052: Curse and Blessing

"Forget you—even if a true god descended, they wouldn't be able to get out unscathed."

The captain gave a bitter smile. "But at this point, we have no choice but to go in. Once we entered the vicinity of the Dark Star Territory, we lost the ability to break away."

Li Aoz could have saved them one by one—but that would have taken far too much time.

Besides, he had never intended to turn back on this trip.

"Activate the Annihilation Engine. Charge in at full speed."

Li Aoz raised a hand and issued the order:

"Within the Dark Star Territory, the speed of light is affected by gravity. There is no fixed value at all. In other words, if we move fast enough, light won't be able to catch us."

"That's the only way." The captain nodded. "We have no better option. Advance or retreat. It's just that the anomalies here still feel extremely... strange to me."

"Mm. It is rather strange."

Li Aoz did not dwell on it.

In truth, he knew what was inside this Dark Star Territory.

An evil god.

A Golden Dragon Monk renowned through countless battles.

And the Night Butterfly mech pilot whom he had tricked into coming here.

The weakest of those three was around Jota (9), not to mention that the evil god was carrying at least three layers of Star Abyss's Curse. It would have been stranger if gravity had not gone haywire.

But Li Aoz did not want to reveal any of that. The evil god was far too sensitive, so he could not say much. The Golden Dragon Monk was locked in combat with the evil god, so it was best not to interfere with him either.

And then there was that Night Butterfly pilot. By now, he was