Xiao Hei’s swift attack instantly punched a massive hole in the alien’s smaller warship, through which it immediately burrowed inside, commencing a frenzy of destruction.

Though the small warship stretched twenty kilometers in length, appearing gargantuan, it seemed tiny indeed before Xiao Hei’s five-hundred-meter frame. Once inside, Xiao Hei had just annihilated two warehouses filled with combat supplies using its colossal ice magic before the warship's defenses opened fire, raining down countless energy weapons upon its body.

Even before evolving into a God-level magical beast, Xiao Hei’s body had undergone the ultimate modifications by the Zerg swarm, granting it the resilience to withstand the main cannon fire of a space battleship. Now, having evolved, Xiao Hei’s physique had become even more wondrous; its defensive capabilities had reached an almost unbelievable zenith.

These energy weapons, formidable in the eyes of ordinary beings, relentlessly hammered against Xiao Hei, yet they barely qualified as an itch. They couldn't even leave a faint white mark upon its hide, much less halt its advance. Xiao Hei seemed utterly oblivious to the assault, continuing its destructive rampage unimpeded.

Whenever Xiao Hei encountered an obstruction, it carved a path using massive icicles, occasionally supplementing these with its razor-sharp claws and incredibly hard dragon head. This exceptionally sturdy small warship could not impede it in the slightest. Soon, Xiao Hei had carved a gaping chasm, one hundred meters in diameter, through the vessel’s interior, within which nothing could survive. Every path Xiao Hei traversed was utterly annihilated, let alone the lives of the aliens aboard.

Xiao Hei moved with terrifying speed. In less than a minute, it traversed from the warship's midsection to its bow. Behind it lay a vast tunnel of continuous explosions and burning wreckage, within which no alien survived, all perishing under Xiao Hei’s onslaught, with nothing capable of stopping the devastation.

After only a few volleys, the small warship’s weaponry could no longer acquire a target on Xiao Hei. Due to its accelerating speed, it ultimately bored directly into the vessel’s command bridge. Discovering the control center, Xiao Hei spat several intensely frigid ice projectiles in rapid succession, freezing everyone inside solid. Then, with a single swipe, it utterly demolished the main control computer core.

Having neutralized the enemy command center, Xiao Hei bored back from the bow, again wreaking havoc along its path, returning to the stern of the small warship in a flash. By the time Xiao Hei crawled from the stern back to the bow for the second time, the small warship had endured three devastating passes of destruction. It was now battered beyond recognition, teetering on the brink of disintegration.

After indulging its destructive urges within the warship, Xiao Hei let out a sky-shattering roar. It smashed its dragon head against the midsection, blasting a huge exit hole, then slipped through and burst into the open air.

Behind it, the small warship was erupting in continuous explosions and flames. Having lost all motive power, it began to plummet toward the sea surface, crashing heavily before rapidly sinking, soon vanishing beneath the waves.

Because Xiao Hei’s attack was so rapid and its destruction so thorough, the small warship sank swiftly. Very few aboard managed to escape. Those who did manage to flee were instantly struck by Xiao Hei’s ice bombs, turning into frigid blocks of ice before plunging into the deep sea, beyond any hope of thawing.

Watching the small warship sink, Xiao Hei nodded its massive head, highly satisfied with its recent devastation. It issued another piercing roar, then plummeted rapidly from the air, gracefully diving into the ocean depths.

One thousand kilometers to the west, another alien small warship was speeding toward the "Starry Sky City." Just as Xiao Hei vanished beneath the eastern waves, beneath this western warship, over a dozen immense icicles suddenly erupted from the sea. They rotated rapidly, relentlessly striking the small warship that was currently soaring over the water’s surface.

Under the onslaught of these massive icicles, the small warship's shield energy could not regenerate fast enough; they quickly fractured and vanished, allowing the icicles to impact the hull directly.

These ice projectiles hammered into the warship’s structure, ripping huge breaches in the hull. Then, more icicles rose from the sea, penetrating the interior to systematically destroy the ship from within. Very quickly, the small warship caught fire and began to crash toward the sea.

It turned out that upon entering the sea, Xiao Hei had expended a massive amount of magical power to launch a super-long-range, wide-area attack spell. From a thousand kilometers away, leveraging the connected aquatic magical energy of the entire ocean, Xiao Hei successfully unleashed a continuous, sweeping ice-cone bombardment, eliminating another small warship heading for the "Starry Sky City" from afar.

Although this second small warship had received intelligence about the fate of the first, it never anticipated a magical assault from a thousand kilometers away. Caught completely unprepared, it was swiftly destroyed by Xiao Hei’s magic.

However, since Xiao Hei had not physically entered the ship to carry out slaughter and destruction, this second vessel did not immediately sink upon hitting the water. Some aliens managed to escape inside humanoid mechs. These mechs hovered in the sky, staring in horror at their descending flagship.

As the escaping aliens watched their small warship sink, amidst their utter fury, several massive, hovering stealth fighters suddenly materialized in the void above them. These fighters unleashed their full firepower, relentlessly launching laser weaponry and electromagnetic cannon shells at the escapees.

The aliens immediately retaliated with their humanoid mechs, but the energy weapons on their suits had limited power and could not even scratch the energy shields of the hovering stealth fighters. Conversely, the aliens’ mechs began to break down rapidly under the sustained attack from the stealth fighters. After several aliens were killed, the remaining ones finally panicked.

These aliens never imagined that what appeared to be a simple mission would result in the tragic annihilation of their entire force. They never expected to encounter such formidable indigenous opponents on a primitive planet. Not only had they failed to defeat their adversaries, but now they faced death at the hands of these natives.

Fear began to envelop their minds. When one alien, driven by terror, chose surrender, the hovering stealth fighters indeed ceased their attack, sparing his life. This prompted an immediate and dramatic shift in the mentality of the others; they quickly followed suit, choosing to surrender to the "Starry Sky City."

Once these aliens opted for surrender, the attacks against them ceased. However, a few defiant, fierce individuals among them refused to yield and chose to continue fighting. After the stealth fighters cleanly eliminated the few who refused to surrender, no alien on the battlefield dared to resist any longer.

Aboard the "Starry Sky City," the high command watched the two small warships—one of which had been destroyed, the other now captured—flying toward them with a chilling realization. They had not expected a Chinese Divine Dragon to suddenly appear and, using miraculous abilities, destroy both incoming small warships so easily.

Xiao Hei had previously appeared during the confrontation between "Starry Sky City" and the New International Alliance. Although it had vanished afterward, everyone knew this Chinese Divine Dragon was closely connected to their boss. Its sudden reappearance, showcasing such overwhelming combat power, confirmed its link to their boss, making them realize how little they understood him.

Liu Hui, who had remained outwardly composed while secretly directing Xiao Hei's devastating assault on the two small warships, was seen by everyone as the embodiment of calm confidence. The way they looked at him immediately became far more respectful.

Although the aliens were powerful and seemed invincible, they suffered a crushing defeat before the Chinese Divine Dragon. Especially after witnessing the stealth fighters of the "Starry Sky City" capture the remaining aliens, the "Starry Sky City" leadership felt profoundly reassured and couldn't help but cheer.

Anqi, however, was well aware of the mysterious connection between Xiao Hei and Liu Hui, and she had some understanding of Xiao Hei's combat strength. Still, seeing Xiao Hei instantly destroy two small warships stunned her nonetheless.

The last time Anqi saw Xiao Hei was during the frenzy that consumed Liu Hui when Hu Xian’er was caught in the New International Alliance’s nuclear strike, leaving her fate uncertain. Back then, Xiao Hei could only rely on brute physical force to destroy human cities; terrifying, perhaps, but not unbeatable. Yet, after just a few years, Xiao Hei had become astonishingly powerful. Not only could it fly, but it also wielded mysterious, potent magic capable of overwhelming even the seemingly terrifying alien warships.

Noticing Anqi’s gaze, Liu Hui nodded slightly to her, then squeezed her hand and smiled. “Anqi, we have prisoners now. It’s up to you to figure out how to communicate with them—preferably finding their weak points.”

Anqi replied, “Rest assured. When we were designing the virtual reality game Gods and Demons, we discovered another use for this virtual space: personnel interrogation. In this space, we designed a dedicated interrogation room where we can dial up the sensitivity of all the prisoner’s sensory inputs to the maximum, forcing anyone entering to divulge everything they know to escape the unbearable torment of physical torture.”

Liu Hui nodded in agreement to use the virtual interrogation room. Although he possessed specialized truth serum provided by the Zerg for extracting confessions, its severe side effects severely limited its application, as almost everyone who used it was rendered useless afterward. Moreover, he was unsure if the serum would even affect aliens.

Liu Hui did possess another potent interrogation tool: a mind-reading artifact. However, he did not understand the alien language and thus couldn't provoke the necessary mental activity to extract their secrets. Therefore, the virtual space, utilizing brainwave communication, remained the most practical tool to achieve his objective at this moment.

Anqi continued, “Those cruel aliens are our greatest enemies, so they won't be accorded POW status. Even if they enter the virtual interrogation room, it will be justly deserved. Interrogating these aliens—I suspect Mr. Desheng will be extremely interested.”

Desheng, standing nearby, immediately stepped forward. “Boss, leave these damned aliens to me! I’ll arrange personnel immediately to interrogate them. We will thoroughly investigate their background, including the reasons for their arrival on Earth and the forces backing them—not one detail will be missed.”

Liu Hui smiled. “Desheng, I’ll trouble you then. But try not to kill them; they might prove useful later.”

Desheng accepted the order and left immediately to organize the questioning of the alien captives. With that, the atmosphere in the command center finally eased. Previously, although everyone had chosen to align with "Starry Sky City," deep down they hadn't been optimistic, believing "Starry Sky City" stood no chance against cosmic warships equipped with super main cannons. But seeing the sudden appearance of the Chinese Divine Dragon effortlessly destroy two small warships and capture several aliens, coupled with Liu Hui’s composed demeanor, they immediately felt the aliens were not so formidable after all—they too had weaknesses and could be defeated by "Starry Sky City," just as "Starry Sky City" had previously vanquished seemingly powerful nations and organizations on Earth.

On the cosmic warship in space, Sulphur watched with dumbfounded shock as his two small warships were destroyed by Xiao Hei, and his subordinates were captured by "Starry Sky City." Xiao Hei’s speed was simply too great; the warship's main cannon hadn't even finished charging before Xiao Hei vanished back into the sea. Furthermore, Xiao Hei’s bizarre attacks made it an incredibly potent threat; unless eliminated, it posed a massive danger to their treasure-hunting operation.

Sulphur exclaimed incredulously, “How is this possible? Those were our main fleet units! They were equipped with immensely powerful energy weapons and twenty thousand of our most elite troops. How could they be taken down by such a bizarre sea beast?”

The staff officer beside him stared at the tactical display repeatedly replaying the footage of Xiao Hei destroying the two small warships, equally shocked, yet he quickly regained his composure. “My Lord, our warship squadron was far too careless. They focused solely on the surface city ahead and neglected precautions against what lay beneath the ocean, allowing this sea beast to ambush us. I believe this sea beast’s power is not absolute. If we proceed with greater caution and deploy more warship squadrons, that strange creature should not stand against our superior weaponry.”

Sulphur frowned, contemplating for a moment before saying, “Judging by this sea beast’s actions, does it look like it might be kept as a pet by the people in this surface city?”

The staff officer replied, “My Lord, that is certainly possible. The sea beast’s actions were highly targeted, attacking only our warships. Moreover, when the surface city’s aircraft appeared, it did not attack them, nor did it attack our surviving troops.”

Sulphur mused with suspicion, “What exactly is the nature of this sea beast? Once it dives into the ocean, our radar cannot detect its presence…”

The staff officer suggested, “My Lord, this sea beast possesses a mysterious power that might interfere with our radar, which is why we cannot locate it.”

Sulphur thought again, then stated, “I must conquer this surface city, as its master is connected to the shocking treasure of the Lande Empire, and we have intelligence confirming this person is currently within that city. Even if this sea monster is their domestic guard, for the sake of our primary objective, we will eliminate it. This sea beast is certainly troublesome, but it cannot possibly withstand the (Level Two Main Cannon) on our warship. We simply need to lure this sea beast out, then use the main cannon to destroy it completely. Once this sea beast is gone, nothing will obstruct our approach to that surface city.”

The staff officer smiled brightly. “An excellent strategy, My Lord. I am impressed.”

Sulphur laughed heartily for a moment, then his expression suddenly soured. “This is a crucial opportunity for us; we cannot afford any misstep. But for some reason, I feel a sense of unease. In the past, whenever I felt this sense of dread, my brothers inevitably appeared to spoil my plans. I fear they might show up again this time…”

The staff officer blinked. “Are you suggesting, My Lord, that you suspect a mole within our warship, fearing they might have alerted your brothers to guide them here to disrupt your endeavors?”

Sulphur nodded. “Precisely. I do worry about that possibility. Although we haven't reported to the family along the way, it’s difficult to guarantee that the mole hasn't notified them, revealing our route and the news that we’ve located the descendants of the Lande Empire. If that happens, we will face immense trouble. Therefore, we must conquer this surface city in the shortest possible time, uncover the whereabouts of the Lande Empire's treasure, and by then, even if my brothers arrive, they will be powerless against us.”

The staff officer’s eyes darted. “My Lord, speaking of eliminating that sea beast and rapidly conquering the surface city, I do have a strategy.”

Sulphur was overjoyed and hastily inquired, “What brilliant method do you propose?”

The staff officer explained, “My Lord, we can utilize those Earth slaves we captured! We will have these captives board two small warships and fly them toward that surface city. If that sea beast is indeed kept by the surface city, they will hesitate to attack us, as the warships carry their own people, making them reluctant to strike. If the sea beast still appears to attack us, we will be prepared and can immediately fire the main cannon of the cosmic warship to destroy it completely. After eliminating the sea beast, we can openly approach the surface city. If the sea beast does not appear or attack us, we will take advantage of the situation to close in on the surface city and use the warship's equipment to destroy the city’s energy shield. This way, we can quickly breach the surface metropolis.”

Sulphur’s eyes lit up. “Heh heh, I like this plan of yours. Losing a few small warships is insignificant to us, but if sacrificing one or two small warships results in the successful elimination of that powerful sea beast, I consider it a worthwhile exchange.”

The staff officer immediately chimed in, “This plan owes its very conception to the brilliance of your insight, My Lord; your contribution is immense…”

Sulphur, basking in the flattery, laughed heartily. “Very well, I entrust the execution of this plan to you!”

Liu Hui, by controlling Xiao Hei to instantly destroy two alien small warships and capture over a hundred aliens, seemed to have seized the upper hand. Yet, he felt no sense of ease, for the cosmic warship remained in space, its main cannon still aimed at "Starry Sky City," capable of obliterating it with a single lapse in judgment. Thus, if they could not eliminate that massive cosmic warship and only manage to destroy insignificant smaller vessels, the battle between "Starry Sky City" and the aliens would not truly be decided.

To eliminate the starship looming in space, relying solely on the super laser cannons of the "City of Starlight" would certainly be insufficient. The most recent calculations from the supercomputer concluded that destroying the alien vessel's energy shield would require a sustained barrage from one thousand super laser cannons attacking the same spot for over an hour.

The "City of Starlight" did not possess anywhere near that many super laser cannons. Even if it had such a complement, a simultaneous volley against the starship would not guarantee its destruction. The alien vessel, upon sensing an unfavorable situation, could simply flee and escape harm. Therefore, the current weaponry of the "City of Starlight" was utterly incapable of destroying this alien starship.

The only way to completely eradicate this immensely large starship was to instantly shatter its energy shield, penetrate its hull, and then unleash a devastating attack from within. Only through such an internal strike could the alien vessel be annihilated in a single blow.

Liu Hui meticulously reassessed his available forces and concluded that only the Six-Winged Battle Angels possessed the capability to instantly breach the enemy's energy shield or carve open a breach large enough to infiltrate the starship, initiating an internal slaughter to cripple it from the inside out.

Immediately, a new problem seized Liu Hui: if the starship found itself overpowered, would it transmit a signal to its backing forces, calling for aid at their main base? If that were the case, destroying this single vessel might inadvertently summon a swarm of additional aliens—an outcome he desperately wished to avoid.

As for whether the starship had already transmitted the discovery of Earth prior to this moment, Liu Hui had no control; his immediate focus had to be preventing the vessel from sending any vital intelligence while it remained within his sight.

With this thought, Liu Hui immediately attempted to contact Alexander from the Magic Plane. However, Alexander remained completely unresponsive, clearly engaged in active combat. Liu Hui had been without contact from Alexander for a full day and night. While he maintained confidence in his own Six-Winged Angels, a seed of anxiety began to sprout. He kept asking himself: if the Six-Winged Angels failed, how would the "City of Starlight" drive off these hostile extraterrestrials?

In his distress, Liu Hui sought out An Qi, who was nearby. Seeing the deeply worried expression on Liu Hui's face startled An Qi. Over the past decade, in An Qi's experience, Liu Hui had always maintained an air of unshakable calm, as if victory were already secured. It was this very demeanor that had inspired such immense trust in everyone.

Liu Hui inquired, "An Qi, what is the most powerful weapon we currently possess?"

An Qi replied, "For defense, it is the massive defensive formation. For offense, naturally, it is the super laser cannon."

Liu Hui pressed, "Is there any weapon with greater destructive power than the laser cannon?"

An Qi shook her head. "How could such a weapon exist?"

Liu Hui clarified, "I mean hypothetically. If we installed an ignition device into those high-grade energy stones, could we transform them into tremendously powerful bombs?"

An Qi paused, biting her finger as she contemplated, then spoke, "Liu Hui, I must say, you truly are a genius. Previously, we only considered how to utilize the energy contained within the high-grade energy stones; the idea of detonating them never occurred to us. But perhaps that's because we’ve never faced aliens this formidable, never considering that avenue. Inspired by your suggestion, I realize this approach is highly feasible. If this concept succeeds, the power of these bombs would far surpass the super laser cannons."

Liu Hui's spirits lifted. "Are you truly capable of turning these high-grade energy stones into high-yield bombs?"

An Qi nodded confidently. "We have researched these high-grade energy stones for years and have a profound understanding of their internal energy structure. Furthermore, our recent invention of Energy Materialization spells has made the techniques for energy manifestation and controlled detonation much more sophisticated. Although we've never attempted such an experiment before, technically, we possess the capability to forge these devastating bombs centered around the high-grade energy stones."

She paused, then smiled slightly. "If the energy contained within these highly concentrated stones is released all at once in an instant, the resulting explosion will be terrifyingly potent. To borrow terminology from gaming, this bomb would be a 'map-clearing' weapon—meaning anything within the current map boundary would be obliterated."

Liu Hui was elated by An Qi's affirmation of the bomb's potential, but his gaze fell to her noticeably swollen abdomen, and a flicker of unease crossed his face. "An Qi, are you certain you can handle this task? You are so heavily pregnant?"

An Qi smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Liu Hui, I can manage. Besides, this is a critical moment for the 'City of Starlight.' If the city falls, even if I deliver the child safely, we will all be doomed. So, for our child to have a future, I will strive to create this powerful map-clearing bomb and send these damned aliens packing back to where they came from."

Though worried about An Qi's health, Liu Hui knew he had no choice but to rely on her to engineer the high-yield, map-clearing bombs, as the "City of Starlight" could not find another trustworthy scientist.

Taking advantage of the lull while the aliens adjusted their strategy following the defeat of their two smaller vessels, Liu Hui escorted An Qi back to the Science and Research Institute.

Liu Hui first retrieved several Level Eight Magical Beast Cores from his storage dimension. After a moment of thought, he added ten God-Grade Magical Beast Cores. If they were going to build powerful map-clearing bombs, they might as well create the ultimate version. The explosive yield from bombs forged with God-Grade Magical Beast Cores would undoubtedly be many times greater than those made from Level Eight cores.

An Qi took the cores and began utilizing the laboratory equipment to install the detonation sequences. Liu Hui stood beside her, his heart pounding, terrified that An Qi might accidentally trigger one of these cores. An explosion from these powerful cores would not only obliterate him and An Qi but could potentially destroy the entire "City of Starlight," handing the aliens a victory without a fight.

However, An Qi remained remarkably composed, assuring Liu Hui that the "City of Starlight" Science and Research Institute’s existing technological framework was sufficient, making the construction of these powerful bombs absolutely safe with virtually no chance of accidental detonation. At this point, Liu Hui had no choice but to trust her word, though he chose to remain by her side, refusing to leave the lab.

Two hours later, An Qi had successfully determined the method for igniting the magical beast cores and had begun fabricating the necessary detonation triggers for these high-grade components.

It was precisely at this moment that the Command and Control Center relayed fresh intelligence: two alien small-class warships were approaching the "City of Starlight" from the northwest sea sector, currently eight hundred kilometers out.

Liu Hui felt a surge of confusion. Did these aliens possess no sense of self-preservation? They had just lost two small vessels on the sea surface, yet they dared send two more while still unable to counter Xiao Hei. Were they unafraid of death?

Noticing the new development, An Qi urged Liu Hui to return to the Command and Control Center to personally direct the response to this intrusion. With reluctance, Liu Hui cautioned An Qi to remain safe and swiftly returned to the center.

Upon re-entering the Command and Control Center, Liu Hui was met with grim expressions. "What is happening?" he demanded. "Why does everyone look like that?"

Zhou Tengyun said, "Boss, look."

Liu Hui turned to the main screen and saw the two alien vessels approaching from the northwest. Then, he noticed several lines of Chinese characters printed on the fore section of the small warships.

The message read: "City of Starlight, please do not attack us. We are citizens of [Country Name]. We have just stolen an alien starship, and we are here to defect to you!"

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～ Thanks to book friend: Fei Ni Mo Shu for your support! Thanks to book friend: Gu Dan Luo Mo for your rating votes! RO