The plunder of the heavens begins with the Spirit Cage.

The entire starry sky instantly transformed from the chaotic flow of light from the jump portal into deathly silence and darkness.

As the fleet gradually de-jumped, the massive formation hovered silently in a desolate and empty unknown star field.

This place is far from any known colonization routes, there are no busy interstellar routes around it, and even sparse star clusters are extremely rare.

As far as the eye could see, there was only the deep, dark expanse of the universe, dotted with a few distant, faintly glowing stars. Vast areas of starfields were empty and lifeless, so quiet that it was oppressive.

A massive gas giant hovers in the distant sky, its surface churning with dark, reddish-brown storm clouds, surrounded by fine fragments of meteorite and thin cosmic dust...

The entire star field was deserted, as if no civilization had ever set foot here.

"Let's begin the exploration based on the coordinates!" Lu Qianwei gave the order, and countless fighter jets began heading towards the designated coordinates.

As the pinnacle of the Pioneers' weaponry, the Halo was naturally impossible for them to detect using conventional instruments.

However, psionic detection is a technology that the Halo universe does not defend against.

As the flagship's main control console issued the command, the entire fleet's external psionic detection equipment was activated simultaneously.

An invisible, cross-dimensional scanning wave spreads out instantly, without relying on electromagnetic waves or any gravitational feedback. This invisible energy ignores space and distance and penetrates the barriers of conventional cosmic dimensions.

Arriving at the surface of a gas giant, amidst a raging, reddish-brown superstorm, chaotic charged cosmic dust, distorted and disordered planetary gravitational fields, and physical disturbances from meteorite debris belts…

All natural celestial phenomena and spatial clutter that hinder conventional detection are directly ignored, penetrated, and filtered by the psionic scanning array.

The probe waves repeatedly swept across the entire airspace with the calibration coordinates as the core, penetrating the layers of the pioneer's hidden megastructure and peeling away the spatial disguise layer by layer.

After several rounds of full-domain, cross-dimensional scanning, the previously blank detection terminal finally captured a constant, vast, and incredibly ancient fixed spatial outline.

The colossal celestial body, permanently hidden by the pioneers' spatial barrier, has been completely exposed to the field of technological exploration.

The next second, the optical lock released the spatial shield, projecting the colossal object hidden in the dimension completely into everyone's view.

A magnificent, silver-white ring-shaped structure, stretching across the starry sky, stands prominently in the Lagrange orbit between the critical star and the Beth satellite.

This is Zone 04 – Alpha Halo.

Its immense size and perfectly closed ring structure are extremely regular, full of the ultimate industrial aesthetics of the pioneering civilization.

The outer ring of walls is thick and imposing, densely packed with standard ancient armor plates, concealed weapon bases, and crisscrossing energy guides. The cold metallic texture gleams with a holy yet chilling silver-white light under the distant starlight, highlighting the oppressive atmosphere of this massive war structure.

The inner ring forms its own independent world, with a complete artificial atmosphere firmly locking in the ring-shaped surface.

Rolling green fields stretch endlessly, forests spread out in patches, rivers and lakes are scattered in all directions, and thin clouds drift slowly across the ring-shaped sky.

Half of the entire halo is bathed in the soft light of stars, full of life, while the other half is submerged in the darkness of the universe, deep and tranquil.

Beneath the paradise-like ecological surface lies a galaxy-level cataclysmic force capable of annihilating all intelligent life within a radius of 25,000 light-years.

"Lock target anchor point, activate traction array!"

Countless generators and the warship's engines, tightly attached to the aura's force points, simultaneously lit up faintly, and the terrifying pulling force began to take effect.

When the fleet risked pulling the halo out of the gas giant.

The entire crew of the Autumn Wind Pier stared in awe at the silver ring that stretched across the sky, their hearts filled with an overwhelming sense of awe and reverence.

"Is this the glory of our ancestors?!" Case exclaimed, his mouth agape in disbelief.

Lu Qianwei patted his shoulder calmly, his eyes showing no surprise, only understanding, caution, and vigilance!

He knew better than anyone that deep beneath the seemingly peaceful Zone 04 lay the most terrifying natural disaster in the entire galaxy—the Flood.

In the original story, it was during the events of the two nations, humans and the Covenant, that the humans and the Covenant recklessly ventured into the underground sealing facility of the Ring of Light.

By trespassing into the forbidden zone set by the pioneers, the ancient seal was broken, allowing the parasitic virus to spread completely, ultimately leading to the tragedy of the entire Halo collapsing and everyone suffering heavy casualties.

He certainly wouldn't make such a basic mistake.

"Attention all personnel, fleet, slowly approach the aura airspace." Lu Qianwei issued the order through the global channel.

"Stop high-risk exploration and maintain a safe cruising posture!"

Upon receiving the order, the global fleet advanced in an orderly manner, deploying in layers of arc-shaped alert formations.

It neither violates the Halo's automatic defense mechanism nor fails to lock down the entire outer airspace, preventing any possibility of the remaining Covenant forces launching a sneak attack.

Standing at the bridge window, looking at the giant ring getting closer and closer, Case couldn't help but ask, "Are we going to cut directly into the ring's atmosphere and land on the surface?"

"Landing is fine, but you must follow my instructions regarding the route and area. Most importantly, don't wander off!" Lu Qianwei turned to look at him, his tone serious.

"The halo isn't as simple as it seems. Beneath the surface lies an absolute forbidden zone demarcated by the pioneers, a sealed place from ancient calamities..."

Case felt a chill run down his spine and nodded emphatically.

He's not out of his mind; this is something that even the Forerunner civilization, which built halo systems, couldn't withstand...

He's not foolish enough to become the culprit of humanity, or even the entire galaxy!

“You designate a safe zone,” Case solemnly assured. “All UNSC members will absolutely obey your arrangements. We are here only to collect evidence of the virus and the Forerunner civilization and send it back to the Earth United Government.”

Lu Qianwei nodded slightly, combining the rough scan of the 3D graphics with Cortana's data.

The complete terrain division of Special Zone 04 was quickly retrieved.

The pioneer's giant ring is precisely divided into four major sections: ecological sightseeing area, defense platform, external landing airspace, and underground sealed restricted area.

"Before we land on the surface, we need to gain temporary control of the outer perimeter defense hub of this ring."

Lu Qianwei tapped his fingertip on a Pioneer Command Tower icon suspended in the air on the star map.

"The Halo's security system is fully automated. If we rashly send ground troops to airdrop directly, it is easy to trigger the Halo's built-in defensive turrets, which will treat us as intrusion targets and shoot us down directly."

Only by first taking partial control of the outer defense hubs and disabling the outer automatic defense plan can our personnel safely enter the atmosphere.

Case immediately looked at Cortana beside him: "Can we use the database to connect to the Forerunner terminal?"

The pale blue AI phantom nodded slightly: "The database contains the Pioneer's universal underlying protocol."

It's possible to try connecting to the old interface of the outer ring defense tower, but without the core key, only secondary control permissions for the outer area can be unlocked; access to the highest-level modules like the main cannon and the underground sealed vault is impossible.

“That’s enough,” Lu Qianwei said calmly. “I only need surface landing permission, flight path locking, and monitoring coverage of shallow areas, that’s all.”

As for actual control, that can be acquired gradually.

Upon hearing this, Case felt incredibly heavy-hearted. To this day, he still hadn't figured out which faction this suddenly appearing powerful fleet belonged to.

With this kind of 'nuclear deterrent' falling into their hands, Case really doesn't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing...

But then again, power is stronger than people, so he could only watch silently.

Lu Qianwei arranged for the Huanyu Fleet to send out two specially designed docking ships, which slowly approached the external data port of the outer ring defense tower.

It combines its own AI decryption program with cross-dimensional technology to forcibly adapt to the ancient system of the pioneers.

Soon, streams of data were rapidly flowing across the Star Chart interface.

The outer ring defense array, which had been in a silent standby state, lit up with green lights one after another, and the anti-aircraft guns aimed at the fleet slowly retracted their muzzles, while the closed atmospheric navigation channels opened simultaneously.

A permission prompt appears on the screen:

The temporary control of the outer ring guard area has been completed!

Limited area: Western landing platform and shallow ecological zone. Access to this restricted area is permanently locked and cannot be unlocked!

“It’s done.” Lu Qianwei looked at Case, his expression still tense. “The permissions have been obtained.”

Remember to keep an eye on your people; everyone's movements should ideally remain within the designated area.

To be honest, he's been scared off by the patterns in American TV series and movies.

What I fear most is that someone might suddenly have a brain fart, curiously touch something, or broach something, and a fatal crisis could erupt on the spot.

As you ride an airship through thin clouds, the verdant plains and rolling forests unfold clearly below.

The breeze, the vegetation, the streams—everything was just like on a habitable planet, so tranquil and beautiful that it made you feel relaxed and at ease.

However, after Lu Qianwei's repeated reminders, no one dared to wander around aimlessly.

The airship formation landed steadily on the open and flat Pioneer metal defense platform.

Ancient patterns on the massive surface flow silently beneath your feet, the sky above is clear and bright, and the distant ring-shaped mountain range stretches endlessly.

Beneath the beautiful facade lies a deadly prison that has been silent for 100,000 years.

Lu Qianwei stepped off the airship, his feet touching the ground, his gaze sweeping across the entire area.

For now, there is no wind or danger, and everything is peaceful.

But he knew.

Deep beneath this halo, countless dormant Flood Demons remain firmly sealed off...

After deploying troops to guard the landing platform, airspace checkpoints, ecological zone warning lines, and high-altitude observation points, and completely sealing off and controlling the entire security area, Lu Qianwei headed straight for the central control room of the Halo.

Only by gaining supreme control will the Covenant and the UEG Earth United Government sit down for negotiations under their auspices.

Lu Qianwei walked around the orderly and ancient architectural structure of the pioneers.

Grand ancient structures stretch out along the way, and the empty corridors are eerily quiet, exuding the solemnity and grandeur of ancient civilization.

But... more than anything, it's the tragedy of a civilization's decline!

The journey was smooth and unimpeded, and we arrived smoothly at the core hall of the Halo Control Tower, the brain of the entire Special Zone 04, hidden at the very center of the ring.

A huge spherical main control terminal floated in the center of the hall, with a faint blue light flowing slowly around it.

This is the ultimate authority hub that controls the life and death of the entire ring and the world-destroying firepower spanning 25,000 light-years.

The building was locked, but that did not prevent Lu Qianwei from entering it via spatial teleportation.

Before long, he reached the core area by taking a shortcut and forcibly adapted the ancient protocol permissions of the pioneers through the source code.

Data streams flooded the screen, and moments later, the main control terminal lit up with a constant white light.

[Supreme control authority in Zone 04 successfully bound!]

Chapter 254 Halo 6

Having obtained the halo access, the entire main control hall suddenly lit up with a pure white light screen.

Outer defense, airspace control, ecological climate, weapon arrays, emergency protocols... almost all in hand.

The only restricted area sealed by the deep Flood Demon remains unopenable; it has long been permanently locked.

A line of scarlet text is fixed on the terminal interface.