Chapter 9: New Forces, Section 1

The vast starry sky stretched endlessly. Countless planets, large and small, twinkled like a celestial net with faint glimmers. Four pitch-black warships appeared minuscule in such an expansive space, like grains of sand, incapable of causing even the slightest ripple.

It was the fifth day since leaving Silver Star.

In Li Feng’s control room, the black-haired man leaned lazily in a huge, comfortable seat, wearing a smile. In his hand, a fine glass of red wine swayed gently, emitting an agate-like, dreamy hue. Killer Bloodpupil sat quietly beside him, holding a small controller, his face twisted in concentration as he struggled with the screen. To those who didn’t know, it might seem like he was facing some extremely difficult problem.

Of course, the black-haired man knew it was just a game console from Earth’s era.

Since setting sail, Bloodpupil had felt bored. Moreover, Li Feng’s systems hadn’t been fully repaired yet, and many facilities, including entertainment systems, couldn’t be activated. With no other choice, the black-haired man retrieved some game programs stored in the control center—unknown to whom—and played them to keep Bloodpupil occupied.

Unexpectedly, the usually cold Bloodpupil behaved like a child when playing games, immediately becoming engrossed. He stopped doing anything else every day, his obsession resembling that of a drug addict.

But that was fine. The black-haired man could now focus on modifying weapons.

Speaking of which, with the strong support of the Creek Merchant Guild, he had never worried about money again. His weapons and mech parts all reached the highest standards on Silver Star. Although the most advanced mech technologies couldn’t be obtained due to strict controls, it was still sufficient to meet his needs.

Though powerful mechs were desirable, the true art, as the black-haired man believed, lay in assembling one’s own mech from ordinary parts—true DIY.

It was like the new demon he was assembling for Bloodpupil.

This was a non-standard mech. Although its overall shape resembled that of a humanoid mech, many parts had been drastically modified by the black-haired man. For example, instead of using sturdy, versatile humanoid legs, he replaced them with bird-like legs featuring reverse-jointed limbs. At the cost of straight-line speed and defense, this design greatly improved flexibility and agility. Thanks to the special nature of those reverse joints, the mech possessed leap capabilities far surpassing those of ordinary mechs. Without engine assistance, it could soar vertically a staggering fifteen meters.

What kind of concept was that?

Simply put, in battle, the new demon will have the ability to jump behind enemies at any time. This is undoubtedly a highly threatening move. After all, whether it’s a war vehicle or a mecha, the strongest part is always the front. The head and rear, however, have been significantly weakened due to insufficient engine power. As long as Xue Tong can make good use of the new demon’s jumping ability, these weak areas are like a feast prepared just for him to devour.

Of course, aside from its legs, the new demon’s weapon system is also very distinctive. Familiar with Xue Tong’s combat tactics, Hei Fa specifically chose for him a multi-barrel weapon platform called “Red Storm,” replacing the original simple setup of just one machine gun. It now features a full set of firepower devices, including dual heavy machine guns, a head-mounted pulse cannon, and shoulder-mounted heavy weapon modules. In just one-tenth of a second, it can fire hundreds of high-density armor-piercing bullets—with astonishing explosive power.

Of course, with so many advantages combined, the new demon’s specifications far exceed the limits of mecha engines and human mental endurance. So Hei Fa took a series of supplementary measures, such as drastically reducing armor, installing new engines, and adding mental stabilizers. It took a huge amount of money—780,000 crystal coins from the Creek Merchant Guild—to barely assemble it.

As a result, this mecha’s firepower barely reached the minimum standard of mechanical mechas, making it a true outlier among magic mechas. Especially its peculiar shape—with reversed joints in the legs, the head protruding forward, and the shoulders raised high—almost made Xue Tong cry.

Heaven knows how much Xue Tong values beauty. Seeing Hei Fa equip him with such an ugly mecha, he almost went crazy. But when the specs of the new demon were shown to him, all his frustration vanished instantly. He immediately hugged Hei Fa and started crying loudly.

Though it was somewhat unseemly, since he was crying while hugging Hei Fa, he wasn’t the only one.

To boost overall combat strength, Hei Fa not only modified Xue Tong’s demon but also reassembled a batch of Baroka and his magic mechas. Following the traditional asymmetric design pattern, they enhanced attack power and speed, fully leveraging the unique features of the wolf-shaped mechas.

Unfortunately, only bloodthirsty madmen like Xue Tong and Baroka could handle such asymmetric mechas. If ordinary people tried to pilot them, they would either be crushed by the extreme mental pressure or crushed by the high-speed maneuvering overload.

Time passed quickly, about a week later. The group with black hair finally reached their destination—the Crick Merchant Guild’s Mineral Planet VII. It was a lonely planet over fifty light-years away from Silver Star, with no other celestial bodies in its vicinity. The planet maintained low temperatures year-round, making it uninhabitable for any living beings. Due to its high density, gravity on this planet was astonishingly strong, roughly 46 times that of Earth’s standard gravity. Simply put, a human weighing 120 pounds would have to bear a weight of 5,520 pounds here, or over five tons—enough to crush not only bodily organs but even bones instantly. Therefore, extracting minerals from this planet couldn’t be done with ordinary methods, as no machinery could function properly under such extreme gravity, not even mechs. Of course, human ingenuity knows no bounds. Black Hair knew the Crick Merchant Guild’s approach: to attack. They used floating ships in high orbit equipped with specialized mining cannons to bombard the edges of the planet, creating huge fragments. Then, using the gravitational pull of the surrounding fleet and the planet’s own centrifugal force, they drew out the minerals and debris together. Finally, these materials were sorted, filtered, and condensed to form the unique purple-light minerals. In that case, if the planet was still under the Crick Merchant Guild’s control, Black Hair thought they should be able to receive their signals. Unfortunately, even from a distance where they could see the planet’s outline, not a single signal came through. Everything was eerily silent, as if dead. “Leader, the subordinate warships have sent a message, asking if they should conduct a preliminary scan. They probably sense something is wrong too,” Baroka said slowly as he stood up. A preliminary scan was an active search technique, similar to a submarine’s sonar, offering the best search results in space. It was often used for routine scans and rescues in peacetime. But in dangerous situations, it could be intercepted by hidden enemies, giving them a way to locate them. “No, no scanning,” Black Hair refused firmly, shaking his head slightly. “Since we’re already here, we must stay vigilant. This technique shouldn’t be used now. Order the fleet to slow down to cruise mode, activate passive signal receivers, shut down the main engines, and turn off all radioactive sources. Follow Li Feng’s actions. Remain silent until I give new orders.”

“Understood, leader,” Baroka replied loudly, admiration evident in his small eyes.
Just this one order was enough for him to realize that his leader was by no means a novice in warfare. Such tactical expertise in space battles was probably beyond even his own capabilities—truly that of a seasoned fleet commander.
He must have experienced interstellar wars, Baroka suddenly realized.
By maintaining complete silence, the group of black-haired individuals had concealed themselves from most detection methods. As long as the enemy did not activate their active scanning systems, their movements would remain invisible.
The three warships receiving the orders immediately followed Black Hair’s instructions and swiftly approached Li Feng…
With their main engines shut down, the fleet’s speed dropped sharply. Yet at a distance where the outline of the mining planet could already be seen, it wasn’t a problem. Three hours later, they were already in orbit outside the Purple Light Mining Planet.
“God, what is that?”
“No, this can’t be real. I must be dreaming!!”
Alarms filled the fleet channel. Black Hair had already seen what was on the screen.
His heart clenched, and his expression turned grave.
A graveyard.
A graveyard for fleets.
What lay before him was a massive ring surrounding the entire mining planet, its structure entirely made up of the wreckage of floating ships. Pieces of armor, collapsed hulls, and even crew compartments exposed in space. Tattered corpses floated around these debris, eerily silent.
Black Hair was right. This was the mining fleet deployed by the Creek Merchant Guild on the mining planet. But they could no longer provide him with any information or help.
“Scatter the fleet to search for survivors. Collect the wreckage and gather any usable information. I want to know what attacked them.” Closing his eyes, Black Hair refused to witness that tragic scene any longer. He gave brief orders.
At this point, he no longer cared whether his subordinate fleets had been detected. As long as Li Feng didn’t activate its active scanning device, the top priority was uncovering the truth behind the incident so he could respond appropriately. He had a premonition that he might have stepped into a trap.
Just then, Sulei, who had remained silent until now, suddenly cried out in alarm.
“Mr. Black Hair, we’re under active scanning!! Signal source: X17875, Y26547, Z52478!! It’s an unknown fleet!!!”