Everyone's playing Red Giant? I, Black Hole, devour everything!

Its accretion disk rotated slowly, emitting light that illuminated the starry sky of several star regions.

"Five...more than fifty black holes...and that quasar..."

In the command center of the Eighth Star Sector, the intelligence officer in charge of reconnaissance was trembling.

The commander next to him, Junichiro Tanaka, stared intently at the area on the screen covered by the gravitational field signal.

"How many of them came?"

"Black holes... at least fifty-five." The intelligence officer's voice trailed off. "Add the Red Giant Star Legion providing backup, and the total exceeds one hundred thousand."

One hundred thousand.

Tanaka slowly closed his eyes.

He suddenly remembered something.

Just a few months earlier, he had made a disdainful remark at an officers' club party.

"Black holes? Just a new route that hasn't been tested in actual combat! Our Japan's neutron star technology has been honed over ten years, do you think we'd be afraid of some greenhorn from the Great Xia Kingdom?"

Now he realizes how foolish he was to say that.

"General Tanaka!" the adjutant's voice came from the side. "Headquarters has sent an urgent telegram: all available forces have been assembled! Over eight thousand neutron stars, along with nearly one hundred thousand red and blue giant stars, are all deployed to the main defense line of the Eighth Star Sector!"

Tanaka opened his eyes.

Eight thousand neutron stars, one hundred thousand red giant stars and blue giant stars.

This is all the resources that Japan can currently mobilize.

In order to protect the Eighth Star Sector, the country has brought over all the remaining flyable celestial bodies.

But Tanaka knew that wasn't enough.

Far from enough.

Eight thousand neutron stars may sound like a lot, but compared to a black hole, they are just a group of slightly larger ants.

"Notify headquarters..." Tanaka's voice suddenly became extremely calm, "tell them that the Eighth Sector is prepared for a total annihilation."

The adjutant was stunned.

"What are you spacing out for?" Tanaka turned to look at him, his tone even carrying a hint of amusement. "Go ahead and space out. Whether you're prepared or not, the result will be the same."

……

At the same time, a frail and aged voice suddenly rang out on the national public broadcasting channels of Sakura Country.

"Fellow citizens of the Land of Cherry Blossoms, I am Yamamoto Ichiro, the president of Amaterasu-sha."

This name caused many people to stop what they were doing.

Ichiro Yamamoto was the first observer in Japan to travel the route to a neutron star, and the founder and supreme leader of the Amaterasu Society.

His voice hasn't been heard on public channels for a long time.

Because his body could no longer hold on.

Since the loss of 1,600 neutron stars in the Seventh Sector, Yamamoto Ichiro has been bedridden.

The doctor said his consciousness had been in the observation chamber for too many years, and his nervous system could no longer withstand the feedback from the high-intensity gravitational field.

But today, despite his illness, he still forced himself to sit in the broadcasting room.

"I know you are scared."

Yamamoto Ichiro's voice was slow, each word sounding as if he had to use a lot of effort to squeeze it out of his throat.

"I'm scared too."

"But Japan hasn't lost yet."

"We still have one last trump card—Project Amaterasu."

"The product of this project is nearing completion. By then, we will possess the power to fight black holes."

"So please hang in there a little longer."

"Just hold on a little longer, and the radiance of Amaterasu will shine upon our land of cherry blossoms once more."

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor."

"Long live the land of cherry blossoms!"

The broadcast has ended.

Yamamoto Ichiro took off his headphones, slumped into his chair, and gasped for breath.

The medical staff nearby rushed over and put an oxygen mask on him.

Outside the broadcasting room, several core members of the Tianzhao Society stood with their heads down, none of them daring to speak.

They all knew that the president's earlier statement that "Project Amaterasu is about to be completed" was nothing more than empty words to comfort the people.

The creation of a superneutron star requires the precise fusion of the cores of at least a hundred neutron stars, and with Amaterasu's current technological level and resource reserves, it is simply impossible to complete this before the Black Hole Legion reaches Tokyo.

"Are the evacuation routes... to the United States all arranged?"

Yamamoto Ichiro suddenly removed his oxygen mask, his voice extremely weak.

Vice Minister Kameda paused for a moment, then nodded quickly: "It's all arranged. Your private jet is ready to take off at any time, President, and the support personnel from the United States are already in place."

"Where are the others?"

"The core personnel and their families have already boarded the evacuation ships, and everyone will leave Tokyo by tonight at the latest."

Yamamoto Ichiro closed his eyes.

……

Border of the Eighth Star Sector.

The Black Hole Legion's attack order has been issued.

More than fifty black holes are moving forward simultaneously.

Su Li's leading squad rushed to the front.

The event horizon, with a mass of 570,000 times that of the Sun, was like an invisible giant maw, biting down hard at the outermost neutron star formation of the Sakura Defense Line.

The owners of those neutron stars were the most elite observers in the country of Sakura.

They knew what they were facing.

They also knew that they were unlikely to survive until today.

But they still charged forward.

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"

I don't know who shouted it on the public channel.

Then, thousands of neutron stars simultaneously emitted the most dazzling light.

The observers of the Cherry Blossom Kingdom launched a final assault on the Black Hole Legion.

Tanaka's command star is located at the very center of the defensive line.

He watched as his men disappeared one by one into the dark, oppressive gravitational field of the black hole.

"General Tanaka! The Third Regiment has been completely annihilated!"

"The Fifth Regiment has also lost contact! Three breaches have been torn in the frontal defense!"

"That black hole named Su Li has breached the second line of defense! She's bypassed all our kamikaze attack points! She's too fast!"

Tanaka did not speak.

He simply watched quietly as the signal points on the screen disappeared one by one.

Because he knew that these sacrifices would not bring victory, or even buy time.

All that could be said was, "Junichiro Tanaka led the entire force of the Eighth Star Sector and died a heroic death."

"Pass on my orders," Tanaka's voice suddenly rang out, "All remaining troops, stop charging."

The adjutant was stunned: "General, what did you say?"

"I told them to stop charging and to concentrate all their remaining energy on the core position, tighten their defenses, and stop wasting lives."

"But—headquarters requires us to hold off the Black Hole Legion for at least twelve hours—"

"Headquarters?" Tanaka suddenly chuckled. "The people at headquarters are probably already on a plane flying to the United States."

The adjutant opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

Because he knew that what Tanaka said was true.

Just ten minutes ago, the Amaterasu Society's evacuation fleet activated its warp engines behind the Eighth Star Sector and flew towards the Beacon of Light.

"Send a public communication," Tanaka said slowly. "Just write: 'The entire garrison of the Eighth Star Sector is prepared to die for our cause. Our compatriots back home need not wait for us.'"

The adjutant's eyes immediately reddened.

"General..."

"Go ahead and send it." Tanaka waved his hand. "I have no regrets. I've been able to fly in space for so many years in this life, which is already luckier than most people."