The edge of the Han Mercenary Group—you, you’ve actually broken through to the Fourth Level? Lunge was utterly flabbergasted. He certainly recognized the person who had defeated him before. Yet, every sense told him that the figure before him was no longer the one who had beaten him, but an entity who had comprehensively surpassed him in form and essence.

The boundless sense of insignificance was indescribable, like a snail facing a towering, majestic mountain. Lunge could not muster the slightest thought of resistance, and Sa’an was the same.

It was less that Blade looked down upon Lunge and Sa’an as if they were ants, and more that Blade's eyes merely reflected their own mentality; these two peak Third Level masters from the Kustar system viewed themselves as ants before him. It was the instinctive fear of an inferior facing a superior.

As for Blade, his heart remained unmoved, neither pleased nor angered. What were Lunge and Sa’an to him? Though his eyes were upon them, not a ripple of emotion stirred within him; they were unworthy.

“Lunge, two years ago you came to the Solar System, swaggering about, only to be defeated by me. Returning today to seek death—very good. Consider this the final settlement of our grievances; you will meet your end here.”

“Sa’an, do you understand what it means to cash in your chips now? If not, it’s fine, I’ll tell you. This is what it means.”

Blade’s voice echoed in the ears of both Lunge and Sa’an, yet the message delivered was vastly different for each. As his words faded, Blade made no grand gesture, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

After Blade disappeared, the other Kustar staff officers in the command room finally reacted, shouting in alarm, but Lunge and Sa’an remained unresponsive.

One bold staff officer stepped forward, waving a hand in front of Lunge and Sa’an, still nothing.

A dreadful premonition settled upon them all. This was not a matter of mental power; anyone with common sense knew this was unnatural. Suddenly, the two peak Third Level masters simply collapsed, disintegrating into piles of ash.

Immediately, the entire command room erupted into screams of every description.

It should be noted that a Fourth Level existence, having only grasped the superficial aspects of the fundamental rules, should not find it easy to kill a peak Third Level expert. Back then, Yang Ying, utilizing his main body plus six avatars—a total of six peak Third Level entities—fought against Hadak, who had just advanced to the Fourth Level. Even then, Hadak expended the majority of his strength to suppress all six of Yang Ying’s forms beneath the stone mountain.

Yet now, Blade had silently reduced Lunge and Sa’an, two peak Third Level masters, to dust without provoking any resistance. The disparity in strength between him and Hadak was starkly evident.

After leaving the Kustar flagship, Blade released a mental wave that swept across the entire vessel, rendering its internal structure perfectly visible.

All creations of mechanical civilization possess unavoidable characteristics: high precision, high sensitivity, and susceptibility to damage. By applying minimal force to destroy a few core components, the entire system could be compromised.

Blade located the Kustar flagship’s primary power core. With a mere thought, he destroyed several key components within it. The core instantly overloaded. The personnel aboard used every means possible to shut down the primary reactor, but the core components required for shutdown were also within the scope of Blade’s destruction. No matter what they tried, they could not reduce the pressure building within the core.

Ten seconds later, the entire flagship exploded, with only a handful of escape pods managing to flee.

Blade stood proudly in the void, pointing his finger repeatedly. Every warship he touched became a fireball within ten seconds. The Kustar fleet began to diminish at an alarming rate. Ten minutes later, the Kustar fleet had lost over a thousand warships, their command system collapsing into chaos, and the entire fleet began to flee.

It was fleeing, not retreating; they sought to escape the battlefield as quickly as possible to utilize spatial jumps for escape.

But just then, a vast expanse of brilliant light flared in the distance. A massive fleet materialized in the void, composed of one hundred thousand Bullhead-class battlecruisers, blocking the Kustar fleet's rear escape route. Seeing the Kustar personnel attempting to flee, ten thousand Yamato cannons roared in unison, shattering nearly five thousand warships into fragments.

The remaining Kustar fleet numbered just over eight thousand, but they were already utterly terrified and had lost the will to fight.

Nearly three thousand warships risked catastrophic destruction by forcing a spatial jump. Most of them collided with flying debris during acceleration—debris sourced largely from adjacent destroyed Kustar warships, and some from the fighters of both sides.

A smaller fraction of warships managed to escape, returning to the Kustar star domain; this contingent numbered around one thousand.

Finally, just over five thousand warships remained, surrendering to the Terran Mercenary Group. The commander of the Mineral Star Defense Fleet requested Blade’s authorization to accept the surrender. Blade instructed him to accept. Capturing the Kustar personnel alive was far more useful than killing them.

The battle concluded here. The Kustar fleet suffered a crushing defeat, while the Mineral Star Defense Fleet sustained minimal losses.

Blade ordered the Defense Fleet to send a battle report back to the Solar System detailing the situation. This report was sent concurrently to the Earth Alliance.

Of course, Blade’s primary intention was to notify the K’star people so they could dispatch personnel to receive the prisoners of war; informing the Earth United Government was merely an afterthought.

The conflict between the Terran Mercenary Group and the Kustar people had already escalated far beyond the scope in which Earthlings could intervene. For instance, delivering those five thousand captured warships to the Solar System alone could easily result in the extinction of humanity.

Yang Ying had never held any desire to rule Earth. To paraphrase Emperor Reinhard in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, his mantra was: "My ambition lies across the starry seas." Earth was a trivial matter, cumbersome, and the interests fought over by various factions were nothing more than petty gains in Yang Ying's current view. Suffice it to say, the resources produced by the dozen-plus mineral stars he had developed outside the Solar System already exceeded the total output of the Solar System itself.

In Yang Ying's estimation, there were far grander stages beyond the Solar System, and within it, the Terran Corporation was sufficient. Coupled with the relatively stable new government established by Kinseiler, Yang Ying allowed Earth civilization to develop naturally.

When the battle report reached the Solar System, it quickly landed on Kinseiler’s desk. Kinseiler pondered for a moment, then classified the report as top secret, keeping it unpublished. He felt that for Earthlings, war with the formidable Kustar people was a topic best left unmentioned; if this report got out, the entire society would likely plunge back into panic.

But even if the entire society were against it, could that change the course of action of the Terran Mercenary Group? With the Terran Mercenary Group defeating a Kustar fleet of fifteen thousand warships, the Earth United Government lacked the moral standing to negotiate with them.

“Draft a congratulatory telegram for me,” Kinseiler instructed his secretary, “addressed to Commander Yang Ying.”

Meanwhile, at the K’star Embassy, Jia Yuna stared at the battle report in her hands, dumbfounded. She recognized the individual words in universal Earth script, but arranged together, they seemed utterly unbelievable.

“Fifteen thousand warships, led by Lunge and Sa’an, utterly finished? Could the unit count be wrong? Perhaps one hundred and fifty?” Jia Yuna pondered for a moment, then shook her head, “No, how could such a mistake happen—mistaking one hundred and fifty for fifteen thousand.”

She set down the report, summoned a military officer, and said, “Prepare a ship for me; I am going to Terran Manor City.”

“Yes, officer!” The officer immediately set out to make preparations.

Half an hour later, Jia Yuna boarded the port at Manor City, transferred transport, and arrived at the central castle. Upon entering the castle and settling into the reception room, it wasn't long before Blade walked in.

The moment Jia Yuna saw Blade, she was startled by those eyes of thunder, displaying an expression of shock uncharacteristic of her usual demeanor. She pointed at Blade and exclaimed, “You—you’ve advanced to the Fourth Level!”

“Mmm, isn’t that right?” Blade smiled.

Jia Yuna immediately noticed her impropriety. She smoothed the surprise from her expression, speaking formally and politely, “Lord Blade, Jia Yuna was unaware you had achieved Fourth Level existence. I beg your indulgence.”

Blade shook his head. “This isn’t right. My advancement to the Fourth Level is good news, why do you need to become so distant? Just be as you were before.”

“Uh…” Jia Yuna managed a wry smile, yet seemed simultaneously relieved. “Other than meeting Grandmother three times, I’ve never met any other Fourth Level beings. I was afraid you…” she trailed off, “afraid you might…”

“Afraid I’d abandon all sentiment and no longer treat you as a friend?” Blade inquired. “How can a person’s heart change so quickly? Even a divine heart wouldn’t be so erratic.”

After a few more exchanges, Blade managed to soothe Jia Yuna’s anxious heart. Though she remained somewhat constrained, she was significantly better than her previous apprehensive state.

“Oh, right,” Jia Yuna finally recalled the purpose of her visit. “That battle report…”

“I sent it,” Blade replied. “I just returned from the battlefield. I killed both Lunge and Sa’an, and captured five thousand three hundred and thirty-eight warships. I left the Mineral Star Defense Fleet in charge on site.”

“What are your plans for those prisoners?” Jia Yuna asked.

“If you’re interested, we can sell them to you at a reduced price,” Blade offered. “We are mercenaries, after all; fighting is also a business transaction.”

“Mercenaries? Mercenaries!!!” Jia Yuna suddenly understood the subtext in Blade’s words and blurted out with delighted surprise, “Then on behalf of the K’star people, I hire you!” She instantly regretted her stiff tone and added quietly, “Is that permissible?”

“It is,” Blade nodded. “We are destined to fight the Kustar people. Our commander, Yang Ying, decided that long ago. Oh, and by the way, I should let you know, Yang Ying has also advanced to the Fourth Level. He’s currently occupied outside but will return in a few days.”

Jia Yuna suddenly felt the urge to faint. Fourth Level! That was Fourth Level! And Yang Ying had advanced too? He said that so casually!!! For more chapters and details, please log in to [Website Address], support the original author, and support genuine reading!

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