It appeared as though corrosion had accelerated a thousandfold, ten thousandfold; the entire starship was visibly coiling and breaking apart at an unnerving speed!

"....What in the world is happening?!" Fang Senyan gasped in alarm. At this rate, he calculated he would be dead within five minutes.

Fortunately, just then, a battered-looking "Phantom Fighter" limped out from behind a nearby asteroid, wavering unsteadily. The fighter's fuselage was riddled with holes, yet an intelligent robot inside was frantically busy, the flashes of welding light faintly visible. However, it seemed to have lost all propulsion, trailing a long plume of black smoke from its aft section.

Seeing this sight, Fang Senyan understood this was a deliberate arrangement by the space itself. He hastily maneuvered his vessel, before it completely lost power, deploying two mechanical arms to forcibly haul the Phantom Fighter closer. He then activated the emergency docking port and scrambled aboard.

The instant Fang Senyan and the others boarded the Phantom Fighter, the flagship they had occupied—Prince Pomparu's vessel—completely disintegrated, dissolving into the dust of the cosmos. At this point, Fang Senyan likely grasped the cause of the collapse: high-tech objects from different dimensions, if not properly processed, would suffer violent repulsion upon unauthorized entry into another plane.

It was akin to driving a splinter into the human body, provoking an intensely severe rejection response. He and Old Charlie, however, had been shielded by the power of their Noah Space, allowing them to survive. Unless, as with the Iron-Blood world plane and the Prime Plane, where the overlap had been sustained for so long and both sides were sufficiently mature that such intense repulsion was avoided!

Strictly speaking, the Phantom Fighter's defenses and offensive capabilities were not particularly high. Its primary function was engaging enemies: it mounted an Oakhleigh twin-barrel missile launcher for air-to-air combat, firing at intervals of 1.1 seconds, and a 30mm pulse laser for ground targets. Its most notable feature, however, was the cloaking light refraction and distortion device mounted on its fuselage.

Yet, at this moment, nearly a third of this Phantom Fighter's structure was utterly ruined. It was a miracle it could even drift in space! Wires sparked and dangled from the ceiling everywhere, interspersed with thick clouds of smoke that occasionally billowed towards them. The steel bulkheads showed clear signs of twisting and cracking, revealing the mechanical components within.

An SCV, wielding a cutting torch, was sweating profusely while welding a rent in the hull. It froze upon seeing Fang Senyan, then instinctively snapped to attention and saluted, "Brigadier General! What brings you here?"

Fang Senyan paused, instantly recognizing his altered status. As he moved forward, others rushed up to greet him, their eyes filled with awe and reverence. Even after he passed, he overheard whispers: "Such an important figure has come to our sector!"

"We will definitely overcome this crisis; I’ve heard tales of his legendary exploits many times!"

"That was truly perilous; we actually escaped the carrier's pursuit—probably thanks to Commodore Sailor's intervention!"

"...."

Finally, Fang Senyan reached the cockpit. A massive breach there had just been sealed, the welding marks still glowing a searing red. Piles of molten welding slag sizzled loudly on the deck—the result of massive damage inflicted by the dual light photon cannons carried by the carrier's subsidiary aircraft. One photon blast had violently torn through the bulkhead and struck an unlucky soul; the man's dried blood still stained the floor, three fingers encased in a tattered leather glove, dangling loosely against the adjacent bulkhead.

Beside the cockpit, a woman was frantically attending to two wounded personnel, too busy to even turn around. Fang Senyan approached and stated gravely, "What is the situation?"

The woman spun around, immediately exclaiming in shock, "Commodore Sailor! What are you doing here?"

This was the benefit of a +2 Legend Rating; combined with Fang Senyan's military rank, it made him almost universally effective. He nodded, quickly assessed the casualties, and firmly commanded, "Step aside."

The wounded man on the left had a large piece of metal savagely embedded in his chest. The man on the right was covered in blood, his head appearing severely damaged. Fang Senyan produced the "Endless Vodka," first pouring a swig down the throat of the man on the left. Then, he abruptly grabbed the metal plate and yanked it out, immediately applying firm pressure to the wound. The wounded man recoiled like a curled shrimp, letting out a sharp cry of pain, but gradually relaxed as the effects of the Vodka began to take hold.

Next, Old Charlie retrieved syringes for hormones, painkillers, sedatives, and anti-inflammatories from a nearby medkit. With fluid efficiency, he administered a rapid succession of injections, like an assembly line. The wounded man closed his eyes, sinking into a deeper, more comfortable sleep, his breathing evening out. Old Charlie then carefully moved him aside, connected him to an automated monitor set to alarm at any abnormal fluctuation, and successfully stabilized the first case.

The next casualty suffered severe cranial trauma, leading to rapidly increasing intracranial pressure, necessitating an emergency craniotomy to suture and clear the hematoma. While Old Charlie had theoretical knowledge from his work building artificial beings, he had zero practical experience with such high-level surgery. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and proceeded. Fortunately, Fang Senyan's Vodka once again proved critical at the crucial moment; otherwise, the surgeon might have died in the line of duty.

Undeniably, Fang Senyan smoothly took command of the stealth fighter. The remaining woman, named Gilgirisna, immediately submitted to his leadership. After about ten hours of emergency repairs, the five SCVs on board managed to fix everything that could be salvaged. Even so, the damage report presented to Fang Senyan was stark:

"Hull Damage: 28%. Defensive capability reduced to 18.1% of normal."

"Energy System Damage: 55%. Power output reduced to 45% of normal; maximum flight speed limited to 32% of theoretical maximum."

"Firepower System Damage: 18%. Attack frequency reduced by 38%."

"Stealth System Damage: 81%. Currently non-operational."

"...."

Fang Senyan looked over the data and frowned. "Where are we, Gilgirisna?"

The woman proved to be a highly competent assistant, quite professional in these matters. She quickly brought up a star chart, tapped a few locations, and the display rapidly zoomed in on their current sector.

The map clearly displayed patches of brown, blue, and yellow coloration. Brown indicated the Zerg; blue, Human; and yellow, Protoss. Fang Senyan and his crew were situated in a precarious location. Adjacent to them, a burning star system indicated an area engulfed in active warfare; this system originally belonged to humanity but had now been seized by the Protoss.

Gilgirisna lightly tapped the screen again. "Based on our remaining energy reserves, we can only head toward this location."

Fang Senyan frowned as he followed her gesture. "That area is within Protoss territory."

Gilgirisna nodded. "That is a planet extensively mined long ago; its crystal and rare gas veins are exhausted. It is now a marginalized region within the Protoss domain. We estimate their garrison presence there will be minimal. Furthermore, it borders the Zerg territories—a race adept at harassment and guerrilla warfare—so the safety rating for landing there is highest. And according to the computer logs, humanity once maintained a presence on that world. Though we were driven out, we habitually pre-position strategic caches, so there is a possibility of finding relevant supplies to acquire..."

Fang Senyan nodded. "Do we have any other options?"

"Yes," Gilgirisna replied with a wry smile. "The other two options are Planet B-A88, or Planet F-821."

Fang Senyan asked calmly, "What does the 'M' designation mean for those two planets?"

Gilgirisna seemed to find his question quite basic, but she patiently explained, "That signifies Full Occupation. It means the enemy's control level on the planet has reached 98% or higher—Maximum Control."

Old Jack conveniently tapped his forehead. "The Brigadier General sustained a heavy blow to the head during the crash; some memory fragments are missing, so he can't recall certain details."

Fang Senyan nodded. "Very well, Lieutenant Gilgirisna, we will follow your recommendation. We are heading to that ancient, abandoned planet you mentioned. By the way, what is this planet called?"

Lieutenant Gilgirisna checked the data. Her large eyes widened with confusion. "That's strange; this planet has no conventional designation. It seems to only possess a name given by the Protoss. Let me try to translate it through the network... It seems to be called... The Lost Temple?"

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