The light in the chamber was dim, visibility extremely poor. Zhong Yun felt as if he were back in his rural hometown, staring up at the cloudless night sky during the seventh month.

The light seemed to emanate from nowhere; Zhong Yun couldn't discern any source. Having grown accustomed to the comprehensive sensory imaging system, relying on optical imaging felt strange. The visibility was truly awful; with Linglong's optical system, anything beyond three thousand meters was indistinct.

Zhong Yun watched his surroundings cautiously. The 'Golden Relics' were fraught with peril, and he dared not relax his guard in the slightest.

After flying for nearly forty million kilometers, Zhong Yun vaguely spotted an object emitting a faint glow in the distance, thinking it must be the continent Gu Yi had mentioned.

As he flew closer, he realized the "continent's" shape was bizarrely flat, like a wooden plank. Although the universe was filled with strange celestial bodies, he had seldom heard of one where the ratio of height to surface area was so exaggerated.

If a comparison had to be made, this continent resembled a frying pan, with its thickness proportional to the pan's surface.

This continent was likely not naturally formed, Zhong Yun surmised.

Suddenly, he noticed a minute deviation in the external force readings on Linglong's instrument panel.

Gravitational pull? Zhong Yun frowned. He quickly calculated that to generate such immense gravity, the continent's density must be far greater than that of a normal celestial body.

The others soon spotted the continent too. While the Gu, Lan, and Qin families already understood the situation, the rest were filled with exclamations of wonder.

"I never expected a celestial body to be shaped like this," came Hong Yuting's voice over the comms. Zhong Yun chuckled. "This place doesn't feel like ordinary space."

"You are right," Hong Yuting realized. "This Golden Relics site is truly steeped in strangeness."

Zhong Yun offered a slight smile. Without such capabilities, how could one claim to be a super-civilization nation?

The closer they flew, the stronger the gravity became. From afar, the continent appeared small, but in reality, its volume was far greater than that of an average satellite—comparable to the Freedom. Strictly calculated, this continent's surface area surpassed that of a natural star several times over.

Just as they neared the continent, Zhong Yun was stunned to discover vegetation on its surface. He checked several times before believing that the tall, pillar-like structures he saw were indeed flora.

The light on the continent was significantly brighter than that from a distance. Zhong Yun could clearly see the ground from an altitude of nearly ten thousand kilometers. Besides the towering, tree-like entities, the ground was covered in dense, grass-like vegetation.

Zhong Yun couldn't help but marvel, glancing at the gravity reading—it was almost identical to that of a regular natural star.

It seemed this was no coincidence.

Were those pockets of air in the vicinity the doing of this vegetation? The thought flashed through his mind, but Zhong Yun was here to seek treasure, not to solve mysteries.

Just then, Gu Yi's voice crackled over the comms: "Be careful. There are many fierce animals on the continent, and their attack power is astonishing."

Zhong Yun's heart tightened. For someone of Gu Yi's standing to describe the attack power as astonishing meant the creatures here were extraordinary.

Ahead, numerous mechs deployed from the Gu family's landing pod. Zhong Yun observed closely. High-grade mechs were difficult to classify by star rating based on appearance alone, but he could tell that none of the Gu family's mechs were below five-star.

Furthermore, they resembled a military unit—standardized mechs with a consistent design lineage. Judging by their maneuvers, they were clearly well-trained and possessed exceptional coordination.

A highly disciplined and coordinated squad of thirty thousand five-star mechs. Such strength was truly staggering. Zhong Yun was awestruck. In his Galactic Empire, only a handful of individuals possessed five-star mechs.

He knew that a competent five-star mech pilot, driving a five-star mech, could take down a "Quasi-Satellite" class battleship.

This luxurious mech team was led by a Level Five Master. If utilized properly, it was undoubtedly a monumental force capable of swaying the outcome of a war.

Of course, ordinary forces wouldn't deploy such cutting-edge power on a standard battlefield. It was better suited for special missions.

The Gu family had certainly spared no expense, Zhong Yun thought, inwardly sighing over when he might possess such a lavish fighting force himself.

But that remained just a thought; cultivating five-star mech pilots was no easy feat. To unleash the full potential of a five-star mech, the pilot's Yuan-level must reach at least Level Three.

Pilots like Chu Tiange, due to insufficient inherent strength, could only tap into about fifty percent of a five-star mech's power, despite their superior piloting skills.

He then looked toward the Lan and Qin families. Their strength was similarly formidable, each deploying two thousand standardized, high-grade mechs. Their power was second only to the Gu family.

The remaining families were far inferior. The largest contingent numbered just over a thousand, the smallest a few hundred. Combined, they barely matched the strength of the Lan family alone.

The Hong family fared the worst, with barely over a hundred units, placing them last among all families present.

As soon as the mech teams from each family emerged, they quickly formed an array, securing the landing pods within the center. Only Zhong Yun remained suspended foolishly by himself.

Zhong Yun was accustomed to operating solo or commanding vast swarms of light-brain mechs; he had no experience in small-group combat like this. Though Hong Yuting had left a space open for him, he didn't know how to coordinate with them.

"Xiao Yu?" Hong Yuting's questioning voice came over the comms.

Zhong Yun gave a self-deprecating smile. "I'm too used to flying solo; I'm afraid I'd drag you down. I'll stay on my own."

"Alright then," Hong Yuting didn't press the issue. The Hong family's mech team quickly adjusted, closing the gap.

At that moment, Gu Yi's voice sounded again: "Everyone prepare to land together. Maintain formation and set up camp in that area." Following this, a three-dimensional map appeared on the comms—likely recorded by the advance team. The camping spot Gu Yi indicated was a flat area, offering unobstructed views in all directions, making it an excellent location to establish a base.

The Gu family led the way forward again. Everyone proceeded cautiously, maintaining an altitude of ten thousand kilometers to avoid ground attacks from animals.

However, they were still ambushed.

As they flew over a range of high mountains, Zhong Yun abruptly noticed a dense swarm of objects rushing toward them at incredible speed. He acted instantly, shouting, "Watch out, attack!" as he activated Linglong's shield and summoned an ion cannon into his hand.

Ten streams of energy projectiles shot continuously from the cannon's ten barrels, spraying out like a rain of bullets toward the rapidly approaching cluster of unidentified flying objects.

"Clang, clang, clang..." A volley of dense, sharp metallic impacts resonated through the mech's hull, startling Zhong Yun. What were those things? Their outer shells were so incredibly hard.

The moment Zhong Yun opened fire, the others reacted instantly. Every mech pilot present was a seasoned ace with lightning-fast reflexes. Especially the mech teams from the Gu, Lan, and Qin families, whose long-range units immediately engaged.

Tens of thousands of mechs firing simultaneously quickly decimated a swath of the incoming swarm. The grating "clang, clang, clang..." sound was deeply shocking.

Warfare inside natural stars was rare, and in the vacuum of space, sound could not propagate. No matter how massive a starship exploded, it would be silent.

These impacts were jarring, but those present were resolute individuals and naturally would not be easily shaken; instead, their fire intensified.

Zhong Yun initially expected to repel the attackers quickly, but after nearly ten minutes of continuous shooting, the swarm of unknown objects seemed to multiply, appearing endless.

A few that flew closer allowed Zhong Yun to discern their appearance: small creatures, about the size of sparrows, encased in something nearly transparent. They were hard to spot with the naked eye.

They had three antennae on their heads, resembling ants in shape. They possessed a pair of extremely robust pincers relative to their body size. Their mouths were like those of mosquitoes—needle-sharp cones. And finally, a pair of nearly transparent wings on their backs.

The hardness of these creatures' exoskeletons was inconceivable. Particle blasts hitting their bodies directly failed to penetrate them; they only caused the bodies to indent slightly.

Fortunately, the particle rounds were still capable of killing them. Otherwise, Zhong Yun would have turned tail and fled. Being entangled by an unknown number of such difficult-to-kill entities would cost dearly, if not end in death.

Soon, everyone realized something was wrong. These creatures seemed inexhaustible; after more than ten minutes of sustained fire, their numbers appeared to be increasing.

The commanders directing operations from the landing craft quickly grew serious. These pods were specially built by the Gu family for this expedition. Though small, they were the most advanced products of the Andu Empire, possessing formidable combat capabilities.

Gu Yi immediately coordinated all the landing pods, preparing for an artillery barrage. Once the energy was accumulated, the mech cluster tacitly parted, and hundreds of thick energy beams swept across the visible area, obliterating the creatures.

The Andu Empire contingent took the opportunity to retreat. The unknown creatures did not pursue, likely intimidated by the overwhelming firepower.

Of course, a few stragglers remained. Zhong Yun, intensely curious about these organisms, captured a few for research. Although the universe held countless bizarre life forms, he had never encountered one so small yet possessing such grotesquely high defense levels.

Following this initial skirmish, everyone became even more cautious. They proceeded without incident, reaching their designated camp location without encountering any other strange phenomena.

It was a vast, open plain, devoid of any visible life forms as far as the eye could see.

The Gu family was well-prepared, bringing numerous engineering robots that immediately began work upon arrival. Under the Gu family's direction, the robots first excavated a remarkably deep pit in the ground.

At first, Zhong Yun wondered why such a deep hole was necessary; even foundational work didn't usually require digging fifty meters down.

Then it struck him: they were confirming the safety of the subsurface. Sometimes, due to ingrained habits of thought, dangers from below were easily overlooked.

Realizing this, Zhong Yun silently commended their thoroughness.

It appeared the Gu family intended to establish a long-term base here. They unloaded all the supplies they had brought and commenced a massive construction project.

As the engineering robots began their work, the Gu family summoned the leaders of all the other families for a meeting. Zhong Yun remained inside his mech. Although the external environment readings indicated habitability for humans, he was unwilling to take the risk.

Linglong, with its stunning, sleek lines and ethereal, sapphire-blue crystal structure, truly stood out like a crane among the antiquated mech clusters of the Hong family.

At times, Zhong Yun found Linglong's flashy appearance bothersome because its visibility made it an easy target in melee combat. However, this was only when visible light was present. In absolute darkness in space, its stealth capabilities were unparalleled.

But at this moment, it inevitably became the focus of attention because it was so stunning—it was practically a work of art. It wasn't surprising that Hong Yuting had been taken by it, intending to use it to woo the second Miss Qin.

Fortunately, these mech pilots were highly disciplined and refrained from causing trouble. Otherwise, Zhong Yun would have had a headache. Among mercenary-style bodyguard pilots, seizing a high-end mech based on superior strength was not uncommon.

Anyone with discernment could recognize Linglong as a high-grade mech.

Several hours later, Hong Yuting returned and immediately summoned Zhong Yun to the Hong family's landing pod.

"The Gu family plans to build a major base here," Hong Yuting stated as soon as he saw Zhong Yun.

This was not unexpected for Zhong Yun. These tens of thousands of personnel were far too few for true treasure hunting within the 'Golden Relics.' More likely, these forces were just a vanguard, with larger follow-up units surely en route.

He had no idea how vast this space was; initial estimates suggested it was at least the size of a natural star's solar system. Not to mention the strange creatures—those sparrow-sized beings they just encountered were certainly not the most formidable.

Zhong Yun was curious about the original purpose of the super-civilization in constructing this base. Building such a space to farm alien life? That seemed plausible.

Hong Yuting continued: Gu Yi proposed uniting all the mech teams under a single command structure. Although Hong Yuting was reluctant, the Gu, Lan, and Qin families had clearly colluded beforehand, and their combined strength formed the overwhelming majority. Opposition would be futile.

All family heads, except for retaining a few personal bodyguards, were to be integrated into the guard force. Although command would be unified, the commanders would still be members of their respective families. Otherwise, the other families would never agree.

While Hong Yuting was venting his frustrations to Zhong Yun, a disturbance arose outside.

Zhong Yun shot to his feet and rushed out, flying directly out of the landing craft's hatch.

The moment he emerged from the pod, he was met by a massive, overwhelming swarm of flying creatures surging toward him.

First appearance