Mech: Shattering of the Galaxy Chapter 1653 12: The Power of the Starry Sky

"The Federation's Planet 131, which had originally been heavily guarded, was suddenly hit by a massive assault. According to the Federation's records, that originally fixed space passage was forcibly torn open to four times its size! That node is the source of all the current disasters."

"During the four years you were missing, human space was infinitely compressed, barely hanging on. An ocean of bugs multiplied at a geometric rate, and the appearance of large numbers of High Tier Bone Worms exceeded everyone's expectations—mine included."

"You can never imagine how terrifying it is for a planet to be parasitized by the Insect Clan within just 24 hours, then covered in Fungus Blanket and brood sacs. At the beginning, our firepower could still briefly suppress them, but as their inexhaustible reserves poured in, neither the Gardot Empire nor the Galaxy Federation, nor even those Eight Xingluo Corps hidden in the Outer Domain Galaxy, could stop them!"

Mu Tianhua quickly laid out the events of the past four years in one breath. He noticed that Mu Fan's face still showed no fluctuation at all, remaining calm and indifferent.

This involuntarily made his own heartbeat start to accelerate.

The wish he had once made to the starry sky—was it really about to come true?

[One day, I will use this boundless starry sky as my chessboard!]

His fist quietly clenched. At this moment Mu Tianhua's voice was firm and powerful.

"Forty-five days before we lost contact with the Empire, the map of civilization's territory looked like this… The original Galaxy Federation abandoned the Second Star District and concentrated all its strength on defending the Capital circle. Of course, that also earned them the bugs' special 'attention', and the casualties were catastrophic!"

"Ke Qingshan… oh no, he should be called Gu Yunyou. The Revolution Army under his command instead became the main resistance force of the Galaxy Federation. He personally piloted an SSS‑class peak[Deity Weapon]and led the Fire Spark Fleet, fighting at the very front near Planet 131. It was precisely because of his power that he forcibly protected a vast stretch of territory in the Federation's Fourth Star District. But his news started to gradually vanish three months ago. Very likely, he too fell into an endless encirclement of Zeg, just like I did."

"Next is your power, [Shadow Island]! With the Shadow Corps led by Qi Longxiang at the head, from the beginning of the war they've been thrusting forward along a bizarre route toward the Outer Domain Galaxy. That Shadow Fleet… is actually the most brutal force against Zeg among the current conventional forces! The Light Arrow Arrow Formation has damage against those bugs that's beyond imagination. If it were peacetime, the major powers would've long since started scheming for your firepower technology."

"Were they looking for me?" Mu Fan narrowed his eyes.

"Perhaps that's what he thought at first. But Qi Longxiang is worthy of the Federation's Military God. After I ordered his advance route to be presented and carefully analyzed, I discovered that every region he passed through contained special wormholes. His final order was for the Shadow Fleet to fall back and hold the Babon Duchy in the Outer Domain Galaxy. Yue Xi Jialanuo De, the queen, aided with the full might of her country, and even once opened their Wood God inheritance to assist in combat. That small duchy actually possesses a biological combat method that surpasses the two superpowers. One can't help but look at them with new eyes… According to my investigation, Princess Yuexi seems to have something with you…" At this point, Mu Tianhua's expression turned a bit strange; the look he gave Mu Fan even held a trace of admiration.

Yuexi…

In Mu Fan's mind flashed the image of that noble, elegant, dignified girl—gentle as water, yet daring to love and hate. A ripple stirred deep in his gaze for a moment; he did not evade Mu Tianhua's eyes, but instead signaled him to go on.

"The Babon Duchy's geographical location is already extremely peculiar. To enter it you must pass through a very well‑hidden corridor, and there is only that single corridor. Logically, once he escaped to such a hidden place, he could have given himself time to recuperate. But intelligence instead shows that Qi Longxiang has continuously ordered the Shadow Fleet to release Insect Clan pheromones, attracting an ocean of bugs to converge on them."

"Later, through model simulations conducted by the Royal Space Research Institute of the Empire, I may have discovered Qi Longxiang's intent."

"The entrance to the Babon Duchy lies near a region of gravitational turbulence. And nearby there is… an extremely unstable, super‑massive wormhole that had already been marked as abandoned by all major forces."

"Near the wormhole, there is a neutron star whose life is about to end."

"If someone were to artificially detonate the wormhole, that act would become the fuse that ignites the powder keg…"

"The collapse of the neutron star would create a gigantic black hole."

"He had been laying out the board from the very beginning, using himself as bait to wear down Zeg's main forces. A foe who places himself on the altar from the outset is enough to earn the respect of me, Mu Tianhua."

Within the coverage of Ghost Energy, Mu Fan's brain was spinning at high speed. On the tactical tablet in his hand, Black had even constructed a preliminary three‑dimensional map of the universe and run big‑data analysis on Qi Longxiang's layout.

Black's conclusion seemed no different from what Mu Tianhua had just said.

But Mu Fan still frowned, because in his understanding, when Qi Longxiang conducted large‑scale or ultra‑large‑scale legion operations, his tactical concealment was extremely strong, often setting up triple or even quadruple layers of camouflage.

Before his true objective was exposed, looking at his arrangements was like staring at a stone Buddha. But when the opponent calculated the winning odds to be fifty‑fifty, they would often be shocked to find that Qi Longxiang would ultimately win with a 1% advantage!

That 1% was often his true objective.

In past internal simulations on Shadow Island, even with Black's outrageous computational power, the best he could manage against Qi Longxiang was a sixty‑forty split.

So simply sacrificing himself to wipe out such a large swath of Zeg was absolutely not his style.

Qi Longxiang definitely had some deeper‑layered layout.

His every move, every action… was absolutely to accomplish a more far‑reaching goal!

After Mu Tianhua finished speaking, he fell silent. Yet when he saw that Mu Fan did not rush to ask questions but instead frowned in thought, he nodded lightly.

He could relax.

"You have doubts?" Mu Tianhua asked.

"Yes." The doubt and contemplation in Mu Fan's eyes faded. He spoke in an extremely certain tone: "This absolutely is not Qi Longxiang's goal."

"Correct."

The decisiveness of the Empire's Deceitful Fox took Mu Fan a little by surprise.

"Endless swarms of bugs severed surveillance and communication between all major forces. These bugs seem reckless, but a careful analysis shows their attacks have an objective‑driven focus even stronger than humans'. Through dissecting the bugs, we discovered that Mid or Low Tier bugs have no brain at all! Their heads are filled with a tree‑like neural network! So they must have some kind of distant central Commander."

"The Imperial Military Department named it the[Insect Brain]."

"While humanity was retreating step by step, the Insect Brain's whereabouts were never once glimpsed."

"However! After Qi Longxiang pinned them there for three consecutive years… the Insect Brain finally exposed its location in an unintentional maneuver! This was deduced from the last batch of intel forty days ago. Unfortunately, I was unable to send it to the Imperial Military Department." Mu Tianhua's gaze blazed as he activated the three‑dimensional sand table in the center of the secret room!

Pointing to a node wedged between the Gardot Empire and the Outer Domain Galaxy, his voice rang out, "Qi Longxiang is gambling with his own Destiny and that of the Shadow Corps. He believes there must be someone in this universe who can decipher his intent, and that is… the movement pattern and current position of the[Insect Brain]!"

"The Antenna Star Domain! The Federation's Northern Border in a planar view, and the Empire's western neighbor!"

"It is an ultra‑gravity zone that almost no one has ever set foot in!"

"Before it moves and vanishes again, destroying the Insect Brain will deal a devastating blow to the Zeg Clan, this hyper‑centralized organization."

"And there are 53 days left before its next movement."

Mu Tianhua raised his head and met Mu Fan's eyes.

For an instant, a pin drop could be heard in the secret room.