Everything that had happened on Kerr Street quickly spread throughout the upper echelons of Chongque City. The death of Yue Buchen shocked many people.
What shocked them even more was that neither the City Lord’s Office, the Council, nor the Military Guard Bureau seemingly had any intention of pursuing the matter. It was as if the one who had died that night on Kerr Street wasn’t a second-generation aristocrat with vast connections and ties to several major powers but merely a filthy rat.
Yue Buchen’s uncle, Yue Changxing, the Deputy Director of the Military Guard Bureau, was relieved of his position the very next day. He was urgently conscripted into military service and boarded a transport ship headed for the Star Battlefield. Meanwhile, the Exploding Star Gang suffered no consequences whatsoever.
After collecting equipment and resources from the Military Guard Bureau’s warehouse, Li Qingchen, the Chief Evolution Officer of Earth No. 1818, went to rendezvous with Huang Dinggou. Meanwhile, Hu Shuo personally went to meet with his boss Zhou Chenglong.
At the same time, Wei Xiaotian met the legendary top aristocrat among second-generation officials, Song Shiyan, at a private club not far from the City Lord’s Office district.
This legitimate young master of the City Lord’s Office had recently risen to power in Chongque City with overwhelming momentum. He had rapidly expanded his influence, reportedly with the backing of the City Lord Song Jinglun. His swift growth and rapid consolidation of power were seen as a clear sign that Song Jinglun intended to groom his son with full support.
Now, even many of the top-ranking elites among the Four Divisions were willing to extend olive branches to this former wastrel.
“The mission was completed very well.” Seated high upon the Iron King’s throne, Song Shiyan wore a satisfied expression and said, “I know you have many questions in your heart, but I cannot answer them at the moment. Return and prepare to take over the Tiangeng stargate on Sector B2. That is my reward for you.”
“Thank you, Young Master.” Wei Xiaotian was brimming with excitement.
Song Shiyan waved his hand. Wei Xiaotian bowed and took his leave; however, there was a question lingering in his heart.
Why would someone like Song Shiyan, a top-tier noble heir, go to such lengths to protect Li Qingchen?
But he understood that some questions were better left unasked. Wei Xiaotian’s footsteps as he exited were light, filled with a barely contained excitement.
The Exploding Star Gang was about to soar. It wasn’t merely because the gang had finally secured a foothold in District B, nor just because they were taking control of the Tiangeng stargate, ranked fourteenth in annual cargo throughput within the district... It was because he had latched onto a “heavenly connection.”
Exploding Star Gang. Red Shield Hall Headquarters.
Li Xiaofei, in his capacity as Hall Master, held a grand farewell banquet. After two long years of mobilization, the internal recruitment campaign in Chongque City had finally come to a successful end.
Huang Dinggou was about to set out for the Star Battlefield. Li Xiaofei organized the banquet to bid farewell to him and several other gang brothers who were enlisting together. They were headed to the Star Battlefield, to the Asura bloodbath of war.
Who knew when or where they would meet again? They might never see one another in this life again. The Bai sisters also made an appearance at the banquet.
Of course, Huang Dinggou drank too much.
"I'm leaving. I'm going to find her," said Huang Dinggou as he raised his cup high, his face full of unwavering determination.
The next day, Huang Dinggou, along with fourteen other disciples from Red Shield Hall, donned the gear Li Xiaofei had gifted them and boarded the last departing transport ship.
Li Xiaofei stood silently on the platform, hands clasped behind his back as he gazed into the distant starry river. Beyond the city, the starry sky was pitch black, burying countless heroes and their stories.
A massive stargate began to rotate. The transport ship resembled a fish slipping through a curtain of water at the sea’s eye, vanishing into the other end of the stargate. There were countless such stargates in the starry skies beyond the solar system. It was said they were created using great mystical powers, built upon the original spacetime anchor points, forming interstellar passageways.
Stargates were the fastest mode of transportation in this era. Heaven had maintained their flexible troop movements and recruitment by relying on the vast network of stargates spread across the star river. It ensured the frontlines would not collapse due to lack of reinforcements or slow response.
At the far end of the stargate lay the Star River Battlefield. But what exactly existed on the Star River Battlefield? Li Xiaofei was filled with curiosity.
Several days later, he returned to Earth No. 1818. The previous plan was still in progress. Superpowered individuals continued to emerge in an unending stream within Great Xia.
Meanwhile, the nations of Yiggs, Bayer, and Europe dispatched an increasing number of intelligence agents into Great Xia, launching a frenzied investigation into why such a concentration of superpowered awakenings was occurring there.
Unfortunately for them, any attempt at infiltration proved utterly futile as the Dragon Group's power surged at an abnormally exponential rate. In this new era, the rapid rise of Great Xia’s new strength stirred deep fear across the Western powers.
The global power structure began to shift. Yiggs’s aircraft carrier fleet abandoned its posturing in other regions and began rapidly advancing toward East Asia. Coalition forces from various nations also started amassing troops along Great Xia’s borders.
It had only been two short years after the world-renowned Olympic Games, but the global situation had changed so drastically that even the wisest and most brilliant politicians and strategists had failed to foresee it.
The scent of war was suddenly in the air. The atmosphere within Great Xia turned tense in an instant. The internet was still in its flourishing early stage, a chaotic period marked by the hyperactivity of public intellectuals.
All sorts of commentary began to surface online. Many public intellectuals promoted Western values while simultaneously advocating for ‘collective evolution.’ They condescended to lecture ordinary patriotic netizens, while also pompously offering so-called national strategies with dramatic flair.
As the situation escalated, maritime friction grew increasingly severe. Great Xia’s territorial waters suffered incursions and spy planes repeatedly swept through the skies at high altitudes.
The Coalition Forces issued an ultimatum to Great Xia through official diplomatic channels, demanding the release of captured intelligence agents, the opening of Great Xia’s territory to Western research institutions for investigation, and access to national databases to jointly share the secrets of superpower evolution.
During this standoff stage, constant skirmishes occurred over the seas and skies. And one day, it finally erupted. Two Yiggs fighter jets violated Great Xia’s airspace and collided with one of its aircraft, sending it crashing into the sea. The long simmering confrontation at last exploded into open conflict.
Public opinion within the country surged like a tidal wave. That very night, an unknown superpowered individual from Great Xia infiltrated the Yiggs aircraft carrier fleet. He executed the two fighter pilots responsible for the provocation, beheaded them, and returned with their heads to honor the missing Great Xia pilot who had vanished after diving into the sea.
War was on the verge of breaking out. The Yiggs Joint Fleet Commander issued combat orders. The coalition's first objective was to seize control of South Island and establish the closest military base to Great Xia's coastline.
Dozens of missiles launched from warships deep in the ocean, tearing through the skies as they streaked toward South Island...
Great Xia’s radar systems detected the missile launches instantly. Air-raid sirens blared across the skies above South Island.
At that moment, dozens of radiant beams soared skyward from within Great Xia’s inland regions like divine light, rushing to reinforce South Island. They moved with incredible speed. Though they were launched later, they arrived first. The Yiggs cruise missiles were intercepted and detonated in midair, fifty-five kilometers from South Island.
When the satellite footage was transmitted back and appeared before the commander of the Yiggs Joint Fleet, the proud and self-assured Western officer uttered the most incredulous exclamation of his entire life, "God... what the hell is that thing?"