The entire expanse of the universe was a desolate, profound black, as six Hornet craft, fleeing in different directions, carried both hope and madness with them at full throttle. The pale blue afterburners they ejected trailed for nearly a kilometer, yet in an instant, they all burst into flames, a convergence of despair and mournful fire!

To the boundless cosmos, this fire was merely a drop in the ocean, but to Dardanion, it symbolized the eternal sleep of death—despair made manifest.

On the distant radar of the Kestrel base, however, the scene looked entirely different after analysis: it was clearly visible that for the initial few minutes, the Ironblood Mothership remained stationary, as if resting on its laurels, inert as a meteorite captured by Eplos’s interest. This lasted until the six Hornet thrusters had pulled away a staggering distance of nearly half a million kilometers.

Then, suddenly, centered on the Ironblood Mothership, a vast shimmering dome shot out, spreading violently in all directions. This dome acted as both an invisible shield and an unseen sensor. Upon reaching its maximum expansion, it precisely enveloped the six Hornet craft that were fleeing toward separate vectors.

Next, the six Hornets were marked with firing signatures. In the subsequent moment, six beams of light—needle-thin, perfectly straight, yet lethally dangerous—blasted from the hull of the Mothership, completely piercing the six fleeing craft.

Witnessing this outcome, General Mongo's heart shattered; it felt as if his blood were physically dripping. He slammed a fist onto the office desk before him and roared in furious indignation.

It was no wonder he lost his composure. Because he had to concentrate energy on suppressing the Ironblood Mothership’s communications, he could only monitor events on Eplos via the android Unit One’s camera, which provided disappointing clarity and audio quality.

Consequently, General Mongo mistakenly believed that all six Hornet craft were carrying the Contractors they had dispatched. And every single Contractor was laden with bars of Hieu Element! What an immense fortune!

Suddenly, the Kestrel’s radar detected unusual activity again. A deputy officer began shouting, a mix of excitement and tension in his voice: "More flying objects are ascending, breaking atmosphere! The Ironblood Mothership seems to be in a post-firing refractory period; that level of wide-area, scalpel-strike attack must be incredibly energy-intensive… They still have a chance! Ah, what? It turns out the ones taking off are one of the Ironblood race's sub-ships. Have they finished their mission and are returning to rendezvous with the Mother?"

This deputy misjudged the situation. He felt thoroughly embarrassed, a wave of chagrin washing over him, much like a football commentator in a moment of intense, explosive excitement screaming "GOAL!" until he was nearly breathless, only to have the cursed referee immediately call a handball, invalidating the score—an equally awkward moment.

But the man next to him noticed a crucial difference: "…Something seems decidedly off. Hmm? If the Mothership were expecting a rendezvous with the sub-ship, wouldn't it open the lower docking bay first? Furthermore, the approach speed for that sub-ship’s landing sequence is completely wrong. Too fast, too fast! Docking at that velocity? That’s not docking, that’s a collision! That’s a catastrophe!"

This man began shouting excitedly, drawing General Mongo’s attention: "Yes! That damnable horseshoe-shaped Mothership is extending its cannons! They are trying to attack their own sub-ship! They've mistaken that Ironblood sub-ship for an enemy! Huzzah! Hurrah! The only explanation is that our people have seized an Ironblood sub-ship and intend to fly it home! God must be protecting them! General, General, I must request the base divert priority energy allocation to radar jamming—that’s the only thing we can do for them right now."

General Mongo squinted, fixing his gaze on the Ironblood sub-ship. A minute ago, he found the damn thing’s profile utterly repulsive, but now that profile seemed impossibly beautiful, like the oversized rhinoceros beetle that had won him five Alliance coins when he was a child. Unquestionably, in General Mongo’s ears, the pleasant 'clinking' sound of Hieu Element bars colliding had begun to resonate. He immediately issued the order: "Priority energy allocation approved! Full power to communications suppression against the Ironblood Mothership! All combat units on this base, prepare yourselves! Advance toward the vanguard of the Eplos Meteor Belt, ready to receive our people upon their return."

At this juncture, the Ironblood Mothership lost the composure it displayed when destroying the six Hornet probes. It began firing preemptively, unleashing a swarm of high-energy lasers that spread instantly like a spiderweb, nearly filling the sub-ship's escape path in a short span!

But the Ironblood sub-ship refused to play by established rules. It maximized its shield output in an instant and plunged directly into the barrage without regard for consequence! A blinding flash engulfed the void of space. The Ironblood sub-ship broke through the interception with an 'a dead fish breaks the net' attitude, but thick black smoke began billowing from its aft—it clearly wouldn't last long.

A noble Ironblood warrior on the Mothership stated coldly, "These foolish creatures, how far do they think they can flee like this? If they maintain this full speed, they will self-destruct within half a light-year."

Those nearby voiced contempt and disdain, but then a weak voice cut in: "But, their space base is only about two million kilometers away. They don’t need to fly half a light-year, they only need to…"

Everyone’s complexion instantly changed. If their only remaining sub-ship were hijacked, it would not only cause massive logistical issues but also represent an immense humiliation for the Ironblood race! Seeing the sub-ship had already escaped their firing range, all personnel immediately gave chase!

This explained why Fang Senyan and his team had suddenly discovered the Ironblood Mothership had vanished while on Eplos.

Fang Senyan cleaved horizontally, the searing +13 glow severing Ronnie’s legs clean off at the thigh! Maintaining momentum, he followed with a long horizontal sweep. The +13 Vance blade seemed unremarkable, but upon contact with the crimson light, it became devastatingly beautiful, managing to lop off Ronnie’s left arm at the shoulder as well.

This maneuver occurred swiftly and unexpectedly, catching everyone off guard. Ronnie, wracked by excruciating pain, glared with eyes ready to burst, his grief, indignation, and fury boiling over. A surging tide of bleak energy surged within his chest, threatening to explode his lungs. He believed Fang Senyan was betraying him now, coveting his Titanium Element bars, and he hissed, "Even if I die! I will not let you have your way!"

Fang Senyan regarded him calmly. "Oh?"

The moment Fang Senyan uttered that single "Oh?", he delivered another counter-slash, cleaving the stunned Unit One—standing nearby like an old butler—clean in half through the shoulder and back.

"Your model should be PH5, correct?"

Even after bisecting Unit One, Fang Senyan maintained an unnerving composure as he inquired. Unit One collapsed onto the ground, spitting out copious amounts of milky-white nutrient fluid with a wry smile: "Seemingly... yes, Master."

Fang Senyan walked over, lifted the remains of Unit One, which now consisted of just under half a torso, and began the process of compression and dehydration. Finally, he submerged three tubes into a bottle of specialized nutrient fluid before bandaging the remnants.

"That’s good. The data you provided me indicates that after sustaining this level of injury, the brain can remain viable for over twenty-four hours if supplied with sufficient nutrient fluid."

"Yes, Master," Unit One whispered weakly, forcing a bitter smile.

Fang Senyan chuckled. "Actually, I think I should have removed a bit more to ensure you survive for three hours, because if we haven’t reached the Kestrel forward base in three hours, we probably won't make it in this lifetime."

As he spoke, Fang Senyan moved to Ronnie’s side—whose eyes were now practically spitting fire—and frowned. "Relax, you idiot, or you can bandage your own wounds!"

"Get away! Get out!!"

"Are your brain cells replaced with the maggots crawling on rancid steak? Do you think I’d go through this much trouble just to kill you and extort you?" Fang Senyan taunted without restraint.

"I warn you, time is critically short. Once the Mothership returns, our chances of survival will drop by at least 80%! So don’t waste any more damn time."

As he spoke, Fang Senyan crouched down to bandage Ronnie, casually kicking his severed limbs far away. Ronnie watched this display, on the verge of tears and utter madness: "Hey! Hey, those are my hands and feet! Ahhh! Heavens above, what in the world are you trying to do?"

After meticulously bandaging him, Fang Senyan gave him a look of utter disdain, then retrieved the specialized escape Hornet craft belonging to the Charlie Phi family from the team space. He hopped inside and swiftly opened the rear hatch.

"I just want to bring you, you foolish bastard, back alive."

Ronnie froze instantly. Since Fang Senyan drew his blade, countless thoughts had flashed through his mind, but none of them matched the answer Fang Senyan just gave: "You... you just severed both my legs and one arm, and now you’re telling me you intend to bring me back alive? You bastard! What kind of logic is that?"

"Indeed," Fang Senyan replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Is there something wrong with that? Also, if I had known you dared to call me a bastard, I should have given you a proper lesson just now."

"You animal! You’ve practically turned me into a human stick, what more correction could you possibly inflict on me?!" Ronnie shrieked.

Fang Senyan stated calmly, "For example, I could have moved the blade up a few more centimeters, and you would have had to bid farewell to your own manhood first. And a eunuch stick is certainly worse than a human stick."

"Beast!!!"

Comrades, the Qidian Year-End Inventory has begun. The entrance is right there on the book title page of Final Evolution. If you have votes, please throw them fiercely toward Final Evolution; no need to give them to Juantu. (To be continued...)