Chapter 29: Harmony of Light and Dark, Section 1

The white light was intense—so intense that it was unbearable to gaze at. Yet, after passing through the landing ship’s optical filters, the pirates could clearly observe its movement.
It was a beam of light as thick as a barrel. But to the pirates’ surprise, this beam was not aimed at attacking any of the giant ships in the sky. Instead, it shot straight upward, without any deviation, toward the top of the tower. Almost the moment it appeared, it formed a column of light connecting heaven and earth.
Then, the white light changed.
It was no longer intense or blinding. Though still bright, it became much more subdued, appearing gentle and calm. Even in such a fierce battlefield, anyone who saw this beam of white light couldn’t help but feel a sense of warmth in their hearts. The atmosphere of the entire dead city also changed, filled with a warm, comforting scent.
“So comfortable…” One pirate slowly closed his eyes and let out a low moan. In the presence of this white light, he felt as if he were back in his mother’s arms—so warm, so soothing. All the pain around him seemed to vanish in an instant. All that remained in the world was vitality—pure, comforting vitality that made one want to moan.
Ah, so sleepy…
“Don’t sleep! Stay alert!!” Just as the pirate was drifting off, he suddenly heard a familiar shout. It was Blackhair’s voice. His years of combat experience made him jolt upright instantly. Only then did he realize that he wasn’t the only one affected by this intense sense of drowsiness. In the cabin, aside from Blackhair and Bloodeyes, almost all the pirates were on the verge of falling asleep.
“What a powerful mental attack.” Bloodeyes, on the other side, was also drenched in sweat. He had felt that warm sensation just like everyone else. But as one of the finest warriors, his mental strength far exceeded that of ordinary Bloodwolf pirates. So, despite being extremely tired, he was still able to stay awake.
Even so, everyone felt a wave of fear surge within them.
If even just the remnants of such white light carried such power, what kind of force would it possess in a real battle? And as for that warm sensation—what would happen if one really fell asleep?
They soon saw…
Because in this war, someone else had already been affected by this white light before them.
It was the hundreds of giant warships already in the sky.

Although these warships had a clear advantage over the Rockmen, their sturdy armor and powerful firepower were not a guarantee of invincibility. In the face of that white light that filled the sky and earth, even the strongest armor was useless—because it wasn’t even considered an attack at all. Yet, it was precisely this “non-attack” that caused unprecedented damage to this massive invading fleet.

Nearly half of the giant warships began to sway visibly, the shaking intensifying rapidly. The blue light that had been emanating from them stopped as well. In the eyes of the Blood Wolf Pirates, these colossal ships swayed, quickly lost control, and plunged straight down from the sky. They crashed violently into the ground, causing massive earthquakes in the dead city—like a severe quake. One after another, these warships struck the ground, lifting it up before exploding violently.

“How, how could this happen?” All the pirates cried out in shock at the sight.

They had just experienced that white light firsthand and knew exactly what it meant. But even hypnosis couldn’t destroy warships to such an extent, could it?

Warships were not ordinary weapons—they were massive fortresses designed for interstellar voyages. Each one was fully equipped, with a control center being of utmost importance. Normally, even if the pilot lost consciousness, the warship would still retain some self-control. Some advanced warships could even conduct fully automated battles under the control of their central systems.

So, even if that white light could make everyone who saw it fall into a deep sleep, it shouldn’t have caused all the warships to crash—especially not over a hundred of them at once. What could explain such a result?

“It’s not just a mental attack; it must have other abilities,” Blood Pupil was also stunned by what he saw.

In fact, what they had just witnessed was truly bizarre. Although the appearance of that white light was expected, it never launched an attack on any of the giant ships throughout the whole process. Its only action was to shoot a beam of light straight up at the top of the tower. Yet, just that was enough to cause over a hundred warships to crash?

Was it my outdated mindset, or was this universe simply insane?

Neither!

“It’s moving again!” a pirate suddenly shouted.

Everyone was shocked. They immediately focused their gaze, only to see that the floating stone in the sky began to glow brightly once again. But this time, it was no longer a warm and comforting white light—it was black… deep black, pitch black.
Can light be black?
The pirates didn’t know, but this time they could swear with certainty that the light they saw was indeed black. Not only black, but also vast and expansive.
For this time, it wasn’t a beam of light but a halo— a ring of pitch-black light spreading rapidly around the stone. Just like the distinctive arc-shaped shockwave of an electromagnetic pulse bomb, this halo’s spread was equally striking. It was as if thick darkness, in just an instant, silently spread across the entire battlefield. The edge of the halo swiftly swept over the surviving warships in the sky. Then came a scene that left everyone stunned.
Any Moorish warship touched by the halo would instantly lose its color at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into a faint gray. It was as if life itself was fading away, a sight utterly horrifying. Wherever the black halo passed, the color on their ships faded. By the time the halo disappeared, the warships left behind were no longer warships at all—just stones devoid of all vitality.
The gunfire ceased, the energy vanished, and even basic flight became impossible. Under the black halo, the giant ships in the sky fell one after another, like birds deprived of life. The thunderous crashes of their massive hulls hitting the ground sounded like dull thunder. The ground shook repeatedly, causing more buildings in the dead city to collapse.
Yet this loss was almost negligible for the ships in the sky. In just a short while, the once-mighty fleet of over three hundred ships was reduced to a few. Aside from a few still floating in the distant sky, all the ships above the dead city had crashed. Those colorless, broken hulls resembled ruined city walls, filling everyone who saw them with dread. As for the ships swept by the black light, they were even deprived of the power to explode. All vitality and energy reactions vanished completely, leaving only a faint gray.
That was the color of death…
“Oh, my God. What have I seen? Vampires? It’s terrifying, so terrifying…” a pirate murmured, his expression frozen like a wooden statue.

But he was right. Compared to the previous dull yet extremely comfortable white light, this black light was undoubtedly more intimidating and terrifying. At least the white light, though powerful, only gave a sense of comfort. But this black light was pure predation—predating on energy, life, vitality, and everything it could take. That was the pure and terrifying feeling it conveyed. Although it appeared as briefly as the white light, its threat to the fleet in the sky was even greater.

Staring at the few remaining warships in the sky and the stone still floating above the tower, they heard the deafening cheers coming from outside the landing ship. Everyone inside the landing ship fell silent. After a long while, Blood Pup murmured, “I think I know why the Moors sent us here.”

“I know too,” Black Hair said, frowning as he gazed at the floating stone in the sky, his expression calm.

“But what puzzles me is, with such a terrifying weapon, why has this place become a dead city?”

“Maybe it’s because of that?” Blood Pup replied in a murmur, his gaze lifting upward. The others followed his line of sight and saw that, at some point, another massive warship had appeared above the dead city. Yet this ship was completely different from the ones that had appeared before.

Not only was it larger, but its appearance, shape, and color markings also set it apart sharply from the previous fleet. It lacked the oval or spindle-shaped hull of ordinary warships and was instead a complete sphere. Aside from features like a bridge on its surface, it hardly resembled a warship at all.

Yet it was still a warship—a very large, very terrifying one.

Because its spherical hull was densely covered with giant spikes dozens of meters in diameter. There were so many spikes, so densely packed, that from Black Hair’s perspective, it resembled an echinoid.

Now, this massive “echinoid” floated quietly above the dead city, rotating slowly. No one knew when it appeared or how it appeared. Even with the Blood Wolf pirates at the controls, the instruments on the landing ship couldn’t detect this colossal entity so close by.

Was it still an illusion?

Black Hair rubbed his slightly throbbing temples and narrowed his eyes slightly.

So, what is this “sea urchin” supposed to do? Does it also have a chance to fight against that black light that can plunder everything?