Grimacing, DaLain sneered, "Last time I was piloting the Danube Company's small patrol boat, a mere fifteen-meter toy that wouldn't dare get close to this planet. This time!" DaLain chuckled a few times, rubbing his hands together as he sought instruction from Gu Xichen: "Vice Commander, shall we do it?"

"Do it!" Gu Xichen decisively ordered. "There's nothing man-made visible in the planet's outer space; even if this planet has natives, their technological level won't be very high. All ships, engage shields to maximum power and charge in at top speed." The smallest rapid assault ship they brought this time was forty-five meters long; the near-supersonic storm, while dangerous, posed no significant threat. Proceeding with caution, they could easily penetrate the planet's atmosphere.

Using the largest transport ship as the vanguard, the small fleet breached the planet's atmosphere at top speed. The transport's massive bulk and powerful engines shielded them from the raging winds, allowing the small fleet to slip through the ten-kilometer-thick storm layer unscathed and into the calm atmosphere below.

The external sensors of the ships flooded the command cabin with data, the holographic screens refreshing with streams of information that flew by like light.

Everyone stared at the data displayed, utterly stunned.

Gravity, atmospheric composition, humidity, temperature—all the readings were near perfect. This was a planet ideally suited for human habitation.

Impatiently, Gu Xichen ordered the release of dozens of unmanned reconnaissance drones. Minutes later, the images relayed by the drones showed that the planet's vegetation shared a ninety-seven percent similarity with Earth, and the surface animals were ninety-five percent present or formerly present on Earth. In one image relayed by a drone, a group of Giant Pandas, clearly distinct with their black and white markings, could be plainly seen languidly munching on bamboo in a thicket!

The small fleet slowly descended. The roar of the plasma engines disturbed the animals in the dense, primordial forest below. Large groups of gibbons shrieked and fled through the canopy, while a flock of vibrantly colored Birds of Paradise, trailing two-meter-long tail plumes, chirped and scattered, forming a dazzling, multi-hued cloud spanning several li that slowly ascended and drifted toward a distant range of towering mountains.

"My God!" DaLain shrieked. "This planet is priceless! My God, a tenth of this planet belongs to us! Heavens!"

Gu Xichen felt a surge of hot blood rush to his head. He bellowed, "Land immediately, let the first echelon disembark. All fighters exit the craft, all ships maintain aerial vigilance. In half an hour, if there are no anomalies, all ships land simultaneously." Gu Xichen could barely contain his excitement; mastering this planet meant he could soon possess the absolute strength needed to face Gu Juechen head-on!

The Cerberus heavy patrol boat crushed several hundred-meter-tall trees as it landed. Before the heatwave generated by the plasma engines had even dissipated, the patrol boat's hatch slowly opened, and the heavy gangway lowered. Gu Xichen, fully armed, along with DaLain and the masters of the Seventh Regiment, slowly stepped onto the planet’s surface.

Beneath their boots was soft humus soil; when Gu Xichen’s combat boots pressed into the rich earth, it actually oozed black sludge with a squelching sound. This was soil that bled richness!

A wave of joyous cheers erupted from the squad computer in Gu Xichen's hand: "Vice Commander, the data transmitted by a drone ahead shows a powerful energy signature—there’s a giant Zakkla crystal vein ahead!"

Gu Xichen, DaLain, and everyone who heard the news felt as if their hearts had been struck by heavy hammers. A giant Zakkla crystal vein? The universe was filled with rare metal deposits, but Zakkla energy crystal veins were known for their limited volume; many mines yielded only a few hundred cubic meters of Zakkla crystal. A so-called 'giant' vein implied at least ten thousand cubic meters of stored Zakkla energy crystal. The Earth Federation listed the official price: one cubic meter of Zakkla crystal was worth one hundred million credits; ten thousand cubic meters meant one trillion!

"We've struck it rich!" DaLain inhaled deeply, utterly intoxicated.

Gu Xichen leaped onto the trunk of a massive tree, gazing out over the boundless jungle, and took a similarly deep, intoxicated breath: "We're damn well rich!"

One trillion credits. The more than one hundred thousand mercenaries of the Hell’s Angels Mercenary Group could each walk away with ten million! Enough for everyone to live a life of endless pleasure. This was the allure of interstellar development: immense risk yielding immense reward. This planet offered the Hell’s Angels Mercenary Group nothing less than an opportunity to rise to power; the Hell’s Angels would inevitably become a major force within the Federation.

"What a pity!" DaLain looked up, smiling at Gu Xichen, who stood thirty meters away on a branch. "Mr. Gu Xichen, all the profits from this planet have absolutely nothing to do with you!"

"Huh?" Gu Xichen turned his head in surprise. DaLain knew his real name? But... how was that possible?

DaLain stretched his right arm toward the sky, clenched his fist tightly, and swung it down viciously.

DaLain’s heavy patrol boat, light patrol boat, and rapid assault craft all opened fire simultaneously. Their launch tubes were loaded with hyper-velocity armor-piercing missiles. Nearly a hundred high-speed missiles pierced the armor of one of Gu Xichen’s patrol boats and three transport ships almost simultaneously.

The patrol boat and transport ships hovering in the air were torn to shreds without any chance of resistance, taking with them Gu Xichen’s mercenary soldiers and all the heavy equipment.

Fierce screams echoed from within the Cerberus, which had landed. The two deputy officers who disagreed with DaLain acted instantly, slaughtering everyone in the command cabin. They activated the Cerberus's internal defense systems, locking the soldiers in other compartments.

Large fireballs and shards of metal plummeted from the sky, followed by twelve rapid assault craft, entirely black except for a golden unicorn painted on their sterns, and six colossal transport ships, each five hundred meters long.

"DaLain!" Gu Xichen’s head swam. He glared at DaLain and roared in fury.

DaLain stared back with a sinister look and coldly laughed, "Don't blame me. I'm no traitor! I’ve been one of the Sacred Unicorn for a very long time! This time, Mr. Gu Xichen, you have no chance at all—on this newly discovered alien world, you have absolutely zero opportunity! Surrender obediently; my orders are to take you alive!"

"Go screw your mother!" Gu Xichen fled into the dense forest like the wind, using tree branches like ghostly footholds, instantly vanishing into the endless jungle. As he ran, he continuously ditched all his weapons and equipment, as they contained tracking devices belonging to the Hell’s Angels Mercenary Group, which DaLain could use to find him.

"Damn DaLain, damn the Sacred Unicorn!" Gu Xichen cursed furiously as he fled. He heard footsteps behind him, but the pursuers' movement skills were clearly not on the same level as his. Gu Xichen tore through the forest like a sudden gale, quickly escaping several kilometers and leaving the chasers far behind.

This was a trap, undeniably a trap set by DaLain and the Sacred Unicorn. But this devastatingly costly trap seemed to target only Gu Xichen. Why?

After discarding all his gear and watching two small ground attack aircraft flash overhead, Gu Xichen, who hadn't gone far, turned around and bolted back toward where he came from.

At the original landing site, a rudimentary camp enclosed by armor plating was already taking shape. A silver-haired man in silver robes, Sirene, stood in the center of the camp, furiously berating DaLain.

"You bastard, with such a perfect opportunity, you let Gu Xichen escape? You idiot!"

"Catch him! Deploy personnel and catch him! Otherwise, how am I supposed to negotiate business with those people from the Gu Clan Group?"

"This is our Sacred Unicorn's chance, the chance for the Sacred Unicorn to rise! But without the weaponry provided by the Gu Clan Group, how are we supposed to hold this planet? Do you know how much capital it takes to develop a planet? Without the cheap weapons provided by those fools at the Gu Clan Group, we'll be bankrupt before we can even digest this planet!"

"Bastard, waste, fool! With such a golden opportunity, so many warships, so many men—couldn't you use your brain even once? You just stood there and watched him flee?"

So that was it! Gu Xichen’s teeth ached with hatred. He quietly climbed the nearest large tree, slowly breaking off a straight branch.

With a few deft tears from the Xue Po Divine Claw, the meter-and-a-half-long branch was fashioned into a sharp javelin.

Slowly gathering his full-body Gang Qi, Gu Xichen infused a stream of Xue Po Divine Gang into the javelin. A thin layer of ice coated the weapon, making this hastily crafted spear even sharper and stronger. Glancing sideways at DaLain, Gu Xichen flicked his wrist and hurled the javelin with all his might toward DaLain, then immediately turned and fled without waiting to see the result of his strike.

Sirene was still ranting furiously at DaLain when DaLain’s eyes suddenly widened, and the tip of a pale, frost-wreathed spear protruded from his brow. The biting cold instantly sealed DaLain's blood vessels; there wasn't a single drop of blood on the spear tip. Sirene stared at the slowly collapsing DaLain, lost in thought for a long moment. After a solid thirty seconds, he suddenly snapped back to reality, transforming into a silver streak of light and plunging into the dense forest.

By then, Gu Xichen was long gone, vanished without a trace.

Sirene trembled with rage. Hovering high in the air, he shouted fiercely, "Send three reinforced battalions out after him! All Innate-level Fighters must lead the charge! Capture him alive... no, kill that man!"

Sirene narrowed his eyes and coldly stated, "Capture him alive? That seems impossible! But his head is worth a great deal of money!"

Three reinforced battalions, nearly three thousand elite mercenaries led by nine Fighters, rushed out of the camp. The experienced mercenaries quickly tracked the faint traces Gu Xichen had left in the jungle.

On this unfamiliar planet, Gu Xichen would confront an entire army alone.

The reinforcements from the Hell’s Angels Mercenary Group wouldn't arrive for at least seven days, and they didn't even know the exact coordinates of the wormhole.

This was a kill-or-be-killed desperate situation.

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Comrades, this week is almost over; can we have more highlights next week...

Send those recommendation tickets quickly...