CH 308

Hearing Temo's shout, I shut my eyes instinctively. Even with my eyes shut, I could see the blinding radiance blooming in the darkness. The radiance did not only seep through my eyelids but also gave my eyes a piercing pain.

"My god. What is this? My eyes hurt," shouted Zhang Bao'er.

"Everyone, activate your eye protection," ordered Zhang Xingxing.

I immediately did as told, strengthening the defense of my helmet, which brought some relief from the pain caused by the blinding light. After about five minutes, the intensity of the radiance finally started dropping. The attack was about to end.

"Only open your eyes after three more minutes, or the vigor bomb's radiance will hurt you," said Temo.

I resisted the pain and continued waiting for three minutes before slowly opening my eyes. An unbelievable sight was presented before me. I had thought that an explosion so powerful would create a world-altering effect, but what I saw was a sphere floating in the air. It shone brightly, illuminating the battlefield like a miniature sun. The super virus was nowhere to be seen, but the fiend of Pluto was still floating in the air. It would seem like Temo's bomb had successfully removed the super virus.

"What manner of a weapon is that? It looks so powerful. A single missile is enough to clear the super virus? You should have taken it out earlier. That would have saved us a lot of trouble," said Kelly.

However, Temo ignored Kelly. Rather, he immediately turned on the lighting system in Markus. With the light turned on, I could see that his face was full of worry.

"Temo, what's going on? The system is no longer showing the super virus. Even the ground movements have stopped. Where is the monster?" asked Zhang Xingxing.

"This is too weird. I don't know if the super virus has been vaporized or if it has fully absorbed the energy of the vigor bomb. If it was vaporized, it is not possible that there would be no traces of it left. It is way too large for that to happen. If it had absorbed the energy of the bomb, we would now be in trouble," said Temo.

"You mean the super virus would grow even stronger and come back for us?" asked Baron Sisse.

"Not only us. Nothing in existence should be able to absorb the energy contained within a vigor bomb. An existence capable of doing so would gain enough strength to destroy everything on the surface of this planet, including the city in the sky," said Temo.

Suddenly, the floating fiend made an odd noise. We were used to the eerie laughter it made, so this different sound felt rather out of place. It was a sound that was a combination of a sorrowful cry and a furious roar, resembling a chaotic mess of sound effects.

"What's up with the fiend? Did it grow too excited after seeing the defeat of the super virus?" asked Zhang Bao'er curiously.

"Doesn't look like it. This is definitely not a sound someone would make when happy. It is probably the sound of fear. The super virus must have survived. An even stronger counterattack is probably imminent," said Temo after long thought.

"What should we do now? Should we run? If the super virus grows strong enough to destroy the city in the sky, we won't be able to free the great sovereign anymore," said Domo.

"Run? Where can we run to? If we can't free the great sovereign, destruction will still come for us," I said.

"Commander, can you hear me?" Dodo's urgent voice suddenly came from the communicator.

"We hear you. Any updates over there?" asked Baron Sisse.

"We're still trying to search for the great sovereign. We already have some clues, but we also learned something new. The city has deployed a Nebula-class cruiser to search for you. Be careful." This was information Dodo had taken great risks to transmit back to us.

"Copy that. Be careful over there," replied Baron Sisse before ending the communication.

"A cruiser is coming soon. Do we enter invisible mode again?" asked Kelly.

"It hasn't been easy for us to make the decision to show ourselves and fight alongside the fiend. Now, the fiend is clearly afraid of the super virus. I think we should show our resolution and stand beside it," said Zhang Xingxing, showcasing the temperament of a good military commander.

"Temo, is your ship good enough to resist a Nebula-class ship?" asked Baron Sisse.

"You're being too wishful. The empire's Nebula-class ship is far more powerful than our ship. If Markus does not hide, all of us will die. I have already made the ship invisible," said Temo. He had directly disobeyed Zhang Xingxing.

We were all aware of the consequences of going against the direct orders of a superior. Upon hearing his words, my heart skipped a beat. Markus's internal warning system blazed, indicating that an imperial fleet led by a cruiser was speeding toward us. Under the illumination of the bright sphere, the fiend of Pluto was still staying in the same spot, making the same odd noise.

"Why is that fellow shouting over there? There are only two choices. Either retreat or stay and fight," said Anxashe. He couldn't understand why a creature as powerful as the fiend was behaving in such a manner.

Suddenly, an imperial repair ship appeared and rapidly repaired the light wall surrounding the pillar. Shortly after, the massive imperial cruiser appeared in the distance. Its approach was akin to the approach of a monstrous beast.

A swarm of surveillance drones flew out of the cruiser and spread out, seemingly in search of us. At the same time, the other ships surrounded the fiend under the lead of three Star-class destroyers.

"This is bad. Things are looking bad for our ally. Why is it not running even in such a situation? It was a wrong choice to bet on it after all," said Old Du with despair.

The ships surrounding the fiend started shouting orders at it, looking like they were demanding a surrender. As for the cannons on the destroyers, they were all aimed at the fiend. Suddenly, the world shook. The pillars propping the city up started swaying, while Markus's system started indicating that there was a massive earthquake happening. 

The calm surface below us suddenly turned into a furious sea. Through the illumination provided by the shining sphere, we saw numerous protrusions rising from the ground and altering the landscape into a mountainous one.

"This is bad. The super virus has really evolved. After hiding to digest the absorbed energy, it is now ready to slaughter everything on this planet," said Temo anxiously.

Domo took the chance to belittle him. "I told you we shouldn't attack rashly. What's the result? We overreached. Even the stupid weapon was absorbed by the enemy. If you can't do it, you should have stayed behind instead of embarrassing yourself like this." 

However, Domo had crossed a line. We were facing a massive battle, yet he kept insisting on creating conflict due to his grudge against Temo. Not even Zhang Xingxing could tolerate his antics anymore.

"Domo, this is a war meeting. You won't be able to help much in air warfare. You can go back to your room and rest. If you keep spouting nonsense during the meeting, you will be put into detention," said Zhang Xingxing solemnly.

Temo, who was about to start another round of bickering with Domo, felt extremely comfortable hearing Zhang Xingxing's words. Meanwhile, Domo looked incredibly gloomy. 

The moment the super virus reappeared, the fiend opened its mouth wide and spat five blue balls of light toward the virus. At the same time, a massive tentacle shot 200 meters into the air. With one wave, several drones were destroyed. The sudden attack caused the ships around the fiend to switch their target and attack the super virus instead.

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The Star-class ships also switched their target and focused on the super virus. The heavy cannons fired rapidly, creating a sea of flames on the ground. The blue balls of light reached the super virus. The violent explosion we anticipated did not happen. The balls seemed to have melted right into the super virus's body.

Meanwhile, the super virus was busy fighting the robotic army. We could see that it was now capable of easily reaching a height of 500 meters in the air. It was obvious that the super virus had indeed evolved.

To avoid being hit by a stray attack, Temo had Markus rise higher into the sky. Before long, the robotic army suffered disastrous losses. They were also forced to rise higher into the sky, leaving only the fiend, the nemesis of the super virus, behind. It seemed to have regained its strength as the laughter we were so familiar with returned. Facing the super virus, it charged while spouting flames from its mouth.