The Shattered Star Mining Belt lay in the zone of gravitational instability outside Horizon Port. This was no asteroid belt, but a dangerous region formed from countless shattered planetary fragments rich in rare minerals and solidified energy veins. Massive chunks slowly rotated and collided, occasionally unleashing dangerous radiation pulses and gravitational vortices. It was one of Horizon Port's vital resource lifelines, a hunting ground for countless mining ships and desperate outlaws. Its complex terrain made it ideal for ambushes.
At that moment, an elite squadron comprising three Hive battleships and eight fast assault ships slipped like ghosts through the shadows of the enormous mineral veins. With most of their active signals shut down, they used the terrain as cover, silently approaching several large mining bases at the belt's center. Their mission was not occupation, but... destruction and intimidation. Queen Bee Aishana intended to force Horizon Port to surrender Lin Ye through bloody slaughter, or at least force him to show himself.
"Targets locked: Deep Well Mining Station, the Driller refining platform, and the Heart of Stone residential district." On the bridge of the Hive Fleet's flagship, the Stinger, the commander-a high-ranking Hive general whose compound eyes gleamed coldly-issued an icy order. "Charge the main guns. Assault ships, prepare to deploy Withering Spores bombs. I want this place... stripped of all life!"
"Multiple civilian distress signals and mining ship activity detected," the adjutant reported.
"Ignore them. Purge... everything," the Hive general replied without emotion.
Just as the Hive warships' main guns began gathering eerie green light of destruction-
CRAAACK!!!!
An enormous bolt of violet-gold lightning tore through the void, erupting without warning from behind a massive chunk of plutonium ore! Moving at breathtaking speed, it struck the Stinger's newly activated shields with absolute precision!
The [Annihilation] and [Purification] properties within the