As Gu Xichen uttered the final countdown, across the surface of the planet Yafic—on this hemisphere facing the combined fleet—tens of thousands of colossal fissures ripped open in ten massive mountain ranges. Towering, monstrous anti-air artillery batteries, each with a caliber around one hundred meters, slowly revealed their savage forms from within the mountains. Thousands of seemingly ordinary asteroids orbiting Yafic suddenly detonated, and ice-cold, glittering armed satellites swiftly oriented their massive energy cannon muzzles toward the combined fleet.

Across the planetary system where Yafic resided, potent radar waves simultaneously lashed out from a dozen planets. Hundreds of thousands of fire-control radars locked onto every single warship in the combined fleet, and shrill alarms immediately erupted madly within, terrifying the officers and crew to the point where they nearly soiled themselves.

Before the thirteen haggard, dusty old Archdukes could formulate a response, Gu Xichen had already unhesitatingly pressed a specific button on the control panel.

A blinding white light shot out silently from a mountainous region of Yafic, narrowly grazing the bow of the flagship vessel of King Lei Wu's fleet, a ship stretching an astonishing eight thousand meters long. The energy contained within this beam was at least a hundred times that of a standard Star Alliance Class One warship's main cannon. King Lei Wu's flagship shuddered violently; its several-meter-thick forward armor vaporized under the white light, exposing dense networks of energy conduits beneath. Some fragile lines had already been scorched away by the intense heat, causing large plumes of high-temperature, high-pressure energy fluid, glowing with conspicuous luminescence, to erupt rapidly.

In this world, some people absolutely require a resounding slap across the face before they understand the seriousness of a situation.

Gu Xichen’s single anti-air barrage instantly caused every warship in the combined fleet to uniformly adjust its heading, surging toward the outer spaceport one after another, each vessel faster than the last.

The next instant, the signal light requesting communication on Gu Xichen’s communicator began to flash rapidly. Emissaries from one hundred and fifty-nine civilizations—who were simultaneously the supreme commanders of their respective national space fleets—sent signals of goodwill to Gu Xichen. They explained they had been deceived by the shameless emissaries of the Lei Wu Kingdom. They had been tricked into believing they had received clearance to land at the satellite port of the Yafic Kingdom, which was why they had followed the Lei Wu fleet so close to Yafic.

These emissaries offered nearly identical justifications. They recounted the history of friendship between their nations and the Yafic Kingdom, tracing back the camaraderie forged when their ancestors fought side-by-side with the ancestors of Yafic millennia ago. After this lengthy and circuitous barrage of pleasantries, they almost simultaneously returned to the main point: We were deceived by those thirteen old, shameless emissaries; all responsibility rests with them. We are firm allies of the Yafic Kingdom and have come to help eradicate the evil Dokko Federation.

Jin, sitting nearby eating dried fruit, wrinkled her nose and sneered, "These people are utterly shameless!"

Gu Xichen looked at Fuya.Ming and laughed, "That’s politics. 'Face,' for them, is a luxury. Perhaps they weren't born with that organ."

Fuya.Ming smiled, cracking open the shell of a dried fruit and tossing the kernel into Gu Xichen’s mouth. She nodded, "In that case, I suppose I can never become a politician."

Gu Xichen looked at Fuya.Ming tenderly and chuckled softly, "You are my Queen, Your Majesty; you don't need to become a politician."

Seeing the two exchange such tender affection and perfect understanding, Jin, feeling jealous, pointed at Gu Xichen and shouted, "You are incredibly bold! Aren't you afraid of accidentally destroying the Lei Wu Kingdom’s flagship? That old man is the First Archduke of the Lei Wu Kingdom—'Archduke Shenwu'—he is the current King of Lei Wu's own uncle!"

Shrugging dismissively, Gu Xichen gently waved his Fuyao Fan and smiled at Fuya.Ming, "So what? If they push things too far, I will simply go and slaughter the royal families of all thirteen of their kingdoms, right down to every noble connected to them by blood. As the saying goes, a snake cannot move without its head. Kill their king's entire family, and even the greatest troubles will vanish."

Fuya.Ming lightly applauded, her interest piqued by Gu Xichen's words. She had no doubt he could achieve such a feat. She even began to consider that this capability might serve as a hidden ace for the Yafic Kingdom in the future: should any nation show hostility toward Yafic, Gu Xichen could simply slip away and eliminate all those hostile elements.

The thought sent a tremor of excitement through Fuya.Ming. Having such a powerful individual by her side provided an unparalleled sense of security! Fuya.Ming was certain that under Gu Xichen’s leadership, she could guide the Yafic Kingdom to become a true superpower, standing at the apex of universal civilization! Having purged the parasitic blight of the Exorcist Knights from the Yafic Kingdom, Fuya.Ming felt absolute certainty and confidence in achieving the dreams she’d held since childhood.

Jin jumped up, gesticulating wildly, glaring at Gu Xichen as she yelled, "You are powerful! Aren't you afraid of punishment from the Adjudication Council of the Star Alliance Council of the Capable?"

Waving the Fuyao Fan lightly again, Gu Xichen smiled sweetly at Jin, "And what if they do? If they dare to meddle in my affairs, I’ll just kill them all."

Casually picking up the teacup beside him, Gu Xichen took a sip of fruit tea and said to Fuya.Ming with a smile, "In my homeland, on Earth Federation, I still have many friends and elders. According to precise strength classifications, my current realm should be the 'Nascent Soul Stage.' When I left my home planet Earth, the Asian Dao Alliance—the powerful organization where my sect resides—already possessed over two thousand capable practitioners at the Nascent Soul Stage, over two hundred Grandmasters at the Spirit Transformation Stage, and thirty-eight Grandmasters at the Void Returning Stage."

Counting on his fingers, Gu Xichen explained with a chuckle to the wide-eyed and dumbfounded Jin, "Simply put, a Grandmaster at the Spirit Transformation Stage could effortlessly kill a hundred cultivators like me at the Nascent Soul Stage. As for a Grandmaster at the Void Returning Stage, a single one could dispatch dozens of Spirit Transformation Grandmasters."

Sighing, Gu Xichen pondered for a moment, then smiled at Fuya.Ming, whose small mouth was also agape, eyes wide and fixed, "Perhaps I should use a different comparison. Based on the Star Alliance's classification system, using the power ratio for capable practitioners below Six Stars, my true strength is around Nine Stars. A Spirit Transformation Grandmaster should possess cultivation equivalent to over Thirty Stars. As for a Void Returning Grandmaster, if we absolutely must assign them a definition using the Star Alliance's metrics... perhaps One Hundred Stars would better fit their power and status."

"You... you..." Jin fiercely grabbed her own cheeks and pinched them hard. She muttered unintelligibly to herself, "A monstrous race... monsters! Absolutely monsters!"