Scourge Legion

The military order was issued, with one week remaining before each legion was to set off.

The system announcement that Lister had been waiting for finally arrived.

System Announcement: Maintenance is complete, the server is back online, and players are now allowed to log in.

Announcement: The ninth expansion Expansion has been released: Three hundred years ago, the great pioneer Lister Merrick established one of the eight new superpowers in the universe— the Machine-Slaying Alliance. Now, the eight superpowers are stirring, about to ignite a great war, and at the same time, the prelude to the great war is about to begin...

Player's starting location: Machine-Slaying Federation. (Note: The actual interactive power zone will include the areas affected by the player's external battles.)

Congratulations! You have triggered the Main Quest "Conquest: Prologue": The Machine-Slaying Federation has just been established. To better prepare for the impending cosmic upheaval, the Federation will launch this great war to eliminate powerful Hegemon forces within its sphere of influence, preventing them from being ambushed, harassed, or overthrown during the upheaval...

Specific requirements: In the name of the Undying Legion! Join forces to eradicate the powerful Hegemon surrounding the Federation... (Note: Mission contribution and difficulty are directly proportional to participation!)

Mission duration: None.

"Task Rewards: 100 million experience points, 15 free attribute points, 5 million credit points."

"Accept?"

"Yes!"

"Task accepted, current task participation rate 0%."

"The Machine-Slaying Federation...? What an awful name!"

"Anyway, it's all part of the Federation; another day of following our beloved Count Merrick."

"Just as I thought, we've finally reached the level of a cosmic superpower!"

"This time the Main Quest seems to be getting bigger and bigger, with no specific requirements, so it's all about how much you participate?"

"Definitely! Aside from rank, the top-tier experts are on a completely different level from us in terms of combat power. How are we supposed to compete?"

"It all comes down to how much participation each person makes, but I reckon the basic requirements for completing the main storyline aren't that high."

While checking the system's ninth announcement, Lister also peered into the players' public chat.

Now, after these few main system developments, he is completely certain.

The game "Divine Revelation" is now deeply intertwined with him in this life.

The Main Quest is entirely based on the development he established, perfectly aligning with his vision for the future.

The only thing he couldn't be sure of was whether the game's main storyline was tied to him personally or to the rising power on the Merrick Planet.

At the same time, the actual range of activities for players has also increased.

The Machine-Slaying Federation has 36 star systems, all of which have become their base of operations.

This feeling of constant integration is exactly what he expected.

Should the two worlds constantly intertwine and merge, ultimately existing in an alternative form, or will the player world be merged into the world of "Divine Revelation"?

Lister believed more in the latter, and there was indeed a sense that the player's world was constantly merging into the current universe.

As soon as a new scene begins in the game, the discussions among players in the public chat are always the most heated.

Many people team up with each other, boast to each other, or make predictions.

But before they could finish chatting, another new notification was sent to everyone.

"Notification to the entire Undying Legion: Following authorization from Commander Lister Merrick of the Undying Legion, the Undying Legion has been renamed the Scourge Legion."

The discussion exploded again in the next instant.

"Did the game developers see this post from Tieba?"

"They really changed their name! Wow!"

"The Scourge Legion? Was this a deliberate change by the developers? Does it correspond to the 'Fourth Scourge'?"

"Why do I think 'Undying Legion' sounds better?"

A player spoke up weakly at that moment, but was immediately met with a barrage of mocking comments in the public chat.

"Nice to hear! We're just immortals!"

"The 'Fourth Scourge' is more fitting; wherever our legion goes, it should feel like a cataclysmic event."

Looking at the discussions on the public chat, Lister silently shook his head in the meditation room.

The renaming of the legion is more of a verification process.

As expected, he has a huge influence on the players. It's not a side quest; it's just a simple renaming of the legion that can directly notify everyone.

Suddenly, I felt a surge of confidence.

The TR-09 Star System is the core system among the three system systems controlled by the Steel Remains Star Alliance.

For nearly two thousand years, we have lived in an era of peace.

They did wage war against foreign powers, but these were mostly small-scale, small-group operations, and the targets of their campaigns were primarily space pirates.

As the most powerful force in the surrounding galaxies, the actual galaxy has not seen any battles for nearly ten thousand years.

This caused the quantum early warning array on the outer edge of the galaxy to suddenly explode with a blinding red light, and the alarm sounded like a sharp blade tearing through the silence of the star field, but it still did not trigger the nerves of the Steel Remains Star Alliance.

Not only did no troops go to investigate, but they waited until Hoffman's warships had deployed their strategy and settled in before a reconnaissance and guard team slowly arrived.

Calling them a guard is a stretch; actually, only two people came.

"What bad luck! I just made an appointment with Miss Leinas, and then this lousy repair mission comes along."

One of the team members was currently complaining to his teammates with a gloomy expression.

He went to great lengths to secure a dinner date with his goddess, only to have this alarm, which hadn't been triggered in ages, suddenly go off.

The temporary task was assigned to him immediately, forcing him to miss this hard-won opportunity.

"Stop talking nonsense! Do you think I wanted this?!"

"Master Minaz just finished crafting the magic mask for me, and I haven't even had a chance to pick it up yet! And now I have to bring you here for this damn repair work."

The two continued their conversation as they approached the early warning array zone outside the galaxy.

Completely unprepared, they didn't even use their senses to probe the outside world.

They continued grumbling as they passed through a stargate, a short-range teleportation portal belonging to the Steel Remains Star Alliance.

Just as they stepped out to continue flying, one of them suddenly froze in place.

"Hey kid, what are you spacing out for...?"

"Do you still want to go back and make an appointment soon..."

The team leader urged impatiently, but the second half of his sentence got stuck in his throat.

There's no other reason... I hadn't used my senses to investigate, but now, on the outskirts of the Steel Remains Star Alliance, I've actually spotted a force with the naked eye.

At the edge of the horizon, the once empty and desolate star field was now filled with a dark fleet of warships, obscuring the starlight like a locust plague.

The crimson "Machine-Slaying Federation" insignia on the ship's hull flickered with the energy circuits, like the breath of some behemoth.

The large ships at the forefront had already deployed their gun arrays, and the purple light from the neutron cannons made the two men's faces appear deathly pale.

"This... this is impossible..."

The man, who had been fantasizing about going back on their date, suddenly felt his knees buckle.

The steel body instantly flowed like liquid, and the data automatically scanned by the tactical goggles projected a blood-red warning onto its retina.

[WARNING: Overlord Tier energy reaction detected x6... WARNING...]

At this moment, all the warnings I saw were utterly ineffective.

Neither of them could believe what they were seeing. Their Steel Remains Star Alliance's core star system had been invaded by the enemy so silently?

No! It's not "silently"!

There have been constant alarms!

However, none of the high-ranking officials or intelligence officers in the Steel Remains Star Alliance believed the alarm.

A sense of helplessness, born of despair, instantly overwhelmed me.

Faced with an enemy fleet of this size, the two could only observe it with the naked eye, even though they were actually very close to each other.

Coupled with the energy bombardment from this neutron cannon, even the two of them, who were only at level 15, simply couldn't withstand it.

The blinding purple light finally made the two close their eyes, having completely given up hope.

For a long while, the pain did not come, nor did the sound of an explosion reach my ears.

When the two opened their eyes again, the neutron cannons in the array had all been extinguished.

Before them stood a green-haired Hegemon, who was calmly questioning them.

"Scouts from the Steel Remains Star Alliance? Or the Covenant army?"

At first glance, this green-haired Hegemon's face seemed quite normal, but upon closer inspection, a sense of unease began to creep in.

A strange and elusive feeling made the two of them inexplicably tense.

"This Hegemon...!"

"We're not scouts, we... we're... probably maintenance workers... or... barely considered... the military...?"

"Repairman? What does he repair?"

Sariel's figure appeared behind Hoffman in an instant.

He questioned the two in a cold voice, his brows furrowed with distrust.

"It's about maintaining the galaxy's alarm system..."

"We thought... we thought..."

"Did you think the alarm was broken?"

Even though Hoffman was mentally prepared, he didn't expect that the first established Hegemon he consulted would turn out like this.

It has been a long time since the last World Annihilation War ended, and naturally a new batch of veteran Hegemon has emerged, especially in remote star systems like this one.

While resources are scarce, security is naturally greatly increased.

Iron Skull Omega, the leader of the Steel Remains Star Alliance, was a well-known Hegemon from an early age.

I don't have much ambition now, I just want to stay and tend to this little plot of land.

They had been living in peace for too long, and had become completely defenseless, not even reacting when their home planet in the core star system was invaded.

"Lord Hoffman, should we dispose of it?"

Sariel had already drawn his Black Leaf Laceration Blade, and a killing intent similar to Lister's surged from his body, putting even more pressure on the two of them.

"No need."

Hoffman waved his hand dismissively, showing absolutely no interest in the two of them.

"Send them back to report; we'll proceed according to plan."

Hoffman was aware of the current situation in the universe and knew that their current cleanup mission was not actually aimed at ordinary people in the galaxy, but only at the old Hegemon of this force.

So they simply let the two go back. If this Hegemon had shown himself earlier, it would have saved them some work.

As he finished speaking, Hoffman's fingernails suddenly split open, spraying out two wisps of unidentified chaotic matter that landed on the necks of the two men.

Most of the Class Holder in the Steel Remains Star Alliance are mechanical engineers.

They are following the mainstream path of current Star Machine Civilizations in the universe, undergoing mechanization.

Of course, the Steel Remains Star Alliance takes a different approach, focusing on liquid metallization of itself.

Even the heads are the same, completely replaced by a specially made liquidizable alloy.

Hoffman watched as the two clumps of dark matter passed over the two men's alloy heads and penetrated deep into their core tissues before speaking again.

"Tell your alliance leader..."

Hoffman's voice resonated through the chaotic matter, causing both of their eardrums to bleed.

"We are the army of the Machine-Slaying Federation. Come and die as soon as possible."

"Yes! Yes... sir!"

Seeing a glimmer of hope, the two dared not dwell on their own thoughts and hastily fled towards the core of their galaxy.

Several hours later, the entire Steel Remains Star Alliance finally responded.

Inside the flagship of the Machine-Slaying Federation, countless intelligence reports about the Steel Remains Star Alliance had already been eavesdropped on.

Not long after, an incomparably powerful aura descended upon the area where the fleet was stationed.

"Is it an envoy from the Machine-Slaying Federation?"

A deep, rumbling sound, like the explosion of a supernova, swept across the star field as Iron Skull Omega emerged from the torrent of metal.

This Steel-Melting Hegemon's body is not a traditional mechanical structure, but a fluid metal body composed of active shape memory alloy. Every inch of its armor spontaneously reassembles in a vacuum, forming a constantly changing, sharp geometric structure.

His head was entirely forged from dark red alien metal, its surface covered with burn marks resembling inscriptions from the Ancient Machine Kingdom. A horizontal crimson slit of light ran across the top of his head, and his mechanically mimicked features were now staring solemnly at the fleet, not daring to make any rash moves.

They dared not reveal any hostility in their words, and took the lead in referring to Hoffman as an envoy.

"This envoy... is there some misunderstanding between us?"

Despite his formidable aura at the 24th rank, he showed no arrogance whatsoever before Hoffman.

His words even carried a hint of ingratiation.

"On the day your faction was established, did our Steel Remains Star Alliance have any representatives attending the ceremony?"

According to my internal investigation, there has never been any conflict with your company.

"This envoy... could it be that our forces have done something wrong?"

Please tell us directly, and we are willing to... comply!

Iron Skull Omega, 100,000 years ago, fought against three Hegemon, holding his own against all three.

He rose to fame in one battle and was eventually hailed as the Steel-Melting Hegemon.

The intelligence indicates that the other party has a rather domineering personality, a bad temper, and is easily provoked.

Now, standing before Hoffman, Iron Skull Omega seemed to have had his edges smoothed out by time, or perhaps out of genuine fear of the Machine-Slaying Federation, he remained remarkably composed.

My name is Hoffman.

There is no conflict.

As soon as Hoffman finished speaking, the dark red heterogeneous head of Iron Skull Omega seemed to deepen in color.

Fortunately, his attitude remained unchanged, and he continued to try his best to please her.

"In that case... what resources of our star system have you set your sights on, Your Excellency...?"

"Don't worry, as long as you ask, everything is negotiable."

"No, it's not..."

"I'm sorry, but the primary target of our initial operation in this Machine-Slaying Federation is you."

"Why don't you just commit suicide? I can guarantee the continued existence of your Steel Remains Star Alliance's power."

Omega's head was now a deep, purplish-red.

At the same time, the oppressive aura emanating from him became uncontrollable, and his aura instantly reached its full potential.

"I don't believe this is a decision made by the Machine-Slaying Federation. You're being far too domineering!"

"Fine! I don't care what your reasons are for wanting to start a war!"

"Since you want war, then let's fight!"

"If it weren't for the Machine-Slaying Federation, you... you actually dared to think you could make me commit suicide? In that case, you might as well die before me!"