The dinner between the two ended unhappily. Yu Lian, with a heavy heart, bid farewell to his elder brother, who he could barely recognize anymore, and arrived at the officer's guesthouse he had booked.
The officer's guesthouse at the Starport offered excellent amenities. The room was clean and well-equipped, much better than Yu Lian's living conditions on the ship before. He kicked off his shoes, and without even taking off his clothes, he flopped onto the bed and immediately fell asleep.
He slept very restlessly, waking up several times, and only fully fell asleep in the latter half of the night. He still slept unpleasantly, never fully entering the tranquility and comfort of deep sleep. He was half-awake, extremely agitated, and his consciousness seemed to be struggling in a vortex of fatigue and depression. After an unknown amount of time, the vortex seemed to grow louder with many chaotic sounds, making him even more annoyed.
Yu Lian felt that even the simple act of opening his eyes and getting up would exhaust all his strength, but he still tried to get up. His head ached a little, much like the effects of a hangover, and his vision was somewhat blurry, with even flickering spots. He sat there for an unknown amount of time, and as his vision cleared a bit, the chaotic sounds in his ears gradually became distinguishable.
Those were violent explosions and gunshots, as well as screams and the sound of burning flames.
Yu Lian jumped up, wanting to find a weapon, but realized he was staying in the officer's guesthouse and didn't have the long-term qualification to carry a gun. He opened the door, and what greeted him was a rolling wave of heat and strong wind, along with a red glow mixed with fire and blood.
An enemy in power armor charged through the flames with murderous intent. Yu Lian recognized it at a glance: it was a battle skeleton equipped by the Marine Corps, primarily enhanced for mobility and flexibility. It didn't carry swords, hammers, or axes, but its arm gauntlets were equipped with retractable hook claws made of high-carbon crystal, which better suited the combat habits of the big cats.
"The Kaitai have already attacked? If the Marine Corps has infiltrated Gibraltar β Starport, then the Outer Rim Fleet..."
The Kaitai began to fire, but Yu Lian had already rolled and hidden behind a collapsed metal frame, slowly condensing spiritual energy in his right hand.
He could feel that even his efficiency in condensing spiritual energy was much lower than before, guessing that the opponent might have deployed a high-level spiritual energy user, initiating a supernatural domain suppression across the entire Starport.
"Then I'll try a different approach..." Yu Lian gritted his teeth and dispelled the half-prepared spiritual energy shock, which instead transformed into spiritual energy telekinesis. It penetrated into the crack in the ceiling of the corridor, and with a sudden pull, he forcefully brought down a large pile of messy ventilation pipes, chandeliers, and structural debris. They crashed to the ground with a "whoosh," immediately burying the Kaitai infantryman.
Yu Lian ignored it, simply picked up a steel bar from the ground, and went downstairs. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the guesthouse lobby entrance, he could already see a sea of fire in the distant city and Kaitai aircraft. Outside the dome, in the universe, intense beams of light and explosions merged into a chaotic mass, obscuring the light of the Star Gate and the stars.
Yu Lian gritted his teeth, exited through the guesthouse's back door, and headed towards the military hangar based on memory. After only a few steps, a massive armored creature burst out from around the corner.
It was an upright monster, over five meters tall, with four arms wielding a flamethrower, a Gatling gun, a plasma cannon, and a chainsword as long as a utility pole—well, there are no utility poles in the cosmic era—its body covered in power attachments, with tank-grade armor plates covering vital areas. Compared to its massive body, its round head seemed a bit small, but it was still the size of an adult African elephant's head. Its small eyes were full of ferocity, and its gaping maw opened and closed, making "crunching" sounds as it gnawed on something.
This was a Kodiac Troll Charger, a member of the Imperial Titan Beast Corps. Although it was the most basic and cannon fodder unit in this army that struck fear into all Milky Way Civilization, it still possessed the ability to withstand an entire reinforced company, even without carrying any equipment.
This creature possessed only the most basic intelligence, yet it could execute the commands of spiritual energy user officers without compromise. It had extremely strong vitality, was fearless of death, bloodthirsty and cruel, and could also regenerate by devouring corpses on the battlefield—which is exactly what it was doing now.
The Troll had already spotted Yu Lian, and perhaps delighted at finding a fresh target, it grinned, revealing two rows of sharp teeth and a mass of blurry flesh, then spat out the remains in its mouth with a "plop."
From the mass of rotten flesh rolled out a large, crimson blood ball, which turned out to be a head. Its features were distorted by intense pain and despair, yet it was still barely recognizable as Colonel Yang Xiyi.
The head rolled a few times on the ground, its face turned directly towards Yu Lian, its lips twitched a few times, and it uttered a few words: "Run, hurry and run..."
Yu Lian turned and ran, his steps not slowing down at all, still heading towards the military airfield.
The Troll followed closely behind, roaring and bellowing, continuously firing. Shells and energy beams hit the ground and walls close to Yu Lian, the scorching airflow almost igniting his body. If he weren't a spiritual energy user, even the shockwave from a close-range explosion would have been enough to damage his internal organs.
At this point, the "Monk's" characteristic of comprehensive enhancement and Balance became a lifesaver. His agility, speed, and stamina were naturally inferior to those martial arts-oriented awakened ones, but they were much higher than those of the mages, at least ensuring he could escape from the five-meter-tall Troll without being caught.
However, that was all. The Troll couldn't catch up, but Yu Lian couldn't shake it off either. When his stamina ran out, he would still die.
What? You said stamina? The Troll indicated that this is how it earns the Imperial salary. Human spiritual energy user, even those martial arts-oriented ones, don't talk about competing with it in stamina unless they're Four-Ring!
In short, the situation remained very dangerous until Yu Lian saw an intact fighter jet on the airfield, which made him slightly relieved.
Yu Lian leaped to the fighter jet, climbed to the cockpit entrance, and as the canopy opened, he saw someone already sitting in the pilot's seat. The person's body was still, but his head turned 360 degrees like a puppet, revealing a bloodthirsty and eerie smile. It was Senior Yang Xiyi again.
"Click, click, click, click, click, do you want me to get down?"
Yu Lian paused for a second, then suddenly reached out and slapped him.
The eerie and sinister smile instantly froze on the other person's face, no longer terrifying. Then, Yu Lian followed up with a series of slaps.
Above the universe spirit, ever since he was robbed of a dozen beers and a roasted chicken, Yu Lian had wanted to do this for a long time!
He forcibly slapped Yang Xiyi's head back into place, then grabbed the collar of his clothes, literally pulling him out of the cockpit, and forcefully threw him to the ground.
"Bang!" Yang Xiyi crashed to the ground, his head smashing into pieces, but there was no blood at all.
Yu Lian leaped into the cockpit, turned on the autocannon knob, and fired a burst of beam cannon shells at the roaring Troll.
"Boom!" The Troll was also blasted into pieces by the beam cannon, but as it shattered, ripples like those on water spread from its location, filling all of Yu Lian's vision.
"Whoosh!" He seemed to hear the sound of wind blowing a curtain, and his vision immediately went black. Yu Lian sneered inwardly, then suddenly leaped up and struck out with his hand, only hitting empty air, but there was a moment of stagnation.
In that instant, Yu Lian caught a painful scream from the spiritual perception extending from his mental sea. He opened his eyes and found himself still in the single room of the military guesthouse. There were no gunshots, no explosions, no sea of fire, and no screams; everything was exactly as it had been when he fell asleep, perfectly safe.
Yu Lian opened the door and rushed out, tracking the direction of the retreating spirit. But at that moment, a voice suddenly came over the corridor's loudspeaker: "You've been caught! Red-handed, you know, so why don't you put down your weapon and surrender? Honestly confess your crimes to get a lenient sentence! Don't cut yourself off from the country, cut yourself off from the people, and embark on a criminal path of no return. Don't make your parents, wife, and children back home cry! Did you hear me? I'll spare your dignity by not naming names."
If that wasn't Yang Xiyi's voice, then whose was it?
This is the second update for today. If you have money, please support us with money; if not, please support us with votes. Everyone, please give us more support!