The vacuum was utterly silent.
But in Seventeen's perception, the universe did have sound. It was the roar of burning stars, the murmur of gravitational waves, and the frantically pulsating heartbeat of the blue star core embedded in his right arm.
He hovered in the void between the "Vermilion Bird" and the Zera flagship, the "Judgment."
Without air resistance, his black trench coat resembled a solidified iron flag.
[Red Hare System · Activated.] With a slight thought, the miniature floating cannons plundered from the pirates' vault automatically adhered to his back and limbs.
Black nanometal flowed like mercury, instantly covering his entire body.
Then, red energy streams shone through the gaps in his armor, like magma surging within obsidian.
He was no longer human.
He had transformed into a streamlined, red and black semi-biological mech. The visor closed, revealing only a pair of electronic eyes burning with purple flames.
This was **[Red Hare]**.
Not only a tribute to that ancient Eastern divine steed, but also because—among men, Lu Bu; among horses, Red Hare.
He was the wildest, most unparalleled weapon in her hands.
"Zera." Seventeen's voice, transmitted across a wide frequency band, directly struck the shield of the "Judgmental."
"You just said you were going to turn her into a specimen?"
Inside the flagship, Zera stared at the high-energy reaction point on the radar, a crack of "fear" appearing for the first time on her silver, mirror-like face.
"Stop him! All secondary guns fire! That's a moving nuclear bomb!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh— Countless green particle beams intertwined, attempting to capture the red bird.
But Seventeen was too fast.
He made sharp angle refractions in space, defying the laws of physics.
Each change of direction left a trail of afterimages behind him. From afar, it looked like a red ribbon, gracefully threading through a jungle of deathly lasers.
"Too slow," Seventeen commented coldly.
He had already reached the flagship's shield.
It was an energy barrier strong enough to withstand a meteorite impact.
Seventeen didn't slow down.
He raised his stellar right arm.
The blue star core had completely melted, dyeing the entire arm a transparent azure, its interior seemingly containing billions of stars in flux.
[Starry Sky · Xing Tian – Collapse Strike.] Boom!
Although it was a vacuum, the energy wave from the impact caused visible ripples in the surrounding space.
Seventeen's punch didn't shatter the shield.
Instead, it directly **absorbed** a portion of the shield's energy.
The instant a gap appeared in the shield, he transformed into a streak of red light and plunged into the heart of the massive flagship.
...Inside the Judgement.
The alarm blared.
Layer upon layer of heavy alloy gates slid down, attempting to block the intruder.
But before Seventeen, these gates, powerful enough to imprison a behemoth, were like brittle biscuits.
Rip— Black-gold claws gripped the gaps, ripping the gates apart with brutal force.
Amidst sparks, Seventeen strode across the molten iron, stepping towards the bridge.
Mechanical guards swarmed forward along the way.
Seventeen didn't even glance at them.
The floating cannons behind him automatically fired, red lasers like blooming spider lilies, clearing an absolute vacuum around him.
He was like a grim reaper going to his appointed time.
Elegant, composed, unstoppable.
Finally, he stood before Zera.
In the bridge command room, Zera was cornered. Behind him were huge floor-to-ceiling windows, outside which lay the two still-burning twin stars.
"You…you monster!" Zera's voice trembled. "I am an observer of an advanced civilization! You can't kill me! If you kill me, the Silver Empire will raze this star system to the ground!" Seventeen removed his visor, revealing a handsome yet cold face. He looked at Zera, his purple eyes devoid of any emotion. "An observer?" Seventeen repeated softly, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "In this universe, only she can observe me." "And you…" He raised his right arm, radiating terrifying heat. "You're just blocking her view." "No!!" Zera tried to retreat in terror. Seventeen didn't give him the chance. He didn't use any fancy moves. Just a simple punch.
[Star Destroyer Mode · Full Power Release.] Thud.
The punch didn't land on Zera.
It struck the main control core behind Zera, piercing through the flagship's keel. The energy of the star's core was detonated in that instant.
It didn't expand outwards, but collapsed inwards, then exploded at a rate ten thousand times greater.
Seventeen turned around a second before the explosion.
He looked out the window at the red "Vermilion Bird."
Through tens of thousands of kilometers, through the vacuum, he seemed to see the woman in red sitting in the command chair.
"Don't be afraid."
"I'll set off a firework for you."
BOOM—!!!
A white light, brighter than a star, suddenly blazed against the backdrop of the Gemini stars.
That was the "Judgment Ship's" catastrophic explosion.
The massive flagship disintegrated from within under that single blow, turning into countless burning fragments that sprayed in all directions.
Like a grand, silvery meteor shower.
...Vermilion Bird, bridge.
Shen Qingqiu watched the exploding white light, his heart clenching.
"Seventeen…" Her fingers gripped the armrest tightly, her nails almost breaking.
Although she knew he possessed an indestructible body, being at the center of an explosion of this magnitude…
Just then.
A streak of black and red light shot out from the sea of fire.
He looked somewhat disheveled.
His "Red Hare" armor was mostly shattered, and his Star Arm was dull and lifeless, even dripping coolant.
But he still flew steadily.
He was dragging something in his hand—Zera's **"Space Folding Core"** (trophy).
"Phew…" Shen Qingqiu let out a long breath, tears almost falling.
"Damn it…always so terrifying."
However.
Just as Seventeen was about to fly back to the Vermilion Bird.
A sudden change occurred.
The massive energy cloud created by the flagship's explosion did not dissipate.
Instead, due to the residual magnetic field of the Gemini flare and the energy of the detonated star core, a strange resonance occurred.
*Whoosh—* Space collapsed.
Right behind Seventeen, at the epicenter of the explosion, a massive, black vortex suddenly appeared.
It wasn't an ordinary black hole.
The vortex's edges shimmered with an eerie bronze light, emanating countless cacophonous whispers, seemingly from billions of worlds.
[Warning! High-dimensional spacetime rift detected!]
[Warning! Dimensional barrier shattered!]
A terrifying suction force emanated from the vortex.
Seventeen's figure abruptly froze.
He felt as if an invisible giant hand had grabbed his ankle, uncontrollably dragging him towards the vortex.
"Seventeen!" Shen Qingqiu cried out in alarm.
Without thinking, she jumped up from the command chair.
"Vermilion Bird! Full speed ahead! Go get him!"
But it was too late.
The vortex's gravity was too strong, even exceeding that of the Gemini stars. It wasn't sucking in matter, but souls.
Shen Qingqiu suddenly felt a burning sensation in her arms.
That was the **[Bronze Fragment]** she had purchased at the auction.
At this moment, this originally rusty fragment was floating in mid-air, emitting a dazzling blue light, resonating strongly with the vortex.
[Detection of "Gate" opening.]
[Coordinate Calibration: Infinite Dimension.]
[Key: Activated.]
"This is... a portal?"
Shen Qingqiu instantly understood.
The explosion had accidentally activated a passage to a higher dimension. And Seventeen's energy reaction was too strong, making him the preferred sacrifice for this passage.
"Don't take him away!"
A hint of madness flashed in Shen Qingqiu's eyes.
She made a decision that shocked all the crew members.
She didn't pilot the warship.
She ran directly to the airlock.
"Give me a spacesuit! Quick!"
Thirty seconds later.
Shen Qingqiu, wearing a white spacesuit, tightly clutching the glowing bronze fragment, ejected from the Vermilion Bird.
She didn't escape the vortex.
Using her thrusters, she charged like a cannonball towards the black hole that was devouring Seventeen.
"Qingqiu! Don't come any closer! Go back!!" Seventeen roared into the communication channel. Half of his body was already being sucked into the vortex, his armor disintegrating.
"Shut up!" Shen Qingqiu gritted her teeth, using the pull of the bronze fragments to propel herself faster than the spaceship.
"I told you, we're twins."
"We'll die together, we'll wear each other'!"
At the last moment before falling into the vortex.
Shen Qingqiu finally grabbed Seventeen's outstretched hand.
Two hands.
One was a slender human hand covered by a spacesuit.
The other was a broken, starlight-flowing mechanical hand.
At that moment, they were locked together tightly.
"Got it." Shen Qingqiu looked at him, her smile as radiant as a flower even through the mask.
"Seventeen, it seems our honeymoon trip..."
"Will need to go somewhere more thrilling." Seventeen's eyes reddened as he watched her rush towards him without hesitation.
He stopped struggling, instead drawing her into his arms with the suction, holding her tightly.
He used his broken back to shield her from the tearing spatial storms within the vortex.
"Okay."
He promised amidst the storm.
"Even if it's the eighteenth level of hell, I'll go with you."
Boom—!
The bronze fragments shone brightly, enveloping the two of them.
The next second.
They were completely swallowed by the enormous bronze vortex.
In the starry sky, only the lonely Vermilion Bird remained, along with the lingering, poignant fireworks display.
(Volume 5, Interstellar Wars, Civilization Chronicles - Complete)
[Next Volume Preview: Volume 6, Infinite Horror, Dimensional Infinite Flow]
"Welcome to the Main God Space."
"This is a paradise for the strong, a hell for the weak."
"Do you want to survive? Do you want to understand the meaning of life?"
This time, there are no warships, no spiritual energy.
Only endless horror movie instances: zombie sieges, gruesome mansions, Cthulhu mysteries…
Shen Qingqiu looked at the reincarnation wristwatch on his wrist, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"Main God? No, in my eyes, you're just an NPC who issues quests."
And Seventeen, standing in a pool of blood, had replaced his sword with a demonic weapon capable of severing causality.
"Qingqiu, this time you don't need to use your brain."
"I'll take you… to kill your way through this infinite cycle of reincarnation."