Chu Ying arrived in the vast expanse, his golden light flashing as he summoned over a dozen clones, each opening a wormhole. Rushing to various battlefields, Yang Ying chose Ice River Star as his destination.

Ice River Star had always been a pivotal planet in the Dassen Star System; it boasted advanced technology, numerous factories, and one of the entire Empire's premier cerebral processing unit (CPU) production lines. Its institutions of higher learning and research institutes also ranked among the foremost in the whole star sector.

Once the war began, Ice River Star’s importance only grew. Nearly twenty percent of the Empire’s CPU orders were fulfilled on this planet, making it a critical stumbling block in the eyes of the Alliance.

In the offensive launched by Sandvo this time, a fleet of one hundred thousand warships approached Ice River Star. It was intercepted by the fortress guarding the planet, and the battle quickly devolved into a stalemate. The fortress was only medium-sized, incapable of repelling an entire fleet, yet the Alliance fleet could not immediately subdue the fortress either.

Just then, a wormhole suddenly appeared near the battlefield. A dazzling bolt of lightning tore out of it, vanishing in an instant.

Both sides’ spatial reconnaissance equipment registered this anomaly, roaring with harsh, ear-piercing alarms—alarms that, under normal circumstances, signified the arrival of a Level Four entity onto the battlefield.

Soon, a massive surge of mental power swept out from the Alliance fleet toward the wormhole, instantly crushing it. Then, the energy dispersed, sweeping the void to search for the Level Four entity that had arrived via the wormhole—Yang Ying.

At this moment, Yang Ying had dispersed the surrounding electric radiance and entered stealth mode. The searching mental waves swept across the void where he hid. They paused, clearly sensing something, yet unable to pinpoint the exact coordinates of Yang Ying's location. Taking advantage of this moment, Yang Ying also sensed the source of this probing wave. It was not Sandvo, but another Level Four Limit existence within the Alliance: Shakalov, a top Elder of the original Senate, an ultimate powerhouse.

Shakalov was currently utilizing the energy output of the hundred thousand warships to amplify his mental power, casting a net-like search wave across everything. Upon detecting subtle signs, he concentrated the search waves from all other directions, repeatedly probing the section of void where Yang Ying was concealed.

This search repeated hundreds of times in a short span, narrowing the scope ever further. Yang Ying knew that if this trend continued, his hiding spot would soon be locked down!

Simultaneously, the other clones dispatched by Yang Ying encountered similar situations. Across the various battlefronts, the Alliance had deployed only one hundred-thousand-ship fleet for each attack, totaling just over a million ships. Another four million warships remained unaccounted for.

In the brief span of a flicker of lightning, Shakalov’s search wave closed in on Yang Ying’s vicinity, the area reduced to less than one cubic kilometer. Shakalov began maneuvering the fleet, directing every weapon muzzle toward Yang Ying’s position.

Seeing this, Yang Ying ceased hiding and darted out as a streak of electrical light. Shakalov’s mental fluctuation immediately locked onto him like a shadow. All warships fired almost simultaneously, countless energy beams raining down on Yang Ying like a torrential downpour.

The lightning form of Yang Ying executed several sharp turns, escaping the beams' coverage. A few Level Ten-class beams struck him, only to be deflected by his plasma shielding.

Yang Ying raised his right hand and touched the center of his brow. A headpiece immediately materialized there, its shape flickering like a flame, appearing so unreal it seemed suspended between existence and non-existence.

This was a specialized cerebral processor crafted by the Empire for Level Four entities, its manufacturing process so advanced it incorporated nearly the pinnacle of all Imperial technology. This gifted it properties that transcended mere material existence.

Using this processor, Yang Ying sent a mental wave toward the Imperial fortress: “Activate the Godcore System and establish a connection with this unit. My identity is Imperial Dedicate Yang Ying. Identification Code One.”

The processor instantly received a response from the fortress: “Identity verification passed. User Yang Ying meets the requirements. Godcore System initiating activation.”

The next moment, Yang Ying felt colossal energy converging upon him, as if this power were an extension of his own mental force, obeying his commands like hands and feet.

Although the combat capability of the Imperial fortress was inferior to that of the Alliance fleet, it was by no means lacking in energy reserves.

Yang Ying condensed this power in his hand, forging it into an ultra-long lightning javelin several kilometers in length. The lightning was a brilliant gold, flickering in his hand as if alive.

Yang Ying threw it upward, launching the lightning javelin toward the command vessel in the Alliance fleet—the ship housing Shakalov!

Shakalov shouted, and a purely black shield materialized before the lightning. Against the pitch-black backdrop of the cosmic void, this dark shield stood out unnaturally; its color seemed darker than darkness itself, a blackness like a beacon in the deepest night.

The golden lightning javelin struck the black shield and was instantly absorbed into it. Ripples spread across the shield’s surface.

Gradually, the ripples intensified, as if turbulent currents were churning beneath the shield’s surface, causing the entire face to boil. With a dull thud, the shield exploded, transforming into a massive sphere of absolute blackness. The sphere continued to expand, instantly engulfing several hundred surrounding Alliance warships!

One second later, the black sphere dissipated. The covered warships had simply vanished.

Shakalov had narrowly escaped. Yang Ying observed that at the moment the black shield detonated, Shakalov had instantaneously shifted along with his entire command vessel, reappearing several hundred kilometers away.

“Yang Ying! It’s you!” Shakalov’s voice reached Yang Ying’s ears.

“It is I.” Yang Ying felt he had nothing to say to the opponent, so he spread his hands and reformed five lightning javelins, hurling them at Shakalov—each one no less potent than the last.

Shakalov teleported the command vessel away to evade the attack, but the golden lightning javelins followed him like shadows, instantly banking toward where Shakalov reappeared.

Shakalov was forced to manifest layer upon layer of shields to withstand the power of the lightning javelins.

At this juncture, Yang Ying unleashed several more waves of lightning javelins, dozens of golden bolts tracking Shakalov. Shakalov was clearly enraged, shouting, “I initially thought we could discuss terms. What benefit do you gain by aiding the Royalists? You’d be better off joining the Alliance; we can offer you far more than that mother and daughter ever could! But I never expected you to be such an unreasonable brute! Do you truly think I’m easy to bully? Don’t underestimate people; the Alliance isn't just about Sandvo!”

With that, an extreme dark power erupted from his command vessel, solidifying into countless black chains, each link edged with razor sharpness, looking utterly ferocious.

Concurrently, the fleet unleashed full firepower. Main and secondary cannons bombarded Yang Ying simultaneously, energy beams lancing in from all directions. The black chains pierced the gaps between the beams, sweeping toward Yang Ying as well.

Yang Ying transformed into electrical light, weaving through the dense beams while evading the pursuit and encirclement of the black chains. He waved his hands continuously, releasing millions of spheres of silver-white lightning with each sweep, which surged like a tsunami, shattering the giant net woven by the chains and breaking free.

Having escaped the encirclement of beams and black chains, Yang Ying showed no elation; he had already grasped Sandvo’s true plan.

“I say,” Yang Ying stated, pointing at Shakalov, “these dozen-plus fleets Sandvo dispatched were merely meant to stall us, weren't they?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?!” Shakalov replied with an expression of shock and rage. “Stop overestimating yourself, you arrogant fool!”

Yang Ying spoke on, ignoring him. “Sandvo must already know the location of the Empire’s main fleet. The Empire is entering its war posture, but it will take several months to be fully combat-ready. The Alliance is in the same boat. If they can eliminate the Imperial Space Force now, the Empire will have virtually no means of resistance, and the war will quickly end with an Alliance victory. And we, the Limit existences, under the influence of the Godcore System, can massively enhance the combat strength of the Space Force. To prevent this scenario, Sandvo devised this plan to lure us out.”

“The dozen-plus Alliance fleets currently attacking various planets—several of them, like yours, are led by Limit existences, and the cores of the others are at least Peak Level Four. If Sandvo intended to eliminate a few of us in this melee, he would have already made his move. Since he hasn't appeared on our front, his target is clearly the main body of the Imperial Space Force.”

Yang Ying’s words silenced Shakalov for two seconds, then he erupted into laughter. “You guessed correctly. Sandvo will soon wipe out the entire Imperial Space Force. Although he commands fewer than five million ships, not far from Da’an’s three million, Da’an’s capability in battle cannot compare to Sandvo’s. This single engagement will secure ultimate victory for the Alliance. Why not reconsider joining the Alliance ranks now? It’s not too late!”

“My apologies,” Yang Ying responded dismissively. “I have no intention of switching sides yet.”

“Oh, is that so?” Shakalov sighed. “What a shame. Don't think you can rush back. With me here, even if I can't ensure your demise, I can certainly hold you up. If I can’t even manage that, then I’m unworthy of being called a Limit existence!” Before his words faded, Shakalov activated a spatial confinement field, sealing off all space-related abilities, including wormholes. Simultaneously, Yang Ying transmitted his deductions via mental link to Da’an.

“I understand. I will immediately order the fleet to prepare for battle.”

Da’an responded instantly, then paused, his tone suddenly grave. “He’s here! Sandvo’s main fleet has appeared before us.”