Pluto was a celestial body with an equatorial diameter of two thousand three hundred kilometers, slightly smaller than the Moon. It was once counted among the nine major planets of the Solar System, until things went awry.

One of the criteria for defining a celestial body as a planet is its ability to clear other objects from its orbital path; Pluto failed this test, leading to its reclassification as a dwarf planet.

This was the extreme edge of the Solar System, the farthest reach from the Sun, receiving only a pitiful amount of light, shrouded for billions of years in an oppressive, absolute cold and boundless silence.

Yet, a little over half a century ago, Pluto was seized by the Ancient Legion and developed into their primary base of operations for assaulting the Solar System. Since that day, no human has ever set foot on Pluto’s surface again.

Over the decades, through mastery of advanced terraforming technology, Pluto had been transformed into a habitable world, boasting a breathable atmosphere and massive heating installations to substitute for sunlight. Maintaining this delicate environment demanded a constant, staggering expenditure of energy.

Pluto possessed a large moon named Charon. While Charon's mass ranked only in the middle tier among the Solar System's moons, it accounted for nearly one-tenth of Pluto's own mass. In terms of the ratio between a satellite and its planet, no other pair in the Solar System could rival this dynamic duo.

Charon’s presence was clearly visible on the optical screens, positioned right beside Pluto, one to the left and one to the right. Their relative volumes were so close that Charon resembled a companion star more than a mere satellite.

Yang Ying watched the screen, his expression composed, yet the lust for battle surged within him. A year prior, the Observers had already reached the Solar System's perimeter. With recent increases in reconnaissance efforts, Pluto’s entire defensive matrix had been thoroughly mapped: the deployment of defense cannon emplacements, energy conduit routes, personnel distribution, defensive nodes, and the precise locations of all critical departments had been completely logged!

During this time, the Observers had been detected, but thanks to their formidable cloaking abilities, they evaded the Ancient Legion’s repeated purges, continuously relaying vital intelligence—such as modifications to Pluto’s troop mobilization infrastructure—back to the secret base.

The General Staff had long since formulated a meticulous strategy for attacking Pluto. This plan had been refined and perfected through countless revisions, accounting for every conceivable contingency.

During the pre-war briefing, when Howard detailed the assault plan, he had stated:

“We have only ten warships. Though they are superior Beasts-class vessels, they cannot afford a direct confrontation with the entire defense system. Do not forget the several Level Seven Fortress Cannons deployed on Pluto.”

“What we must do is strike the vital weak points of their defense matrix before those apes can even react, paralyzing the entire system.”

“The specific targets are the Energy Exchange Centers buried deep within the defense matrix. There are six in total—three active, three reserve. Without the Energy Exchange Centers, Pluto’s defense system will instantly lose power and collapse.”

“However, those six targets are not clustered together; they are scattered across Pluto. Furthermore, due to structural limitations, the Energy Exchange Centers cannot be built too deep underground, yet they are situated within extremely robust fortifications, requiring a Yamato Cannon blast to penetrate and inflict sufficient damage.”

“In addition to Pluto, Charon hosts three more Energy Exchange Centers—two active, one reserve. Because the two worlds orbit so closely, their defensive perimeters overlap, making them function as a single entity. If we attack, we must strike all nine targets on both bodies simultaneously, necessitating the dispersal of our nine Beasts-class battlecruisers.”

And now, precisely located by the Observers, the nine Beasts-class battlecruisers—excluding the Beast itself—had dropped out of hyperspace and taken positions over the nine designated large Energy Exchange Centers on Pluto and Charon!

“Yamato Cannons, charge!” Howard abruptly stood up from his command seat and bellowed the order.

From the bows of the nine Beasts-class vessels, clusters of crimson energy orbs began to manifest, converging into a single massive energy sphere. Terrifying power was being amassed!

At that moment, deep beneath Pluto’s surface in a sealed chamber, a pair of horrifying eyes snapped wide open, blazing with crimson light. A towering wave of killing intent surged outward, causing the entire chamber, perhaps the entire underground structure, to tremble with the force of that awakening.

“Impossible!”

A thunderous roar erupted from the owner of those eyes, shaking the bedrock. Even the stone and iron walls, impervious for eons, cracked with a dense network of fissures. This was the Ape King, Hardek!

In the next instant, his form vanished from the chamber as if he had never been there.

In space, the nine clusters of crimson energy erupted outward as beams of pure light, screaming with an indescribable, piercing shriek. Like lances piercing everything, they slammed brutally into the planetary surface!

Boom-boom-boom... Boom-boom-boom...

Patches of blinding light ignited across the surface. Massive fireballs erupted violently from below, expanding with ferocious speed. Their volume ballooned in moments to several kilometers in diameter, launching entire swathes of the ground into the sky!

The atmosphere, scorched clean by the searing light, was violently ionized, releasing a sharp, acrid smell of burning. Shockwaves blasted outwards, scattering fragments of rock, dust, metal, circuit boards, and shredded limbs across the surrounding void.

Destruction! Destruction! More destruction!

The Yamato Cannon represented the pinnacle of human destructive capability, second only to nuclear weapons. The nine fortifications struck by the blasts were utterly breached without exception, detonating the massive Energy Exchange devices within and triggering cascading explosions. The superheated air transformed those nine zones into a living hellscape, and the temperature continued to climb!

At the epicenter of the detonations, steel vaporized instantly, as if it were mere ice. Even Master-level Apes, unable to escape in time, would have been pulverized into dust and then incinerated to ash.

When the blasts subsided, all that remained were massive, gaping chasms. The Energy Exchange Centers and everything else were reduced to history.

Hardek then materialized on the surface. He emerged from his underground sanctum into a magnificent palace built atop a towering mountain peak. Thousands of stone steps spiraled upwards, winding along the path to the palace entrance.

Hardek strode outside, standing on the uppermost platform of the thousand steps, gazing up at the cosmos. His blood-red eyes sharpened, and suddenly, his gaze locked onto a single point in the starfield—the exact location of the Beast!

On the bridge's optical screen, a live feed of that palace was playing. Yang Ying saw Hardek's gaze lock onto him, their eyes meeting across the gulf of space. Simultaneously, he felt a colossal wave of psychic force surge from Hardek, striking directly through the screen!

Everyone else on the bridge suddenly felt a crushing tightness in their chests, as if breath had been momentarily stolen away.

Then, Yang Ying coughed lightly. Everyone immediately gasped, taking deep, relieved breaths.

Yang Ying casually shut off the optical screen. “We are too far for Hardek’s psychic projection to have full effect. That was merely an illusion technique designed to force you into a state of suspended animation, making you believe you were suffocating. As long as you don't look at the screen, you are safe.”

The assembled staff members nodded in understanding, quickly returning to their duties. Howard roared, “Target confirmed: Beast. Lock the Yamato Cannon onto the palace below and begin charging!”

“Yes, commencing charge!”

An orb of burnt-orange light began to coalesce at the bow of the Beast.

“Pluto has no day; even when the Sun is in the sky, it is perpetual night. Thus, in the Ape dialect, Pluto is known as the Star of Eternal Night.”

Yang Ying rose, watching the reddish-orange sphere transform into a brilliant beam that hammered down, striking the planetary surface. A violent explosion engulfed the entire palace, and the mountain it stood upon was shrouded in a billowing cloud of dust, rendering visibility zero.

“The palace just destroyed was called the Palace of Eternal Night, Hardek’s private residence. While the Yamato Cannon's blast radius is vast, given Hardek’s capabilities, escaping this attack with prior warning should not have been difficult for him.”

During the moment Hardek unleashed his illusion, Yang Ying had assessed his power to be roughly comparable to his own, having not yet broken through to a higher echelon. He swept up his cloak, letting it billow behind him with a sharp snap, and tossed it onto the back of his command chair. “I will go meet Hardek. If Baromon appears, my avatar will handle him. You continue with the next phase of the attack. Do not worry about my safety.” With that, he opened the hatch and walked out of the bridge; the door sealed silently behind him.

“Yes, Commander!”

Howard turned, sweeping his gaze across the bridge, his expression grim. “Commander Yang will handle Ape King Hardek. Step One is complete; all enemy Energy Conversion Centers are destroyed, and the defense matrix is paralyzed. We now proceed to Step Two!”

He strode forward two paces and announced loudly, “Order the remaining vessels to take formation. Prepare for orbital bombardment of Pluto with nuclear ordnance!”

“Yes, Captain!”

The communications officer immediately relayed the command.

Orbital bombardment was a method of attack involving launching missiles from deep space toward the planetary surface. Accelerated by the planet's gravity well, these missiles could achieve terrifying speeds, making them exponentially harder to intercept the lower they descended.

Before the Energy Exchange Centers were destroyed, the Ancient Legion’s outer space rail defenses were operational; launching nuclear missiles then would have invited easy interception. Now that Pluto’s defense system was crippled, launching missiles carried virtually no risk of interception.

The ten Beasts-class ships aligned themselves in a ring around Pluto’s outer orbit. With Howard's sharp command: “Fire!”

A relentless storm of nuclear missiles erupted from the various launch bays like scattered blossoms, plunging toward the surface of Pluto!