The Deformed Galactic Federation

The game's public chat was flooded with messages.

"Wow! Is this the power of Count Merrick?"

"So cool!"

"That's outrageous!? That strike! Even an S-rank boss wouldn't be able to withstand it!"

"Is this the real Merrick Saber Technique!? Why is it different from my teammates'!???"

"Could it be that Count Merrick only taught us SS-level swordsmanship, while his own Merrick Saber Technique is SSS-level?"

"This is the late-game martial arts system? The 'War God of Jiangling Prefecture' also wields a sword, right? If you want to reach the peak, you have to choose the martial arts system?"

Various comments flooded the public chat, and the sight of Lister's slash amazed all the players.

Screenshots, in particular, can never capture the impact of being there in person.

Under that overwhelming killing intent and that devastating strike, the players' love and delight for Lister only intensified.

The officers on the warship were utterly astonished.

Colonel Sannand had initially considered the matter and made some comparisons.

He had only served in the Civilization Army and had seen a few major generals who had undergone four evolutions, but he had never seen Quasi-Hegemon.

He assumed that even if Lister was strong, he couldn't be stronger than a major general who had undergone four evolutions. He thought there was a gap in strength between himself and the opponent, but it shouldn't be too big.

Once Lister made his move, Sannand no longer dared to try to compete.

His current captain, Lister, seemed to be completely unprepared for battle.

With a single, casual slash, he slew the Bishop Shadow, who was no weaker than him, along with dozens of giant undead skeletons.

My sense of awe surged instantly.

At the same time, we gained our first clear understanding of the combat strength of Quasi-Hegemon!

Let alone a major general who has undergone four evolutions, even a lieutenant general might not be a match for Lister.

After Lister's strike killed the opposing bishop, the tide of the battle turned dramatically.

In reality, it would be very difficult for the players alone to fight against these warriors of the Sun Wheel Church in a short period of time.

An average rank difference of 2-3 tiers actually puts them a version ahead of the players.

However, these warriors are now grieving the death of the Bishop Shadow, and under the influence of Lister's Killing Intent Wave, their fear and sense of death are amplified to the extreme, making it difficult for them to exert their full strength.

A strong urge to escape quickly rose within me.

For a time, the players gained the upper hand in the battle.

Lister intentionally kept these warriors around to make it easier for players to level up and gain experience, and then to exploit them more effectively.

The battle was over, and they were just about to leave.

The next moment, they stopped abruptly.

He hovered above the battlefield, a hint of surprise on his face.

The senses of the Killing Intent Wave indicate that new warships have entered the area, and their numbers are constantly increasing.

Not long after, a warning message from Ship A01 suddenly appeared in his vision network. It was an urgent message sent to him by Colonel Sannand.

[Fleet group jump fluctuation detected; warship model cannot be matched...]

"Captain, it seems a large force of the Sun Wheel Church is approaching!"

Sannand's voice rang in his ears, and the next moment the holographic star map was connected to his chip in real time.

Within the selected star field, the coordinates marked as warships lit up one after another, densely packed together!

They were traveling at a considerable speed, and before long, the newly arrived fleet had already formed a crescent-shaped encirclement.

At the same time, a figure stepped out of the warship.

He was dressed in a dark red robe, with golden energy swirling around it like a sun crown.

The hem of his robe was constantly burning, and flames continued to scatter as he moved, briefly igniting upon touching the void.

The man was thin, and his aged face was like dry, cracked earth.

His skin was covered with dark red, lava-like patterns, and the staff he held burned like flames.

A scorching aura emanated from him; without a doubt, it belonged to the most troublesome Archbishop Sunflare, the one most troublesome in this mission.

[Target discovered: Archbishop Sunflare]

[Level: LV???]

[Class: Eclipse Archmage (Magic)]

[Health Points: 10251209/10251209]

[Strength:4513417/4513417]

[Attributes: Strength: 225, Stamina:???, Intelligence:???, Agility: 225]

[Skill: Corona's Embrace (SS-rank):???]

Wheel of Divine Punishment (SS-rank):???

???,...]

[Overall Rating: Grade A]

As Lister sized up the other man, the Archbishop Sunflare was also observing him.

Sensing the almost solidified killing intent, the archbishop's expression instantly turned solemn.

His already aged face is now even more deeply lined with wrinkles.

"Shadow... it died by your hand, didn't it?"

A hoarse voice rang out, and the archbishop stared intently at Lister.

Instantly, an extremely hot aura burst forth from his body.

It felt as if you were being roasted directly by a star, with a sense of oppression that could burn away the galaxy.

In the star field, extreme killing intent clashed with its scorching aura.

For a moment, the two sides were evenly matched, which made Lister's expression turn serious.

The Archbishop Sunflare's strength was somewhat beyond his expectations.

He initially thought the strength was only at the initial Fourth Advancement, and based on his experience in the Galactic Federation, especially his judgment of some major generals, he believed that the strength was not a threat.

But upon closer inspection, it became clear that the situation was somewhat tricky.

The fact that the level cannot be scanned indicates that the opponent is at least a level 22 expert, more than three levels stronger than him.

Although in the game of Divine Revelation, rank has never truly represented strength.

But the opponent is no pushover with C or D-level combat power. They can still maintain A-level combat power after the Fourth Advancement, so their strength is obviously not bad.

Given that his opponent was of a much higher rank, he gripped the Shadowless Blade tightly once more.

"If you leave now, I can decide not to pursue the matter further."

The archbishop didn't lose any of his imposing aura, but his attitude did allow for negotiation.

The battle between the players and the warriors of the Sun Wheel Church has now begun.

After all, it was the pressure from Fourth Advancement high-level Class Holder, which caused immense negative attribute pressure on players who were only at tier 13.

Lister ignored the archbishop's suggestion.

The decision of whether to leave or not was entirely in his hands.

After all, players aren't afraid of death; they can leave whenever they want.

At this moment, his primary concern is the opponent's true strength.

"What's your decision?"

The hoarse voice rang out again. As a fire mage, the Archbishop Sunflare was expected to be rather short-tempered.

But the truth was quite calm and unhurried.

Even though one of their archbishops had died, they were still able to calmly discuss things with him.

"I know something about the situation in your Galactic Federation. Even a genius like you probably wouldn't last long."

"There's no need to risk your life for the Galactic Federation!"

"Why don't we share the resources of this star system?"

"Don't worry! Whatever resources the Galactic Federation promises you, I'll give you double!"

Lister was initially unwilling to engage in further communication and was already preparing to take action, upon hearing the archbishop's remarks about the Galactic Federation, intentionally prolonged the battle in an attempt to extract more information from the other side.

"You know our Federation?"

"Hehe~! I know a little about them; I've heard of the major cosmic powers and the large galaxies in this area to some extent."

"A deformed, behemoth galaxy!"

Archbishop Sunflare, however, did not pay any attention to Lister's platitudes.

Although his expression remained serious, his words revealed quite a bit of information.

"Deformed? Jumbo?"

This was the first time Lister had ever heard of this adjective.

His understanding of games in his previous life was that they were the beginning of the great cosmic era.

Come to think of it, I haven't had much contact with any major cosmic powers.

In the previous version of the game "Divine Revelation," the plot or development of the Galactic Federation was rushed through, and the game remained confined to the outer periphery of the Federation, with little transparency and in-depth understanding.

The situation in the vast universe is even more complicated; at least in Lister's previous life, the Great Universe Era was still a new world for players to explore.

Even those major forces involved only operate on the periphery.

"Heh~!"

A slight smile appeared on his withered, wrinkled old face.

It wasn't friendly; it was mostly sarcastic.

"It seems this is the first time you've heard about the power dynamics within your own star system?"

Lister nodded; he couldn't relate to either the deformed or the gigantic.

He especially remembered the term "mega-corporation" —the Galactic Federation had almost been blown up by Kavin in the Cosmic Era version.

In terms of power and influence, the Galactic Federation is completely incomparable to other major cosmic powers.

It's fair to say they don't deserve the title at all.

"A galaxy, home to nearly 20 Overlord Tier powerhouses and hundreds of elite juniors at the Quasi-Hegemon level, has never considered venturing beyond the galaxy to develop its influence within the cosmic order."

"For tens of thousands of years, it has been confined to a single galaxy, where geniuses have emerged one after another."

"Furthermore, over the past ten thousand years, there has been a continuous stream of super geniuses leaving the Galactic Federation."

"This is simply an incomprehensible superpower!"

After being spoken to by the Archbishop Sunflare, Lister instantly realized that something was amiss!

That's right!

As one of the cosmic powers, the Galactic Federation has far too many Hegemon!

In most universes, a single Hegemon power controls a galaxy.

Even in larger cases, there are usually three or four Hegemon jointly managing a dozen or so star systems.

At the very least, the reason why the Hegemons unite their forces is to occupy more star system resources and then concentrate their resource acquisition more effectively.

Essentially, after the combined forces distribute the resources, each Hegemon will control more star systems.

As for the Galactic Federation, there is no official channel to fully determine the exact number of its Overlord Tier.

However, considering the current seven federal generals, as well as some Hegemon who are willing to appear in the public eye, there are nearly twenty of them.

It's quite a sight to see so many Hegemon crammed into one star field.

Lister should have realized this earlier, but his experience with the game background of "Divine Revelation" in his previous life made him subconsciously ignore these unreasonable background details.

Now that an outsider has pointed it out, they've finally realized something was wrong.

"Anyway, the resources of this Tantalum Dark Alloy are all located on the outer reaches of the Milky Way, not within your Galactic Federation's galaxy."

"Given the way things are within your Federation, you don't need to fight us here."

Wouldn't it be better if we cooperated?

For a moment, Lister began to seriously consider his options.

But he immediately suppressed the thought as soon as it arose.

It was a mission given by General Boren, after all, and he was still a long way from leaving the Galactic Federation.

This is a mission that can't be abandoned so easily, not to mention that he also has to promote the ranks of his officers. This recruitment mission is a major source of military merit!

"Captain! Another warship is approaching in the distance!"

Colonel Sannand's voice suddenly rang in his ears, and the star map on the Ship A01 also appeared in his field of vision.

Another fleet of warships rapidly approached, though not as numerous as the Archbishop Sunflare's fleet, it was still considerable.

Upon seeing this, Lister immediately realized something was wrong!

He wasn't the only one trying to extract information from the archbishop; the archbishop was also waiting for an opportunity to stall!

The next instant, it seemed that the Archbishop Sunflare had also received the news.

The staff in his hand stood erect in the starry sky first, and the flames that were already burning on the staff suddenly rose up!

It then continued to grow larger, attracting and gathering endless cosmic energy.

Finally, the flames began to gather and condense, transforming into a brand new corona above the star field.

The intense heat of the crown dissipated, shining upon everyone.

"Damage Received: You are affected by the Corona's Embrace aura. 43.1% of the light and fire damage you receive will be converted into damage that ignores defense, and 9.6% will be converted into true damage. (Note: The ratio of damage that ignores defense to true damage increases with the duration of the aura.)"

"The Robust Soul has taken effect, Resolute Heart, Merry... The strength of the Corona's Embrace aura has been significantly reduced; 1.4% of the damage is now ignores defense, and 9.6% is true damage."

Unexpectedly, Archbishop Sunflare possessed methods of inflicting real damage.

Under the special judgment of true damage, even Lister's passive damage reduction properties are useless.

Under the sun's rays, he felt a slight heat rising deep within his soul, as if it were about to scorch him. But in the next instant, that heat was slapped away by the immense soul deep within him.

Archbishop Sunflare now has no desire to communicate whatsoever.

The attack was swift and decisive; as the Sunflare into the sky, a surge of energy once again gathered in the staff in his hand.

The spell was cast with incredible speed, and a giant, hollowed-out fire wheel instantly solidified in front of him.

The intense, scorching heat seemed to Twist even the starry sky.

It finally shot off in the direction of Lister.

At the same time, Lister also unleashed a slash.

The solidified killing intent, carrying unparalleled blade light, rushed straight towards the fire wheel.

The moment the two touched, the fire wheel was immediately cleaved in two, and the intense burning sensation quickly subsided by several degrees.

The blade's power remained undiminished as it hurtled straight toward the archbishop.

However, the fire wheel, even after being cut in two, did not lose its offensive capabilities.

They continued to track and approach Lister, as if they had already locked onto him.

Suddenly, Lister felt a faint stinging sensation in his blood and organs.

As the fiery wheel drew near, it felt as if the blood and energy in one's body were being ignited and vaporized.

In the end, the fiery wheel simply vanished completely before his eyes, but the burning pain had already taken effect on him.

Only after this initial probing did he realize how troublesome the opponent's fire wheel attack was.

There was no need to make contact with him; under the glow of the Corona's Embrace, he had already been locked onto.

The fire wheel only needed to get close to him to ignite everything on his body that could be ignited, and even his soul felt a bit of burning pain.

"Damage taken: -1348 damage ignoring defense, -9916 true damage, with a burning effect (immune)"