Chapter 51: The Late Viscount, Section 10

In the pitch-black space, Ya Zi shot forward like a meteor, shattering the internal partitions of the Moorish giant ship wherever it passed. The sturdy walls crumbled like paper as Ya Zi approached. Along the way, not even the obstacles could stop Hei Fa for even a moment. In just a short while, Hei Fa reached the central cabin of the Moorish giant ship, located directly beneath the bridge—aescape passage passage reserved for senior commanders. If his assumptions were correct, there should still be lives here.

Indeed, when he rushed like lightning into a tightly sealed cabin and shattered it into countless pieces in an instant, what appeared before him was a gruesome scene. It was a small cabin with no light at all, filled with broken pieces of gelatinous material. Several Moorish crew members, covered in wounds, writhed in pain, huddled together. Pools of blood flowed from their wounds, forming small rivers on the floor. Their exposed muscles trembled, showing extreme suffering. With a quick glance, Hei Fa estimated there were about five crew members here. Only three could still breathe barely; the other two were already dead, their stiff bodies curled in the corner serving as proof of their demise.

Seeing Hei Fa appear, the three surviving crew members were clearly terrified. Ya Zi’s appearance was overwhelmingly imposing. Especially at the moment it shattered the cabin, it resembled a terrifying devil. With just a swipe of its hand, a massive wall vanished—utterly terrifying.

But Hei Fa felt nothing much. Being inside Ya Zi, his senses seemed to merge with this ancient beast. There was no trace of pity or any negative emotions. Streams of data flowed across Ya Zi’s built-in screen, and almost instantly, Hei Fa reached a conclusion: these people likely wouldn’t survive.

Sixty percent of their body tissues had been destroyed. It was already a miracle they had held on this long. So Hei Fa had no intention of rescuing them. After tearing through the wall, his first words were, “Is there anyone who can speak?”

“I… I can…” Hearing that terrifying monster speak suddenly (in the eyes of the surviving crew members, Ya Zi, who could tear walls apart with bare hands, was a monster), one crew member perked up. Struggling, he raised his head. Hope reappeared in his grayish pupils once again.

“It’s good that you can speak. Tell me. Who are you, and where are you from?”
“We… we are the Fifth Legion of the Smo Empire. We came here… to find Viscount Blackhair.”
“Hm?” Hearing this, Blackhair was momentarily stunned. Looking for me? When did I become a viscount? If he remembered correctly, he should have risen to the rank of count in the Mo Empire by now. And someone who knew Blackhair’s name…
A cold glint flashed in his eyes as Blackhair immediately thought of Ziyan, that old fox. In the entire Mo Empire, he was probably the only one who knew his true identity. And the words of this person proved it. The Fifth Legion of the Smo Empire—if Blackhair remembered correctly, it had also been under Ziyan’s command before the Duke of Ziyan rebelled.
But why were they in such a sorry state?
Filled with confusion, Blackhair hurriedly asked. Yet this time, he received no answer. The survivor who had spoken to him just now had closed his eyes. When Blackhair quickly looked at the other two, he found they were in the same condition.
Dead…
His heart sank, but Blackhair didn’t stop. Instead, he immediately began searching again. Yaazi swept through the entire giant ship like a fierce wind, starting from the stern and moving all the way to the bow. But no matter how hard Blackhair tried, he couldn’t find a single survivor. Wherever Yaazi looked, there were only corpses and debris. Such a huge Mo giant ship had been reduced to ruins.
What a brutal battle! The more carefully he searched, the more astonished Blackhair became. He had personally experienced the power of Mo giant ships. But this was the first time he had seen one reduced to such a state. In previous battles, even if they were defeated, the Mo giant ships would at most suffer damage to critical areas, never being torn apart like this. What terrifying force could have done this?
Blackhair couldn’t figure it out, but he knew one thing: unless a Mo giant ship was parked right in front of him as a target, even the black crystal giant ship he had obtained from the Mo Emperor probably couldn’t achieve such destruction. As for Snakefang…
At this thought, Blackhair couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Even Snakefang probably wouldn’t be able to do it. After all, their attack patterns were different. If Snakefang were used, it would probably be easier to cut the ship in half. Such extensive damage really didn’t fit Snakefang’s fighting style.

In the silent space, Kurokami quickly searched the entire ship but found nothing more. With a long sigh, he left this ship of death. Before departing, however, he threw a punch at the ship’s engine core; a highly compressed burst of energy erupted from his fist, instantly turning that area into a ball of fire. Soon, an even larger explosion occurred. Powerful energy shockwaves exploded outward, splitting the massive ship apart. From space, it looked like a suddenly appearing sun.

By this time, Kurokami had already left the area.

On the screen that Kokoro was watching from the distant twin stars, the shuttle carrying Kurokami vanished like a flash of lightning into the vast starry sky.

Kurokami did not return to the twins because he suddenly had a question: why was the Grand Duke Ziyuan’s warship here? It shouldn’t have been possible. In the Moore Empire, his name as Count Beck should have long been on the list of casualties.

Inside the lightning-fast shuttle, Kurokami’s expression grew increasingly serious. For some reason, he suddenly had a badpremonition.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the universe, the Grand Duke Ziyuan was facing the most difficult situation of his life.

On the giant crystal screen before him appeared tens of thousands of strange ships. These were neither Moore giants nor the black crystal warships that Kurokami was familiar with. They were an entirely new type—all circular in shape, resembling giant spheres. Each sphere had a diameter of over 500 kilometers, their massive size almost comparable to that of an asteroid. Their surfaces were smooth and shiny, with no weapons visible at all.

But the Grand Duke Ziyuan knew these were not asteroids. They were a new type of warship just introduced by the Moore Empire—and they certainly had weapons. Their power was far more terrifying than any warship he had ever seen. Just three days ago, one of his full fleets had been wiped out by these creatures. After destroying 500 of his Moore giants, they had lost less than five of their own!!!

Can you imagine? An entire fleet, at least five hundred imperial warships, yet only resulted in the loss of five of the enemy’s spherical warships—a loss like this has never happened before in the Smo Empire. In contrast, even when facing the Moor Empire’s Black Crystal warships, Duke Ziyan had never felt so helpless. Back then, thanks to the weapon systems urgently developed by the Smo Empire, although he still couldn’t gain an absolute advantage, he could at least maintain a stalemate.

But now…

Staring at the dense array of circular spheres on the screen, Duke Ziyan was speechless. Beside him, an old man with white hair and beard also gazed at the screen with a serious expression, murmuring to himself.

“What’s this…? Can we figure out what it is?” After a moment of silence, Duke Ziyan finally spoke. His hoarse voice sounded extremely abrupt in the quiet room, like that of a emotionless machine.

“Your Majesty… please give me some time.”

“How much more time is needed?” Duke Ziyan frowned and pointed at the spheres on the screen.

“That thing has already devoured a thousand of my warships. To slow its advance, I have to replace them daily, feeding it more ships to devour. It’s been fifteen days, and my empire’s warriors have shed their blood for it. How much more time do you want me to wait?”

“I am guilty, Your Majesty.” The old man with white hair bowed respectfully, though his expression showed no sign of guilt.

“Your Majesty, this is the Moor Emperor’s latest weapon. It has never appeared in the history of our empire. So it takes time to decipher it. I also studied the last battle thoroughly. The energy weapons they use don’t belong to any known energy system. Deciphering them also takes time.”

“I understand.” Duke Ziyan nodded, his gaunt face showing no expression. “Then give me a deadline so I can estimate how many more warriors’ lives I need to fill this gap.”

“One hundred days,” the old man replied in a low voice. “One hundred days—believe me, I should be able to achieve the results you desire. Moreover, I can even use this time to develop new weapons to help you win the war.”

“One hundred days… sounds simple…” Duke Ziyan smiled bitterly. “I’m already struggling to make it through fifteen days. I don’t know if I can hold on for a hundred days.”

“That old servant is aware of that as well,” the old man bowed respectfully again. “But if that person were here, I believe you could definitely overcome this difficulty.”

“That person?” Upon hearing this suggestion, Duke Ziyan was stunned. He suddenly became blank-faced.
“That person is listed as dead in the Empire of Moore…”