The technology Mark Grayson brought back from the Main Universe was like a surging torrent of living water poured into the parched soil of the resistance.
The Alliance's engineers and scientists assimilated, absorbed, and mass-produced these advanced weapons and equipment at an astonishing speed.
The new generation of energy weapons, with their range, power, and especially their purification effect on the Great Old Ones' corrupted creatures, far surpassed any previous standard equipment.
Miniaturized, highly efficient shield generators could effectively withstand the corrosive energy and physical attacks of the Great Old Ones' minions.
Battle armor and warship hulls forged from new alloys combined lightweight design with incredible toughness.
There were even some regional space stabilizers developed based on Main Universe energy theory, which could effectively interfere with the teleportation of lower-tier Great Old Ones' minions and certain area-of-effect mental contaminations.
When this revitalized Alliance fleet, led by Mark Grayson, once again clashed head-on with The Old Ones' Tide, the battle turned into a one-sided crushing victory!
The Great Old Ones' minions' once-despairing defenses and corrosive attacks became fragile and vulnerable before the new weapons!
Energy beams tore through their bodies like hot knives through butter, shields steadily withstood the frantic impacts, and warships, like a steel torrent, moved through the enemy lines, unstoppable!
The casualty ratio plummeted!
News of victory after victory poured back to Lishi Star!
The resistance, which had been constantly on the defensive, finally sounded the bugle for a full-scale counterattack!
This glorious victory, like the most dazzling torch, illuminated the dark universe.
Countless civilizations still struggling under the Great Old Ones' iron heel, exiled races, and even some forces that had remained neutral, all saw the dawn of hope.
They proactively contacted the Alliance or Earth GDA, requesting to join and contribute their strength.
An unprecedented atmosphere of unity began to spread throughout the universe, with intelligent life from different races and civilizations setting aside past grievances and forming Alliances for the common goal of survival.
Resources, technology, and military forces were efficiently integrated, forming a unified anti-Great Old Ones front centered around the Alliance and Earth!
The universe, as if from the abyss of despair, for the first time truly showed the embryonic form of a utopian world.
Under the joint forces' overwhelming offensive, the Great Old Ones' forces retreated steadily; the star systems they occupied were recovered one by one, and they were ultimately driven out of the prosperous central regions of the universe, retreating to more remote, desolate dark areas.
Then the greatest news arrived.
The research team led by GDA Allen, combining the previously captured Taviel space jump data and continuously analyzed Great Old Ones' energy characteristics, finally succeeded in reverse-engineering the endpoint of the Great Old Ones' escape route.
It was an anomalous region located at the edge of the known universe, unmarked on any star charts, and shielded by a powerful energy field.
There, it was highly probable that it was the Great Old Ones' true lair, and the place where they were performing the terrifying ritual to unseal their brethren.
"Strike at the heart!"
Mark Grayson did not hesitate and immediately made a decision.
He personally led the beheading fleet, composed of the Alliance's most elite warriors, Earth GDA's strongest super-powered individuals, and top warriors selected from various races, along the calculated path, like a tempered dagger, directly into the Great Old Ones' nest.
This fleet was not large, but its combat power was extremely terrifying, equipped with the most advanced weapons and shields, it swept through all obstacles, easily tearing apart the layers of defenses and patrol fleets the Great Old Ones had set up along the path, constantly approaching the final coordinates at an astonishing speed.
"Useless! Taviel, look at the mess you've made!"
Shub-Niggurath's will, like a cold poisonous needle, sharply pierced Taviel.
"Not only did you fail to eliminate the variable, but you also led him here by his tail; their external defenses are about to be breached!"
Taviel's form fluctuated, emitting waves of anger and frustration, but it could not retort.
It also had not expected that those ants would actually have the ability to track its jump path.
Ysogtha let out a dull roar, like a deep-sea leviathan.
"Their weapons… are very strange… they can effectively purify our power; we must stop them, the ritual is at its most critical moment!"
Outside the lair, the beheading fleet had approached to within visible distance, and powerful firepower poured madly onto the outer defenses of the lair, made of flesh and energy, exploding into disgusting purple-black fireworks.
Occasionally, particularly powerful attacks would even penetrate the defenses, striking the lair's main body, causing a violent tremor.
All three Great Old Ones could feel a hint of unease and agitation from their imprisoned brethren, who were about to break free!
"We can't wait any longer!"
Shub-Niggurath made a cold decision.
"We must lure away that variable, Mark Grayson; he is the core, and once he leaves, the remaining rabble are not worth worrying about!"
Its will suddenly locked onto Taviel.
"Taviel, immediately project me to the place the variable cares about most, near the orbit of that planet called Earth!"
"I will manifest there and force him to return!"
Taviel's distorted geometric eyes flickered slightly.
It did indeed have the ability to perform ultra-long-distance precise projection, and could even project Shub-Niggurath directly onto Earth's surface.
But it chose not to tell the truth.
"Earth… is too far away… my power was severely depleted in the previous battle… I can only barely project you to its orbit…"
Taviel conveyed a sense of weakness and reluctance.
Shub-Niggurath instantly detected Taviel's little scheme.
Did it want to divert the trouble, but also not want Earth to be instantly destroyed, thereby losing its value in restraining Mark Grayson, or did it have other plans?
But the situation was critical, and it had no time to delve deeper!
"Now!"
Shub-Niggurath commanded coldly.
Taviel said no more, mobilizing the lair's energy, and began to tear space; an unstable rift, emanating a colder aura that was of the same origin as the lair's, slowly opened.
Shub-Niggurath's vast and bloated avatar, full of the paradoxical sense of gestation and decay, plunged into it without hesitation.
The rift disappeared.
Taviel and Ysogtha exchanged glances, then immediately devoted all their energy to maintaining the ritual and resisting the external attack.
Indeed, without the frontal assault of Mark Grayson, the strongest combatant, although the joint forces' firepower was fierce, the two Great Old Ones personally controlling the lair's defenses suddenly found themselves at ease.
They used the lair's bizarre terrain and endless evil creations to cleverly delay, divide, and deplete the joint forces' offensive, and the battle temporarily became a stalemate.
…
Near Earth's orbit.
Space twisted, and the avatar of the third Great Old One, Shub-Niggurath, suddenly appeared!
That unnamable, terrifying will, whose mere presence was enough to make all things wither, instantly spread like a cold tide, enveloping the entire Earth.
"Fear… wail… you foolish ants… let your despair, call your god back…"
Shub-Niggurath uttered blasphemous whispers.
The next moment, its massive avatar, composed of countless writhing organs, rotting flesh, and twisted thorns, began to project a larger-scale true form regardless of the cost.
Although it was not its true body descending, the visual and mental impact it brought was devastating!
Earth instantly plunged into a global super disaster!
The sky was stained an ominous dark red and purple-black, and sunlight was completely obscured.
Unintelligible whispers and roars directly sounded in the mind of every living being, triggering primal fear and madness; global electronic devices largely failed, and communications were cut off.
Even more terrifying, Shub-Niggurath's dense Great Old Ones' power began to substantially pollute Earth's environment.
Plants rapidly withered and decayed, animals became frenzied and bloodthirsty, and humans… a large number of people with weak wills or who possessed certain latent superpowers began to undergo terrifying mutations!
Their bodies twisted, grew extra limbs or organs, and their consciousness was replaced by a mad desire for slaughter and consumption, turning them into monsters that only knew how to destroy.
GDA headquarters immediately sounded the highest alert, and all available super-powered individuals and military forces were deployed to battle!
But their attacks, whether energy beams or physical weapons, could barely cause effective damage to the huge Great Old Ones' avatar suspended in orbit; they could only barely clear out the contaminated and mutated monsters, protecting civilians as they retreated to underground shelters.
The world plunged into chaos and despair!
It was nothing short of a living hell!
"Mark Grayson—!!!"
Director Cecil, in the almost paralyzed command center, let out a hoarse cry into the only deep-space communicator that could barely work.
"Earth is under attack! Urgent need for support!"
"Repeat! Earth urgently needs support!!"
…
Mark Grayson, who was leading the joint forces in a fierce assault on the Great Old Ones' lair, received this distress message from Earth, full of static and despair, a few minutes later.
"What?!"
Mark Grayson's heart sank sharply.
His worst fear had come true!
Without any hesitation, he immediately issued orders to the joint forces'副指揮官.
"This is yours; hold them at all costs, wait for my return!"
Before he finished speaking, he had transformed into a stream of light tearing through space, rushing back to Earth at unimaginable speed!
When he finally broke through the atmosphere and saw the scene below, even with his current mental fortitude, he felt a suffocating surge of anger and heartache.
The once-blue planet was now shrouded in foul colors, and smoke billowed across the land, engulfed in chaos.
He could even see mutated humans in some cities frantically attacking their own kind.
And the huge, rotten Great Old Ones' avatar, suspended in orbit, constantly dripping vile substances, was letting out a silent, mocking cackle.
"Hehehe… Hahahaha… You're back?"
"Look at your home… because of you… it has become such a wonderful breeding ground…"
Shub-Niggurath's consciousness directly pierced Mark Grayson's mind, filled with malicious pleasure.
"Those ants you care about… are they now hiding in some corner… trembling… or… are they becoming my new toys?"
Mother… Debbie… Eve…
…Allen… Cecil… everyone at GDA…
Mark Grayson's eyes instantly turned a fiery golden color!
Boundless rage erupted within him like a volcano, surpassing any previous instance, and the terrifying aura caused the surrounding space to twist and crack.
"You… deserve… to… die!!!!!"
A roar, as if from ancient primordial times, filled with extreme killing intent and fury, shook the entire Earth's orbit.
Mark Grayson's anger had reached an unprecedented peak!
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