Yan Ning waved a hand and brought up his account balance. As a Core Member of the Virtual Universe Company who had spent years fighting on the Outer Domain Battlefield, he had amassed a truly terrifying fortune.
Transaction request submitted...
Approved by the Virtual Universe Company!
Registration with the Universe Mercenary Alliance complete!
Congratulations, Master. You are now the rightful owner of the Ashen Starfield!
Yan Ning's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Excellent. Now—"
He gazed out at the distant stars, as if his eyes could pierce the endless void and see straight into that chaotic starfield.
"Full speed ahead. We're heading for the center of the Ashen Starfield."
Three months later.
When the ship emerged from the Dark Universe for the final time, the view beyond the portholes suddenly darkened.
"We're here."
Yan Ning stood in the cockpit, staring through the reinforced glass at the starfield that now belonged to him.
The heart of the Ashen Starfield was even more desolate than he had imagined—and even more... magnificent.
It was a sea of dead stars.
Countless shattered stellar remnants drifted through the void like glass marbles crushed by an invisible hand, giving off a dim red glow.
Farther away, several dying stars clung to life.
He reached the center of the Ashen Starfield, where a vast galaxy lay.
Then he made his way to the center of that galaxy.
Yan Ning stood by the ship's porthole, gazing at the lifeless core of the galaxy before him.
"This is the place."
"System, deploy the Black Hole Clone!"
[Beep! Deployment in progress.]
Yan Ning's eyes glinted.
"Let's see what kind of storm a true Black Hole Clone can unleash!"
"Vmmm..."
The entire starry sky abruptly fell into an eerie silence.
The next instant—
"Crack!"
Space shattered like fragile glass, and a pitch-black "point" appeared out of nowhere.
At first, it was no larger than a needle's tip, but within a ten-thousandth of a second—
It expanded! Devoured! Reigned supreme!
"BOOM!!!!"
A Black Hole Clone fifty billion kilometers in diameter descended upon the heart of the Ashen Starfield!
The instant the black hole appeared, the orbits of every celestial body in the galaxy were thrown into chaos!
"Whoosh—"
Hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, a stellar remnant the size of the Moon suddenly accelerated, hurtling toward the black hole as if seized by an invisible hand!
Then came a second, a third...
Even more terrifyingly, light itself began to warp!
From Yan Ning's vantage point, the stars around the black hole looked like a painting twisted by a giant hand. Every star turned into a spiral streak of light, plunging toward the endless darkness at the center.
The Smart Optical Brain blared alarms:
[Warning! Gravitational intensity has exceeded detection limits!]
[Abnormal spatial curvature! Immediate retreat to a safe distance is advised!]
Yan Ning burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Excellent! What a Black Hole Clone!"
He could clearly feel the soul connection between himself and the clone.
Its unfathomable devouring force, its terrifying density that crushed everything in its path—he controlled it all as easily as his own limbs!
With a thought, he stored the ship in his World Ring.
Yan Ning willed it, and the Black Hole Clone abruptly unleashed Black Domain!
Its Innate Secret Art burst forth!
"Vmmm—"
A visible black ripple spread outward from the black hole, instantly covering a trillion kilometers in every direction!
Within this range:
Spacetime froze, as rigid as a steel plate.
All matter began to disintegrate on its own.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Three Star Pirate ships hiding nearby appeared in an instant. They struggled like insects caught in a web, but could only watch helplessly as they were dragged toward the black hole!
"No! What the hell is that?!"
The Star Pirates' screams reached him through mental waves, but Yan Ning only watched in cold silence.
Before their ships could even fall into the black hole, gravity had already torn them apart. Metal, flesh, souls... everything was crushed into the most basic energy particles, becoming sustenance for the Black Hole Clone.
And this was only the devouring power inherent to an ordinary black hole.
It hadn't even activated its Innate Secret Art.
If it did, even a Universe Venerable would be unable to shake this Black Hole Clone!!
Its only drawback was probably its mobility.
It could move, but far too slowly.
That was unavoidable.
The larger its mass, the slower its movement was bound to be.
Of course, this minor drawback could be ignored entirely.
Yan Ning gazed at the boundless black hole itself, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Since the main body moves so slowly..."
"Then I'll create a clone that can move freely!"
At his thought, a terrifying force began to gather and compress at the heart of the Black Hole Clone!
"Crack—crack—"
Space collapsed. Gravity warped. Matter on the black hole's surface caved inward, until at last a high-density Singularity Embryo formed at its core!
"Condense!"
Yan Ning gave a low shout. The Singularity Embryo suddenly contracted, becoming a pitch-black energy crystal. Then—
"BOOM!"
The crystal burst apart, and a figure slowly emerged from the depths of the black hole!
A Black Hole Humanoid Divine Avatar, a million kilometers tall!
The figure was pitch-black from head to toe, as if formed from the deepest darkness in the universe. Silver patterns flowed across its surface, and its eyes were like two miniature black holes, devouring every ray of light.
With every step it took, the void trembled, as if unable to bear its terrifying mass.
Yan Ning's consciousness connected with the clone, and he instantly felt the power of its body.
Strength!
Pure, destructive strength!
Though this humanoid clone was only one ten-thousandth the size of the main body, its density had not diminished in the slightest. With every gesture, space itself bowed before it!
"Excellent..."
Yan Ning made the humanoid clone raise a hand and gently close its fist.
"BOOM!"
Space within a radius of a million kilometers shattered, breaking into countless fragments that were sucked into its palm and annihilated into pure energy!
"So this is... the power of a black hole!"
He grinned, his gaze piercing the endless starry sky as if he could already see the future. A Zerg Mother Nest? Crush it! A Mechanical Clan fortress? Devour it! A Universe Venerable? Let's see what it can do!
A Black Hole Clone this enormous, with divine power this dense.
One had to understand: the greater the density, the higher the divine power density.
This clone of his was nothing like the body of the Nine Nether Sea.
The Nine Nether Sea relied purely on sheer volume to win.
Its density wasn't high.
If his million-kilometer-tall Black Hole Clone self-destructed—
At point-blank range—
He was confident he could kill a Universe Venerable outright!
With a nine-thousand-fold gene level and such high divine power density,
An ordinary Universe Venerable would have no chance of surviving!
An Intermediate Universe Venerable probably wouldn't escape, either.
As for a High Venerable, if they burned their divine power, they might have a chance to get away, but they would definitely suffer severe injuries.
Now he finally had a trump card capable of threatening a Venerable.
Even if it only worked through self-destruction.
But the million-kilometer body he would blow up was nothing compared to his black hole main body, which was fifty billion kilometers in diameter.
It was no more than a drop in the ocean. It would recover quickly, costing him virtually nothing.
He could even use it as a regular attack.
Of course, he wouldn't use this move unless absolutely necessary.
After all, if he really self-destructed—
His equipment would be completely...
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