Allen quickly dispatched several Vanguard reconnaissance aircraft, but the crisis was far from over.
Just as he had predicted, more red dots, like a swarm of disturbed bees, emerged from the moon's shadow and the nearby asteroid belt on the radar screen, densely packed, numbering in the hundreds and thousands! Their uniform, jet-black, spindle-shaped appearance, cold and efficient, carried a pure will to destroy, and they surrounded the Ark Maxim.
"Are you kidding me! There are way too many!" Usopp's voice trembled as he stared at the almost continuous sea of red dots on the screen.
"What the hell are these things?!" Franky maneuvered his ship, constantly performing evasive maneuvers while retaliating with the ship's energy cannon. Thick silver beams of light shot into the formation, instantly vaporizing several aircraft, but many more immediately filled the gaps.
Dark red energy beams rained down from all directions, relentlessly bombarding the Star Shield. The shield flickered violently, and the energy reading plummeted.
"Shield energy remaining at 62%! At this rate, we won't last much longer!" Franky roared, sweat beading on his forehead. Although the Ark Maxim was powerful, it was struggling to cope with such a saturation attack from so many enemies.
"We can't let them get close!" Nami calculated the trajectory of the projectiles anxiously. "We have to find a way to create an opening!"
"I'll take over!" Zoro charged out of the cabin again, wielding his sword three times. A massive storm of sword energy, " Three Thousand Worlds," swept out, shredding a section of aircraft into pieces. But more beams of light immediately focused on him, forcing him to retreat back into the shield's range.
Sanji used Geppo to move rapidly around the spaceship, unleashing a series of fiery kicks to intercept approaching beams and protect critical parts of the hull, but it was still a drop in the ocean.
Chopper transformed into his Monster Point, using his massive body and formidable defense to withstand several beams of light, wincing in pain. Brook's Soul Departure had little effect against this pure energy attack.
Luffy attempted to launch a long-range attack using " Gum-Gum Gigant Bazooka," but in a vacuum, his rubber properties were somewhat affected, resulting in a less powerful and less effective attack compared to when he was in the atmosphere.
The battle devolved into a highly unfavorable war of attrition. Ark Maxim was like a giant elephant caught in a pack of wolves; it could easily crush a few wolves, but the sheer number of wolves was enough to wear it down.
"This can't go on!" Robin looked at Allen, her eyes questioning. She knew that if Allen went all out again, he might be able to wipe out a large number of enemies, but that level of exertion, especially in this unknown cosmic environment, was too risky.
Allen frowned. He could indeed use large-scale Space Cutting or Time Stasis again, but as Robin had thought, it would be extremely taxing, and he wasn't sure if there were even more powerful enemies lurking behind the scenes. He needed to conserve his strength.
His gaze swept across the flashing star chart on the control panel, especially the one marked with a specific energy frequency that traversed the hidden force field.
" Franky!" Allen suddenly spoke, "Don't linger! Accelerate at full speed and charge towards the coordinates on the far side of the moon marked on the star! At the same time, modulate the reactor's energy output according to this frequency!" He directly transmitted the force field frequency he sensed into Franky's mind.
"Got it! We're going to use that hidden force field?" Franky instantly understood. "Leave it to me! SUPER—Energy Frequency Modulation Initiation!"
The light from the Ark Maxim's tail thrusters suddenly intensified, even exhibiting a strange fluctuation. Ignoring the surrounding harassment and attacks, the ship concentrated its shield energy at the rear and flanks, forcefully accelerating its breakout despite the dense barrage of fire!
"Trying to run? Not so easy!"
A cold, emotionless wave of thought suddenly resounded in everyone's minds! It wasn't language, yet it could be directly understood!
Immediately afterwards, a dark red beam of destruction, far thicker and more solid than any of the previous attacks, shot out from the main cannon of a black warship at the rear of the aircraft group—a vessel noticeably larger and shaped like a hideous demon's face! Wherever it passed, even space itself seemed to distort slightly!
This attack was far more powerful than the previous ones! It was enough to pose a fatal threat to the Ark Maxim!
"Oh no!" Nami exclaimed.
"There wasn't enough time to completely dodge!" Franky desperately maneuvered the spaceship to the side.
At this critical moment, Allen reappeared on the outside of the spaceship, facing the beam of destruction!
He can't hide; the Ark Maxim lies behind him!
Faced with an attack powerful enough to annihilate an island, Allen clasped his hands together in front of his chest, unleashing the full Power of Zhulong. The forces of light and darkness intertwined and compressed in his palms, forming a constantly rotating miniature black hole that seemed capable of swallowing all light!
"Devouring - Return to Nothingness!"
Instead of confronting it head-on, he used his ultimate control over the power of "darkness" to create a temporary energy singularity with terrifying devouring capabilities!
"Boom--!!!"
The destructive beam slammed into the miniature black hole! There was no explosion, only a sickening, guttural sound as energy was frantically torn apart and devoured! The dark red beam shrank and dimmed at a visible speed, finally being completely swallowed by the tiny black hole!
The black hole in Allen's hand fluctuated violently before dissipating. His face paled again; catching an attack of this level was a considerable burden for him.
But he managed to block it!
In that brief moment of delay, Franky had already completed the modulation of the energy frequency!
"Now's the time! Charge!!!"
With strange energy fluctuations, the Ark Maxim crashed into the seemingly empty Void on the far side of the moon, like a stone thrown into water!
Buzz--!
A strange ripple spread out, and the spaceship seemed to pass through an invisible film of water, instantly disappearing from the radar lock and sight of all the black weapons!
The Void on the far side of the moon returned to "calm," leaving only a large number of black aircraft that had lost their targets, hovering in place like headless flies. The ghost-faced warship's cold scanning waves swept across that airspace, but found nothing.
"Target lost... Entered 'restricted area'... Mission failed... Return to standby..."
A chilling wave of thought echoed, and the black mechanical frenzy, like the receding tide, silently vanished into the darkness of the universe.
Inside the Ark Maxim, the alarm was lifted, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if they had survived a catastrophe.
They penetrated the hidden force field and truly entered... the Endless Vearth!
However, the sight that came into their view stunned everyone.