Lin Xiaohe notified the Fifth Star Ring’s military that she and the Elder of the Giant Song Whale would be passing through their territory en route to the Fourth Star Ring.
The Fifth Star Ring military responded: “We once promised that you are free to come and go within the Fifth Star Ring. That promise still stands.”
And so, Lin Xiaohe and the Elder of the Giant Song Whale set off!
Although both of them had their own ways of accelerating, they couldn’t just teleport to Haige Star in an instant.
“Changqing still hasn’t come back?”
The Elder of the Giant Song Whale: “Don’t worry about him. He’s lived for who knows how many tens of thousands of years. For all we know, he might have sensed the Divine War coming ages ago and is just holed up somewhere lying low.”
The two of them moved much faster than the Federation’s ships. By the time they arrived at Haige Star, Chu Huaizhi and his group were still on their way.
The Fourth Star Ring was practically in a state of anarchy and disorganization. The biggest organizations there were space pirates—like the Rebels and the Iron Meteorites.
But they wouldn’t dare rob Lin Xiaohe—they were afraid she’d turn the tables on them.
The Elder of the Giant Song Whale spotted Haige Star from afar and suddenly surged forward with a burst of speed.
His colossal body plunged headfirst into the vast blue ocean, sending up towering waves.
The waves crashed heavily against the shore, battering the crumbling human structures into scattered debris.
There were no humans left on Haige Star anymore. Everywhere you looked, there were abandoned factories, hotels, and houses.
The sky dome that had once protected them had long since dissipated, its energy depleted.
For some unknown reason, the Zerg had spared Haige Star.
With no human activity to disturb it, Haige Star’s powerful regenerative abilities had allowed it to return to its original, primal state.
“Xiaohe, do you see this? This is what Haige Star is truly meant to be!” The Elder of the Giant Song Whale swam joyfully.
The ocean’s surface exploded open as the Elder launched himself skyward like a mountain range rising from the sea.
Tens of thousands of droplets scattered like silver scales, accompanied by thunderous roars.
He hung in the air for a single breath, his massive form draped in rainbows, as if he had broken free from the ocean’s grasp. He soared toward the azure sky and vanished into the clouds.
Then came a colossal column of water connecting heaven and earth. With the Elder’s resounding cry, it crashed down upon the land that humans had reclaimed from the sea!
Boom—crash—!
Skyscrapers collapsed. Giant waves swept everything away.
Watching the apocalyptic scene before him, the Elder of the Giant Song Whale felt a small measure of the resentment buried deep in his heart begin to ease.
Yes—this was it. Let those detestable humans, along with all their creations, vanish completely from Haige Star!
Lin Xiaohe was immensely grateful that she had stayed in orbit around Haige Star. Otherwise, under waves like that, she’d have been drenched to the bone!
After venting his frustration, the Elder of the Giant Song Whale was in high spirits and found Lin Xiaohe even more agreeable: “Did that Chu guy stand you up again? Why aren’t they here yet?”
Lin Xiaohe: “Don’t hit a person where it hurts. Saying that just makes me look stupid.”
“Don’t take it to heart. They’re just taking advantage of your kindness. Besides, even if you’re not that bright, who cares? You’re a great fighter!”
Lin Xiaohe felt hurt, offended, and utterly impossible to appease.
The Elder scratched his head: “How about I take you to see the Sacred Stele instead?”
“You guys have something like that? Why didn’t you stuff it into the Sacred Domain?”
The Elder smiled bitterly: “I wish we could. But we can’t move it.”
Lin Xiaohe didn’t believe him. The Giant Song Whales had managed to relocate Kyushu Star to a new position—how could they not move a single stone tablet?
Once her curiosity was piqued, regardless of danger, Lin Xiaohe had to go take a look.
The Elder huffed: “What danger could there be? It’s our sacred stele. You’re a companion of the Giant Song Whales—do you think it’s going to eat you?”
Lin Xiaohe followed the Elder as they dove deep into the ocean.
The seawater on Haige Star was salty and bitter, with a strange aftertaste.
The Elder of the Giant Song Whale cursed the whole way, venting about how humans were rotten to the core. The Giant Song Whales had lived on Haige Star for tens of thousands of years and never wrecked it the way humans had.
In the deep sea, there was nothing but pitch-black darkness.
The Elder’s body gave off a gentle, sparkling glow, making him the shiniest old-timer in the ocean.
They descended all the way to the seafloor.
“This is the Sacred Stele?” Lin Xiaohe studied the massive stone slab with curiosity. It stood over twenty meters tall, completely black, with no inscriptions or carvings, rooted into the seabed.
The Elder of the Giant Song Whale explained: “We tried to take it with us back then, but no matter what we did, we couldn’t budge it. When the humans were terraforming Haige Star, they discovered it too.”
“No matter whether humans used bullets, bombs, or cutting tools, nothing could leave a mark on it—not even a scratch.”
“The human cities tried to dig it out. They excavated five hundred meters straight down along the seabed but never reached the bottom. They brought in the most precise detection instruments, but still couldn’t find where its base ended.”
Lin Xiaohe reached out and touched it. Compared to the freezing seawater, the stele actually felt warm and smooth: “Is it possible that this is actually a mountain?”
Out of habit, she swept it with her psychic energy.
Boom!
Lin Xiaohe’s expression changed drastically.
Everything vanished in an instant.
It felt similar to when she used her psychic energy to ascend to the fourth dimension—but this wasn’t an ascension. It was more like being pulled into an even more microscopic world.
She didn’t seem to exist, yet she seemed to be everywhere. All around her were spiral structures, densely packed like ants, stacking upon each other to form a vast, boundless world.
These spirals—she felt like she’d seen them somewhere before.
Her thoughts felt like they were sinking into a mire, growing impossibly sluggish.
With great effort, she finally remembered—she had seen similar spiral structures in the Little Black Giant’s tomb, just not as many.
Those had been fragmented gene remnants. But here—these were complete biological genes!
Lin Xiaohe felt a surge of alarm. She “saw” her own body being broken down into three spiral chains.
One was the familiar double helix of human DNA.
One was a spiral shimmering with stardust light.
And the third was utterly bizarre—a triple-helix structure!
Before she could get a closer look, the three spirals were rapidly absorbed into the vast spiral empire.
Oh, crap!
Curiosity really did kill the cat.
Watching from the side, the Elder of the Giant Song Whale was dumbfounded. The Sacred Stele let out a brief hum, and then a white bubble enveloped Lin Xiaohe.
In the blink of an eye—she was gone!
The Elder was stricken with panic and grief: “Sacred Stele, please don’t mess around! You just made Lin Xiaohe disappear—how am I supposed to explain this to my people?!”
…
First Star Ring, aboard Chu Huaizhi’s personal shuttle. The ship was preparing to swing around the edge of the Dark Zone, bypassing the Zerg-controlled areas, and head for Haige Star.
Cailin Reno was traveling on a custom-built spacecraft belonging to the Reno family.
Technically, she should have been on the same ship as Chu Huaizhi—but as a member of one of the Four Great Families, she had the prestige to travel separately.
[Approaching Dark Zone. Please maintain formation to avoid separation.]
The fleet included a logistics energy vessel, ready to handle emergencies at any time.
Getting lost alone in the Dark Zone was extremely dangerous!
Cailin Reno: “Received.”
The next second, she switched to manual control mode and, without hesitation, broke away from the fleet—heading straight into the depths of the Dark Zone!
Flagship: [Warning! You have fallen out of formation. Please return immediately! Danger! Return immediately!]
Static crackled through the communication channel. Cailin Reno knew she was about to lose all contact with the fleet.
In her final moment, she sent a message to Lin Xiaohe.
[Do NOT go to the Sacred Stele! It’s Chu Huaizhi’s trap. The First Star Ring has already fallen. The deity is no deity—it’s an extraterrestrial being, a despicable usurper! The Reno family will never surrender. Though I may die, my spirit remains!]
The truth begins to unravel!
