Jiang Ci‌⁠‍⁠‍‌⁠⁠​‌⁠​⁠‍‌‌⁠​‍‌‌⁠​‍ stared at her, alarmed and uncertain. He hadn’t yet figured out what Cecilia’s words meant when he suddenly felt a pressure around his waist. The feeling was familiar; it was Huo Xianfeng’s tail wrapped around him.

But this time, he wasn’t pulled into the other’s arms. Jiang Ci only felt a howling wind rush past, and a terrifying sense of falling swept over all his sensory nerves.

…Eh?

Jiang Ci’s eyes flew open.

It wasn’t until the familiar figure atop the high tower grew farther and farther away that Jiang Ci finally realized he had been thrown from the tower by Huo Xianfeng.

He struggled to open his eyes in the falling gale and saw that familiar figure getting farther and farther away. But even so, Jiang Ci could still see Huo Xianfeng fall to one knee, his back deeply bent, as a blood-red Holy Stigmata sprouted from his neck, crisscrossing his entire face.

And the next second, Cecilia grabbed his shoulder.

The blood-red Holy Stigmata surged from their bodies, binding them together like layers of shackles. Then, as if being sucked in by an irresistible black hole, the two of them were dragged toward the top of the Sacred Relic White Tower.

During this process, Huo Xianfeng didn’t struggle. He just quietly watched the falling Jiang Ci.

As the world tore itself apart, one of them ascended while one fell, as if suddenly parting the universe into two different worlds. Only their gazes, locked tightly on each other, did not separate.

Huo Xianfeng showed no expression. He just watched Jiang Ci without blinking, watching as the other fell like a young bird with a broken wing into a blinding white light.

—It was the light of a mecha transformation.

Only after confirming this scene did Huo Xianfeng look up and meet the gaze of the pair of white eyes at the top of the Holy Relic White Tower.

“So that’s how it is…”

“So, this was the plan.”

Huo Xianfeng clenched his fists and his golden vertical pupils revealed a bone-chilling and bloody killing intent. The blood-red Holy Stigmatas were now extending from his body, tightly binding his entire being like shackles, just as Huo Chao had once been imprisoned.

At this moment, when the real purpose was revealed, Huo Xianfeng completely understood the other’s scheme.

The Holy Stigmata could not invade a Zerg’s body. But before the part of him that was Huo Chao was completely stripped away, he was not considered to have a complete Zerg body. Therefore, an invasion by the Holy Stigmata was not impossible. Just like the first time he fought Leinster, the other’s Holy Stigmata had pierced his body.

At that time, when Pei Changyun had cut off the clone’s head, Huo Xianfeng, who was standing nearby, had also been splattered with blood. However, because his Zerg transformation was already more than half complete, the Pope had sent Cecilia to accelerate the infection process.

It was just that he hadn’t expected Pei Changyun to not be carried away by the revival of his lover, but to instead join forces with Cecilia to launch a beautiful counterattack.

But from the time he was splattered with blood and infected to the time the stripping agent was injected, more than two months had passed. The Holy Stigmata had already invaded his body. That was why Cecilia had said it was already too late.

With His Majesty the Emperor, the heart and brain of the Empire, fallen, and with no legitimate heir, it was only a matter of time before this vast Empire fell apart. And with the Zerg King also under control, the remaining Zerg armies were likely nothing to be feared.

—It was truly a political checkmate.

“Huo Xianfeng!”

At this moment, a giant silver mecha shot straight toward them.

But Huo Xianfeng didn’t look at Jiang Ci. Instead, he looked above the Holy Relic White Tower, to the even more distant outer space. This familiar sense of crisis had to be the Halo’s Eye that had disappeared from the space outside Holy Dew Planet.

But it wasn’t just one Halo’s Eye, but a full ten of them, all aimed at every major city on Eternal Cloud Planet.

Huo Xianfeng entered the range of the Holy Relic White Tower’s defensive barrier. The pale red barrier suddenly closed. A black ring fell from the last closing gap, speeding toward Bright Moon, and behind the ring were dense, countless beams of light as blinding as falling lightning.

The sky, which had just entered nighttime, was suddenly illuminated as if it were broad daylight.

The Capital’s defense system immediately activated. Countless giant metal pillars extended from the Capital’s periphery, deploying defenses. But it was a step too late. A large number of beams were already heading straight for the imperial palace.

BOOM—!

Just then, a giant black mecha suddenly appeared. It carried Bright Moon and shot out of the area where the Holy Relic White Tower was falling, crashing through and collapsing countless buildings.

The next second, the Forbidden Abyss abruptly rose, and unleashed its maximum energy to deploy a defensive barrier amidst the cataclysmic torrent. A dense barrage of light beams poured down, striking the shield deployed by the Forbidden Abyss. Giant balls of energy splashed off the curved surface of the invisible energy shield, like a rainbow bridge forged from ten million brilliant auroras. In the infinite sea of light, the Forbidden Abyss’s outer shell began to burn and melt. The originally black mecha had almost become a bright ball of fire.

Amidst the earth-shattering roar, Jiang Ci let out a heart-wrenching, yet inaudible, cry.

“HUO XIANFENG—!!!”

The fall of the Holy Relic White Tower crushed the entire imperial palace into a pile of ruins, forcibly occupying the heart of the Capital. After the first round of bombardment, the remaining armies of the Church passed through the shrinking space rift, crossed the finally closed defensive shield, and poured directly into the Empire’s Capital.

This war of invasion began without any warning.

Now, the entire Capital had completely devolved into a battlefield.

Fortunately, Pei Changyun had activated the Capital’s state of martial law in advance, and all citizens had been quickly evacuated to underground air-raid shelters. Zhou Jiuya had obtained supreme military command and quickly integrated all armies, including the First, Second, and Third Legions, as well as the Capital Guard, and began to intercept and counterattack.

Countless cannonballs exploded in all directions, and blood-red warning lights flashed incessantly.

And at this moment, Huo Xianfeng was standing on the top floor of the Holy Relic White Tower. A massive defensive barrier isolated it from all the smoke and fire of the outside world. This towering giant stood in the center of the battlefield, watching everything with indifference.

As for Cecilia, the moment she returned to the Holy Relic White Tower, she fainted on the floor. But because she had fallen next to Huo Xianfeng, no one dared to approach.

Huo Xianfeng glanced around. Huge mental power shielding devices could be seen everywhere. Because of this, his connection with the Zergs was severed. But he showed no signs of panic and just walked with a blank expression toward the cathedral hall at the very top, with none of the posture of a prisoner.

Countless people in white robes subconsciously cleared a path, alarmed and fearful. No one dared to block him. It wasn’t until after Huo Xianfeng had left that the personnel from the Holy Stigmata Research Institute dared to quickly step forward to check on Cecilia’s condition.

As if such a situation were commonplace or long expected, they moved very quickly, performing simple treatment before taking her away.

She wasn’t dead yet.

Bzzmm—

And at this moment, at the very top of the Holy Relic White Tower, the huge white door slowly opened.

Huo Xianfeng looked up coldly. Reflected in his golden vertical pupils were the familiar divine statue, the snow-white throne, and the Pope sitting upon it. And at this moment, in the other’s strange white eyes, there was unconcealed triumph and contempt.

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“So you really are that deceased Zerg Cub. I originally thought such claims and speculations were absurd and laughable. But I never expected that the Zerg King would actually take on a human surname.”

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“Is that so?”

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Thump—

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“Has the person been captured?”

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“Hmph—”

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This time, he wouldn’t let him escape by faking his death and getting plastic surgery like He Qichu did.

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“What’s happening—?”

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After a long moment, a trembling reply came from the tracking radar department.

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Before Mandela could even process his shock, the entire Holy Relic White Tower shook violently again, and the defensive barrier outside, which should have been spherical, began to fluctuate even more intensely.

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A dozen giant, umbrella-shaped mechanical structures rumbled to life from the munitions factory on the outskirts of the Jiang estate. They opened with a great clamor, continuously releasing invisible energy waves outward.

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“That’s enough.”

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The defensive barrier of Bright City operated on the same principle as that of the Holy Relic White Tower. Jiang Ci and his teachers had studied it for two months and found that indeed, none of the currently existing thermal weapons could break through it.

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“But A-Ci, the probability of a reboot is too low.” Bright Moon’s voice sounded very worried.

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“I have already roughly analyzed the energy structure and particles of that defensive barrier. As long as the interference value reaches a certain level, I can find an opportunity to merge with it.”

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“Here. Eaten.”

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A dense swarm of Zergs covered the outer metal frames and were devouring the outermost metal plating at a visible speed. They quickly destroyed the surface structure and successfully cut off a second bombardment.

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“?”

Jiang Ci thought he was about to issue another Legion Commander-style order, but instead, he heard the other ask,

“What’s your plan?”

Jiang Ci froze.

And so, ten minutes later, all the laser turrets in the entire Capital, as well as the cannons of all warships and mechas, were aimed at the Holy Relic White Tower’s defensive barrier.

The next second, the Holy Relic White Tower suddenly transformed into a massive, bright red ball of light, like an asteroid made of flocculent, high-energy particles. And the countless flashing cannons surrounding it were like a dense meteor belt. Countless energy aftershocks formed brilliant jets, shooting out in all directions into the deeper night sky.

Mandela stood in the main control room of the Holy Relic White Tower’s defense department and sneered,

“With this kind of attack, you dream of breaking the defensive barrier?”

Jiang Ci stared intently at the monitored reflective peak of the defensive barrier. In the instant it dropped due to the end of the first round of attacks and the superimposed interference, he yanked Bright Moon’s power throttle to its maximum.

“NOW—!”

BOOM!!!

The next second, the giant silver mecha shot straight toward the wave-like energy barrier, shrinking abruptly in its high-speed flight, as if transforming into a streak of a meteor.

In the instant before making contact, Jiang Ci was suddenly ejected from the cockpit. Bright Moon quickly reverted to its disguised form and was snatched by him. The next second, he quickly curled his body, and the outer energy suit created a strange resonance with the energy of the defensive barrier. The scene was like a drop of water merging into a giant soap bubble.

The timing of this moment was captured with extreme precision. If he had been off by even a tenth of a second, he would have been repelled.

THUMP—!

The outer suit deployed a cushioning anti-gravity device, rapidly decreasing his speed and absorbing ninety percent of the impact. By the time Jiang Ci approached the White Tower, he had already adjusted his posture. With a backhand motion, he drew the short blade from his back and instantly stabbed it into the White Tower’s outer wall. He gripped the hilt with all five fingers, securing his body in mid-air.

This was an extremely thrilling scene.

Because at this moment, below Jiang Ci’s feet was an unobstructed hundred-meter drop, his entire body supported by only one hand gripping the knife’s hilt. If his anti-gravity device had been a second late, or if the short blade had failed to embed itself in time, he would have plummeted to his death.

But at this moment, Jiang Ci showed no signs of fear or panic. He was calm to the extreme. Just then, he noticed a dozen or so searchlights aimed at him. Without hesitation, he directly took out Bright Moon, transformed it into a hand cannon, blasted open a window and rushed in.

If this scene could have been recorded, it would probably be a one-of-a-kind solo infiltration, enough to leave a legendary mark in military academy textbooks.

However, such an audacious frontal invasion left the disciples inside the room completely stunned.

“You… you?”

Jiang Ci casually threw a knife, directly pinning the man to the wall. Then, with swift movements, he finished off the remaining few.

The world fell silent.

Jiang Ci ripped off the ruined energy suit from his body. Then he reached up and pulled out the knife. Its blade was as bright as new, without a single drop of blood. It had to be said, this knife from Huo Xianfeng was indeed useful. He swept his gaze around and quickly assessed the structure of his surroundings.

He had asked Huo Xianfeng about the internal structure of the Holy Relic White Tower and had even made a special 3D architectural model, which he had memorized within this past month. After roughly assessing the surrounding structure, Jiang Ci understood his location.

There were a large number of mechas and warships outside. If he were to pilot his mecha, he would have no advantage at all in the tight spaces on the periphery.

At this moment, Jiang Ci’s mind was clearer and calmer than ever before. He looked up. Within this hollow, giant white tower, he could see all the way to the very top.

And Huo Xianfeng was at the very top.

He was being controlled by the Holy Stigmata, and he had been locked back in the cage he hated the most.

Jiang Ci’s face showed no particular expression, but his breathing grew slightly ragged.

An emotion he himself couldn’t quite distinguish, whether it was anger, hatred or anxiety, spread like a wildfire through his chest.

“…….”

He casually wiped the blood from the side of his face with the back of his hand. The killing intent all over his body boiled and screamed in the silence.

At this time, the disciples who had discovered the intruder finally panicked.

“The defensive barrier…”

“Someone actually managed to break through the defensive barrier…”

“Guards! Guards!”

“Quick! Report to Elder Mandela quickly!”

When this shocking news reached the ears of the great elder guarding the Holy Relic White Tower, he thought it was impossible.

“How is that possible?”

Mandela frowned, feeling it was utter nonsense.

“The barrier hasn’t been broken at all. How could someone have broken in?!”

BOOM—!!!

The moment his words fell, a violent explosion sounded from outside; and not just one, but a series of them. The chain of internal explosions made the entire Holy Relic White Tower tremble.

Mandela’s face darkened. He immediately strode out and looked down from the central circular corridor toward the point of the explosions below.

And in that instant, Mandela suddenly froze. Because the familiar scene before him seemed to suddenly pull him back three hundred years—

Because down below, there were collapsed and shattered ruins, there were broken and scattered limbs, and there were vast, shocking seas of blood.

Someone was fighting their way up from below.

Just as His Highness the Son of God had once done before, storming the Holy Relic White Tower alone.