A Chance Encounter

Above the layered, pitch-black mountain range, a disc-shaped spacecraft flew through the air at sublight speed.

Inside the spacecraft, Zhan Qiu sent a message to Bai Muye. "We've been in the Black Meteor Mountain Range for over a decade. Going by past experience, after one or two more battles, we'll probably head back to the 049 Military Base..."

Before he could finish speaking, a thunderous crash rang out, and the entire cabin shook violently.

"Enemy attack!"

Dongluo's cool voice rang in their ears. Though she'd spoken only two words, there was a trace of panic in her voice that was hard to detect.

Bai Muye steadied himself and exchanged a glance with Zhan Qiu. His heart sank.

The situation was extremely dire. They'd been in the Black Meteor Mountain Range for over a decade, and their spacecraft had never been directly attacked before.

This could only mean one thing—the Detector Dongluo used had failed to detect the enemy in advance!

That proved the enemy had a higher-grade Detector than Dongluo's. Detectors were usually ranked in proportion to their users' strength: the higher the grade, the stronger the user!

If their opponents were a squad with a Marquis-level Immortal, they'd be in grave danger.

"Everyone, leave the spacecraft and engage the enemy!"

Dongluo's voice came from outside the spacecraft. She'd broken through the hull from inside the Main Control Room and gone outside.

The moment the spacecraft came under attack, its exit had opened automatically. Without needing Dongluo to tell them, the World Lords had already sent word to their subordinates to get out as quickly as possible.

Bai Muye and Zhan Qiu led their Universe Rank subordinates out through the exit. Fortunately, the spacecraft wasn't attacked again in that brief time.

Suspended in the air, they heard roars from every direction. What met Bai Muye's eyes was a swarm of thousands upon thousands of silver-gray Zerg Warriors.

At a glance, he could see that the Zerg Warriors fell into two broad types. Most were about thirty meters tall, with menacing spikes all over their bodies and thick armor.

The others were fewer in number, about twenty meters tall, with powerful hind legs and two pairs of forelimbs that looked like War Blades.

"It's the Zerg..."

Bai Muye felt some relief, but a heavy pressure still weighed on his heart.

He was relieved because the enemy wasn't the Marquis Immortal he'd feared. But every Zerg Warrior on the other side was at Peak World Lord, so their situation was still dire.

Most of the Zerg Warriors' auras were at World Lord Rank, which meant the Mother Empress controlling them was most likely at World Lord Rank too. If Dongluo could kill or suppress the Zerg Mother Empress, the crisis would resolve itself.

That was, if Dongluo could do it—and if they could hold out until then.

He glanced back at the spacecraft and couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.

A prominent gash ran along one side of the spacecraft. Its edges were unusually smooth, clearly the result of an energy attack.

Fortunately, Dongluo had sensed the attack at the last moment and instantly released her Divine Power to form a shield, altering its angle. Otherwise, the attack might have struck the spacecraft's core directly. The ship coming apart would have been the least of their worries; after the energy explosion, probably not a single Universe Rank warrior inside would have survived.

These thoughts flashed through Bai Muye's mind in an instant. Most of the Zerg Warriors closing in were led by the smaller type, surrounding Dongluo in the air.

Only several hundred thirty-meter-tall Tiger Armor Zerg were heading for Bai Muye and the others. Zhu Ang led the World Lords to meet them, but even the dozens of World Lords could each hold off only ten to several dozen Tiger Armor Zerg. Nearly a hundred still slipped through and charged at Bai Muye and the other Domain Lords and Universe Rank warriors.

Bai Muye recalled the description in the original novel and took a closer look. The thousands of Zerg Warriors surrounding Dongluo were clearly more agile, moving in an orderly manner. Those coming for them seemed sluggish, as if they were fighting purely on instinct.

The Mother Empress clearly knew who posed the greatest threat, so it was devoting all its attention to Dongluo and carefully controlling the Zerg attacking her. As long as it could take out the team's Immortal, none of the survivors—World Lords, Domain Lords, or Universe Rank warriors—would escape its pursuit.

Looking at the Zerg Warriors closing in, Dongluo couldn't help feeling her scalp prickle. Her blue-green eyes were grave as she released her Immortal-level mental power without holding anything back. But the Zerg Mother Empress was cunning, and its Detector was more advanced than hers. Dongluo couldn't find it at all.

The new Detector she'd acquired was already standard equipment for a Marquis-level Initial Stage Immortal. She hadn't expected a World Lord-level Zerg Mother Empress to have a higher-grade one.

As soon as she'd left the spacecraft and confirmed that their opponent was a World Lord-level Zerg Mother Empress, she'd immediately requested reinforcements through the Military System.

She hadn't asked for help solely for her own sake. If she wanted to flee, it would be difficult for World Lord-level Zerg Warriors to hold her back. But if she left, none of her subordinates would survive.

She might not care about Universe Rank warriors, but most of these World Lords and some of the Domain Lords had followed her for thousands, even tens of thousands of years. People weren't made of grass or wood; how could they be without feeling? Unless they were truly at their last resort, she wouldn't abandon them.

"Hold on. I've called for allies. They'll be here within ten minutes!"

Dongluo's voice carried across the battlefield. She was speaking to the Zerg Mother Empress as well.

But the surrounding Zerg Warriors showed no reaction and began their attack.

Over a thousand Zerg Warriors surrounded her in the inner ring. Farther out, dozens of formations made up of more than a hundred Zerg Warriors each were gathering energy and locking onto her.

The energy gathered by a hundred Zerg Warriors was no weaker than an attack from a Military Lord High-Level. If it hit her head-on, it would be enough to badly wound her.

Forty-nine blue-gold swords formed the Sword Domain Storm, protecting Dongluo at its center. Any Zerg Warrior that came near the inner ring was instantly slaughtered by the sword formation.

But energy attacks from the outer ring never stopped. She did her best to evade them, but with the Mother Empress controlling the Zerg so precisely, the space left for her to maneuver grew smaller and smaller.

In the World Lord battlefield, some World Lords were already on the brink of defeat under the assault of more than a dozen Zerg Warriors. Even powerful World Lord Generals like Zhu Ang were under tremendous pressure as they faced dozens of World Lord Zerg Warriors.

Dozens of World Lord-level Tiger Armor Zerg charged into the circle where the Domain Lords and Universe Rank warriors were fighting, cutting through them as easily as chopping vegetables. Their forelimbs struck with terrifying speed and force; Universe Rank warriors had no ability to resist.

Hundreds of Domain Lords led their Universe Rank subordinates into battle. Peng Donghan, the top Domain Lord under Zhu Ang, shouted a message to everyone, telling them to find a way to split up the Zerg. Otherwise, any single squad that faced so many World Lord-level Zerg alone would be torn apart in less than a second.

It was a good idea, but extremely difficult to carry out. The Zerg Warriors fought on instinct alone, which somehow made them even more terrifying.

"Spread out and attack one Zerg Warrior from range. Draw it away from the others..." Bai Muye sent Peng Donghan a message.

Peng Donghan agreed and immediately sent word to all the Domain Lord squad leaders.

The Domain Lords spread out and used ranged attacks to target individual Zerg. The Zerg that came under attack immediately charged toward the squad that had struck it.

The battle line quickly stretched out. Five or six squads took on each Zerg Warrior, easing the pressure a little.

Bai Muye and Zhan Qiu led their Universe Rank warriors alongside four other Domain Lord squads to face a Tiger Armor Zerg.

The Universe Rank warriors could only attack frantically from the perimeter, while the Domain Lords held the front line.

The situation was extremely dire. Even when Bai Muye unleashed the full power of his Mixed Domain, it only managed to restrain the Tiger Armor Zerg slightly. Its speed remained astonishing.

It ignored the Universe Rank warriors' attacks, letting them strike its thick shell. They barely did more than scratch it.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Domain Lords at the front couldn't withstand even one strike from the beetle. They each spat out a mouthful of blood and were sent flying.

The beetle's compound eyes turned toward Bai Muye. Its powerful fighting instincts told it that the shackles restraining it had come from the short human standing before it.

It raised a claw and lunged at Bai Muye.