Poverty makes me capable of anything.

The sun finally shone through the sky.

It's over.

An Ran released ten spaceships from the sealed chamber, waiting for the Crimson Demon Clan members to board the spaceships themselves.

At that moment, flames erupted on the earth, engulfing the corpse of the Calamity Dragon.

The final 1% is about to be filled.

"Ella, take them away from here, I'll be there in a bit."

After transforming into her demon form, An Ran plunged into the infernal world where the heart was located.

She saw that the heart had turned red.

There are five such red lights in the entire Purgatory World.

There were originally five hearts.

An Ran's eyes widened.

The power gathered in the heart is ultimately channeled to the five central points of the heart.

Red lines connected, and a huge magic circle slowly rose.

"Is this the true form of the Crimson Lotus King?"

At the center of the magic circle, which is the core of this planet, the six-winged "demon" grew larger and larger.

At first, only the five hearts were beating, but soon the Crimson Lotus King's body also showed obvious signs of life.

Flames, originating from the body of the Crimson King, ignited the entire Crimson Maple Fortress and set the ground ablaze.

"What's going on?"

The Crimson Demon Clan members on the spaceship stared in shock at the ground beneath their feet.

It had become a living hell.

drop by drop...

At this very moment, Zhou Jieyu, Lin Yumo, and An Ran, who were stranded on this planet, simultaneously received a notification from the game.

"You have triggered the story quest [Remains of the Pioneers]".

……

"Almost there, we'll reach our destination in another hour."

"Excellent! We must seize control of the Crimson Lotus King before everyone else does. This is a monster destined to grow into a star field ruler!"

Bridges clenched his fist.

He stood tall on the observation deck of the spaceship, his eyes slightly narrowed, exuding an extraordinary sense of confidence.

The events at the Protoss headquarters had been troubling him for a long time, and Bridges had been holding back his anger for a long time.

"Let me vent."

Chapter 18 The Descent of the Crimson Lotus

It was a species known as the Pioneers that pioneered the initial prosperity of the Star Tree Starfield.

Their history predates that of humankind, and they once ruled the entire Star Tree Starfield.

During the most prosperous period of the Forerunner civilization, they used their special abilities to open up a path to hyperspace.

They extracted materials from hyperspace and built millions of star paths.

Over time, some of these star paths collapsed, while others were buried in history, and no one can find their exact location. Today, there are still more than 600,000 star paths that can be traced.

These star trails are a testament to the civilizations of the pioneers.

Using these star paths, the pioneers could move quickly within the Star Tree star system, spreading their civilization throughout the star system.

The starry sky where the Eternal Star Path is located was originally a civilized nation created by the pioneers.

Subsequently, the Forerunner civilization was plunged into internal strife, and under the ruling of the Grand Council, some of the rebels were exiled to the desolate borderlands of the Star Tree Starfield.

Among these rebels were those who were unwilling to accept defeat.

After countless years of planning, it finally created an exiled empire that could rival the civilizations of its predecessors.

This is the real Exiled Empire; the faction that currently calls itself the Exiled Empire in the game is a "fake" one that was established later.

However, as the Forerunner civilizations flourished, their exploration of the endless void eventually led them to something they shouldn't have touched.

The most terrifying natural disaster has struck!

The invasion from a higher dimension brought the two pioneering forces to the brink of collapse.

During the war, the star path collapsed.

The holy city has fallen.

Civilization distorted.

After finally managing to close the portal to the higher-dimensional invasion, the Forerunner civilization was plunged into despair.

They are wary of the increasingly powerful humans.

Race replacement is a natural law, but the pioneers did not want this to happen to their race, so they planned to use the power of the star path to completely annihilate humanity.

Unfortunately, the news was leaked beforehand.

After World War II, the prosperous civilization created by the pioneers collapsed completely.

As a result, the Star Tree Starfield changed owners.

The era of human dominance over the world has arrived.

This is the first memory played during the story mission.

After reading it, Anran received a game notification that she had gained 5 million free experience points.

That's just enough for her to reach level 180.

But An Ran wasn't in a hurry; she was more concerned about the high-dimensional invasion incident mentioned in the plot.

Among the invading creatures, she sensed the unique fluctuations of the void.

Not all invasive creatures are Void, but Void makes up a significant portion of them.

"We'll have to ask the panda about this."

However, Anran estimates that even the panda might not know this.

This happened tens of millions of years ago; the panda is less than two thousand years old.

"Let's move on to the next section."

Anran chose to continue the mission.

The story mission "Remains of the Pioneers" has three parts.

After the grand narrative of the first paragraph ends, the perspective shifts to a dark, brown room.

A group of pioneers with solemn expressions gathered together.

They discussed it intensely for a long time, only to sadly discover that they could no longer stop the rising tide of humanity.

"The civilization of the pioneers will come to an end here."

The Speaker of the Grand Council sadly announced this conclusion.

The pioneers are rational.

But at the same time, the pioneers were also crazy.

They looked back on the past.

Before the Forerunner civilization ruled the entire Star Tree Starfield, it was ruled by ancient cosmic behemoths, before that by energy-based life forms, and before that by…

"We must clearly realize that the world's rulers are constantly changing..."

"but……"

There is still so much to explore.

The pioneers had a goal.

They dream that one day, the footprints of the pioneers will traverse the universe and find its true frontier.

They dream of a day when hyperspace holds no secrets in their minds, and star paths can connect two worlds.

They dream that one day, the higher-dimensional world that invaded the Star Tree will also become a colony of the pioneers, and they have even begun to develop weapons against higher-dimensional beings.

But that day is too far away.

The dream is gone.

The future is lost.

"What we have lost, those humans will experience again!"

The final discussion in the Grand Council formulated a plan that would last for who knows how many years.

[High-Dimensional Channel]

"Do you want to open a passage to allow higher-dimensional beings to descend upon this world again?"

Anran murmured to herself.

Race wars show no mercy.

The pioneers once cherished this world.

But once they have nowhere to survive, cherishing such feelings becomes worthless.

The third part of the story mission.

The pioneers' last stronghold has fallen.

The pioneers, who had planned to escape, scattered and fled.