Him and their stars.

Chapter 2210 You actually laid a hand on Fei Fei?
"Pirates?" Yu Lian was taken aback.

Little Grey nodded: "A super fierce pirate."

"Pirates from the Abyss Nebula," Yu Lian asked again.

"The fiercest pirates all come from the Abyss Nebula," Little Grey replied seriously.

Of course, it also comes from the Grand Cross and the New World, but that's no longer important.

"What kind of pirates would dare to directly attack the Empire's homeland, especially a military outpost in its heartland?" This Gray Reef system belongs to the Ashan Sector, which is already within the Empire's central ring, bordered only by a few star systems and a corner of the Abyss Nebula that "penetrates" into a stable star cluster. Although it is theoretically a border sector, it is also a densely populated core sector.

In this vast star sector, besides the nearly one hundred planetary administrative offices and space municipal governments under the Prime Minister's Office, there are also two garrison offices under the unified management of the Grand Marshal's Office, and then the fiefdoms of three dukes, four marquises, and fourteen earls.

Overall, it still looked quite lively.

Although Gray Reef is located on the border, it has 24-hour guard posts and strict monitoring equipment. If attacked, within 24 hours at most, hundreds of Imperial warships will arrive in the nearby star system in a menacing manner.

However, the pirates still launched an attack, and even directly attacked the outpost.

"After all, it's the heartland, and the Ashan Star Sector is generally quite wealthy," Little Grey explained.

"...Is it because they are very rich that they are attacked?"

Little Gray nodded, a look of pity returning to his face: "Although it's a bit counterintuitive, it's ultimately all thanks to you!"

Yu Lian immediately thought of a possibility: "Because of my Great Expedition to the Heavenly Realm, the Empire's garrison forces have been depleted?"

Little Grey said, "It's also because you swaggered through Great Freedom City in your Silent Ship, which made many cunning pirate leaders think about the possible situation facing the Empire and decide to pull off a big heist. The first to make a move was Edward 'Firebeard,' the most capable fighter in the Abyss Nebula."

No wonder he was the Pirate King who fought his way up to the Saint level in his past life! While his forces were never considered top-tier, he and his core subordinates were consistently among the top 0 in the pirate world. Even among pirates, one can imagine how fierce and ruthless such a person would be.

Once you think about it this way, everything seems reasonable.

"In addition, the above message was sent to the Silent Command by your intelligence station in Great Freedom City 24 hours ago. Your subordinates in charge of the intelligence station, the very emotionally intelligent Colonel Singh, and of course the particularly eloquent Captain Planck, also provided a considerable amount of intelligence support to the heroes of the Abyss Nebula. This includes some of the Imperial Army's border defense maps and fleet patrol routes that you obtained as you swept through the land."

"So, in other words, many underworld heroes from the Abyss Nebula are now gathered in the Imperial Border Star Sector to participate in this grand event?"

"According to the internal network information recently intercepted by the Silent One, some of them have even reached some inhabited star sectors in Central."

So the Silent One is still spying! Haven't the Imperial lords realized it yet? Or have they realized it, but the firewall was still breached even after being rebuilt?
Yu Lian exclaimed, "They all seem to have a lot of initiative!"

"you do not say."

"It seems the Empire will have to readjust its border defense system, which will likely cost at least ten figures in gold dragons."

"I don't understand the monetary units of this era, but that's roughly how it is."

Captain Planck and Colonel Singh did a fantastic job! Although it's uncertain what the actual benefits of their actions were, Yu Lian still wanted to give them a sincere compliment.

If we consider Captain Planck's potential identity, wouldn't this be considered an alliance between the Serpent and the Commander-in-Chief? But then, considering the will represented by Old Man Terund, and the collusion between the Spellbreaker and the King of the Guard, who is this alliance with?
Indeed, high-level politics is very dirty. It's dirty because it's so chaotic.

On the other hand, Prince Ancalagan just dumped me here so that I could steal a pirate ship or an Imperial border patrol vessel for my next journey?
Furthermore, this enormous Primordial Rainbow Dragon is basically treated like a guardian dragon in the Galactic Empire. Does it not feel anything at all as it watches its own border troops get beaten up?
Isn't that a bit too listless?

Well, after all, it's a type of space Leviathan life form, so we can't expect it to have the universal morality and camaraderie of carbon-based social beings.

Moreover, the battle was not large in scale and was quite far from the jump point, so perhaps Lord Dragon didn't even notice it.

The Empire had only three warships: an old-fashioned Shepherd-class intra-system gunship, cumbersome and unsteady, but still possessing some firepower; and two Foxhound-class destroyers, struggling to hold their own, though nearly destroyed.

To be fair, even at this point, the formation of the three ships was still quite solid. The light of the energy shields flickered under the dense artillery fire, but they continued to operate, trying to provide cover for the outpost behind them.

However, the enemy had an overwhelming advantage in numbers and firepower. These pirate ships were far from being fearless, but their tactics were not crude. Under the cover of fire from their own core ships, which were converted from large armed merchant ships, several extremely fast assault ships had already broken through the blockade and launched a torpedo attack on the space station at close range.

At this point, half of the outpost's defensive gun emplacements were silent, with small sparks occasionally bursting from their surfaces.

It was a battle with a high level of technical skill, but it was also a small-scale battle.

As Yu Lian pondered, he stretched his limbs, regaining his balance in the weightless vacuum. He felt the abundant spiritual energy flowing into his limbs, as if it were injecting ample power into his blood vessels, nerves, and internal organs.

His almost completely depleted energy was instantly restored as if he had taken a whole pack of super pills.

Now, Commander Yu can quickly recover his stamina and health bar as long as he gets even a brief moment to catch his breath, making him almost like a perpetual motion machine. If there's any direct manifestation of increased combat power after evolving to the eighth ring of perfection, this is the most obvious example.

He couldn't help but close his eyes and concentrate, recalling the knowledge and imagery that Ankara had just transmitted, pondering how to extend and combine it with his own power.

Whether it's "force field flash" or "dimensional smooth road," both involve briefly distorting space with "brute force" to achieve instantaneous displacement, much like forcibly squeezing a crack in water.

However, just as the Dragon Lord, who has already gone to the ends of the earth, said, this is by no means a natural law.

“Make water! My friend,” said Ancalagan, who was already far away.

Yu Lian's spiritual senses, like tentacles emerging from underwater, gently caressed the surrounding spatial structure.

The subtle "textures" woven from the radiation of the stars' afterglow and the gravitational pull of distant abyssal nebulae are naturally rippling in this remote star system on the frontier of the empire.

They have existed in this galaxy for billions of years and will continue to do so, as if they have become a constant in this vast vacuum.

"It's really interesting. I never realized before that we could observe and understand the universe in this way," Yu Lian muttered to himself.

"There are endless ways to observe the universe, just as the universe itself is endless. See, isn't that satisfying?" Little Gray's tone was full of approval.

Although the robot lady's praise always has a bit of a "Oh, you little rascal, you finally know how to do division, here's a candy for you" feel to it, Yu Lian still has a lot of emotional value.

He quickly detected the faint gravity of a dwarf planet, which was also the closest stable celestial body to him.

In the blink of an eye, he seemed to transform into a shadow that blended into the hazy starlight. Before the faint afterimage left in the original spot had dissipated, his true form was already 100,000 kilometers away, on the cold rocky shell of that insignificant dark red dwarf planet.

The entire process was exceptionally smooth and quiet, without causing any unusual spatial fluctuations.

Everything seems to be just a natural, constant change in the universe.

Could this technique be named "Star Trek"?
Of course, this term is too scientific and doesn't align with the aesthetics of psychics, so it should really be called "Free and Easy Wandering." Only in this way can it conform to the ideal of humanity following the natural way within our psychic research society.

In short, I am now invincible! I can even render the "Sky Jade" obsolete!
...Well, it's definitely not going to be eliminated. After all, this thing is a "true return scroll" that can help people escape from under the noses of true gods and the King of the Void Realm. But at least in terms of functionality, its own skills actually surpass the effects of spiritual energy treasures. Such a sense of accomplishment is truly exhilarating, making one forget honor and disgrace, and feel joyful as one drinks wine in the wind.

Unfortunately, you can't drink alcohol in a vacuum.

Yu Lian stood on the dwarf planet, devoid of any air, feeling the solid, cold, and hard ground beneath his feet. Life was scarce, gravity weak, but it was indeed a stable planet. This dwarf planet floated alone on the edge of the star system, yet it was closer to that small battlefield.

Yu Lian inhaled a breath of air that did not exist. Spiritual energy surged out of his body like a tide, but then quickly receded, returning to his internal organs through every pore and the finest cellular gaps on his skin.

He slowly surveyed the desolate landscape and crimson sky around him, his gaze fixed on the battlefield.

At this point, the Imperial Army was in a precarious situation.

The Beagle-class ship had a visibly damaged section on its side, and the leaking coolant condensed into a thin cloud of ice crystals in the vacuum. Both Swift-class ships were engulfed in flames, their firepower efficiency reduced to at least half.

As for that outpost, its shields were completely destroyed, and there were hardly any turrets left that could still move. Three pirate assault ships had already attached themselves to the outer shell of the space city, like cleaners stuck to a fish tank.

Needless to say, the pirates have boarded the ship.

They were indeed a well-trained gang of desperados, but this inevitably raised questions. These ruthless bandits might be fearless when robbing treasuries or treasure ships, but this was a small border outpost, a place with few resources and no easy targets. What was their motive?

"Judging from their appearance, one might think this military post is full of golden dragons," Yu Lian said.

Little Gray said, "This distance is enough for us to hack into the pirates' communication systems. Are you interested?"

Yu Lian looked up at the sky: "Of course I'm interested, but that's not the focus right now."

There's a saying, isn't there? Yes, yes, while he was paying attention to the war, he was also being paid attention to.

The feeling of being watched arrived as expected, a sense of being overwhelmed by information from a higher dimension. Yu Lian felt as if the entire boundless starry sky before him had become a one-way transparent glass window.

Behind the glass, a being devoid of emotion yet possessing extraordinary power is recording all the variables without joy or sorrow.

And oneself is the only variable.

This was a rather morbid association, yet Yu Lian still had this experience. He grinned wildly, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth that resembled jade guillotines, and then gave the middle finger to the endless starry sky.

"It's here again. What a persistent AI idiot! Why is everything from the Forbidden Matters School always so terrible?" Little Gray's voice rang out directly in my consciousness.

"Why do I feel like you're complimenting the other person?"

"Because of its low intelligence, it is always very persistent, which is commendable," Xiao Hui said. "In short, it is ready and wants to communicate with you. It will follow the principle of the highest success rate of communication, and select the most efficient and friendly interaction interface based on your deep consciousness mapping, emotional weight and cognitive anchor point calculations."

"Oh, the interface..."

"Yes, it has a very flexible and lively interface, but it is, after all, just an artificial intelligence."

Yu Lian felt that Little Grey was reminding him. Although he didn't really feel any crisis facing a powerful enemy right now, he forcibly calmed his mind and maximized his spiritual perception.

Of course, he didn't actually draw his weapon. At this point, having a sword in hand as if facing a formidable enemy would not only be meaningless, but would also make it seem as if he had already spoken.

The next moment, a silent change occurred in the space not far ahead. There was no burst of light, no energy ripples, and not even the subtle textural disturbances from when he had traversed the galaxy. It was as if the entire space had dropped a frame, and a pixel had been replaced without warning.

However, although there was a change, it was only a subjective perception. Yu Lian knew that, objectively, nothing had actually happened.

He only subjectively saw a figure, which gradually became real and landed clearly on the dark red rocky ground.

Her long black hair resembled striking raven feathers, her familiar oval face, and her ever-smiling, almond-shaped eyes revealed a warm and bright smile.

This is the smile that has accompanied Yu Lian since he was a child.

...Sure enough, it was Feifei. Yu Lian subconsciously shuddered, inexplicably thinking of his long holiday in the Heavenly Realm. To be really honest, he couldn't say he had treated her particularly well.

She wore a pale white knit sweater and a sky blue dress, with light-colored flat shoes on her feet.

I vaguely remember that when they received their acceptance letters from the lunar military academy and went on a trip with their scholarships, she was wearing this outfit the first time she visited the Universal Amusement Park in the lunar city.

They were both eighteen years old at that time.

She tilted her head slightly, her hands behind her back, her bright and clear eyes staring at her intently, reflecting Yu Lian's astonished shadow.

Every frown and smile, every movement, even the rise and fall of a breath, the sway of a strand of hair, is flawless.

Even her faint, familiar body scent was perfectly reproduced.

Yu Lian withdrew his astonishment, revealing an emotionless expression, as he watched "Feifei" take two light steps towards him. He heard the soft rustling sound of her footsteps on the rocks.

Great, that's the same pace I used to take when we went for a walk on the beach at Coral Island.

However, she wasn't dressed so formally back then.

She seemed to realize something, raised her hand to habitually tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, and with a gentle turn, her youthful dress and cardigan transformed into a moon-white bikini.

Great, it's still a color that suits her very well.

Yu Lian turned his head and said to the robot next to him with a stern face, "It is indeed the most user-friendly interface in my opinion."

"See? I told you so."

"But it's still artificial intelligence!" Yu Lian pressed his Qingming acupoint.

"Great! You finally got it!"

At this moment, Feifei took two steps forward and said, "Fish, we can talk."

"I'll talk, I'll talk you, you lousy teapot!" The moment Yu Lian finished speaking, he launched an attack without any warning. In an instant, his will transformed from a calm ocean into a terrifying storm, erupting in that objectively non-existent "interactive space"!

The interactive space exists subjectively, and the interactive interface of this Void Crown, an embodiment of will, is also subjective. Therefore, one's own attacks do not possess physical destructiveness, but rather act directly on the information level, striking at the very definition.

Back then, the final battle between Commander Yu and the late emperor, fought within the "body" of the illusory steel behemoth, was a clash of information and soul. It was about negating the objective existence of the opponent through subjective concepts.

Since he was able to deny Emperor Elithel's continued existence and send him to the Spirit of the Universe, he could do the same now. He could deny this illusion, a perfect replica of the true form, within the spiritual dimension he could perceive.

Feifei's smile froze, her body instantly covered with countless cracks, like a shattered glass statue. Her warm and bright image shattered inch by inch, but there was no blood or flesh flying everywhere; instead, it turned into countless glittering shards of light and chaotic fragments of information, collapsing into a dazzling firework display in the subjective consciousness of information.

Immediately afterward, he heard Xiao Hui's exclamation: "You actually dared to attack Fei Fei's face without hesitation! This goes beyond just being a scumbag!"

Okay, as long as it's information, it doesn't matter whether it's subjective or objective to this robot; she can indeed spy on the screen at any time.