Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Now, half of them lost signal at the time of the Morizumi team's arrival. So there is no doubt that the Morizumi team is among those cleaning up the small ships, or even among the targets of those cleaning up the small ships.

"Where exactly are you? And how strong are you?" Patchouli murmured, controlling the fleet of warships under her command. As she moved, a brightly colored, fragrant, fresh peach slipped unnoticed from her sleeve and landed in her palm.

She took a small bite.

Chapter 38 - Morizuka Team Arrives

Senzhou, according to the geographical division of the earth, should be the region of South America. A thousand years ago, this land was inhabited by the Incas. They called themselves descendants of the sun and once created a vast and glorious ancient civilization.

Then they all died.

In the early 16th century, the Spanish, who crossed the sea, exterminated the local indigenous culture, killing all the Incas and burning their heritage. As history gradually changed, with several waves of colonization and overseas expansion, the subsequent inhabitants of this continent became predominantly mixed-race, with whites, followed by Native Americans, and the smallest group being Black—however, regardless, the historical heritage of this continent was completely severed.

Since the transmission of ancient civilizations has been severed, and without even a magnificent modern history of struggle, what fills the land of Senzhou are ordinary countries devoid of any distinctive features or cultural depth. The people's will is no longer united, and the army has no goal to fight for—they are inherently a disorganized mess, and in this disordered disorganization, strength and power become justice.

The Morizu team—it was destined to be a team as turbulent as its name suggests, like a jungle. Because in the jungle, the victor reigns supreme. And a monarch… no matter how much he or his supporters proclaim their wisdom and justice, he is ultimately a ruler. And where there is rule, there is bound to be oppression.

It is an undeniable truth that dictators inevitably bring oppression. And oppression naturally provokes resistance—perhaps from the lower classes who cannot survive, perhaps from the middle classes who want to live better, perhaps from the upper classes who want to take their place… There will always be those who resist, and thus dynastic changes occur.

However, those were dynasties ruled by mortals—mortal individuals are ultimately weak, and even autocratic rulers are no exception. Therefore, they need to use all sorts of veils, whether glamorous or sinister, to protect themselves—touting the nobility of bloodlines, touting the wisdom of their rule, balancing the upper echelons, winning over the middle echelons, and deceiving the lower echelons… All these methods are merely for the purpose of prolonging their rule, because at certain opportune moments, even the most brilliant and powerful monarch cannot withstand a three-foot blade.

This is the realm of mortals, where mortal kings, due to their own weakness, must make many preparations. However, if a king could transcend the mortal realm, then all these embellishments and disguises would become unnecessary—for honors fade, legends are forgotten, and favors bestowed and grudges incurred will ultimately turn into insignificant dust beneath the wheels of history. But power… power is always power.

If a ruler could easily slaughter all rebels, the value of the army and nobility would be greatly diminished. If a ruler could spot flaws in documents at a glance and easily fix them, the significance of officials and civil servants would be greatly reduced. In fact, a ruler capable of such things would not need to expend his energy on such trivial matters, for his strength is the indestructible foundation of his throne. And all resistance will be annihilated.

The oppressed rebel because resistance brings value. No matter how low that value may be expected, as long as it's better than their oppressive situation, they are willing to act. Peasants revolt because the armies they bring can truly tear apart a dynasty. However, for the monarch whose power resides in himself and his ruled, all resistance is meaningless.

And now, in this forest of talent, in the Samsara team, which is destined to be a disorganized mess, there is such a king.

...or rather, a tyrant.

..........................................

Somewhere in outer space within the Korendadu Galaxy.

When a small cleaning vessel attempting to approach a large wreckage malfunctions due to a sudden cosmic storm, all sensors, detection systems, and corresponding backup facilities go out of control in an instant. Only after at least half an hour of careful repairs by the panicked and anxious crew can the vessel be barely restored to operation.

Among the damaged wreckage of the ship, several figures, some sitting and some standing, quietly emerged.

There were nine people: three senior members and six newcomers. The newcomers were mostly attractive women or mixed-race men. The three senior members were all Caucasian, two men and one woman.

The woman was short, slender and delicate. She wore a long black cloak with red trim, the hood of which obscured the upper half of her face. Her features were unknown, but when she sat atop a command platform, she was as captivating as if she were the center of the world. An unparalleled presence emanated naturally, like the Milky Way in the daytime; even stargazers standing far away on a daytime Earth where stars were invisible could intuitively sense the immense presence there.

Her gaze was fixed on a point in the void, and she remained silent, her dark golden eyes burning with intense fire!

Compared to her, the other two white men were somewhat unremarkable—however, unremarkable in a relative sense. To onlookers, one was tall and thin, the other burly. The tall, thin man had long, slender arms, and his eyes were filled with a gloomy aura like a dark canyon. He carried a war bow on his back and wore heavy, dark gold armor in the style of Greek demigods. The other man was as imposing as a mountain, his breathing as deep and resonant as the rumbling of the earth's veins, and above these mountains, a nascent sun was faintly visible!

If the women don't move, the men won't move either.

When the women remained silent, the men also remained silent.

They simply stood there, and the surrounding air became stagnant and heavy due to the chaotic energy. Several newcomers immediately felt difficulty breathing. However, even as their faces turned blue and purple, they remained motionless on the ground—their survival instincts constantly emphasized in their ears that only silence could ensure their survival.

Close your eyes, close your mouth. When the strong have no need for feathers or fig leaves, the only thing the weak can do is endure.

However, patience eventually comes to an end. Less than half a minute later, one of the particularly petite mixed-race girls suddenly opened her eyes wide, her cheeks turning from flushed to pale in an instant. She seemed to want to reach out and cover her neck, but as her arm twitched and tried to lift, she went limp like a snapped string.

—She died.

She died, but the supreme deity gave no warning.

Because at that moment, the woman sitting on the command platform lowered her eyes.

"An interesting world, a fascinating world. Several spacetime layers with different parameters overlap, concealing numerous treasures beneath the calm surface. The world provided by the Supreme God this time is truly unique." — A clear and melodious voice came from beneath the cloak, its tone gentle and pleasant, yet imbued with majesty due to the power possessed by its wielder. This majesty itself even possessed power—as she spoke, a clear, illusory figure, identical in appearance and features to the deceased girl's, was forcibly coalesced above her head by an inexplicable force. And this figure's face even displayed an expression of terror!

This is the soul, because one of her sentences was forcibly extracted from nothingness!

“Nijabin,” the woman said, uttering a name.

"Yes." The tall, thin white man stepped forward and moved directly from the woman's side to the dead bride. He reached out and pressed down, forcibly stuffing the girl's soul back in. As his palm touched the girl's forehead, a cold, dark energy surged into her body—the dead girl immediately opened her eyes, bursting with vitality like a startled rabbit, leaping away on the spot!

“Nijabin.” The woman glanced at the tall, thin man. “Have you fully mastered the demigod bloodline of Hades? How long can you open the Netherworld now?”

“At least fifteen minutes, and longer if you allow me to freely develop my servants in this world, Your Excellency.” Nigaabin bowed respectfully to her, a hint of pride and self-satisfaction in his voice. “Thanks to you, I found the key to unlocking the third-tier gene lock in the last terrifying world, and I have now fully consolidated this realm. Even the S-rank Death Bow, I can now…”

The woman didn't wait for him to finish speaking, nor did she answer him; instead, she uttered another name.

"Rost".

“Here.” Another burly white man responded in a muffled voice, his massive frame shifting slightly forward in response—he took a small step, yet this small step seemed to trigger a small earthquake within the thousands of meters of starship wreckage. It wasn’t a physical tremor, but a tremor of the soul. Although nothing fell to the ground as a result, the newcomers who had barely managed to regain their freedom and struggle to their feet all collapsed!

"How many Tier 3 Reincarnators can you handle right now?"

"The full version of Excalibur Galatine is ready to annihilate any fools for you, Lord," he said in a deep voice, his massive body radiating a faint starlight.

“That’s not enough.” The woman raised her hand, and the two powerful white men who had just been trying so hard to impress immediately fell silent. In their eyes, the third-tier gene lock and at least S-level enhancements and equipment were clearly far less important than a single word or action from the woman. And when the woman spoke, the two of them chose to remain silent without prior agreement.

—The king's words should not be hindered in any way. Those who obstruct him are traitors and should all be slaughtered.

"This world is good, and those two reincarnation teams are quite good as well. Although the main god didn't give them much time, they managed to create a great momentum. I checked, and they should now have a general grasp of the Federation Expeditionary Force fleet in the movie plot... Oh? The fleet is larger than expected. It seems their ability to leverage and utilize momentum is quite good. Are they all teams with wise members?"

A spark ignited again in the woman's eyes, and countless fragmented images flashed through them.

Those were fragments, history, remnants of the past. Scenes of the clash between the two reincarnation teams in this galaxy flashed by in her eyes, while the important parts were accurately captured and placed in the right places.

"The Central Plains Team and the Southern Flame Team. These two teams once fought. And the result was—well, two half-fourth-tier main combatants were seriously injured and fell into a deep sleep, but three half-fourth-tier combatants remained. One of them had sufficient energy level, but he had a strange feeling about him. It seems that he was a native recruited from the story world, probably a scholar or spellcaster. It seems that this team has achieved balance and has no weaknesses."

"Of the remaining two, one is a mental power user with a large amount of mental energy, approaching or even surpassing some beginners at the fourth level, but his precision is severely lacking. He must have had some fortuitous encounter, but hasn't digested it yet. This one is not a concern. As for the other one—oh?"

Her tone and the corners of her lips were slightly raised, as if she had become a little interested, but only for a moment, and then that interest quickly disappeared from her.

"It touched the fourth level, but failed to cross it. It wasn't that it couldn't, but that it dared not. It turns out it was just a substandard product that was forcibly pushed up by the main god."

She shook her head almost imperceptibly.

"These are the people you'll be dealing with: one critical-level enemy, two half-fourth-tier enemies, and several low-tier enemies below the third tier. In addition, they should also control a fleet, and once their location is confirmed, they should immediately suppress them with barrage. You are not yet capable of surviving the long-range bombardment of a space fleet, and I do not intend to waste your lives in a place like this."

She raised her hand, and two faint points of light emerged from her palm. One was red, the other purple—they looked unremarkable, like two tiny, sparkling glass marbles. However, the moment Rost and Nikabin saw them, their faces flushed crimson, and they nearly lost control of themselves!

“Rost.” — The red dot of light floated in front of the burly man.

"exist!"

"I bestow upon you [Power]. Take it and destroy that inferior product that was forcibly pushed to the fourth tier by the main god."

“Nijabin.” — The purple dot of light floated in front of the tall, thin man.

"I grant you [Space]. Take it and deal with their fleet and the rest of the minions."

She slightly raised her head, looked up at the sky, and ignored the promises and assurances made by her two servants, simply muttering to herself.

"This world is very interesting, and this world is also very valuable."

"The Supreme God's arrangements always suit my needs, and this time is no exception... Is it because I defeated the Celestial Team, or because I encountered the fourth tier that it allocated resources to me?"

“It doesn’t matter.” The woman shook her head slightly. “The unique nature of this world is enough for me to complete my [Mind], and even come into contact with [Time]. And if I can achieve this goal, I only need to painstakingly resolve [Reality] to completely complete my Light of the Mind, moving from the finite to the infinite, directly climbing to the fourth rank or even touching the fifth rank. So…”

She looked at her two servants, who had suddenly fallen silent, and said softly, "I don't want to hear the God of War's point deductions while I'm exploring the treasures of this world."

"...Do you understand?"

Section 39: Space Volleyball

The woman's form faded rapidly along with her words, like an old photograph gradually fading in bleach. Her outline became increasingly ethereal and blurred, and after only a few seconds, she vanished completely, as if she had never existed at all.

She left, heading to an unknown destination, but presumably she won't participate in the upcoming battles.

The remaining people stood respectfully in place and waited for a full thirty seconds.

"Lord cares deeply about this world." The speaker was Rost. Perhaps because his enhanced bloodline contained too much energy, even when he spoke calmly, it sounded like a series of huge muffled thunderclaps in this enclosed space, without him trying to conceal it.

“It is rare for His Excellency to speak so much at once,” Rost repeated. “Rarely.”

“And this means we absolutely cannot fail.” Nijabin gently shook his ten slender fingers, and strands of dark, gloomy energy intertwined together gathered, transformed, and formed a spell in his hands. Then the spell was activated, and in the blink of an eye, it formed a thin net that rapidly faded around the two of them.

“If we fail, then we probably won’t have another chance like we did in the last battle against the Celestials, where even if we died, we could try again.” He said softly, his tone as sinister as a swarm of snakes crawling on the ground. “While the Lord may tolerate the failure of capable individuals in situations beyond their power, she never likes to see a useless person struggle a second time…”

He opened his clasped hands, and a faint purple light flickered between his brows. The instant this light moved, the shipwreck beneath the Senzhou team's feet, spanning hundreds of meters in diameter, trembled violently. The next moment, the space around the ship was distorted, the light was deflected, and the energy and radiation were skewed. In an instant, the wreckage became a phantom in space, and all detection and identification signals drifted away from it!

“The power of [Space], a tiny fragment of the Lord’s boundless might.” He murmured, a pale purple light spreading across the surrounding area under his will. “With this, conventional starships will be unable to detect our movements. The formidable force painstakingly built by those two reincarnation teams will become useless, and this is the sturdy shield the Lord has bestowed upon us.”

"And [Power] is the sword bestowed upon us by the Lord. I will use it to shatter the foolish hopes in the hearts of those weaklings!" Rost said in a deep voice. A deep red glow appeared on his body, and his already imposing aura became even more solid.

"That's right, that's right." The pale purple light flickered again, and without a sound, the huge ship wreckage moved three hundred kilometers in space without leaving a trace! It hovered quietly above the original landing point, motionless, like a hunting eagle waiting for its prey.

"The Lord gave us swords, shields, and even eyes. He told us the combat strength and ability levels of the two reincarnation teams, letting us know that they could lock onto our landing point and bombard our area with barrages before contact even began... If we still fail under these circumstances, then we will become useless."

“And trash has no value.” Rost replied, his gaze sweeping over the newcomers who had been huddled together trembling from the beginning, not daring to utter a single word or make a single unnecessary movement—their faces were instantly filled with despair.

The next moment, a vast expanse of black, ink-like areas surged forth from beneath Nijabin's feet! In the blink of an eye, it engulfed several terrified and desperate newcomers along with their screams! The black ink then faded away, disappearing without a trace just as it had appeared!

“The Lord does not wish to hear the sound of points being deducted.” Nijabin slightly spread his hands, his face displaying an expression that was hard to decipher—a smile or anger. “You’re not planning to do something foolish, are you, Rost? I don’t want to die with you.”

"Losing a hand or a foot won't kill you, but a lack of education for servants is a real problem." Rost glanced at his companion. His rock-like face showed little other emotion. "And once they fall into your underworld, what they'll face won't be any easier than having their hands and feet torn off or their eyes gouged out and tongues pulled out... You're hogging the spoils, Nijabin."

“This is my rational use of resources, Rost. The suffering and torment that the servants endure is just a pleasant treat for you, but for me it is fuel to amplify my strength. This mission is not a relaxing vacation. We have to show our true abilities and make the most of all the resources at our disposal.”

He said this, then his tone suddenly slowed down.

"But this is only for this mission, Rost, my friend. We've worked together for so long, don't you know me? I always repay you at least three times what I borrow from you. After this mission, how about I let you choose one item from my treasury to keep?"

"I want access to a world, a modern world. I know you have several in your collection." The tall, burly man's voice rang out with unwavering authority. "I want to transform that world into my private playground, a theme park in the style of the Marquis de Sade. And you, you'll be my advisor."

“If Your Majesty doesn’t mind,” Nijabin shrugged, looking indifferent. “Of course you can choose the world you prefer. But you should also remember that once the worlds we have are developed, the most precious parts within them will become Your Majesty’s offerings. And you are a mediocre artist; you will only crudely process fine talent into second-rate goods with greatly diminished value. If Your Majesty is displeased because of this, you will bear the consequences yourself.”

“You simply cannot comprehend the beauty of flesh and blood sculpture.” Rost looked at his companion with eyes as cold and unfeeling as a piece of rotten wood. “Pain is poetry, despair is wine, and these can only be perfectly expressed when they are embodied in one’s own flesh and blood, skin and bones. Your dry, soulful art is nothing more than a pile of colored blocks, while true aesthetics are never so crude.”

"The Lord will be pleased with my offerings, but your wasteful behavior will be reprimanded!"

“Then I really look forward to that day.” Nigaabin’s lips curled up, his eyes narrowed, like a viper about to flick its tongue. “But before that, the important matters in this world are more important… [Space] has allowed me to sense traces of a jump within the fleet system; the prey is about to arrive.”

....................................

"This is a trap." When the landing point was locked, the intra-galactic jump ended, and the entire hunting fleet suddenly appeared in the space twelve light-seconds away from the Senzhou team's landing point with a faint light, Patchouli, who had been sitting in the center of the command hall, resting her chin on her hands and staring at the many data screens in front of her, suddenly stood up and immediately issued a new command.

"Flagship command: All starships under the Huntsman Fleet, disperse immediately. Execute the second-highest level infiltration contingency plan!"

She said this, and the next moment the entire hunting fleet immediately sprang into action. All the starships quickly distanced themselves from each other. Not only that, but parts of the weapon systems on each starship began to turn, and the locking system started operating directly along the communication network. Including the de Croy, all the hunting fleet starships were targeted by a portion of friendly fire!

The second-highest level infiltration contingency plan was a plan Patchouli devised when she took command of the hunting fleet for the extreme scenario of 'multiple starships being infiltrated by highly intelligent infiltrating insectoids, and the inability to immediately identify them'. When this plan is executed, the fire control systems of all hunting fleets will lock together, and the de Chroy will temporarily take over firing authority. The de Chroy, as the flagship, will immediately begin self-checks and, after ensuring that it has not been compromised, will gradually inspect the remaining starships and eliminate the intruders.

Nominally targeting the Zerg, but actually targeting the Reincarnators.

Although Patchouli did not want this contingency plan to ever be used, since things did not go as planned, there was nothing she could do about it.