Victory

Quite a few readers were still asking about the Reader Group. I'd posted it at the end of chapters twice already, so I figured nobody saw it there. This time, I'd put it at the beginning. This was the last time I'd post the group number in a chapter: QQ Group: 1107655535. If you want to urge me to update, hurry up and join. Though even if you urge me, I might not update anyway. ()

"Zeratul, I deciphered the energy frequency of their shield. Without being detected, I can open a breach just large enough for the Void Seeker to enter, but it will only last three seconds. Trying again may expose us. You must seize this opportunity."

"Three seconds? That is more than enough, Phase-smith. Your decryption came just in time."

With that, Zeratul saw a rift appear in the shield ahead of the Void Seeker. He piloted the Void Seeker through it, and the breach closed behind him.

Throughout all this, Variegated Blue noticed nothing.

The thousand-meter-long Variegated Blue was simply enormous compared to the little more than twenty-meter-long Void Seeker. More importantly, the Void Seeker did not seem to be equipped with any powerful weapon systems. At least, Zeratul had yet to find any weapons aboard it. How, then, was he supposed to kill this greatest enemy?

The materials of this abandoned Xel'naga vessel were highly unusual. It was not built from any substance familiar to the Protoss. Its durability was not particularly impressive; it could even be destroyed quite easily—when there was no pilot inside.

During the first war against Amon, Amon invaded the Khala that linked the minds of every Khalai Protoss. Even Artanis could not escape. All Protoss on Aiur became Amon's slaves, and they easily destroyed Zeratul's Void Seeker. Later, to save Artanis—and in keeping with his belief that he lived or died with his ship—Zeratul severed Artanis's nerve cords at the cost of his own life, freeing him from the Khala corrupted by Amon.

If merely a few Zealots could easily destroy a vessel made by the Xel'naga, then things were clearly not so simple.

As mentioned before, the Void Seeker's materials were special. But what exactly made them special?

They were exceptionally compatible with Void energy.

As everyone knew, the two forms of psionic energy arose from the combination of a creature's inner energy and the free energy particles of the universe. The stronger a creature's psionic talent, the closer its resonance with the universe, and the more matter it could affect.

The cosmic energies corresponding to Purification Psionic Energy were mainly light, heat, kinetic energy, electricity, magnetism... a series of the most common natural energies.

Void Psionic Energy, however, corresponded to the mysterious and unfathomable energy of the Void. Its source lay in space beyond the universe—the space inhabited by the Xel'naga. Thus, Void Psionic Energy possessed many wondrous functions that Purification Psionic Energy lacked, but that did not mean Void Psionic Energy was stronger.

The Void Seeker's materials could absorb and utilize this energy exceptionally well. If Zeratul channeled his Void Psionic Energy into the Void Seeker, he could make it indestructible and create illusions convincing enough to pass for the real thing.

As Zeratul remembered it, when he poured out his Void Psionic Energy at full force, the Void Seeker could break through sublight speed. With the kinetic force generated at that speed, no material could damage the Void Seeker. Anything in his path would be pierced straight through.

Perhaps he could...

A bold idea came to Zeratul.

Since the Void Seeker carried no additional weapons, could it be that the ship itself was actually a powerful weapon?

Whatever anyone else thought, Zeratul believed it was worth a try.

He had heard many legendary tales from the Protoss of the new era about Tassadar. To kill the Overmind, Tassadar had likewise chosen to use the Star Shuttle itself as his deadliest weapon.

Then Zeratul could naturally use the Void Seeker as a weapon as well, piercing straight through Variegated Blue's body in one stroke. And he did not need to take any risks. A Void Seeker with sufficient energy was Zeratul's greatest support.

That was what he thought, and that was what he did.

Zeratul placed his hand on the Void Seeker's control panel and infused it with his Void Psionic Energy. At once, the entire Void Seeker emitted an eerie green radiance. Its illusion was automatically dispelled in an instant, and all the Trigonians naturally discovered Zeratul's presence.

"Not good... the king... is in danger!"

The Trigonians Operator, utterly loyal to Variegated Blue, once again issued a warning, though Variegated Blue had noticed the danger before any other Trigonian.

Variegated Blue did not know how Zeratul had crossed its shield, nor did it want to know. To it, a tiny little insect had dared lurk at its side for so long. That meant there were likely even more invisible units like it among the Trigonians.

Zeratul silently cursed. "Protoss Scout Troopers, withdraw immediately!"

All the Trigonians realized it as well. They had long felt that the Protoss seemed to know their every move, that every step they took led them into a Protoss trap. Yet they had never been able to discover how the Protoss were scouting them. Who would have thought the Protoss possessed stealth technology capable of evading their searches?

Indiscriminate Mental Shock burst outward in every direction. Since they could not locate the invisible units, they would simply clear the entire surrounding area, even if it meant harming their own. Under this sudden indiscriminate assault, all two hundred scouts were knocked unconscious. Their stealth disengaged, and the enraged Trigonians smashed them apart.

"No, brothers!"

Grief and fury surged through Zeratul's heart, but he would not allow emotion to cloud his judgment. Piloting the Void Seeker in sublight mode, he circled around to Variegated Blue's front, flew in through the huge nostril at the center of its face, and out through its tail. Then he looped back, piercing through Variegated Blue's organs again and again, darting left and right.

Hundreds of penetrating strikes nearly killed Variegated Blue on the spot, yet less than a second had passed since Zeratul activated sublight mode.

Variegated Blue's enormous body rapidly shrank like a punctured balloon, dwindling to a hundred meters in length. Horrifying wounds covered it from head to tail. All its internal organs had been pulverized, and its life force drained away at a terrifying rate. The fact that it had not yet died only proved how formidable it was.

Several minutes later, all of Variegated Blue's vital signs disappeared. In other words, it was thoroughly dead.

Zeratul's operation succeeded, and the Trigonians' morale plummeted. Under the fierce assault of the Protoss fleet, they retreated again and again.

Several hours later, the war ended.

The corpses of fifty thousand Trigonians floated through the boundless void. Some were intact, while others had only half their bodies left.

Among them were also scattered Protoss corpses.

Though this battle had been won, and Shen Jun had done his utmost to preserve the lives of the Protoss warriors, casualties were ultimately unavoidable.

Two hundred scout pilots had died in battle, while another dozen or so had been wounded or killed.

Combat losses: one Carrier, two hundred scouts, twelve hundred Phoenix Fighters, five hundred Void Rays, and one hundred Arbiters. They were all inferior warships, so losing them was not especially painful.

Compared to other civilizations of the same era, not even civilizations from the God-Making Era could have achieved such results—and they would have suffered far greater losses. It was an overwhelming victory.

Yet Shen Jun's heart was filled with heaviness.