...Strike! Finally, Yang Ying solidified his plan: it was time for an accounting with the members of the Bai Yuan Sect.

In Yang Ying's view, if one was going to act, one had to act decisively. This was the perfect opportunity to launch a full-scale assault on the Bai Yuan Sect.

The Bai Yuan Sect’s influence permeated all sectors of society; their intelligence capabilities were outstanding, and coupled with potent enforcers like the Ape Messengers, this made Helas an even more formidable force.

If the Bai Yuan Sect could be crushed, even if the sniping of Helas failed, it would prevent him from rapidly staging a comeback.

Once all preparations were complete, Yang Ying began to wait for the Bai Yuan Sect's next move. Two days had passed since the attack on Lu Beilun. Based on intelligence analysis and calculations, the Bai Yuan Sect’s second operation should be imminent.

Indeed, the Bai Yuan Sect did not make Yang Ying wait long.

At precisely 10:00 PM that night, a Watcher transmitted a message: spaceships carrying Bai Yuan Sect members were spotted around Hammer City. Among the crew, there were five experts ranked at or above the High-Tier level—meaning the Bai Yuan Sect had dispatched five Ape Messengers to Hammer.

Hammer City was not highly ranked among the industrial hubs of the Asteroid Belt, but since the Tlan Mercenary Group took over, it had begun to show vitality it previously lacked.

Currently, in the city, factory lights glowed across entire blocks, with workers operating in three shifts. Thanks to mature robotics technology, many simple manual labor tasks had been replaced by automatons, meaning a factory required only a small number of workers for production.

Furthermore, due to massive leaps in productivity, the total societal wealth was incomparable to the Old Earth era. Now, the wages of a single worker were enough to provide a respectable life for a family of five. Coupled with generous welfare policies, even the unemployed received substantial relief funds, leading to overall societal stability.

In the deep night, five figures clad in black cloaks emerged from the port.

“Our target is in the northwest corner. We must be swift and decisive; not like last time.”

The leading figure lowered their hood—it was Ulysses. As soon as he finished speaking, the four figures behind him nodded firmly. Ulysses waved his hand, and the five figures vanished, sprinting toward the northwest corner of the city.

More than twenty kilometers away, at the highest tower in the center of Hammer City, a clone of Yang Ying stood on the edge of the rooftop, gazing toward the port. He could clearly track the movements of the five black-robed figures.

Simultaneously, on a clearing on the Floating Continent, hundreds of life-support pods were neatly arranged in a square formation. All pod hatches were open, and every body within was activated, standing by.

A cruciform mark suddenly lit up on the back of the right hand of the clone on the rooftop, and Yang Ying’s main soul descended into that body.

With another flash of golden light, twelve figures materialized behind him. These twelve were all clones, making a total of thirteen bodies.

Yang Ying adjusted his consciousness. Among the thirteen, only one figure’s appearance was cloned exactly after Yang Ying’s prime body, without any alterations. Yang Ying’s main soul moved into this body. Another body had been configured to resemble Blade. As for the remaining eleven, they carried no such specific designation.

The thirteen figures moved their limbs slightly. Each of them possessed the strength of a peak Quasi-Master. When eliminating the Ape Master Mika and Saint Sa, Yang Ying had used six bodies; when dealing with Kordemi, only two were needed.

Now, with thirteen bodies deployed, Yang Ying had decided to use his full might.

“Facing five Ape Messengers, I think two bodies should suffice,” Yang Ying murmured to himself.

Eleven clones instantly phased out of sight, leaving only Yang Ying and Blade. The two shifted their footing, flashing rapidly between the various rooftops, closing in on Ulysses and his group.

Ulysses suddenly felt the hairs on his neck stand on end. He waved a hand, halting the four behind him: “Stop! Watch your surroundings!”

Whoosh!

At that moment, a piercing air-raid siren blared. It was only 10 PM, and most families were still awake. Hearing the siren, they reacted immediately.

Pirate activity was common in the Asteroid Belt, so air-raid sirens were not unusual. The citizens of Hammer City were long accustomed to handling such situations; they poured out of their homes and hurried toward the nearest shelters.

This air-raid alarm, of course, had been ordered by Yang Ying. A massive battle was imminent, and evacuating later, once Helas actually appeared, would be too late. At that point, the entire city could become the battlefield. Yang Ying had witnessed the destructive power of a Peak Master clearly enough in Paradise City.

Ulysses and his group stopped in the middle of a wide street, forming a circle, warily monitoring their surroundings, paying no mind to the wail of the siren.

“They’re here!” Ulysses looked up. He saw two figures hurtling down from the sky toward them!

“Dodge!” The five Ape Messengers scattered instantly.

Boom! Boom!

Two loud concussions followed as Yang Ying and Blade landed, embedding two deep craters into the pavement. Cracks spread outward, rubble flew, and dust billowed, engulfing half the street.

Some citizens who had been walking down that street immediately cursed, turned, and ran, choosing a detour.

Zzzt! Zzzt! Zzzt!

A series of sounds echoed through the air as lightsabers were ignited. Ulysses and the five Ape Messengers aimed their sabers toward the center of the dust cloud. Ulysses’s saber was a purple blade—a special type—while the other four wielded ordinary red blades.

As the dust settled, the figures of Yang Ying and Blade were revealed.

This time, Yang Ying no longer feared exposing the Tlan lineage’s saber-forging capabilities. Both he and Blade held silver lightsabers. Their silver gleam caused Ulysses and his cohort to frown.

Ulysses held the hilt of his saber against his chest, raising the purple blade point upward, then swung it toward the lower right—a rather classical dueling gesture. “You must be Commander Yang Ying? I have long admired your reputation.” He then turned to Blade: “Colonel Blade, long time no see. It feels like only yesterday we parted ways at Gray Harbor. Indeed, they say three days apart changes a man’s perspective.”

“I saw you just a few days ago, in Paradise City Two,” Yang Ying countered, recalling the sight of Agon charging toward that spaceship. “Are you stalling for time, waiting for Helas to arrive? The person furthest to your right just activated a device in his sleeve—is he signaling Helas that I’ve appeared?”

“As expected of Commander Yang Ying. It seems you already know why we attacked the Lu Beilun office.” Ulysses smiled. “But knowing everything, you still dared to show yourself. I don’t know whether to call you clever or foolish. I originally thought you wouldn't lose your temper until we eliminated three or four more offices. To think you’d come running over yourself after just one visit to Lu Beilun—it saves us so much effort.”

One Ape Messenger sounded impatient. “Number One, why waste time talking? Hurry up and hold him here to keep him from escaping.”

“Idiot,” Ulysses snapped back. “Since Commander Yang Ying has seen through everything and is standing here before us, it means he won’t run. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even see him.”

“Heh heh,” Yang Ying chuckled, addressing Ulysses. “Waiting is quite boring anyway. Perhaps we should spar a bit to pass the time.”

Saying this, without waiting for Ulysses’s reply, he vanished, raising his silver lightsaber high, and brought it down to cleave toward the five Ape Messengers.

“Well met!”

Ulysses met the charge instantly, stepping forward at high speed. Each step left an indentation on the ground. He swept his purple saber upward from below.

Clang!

The two blades collided. Ulysses retreated a step, clearly inferior to Yang Ying in sheer power.

Of the other four Ape Messengers, one had Quasi-Master strength, while the other three were High-Tier. Blade took them on.

The two sides engaged in a fierce melee on the street, kicking up a gale, the clash of lightsabers incessant.

After a few exchanges, Yang Ying realized that the Ape Messenger Number One truly lived up to his fame. Grand Master Pang Qian had once commented that Ulysses’s talent was the highest among all the young pupils he had taught at the initiate school. He mastered any technique after just a couple of tries, often deriving wonderful variations after only two demonstrations—a rare genius appearing once in a century.

Yang Ying observed that Ulysses’s swordsmanship was grand and imposing, entirely righteous, still bearing the deep influence of the Nian-Neng Temple foundational sword arts. Furthermore, Ulysses’s mastery of execution was far superior to Yang Ying’s; he had even grasped the application of the Defensive Circle. Although his psychic power was slightly weaker, it was still over 70,000, not far from Yang Ying’s 90,000.

After dozens of moves, Yang Ying found himself slightly suppressed. Ulysses’s purple sword danced with increasing fluidity, one move flowing seamlessly into the next, revealing absolutely no opening. Yang Ying thought to himself that if he didn't transform, he might truly be unable to deal with this man.

Ulysses clearly knew his purple blade was a tier lower than Yang Ying’s silver one, so he was using maximum effort in every strike, determined to end the fight quickly before Yang Ying could exploit the advantage of the silver lightsaber.

However, on the other side of the street, the fight was decidedly one-sided. Blade held an absolute advantage. Right from the start, he unleashed the Lightning of the Luminary Consul, instantly electrocuting two foes. Protosian spells were all Master-level abilities; how could two mere High-Tier Ape Messengers withstand them?

They were enveloped by the sphere of electricity and hurled into a building beside the street—a supermarket. As they crashed through, window shards shattered across the floor with crisp sounds. The two figures, scorched and emitting smoke, still hadn't managed to get up.

Blade then fought two-on-one, seizing an opportunity to dispatch another High-Tier Ape Messenger. The remaining Quasi-Master was far inferior to Ulysses, and within a few moves, Blade pinned him down.

At this moment, a Watcher transmitted intelligence: a fighter jet was approaching Hammer City at high speed from outside. Among its passengers was an Apen with a psychic reaction signature corresponding to a Grand Master level—it would reach Hammer in five minutes.

Helas was coming!