One minute later.
The Shadow Bee's hatch slid open, and Song Chen darted out of the ship, stepping into the void.
The bone-piercing chill of the vacuum was kept outside by his psychic energy. He flew toward Lar, while Alliance soldiers and fleets around him automatically made way.
Lar looked down at Song Chen. No expression could be read from that face, whose features no longer resembled a human's.
"You're here."
When he spoke, his voice was deeper and more muffled than before, as though it came from beneath a mountain.
"Lord Lar, you've changed quite a bit."
Song Chen stopped before him and looked up at that enormous battle form.
"Battle form. Don't be nervous."
"This form is more convenient for dealing with the Blood-Eclipse Civilization. The me you saw on Flowing Light Star was my everyday form. Out in the universe, people aren't so particular about these things."
Song Chen nodded without replying.
Lar did not continue with the pleasantries. He raised a hand and pointed at the neutron-star Fortress in the distance. "This neutron star is called Cangxing, one of the Alliance's trump cards in the Milky Way. They brought it out this time too."
"Although the Alliance's strength in the Milky Way is fairly decent, we've never liked stealing the spotlight in matters like this. So we aren't the main force in this war."
Song Chen was somewhat surprised. "Then who is?"
"Naturally, the strongest native civilization in the Milky Way apart from us outsider civilizations: the Nine Luminaries Civilization."
"This entire Celestial Pivot Defense Line was deployed by the Nine Luminaries Civilization."
As he spoke, Lar pointed toward the fleets arranged in formation in the distance.
"The Nine Luminaries Civilization is the Milky Way's sole native Level Four civilization. In this defense against Blood-Eclipse, they