“Chu Huaizhi will get what he wants. Ah, he’s so lucky—the planet he picked just happens to be the origin star of the Seventh Epoch civilization. That kind of luck is off the charts; I’ve got to hand it to him.”
“Heh, you’re such an innocent fool. Chu Huaizhi is a scheming old fox! You think the Seventh Epoch civilization originating on Tigre Star was just a coincidence, a fluke?”
“What do you mean?!”
“Ever since we passed through the Sacred Stele… well, anyway, from that point on, Chu Huaizhi started laying his plans…”
On the outskirts of the Fourth Ring, several deities chatted through some kind of special psychic connection.
“Why’d you stop? Keep going! What did he do?!”
The deity who’d almost spilled too much covered his mouth with a broad leaf.
Damn it, mouth—you’re moving faster than my brain!
Now that everyone had turned into rivals, some secrets obviously weren’t meant to be shared.
Not that he even knew what value there was in keeping these secrets anyway.
“Never mind that. They say Lin Xiaohe is really going to be beaten by Zhou?”
The other deities said with absolute certainty: “Do you even have to ask? This is the Zerg we’re talking about! The galaxy’s biggest wrench in the works, the dark-night assassin of interstellar civilizations. A single giant tomb is enough to easily obliterate an entire star-faring civilization.”
“But Lin Xiaohe’s Zerg army is coming too.”
Not only were they coming—they were already fighting Zhou’s Zerg army!
Zhou had more experience and a thicker foundation. Word had it that it was only a hair’s breadth away from evolving again.
Sure, it had paid a heavy price to get here, and its strength had been greatly reduced—but it had devoured so many resources and so much energy that its power should’ve recovered by more than half, right?
On Lin Xiaohe’s side, even though she had plenty of giant tombs, they all looked stunted and underdeveloped. Standing in front of Zhou, they were barely worth a glance.
What’s more, they probably hadn’t received the Zerg’s full recognition, so they’d lost a ton of inherited knowledge—basically a watered-down, castrated version of real giant tombs.
This showdown seemed to have zero suspense.
Little Black led the Zerg in an all-out assault. Charging at the forefront, it marshaled the other nine smaller giant tombs and swam like a vortex toward Lin Xiaohe!
Our master is right there!
The entire Fifth Ring had become a full-blown battlefield.
Zhou tightened its defenses, blocking Little Black from linking up with Lin Xiaohe.
Perched on the circular platform of its giant tomb, Little Black let out a piercing shriek. The sound waves rippled outward like tidal surges, parting the dense stardust bands and forcing the enemy Zerg ahead to retreat.
It felt as if the whole star system trembled from that one cry.
On Gonggong Star, the soldiers—especially those with weaker mental fortitude or existing injuries—clutched their ears in agony.
On the battlefield, the Zerg, though clearly of the same species, fought as if blinded by bloodlust.
They ignored the human fleets mixed into the Zerg swarm and, like savages biting into their most hated foes, used their mouthparts, forelimbs, and abilities to tear apart Zerg that looked just like them but carried the aura of a different giant tomb.
In the silent vacuum of space, the battlefield became a meat grinder of Zerg.
Countless bugs burst apart, shattered into pieces, and dissolved into glimmers of starlight that fused into both Zhou and Little Black’s bodies.
By all logic, Little Black shouldn’t have been a match for Zhou. But with the support of nine smaller giant tombs, it surprisingly drove back Zhou’s billions of Zerg troops step by step.
“Despicable thief! So you really did steal a fraction of the Zerg Lord’s authority!”
At the sight of Little Black and its giant tombs, Zhou gnashed its teeth in fury.
It had failed to evolve because it was missing just one-fifth of the chaotic energy flow. And now this counterfeit—this pretender—was actually using a giant tomb’s body to do something that rightfully belonged to…!
Although Little Black’s giant tombs weren’t high-level enough, the core truth was that, even without sufficient inherited knowledge or the Zerg Lord’s acknowledgment, Little Black had already stepped onto the right evolutionary path.
How could Zhou—who had toiled so diligently and followed all the rules—bear to see this?!
“Little Black, you are Zerg! You are a giant tomb! You have your own will and dignity—so why do you take orders from a mongrel?”
Lin Xiaohe, across from Zhou…
Excuse me?
Calling me a mongrel right to my face—is this what passes for Zerg manners?
To be fair, Zhou didn’t really mean it that way. When it said “mongrel,” it meant it literally—because it had never seen such a chaotic body composition before!
But clearly, Little Black was deeply enraged by the word “mongrel.”
How dare it insult my master right in front of me!
Little Black leaped straight into the fourth dimension, forcibly locating Lin Xiaohe, and tried to merge with her like it had done before.
But for some reason, this fusion process felt a little different.
Beneath Lin Xiaohe’s feet, the shadows of ten miniature giant tombs appeared.
Millions of Zerg bodies broke into fragments, and certain energies permeating the cosmos were absorbed by the ten giant tombs, then slowly channeled into Lin Xiaohe.
Her presence surged to new heights.
This was oppression from a higher dimension.
Others might not know what Lin Xiaohe was doing, but Zhou knew all too well—it absolutely could not let her complete the fusion.
“Kill!”
At that command, countless Zerg launched from the giant tombs like a dark storm cloud, charging straight for Lin Xiaohe!
The Gonggong Star defense forces, who had only just recovered their senses, received an order from the commander of the 53rd Division: “Protect Lin Xiaohe at all costs!”
What this meant was—even if they had to serve as human shields, even if Gonggong Star’s entire space fleet was wiped out—they had to protect Lin Xiaohe.
The space fleet, which had been waiting in ambush all along, didn’t hesitate. They accelerated decisively, forming a protective array around Lin Xiaohe, holding her firmly at the center.
The Void Devourers unleashed a combined stardust torrent, instantly vaporizing four space warships.
The 53rd Division commander winced in agony.
After one battle after another, this was all that was left of his division’s assets.
Adding up the command ship, communications ship, transport ships, escort vessels, and the rest, they could barely scrape together fifty ships.
And just like that—in the blink of an eye—four were gone!
Still, he gritted his teeth and ordered the remaining ships to fill the gap. Anyone could fall, but not Lin Xiaohe. Especially now, when it was clear to everyone that she was at a critical juncture and could not be disturbed.
The 53rd Division commander clenched his jaw. Even if he burned through every last ship, he would not let the Zerg get near Lin Xiaohe.
Unfortunately, many things don’t bend to human will.
There were simply too many Zerg.
They weren’t using any tactics or strategy anymore—they were just overwhelming with sheer numbers.
In just eight rounds, the 53rd Division was down to only its command ship, communications ship, and transport ships.
“Are you ready?”
“Reporting, sir—always ready!”
“Good.” The 53rd Division commander said nothing to boost morale. Calmly, he ordered the command ship to position itself in front of Lin Xiaohe.
Once these three ships were gone, the forces on Gonggong Star would lose all space-defense capability and communications support.
If any danger arose—even a massive sandstorm on the planet itself—their lives could be at risk.
The commander let out a long breath and rubbed his tired, stiff face with his palm.
It didn’t matter anymore. If Lin Xiaohe failed, the Fifth Ring’s fate would only be worse than the Sixth Ring’s.
He wasn’t worried about the others—only one question gnawed at him: after the 53rd Division was gone, who would stand in front of Lin Xiaohe?
Hiding the worry deep in his eyes, he stared at the surging tide of Zerg rushing toward them…
Writing late at night really does spark inspiration—but man, it also makes you dead tired.
