?Location: Sector 12 – Hull of the "Titan"

  Time: The Slaughter

  ?"Open fire," Aris commanded.

  ?There was no chant. No accumulation of Qi. No dramatic shouting of a technique name.

  ?There was only the hum of capacitors discharging.

  ?ZZZT.

  ?Six Gatling Laser Turrets, concealed beneath the rusted deck plates for ten millennia, swiveled and fired.

  ?The elite Earth Sect disciples—Level 60 Core Formation experts—reacted with the instinct of cultivators. They flared their Qi shields. They raised their swords. They prepared to block a physical projectile or a magic spell.

  ?They were prepared for subsonic speeds.

  ?Lasers travel at the speed of light.

  ?Before the nerve impulses could travel from their eyes to their brains, the red beams had already bisected them.

  ?Sizzzle.

  ?Four heads slid off four necks. The cauterized wounds didn't even bleed. The bodies stood for a terrifying second, then collapsed onto the deck like marionettes with cut strings.

  ?Iron-Mountain was the only survivor.

  ?His Dao Severing (Initial) cultivation—boosted by his father's pills—had given him a split-second premonition of death. He had slammed his massive warhammer into the deck, raising a dome of solid rock instantly.

  ?VRRRRRR.

  ?The lasers concentrated on the rock dome. Stone turned to magma. The dome glowed white-hot, dripping molten slag onto Iron-Mountain's armor.

  ?"What sorcery is this?!" Iron-Mountain roared from inside his melting bunker. "Fire Qi? No... it has no soul!"

  ?Aris stood outside the kill zone, hands in his pockets, watching the data stream on his HUD.

  ?"It's called directed thermal energy, Senior Brother," Aris called out calmly. "Your rock melts at 1,200 degrees. These lasers burn at 5,000. Do the math."

  ?"I will kill you!"

  ?Iron-Mountain shattered his own dome, bursting out in a cloud of steam. He was a terrifying sight—armor glowing red, skin blistered, swinging his hammer with enough force to crack a mountain.

  ?He charged at Aris. He was fast. Sonic booms erupted behind him.

  ?"Die, rat!"

  ?Aris didn't move. He didn't need to. He tapped his foot on the deck.

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  ?[Technomancy: Gravity Plating Control]

  [Target: Zone A-4 (Iron-Mountain's coordinates).]

  [Setting: 50 Gs.]

  ?CRUNCH.

  ?Iron-Mountain stopped.

  ?He didn't stop because he wanted to. He stopped because his own body weight suddenly increased to ten tons.

  ?He slammed face-first into the deck. His knees shattered. His warhammer, now weighing as much as a small skyscraper, pinned his arm to the floor.

  ?"ARGH!" Iron-Mountain screamed, spitting teeth. He tried to push himself up, his muscles tearing under the strain. "Gravity... Array? When... when did you set this up?"

  ?Aris walked over to him. The gatling guns spun down, their barrels glowing cherry red.

  ?"I didn't set it up," Aris said, squatting down next to the pinned giant. "It was installed ten thousand years ago by engineers who didn't believe in magic."

  ?Aris reached out and tapped Iron-Mountain's forehead.

  ?"You cultivators are so arrogant. You think Qi is the only power in the universe. You forgot that before you learned to fly, humanity built wings of steel."

  ?Iron-Mountain looked up, his eyes filled with blood and terror. He saw the violet light in Aris's eyes.

  ?"Who... who are you?" Iron-Mountain wheezed. "You are not Han Xiao."

  ?"Han Xiao is a mask," Aris whispered. "I am the one who is going to reboot this universe."

  ?Aris stood up.

  ?"Mo. Finish him."

  ?Mo stepped forward. He didn't use his sword. He picked up one of the discarded laser rifles from a dead turret mount (ripping it off with his prosthetic arm).

  ?He pointed the barrel at Iron-Mountain's head.

  ?"Parry this," Mo said dryly.

  ?ZAP.

  ?Iron-Mountain's head vanished.

  ?Location: Inside the Bridge of the "Titan"

  Time: 1 Hour Later

  ?The bridge was a cavernous room filled with dead screens and skeletal remains of the original crew. Aris sat in the Captain's Chair, dusting off a skeleton wearing a faded uniform.

  ?"Sorry, Captain," Aris muttered, pushing the bones aside. "I'm taking command."

  ?He plugged his hand into the data port.

  ?[System Interface: Hardline Connection Established.]

  [Scanning Sector 12...]

  ?A holographic map of the sector flickered to life in the center of the room. It showed the debris field in high detail.

  ?"Look at this," Aris pointed.

  ?The map showed a massive heat signature about 500 kilometers away. It wasn't a ship. It was a Space Station built out of the hollowed-out skull of a Void Whale and reinforced with scavenged metal.

  ?[Target Identified: The Gear-Heart Station.]

  [Faction: The Puppet Sect.]

  [Population: ~2,000.]

  ?"The Puppet Sect," Mo said, cleaning the laser rifle he had decided to keep. "They use corpses and metal to build soldiers."

  ?"Technically, they are Necro-Cyborgs," Aris corrected. "They dig up this old tech, fail to understand it, and jam souls into it to make it work. It's an insult to engineering."

  ?Aris zoomed in on the station.

  ?[Void Key Fragment #4 Detected.]

  [Location: Central Power Core of the Station.]

  ?"They are using the Key Fragment as a battery," Aris realized. "That shard has infinite energy. They plugged it into their station to run their factories."

  ?"Can we just blow it up?" Mo asked, patting the ship's console. "This ship has missiles."

  ?"The missiles are decayed," Aris shook his head. "And if we blow up the station, the Key might be lost in the void. We have to go in."

  ?Aris stood up. He looked at the Loot Pile on the floor—Iron-Mountain's spatial ring, his hammer, and the gear from the elites.

  ?"Iron-Mountain is dead," Aris planned. "Elder Iron-Fist will know instantly because his Soul Lamp shattered. A kill squad will be sent here within days."

  ?"So we are hunted by the Earth Sect and we have to invade the Puppet Sect?"

  ?"We use one to kill the other," Aris smiled.

  ?He picked up Iron-Mountain's shattered warhammer.

  ?"We are going to walk into the Puppet Sect's front door. We will sell them this 'High-Grade Material'. We infiltrate, steal the key, and when the Earth Sect arrives... we let the Puppets fight the Earthbenders."

  ?"A distraction," Mo nodded.

  ?"A war," Aris corrected. "I'm going to start a faction war in Sector 12 to cover our exit."

  ?He tapped his chest.

  ?[Identity Shift: Merchant Mode.]

  ?"Let's go shopping, Mo. I hear the Puppet Sect pays well for heavy metal."