No wonder the U-Star people weren't rushing to attack Gemini. For one, they couldn't activate their base; for another, they were awaiting reinforcements. These scoundrels had learned their lesson, sending escort troops when traversing wormholes. Now, if I wanted to use my old trick again, I'd have to break through a blockade of over a thousand space fighters while facing the concentrated fire of two warships. The odds were too slim, not worth the risk.

The first warship to emerge from the wormhole was massive, easily a size larger than the two initial long-rod shaped warships. That wormhole was retractable; whatever passed through it—large or small—dictated its size. The warship was pyramid-shaped, and it took over half an hour for it to fully transit out of the anomaly.

As the pyramid emerged, it began to gleam with golden light—the illumination from the warship's systems coming online. This signaled the restoration of its power core. The two long-rod warships escorted it closely on either side; I had no opening whatsoever. I could only watch helplessly as the pyramid warship's hatches parted, disgorging a swarm of micro-fighters that poured out like sparrows. They were significantly larger than even the 'bullet-head' type space fighters; I felt they shouldn't even be called fighters anymore, but rather micro-warships.

These micro-warships dispersed, taking up defensive positions to enhance security. The fact that the wormhole remained open meant more troops were behind them. This was disastrous; the U-Star people were enraged, likely deploying a massive force to completely annihilate the sentient life on Gemini. I needed to retreat quickly and organize our defenses.

The craft I was hiding in slipped cautiously into the asteroid field. They were likely making haste to rendezvous with the warships. I abandoned my hiding spot, preparing to return to Gemini to raise the alarm. Just then, another warship appeared in the wormhole—this one shaped like a massive, spherical iron ball. Its size, however, was in no way smaller than the pyramid that had just passed through. Apparently, this shape was advantageous for movement; with a few rolls, it shot out of the wormhole with surprising speed. Its power systems then normalized, and countless hatches opened across its spherical hull. Like a disturbed hornet's nest, a swarm of micro-warships burst forth, joining the first group, their murderous intent directed straight toward the asteroid field.

I knew they couldn't have discovered me; either they were heading to land on the moon colonies, or they intended to assault Gemini immediately. Time was short; I couldn't afford to watch any longer. I turned and dove toward Gemini. Regardless of their ultimate objective, the top priority was to immediately bolster Gemini's defenses.

Bursting into the communications room set up in the study, I rapidly transmitted the intelligence from space to all nations, simultaneously reissuing a Red Alert. All combat vehicles were ordered to scramble for patrol and readiness, and all energy cannons were commanded to load and prepare to fire on command.

Seeing me return, the women immediately followed me into the study, eager to learn the situation. Upon hearing that the U-Star people had brought reinforcements, their faces darkened. If it had been our reinforcements arriving, the excitement would have been palpable. I told them, "You all should retreat to the underground city for now; the surface should be safer there."

Hua Qingqing, however, countered, "Perhaps not. After all, the underground city's location was exposed when we accessed the magnetic disks from that secret U-Star box. The surface dwellers are merely technologically backward but highly intelligent beings. The U-Star people might not care about them. Staying here might actually be safer."

I conceded, "If you stay in the Twin Cities, you can't remain in the Inner City. The Inner City is too conspicuous an objective. Either return to the Zhao Residence or go to the Underground Corridor."

Before the group could reach a consensus, the alarms shrieked. Every early warning station had detected a massive influx of alien micro-warships; they had pierced the atmosphere and entered our alert space. Yun Yao shoved me, saying, "Go help them, husband. I'll take the sisters to the Underground Corridor to hide."

"Alright. Xiao Rui, Xiao Wei, take your brother and father. I must find a way to intercept the U-Star warships in the air. If they manage to land, regardless of the nation, disaster will follow."

The women immediately rushed off to prepare their craft. I didn't linger to supervise them, instead leaping into the sky to assess the situation. The alien warships were approaching fast; the advance guard was already engaged in fierce combat with our aerial patrol vehicles. Both sides were employing energy cannons, though occasionally engaging in close-quarters combat where our vehicles would release corrosive fog. Yet, the U-Star warships seemed unfazed by this substance; their heavy armor possessed anti-corrosion properties. Even direct hits from our combat vehicles' energy cannons rarely resulted in immediate destruction unless they struck a vital area.

The battle had barely lasted a moment before the superiority gap became evident. Although the Fishmen Nation possessed a greater number of vehicles, these craft were inferior to the enemy in terms of maneuverability, speed, size, and weapon power. Our losses were mounting far higher than those of the U-Star forces. As more U-Star warships pierced the atmosphere to join the fray, the number of our five thousand vehicles began to drop precipitously.

Whether I could single-handedly turn the tide or not, if I allowed the U-Star warships to breach Fish Capital or the underground city, letting them destroy the production lines and research departments we had painstakingly established, we would likely never have the capacity to resist the U-Star forces again. Therefore, I had to fight, even if it meant fighting beyond my limits. If not for this, why create the Netherlight?

With that thought, I drew the Laser Sword from my waist, setting the blue flame to its maximum intensity. The two-meter-long, ten-centimeter-wide blade shimmered in my hand. With a great shout, I charged into the fray. Energy bolts flew everywhere. Some vehicles weren't shot down by the enemy, but accidentally hit by our own energy blasts. Their armor wasn't as thick as the U-Star ships'; one shot could destroy an entire vehicle. They lacked combat experience.

A warship bore down on me. My diminutive size hadn't escaped its notice. Two energy projectiles with automatic tracking fired toward me. I ignored them, bracing for the energy blasts to detonate against my force field, and swung my sword directly toward the warship's center mass. This micro-warship, which had emerged from the U-Star sphere-shaped vessel, was cleanly cleaved in two before it exploded.

This was likely the twentieth enemy vessel destroyed since the battle began, while the Fishmen vehicle losses had already surpassed one hundred. If this one-sided rout wasn't controlled soon, the aerial force we had managed to assemble would be annihilated by the U-Star invaders.

I hesitated no longer. I wielded the Netherlight incessantly, hacking at the warships around me. Those vessels lacked energy shields, and the intensity of the Netherlight could easily penetrate their metal hulls, slicing through them like cutting vegetables. Since the U-Star warships were sealed, damaging any single part was enough to cripple the entire system. I propelled energy clusters across the battlefield, moving so rapidly that those with slower reactions could only perceive flashes of ethereal blue light dancing in the sky, unable to discern the actual engagement. But wherever the blue light passed, U-Star warships began to fall like dropping beans into the ground and the sea.

Due to the sheer size of the battlefield, I couldn't intercept them all. Some warships had already plunged into the sea; their likely target was the capital city of the Fishmen Nation. Although the capital was defended by combat vehicles and energy cannons, the U-Star warships were formidable; who knew if the defenses would hold? Realizing this, I immediately began to descend as well—if I couldn't hold the sky, I would assist on the ground.

A sudden, blinding light flashed overhead, causing me to halt my descent and look up. In the distance, suspended in the sky, was the pyramid-shaped warship. But this time, its apex was pointed downward, sparking with fire. A dazzling beam of blinding white light shot toward the surface, and immediately, a massive tunnel opened in the earth’s crust. Judging by the location of the underground city, there was a strong possibility this tunnel led directly there. The U-Star warship deployed a contingent that dove into the newly opened tunnel, presumably to assault the underground city.

Anxiously, I ignored the micro-warships attacking Fish Capital and spun around to intercept the tunnel entrance. After all, Xi Menyan and Xiao Yu'er were still in the underground city, which had comparatively weaker defenses. I had originally assumed the thick rock layers would offer resistance, but now it seemed the U-Star laser technology was far superior—boring a passage was easier for them than reaching the seabed.

I instantly sliced down a dozen micro-warships flying toward me in the air. My presence must have finally attracted the attention of the pyramid warship; its apex slowly pivoted to face me. Sparks flew, and a white light shot in my direction. I casually skewered a micro-warship in my path and raised my sword to block the white beam. Whether it was my external energy shield or the Netherlight in my hand, the clash of lasers caused a massive explosion that nearly flung me ten miles away.

Suppressing the bile churning in my stomach, a searing pain shot up my arm. Glancing down, I saw my clothing was on fire! I furiously smothered the flames on my sleeve and adjusted my energy shield. The earlier explosion must have caused a momentary failure in the shield, allowing the enemy's laser to scorch my uniform. Thankfully, it was only my clothes; if they had bored a hole through my body, I wasn't confident I could self-repair.

The U-Star warships that had penetrated the atmosphere now numbered over three thousand. They had split into three columns: one engaged in chaotic combat with the Fishmen aerial vehicles, another dove into the underwater Fish Capital, and the third followed the newly bored tunnel toward the underground city. Meanwhile, the pyramid warship had locked onto my position, preparing its second wave of laser strikes, another white beam zeroing in on me.

This time, I dared not meet it head-on. Relying on my small size, I activated my energy clusters to evade the strike. It was a classic strategy: capture the leader first. Since I couldn't be everywhere at once, I decided to assault their main warship. If the pyramid fell, the remaining small fry would surely retreat.

I maneuvered behind the pyramid warship. It had shifted its orientation to an eighty-degree horizontal position, presenting me with a dozen massive exhaust ports on its flank. A hostile warship zipped past me. I cleanly sliced off its rear thrusters with one swing of my sword, then struck it with my palm, sending it hurtling toward the pyramid ship's exhaust ports.

Just as I anticipated, the pyramid warship possessed an energy shield. The micro-warship was repelled by an invisible ripple before it could even touch the hull. A wave, seemingly formless, spread outward; I suspected my individual strength would not be enough to breach this defense.

I continued to fight off the surrounding warships while rapidly formulating a plan. By this time, the pyramid ship had turned back, its apex aimed directly at my location, locking on. Electricity and sparks erupted around the tip. Seeing another laser barrage preparing to fire, I managed to strike two U-Star micro-warships and send them flying. One of them flew toward the pyramid ship and, astonishingly, encountered no resistance until it was nearly upon the hull, at which point it was finally destroyed by the ship's automated turret.

Swish! Just then, the pyramid warship's laser fired toward me. The laser cannon on this U-Star vessel absolutely surpassed current Earth manufacturing capabilities; it had to be a super-heavy beam weapon. But it had a fatal flaw, which I now recognized. Realizing its weakness, I quickly evaded the strike. It turned out that when the warship focused all its power to fire the laser cannon, its energy shield experienced a momentary failure. If I could time it right, a single strike could succeed.

I immediately had an idea. I darted and twisted in the air several times, attracting a large contingent of micro-warships and deliberately engaging them directly in front of the pyramid warship. The pyramid's primary target was me, as those micro-warships posed no threat to me, while I was slaughtering them. The pyramid certainly couldn't tolerate that, so it began preparing its next laser blast.

As sparks and electricity flared around its apex, I broke away from the micro-warships dogfighting around me, gathered all my strength, and charged the pyramid at maximum speed with the Laser Sword in hand. Just as I predicted, when I reached within a hundred meters of the warship, I encountered no resistance. Even as I closed nearer, the ship's automated turrets failed to react because my approach was too fast. By the time the Netherlight pierced deep into the pyramid warship's structure, its final laser beam had yet to fire.

For more novels, visit storyread.net.