Him and their stars.

Chapter 2101 Old Friends Meet Again
Yu Lian stopped and looked at the wall to his left. His gaze seemed to pierce through the gate made of hundreds of layers of armor, scanning it for a long time before looking away.

He had just lost all connection with Fei Fei; this turn of events was completely unexpected.

A deeper spatial crevices? Perceptual obscuring from some kind of stone hat technique? Or has it simply disappeared into the virtual realm?
Yu Lian quickly offered several possibilities, but he didn't seem particularly nervous. Fei Fei wasn't someone who would easily fall into a trap; her disappearance must have been due to her own careful consideration.

He now has great confidence in his lover, just as she has never wavered in her support and trust in him.

Now, it's time to focus on your own business. Yu Lian withdrew his radar-like scanning gaze and fixed his eyes on the alloy gate a hundred meters away directly in front of him.

Like two solid boulders made of alloy, they completed the final step of slowly closing under the guidance of gravity. At the same time, the multiple layers of internal defensive force fields activated in sequence, emitting a buzzing energy hum.

It remains a thick and sturdy obstacle, strong enough to serve as armor plating for a warship, but in the face of Yu Lian now, it may still not last three seconds.

However, he did not continue forward, but looked around again.

His power spread outwards with his will, and a series of metallic scraping sounds were heard. A large number of spider-sized robots slid out of the surrounding ventilation ducts, smashing into a pile of fragments and revealing their still glowing red cores.

Those were explosive chambers infiltrated with high-explosive fuel, and a few even bore nuclear markings.

Clearly, the job of these spider robots is to self-destruct. Even if they only injure this "dragon whose name cannot be mentioned," they will have achieved their goal, let alone drag it down with them.

The imperial lords are very extravagant; they have indeed prepared to turn the entire Chenxiao Fortress into scorched earth.

As for the armored door directly in front of him, a barely perceptible wisp of light was veiled beneath the energy twilight of the force field shield, solidifying into a complete array within the gaps of the armor's layers. An ordinary psionicist would certainly have overlooked its existence.

However, Yu Lian couldn't ignore it at all. He even felt a sense of familiarity arise within him.

This array is called "resonance blast," a type of explosive array. It can also be superimposed on the eternal array to form part of this vast psionic system.

If I were to attempt to violently destroy this gate, it would inevitably trigger a chain reaction, creating a deadly vortex of psionic energy. While it wouldn't pose a fatal threat to my demigod self, actual damage would be unavoidable.

Moreover, the structural damage that would occur within the fortress would leave him somewhat in a sorry state.

...How come the attackers care more about the survival of the fortress than the defenders? What kind of nonsense is this?
Yu Lian sighed, then snapped his fingers cleanly, blowing the head off the last Imperial psyker who tried to ambush him from the shadows of the passageway—judging from his attire, this was likely not an Astral Knight but an Inquisitor. The fact that even this "technical unit" was involved in filling the gaps made the scene seem somewhat tragic.

But none of that matters.

Yu Lian turned his head to look behind him. About a hundred meters away from the passage he had come from, another armored door slammed shut with a "bang." Shields and fluctuations of spiritual energy rose simultaneously from the door panel—the same flavor, the same recipe, the same color, aroma, and taste.

Very good, another one-to-one replica of the trapdoor, hiding the same "resonance explosion" array, which is the legendary psionic version of the explosive tag.

A smile crept onto his lips; he had already figured out the other party's tactics.

Yu Lian quickened his pace, and the golden spiritual energy flames surrounding him began to converge and merge into his cells.

He was going faster and faster, as if he was starting to charge.

However, just as his body was about to crash into the armored gate in front of him, he instantly lost his physical form and turned into a ghostly, transparent shadow.

He passed through the armored door like a gust of wind and entered the next compartment.

The Star Knights, fully armed and ready, roared to themselves: "For the Empire! For His Majesty! For the Unfallen Celestial Realm! For the Unfading Dragon Banner!"

"Are you all here to be tortured? Don't you get tired of the same old routine every time?" Yu Lian said irritably. "It's impressive that you always have a different slogan!"

The leading knight commander acted as if he hadn't heard. His charge was like a tsunami, and the greatsword in his hand, which seemed to be infused with star steel, slashed down with the force to cleave mountains.

Hmm, I think I've seen this scene somewhere before, right?
Yu Lian sighed, regained his physical form, took a step forward to face the sword's edge, and once again swung his hand with a casual chop, drawing an almost invisible arc of light.

Although it was invisible to the naked eye, the cold light was sharp and chilling.

Without the slightest harsh sound of metal breaking or the glint of gold, the jet-black greatsword, forged from high-strength alloy, was instantly severed like a fragile piece of wood.

The cold light, undiminished in its force, easily sliced ​​through the emblem machine's chest armor, blasting out a large mass of scalding blood and shattered internal organs.

Yu Lian sidestepped the light spears of the two knights who followed him and reached out to press down on their helmets. Despite being armored giants over three meters tall and clad in emblems, they were utterly powerless against him, as frail and vulnerable as two dolls.

A chilling energy field, powerful enough to shatter armor doors, erupted from his palm, destroying the knights' heads even through their helmets. Their armored bodies convulsed as if electrocuted, until the dragon yanked them down and rubbed them against the ground a few times before finally bringing them to a complete standstill.

As for the last knight, he had barely raised his battle axe, and before his spiritual light could even fully gather, he was struck by an invisible dimensional sword.

The high-dimensional sword pellet from the previous era drew a perfect circle in the air, precisely piercing the most vulnerable part of the emblem machine's waist armor. "Whoosh!" The psionic light on the battle axe instantly dissipated, and the heavy axe flew out of his hand, smashing through a crane in the distance. The knight remained frozen in place, weapon raised high. Time seemed to stand still for him.

Until Yu Lian's figure passed him by.

The knight's emblem mechanism had just produced a thin, golden-red line when the entire knight, along with his armor, silently split in two. His lower body remained standing, while his upper body slid down.

The entire process took less than five seconds. An entire tactical unit of Astral Knights was wiped out before they could even execute their Four Symbols tactical coordination.

They couldn't even delay their enemies for more than three seconds.

Of course, if we consider that their enemy is the developer of this "Four Symbols Tactic", then there might be no problem.

Yu Lian wiped away non-existent blood beads from his body, quickly passed through the passage stained with the knight's blood, and opened the elevator door that had just brought him to his current floor.

However, when he stepped out of the elevator and arrived at the next floor, he was surprised to find himself in a familiar ceiling and passageway that seemed to have been seen somewhere before.

The Star Knights have reappeared, still in the same armor, but with a different style.

The lead knight squad leader wielded twin swords, their blades flashing like deadly, poisonous butterflies despite his armor. Another knight, like a phantom, lurked in shadows formed by psychic light; his modified alchemical cannon, though silent, unleashed a barrage of psionic bullets like a tidal wave, destroying firing positions and attempting gates.

At the same time, Yu Lian felt a stiffness and dullness in his body, which was of course due to the influence of the knights' techniques.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed from all directions, as more psionicists, grenadiers, and robots rushed towards them. They seemed poised to overwhelm the invincible dragon with their sheer numbers.

Throughout the passage, the fortress's loudspeakers echoed with solemn slogans:
"Warning! Sector C-27 has fallen! The 6th Knight Squad... has been completely wiped out!"

"Seventh Captain is holding off on the third floor! The enemy is breaking through B-12 tunnel! Reinforcements, please assemble immediately!"

"The enemy is too fast! We cannot form an effective interception!"

"Then fight to the death! We must buy time! If he slows down even by a second, we'll be one step closer to success!"

"Long live the Galactic Empire! We will surely win!"

"Let us die with the dragon, our flesh and blood! Let the spirit of the universe and the dragon god of dawn judge his and our souls! Knights, warriors, it's just death again!"

It looks really tragic.

Yu Lian paused, deeply moved by the shouts from the radio. Although he could hear despair and panic in every note, there was also a distinct sense of fervent patriotism, as if those invincible warriors were shouting, "At least we still have life!"

Yu Lian could even detect elements of incantation in those broadcasts, and was immediately moved.

This time, it took him half a minute longer than before to take down the knight squad. Before more soldiers could rush over, he suddenly stretched out his five fingers and pinched the void, squeezing out constantly vibrating air ripples between his fingers until they condensed into a dimensional passage.

No, this is not a dimensional portal, but a portal between illusion and reality.

The world he inhabited began to collapse completely, revealing a completely real space and realm.

Yes, perhaps it is true.

It was still the same passageway within Chenxiao Fortress, still the same cabins filled with spiritual light, still countless combat robots hiding in various ventilation and maintenance ducts, waiting for orders. The difference was that an old man wearing a crested machine had appeared before him.

An old man with white hair and beard, yet still imposing, was wearing a silver-white mecha suit with lion-face carvings.

Although he was an unfamiliar face, Yu Lian knew that this was Knight Commander Milerke, the former vice-commander of the Knights who had retired twenty years ago. He should have been enjoying his retirement at his manor, but instead he resolutely returned to the battlefield, making him a truly respectable veteran.

Unfortunately, the old knight looked as if he had seen a ghost, and seemed to be very shocked.

The familiar armor, though it was the first time I'd ever seen it in the real world. Wasn't it the "Lion of Light"?

Through their research on the "Dragon of Dawn," the Galactic Empire developed numerous non-mass-produced Emblem Machines, or rather, Noble Phantasms in the form of Emblem Machines, which were then given to high-ranking psionicists. Many of these became family heirlooms of great nobles.

In that virtual timeline, Yu Lian fought alongside the pilot of the "Lion of Light" at the time, and eventually accepted his loyalty without hesitation.

Now, seeing the belongings of a "deceased friend," how can one not feel a deep sense of sorrow?
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Yu Lian bowed slightly to the old knight commander. "As a descendant of Beleros, he should be pleased to see you still vigorous in your old age."

The old knight commander's expression became even more constipated.