When Pride Met Pride

The mineral vein had run dry!

Those six words echoed endlessly in Shen Jun's ears. He had no idea what it meant for sixty percent of the mineral vein to be depleted, but it was certainly not much. Otherwise, Kerasul would not have come specifically to report it.

"Kerasul, how long can our resources last? Assuming Daelaam's normal operations are maintained, how many warships can we build? We are not pressed for time right now, so calculate it based on maximum efficiency."

Shen Jun forced himself to remain calm. He needed to know the specifics.

"Hierarch, according to my estimates, they can last for about three more years. But rest assured, fully arming all Protoss will not be a problem. The more important issue is that we do not have this universe's Star Array, so finding a suitable mineral planet will be troublesome."

Kerasul answered without the slightest hesitation, clearly having calculated it beforehand.

To his surprise, Shen Jun smiled after hearing Kerasul's words.

"This is not difficult. Just because we do not have one does not mean others do not."

"Hierarch, you mean?"

"You do not need to worry about the Star Array. Leave it to me. For now, you only need to focus on building a qualified Expeditionary Fleet."

"Oh, and there is no reason to waste Char's metal resources. Organize a mining team of around a thousand people and establish a Nexus Point on Char."

"Yes, Hierarch. I will arrange it immediately."

Just as Kerasul was about to warp back to the Fleet Beacon, Shen Jun called out to him.

"Wait, Kerasul. There is no need to rush these matters. You should first attend the Victory Banquet in peace. We will go together."

Shen Jun did not know whether the Protoss even had something like a Victory Banquet, but he had still decided to hold one. Otherwise, it just did not sit right with him.

After all, the Protoss were under his command now.

However, things gradually began to deviate from the direction Shen Jun had hoped for.

Shen Jun and Kerasul only warped to the outside of the Twilight Council, then began walking toward the banquet venue for the first time in a long while.

The Protoss War Training Ground.

Well, nothing wrong with that.

Ninety percent of the Templar were battle-loving fanatics. Aside from this place, there was nowhere else that could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

And what pleased Shen Jun most was that this place had doors...

Then, at the entrance to the War Training Ground, Shen Jun and Kerasul heard waves of fighting.

Shen Jun: "..."

What happened to the Victory Banquet?

Why was it no different from usual? Did they not even listen to the orders of their Hierarch? Were they trying to rebel?

Shen Jun entered with a dark expression.

Then, he saw an unexpected sight.

The training ground was packed with Protoss, surrounded three layers deep on the inside and three layers deep on the outside. At the very center, all of them were watching an exceptionally thrilling battle.

A holy angel with wings on her back was fighting a pitch-black Protoss.

Yes, it was He Xi and Alarak.

Shen Jun squeezed his way to the innermost ring just in time to see He Xi wildly attacking Alarak with her Flame Sword. Yet Gao JianGuo paid no heed to her attacks, casually blocking the Flame Sword while continuously taunting, "Oh, is this all the legendary angels can do? I thought you were something impressive."

At those words, fire blazed in He Xi's eyes. Her Flame Sword grew brighter and brighter, and she looked ready to get serious.

"Ha, are you angry? So-called angels are nothing more than this. Protoss are the most superior race in the universe."

Alarak's crimson eyes seemed full of disdain, but in truth, he did not underestimate the angel before him. On the contrary, he was being extremely cautious. His words, however, remained as unforgiving as ever. This was his fighting style: provoke his enemy through words and expressions until they lost their reason, then seize the opening and deliver a fatal blow.

Of course, deep in their hearts, the Protoss had always believed themselves to be the most powerful civilization in the universe.

So why had Gao JianGuo started fighting He Xi?

That went back to after Shen Jun left. He Xi had angrily kicked a rock apart. Although Shen Jun's attitude about wanting her to leave Aiur was obvious, she did not want to return to Angel Nebula so soon.

Even though Angel Nebula had already been thrown into chaos, with the main forces of the various Trigon Civilizations gathered there to fight the decisive battle of the Form War against the angels and their subordinate civilizations. The flames of war had spread across dozens of star systems in Angel Nebula.

In a war of this scale, He Xi's strength was insignificant. More importantly, she seemed to possess a baffling confidence in Angel Civilization—or rather, in Keisha. In any case, from beginning to end, she had never worried that the angels would lose. Otherwise, she would not have lingered in the Aiur Star System for so long.

Of course, He Xi's main goal was still to draw the Protoss into the God River Body, or rather, onto the angels' side. She knew very little about Shen Jun, but her current impression of him was not bad. Before she understood Shen Jun's goals, she could not speak carelessly.

Shen Jun was the same. He also wanted to join the God River Body alliance, but he could not appear too eager. Without sufficient benefits, he would never agree. Furthermore, He Xi had to be the one to bring this up; he could not proactively ask to join.

The reason was simple. Shen Jun had to ensure the Protoss' transcendent status. After all, he wanted to shape the Protoss into a super civilization that had existed since ancient times, yet no such civilization existed in the Super God Universe. Thus, preserving the Protoss' mystery was especially important.

In short, He Xi, who did not want to leave, came to the Protoss' Victory Banquet.

Then she ran into Alarak.

When He Xi first came to Aiur, Alarak and Tassadar had been the first to make contact with her. To be honest, Alarak had left an extremely poor impression on He Xi.

Gao JianGuo's undisguised arrogance and contempt for other races had deeply grieved He Xi's nerves.

The angels' pride was no less than the Protoss'.

Especially when all angels were women—proud women...

Well, you know what I mean...

Wherever He Xi went, other civilizations treated her like a goddess, giving her anything she wanted and letting her take whatever she pleased.

When had anyone ever looked down on her?

Thus, when He Xi saw Alarak, she could not help but mock him. The general meaning was that during the previous battle, Alarak had only dared to hide inside the carrier and had not dared to fight outside, while she, an outsider, had even gone to the front lines to help them kill enemies.

The Protoss lacked the ability to fly. From a biological perspective, angel genes were superior.

Oh?

The Protoss were inferior to angels?

Forget Gao JianGuo—even any ordinary Templar who heard that would have already drawn a Psionic Blade.

Even the usually open-minded Tassadar's expression turned unpleasant.

Actually, He Xi herself had not meant to belittle the Protoss. What she truly meant was that the Protoss possessed highly advanced technology, but their genetic technology seemed weak. In that area, angels were superior to Protoss. There was nothing inherently wrong with that, since Protoss did not like genetic modification or genetic enhancement. The Protoss' own power was strong enough, and even after death, they could be turned into war machines or Purifiers.

One could imagine that Gao JianGuo had probably wanted to give He Xi a Rak'Shir on the spot. It was only natural that they ended up fighting.