"Today is the day you die!" Bai Lanxue sneered. The red-haired woman laughed with captivating allure, "Don't be so sure.

You'll definitely die before I do. How can I die if you haven't kicked the bucket yet?" Words failed them; there was no point in continuing the exchange.

Bai Lanxue snapped shut the optical screen, piloted her warship backward, and under the cover of the nebula, adjusted her turret launchers, extending the barrels, locking onto the red-haired woman, and firing! Ziye silently gave a thumbs-up.

To handle a warship with such skill, Bai Lanxue was truly formidable, at least technologically, if not intellectually. However, she dared not praise her openly, lest the red-haired woman find an excuse to slap her dead.

Unfortunately, the red-haired woman had no intention of engaging in a head-on collision. As she moved to attack, the red-haired woman slammed the jump drive button.

The frigate skillfully turned, heading toward the coordinates Ziye had marked. Bai Lanxue took advantage of the five-second buffer period before the warp drive fully engaged, unleashing a barrage of fire.

Two shots directly struck the frigate, nearly punching a hole clean through its shield. Ziye sat there, watching, her heart hammering against her ribs.

It was an undeniable law: the spectator was always tenser than the combatant. Noticing Ziye's visible anxiety, the red-haired woman chuckled, "Look at you, your face is so tight.

Careful you don't end up with paralysis." Seeing the red-haired woman appear so completely at ease, Ziye finally relaxed a bit. "It's all your fault.

Focusing only on running, you nearly let a hole big enough to swallow you open up in the shield." The red-haired woman shrugged, unconcerned. "Your eyesight is poor.

The shield is clearly fractured in a spiderweb pattern." Ziye: "..." Still arguing! Ziye wanted nothing more than to rush over and bite her.

Who didn't know the shield was cracked like a spiderweb? Did she really need to point that out?

The red-haired woman glanced at Ziye, let out a loud laugh, and initiated another warp jump, not sparing Bai Lanxue a second thought. Because once the jump sequence began, they were in a state of safety.

If Bai Lanxue didn't jump, she couldn't catch them; if she did jump, her turrets had to be retracted. Otherwise, they would be pulverized by the intense energy surge.

At this moment, Bai Lanxue was following right on their tail, warping in pursuit. This afforded the red-haired woman every reason to remain calm.

Arriving at Ziye's designated location, the red-haired woman switched from warp to cruising speed, traversing the space within a ten-thousand-mile radius up, down, left, and right, with Bai Lanxue trailing behind. The ship lights flashed, resembling, at a quick glance, a giant, mobile snake game.

After completing one full circuit, the red-haired woman frowned. "Ziye, you little dummy, are you sure this is the spot?" Ziye nodded firmly.

"Absolutely certain." The red-haired woman gestured around. "This place is useless for a fight.

There's no cover whatsoever. No asteroid fields, no scattered rocks, not even a nebula.

If we fight here, it's mutual destruction." Ziye: "..." She pondered for a moment. "Fine.

I'll have Little Sprout help search again." The red-haired woman glanced at Bai Lanxue on the control panel; she was closing in fast enough to enter firing range. Decisively, she reactivated the jump drive.

She vanished before Bai Lanxue. Bai Lanxue’s face darkened as she followed suit.

Both sides possessed remarkable patience, truly engaging in a game of cat and mouse—chasing without any direct conflict. Ziye grew agitated.

"How long is this game going to last? And it feels like we're the mice?" The red-haired woman leisurely lit a cigarette.

"Why rush? The point of this game is to see who breaks their nerve first.

Whoever cracks first dies. If you were piloting today, you'd already be done for." Ziye pouted, distinctly displeased, not wanting to speak to the red-haired woman at all.

However, she did glean something from observing the tactics of the two pilots. The chase was merely a façade.

They were searching for the other's weakness. The instant any sign of carelessness or a lapse appeared, a killing blow would follow.

Both were veterans of countless battles, mirroring each other perfectly in this regard. Until a weakness was found, they treated it like a game, devoid of killing intent.

The red-haired woman was even leisurely, occasionally tossing a light barb at Ziye. Just then, the warship entered an asteroid belt.

The red-haired woman paused briefly, then abruptly slammed the brakes, sharply reversing course and driving the vessel straight into the dense field of rock. Ziye felt a sudden, fleeting sensation that the red-haired woman was preparing to fight!

As she was thinking this, the red-haired woman delivered a sharp kick to her side. "The shuttle is behind you.

Go, now." Ziye stared, dumbfounded. "I should leave?" The red-haired woman stated flatly, "Your presence here will impede my performance." Ziye pleaded, "...I can help you!" The red-haired woman said nothing, instead pressing the command input for the onboard automatons.

The robots instantly moved forward, each taking an arm, seizing Ziye and dragging her toward the shuttle docking bay. Ziye cried out, "Let go of me!

Red Hair, what are you doing? If you send me away, who will help you?" The red-haired woman's voice, stripped of emotion, came from behind her, "I don't need your help." The robots forcefully stuffed Ziye into the shuttle.

The red-haired woman selected a spot near a large asteroid, opened the gangway, and kicked Ziye out. Then, she charged toward Bai Lanxue, positioning her own ship to obscure Ziye's shuttle, preventing Bai Lanxue from noticing the escapee.

Hiding inside the shuttle, Ziye watched the warship blocking her view. She activated Little Sprout, jettisoned the shuttle, and boarded the Renwei mech.

The mech immediately reconfigured itself into a perfect sphere, camouflaging itself as an asteroid. Now, not only Bai Lanxue, but even the red-haired woman, wouldn't recognize her.

After the red-haired woman lunged at Bai Lanxue, Bai Lanxue acted decisively, raising her launcher, locking onto the attacker. Suddenly, the red-haired woman executed a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn and vanished into the asteroid field.

Bai Lanxue pursued with fierce intensity. The two were finally getting serious.

The red-haired woman hid behind a massive asteroid, exposing only her turret launcher above the rock, unleashing a furious barrage on Bai Lanxue. The projectiles streaked out like meteors.

The cannon fire struck the asteroid, kicking up thick plumes of smoke and debris. Bai Lanxue neither dodged nor evaded, meeting the attack head-on.

In less than a minute, the asteroid was entirely shrouded in dense smoke, and Ziye quickly lost all bearings. Ziye accessed the mech’s optical computer and was shocked to see the red-haired woman at a distinct disadvantage.

Bai Lanxue’s vessel, though nominally a frigate, had been heavily modified; its structural integrity rivaled that of a battleship. The red-haired woman’s frigate was clearly struggling.

Ziye watched the struggling frigate, a dark premonition chilling her. Had the red-haired woman jettisoned her so she could take Bai Lanxue down with her?

Ziye clenched her fist, opened the system diagnostics, scanned Bai Lanxue's warship, and piloted her mech stealthily toward the stern of the enemy vessel. Bai Lanxue was completely focused on her duel with the red-haired woman, utterly unaware of Ziye’s presence.

Ziye grinned wickedly, quietly drawing out her cannon. She aimed precisely at Bai Lanxue's engine housing.

With a sharp whoosh, the radio-frequency laser cannon spat out a beam of deep crimson light! This shot must connect!

However, Bai Lanxue’s warship suddenly dipped downwards. The laser beam grazed the top of the hull, striking the asteroid instead, slicing the small celestial body in half as cleanly as a sword cut.

Damn it, she missed! As Ziye was bemoaning the failure, Little Sprout shrieked, "Run, now!

She spotted you!" Sensing immediate peril, Ziye activated the jump drive; the small spherical mech instantly stretched into a jet-like configuration. Wings spread, she fled.

Bai Lanxue violently spun her ship around and fired a blast toward Ziye with a deafening boom. Ziye zipped upward, narrowly avoiding the shell, and slammed the throttle to maximum speed, pushing forward.

Mid-flight, the red-haired woman sent an urgent signal: "Ziye, what on earth are you playing at?" Ziye, without looking back, replied, "Your warship won't last. I'll keep her busy; go requisition another vessel!" The red-haired woman: "..." What was this feeling of being protected?

Ziye fled desperately, with Bai Lanxue in hot pursuit. Gazing at the massive, beast-like warship filling her viewscreen, Ziye felt utterly ashamed of her own mech.

"Little Sprout, what do we do?" Little Sprout leisurely flapped its wings. "No worries.

If she really attacks, this master will transform into a heaven-defying mech and blow her away." Ziye pressed down on it with her index finger. "Stop fooling around.

You drain all your energy turning into that, and you'll sleep for half a year afterward. Where am I supposed to find an explosive wormhole to recharge you by then?" Little Sprout felt profoundly aggrieved—was it being rejected?

It turned its back, presenting its rear end to Ziye, and sulked in the shadows, drawing circles. Ziye performed two haphazard warp jumps, arriving in a vast, empty expanse of space.

"Where are we supposed to flee to?" She wasn't the red-haired woman; she lacked those practiced escape skills. Running randomly would inevitably lead to disaster.

Little Sprout pretended not to hear, but it cautiously opened its eyes wide to peer outside. The moment it looked, it leaped up violently.

"Something's wrong—terribly wrong! Little dummy, get out of this star system, immediately!" Ziye asked with surprise, "Why?" Little Sprout ordered, "Look at the nebula!" Ziye turned to the screen and saw it—a nebula, indeed.

Space that had been utterly clear moments before was now filling with nebular clouds flying inward, growing thicker and faster, like the sky just before a torrential storm. If this were near a planet, it would be normal, but this was deep space...

Without a second thought, Ziye sent a signal. "Red Hair, return immediately!" She forgot about Bai Lanxue and initiated a warp jump herself.

She wanted to escape, but Bai Lanxue was unwilling to let her go. Bai Lanxue's warship display screen had not yet fully recovered.

She remained completely oblivious to the abnormal phenomenon in space, focused only on shooting Ziye. Fortunately, Ziye's mech was small, making it hard for Bai Lanxue to lock on.

Ziye weaved and dodged, her nerves frayed, scraping past danger several times, leaving ugly dents and scratches on the mech's outer shell. "Little dummy, if we don't run now, it'll be too late!" Little Sprout urged again.

Ziye remembered the red-haired woman's words: as long as the warp sequence could be successfully initiated, the danger wouldn't be insurmountable. She braced herself to take a hit and activated the jump drive.

Five, four, three, two, one. The jump engine engaged.

The surroundings were quickly enveloped by the nebula. As Ziye’s mech plunged into the clouds, the stellar matter actually slowed her warp speed by a third.

That nebula was deeply problematic. An unprecedented seriousness settled on Ziye’s face.

"Bean Bean, what are our current coordinates?" Little Sprout glanced over, and its voice changed too. "They are the coordinates we calculated." Ziye’s heart nearly broke.

Those coordinates... Back when they planned to lure Bai Lanxue into the uncharted sector, the red-haired woman had begged her to calculate potential weather forecasts for that unknown region, setting coordinates, ideally predicting the timing and location of void storms or particle storms, to draw Bai Lanxue there.

Now, she had successfully lured Bai Lanxue into that area. The projections hadn't been wrong; the time and place matched.

But Ziye knew, with absolute certainty, that whatever was about to appear was definitely not a void storm or a particle storm. They were doomed.