the blood mist, the enemy warship's neutron cannon suddenly changed direction.

As if possessed, it shot towards the nearest escort ship.

They quickly destroyed their own warship, with only a few scattered life forms managing to escape from inside.

In contrast, the SA199 warship's neutron cannon has now completely blasted a large hole in the enemy cruiser.

The next moment, countless soldiers of the Central Army decisively boarded the enemy warship through the hole and began fighting inside.

Full speed ahead!

"Target ship number three, create conditions for Lister to land!"

Captain Boren immediately gave the order.

A73 sped toward its designated destination to prevent any living organisms from escaping.

They controlled the power of the neutron cannon, blasting out only one passage, allowing Lister to lead a few dozen soldiers to land and fight.

There were only about a hundred people on the frigate, most of whom had bloodshot eyes and were attacking each other in a chaotic manner.

Even without their attacks, most of the people on board had already been killed or wounded due to fighting each other.

This was the first time Lister had seen Major Qi take action.

Even now, he couldn't scan Major Qi's specific information; he could only determine that the other party's rank was at least 16 or higher.

The unusual attack method before us is clearly not from the mainstream class system; it must be a method from another class.

Recalling the "Bloody Glory" gift that Major Qi gave him back then, and his performance today.

Based on a preliminary assessment, Major Qi's combat capabilities can be attributed to his use of blood as a medium for mind control.

Its own offensive capabilities are not particularly strong.

From this perspective, my special swordsmanship, a Hegemon martial arts, is perfectly suited to Major Qi's fighting style.

The life form, now controlled by the blood mist, had lost all thought and was only acting on instinct to attack.

Seeing this, Lister, wielding his sword, flashed throughout the entire frigate, quickly wiping out large numbers of enemy troops.

Sensing the Killing Intent Wave, several other life forms hidden near the escape pods, unaffected by the blood mist, naturally could not escape his blade either.

The entire cleaning process was exceptionally easy; the other party offered absolutely no resistance and did not attempt to escape.

With the battle over, Lieutenant Zahn led his men to destroy all the bodies of the personnel from the escort ships and eliminate all evidence.

Lister shook his head with a hint of regret. These people couldn't contribute to his military achievements; they were just there to clean up the mess from his first mission.

Just as everything was ready and they were preparing to return to their Ship A73, Lieutenant Zahn came to report with a serious expression, as if he had discovered something.

"Sir! There seems to be an unidentified object on this ship."

The so-called unidentified object was located at the stern of the frigate, in the logistics and resources area. Its entire body was covered in a strange biological skin.

The surface of the organism's skin seemed to breathe, and it was still warm to the touch, as if it were a special living thing.

[Whiteman Civilization's Energy Isolator (Class S): Made from the skin of Whiteman Civilization nobles, it can block most biological perception and mechanical signal detection, and can block more than 99% of Energy Transfer.]

It really is made of genuine leather...

Even though Lister had already killed countless people, he still couldn't help but feel a sense of resistance when he touched this skin.

Tear the leather open, and inside is a simple box, divided into two sections by a brown partition.

One side is empty, while the other side contains a complex and exquisitely crafted spherical machine.

The surface of the mechanical sphere is partially hollowed out, through which the misty blue liquid stored inside can be seen.

"Congratulations, you have discovered the 'Witchcraft Civilization's Planetary Catalyst'."

[Witchcraft Civilization's Planetary Catalyst (S-Rank) (Tier 3 Potion): Created by the former Grand Wizard of the Witchcraft Civilization, it can catalyze large planets, causing them to liquefy, collapse, and explode in a very short time. (Note: The explosive power is positively correlated with the energy contained in the planet, and the highest power level is 18.)]