Chapter 18: The Black Prison, Section 5

The vast universe is boundless, filled with countless stars that emit a cold glow. As the fleet moved at high speed, the distant stars quickly grew into full-sized planets, creating a truly stunning visual effect—like a scene from a movie that made one feel the enormity and infinity of the universe.

In the pitch-black sky, a group of warships raced at incredible speed. Their high-pressure exhaust trails left long streaks in the air, resembling meteors from afar.
These were undoubtedly Black Hair’s crew.

Speaking of which, The Black Prison was indeed a peculiar place. It didn’t belong to any of the thirty-one known star systems in human territory but was located in an entirely unexplored region. Geographically, it was completely isolated. That region had its own name: Nairaku.

“Leader, are you sure we really have to go this time?” In the cabin, Blood-Pupils was still making final attempts to stop Black Hair’s plans.

Others might not understand, but as a killer who had dealt with the authorities many times, he knew this planet all too well. If possible, he really didn’t want Black Hair to go there.

Because The Black Prison wasn’t a place for anyone to stay alone. Not to mention anything else, just the planet’s environment was enough to deter any living being.

Perpetual acid rain, charred soil, and severely corroded surfaces—In short, The Black Prison was a barren wasteland. On the entire planet, only within the prison could life barely survive. Once outside the prison, even without anyone chasing, the acid rain could instantly turn a living person into a skeleton. And worse still, there were the Bone Guardians.

Bone Guardians weren’t humans—they were creatures beyond human comprehension. Their appearance consisted of charred bone frames, hence their name. Yet, it couldn’t be denied that these bone frames possessed combat prowess far beyond what their appearance suggested. Whether in close combat or mecha battles, they were top-notch fighters. Moreover, their mechs weren’t ordinary magic-powered mechs but were constructed entirely from bones. Although they lacked strong long-range attack capabilities, in hand-to-hand combat, they were like nightmares. Their mechs were covered in countless extendable bone spikes, and with their extreme speed, once battle began, the opponent often wouldn’t even see them clearly before being pierced through by those spikes.

You must know that bones are different from metal; ordinary detection devices are ineffective against such mechs. This characteristic essentially renders them invisible to some extent. Fighting them is like battling ghosts—you never know where they might appear, nor can you be sure there won’t suddenly be a bone spike behind you.

“What, scared?” The black-haired man turned his head to look at Blood Pupil beside him, a teasing smile on his face.

He naturally understood Blood Pupil’s thoughts and appreciated his caution. But since the target had already been decided, he would never be satisfied unless he tried. Giving up halfway wasn’t in his style.

Indeed, the fleet that followed him this time consisted almost entirely of veterans from the Blood Wolf faction—except for Barroca’s pirates and the pirate leaders of Hell Star. Without mentioning anything else, their combat skills were by no means inferior to those of any regular army. What’s more, these guys were seasoned veterans who had endured countless battles; they were not only skilled in attacking but also adept at protecting themselves. Coupled with their seamless coordination, their overall strength was far beyond imagination. Anyone who judged Black Hair’s group based solely on the size of their fleet was simply blind.

If there were words to describe it, Black Hair was like a alpha wolf, while the pirates behind him were like a pack of wolves. If even such strength couldn’t crack the bone of Black Prison, he planned to flee straight back to Death Star and never return.

Although brute force was the worst option for attacking a prison, with insufficient intelligence, Black Hair had no choice but to use this method. All he could rely on now were his highly experienced subordinates and the suddenness of their actions.

Nairo was far away, but with anti-space teleportation technology, it seemed merely a stone’s throw away. Four days later, on Li Feng’s main screen, a not-so-large planet became clearly visible. Its dark surface and green atmosphere, visible to the naked eye in space, clearly identified the planet.

Black Prison… we’ve arrived.

“Shut down the main engines. The entire fleet enters stealth mode. Activate the outer anti-scanning coating. Charge the ship cannons. Alert level one. Blood Pupil and I will go down. The other warships should deploy mechs and begin landing,” Black Hair stood up and quickly issued orders. Then, without looking back, he entered the cabin behind him.

The massive wake disappeared. At Black Hair’s command, the warship gradually slowed down until it finally came to a halt. One by one, the armor plates on its surface silently flipped open, revealing the dark hatchways beneath. As the first hint of red appeared, hundreds of mechs surged out from every part of the ship like ants, filling every inch of space around it.

In front of them stood two distinctly different red mechs. Compared to ordinary mechs, these two had significantly larger frames and more vibrant colors. Although they were both of the standard humanoid design, they had clearly undergone extensive modifications. More than twenty engine nozzles indicated their speed, and unlike the shoulder cannons of ordinary pirate mechs, these two mechs were equipped with special disc-shaped devices that rotated quietly in front of all the pirates. Huge crimson cloaks were attached to the backs of both mechs, emphasizing their status.

These were Black Hair and Blood Eyes’ new mounts—command-level mechs equipped with dual EMP systems. They were gifts from all the pirates to their leaders and also Baroka’s pride. Though their appearance wasn’t overly flashy, each mech was equipped with an integrated missile system provided by the Norma tribe, giving them firepower and agility far beyond that of ordinary mechs. One was of purely mechanical construction, while the other was of magical nature.

Suddenly, a stunning scene unfolded over Black Prison: hundreds of mechs followed closely behind the two giant mechs in neat formation, with the massive warship hovering above them. Below lay a pitch-black planet. The bright red bodies reflected the light scattered in space, emitting a cold glimmer. From a distance, they resembled stone statues from ancient myths.

“Let’s go,” Black Hair said with a low sigh. With a gesture of his hand, the giant red mech immediately dived downward toward the planet. Behind him, all the pirate mechs followed closely, none making a sound—silent as ghosts.

At the same time, inside a small room within Black Prison’s giant prison, a shrill alarm suddenly sounded.

“What’s going on?” A figure wrapped in tattered cloth, resembling a moving mummy, rushed into the room and shouted loudly. Across from him, another similarly dressed person was frantically working at the control panel, fumbling with various controls. Hearing the question behind him, he startedle and jumped up abruptly.

“Reporting to the captain! Unidentified floating ships detected in outer space!”

“What!?” The mummy known as the captain flew into a rage and grabbed the person in front of him. “When did they appear? How many are there? And where did they come from!?”

A barrage of questions stunned the guard, but he still tried to convey his message. “I don’t know, captain! They’ve activated their anti-scanning systems, so we can’t accurately determine their location or number. If it weren’t for their mechs, we wouldn’t have detected them at all.”

“Useless. To let warships get this close—you’ve disgraced the Bone Guards!” The captain gritted his teeth fiercely and swung his hand, throwing the guard onto the control panel. “Keep scouting. I need to know their intentions and strength.”

“Understood, captain,” the guard replied loudly.

Unfortunately, no one heard his voice. By the time he managed to get up, the captain had already vanished, already on the run. Soon after, shrill alarms blared throughout the prison. Countless guards wrapped in black cloth appeared out of nowhere in every corner of the prison, wielding sticks and forcing all prisoners back into their cells.

At that moment, in the highest room of the prison, a fat, short man was lying on his bed, his body heaving. Hearing the shrill alarms, he was terrified and rolled off the bed. He hurriedly grabbed some clothes. On the bed behind him, a slender but scarred figure was trembling there.

“Damn it! Who turned on the alarms! If I catch them, I’ll throw them into the sulfur pool!!” Perhaps because his plans were interrupted, the fat man cursed angrily as he put on his clothes. But before he could finish speaking, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, scaring him so much that he choked back the rest of his words.

Was it the captain from earlier?

“Ah, hehe, Captain Mari, it’s you. Was that alarm you that set off? Why didn’t you tell me? What happened?” The chubby man’s face immediately broke into a smile, his voice becoming extremely gentle. If one hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, it would be hard to believe that this was the same guy who had been shouting and threatening to throw people into sulfuric acid pools just moments ago. But the captain’s next words instantly froze his smile in place. “Warden, an enemy attack has been detected!”