Chapter 43: Chaos, Section 6

Entering a nebula cluster is a technical task. Aside from requiring extreme courage, familiarity with routes and skilled ship operation are also essential. For these reasons, Black Hair had made thorough preparations.

But unlike ordinary destitute miners, he didn’t just want to scavenge for some stone essence particles in the nebula cluster—he aimed to penetrate it completely, just as a bullet pierces steel, passing through the entire nebula cluster. Even with adequate preparation, the success rate remained uncertain.

To everyone, the nebula cluster resembled a large, horizontally placed cylinder that kept spinning, with Black Hair’s fleet positioned right at its opening. Before the dense array of warships, the massive cloud swirled rapidly, emitting terrifying energy fluctuations. All detection systems failed, and even holographic images were distorted. The fleet’s visuals became warped. Occasionally, a pale red nebula streaked by, accompanied by a rumbling sound that seemed to be right beside them, highlighting the greatness of nature. Here, human efforts were truly like those of ants!

Yet this was merely superficial. Through the introduction of the old Moor, Black Hair learned that although the external appearance of the nebula was astonishing, its actual harm was minimal—mostly just scattered stone essence particles and energy residues. As long as a warship’s armor was sturdy enough, it could largely ignore them.

However, entering from the outer layer and reaching the central red region required caution. From there, the density of stone essence particles increased exponentially, and due to the increased electric ions, their speed far exceeded that at the surface. The deeper one went, the darker the clouds became, and the greater the danger. By the central area, where the clouds were almost pitch black, no warship could help—even the pride of the Empire, the Moor giants, would be shattered by countless flying stone essence particles.

But as the saying goes, extremes meet their opposites. After countless attempts, the old Moor miner finally discovered that this nebula cluster wasn’t without weaknesses. Every 72 hours, energy conflicts within its clouds created a rift—not large, about 500 kilometers across—but sufficient for a fleet to pass through. The rift also moved at high speed, with the threat-free core of the nebula cluster right behind it. Through this rift, Black Hair’s fleet could pass unimpeded, reaching the heart of the Rebels’ territory.

Of course, the universe is vast and boundless. Nebula clusters are also subject to certain rules. Once inside the core, reverse space jumps can proceed normally. Apart from the inability to jump within the range of the nebula clusters, everything else is just as usual. After learning more, Black Hair glanced at the clock—there were less than fifteen minutes left before the next rift appeared. Without further hesitation, he issued the order to set off. Immediately, a massive fleet in the universe began to move slowly, with the leading ships first, followed by others in a wave-like sequence. In just a moment, all the warships accelerated. The entire process was silent; the dark ships resembled ancient warriors, their cold armor exuding a sense of menace. Watching the scene on the screen, Black Hair nodded in approval. Truly, they were worthy of being the emperor’s direct forces. The quality of these warships far exceeded Black Hair’s expectations, even comparable to those of the Blood Wolves’ crew. Both their obedience and control over the ships were at the highest level. Black Hair saw with his own eyes that the distance between the nearest warships was less than a hundred meters. Each of these warships was about fifteen kilometers long, and their ability to maintain a gap of less than a hundred meters between them demonstrated the strength of the imperial guard. Upon Black Hair’s order, these warships immediately took action. In just five minutes, the forefront of the fleet reached the outer layer of the nebula. With a loud roar, a violent red explosion erupted before Black Hair’s eyes. The sight of countless stone particles colliding was dazzling. At the same time, the screen showed the forefront of the fleet—fifteen of these warships were pressing into the nebula in a triangular formation, shattering the pale red clouds into fragments. Intense red lights burst from the shattered stone particles, as dense as a storm. This was only the outer layer… Black Hair gasped in shock. If it was already this dense, what about the interior? Watching the nebula, composed entirely of stone particles, cause the warships to sway slightly, he couldn’t help but worry for them. “Don’t worry, Baron Beck. That’s just the result of energy fluctuations; it doesn’t have much impact on the warships. The real threat are those stone particles. But since we’re in the outer layer, their intensity isn’t enough to damage the ships’ armor. We just need to speed up,” said an old Moorish miner beside him, seemingly noticing Black Hair’s concern.

Black Hair remained silent. Yet he still turned his head to glance at him. Unexpectedly, such an old miner seemed to have some knowledge about warships. The Moor Empire’s military awareness was indeed high.

However, there was one thing Black Hair didn’t tell him: his current flagship was not an imperial warship, nor a Leech, but China’s oldest heavy assault ship, the Li Feng! Although the Li Feng’s offensive power was formidable, Black Hair wasn’t sure if its defense could match the Stone Essence armor of the Moor Empire. Moreover, the outer layer of the Li Feng’s armor was made of nuclear biological tissue. If struck by a large number of Stone Essence particles, damage would be inevitable, exposing its true form below—which would surely cause serious trouble.

But now that it had happened, further consideration was pointless. Black Hair could only pray that the nuclear armor was sturdy enough to withstand the Stone Essence impacts without revealing its disguise.

Time passed slowly. As the cloud ahead gradually grew larger, Black Hair suddenly felt his feet sink, and the surroundings turned pitch black. In an instant, not a trace of light could be seen in the entire cabin. Almost all instruments stopped working at the same time. This phenomenon lasted less than three seconds, but to Black Hair, it felt like an eternity. When light returned, he found himself having passed through that red cloud.

“Loss report,” Black Hair said coldly, his face dark.
“The energy system is normal, no losses.”
“The weapon system is normal, no losses.”
“The transmission pipelines are normal, no losses.”

One report after another was submitted, and Black Hair’s expression gradually improved. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a voice suddenly rang out. “Report: The defense system has been damaged; cracks appear on the outer armor.”

What? Black Hair’s expression changed instantly. He exchanged a panicked glance with Monkey, only to see panic in his eyes as well. Clearly, he had also thought of the problem with the Li Feng’s armor. But with the old Moor miner present, it was difficult for him to speak up.

After thinking for a moment, Black Hair gritted his teeth silently. “How severe are the cracks?”
“Minor damage, Grade F—no repair needed,” the report replied quickly. Black Hair finally nodded in relief.

It was fortunate—just minor damage. The nuclear reinforced cells would repair it quickly, preventing the exposure of its true form. But this was only the outer layer. Black Hair knew that the deeper they went, the greater the risk of exposure. It seemed he could no longer hide effectively.

Things finally developed in the worst way Black Hair had imagined. By this point, both Black Hair and Monkey were feeling uneasy. Looking at the clouds growing darker ahead, Black Hair’s expression turned as gloomy as water. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Monkey subtly making a gesture as if wiping his neck.

Shaking his head, Black Hair rejected Monkey’s idea. It would be easy to get rid of that old Moorish miner. But without him, who else could lead them out of these clouds? Moreover, once the appearance of the Windy Blade was damaged, it was likely not this old man who would notice first, but those leech-like warships outside guarding him! The emperor’s direct subordinates surely had spies among them.

Neither option worked. Black Hair found himself in a dilemma. It was only then that he began to regret it. If he had known this would happen, he never should have insisted on taking this route. He hadn’t seen any benefits from the risk, yet he had already reached the brink of exposure.

Just then, Black Hair suddenly felt a tight grip on his wrist. His right hand started to itch and tingle.

It was Core!

Black Hair was stunned. This state was a precursor to Core trying to communicate with him. He hurried down from the command platform and left the cockpit without saying a word. Behind him, the old Moorish miner stood confused. As soon as he entered his room, a lazy voice rang in his ears. At the same time, Black Hair’s right hand twitched, and his muscles moved rapidly, revealing a strange human-like face.

“Hehe, Black Hair, it wasn’t easy to find you. How far have you gotten? I could barely keep in touch with my own cells.”

“That’s only because you’re useless. I haven’t touched these cells at all,” Black Hair replied irritably, though his expression improved significantly.

To be honest, when it came to helping him, Core was undoubtedly number one. This highly intelligent being had been an essential helper and companion from the start. Black Hair felt toward it as if it were a friend, never treating it as something foreign. So when facing it, he dropped his usual cold demeanor.

“What else could I do? Of course, I’m going back to my lair. I’m not like you. Don’t forget, I need a large amount of radiation energy. Without Death Star, where will you find energy for me?”

“Hmm, are Sulei and the others okay? What changes have happened on Death Star recently?” Black Hair nodded. He knew that much. Core wasn’t being unreasonable either; most of the time each year, it stayed hidden in its lair. To Core, Death Star was like home.

“Not bad.” He Nu curled his lips. “I’m not familiar with the specifics. You know I’m not interested in those things about you. I’m just here to help improve the environment. Recently, the Death Star expanded to include two more planets, so I sent my subordinates to assist. I’m reaching out to you because I have something to tell you.”
“We can talk about it later. First, solve my current problem,” the black-haired person interrupted He Nu impatiently, speaking in a hurried tone.
Li Feng’s shell was made of He Nu’s cells, and now that they had caught the real culprit, the black-haired person wasn’t going to miss this chance.