Chapter 2: Seizing the Ship (Part 1)

The members of Li Ran’s team activated not only their maximum defense but also the defense for moving through void space. Yet, the combined remote attacks from all the starships were overwhelmingly powerful, causing the entire space to shake violently, with some areas even beginning to collapse slightly. Of the seven, aside from Serichlin who was protected by Guo Shier, everyone was injured—their souls subjected to immense pressure, and their bodies shaken violently.
A line of blood appeared at the corner of Li Ran’s mouth. Spitting out blood, he laughed and said, “Damn it, it’s been so long since I’ve been hurt!”
Qí Wúzhēn’s eyes gleamed with madness as she said calmly, “Very good… very good…”
Kūmù shouted, “Move quickly!”
That palpable sense of dread struck again—the second wave of attacks was approaching.
Li Ran gathered his strength and led everyone in a forced teleportation, taking them thousands of kilometers away. The second wave hit the spot where they had just been, causing a massive explosion. Soon after, the third and fourth waves followed, seemingly targeting them relentlessly.
Guo Shier cried out, “This won’t do! We need to go up there! This is too passive!”
It wasn’t just passive—being chased like this meant they would eventually be hit. Even as top professionals, they wouldn’t be able to withstand a direct hit.
The group flew upward at an angle, avoiding straight flights as that would be too dangerous. The continuous attacks puzzled Li Ran, as they were too precise, as if guided by something.
“Strange… how are they locking onto us?”
No one could answer that question. The seven fought desperately to teleport, with Li Ran, Qí Wúzhēn, Kūmù, and Guo Shier taking turns leading the group, reducing the strain slightly.
They teleported aimlessly, covering thousands of kilometers each time. The starships’ attacks had to be concentrated; if scattered, they posed little threat to the seven. Thus, the real danger came from a specific target. When all attacks converged on that point and the seven failed to teleport away in time, they were in peril.
With each teleportation, the seven gradually rose higher, nearing the edge of the atmosphere.
The entire atmosphere was burning violently. The massive attacks from the starships had caused irreversible damage to Liewen Star. The United Spirit Kingdom was willing to destroy an administrative planet rather than let those seven escape. Their attacks revealed just how insane the United Spirit Kingdom was. Their all-out assault filled Li Ran and the others with rage. Qí Wúzhēn’s eyes burned with flames—she was truly going mad.

Guo Shier saw the fire runes constantly flashing on Qi Wu Zhen’s body and knew she was extremely angry. Unable to hold back, he reminded her, “Sister Zhen, we’ll be in space in a moment. Let’s talk then!”
Qi Wu Zhen glanced at Guo Shier without saying a word, though her frenzied intensity lessened slightly, showing that she was trying to control herself. Guo Shier, caught in her gaze, couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat—such a look was truly terrifying.
Chaos reigned inside the enemy’s starship. There was a mothership-class heavy starship in space, and the reason they were able to capture Li Ran and the others this time was because this ship was equipped with a new type of instrument obtained from an eighth-tier star nation—a locking weapon designed specifically to deal with the Secret Race. Yet after over a dozen attacks, they still hadn’t managed to hit the seven of them, as they moved too fast. As soon as they locked on and fired, the targets disappeared, forcing them to lock on again.
The fleet commander didn’t realize what was happening until the seven entered space. Their eagerness to eliminate the enemies had instead given them an opportunity. Their plan from the start was wrong—they shouldn’t have aimed for a one-shot kill but should have tried to hold the seven back from entering space. Even if the attacks were scattered, they still needed to hit them, so that the seven would be confined to the ground and the starships’ long-range attacks could be most effective.
Once the seven approached the starships, the entire fleet would be in danger. These seven were simply too monstrous; they could truly sweep through an entire fleet. The commander immediately ordered eight starships to engage them while the rest began retreating to a distance.
It was a simple tactic—the commander tried to use eight starships to draw the enemy in, then gather all the remaining ships for a single long-range attack, not aiming to kill but to injure the enemy.
At the same time, a large number of warriors equipped with starlight weapons flew out of the starships to slow down the enemy’s speed. It was only then that the commander realized that no matter how strong his fleet’s offensive power was, if they couldn’t hit the enemy, it would all be in vain.
The commander felt somewhat regretful. If some skilled fighters had come to engage them, perhaps they could have slowed down those seven’s speed. He cursed inwardly the high-ranking officials of the United Spirit Kingdom—those guys only cared about giving orders and didn’t care about the fate of the fleet. Attacking at this moment was far too dangerous for the fleet.
When the seven reached space, they saw the fleet of starships in the distance. By then, the attacks had already become chaotic.

Qi Wu Zhen said coldly, “Scatter here. I’ll take care of that huge ship!” She was furious. Though the successive attacks earlier hadn’t hit them, their aftereffects still harmed them, mainly shaking their souls.
Li Ran nodded and said, “As usual, each of us attacks separately. This time… I won’t let them escape!” He was also filled with rage.
Ku Mu twitched the corners of his mouth and said, “It’s better to split up. Smaller targets make it easier for us to attack!”
Guo Shier agreed, “Good!”
Qi Wu Zhen broke free from the purple chains and transformed into a crimson glow, charging toward the fleet.
Li Ran and the others also scattered, flying toward their chosen targets.
Seeing the fleet beginning to split—some charging forward and some retreating—Guo Shier’s soul trembled violently. “Don’t let them retreat! Don’t let the distance widen!”
The seven ignored the eight approaching starships and instead charged frantically at the distant fleet. They all understood that once they got close, the starships couldn’t defend against them, nor could they launch attacks. Moreover, it would be difficult for them to resist the fleet’s long-range attacks, so they had to stay together.
Qi Wu Zhen paid no attention to the other starships; her target was that mothership-class heavy starship. The area was filled with starships. Hundreds of starships of various sizes had arrived to besiege Lie Wen Star, with more on their way.
If it weren’t for orders from the higher-ups of the United Spirit Kingdom to launch an attack, a large fleet would have arrived in a day. That fleet consisted of over 700 starships of various types, and its strength was among the top in the United Spirit Kingdom.
Li Ran ignored the starships firing randomly around him and, like Qi Wu Zhen, flew toward the distance. He wanted to cut off the enemy’s escape route directly.
Wang Dayang attacked those nearby. He didn’t care who he fought as long as he could destroy the starships. Ku Mu and Monier focused on dealing with the swarms of warriors. In moments, space was filled with debris, and many warriors were knocked out by them, even though they were wearing star armor.
Guo Shier flew toward the distant fleet with Sericeline. His plan was the same as Qi Wu Zhen and Li Ran’s—to block the fleet’s escape route first. He didn’t want to suffer from long-range attacks again.
With the Soul Suppressing Cauldron above his head, waves of shockwaves spread out. Any warrior who tried to get close to attack was knocked unconscious by the shockwaves, while those who got too close had their souls shattered instantly. If they activated their star armor, they would find that these warriors had blood flowing from all seven orifices, with no visible injuries, simply dying quietly.

Like riding the wind and breaking through waves, Guo Shieru sped forward at full speed, with the Soul-Stabilizing Cauldron launching wave after wave of attacks. This created a bizarre scene: no matter how many armed soldiers and attack drones tried to block them, once they entered a radius of tens of thousands of meters, they lost control and quickly floated in space, their fates unknown. Wherever Guo Shieru passed, a large number of soldiers died or fell into a coma. This sight sent chills down the spines of many officers commanding from the starships, filling them with horror. It was utterly strange—after all, Guo Shieru was simply flying without making any movements, and the woman beside him occasionally attacked those who tried to escape. Yet everyone knew that Guo Shieru must be the culprit behind such terrifying phenomena. In just a few minutes, Guo Shieru broke through the encirclement of the armed soldiers and began accelerating frantically toward the fleet. Countless attacks crisscrossed the space, creating chaos akin to an explosion in a firecracker factory—dense attacks streaked through space, with lights of various colors flashing. Since sound cannot travel in space, everything happened in complete silence. Qi Wuzhen was the fastest; she had already rushed into the retreating fleet. Several starships immediately fired at her to prevent her from approaching the mothership-class heavy starship, but she dodged them all. Two flames shaped like whips danced through space. Those inside the starships were stunned—they clearly saw that Qi Wuzhen had no weapons at all, yet she flew in space. They also couldn’t figure out what those two flaming whips were. Suddenly, the flaming whips lashed out at a starship charging toward her, slicing it in half as easily as a knife cutting butter, with flames immediately igniting at the cut. At the same time, Qi Wuzhen passed over the severed starship. A red light flashed as she approached the second starship blocking her path. A large number of soldiers gathered to block her, but were stopped by Qi Wuzhen’s two flaming whips. The whips spun rapidly in space, setting anyone or anything that touched them on fire. Everyone felt a strange sense—how could fire burn in space? Even more bizarrely, thousands of flames drifted out from Qi Wuzhen’s body—small flames about the size of a human head—floating behind her as she flew. Whenever they encountered anyone or any starship approaching, one of the flames would speed up toward it, as if alive.

If it were a human, even if armed, the flame would attach directly to them and cause intense burning. In just a few seconds, both the person and their equipment would be reduced to ashes, while the flame would grow more intense and pursue Qi Wu Zhen. As for the flame encountering a starship, it would be even more terrifying. The flame would quickly burn a large hole in the starship’s metal hull and then rampage inside. Once a massive fire broke out inside the starship, the flame would emerge through that hole and continue to follow Qi Wu Zhen. These flames were like Qi Wu Zhen’s soldiers, mercilessly slaughtering everything in their path.