Argon.

  It was an ordinary rocky planet boasting a diameter exceeding 18,000 km.

  Beneath its dense atmosphere, its landmass primarily comprised three continents, relatively equal in size and configuration, surrounded by numerous azure oceans.

  Mountain ranges were relatively scarce across these three continents, but the plains were expansive and fertile, and forests were abundant, resulting in extremely rich terrestrial resources.

  Beyond the main landmasses, over ten thousand islands were scattered across the boundless sea.

  Furthermore, Argon’s surface climate was remarkably temperate, featuring four distinct seasons with temperatures fluctuating between -60℃ and 40℃.

  However, due to the planet's axial tilt, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres exhibited notable climatic divergence: the Southern Hemisphere maintained a relatively warm environment, while the Northern Hemisphere was considerably colder.

  The planet's entire permanent population stood at approximately 3 billion, mainly composed of the Mercury Race alongside more than seventy diverse, intelligent alien species.

  These alien races were invariably nobles and affluent merchants hailing from various interstellar civilizations, whose primary motivations for being on Argon were interstellar tourism and the enjoyment of life.

  Argon maintained a highly advanced and robust AI-controlled bio-environmental system, specifically engineered to regulate and ensure the stable operation of living conditions within each resident race's surface habitat.

  It also featured multiple intelligent life communication centers, established to facilitate dialogue and commercial exchange between the Mercury Empire and other races and civilizations within the Golden Bough Civilization Zone.

  This planet occupied the outermost perimeter of the Driphor Sector, situated adjacent to the primary navigation route of the Golden Bough Civilization Zone (known as the advanced Sentience Realm Hallway). It was the sole ordinary planet among the Mercury Empire’s over 200 civilized worlds that was not entirely shrouded by a dense mercury elemental atmosphere.

  This deliberate atmospheric feature was intentionally engineered by high-ranking Mercury Race officials, aimed at creating an environment conducive to external diplomatic engagement.

  Before achieving absolute dominance in power, communication and interaction with external civilizations remained indispensable.

  After all, within the entire Golden Bough Civilization Zone, the total count of interstellar civilizations vastly exceeded the combined number of the Mercury Empire's civilized planets.

  This multitude of civilizations necessitated meticulous attention to information across all strata of interstellar society, encompassing the open and clandestine political, economic, and military maneuvers of countless civilizations, regardless of their strength.

  Among these diverse civilizations, the Mercury Race not only counted the Agate Clan as an adversary but also maintained more than one crucial ally.

  Should they choose to develop in isolation, ignoring external shifts, they would inevitably drift further from their allies over time, potentially even becoming new enemies under malicious instigation from hostile powers.

  It must be noted that this intricate dynamic of power play remains perpetually relevant, irrespective of the era.

  The Golden Bough Civilization Zone was no exception.

  Across the vastness of the universe, constellations sparkled brilliantly.

  Beams of deep-space radiation emanating from the universe's depths struck the outer hulls of starships flying in formation, being ravenously absorbed by the tens of millions of cosmic energy-absorbing bacteria clinging to them, which then converted this energy for their own sustenance.

  At the conclusion of these merchant and passenger vessels' swift journey, tens of millions of kilometers distant, a deep blue planet, beautiful as a perfect sapphire, rotated slowly.

  That planet was Argon.

  This was the final waypoint for these merchant and transport vessels.

  At that moment, a crystal-shaped vessel, fully one hundred meters in length, abruptly materialized in space. Upon its sudden appearance, it rapidly accelerated toward Argon.

  Whoosh—

  Coincidentally, a medium-sized passenger starship was executing a positional adjustment a few thousand kilometers ahead.

  The crystal spaceship completely disregarded this vessel, carving a direct path through it. After penetrating the other ship's extensive array of compartments and structural layers, it passed straight through unhindered.

  Boom—

  Amidst the silent, violent decompression of that unfortunate starship, the small vessel accelerated toward the distant, pale blue planet.

  One minute later.

  The crystal spaceship had traversed tens of thousands of kilometers, reaching Argon's outer atmosphere.

  "Warning: You have entered a secured zone. Dock at the designated spaceport immediately."

  "Warning: You have entered a secured zone, please dock at..."

  Completely disregarding the electronic warning signals bathing it from all directions, the crystal spaceship paused only for an instant upon reaching the atmosphere. Then, at maximum velocity, it shot directly toward a shuttle-shaped continent visible on the ground below.

  Whoosh—

  Traveling at a speed exceeding ten thousand Mach, the thick atmosphere offered absolutely no impediment. In a mere instant, it was violently breached, creating a long, temporary vacuum tunnel connecting the vacuum of space to the surface.

  And a major metropolitan area, which served as both the spaceship’s target landing zone and lay directly beneath it, was currently celebrating its annual grand New Year festival.

  Consequently, every street and every level of every building was densely packed with jostling crowds.

  But precisely as tens of millions of intelligent beings were gathered shoulder-to-shoulder, the crystal spaceship violently impacted the surface.

  BOOM!!!

  The resulting devastation was akin to the detonation of a colossal nuclear device.

  Tens of millions of lives instantly atomized into blood mist, and a hundred miles of territory violently convulsed.

  Amidst the collapse of the depressed crustal layers, a terrifying shockwave, like a world-shattering tsunami, suddenly erupted from the spaceship's landing impact point, roaring and sweeping in all directions.

  In an instant, thousands upon tens of thousands of thousand-meter-tall structures snapped like stalks of grain and collapsed sequentially, thundering down into countless dust particles.

  At the epicenter of this gradually forming desolate ruin, a terrifying, molten pit smoked and hissed.

  Suddenly, a dark figure shot out from within the crater, piercing through layers of atmosphere, and hovered tens of thousands of meters in the air.

  It was Cadelon, who had traveled across space to this planet.

  Completely ignoring the city below that had been annihilated by her arrival.

  She crossed her four arms over her chest, and with her crimson single eye, calmly surveyed the distant azure sky. She then abruptly activated immense mental power to scour the world, sweeping across the entire globe.

  Swoosh—

  In an instant, all of Argon—from the vast terrestrial biosphere down to the blazing underground magma layer, from macro to micro—every single piece of matter from the atomic level upwards—trillions upon trillions of data points—was scrutinized and filtered by Cadelon.

  "Position confirmed."

  She slightly lowered her head, gazing upon the boundless expanse below, and whispered with chilling indifference:

  "So, it's hidden on the far side of this planet. Well, hmm, let's extend a greeting first."

  With that, Cadelon extended a thick arm, her seven-fingered palm open.

  Buzz—

  A massive vortex of energy, capable of boiling mountains and seas, shattering heaven and earth, suddenly manifested in her palm. It spun rapidly, beginning to condense and accumulate power.

  As it continuously compressed, the energy vortex in Cadelon's palm surged wildly in magnitude, causing the surrounding thousand miles of land and the boundless sky to subtly tremble, as if in fear of its sheer destructive potential.

  ...

  The far side of Argon.

  Far removed from the bustling metropolises, beyond winding rivers, nestled atop vast, desolate, continuous, majestic mountain ranges, a colossal and opulent classical crystal architectural complex, resembling a heavenly palace, was built, suspended seemingly by the mountains themselves.

  This crystalline ancient palace, spanning over a hundred kilometers, served as the grand residence the Mercury Race constructed for Yuro.

  At this moment, outside a colossal crystal palace situated at the core of this complex, a powerhouse of the Mercury Race, possessing power at least at Transcendent Stage Ten, stood in an attitude of deep reverence.

  He had completely lost track of how long he had been standing there.

  "What is it?"

  From within the palace, a voice—crazed, arrogant, and laced with disdain—suddenly emerged.

  The Mercury Race powerhouse, upon hearing the inquiry, couldn't suppress a shudder.

  He cautiously glanced at the tightly sealed palace doors before him, then quickly bent low in a bow, speaking in an extremely humble and anxious tone:

  "Great and supreme Lord Yuro, this humble servant wishes to report a matter to you."

  "Oh? It sounds like ill tidings. Proceed," the arrogant voice commanded.

  "Uh..."

  The Mercury Race powerhouse hesitated, then managed to say, "Reporting to the great Lord Yuro, the Twelfth Prince's fleet... has inexplicably vanished."

  "Oh? Inexplicably missing?"

  Clang——

  A hundred-meter-tall, glittering palace door slowly swung open, and from within, a ten-meter-tall humanoid life form slowly stepped out. He was clad in shining crystal light armor and possessed a head full of wild, jewel-like, pale white long hair.

  This was Yuro, the interstellar hunter whose power and authority utterly dominated the Mercury Empire.

  "So the final fragment of the Key of Heaven remains unsettled, is that your meaning? That's what you're implying, then."

  He opened the three pairs of parallel, fractured golden pupils located on his forehead, gazing indifferently at the trembling Mercury Race subordinate not far away. His mouth opened and closed, revealing sharp, transparent fangs:

  "Hahaha, you once knelt and begged me not to annihilate the Mercury Empire, promising that you would certainly gather all the Keys of Heaven and place them in my hands. Now you return with this same predicament, ah, truly farcical and laughable. Perhaps I was too lenient back then."

  Upon hearing these words, pregnant with renewed threat, the Mercury Race member immediately convulsed as if suffering an epileptic fit. He hastily waved his hands in panic:

  "No, no, no, our intent is... is, please, great Lord Yuro, grant us just a little more time, a brief extension, and we can organize another search team..."

  "No need; you are all just a collection of failures."

  Yuro cracked his neck, his voice ringing with impatience. "I have reviewed the intelligence report. It's called Earth Civilization, correct? I am also aware of the Sector coordinates.

  Ah, dealing with a swarm of low-level insects who haven't even achieved space-age technology requires such extensive fuss, and yet you still deliver no results. What an absolute waste of effort! I shall handle this personally."

  Having declared this, he glanced up at the Mercury Race member—who had unknowingly dropped into a full prostration—and chuckled chillingly: "Enjoy your remaining time thoroughly. When I return from Earth, the Mercury Empire will cease to exist."

  No sooner had he finished speaking than an incredibly terrifying premonition of danger violently surged into Yuro's heart. It frenetically burrowed into the billions of cells composing his body, ferociously tearing at the genetic combinations hidden within each one.

  This horrifying sensation, which he had only ever experienced emanating from his father's own form, was so alien yet so intensely familiar that it momentarily stunned Yuro.

  In that instant, accompanied by millions of acute pains piercing through his flesh and soul, the Mercury Race member endlessly prostrating before him, the magnificent Crystal Palace beneath his feet, the distant sprawling mountain ranges, and even every patch of land and sky within his vision—the entire world—were utterly consumed, vaporized, and disintegrated by an infinitely roaring, surging sea of energy that suddenly descended.

  Suddenly plunged into utter destruction and collapse, a near-dead Yuro could only realize with extreme horror, after his instinctual mental power swept across thousands and tens of thousands of miles in all four directions: now, apart from vast expanses of nearly pure Plasma blazing light and thermal energy, the entire 18,000-kilometer-diameter planet Argon, including its 3 billion intelligent inhabitants, had vanished without warning!

  "Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

  Forcibly suppressing the agony as if his entire being was exploding, Yuro, driven by extreme mental terror, instantly propelled his crippled body hundreds of thousands of miles away.

  After escaping the hundreds-of-millions-degree Celsius Plasma Nebula that was the residue of Argon's total annihilation, he fled several million kilometers further before finally settling, still heavily shaken, in the vast emptiness of the cosmos.

  But just as Yuro stabilized in space, a sharp sound line, like a hidden star erupting, suddenly exploded within his mind:

  "Hello, first time meeting you. I am Cadelon."

  Bang!!

  This tyrannical voice, almost condensed from star-destroying level mental energy, violently blasted Yuro's head apart.

  Yet, the being did not instantly perish. He dragged his headless, crippled form, fleeing wildly into the distant void at near sub-light speed.

  Amidst his panicked flight, Yuro's sturdy frame, marred by hundreds of tiny cracks and fissures, rapidly regenerated back to its original pristine state.

  His head, which had just been brutally shattered by Cadelon's single sentence, also instantly regrew, displaying an expression of absolute terror.

  With a flicker of thought, Yuro roared in furious indignation internally: "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! What kind of monster is this, so overwhelmingly powerful?!"

  "Running quite fast, aren't we."

  The domineering voice once again brutally blasted Yuro's head apart.

  Accompanying the voice, Cadelon's true form finally descended, hovering gracefully in the cosmos with her four arms crossed over her chest.

  "Hoo—"

  Yuro's head recovered once more.

  He looked up at Cadelon, a distance of a thousand miles separating them, and snarled with hatred: "Good! Very good! I never imagined someone would deploy a planet-destroying attack as a mere ambush the moment we met! You truly are a despicable wretch!!"

  "Oh, you seem to have misunderstood something."

  Cadelon smiled teasingly, "For me, obliterating a planet doesn't count as a sneak attack at all; at most, it’s just a warm-up exercise."

  "Warm-up?!"

  Yuro's eyelids twitched violently. He hissed, "Who in the cosmos are you?! Why have I traversed the Orion Spiral Arm for so many years and never encountered knowledge of your existence?!"

  Cadelon completely ignored his query, stating with clear condescension: "I have come to find you for one objective only: surrender every Key of Heaven you possess."

  "So that's the matter at hand."

  Yuro let out a grim chuckle: "Then you are merely a common brigand aiming to steal the Keys of Heaven."

  No sooner had the words left his mouth than he violently dispersed into tens of millions of blood droplets, scattering in all directions at near-light speed.

  "You think mocking me allows you to escape? That is not so easily granted."

  "Myriad Starburst —— Shattered Desolation!"

  Cadelon's core figure remained utterly still, but her heavy armored body suddenly ignited with light, erupting with tens of millions of high-energy beams that furiously shot out in every conceivable direction.

  Upon their manifestation, these light beams appeared to be equipped with advanced tracking systems. They immediately zeroed in on the glistening blood droplets, pursuing them at precisely 100% the speed of light.

  For a moment, the entire cosmos was intertwined and shrouded by endless phantom light, resembling a hellscape charged with crackling energy.

  After merely five seconds, the tens of millions of blood droplets into which Yuro had detonated himself were all accurately struck by the phantom lights that had been launched moments after their departure.

  Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!

  Amidst the continuous barrage of tens of millions of spectacular attacks, each possessing sufficient power to breach a planet's crust, Yuro was tragically annihilated, leaving only two or three residual drops of blood. These were then, from a significant distance, drawn into Cadelon's open palm.

  Within her colossal, revealed palm, three crimson blood droplets pulsed gently, continuously radiating waves of violent energy into the surrounding void—waves potent enough to overturn mountains spanning miles on a planetary surface.

  Concurrently, the void directly above these three droplets emitted bursts of high-energy particles and underwent continuous, violent distortion and fluctuation.

  Time advanced.

  Under Cadelon's calculated influence and manipulation, the void above the droplets suddenly began to swirl into a rapid vortex. A hazy spatial pocket within it abruptly surged, quickly solidifying and manifesting into the material realm.

  This hazy space was Yuro's personal Imaginary Space, fabricated using the widely adopted Imaginary Space opening and folding technology prevalent in interstellar society, and tightly locked to the specific fluctuation frequency of his Body-Soul core.

  Cadelon's actions were precisely calibrated to decipher the access key to this Imaginary Space, allowing her to seize every hidden treasure belonging to her opponent.

  Especially the five Keys of Heaven that Master had specifically tasked her to acquire.

  A few minutes later.

  Buzz—

  Accompanied by surging layers of spacetime ripple effects, Yuro's personal Imaginary Space, hidden beyond material reality, was instantly and completely deciphered by Cadelon, and its form slowly unfolded for her inspection.

  Cadelon focused her mind and observed that it was a spherical space, approximately ten kilometers in diameter—considered a relatively large personal domain.

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  However, it was quite densely packed with assets.

  In total, there were five medium-sized starships, each distinct in design but all exceeding a thousand meters in length, alongside a vast assortment of ancient artifacts, relics from forgotten civilizations, super-technological equipment, Ether-Crystalline ores, sealed mystery boxes, and numerous strangely shaped weaponry of various calibers.

  Cadelon paid little mind to the other inventory, intending to present it to Master. Yet, among the armaments, there was a dark gray, seven-meter-long, two-meter-wide single-barreled cannon-shaped weapon adorned with black patterns, which uniquely generated a palpable sense of threat within her mind.

  This sense of warning intensified as she faced that dark muzzle, intricately detailed with unknown inscriptions and fingerprints.

  Even when this level of threat reached its zenith, it failed to induce the slightest feeling of mortal despair in Cadelon.

  However, an incredibly potent Root Spirituality in the ethereal plane distinctly 'informed' her that a direct hit from an attack launched by this unknown weapon would certainly cause bodily harm.

  A direct hit to her head could even result in severe injury.

  "It actually poses a threat to me, one who stands at the apex of Stage Ten Overlord, capable of inflicting actual damage?"

  Intensely curious, Cadelon immediately activated her immense mental power to envelop the dark gray single-barreled cannon.

  Instantly, a shard of pure information materialized in her mind.

  [Howl of Annihilation —— Dark Matter Piercer]

  [Magazine Slot —— 3]

  [Ammunition Remaining —— 0]

  "Fascinating; it is a dark matter weapon!"

  Crimson light flickered in Cadelon's single eye. "I believe I grasp the fundamental principles of this weapon's attack mechanism. Hmm, no wonder Yuro refrained from using it; it appears the payload is depleted."

  She shook her head and emitted a faint chuckle: "Truly unlucky."

  Next, Cadelon directed her attention toward the deepest recess of Yuro's private Imaginary Space.

  There, five colossal, crystal-like Keys, each radiating a gentle luminescence, floated as if suspended in reality.

  Concurrently, the spacetime surrounding these five Keys was oscillating in a synchronized rhythm.

  Truly and utterly mysterious.

  "Five Keys of Heaven. The primary directive is, after all, half-completed."

  Upon confirming the presence of the Keys of Heaven, Cadelon’s mood visibly relaxed.

  She then shifted her focus to the three remaining blood droplets following Yuro's self-destruction.

  These three crimson-gold droplets, floating within her palm, though scarcely larger than a human fingernail, each contained a life essence comparable to, or even surpassing, that of a Transcendent Stage Ten powerhouse in terms of refinement.

  Furthermore, the omnipresent Ether within the vast surrounding vacuum of space, behaving like an ocean tide, continuously swirled around these three Yuro droplets, being constantly devoured and absorbed by them.

  Cadelon could clearly perceive that as these three droplets rapidly consumed large quantities of external Ether, every passing moment they stirred, eager to quickly consolidate and develop, evolving into a more complex biological structure.

  Or perhaps, these three droplets desired to grow back into a complete Yuro.

  If not for her constant, meticulous obliteration of the continuously forming microscopic material structures along the outer edges of these three droplets, and her unceasing severing of the thought-connections they attempted to forge.

  Otherwise, under natural conditions, Yuro was estimated to be able to fully restore to his normal state and resurrect on the spot in a mere second.

  Even more miraculous was the observation that:

  These three seemingly simple, minute blood droplets actually each housed a trace of active soul essence—small in volume, yet possessing structural integrity and informational density nearly identical to an ordinary soul.

  In essence.

  Yuro's tactic of self-detonating his body into tens of millions of sub-light-speed blood droplets meant that as long as even one droplet could escape, he could achieve a perfect resurrection.

  A flawless revival encompassing body, soul, thought structure, and accumulated memories, all without any defect.

  This type of state-changing self-regeneration and escape ability was similar to Kibutsuji Muzan from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

  Of course, this would be Muzan after being enhanced by hundreds of millions of times his original baseline.

  "However, there is one critical issue."

  Cadelon hesitated, speaking to herself, "If a single soul can be fractioned into tens of millions of parts... does its Root Spirituality retain its singularity?"

  She experienced a sudden realization.

  If any one of Yuro's tens of millions of blood droplets, formed during his self-detonation, could absorb vast quantities of cosmic Ether and fully restore his body and spirit as a complete entity...

  Then what about Yuro's Spirituality?

  Would every fragment of his soul-essence within each droplet possess it?

  Deep in contemplation, Cadelon expanded her mental power, suddenly enveloping the three collected blood droplets.

  In an instant, the soul-essence, subtly hovering above the material aspect of the three droplets, appeared within the range of her mental perception.

  After her mental power abruptly pierced through layers of soul structure and reached its core, Cadelon abruptly discovered that these three blood droplets of Yuro all contained a tangible trace of Root Spirituality.

  "It's actually true!"

  Upon confirming this, her crimson single eye immediately grew grave:

  "If Yuro can truly split his mysterious and inexplicable Spirituality into tens of millions of fragments, then he is also highly likely to possess the advanced science of Spirituality repair and creation."

  "Hmm, my Master will certainly be immensely interested."

  Cadelon knew well.

  Her Master's research into Spirituality was extremely profound and highly prized.

  But even so, the Master could not perform the feat of splitting her own Spirituality into several parts while maintaining its vital integrity, let alone Yuro's method of dividing his own Spirituality into tens of millions of segments.

  Therefore, Yuro's soul must conceal some earth-shattering secret.

  The moment this thought crossed her mind, Cadelon immediately handled the three blood droplets with extreme care, deciding to bring them back as a respectful offering to her Master.

  Once her immediate tasks were complete, she instantly looked towards the vast universe and chuckled chillingly: "The rest is time for unrestrained revelry, hahaha!"

  Amidst her prolonged laughter, Cadelon’s form instantly became illusory, and she plunged deep into the Sentience Realm.

  Symbolic Domain, in the boundless, deep void.

  Swoosh—

  Cadelon, shrouded in hundreds of thousands of blazing lightning flashes capable of shattering a planet's surface, shot forward tens of billions of miles in a single instant, arriving at the outer boundary of the secondary hallway that traversed the entire Driphor Sector.

  She looked up.

  This column-like pathway, vastly larger than an ordinary planet, constantly radiated millions of brilliant lights, even more luminous than true stars.

  These lights, emerging densely from the outer layers of the hallway, then spread out to cover millions of miles of void in all directions.

  Immersed within this radiance, wherever one's eyes could reach, everything was engulfed and covered in scorching illumination—

  Making one feel as though they had descended into the very Land of Light itself.

  But such a dazzling spectacle could not command much of Cadelon's attention.

  The moment she entered the range of the light array, she instantly boosted her speed to thirty times the speed of light, abruptly activating the material acceleration function inherent to this mid-level pathway. Her velocity then rapidly surged to 300,000 times the speed of light, storming toward the boundless dark void.

  Rumble rumble rumble——

  300,000 times the speed of light is ninety billion kilometers per second.

  That is approximately 0.1 light-years per second.

  Under normal conditions, this velocity would be considered exceptionally fast.

  However, for Cadelon, who planned to exterminate the entire Mercury Empire in just two days, it was simply too sluggish.

  Because the entire long, sword-shaped Driphor Sector, spanning from end to end, from south to north, stretched over 780 light-years.

  Even at Cadelon's current maximum speed of nearly thirty-six light-years per hour, flying non-stop, it would still require almost a full day of travel.

  Furthermore, as a minor branch within the Golden Bough Civilization Zone, the Driphor Sector, in terms of its matter clusters and spatial distribution, resembled a long, broad palm leaf.

  It was traversed by a single mid-level hallway acting as its primary arterial route.

  During this traversal, every few tens of light-years, dozens of light-years, or even over a hundred light-years, this mid-level hallway would extend branch hallways in three dimensions, leading off at various angles and directions into the deeper void via an even lower-level conduit.

  At the front, middle, back, and terminal sections of these slowest-moving hallways, there would typically exist various kinds of star systems, each spanning a radius of several trillion to tens of trillions of kilometers.

  And all of the Mercury Empire's over 200 civilized planets were dotted like stars, each 'embedded' within these star systems of varying scales, locations, and depths.

  Therefore, if one genuinely intended to 'visit' each planet individually, the required route would inevitably become incredibly complex, and repeated back-and-forth travel would prove immensely time-consuming.

  To summarize concisely: two days would be absolutely insufficient.

  Even multiplying the required time by ten might still be an optimistic projection.

  However, for Cadelon, none of these logistical complexities presented any genuine obstacles.

  "What epoch is this, that they are still engaging in the traditional planet-annihilation game."

  Cadelon, who had been maintaining high velocity for over an hour, finally reached the first low-level hallway's branching nexus on the Driphor Sector's primary route.

  Along that low-level corridor—a stretch spanning nine light-years, 27, 42, 75, and 114 light-years across the vast void—existed a total of five star systems and eight civilized planets belonging to the Mercury Race.

  Upon reaching the branching nexus, Cadelon's figure halted, suspended within the immense, luminous sea of energy.

  She slowly unfurled her four powerful arms. Surrounding her robust and formidable physique, hundreds of thousands of immense energies, capable of annihilating countless stars, suddenly manifested.

  As these energies emerged, they resembled thousands of flickering, brilliant stellar bodies, rapidly swirling and drifting around Cadelon’s form, covering tens of thousands of miles of empty void.

  Amidst this turbulence, this dazzling constellation of thousands of 'stars' then, as she slowly elevated her massive arms, coiled all the way to her fingertips, converging into a winding, beautiful nebula, tens of thousands of meters in length, comprised of three distinct colors: purple, blue, and red.

  "Myriad Starburst · Shift · Celestial Net Starbreaker!"

  Boom!!!

  The three-colored nebula instantly accelerated.

  With a resounding shockwave, it shot into that low-level Sentience Realm Hallway which pierced straight into the boundless universe.

  As it traveled, this beautiful nebula, tens of thousands of meters long, rapidly condensed, gathered, and merged into eight blazing spheres of light, each barely a hundred meters in diameter. They swirled and flowed around one another like a tight star cluster, flying directly into the limitless cosmos.

  Behind her.

  After unleashing that attack, Cadelon, without any hesitation, immediately accelerated toward the next lower-level branching nexus.

  And the technique belonging to the Myriad Starburst series, the Celestial Net Starbreaker—whose name implies 'heaven's net is wide, yet nothing escapes'—further amplified the philosophy of systematically cleansing the map and rendering foot soldiers irrelevant.

  That is to say, it was an intelligent, guided, and saturation-style star-obliterating strike.

  Each of those eight orbs of light, plunging deep into the hallway like miniature suns, contained sufficient destructive power to obliterate a rocky planet 15,000 kilometers in diameter a hundred times over.

  Note: Cadelon’s own operational definition of 'blast' meant that a single strike could completely dissolve the planet's internal gravitational binding energy, and this strike must also reduce all the planet's physical matter into hundreds of millions of meteorite fragments, each averaging within one kilometer in diameter.

  Furthermore, each intelligent star-blasting orb, upon exiting the Sentience Realm Hallway and returning to the real universe, and reaching approximately one million kilometers outside the target planet at light speed, would autonomously bifurcate into one hundred individual star-blasting projectiles. These would simultaneously strike the target planet, located at the center of the Celestial Net, from every conceivable angle and direction (front, back, top, bottom, left, right), creating a vast, sky-encompassing net.

  The goal was to pulverize the planet sufficiently, to utterly cleanse all life upon it.

  Only then would it qualify as planet-blasting; only then would it merit the term race-extermination.

  If she declared she would annihilate your entire species, then your entire species would be annihilated. Perfectly executed and 'delivered,' not a single soul left behind.

  Boom—

  Amidst flashing nebulae, Cadelon had already traversed another hour of travel time.

  The second branching nexus of the Driphor Sector's main thoroughfare appeared.

  Along this low-level pathway existed twelve star systems and fifteen civilized planets of the Mercury Race.

  Repeating the identical tactic, Cadelon again rapidly condensed fifteen Celestial Net Starbreakers, launching them deep into the distant corridor.

  Then, after an hour and a half, Cadelon reached the third branching nexus, which housed five Mercury Race civilized planets.

  As per routine, she unleashed another wave of Celestial Net Starbreakers. Cadelon showed no pause, immediately speeding toward the depths of the distant mid-level hallway.

  Thus, along this main transit route, she accelerated toward the boundless, empty void.

  The fourth branching nexus.

  The fifth branching nexus.

  The sixth branching nexus.

  ...

  Badraemesis.

  Diameter 36,000 km.

  Accessed via the low-level hallway originating from its binary star system's entry point, located at the 17th branching extension of the Driphor Sector's main thoroughfare, traversing from the outside inward.

  In the distant past, at least several tens of millions of years ago, Badraemesis was once a gas giant planet akin to Jupiter.

  But over a considerable span of time, after enduring a violent and unknown evolutionary process, Badraemesis lost all of its atmosphere.

  In an almost 'naked' state, it completely exposed its solid core—a core that was supposed to be densely encased by countless trillions of tons of high-density hydrogen and helium—to the vast universe. Instead, it was composed of large quantities of silicates and Ether-Crystalline iron elements.

  Consequently, millions of years later, Badraemesis became the largest rocky planet by both volume and mass within the entire Driphor Sector, and also the most densely populated civilized planet, with the sole exception of the Mercury Race's homeworld, Driegel.

  For years, upon its abnormally hard and immensely vast 4 billion square kilometers of barren land, tens of billions of Mercury Race members constructed one prosperous city after another, each boasting its own distinct style.

  Splendid, comfortable, secure, tranquil, efficient.

  All these descriptions applied perfectly to Badraemesis.

  But today, Badraemesis, which had enjoyed ten millennia of peace, welcomed its herald of doom.

  Amidst the vastness of the cosmos...

  Buzz—

  A blazing blue-gold orb of light, several hundred meters in diameter, resembling a scorching sun, abruptly materialized in the void within this binary star system.

  It was identified as a Celestial Net Starbreaker.

  The moment it appeared, it instantly locked onto Badraemesis, located 7.5 billion kilometers away, and rapidly surged toward it at a speed of 300,000 kilometers per second.

  The sheer energy contained within this light orb was so immense that as it traversed the dark void, it generated intricate ripples that propagated at light speed across large swathes of the surrounding space.

  A long time ago, Badraemesis's space defense department had established approximately one million space surveillance stations in every sector of this binary star system to guard against deep-space incursions.

  The light orb streaked through one such cosmic region, crossing the path of one of these surveillance stations.

  Thus, in the very first instant, this monitoring point sensitively detected the super-high-energy spatial ripples within the energy spectrum.

  The space surveillance officer, dedicated to his post within the station, wasted no time. He rapidly compiled this critical discovery into an alert message and injected it into a precious data packet, traveling at two hundred times the speed of light via the Sentience Realm information network, flying sub-luminously toward Badraemesis.

  A few minutes later, the surface safety defense center on Badraemesis successfully received this information packet.

  Instantly, the entire defense department was thrown into high alert.

  "This energy level... it's enough to flatten the entire surface!"

  "The data isn't entirely precise; the actual energy level can only be greater than what this data shows, not less."

  "Higher or lower, regardless, the power behind this data is sufficient to threaten all of Badraemesis!"

  "Agreed. Quickly submit the data, along with the Intelligence Department's analysis, to the Planetary General Command."

  Thus, in a mere ten minutes, all the highest-ranking officials of Badraemesis—including the Planet Governor, Vice Governor, various council members, supervisors, Commander-in-Chief of the Space Fleet, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, and others—were apprised of this crucial intelligence.

  Consequently, apprehension, subtly tinged with genuine fear, rapidly permeated among many high-ranking officials across Badraemesis.

  After recovering from their initial shock, the senior officials issued orders to the relevant deep-space object research department to predict the trajectory and reconfirm the data.

  Very quickly, the department’s findings were produced.

  The research team solemnly determined that the unknown power or object advancing at superluminal speed behind this data held a 98% probability of terminating its course directly at Badraemesis.

  Furthermore, the contained energy was extraordinarily immense; merely reviewing the data was insufficient for precise judgment.

  It could only be roughly estimated that once this power reached Badraemesis, at the very minimum, it would annihilate the planet's entire surface.

  If the speculation leaned higher, complete planetary fragmentation of Badraemesis by this power was not impossible.

  In summary, whether measured by low or high standards, tens of billions of Mercury Race members were facing certain doom.

  After thoroughly confirming the severity of this deep-space threat, all the senior Mercury Race officials simultaneously took a sharp inhalation of mercury vapor, instantly feeling lightheaded and experiencing a constant buzzing in their minds.

  "We are finished!"

  "What course of action do we take?"

  "How could something like this occur? What is wrong with your space fleet? You consume enormous budgets annually! And now you allow such a massive projectile to reach us!"

  "Are you speaking without considering strategy?! Who can fully quarantine a star system this immense?! Do you understand anything about military doctrine? Do you comprehend science?"

  "I don't understand science; I only know you people are financial black holes!"

  "Exactly! Aren't you completely shameless financial black holes?!"

  Following a fierce verbal exchange, the high-ranking Mercury Race officials reluctantly suppressed their internal discord and began organizing lower departments to actively research and formulate a solution.

  The unknown deep-space threat was moments from arrival. During this rapid, brief yet critically important meeting, numerous professionals and non-specialists desperately threw out opinions, indeed fantasizing about both reliable and completely impractical solutions.

  After the meeting concluded, the senior officials selected four primary strategies from dozens of proposals, encompassing tendencies for attack, defense, evasion, and refuge.

  First, deploying multiple layers of cosmic anti-matter minefields along the trajectory the unknown power would follow, in a manner of 'waiting for the rabbit,' gradually draining the adversary's material or energy reserves.

  Second, positioning multiple arrays of massive Tractor Beams on both sides of the unknown power's advance path so that, once the first plan had some effect, the physical entity behind the initial surge could be swiftly yanked off course.

  Third, temporarily constructing a counter-attack platform just outside Badraemesis, centered around multiple sets of ultra-high-power, high-energy celestial super laser cannons, ready to launch a surprise offensive should the first and second plans fail to fully neutralize the threat.

  Fourth, organizing all residents to enter numerous defensive shelters located tens of thousands of meters beneath the surface on the far side of Badraemesis, allowing the civilian population emergency refuge after the unknown power's initial assault.

  However, according to the department predictions, if no major anomalies occurred, this unknown threat, even if not completely neutralized after encountering the first three layers, would have its overall strength reduced by 99%. And Badraemesis's surface, noted for its superior density, would still offer sufficient resistance.

  After the plans were thoroughly confirmed and numerically simulated, the high-ranking Mercury Race officials immediately doubled their confidence and swiftly rejected the fourth plan outright.

  Or perhaps, they chose to modify the fourth plan.

  They would only relocate residents in the specific area designated to absorb the residual force of the unknown threat; other sectors would receive no alerts, and life would continue as normal, preserving calm.

  They would drink as usual; time would flow as usual. Badraemesis would not be overthrown.

  Although due to the uneven distribution of spoils, serious internal conflicts were brewing among many high-ranking officials across the planet, their efficiency in executing plans was incredibly rapid and remarkably decisive.

  In mere hours, all implemented strategies were fully deployed.

  However, news of the unknown threat still managed to leak, and in a very short span, it spread through every sector of Badraemesis.

  For a moment, tens of billions of the Mercury Race population were submerged in intense fear.

  While it didn't escalate to the point of complete societal collapse, a significant civil disturbance was unavoidable.

  All manner of extreme behaviors and overreactions manifested throughout Badraemesis.

  Fatalities even occurred as a direct result, numbering in the low four digits in that brief period.

  And precisely at this juncture, that Celestial Net Starbreaker finally reached the absolute outermost boundary of the cosmic minefield, tens of millions of kilometers outside Badraemesis itself.

  Instantly, countless detonations and brilliant flashes filled the deep void across tens of millions of miles.

  As the Starbreaker advanced at light speed, every single second saw vast numbers of cosmic mines—each powerful enough to level mountains—violently erupting around it.

  Concurrently, the thousands of Tractor Beam arrays, stretching tens of thousands of kilometers along both sides of the minefield, unleashed their tractor beams, suddenly forming a guiding light formation covering several million kilometers, exerting tremendous force to influence the light orb's trajectory.

  Finally, half a minute earlier, the colossal counter-attack platform situated outside Badraemesis had launched its thick, celestial-grade laser beam, which arrived punctually after traversing tens of millions of kilometers, striking the Celestial Net Starbreaker with pinpoint accuracy.

  Boom!!!!

  An energy torrent, almost capable of leveling and pulverizing the planet's crust, radiated outward from the collision point of the light orb and the beam, roaring and sweeping across hundreds of thousands of kilometers in all four directions at the speed of light.

  In an instant, the remaining hundreds of thousands of mines, along with the Tractor Beam arrays on both flanks, detonated simultaneously.

  Clack clack clack clack clack——

  Endless explosions and overflowing energy instantly saturated a vast cosmic region tens of millions of kilometers exterior to Badraemesis.

  Meanwhile, the high-ranking Mercury Race officials anxiously awaited the final outcome.

  "It must have depleted its energy, right?"

  "Uh, this kind of attack vibration should at least consume more than half of its internal reserves."

  "Possibly so."

  Just as everyone held their breath in suspense, the light orb suddenly shot out from the explosion zone, piercing directly through the celestial-grade laser, and rapidly accelerated toward Badraemesis with its speed and mass undiminished.

  All the high-ranking Mercury Race officials, who were monitoring this situation via the Sentience Realm's radar network, were utterly stunned, then plunged into panicked terror.

  "How could all three countermeasures prove ineffective?!"

  "That was a laser capable of penetrating the crust; how was it reversed and penetrated by that thing?!"

  "It's finished, it's finished, it's over! Hardly any residents managed to evacuate!"

  They were completely oblivious to the fact that these so-called defenses—whether physical deterrents like anti-matter mines, or energy-based systems like the Tractor Beam arrays and the super laser—were fundamentally meaningless to the Celestial Net Starbreaker. It approached at near-light speed, roaring silently with world-ending delight, possessing power capable of obliterating an ordinary planet a hundred times over.

  It was akin to a powerful behemoth strolling leisurely, effortlessly crushing countless fragile soap bubbles. Even if those bubbles were dazzlingly colorful and popped loudly upon impact, they would have zero effect on the massive man.

  Thus, the entirety of Badraemesis, from its highest strata to its depths, descended into despair.

  But when the Starbreaker finally reached the 1 million kilometer mark outside the planet, it surprisingly halted dead in its tracks.

  Immediately, all tens of billions of Mercury Race members on Badraemesis were bewildered, followed instantly by overwhelming joy.

  "Hahahaha, it’s depleted, it can't move!"

  "We're saved, we're finally saved!"

  "That truly scared me to death. I was absolutely certain I was going to perish this time."

  "Oh, see? I told you it was just a false alarm."

  "What in the blazes is going on? It terrified me enough to sell my company at a massive loss. What am I supposed to do now?! Stupid light orb!"

  "You're right, what a profoundly stupid light orb! If it was going to detonate, it should have done so quickly. Who are you trying to intimidate by hovering and stopping? Damn it all!"

  Just as all members of the Mercury Race stationed on Badraemesis were immersed in the relief of surviving the immediate threat, the blazing light orb, suspended a million kilometers away, suddenly erupted with overwhelming radiance.

  Boom—

  Under the meticulous observation of numerous 'eyes,' the Celestial Net Starbreaker suddenly fractured into a full hundred light orbs, each roughly several tens of meters in diameter.

  The moment these light orbs materialized, they rapidly expanded to sizes spanning several thousand miles, inflating like colossal balloons, and simultaneously shot toward every direction in space surrounding Badraemesis.

  They descended in unison!

  Rumble rumble rumble!

  Tens of billions of Mercury Race members, positioned across every sector of Badraemesis's surface, heard the continuous, deafening tremors that resonated from beyond the heavens, sounding as if they were right beside their ears.

  The perpetually dim, dark sky, whose zenith remained eternally unseen, was now completely saturated with blazing light orbs, appearing as genuine suns.

  Each light orb, at a single glance, was immensely colossal and unparalleled. Their surfaces glowed with streaks of massive Plasma light arcs, resembling impossible mountain ranges suspended in the void.

  Oppression, profound shock, absolute terror... countless soul-piercing emotions instantly forced the tens of billions of Mercury Race members on the ground to collapse.

  And amidst this systemic collapse of all beings, one hundred star-destroying light orbs simultaneously impacted Badraemesis.

  Boom!!!!!

  Under this terrifying power, vastly exceeding the ordinary stellar-destruction magnitude, this colossal planet, which had endured for billions of years, violently shattered.

  It transformed into endless, countless blazing fragments, ranging in size from mere dozens to hundreds of meters. Propelled by immensely powerful energy, they shot out towards the entire universe at velocities classified as Cosmic Class Three.

  Simultaneously, similarly violent stellar explosions successively manifested in every star system within the Driphor Sector.

  Planet after planet of the Mercury Race, like ephemeral fireworks, shattered in the vast universe, becoming meaningless debris of a fallen civilization.

  Under Cadelon's Celestial Net Starbreaker assault, these planets offered resistance so feeble and powerless it was negligible.

  Whether it was a Star Destroyer vessel or a hardened war stronghold, none could withstand this power, which was a hundredfold stronger than a single star's explosion. They could only tragically be reduced to cosmic shrapnel.

  And after a full day of continuous flight, Cadelon finally completed her grim execution, having unleashed the Starbreaker upon every civilized planet of the Mercury Race.

  However, to ensure the remaining two Overlords of the Mercury Race in the Milky Way—the Mercury Race King and that venerable Grand Elder—could find peaceful demise.

  She deliberately adopted humility this time, personally journeying to the Mercury Race homeworld—planet Driegel. With a single deployment of the Myriad Starburst, she annihilated the two leaders along with the hellish, dark planet that served as the origin point for trillions of Mercury Race members below.

  Boom!!!

  Taking one final survey of the collapsed Driegel one million kilometers away, Cadelon coldly turned and plunged into the depths of the Sentience Realm, immediately commencing her return voyage.

  At this juncture, save for a few scattered survivors, the main body of the Mercury Empire, an entity existing for tens of thousands of years, was declared utterly concluded.

  The Mercury Race exited the stage of galactic history.

  Meanwhile, deep in the distant Namora Sector, Godshell had finally reached the star system of the Agate Mother Planet.