No Need for a Second Slash!

Silence!

Both Yata, who had just broken through, and the elders standing beside him felt a surge of blood rushing to their heads.

Yata's swollen skull suddenly turned an abnormal purplish-red.

The mental energy in the brain, under the influence of rage, forms a visible Twist force field.

He never imagined that on the day he rose to fame as Hegemon, he would be so contemptuously dismissed as an "ant" by another unknown Hegemon.

Especially Lister's calm attitude, as if he had never taken him seriously.

This only fueled his resentment, making him feel even more humiliated than when the other side had just slaughtered a large number of psionicists from his civilization.

"This is your choice!"

You will pay the price for saying that!

The next moment, Yata's mental scream reverberated throughout the entire star field.

The rhombus matrix of the eleven elders shattered simultaneously, the fragments transforming into billions of mental prisms that refracted into his brain.

Then, Yata's figure gradually became transparent in the void, with only his brain containing a torrent of energy powerful enough to tear apart a star.

The white-robed elder no longer harbored any thoughts of peace talks, and a cold smile crept onto his lips.

The minds of the remaining elite warriors in the civilization tensed instantly, and their brains simultaneously emitted energy lights.

"Did they think our Star Matrix Civilization could survive for ten thousand years in the Babylon Galaxy just because of luck...?"

"In any battle, you alone will face the entirety of our civilization!"

"Today I'll show you what Mental Matrix really is."

As soon as he finished speaking, the energy of all the psychics in the civilization simultaneously converged into Yata's spiritual sea and soul!

In an instant, his aura suddenly increased several times.

The high-dimensional pressure emanating from their minds plunged the mechanical alliance and Hendeli's brains into agony.

In the next instant, Yata's Mental Matrix suddenly unfolded in the starry sky.

Billions of mental prisms intertwined to form a dimensional Rubik's Cube-like killing array that enveloped Lister.

The space before Lister's eyes instantly Twist, and countless mental spikes attacked from all directions, each carrying a soul-tearing pain.

However, the moment these attacks touched Lister's body, the crimson Saber Soul within his soul space suddenly trembled, and all the mental attacks collapsed as if they had hit Iron Wall.

"Attacked: The Mental Matrix Killing Array has taken effect. The assessment of the Robust Soul and Saber Soul Mastery in progress. Due to the significant difference in soul power between the two sides, the assessment has been successful. The Mental Erosion effect is now immune."

Lister took a step forward, as if entering an empty field.

Such a mere mental killing formation is utterly ineffective in restraining anyone, let alone causing any damage.

Under Yata's horrified gaze, Lister quickened his pace.

In the blink of an eye, they were already in front of him.

With a swift right knee strike to the abdomen, Yata was sent flying. His nearly transparent body gained a touch of color from the blow, but soon returned to its transparent state.

"Attack: Knee Strike deals -387221 true damage, and knockback, paralysis, stun, and other effects have been triggered."

It was an ordinary kick, but when it actually hit him, he felt a moment of disorientation.

Yata felt as if his soul had been kicked out, and he barely managed to regain his balance after smashing through three meteorites.

Before he could recover, Lister had already closed in again, Flash beside him in a flash.

Due to the control effect, Yata had no way to dodge and could only watch helplessly as the opponent's knee approached his head.

"Boom!"

The first Hegemon of the mighty Star Matrix Civilization was like an infant in front of Lister.

His figure left afterimages in the starry sky, each Flash precisely appearing on Yata's flight path, like kicking a ball, sending this newly crowned Hegemon flying back and forth across the star field.

The elders felt that the harm was not great, but the insult was extremely strong.

The psionicists of the Star Matrix Civilization stared blankly as their only hope, their greatest Yata Hegemon, was kicked around, his spiritual energy leaking out like a deflated balloon.

In reality, Yata himself found it even harder to accept.

Even though he had already become the Hegemon, and theoretically there should be a gap between him and the other party, he had the support of the elite forces of the entire Star Matrix Civilization.

The result was completely unexpected; even a simple Knee Strike from the opponent was something he could hardly resist.

Its form flickered in the air several times, constantly solidifying and becoming transparent again; it was truly unbearable!

"Enough!"

As the Grand Elder's Energy Transfer gathered and helped, Yata suddenly roared during his backward flight.

The remaining spiritual energy transformed into chains that bound the distant planet, forcibly halting its movement.

"You show me..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yata immediately assumed a defensive stance.

There was nothing special about it; Lister was no longer the same as before, and he once again gripped the Shadowless Blade in his hand.

The intense killing intent made him feel completely locked on.

In an instant, Lister's figure vanished from the spot.

When he reappeared, his gauntlets suddenly burst forth with a crimson light.

The patterns on Merrick Tyranny Bracers writhed like living creatures, and the 55-point boost to all attributes solidified his Killing Intent Wave.

"Notification: Merrick's Tyranny Bracers have been activated, increasing all four main attributes by 55 points and physical attack by 45%. Remaining duration: 59 seconds. Remaining cooldown: 4 days."

The instant the Shadowless Blade was drawn, the starlight across the entire star field was dyed crimson.

The spacetime surrounding Yata has been completely frozen and sealed off.

"No...!!"

The moment the blade touched his forehead, this newly crowned Hegemon finally realized the gap between him and Lister —not a difference in rank, but a chasm in the very essence of life.

The opponent... could not possibly be some kind of Hegemon; they were definitely above Hegemon... those rulers who exist only among the top powers in the universe, known as— the World Annihilation!

"Impossible..."

Fine lines of blood appeared on the top of Yata's head. He tried to stitch up the wound with his mental energy, but found that the dark red energy was frantically devouring his soul.

The elders watched in horror as their genius's body crumbled into pieces like broken porcelain; his Overlord Tier regenerative abilities were a joke in the face of real damage.

His prized psychic barrier shattered like paper, and he saw his brain being split in two by a blade between his eyebrows.

In an instant, countless spiritual energy links broke, and the Overlord Tier energy that had not yet been fully transformed hissed and dissipated like a deflated bladder.

The brains of eleven elders and hundreds of thousands of psionicists were also suddenly injured at this moment.

Many psychics' brains couldn't withstand the impact and exploded, their brain matter condensing into ice crystals in the vacuum.

"Attack: Deals a total of -4,174,749 true damage. Health is below 7.4%. Merrick Saber Technique execution is in progress. Detection passed."

In Hendeli's wide pupils, the image of Yata's brain, severed in two, was reflected—the enormous head slowly slid down along the clean cut, the break shimmering with the unique spiritual glow of the Mechanical Truth Civilization.

Even as death approached, the newly crowned Hegemon's face remained frozen in disbelief.

"Four evolutions?"

Lister flicked away the psychic energy residue clinging to his blade, his gaze sweeping over the collapsing defensive array of the Star Matrix Civilization.

He muttered disdainfully.

"You don't even have the right to let me make a second cut."

The white-robed elder suddenly knelt in mid-air, mechanically repeating...

"We wish..."

Before he could finish speaking, another blade of light swept across the necks of the eleven elders.

Those aged heads traced parabolas across the starry sky, their faces frozen in despair.

Hendeli Oz's giant hammer crashed down onto the meteorite beneath his feet with a loud clang.

He saw the gold patterns on Lister's wrist guards slowly fade as he sheathed his sword.

Meanwhile, on the core planet of the Ju civilization opposite the star, after Lister's sword strike, a massive, continent-wide slash suddenly appeared on its surface. The next instant, this giant core planet began to collapse, breaking apart in the middle.

All the psionicists of the Star Matrix Civilization were annihilated in an instant.

The warriors of the Oz Civilization behind them witnessed firsthand the actions of this true Hegemon.

There were no more knots in my heart; only boundless awe gathered within me.

Hendeli, too, was initially worried about the impending arrival of the Yatke Hegemon, but now he has no more doubts...

His eyes were filled with fervor and admiration as he looked at Lister!

"To spread the message of the demise of the Star Matrix Civilization."

"Including all the areas that have already been cleared, let them all behave themselves."

Having said that, Lister turned and went back to the pirate ship.

To date, the Babylon Galaxy has been 75% cleared of its area.

Few civilizations actually evacuated, unlike the situation when other public star systems were occupied.

Lister could easily figure out the reason: wasn't it simply because there was the later Yatke Hegemon?

The clash between the two Hegemon presents both a crisis and an opportunity.

If the two sides remain deadlocked, these civilizations will acquire a certain value.

Lister intended to use this new Hegemon to give these civilizations a wake-up call and make them behave themselves.

Seven days later, in the BN-7 Star Region.

A torrent of machines traced brilliant trails through the dark matter clouds, and tens of thousands of mechanical warriors built an iron defense line at the edge of the star field.

Lister sat upright on the pirate ship, his Killing Intent Wave sweeping across the entire battlefield like an invisible tide.

Another week of cleanup has resulted in 85% of the Babylon Galaxy being covered by the flag of the Church of Mechanical Truth.

The remaining civilizations either submitted or fled in panic.

"Lord Lister, an urgent message from Lord Hoffman."

A mechanical bodyguard knocked on the control room door, then issued an emergency notification.

In the holographic projection, Hoffman's face showed a somewhat solemn expression.

"Having received news of your presence in the Babylon Galaxy, the Expeditionary Army from the Blue Cluster Galaxy has already set off ahead of schedule."

"My clone just intercepted intelligence that Yatke is personally leading the fleet this time. They have already crossed the wormhole corridor and are expected to arrive in seven days."

Lister tapped his fingertips lightly on the armrest, the sound of his fingertips striking the armrest particularly crisp in the silent bridge.

This was faster than he had anticipated. Judging from the star system left behind by the Star Matrix Civilization, this civilization had long been in contact with the Yatke Hegemon.

It's not a matter of surrendering, but the reason why Yatke has only intended to occupy the territory for so many years but has not yet taken military action is indeed due to the efforts of the Star Matrix Civilization to delay the process.

It seems that the destruction of the Star Matrix Civilization has made that old Hegemon restless!

"Notify Kavin to provide a few more footholds so that Jiji can gather as much supplies as possible."

Lister stood up, his Shadowless Blade trembling slightly at his waist.

Shortly after the projector connection was disconnected, Hendeli received the message and arrived.

"Grown ups!"

"Notify all factions to assemble their warriors within five days and proceed to the NS Star Region."

"Sir, is there a specific quantity requirement?"

Hendeli is now completely thinking from Lister's perspective.

Although he was still somewhat resentful that Kavin's Mechanical Civilization was being valued, the more this was the case, the more excited he became, desperately trying to gain Kaven's trust.

"No need for further instructions, just follow my instructions."

"This will serve as a test for these civilizations; those who fail to contribute will be directly wiped out by the mechanical alliance."

"Those who contributed less will be held accountable after the war in the Blue Cluster Galaxy ends."

Even the Church of Mechanical Truth is currently unable to conquer the entire Babylon Galaxy, Lister is relatively tolerant of the civilizations within the galaxy.

If they truly submit, it would be giving their civilization a chance to integrate into Mechanical Civilization.

Kavin's concept of Mechanical Civilization is not simply composed of mechanical life forms.

Instead, it involves completely integrating mechanical life into the vast universe, with mechanical life forms taking the lead in this complete fusion.

"Yes! I'll go and inform them right away!"

A week later, when the alarm sounded Babylon Galaxy, the entire star system was like a giant beast awakened from its trance.

Kavin's mechanical life factory spewed out a massive torrent of metal that blotted out the sky, and the newly formed mechanical warriors were thrown into battle before they were even fully painted.

Hendeli Oz's Thunder Warriors raised their warhammers high, lightning crackling through the air as they prepared for battle in the NS Star Region.

As for the civilizations that had just submitted, they all dispatched their main forces.

With the destruction of the Star Matrix Civilization, no one dared to back down at the summons of the Hegemon Lister.

At the edge of the NS Star Region, the vanguard fleet of the Blue Cluster Galaxy appeared like a ghost.

These warships were entirely black, with the scarlet emblem of the Yateke Family inlaid on their bows, making them appear from a distance like bloodshot eyes floating in space.

"Fire!"

Without warning or negotiation, the artillery fire from both sides tore through the silent universe at the same moment.

The energy cannons of the Church of Mechanical Truth traced a ghostly blue trajectory in the vacuum, the Thunder Hammer of the Oz Civilization unleashed blinding lightning, and legions from countless factions swarmed forward.

The fleet from the Blue Cluster Galaxy retaliated with a torrent of crimson plasma, the explosive flashes echoing across the star field.

At the same time, countless dark figures shot out from the battle formation of the Oz Civilization like sharp arrows.

The Evil Shadow Mechanical Bird's metallic wings traced dark red trails across the starry sky, and the poisonous damage attached to the edges of its wing blades scorched the air, creating Twist cracks.

Under Lister's remote command, millions of Evil Shadow Mechanical Birds, now upgraded to Rank 18, swarmed towards the enemy ships in the Blue Cluster Galaxy like locusts.

The wing needles transformed into a torrential rain, piercing through the ship's shields and exploding spiderweb-like cracks directly into the armor.

Before the plasma cannon beams of the Blue Cluster Galaxy were fully charged, the engines of the Vanguard Cruiser had already been destroyed by the mechanical bird's attack, and it disintegrated silently in space.

The Thunder Warriors of the Oz Civilization also seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, wielding warhammers imbued with purple lightning, and boarded the enemy ship via a silver teleportation bridge built by their mechanical guards.

Although the remaining psionicists of the Star Matrix Civilization harbored resentment, they were pressured by Lister and still used their mental powers to interfere with the enemy's communication system, throwing the Blue Fleet's command into chaos.

The ten level 18 Quasi-Hegemon guards of the Church of Mechanical Truth led the mechanical giant army in a frontal advance. Their energy cores overloaded, releasing scarlet high-energy rays that pierced through the enemy ships' main gun arrays one by one.