radiothebook Chapter 288 The enemy is at the city gates, and heroes stand in confrontation.
Chapter 288 The enemy is at the city gates, and heroes stand in confrontation.
"In my name, I hereby issue the highest-level war mobilization order to the Supreme Council of the Earth Federation."
"Our next goal—"
"Heart of the Galaxy, Eye of the Storm!"
Su Chen's command was instantly transmitted back to the Earth Federation, which was located in the solar system, via encrypted quantum communication.
The entire Federal Supreme Council fell into a deathly silence the moment it received the order.
"What? A top-level war mobilization order? Heading straight to the center of the galaxy?"
"Advisor... what is Su Chen doing? We've just finished a major battle; the fleet needs rest, and the personnel need regrouping!"
"The Eye of the Storm... My God, that's the most dangerous place in the galaxy, the legendary forbidden zone! With all our belongings, going there would be suicide!"
Questions, confusion, and concerns rose and fell in the secret meeting room.
But eventually, all the noise subsided.
The speaker was the white-haired Federal Chairman. He slammed his hand on the table, the sound not loud, but it silenced everyone.
"Execute the command."
His words were simple yet firm.
"Do we know our consultant less than those who have never even met him? From the day he appeared, every decision he made seemed crazy at the time, like walking a tightrope. But what was the result? He led us to victory every single time."
"This time, it's the same."
"I don't know why he went there, I only know he must have his reasons. What we need to do now is not to question, but to trust. Give him everything we can!"
"All personnel mobilize! All production lines, all resources, all personnel, enter wartime mode! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!"
With the Federation Chairman's decision, the entire Earth civilization—this massive war machine unified under Su Chen's will—began to operate with unprecedented efficiency and frenzy.
At this very moment, the expeditionary fleet had transformed into a streak of dark blue light.
Guided by Oghuz, they sped toward the boundary between light and darkness at the center of the Milky Way.
The journey was tedious and long.
The closer you get to the center of the Milky Way, the harsher the environment in the universe becomes.
The violent energy tides, chaotic gravitational fields, and high-energy rays that occasionally sweep in from the shadows make this journey fraught with deadly danger.
The atmosphere on the bridge of the Pangu was extremely heavy.
"Report! Gamma-ray burst ahead! Energy shield is rapidly decreasing!"
"Evade! Immediately initiate a short-range jump evasion!" Chen Zhou roared as he gave the order.
The fleet traced an irregular zigzag line through space, narrowly avoiding the cosmic catastrophe that could have torn apart conventional warships.
Everyone held their breath in a cold sweat.
"This godforsaken place is so bad, you can't even breathe properly."
Chen Zhou wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with lingering fear.
"This is just the appetizer."
Su Chen's voice came from the command post; he kept his eyes closed, seemingly dozing.
But everyone knew that his mental power constantly enveloped the entire fleet, monitoring everything around him at all times.
"The real danger is yet to come."
Finally, after a long and arduous voyage lasting several months, their destination came into view.
It was a magnificent sight that would take any life out of its wits.
A supermassive black hole of unimaginable size, like the eye of a giant beast at the center of the universe, greedily devours everything around it.
Around it is a blazing, bright, high-speed rotating accretion disk, where countless stars are torn apart into the most primitive matter, emitting the last light and heat of their lives.
Within the event horizon of the black hole, in that absolute darkness, lies a strange, relatively peaceful region.
The laws of space there seemed to have been forcibly stabilized by some great force, forming an "eye" enveloped by endless storms.
That place is the "eye of the storm".
"We've... arrived."
Chen Zhou's voice was somewhat hoarse.
However, before they could recover from the shocking sight, a piercing alarm instantly blared throughout the entire bridge!
"Warning! Extremely high-energy reactions detected! More than one!"
"A fleet has already arrived on the outskirts of the eye of the storm!"
On the radar screen, three huge signal sources emitting different colors of light...
Like three deities, they quietly resided around the eye of the storm, forming a three-way standoff.
"My master..." Ogus's illusory sphere of soul light fluctuated violently, his voice filled with undisguised fear.
"That...that fleet burning with crimson flames! It's...it's the cult's 'Legion of Ten Thousand Devourers'! That's the cult leader Hermon's personal guard! My God, he actually came in person!"
Su Chen's gaze fell on the fleet of biological warships that seemed to be alive, covered in bone spurs and tumors.
At the center of that fleet, a flagship larger than all the other warships combined, resembling a moving continent of flesh and blood, exuded a nauseatingly evil aura.
"Analyze the other two." Su Chen's voice was completely calm.
"yes!"
The "Prophet" system began operating at high speed, and a massive stream of data swept past Su Chen's eyes.
"The second signal source... their ships, each one a perfect work of art, with sleek lines and a cold, geometric beauty. There's no superfluous structure; everything exists for efficiency and slaughter."
Ogus's voice was filled with confusion: "I have never seen a fleet like this before. They don't seem to belong to any civilization we know."
"The Tianheng Empire," Su Chen uttered softly.
"A purely mechanical ascended civilization, whose emperor, 'Sequence One,' is a super artificial intelligence that has integrated itself into the entire imperial network."
"Their creed is absolute order and logic; any chaos or organic life is seen by them as a virus that needs to be 'formatted'."
Chen Zhou felt a chill run down his spine. Where did this monster come from?
"Then... what about the third one?" He pointed to the last one, which was also the strangest signal source.
That was not a fleet.
That wasn't even a ship.
It was just a lonely, faintly golden humanoid silhouette, sitting quietly in the void, without any protection or life support.
However, the space around him was visibly distorted because of his presence.
The pressure emanating from him alone was in no way weaker than that of the other two massive fleets!
"This person..." Ogus's soul fire was almost extinguished.
"I don't know who he is... but I can sense that he's even more dangerous than the cult leader Hermon!"
For the first time, Su Chen's gaze turned serious.
"The Uncrowned One, Carlos. A lone wolf wandering the galaxy, a monster who has honed his individual power to its extreme. Legend has it that he once single-handedly destroyed an entire star-level civilization."
Hermon, leader of the Star-Eating Cult.
Emperor of the Tianheng Empire, Rank 1.
The Uncrowned King, Carlos.
These three, each one of them, are terrifying beings standing at the very top of the galactic food chain.
And now, they have all gathered here.
The Earth fleet, which appeared as insignificant as dust before them, was like a rabbit that had accidentally wandered into the lair of a behemoth.
Almost the instant they appeared, three powerful wills, strong enough to tear apart souls, swept over them simultaneously.
Contempt, scrutiny, and undisguised murderous intent.
In the eyes of these beings, the Earth fleet is not even qualified to be their opponent.
It's more like a... pre-battle snack.
"Advisor...we..." Chen Zhou's throat was dry, and his palms were sweaty.
For the first time, he felt that despairing gap in strength.
This cannot be remedied by courage and strategy alone.
Just then, that grand yet indifferent will that had once echoed in Su Chen's mind descended once more.
This time, it enveloped the entire "Eye of the Storm" area and descended upon the minds of all four factions.
I'm waiting in the "eye of the storm."
However, there is only one waterway leading here.
[I want to get the last fragment...]
Use your strength to seize this one and only qualification.
The moment the words fell, a narrow channel made of pure light appeared out of thin air at the entrance to the calm area of the eye of the storm.
It's like the only stairway to heaven.
Below the steps were four packs of hungry wolves, their eyes already bloodshot.
Seize the shipping lane!
This is no longer a treasure hunt, this is a brutal elimination tournament!
Almost the instant the rules were announced, a roar that shook the entire universe resounded from the massive flesh-and-blood flagship of the Star Devouring Cult.
"That weak civilization... is the Earth civilization that Herro spoke of!"
"Kill them all! Let their flesh and blood be the prelude to our feast!"
The next second, all the cannons of the Devouring Legion turned around.
They focused their attention on the Pangu, which appeared incredibly "exquisite" and "fragile" in their eyes.