Li Xiaofei suddenly understood why the God Warriors of Eden had been so slow to react after they had taken control of all the Holy Light Settlements on Earth. In truth, there had been no reaction at all. Eden’s transit station had already been infiltrated by the Reapers.
For some reason, the Reapers had massacred all the God Warriors of Eden. They had been preparing to disguise themselves as humans. But that raised another question— Why did the Reapers need to disguise themselves as humans?
Li Xiaofei glanced at the mountain of corpses. At least a thousand bodies lay there.
"How many people did you say a Solar Whale-Class starship can carry?" He asked.
Liu Diqiu quickly responded. "The maximum capacity is a hundred thousand. Normal operations should take around ten thousand people. But since this is a transit station, there should be cyborgs like the Governors handling duties, so I’d estimate around six to seven thousand people were aboard."
Li Xiaofei nodded and said, "Then we need to search the entire starship. Did you hear what that Reaper said earlier? ‘Why are there still survivors?’ That means they must have already wiped out everyone on this ship. Which also means—there are definitely more Reapers hiding somewhere."
A shiver ran down Liu Diqiu’s spine.
"Don’t be afraid." Li Xiaofei said, his voice calm and unwavering. "No matter how many there are, I can kill them all."
A faint murderous aura slipped free of its restraints. Liu Diqiu exhaled, realizing she had been holding her breath. Li Xiaofei was right. His combat strength was nothing short of monstrous. He was not at all inferior to the Reapers they had just met.
"You might be strong," Liu Diqiu felt the need to remind this increasingly overconfident man. "But the Reapers aren’t this weak. Their species is divided into multiple classes that vary in strength. The one you just killed was likely just an Explorer, who are used for reconnaissance, early scouting, and gathering information. They’re like the cannon fodder of human legions, numerous but weak. But there are also Slayers, Conquerors, Raiders, Starforgers, and other types. Each one is far stronger than an Explorer, and your blade may not even be able to break through their defenses."
"You seem to know a lot about the Reapers," replied Li Xiaofei as he crouched by the corpse mountain and started examining it closely.
When he didn’t find anything useful, he raised his hand and unleashed a wave of fire. In mere moments, the entire pile of corpses was reduced to ashes.
"Let’s go." His fighting spirit was blazing. "Time to see what other Reapers might be lurking aboard."
Liu Diqiu silently dragged the Reaper’s corpse behind her as she followed closely. Watching him, she felt something nearly reckless in his courage—like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers.
Maybe that was a good thing. Or maybe it wasn’t. But one thing he had said was undeniably true. The best way to conquer fear was to face it head-on. She couldn't let her past haunt her forever. She couldn't keep reacting to the Reapers like a panicked, helpless bird.
The two of them began searching the vast Solar Whale-class starship. As expected, they encountered more Reapers, but they were all Explorers. Li Xiaofei dispatched them with ease. Each time, he burned the remains of their victims, ensuring nothing was left behind. They scoured the entire starship for three full days and nights.
Finally, Liu Diqiu successfully cracked the ship’s AI command system, unlocking several critical, sealed compartments.
"No one’s here. The commander escaped," Liu Diqiu confirmed after she double-checked the systems.
The command cabins that hadn’t been destroyed by the Explorers were completely empty. There were no God Warriors of Eden left. It was clear that the commanding officers had abandoned ship through emergency escape routes not long after the battle began.
They had fled so quickly that the command modules remained untouched. Sensitive data that should have been erased was still intact, and systems that should have been shut down were still running smoothly.
"If my sister were here, she’d have full control of this starship in three hours." Liu Diqiu commented.
Li Xiaofei ignored her.
This girl still hasn't given up.
"We guessed right. This was a surprise attack by the Explorer type Reapers. The God Warriors of Eden were caught off guard. The upper echelon immediately fled since they knew they weren’t a match for the Reapers. But because the attack happened so suddenly, the rest of the personnel on this ship named Shadow 78996, a Solar Whale-class vessel, were left behind and became casualties."
Liu Diqiu had decrypted the starship’s navigation logs. A data block resembling a black box appeared on the screen.
"Why did the Reapers suddenly attack Shadow 78996?" Li Xiaofei asked.
Liu Diqiu shook her head and replied, "No idea. We would have to ask a Reaper. But their kind doesn’t break easily under interrogation. Lower-ranked Explorers likely wouldn’t even know the reason—they only follow orders."
Li Xiaofei remained silent. The factions in this war were becoming increasingly clear. Earth, or more precisely, the hundred thousand alternate Earths, all faced the same enemies. However, due to varying degrees of control by the Starry Sky Temple or Eden, these different Earths were not necessarily aligned on the same side. This was a chaotic faction at best.
Then there was Eden. From what he had learned, it was originally a faction that had splintered off from the Starry Sky Temple, gradually degenerating from a once-loyal Earth alliance into nothing more than the lapdogs of the Reapers.
Next was the Star Council. It had once been recognized by Heaven as the ruling body that oversaw the hundred thousand worlds. Its original purpose was to guide these worlds in their evolution, recruit soldiers from them, and send them to the Star Battlefield—the final battleground where Earth's fate was to be decided.
In theory, if there were one hundred thousand Earths, then there should also be one hundred thousand Star Councils. But how many of these Star Councils had already been corrupted and brought under Eden’s control? How many still remained just and upheld their original mission? It was impossible to know. Chaos.
Then there was Heaven. According to his aunt, Heaven was an ancient, ever-existing entity, the ultimate human military force, inherited and perfected by Lin Beichen and his predecessors. It gathered the strongest and most brilliant warriors throughout history.
But how deep had Eden’s corruption seeped into humanity? Had its decaying influence already reached Heaven as well? That remained unknown.
And finally— The Reapers. The ultimate enemy. The reason behind the birth of the hundred thousand Earths. The reason Heaven fought. The reason the Star Council was established. Even Eden itself existed only because of the Reapers.
Then there were the creatures of Subspace. A species belonging to the Reapers' faction, nothing more than their vassals.
Five factions. Two opposing sides. A war that had existed since time immemorial. There was no room for negotiation. No possibility of peace. Only a fight to the death.
The Reapers had always been harvesting and plundering the universe, stripping away everything that carried life. In the end, they would even consume themselves, resetting the universe to zero—so that it could begin its cycle anew.
Perhaps they were the very embodiment of the universe’s will and laws. Humanity had only one task: to survive. Because if given the choice—who would willingly choose death?
Li Xiaofei’s thoughts became clearer. It was as if he was finally beginning to understand the true nature of this world. But at that moment, a sharp voice broke through his thoughts.
"Hey! Come take a look—something isn’t right!" Liu Diqiu’s voice trembled again.