"What do you mean?" Even Dawn was baffled.
Apart from his fleet, what else could threaten Eternal Night?
Was he referring to Dawn's own Duke-class combat power?
"Um..."
Dawn awkwardly tried to remind Nie Yun that without his fleet, he could only bring a tenth or two of his Duke-class strength to bear.
"What threat do you think Dawn poses to me without his fleet?" Eternal Night looked disdainful.
Nie Yun smiled, bent his thumb, and suddenly mimed pulling a trigger.
"What if... I killed him?"
Both sides froze at those words.
In ancient times, Nurhaci had killed his wife to consecrate his war banner. Now, before the fighting had even begun, Nie Yun was planning to sacrifice his ally?
What kind of bizarre, full-circle swerve was this?
"What... did you say?"
Dawn's expression froze instantly. Even his planetary-scale processing power nearly crashed on the spot.
Are you serious?
Nie Yun simply continued.
"There's a myth in my homeland about Pandora, the first woman on earth, whom the gods fashioned from clay.
"The gods gave her unparalleled charm, along with a mysterious box.
"According to the myth, once Pandora opened the box, she would release all the evils of the world-greed, deceit, jealousy, suffering, and so on.
"But what no one knew was that deep within the box lay the one thing capable of banishing those evils-hope!"
Eternal Night: "..."
Dawn still hadn't caught on. He looked at Nie Yun in confusion. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Nie Yun gave Dawn a meaningful look.
"Haven't you noticed yet? If Eternal Night is the embodiment of Gaia's evil...
"Then you... should be the only hope of redeeming him, and Eternal Night's sole obsession..."
"Just look at your names. After dusk comes eternal night, and the hope of deliverance from