Chapter 973: Thief Kid

Chapter 973: The Little Thief

In interstellar warfare, support and supply lines reliant on stargate transit are of paramount importance. The imperial forces on the march continuously seed stargates along their path, weaving a network of swift routes for both advance and retreat. Yet, to guard against enemy surprise attacks on these stargate stations, each legion leaves behind a detachment to garrison every new extension of the stargate corridor. Thus, the deeper they penetrate the Light Dust Star Cluster, the more the size of the forces led by each imperial officer gradually dwindles.

As the attacking force, the Empire is compelled to stretch its battle lines rather long, but this is precisely the advantage of its overwhelming manpower—a luxury it can well afford to squander.

With the frontline forces gradually shrinking, the intensity of combat steadily escalates. Naturally, the commanders of each army are promising young officers handpicked from across the Empire, all possessing rich experience in interstellar warfare.

Just how lavish is this lineup? In Han Xiao’s memory, nearly all these transferred officers are destined to become the future high command of the military. Among them, at least three wield power no less than Taini’s, and they will go on to lead other grand legions of the Empire.

Facing such a constellation of renowned generals, the Kunde race is utterly outmatched in large-scale interstellar operations. Even as the imperial forces thin out, the Kunde continue to suffer defeat after defeat.

Following Han Xiao’s instructions, Taini completely reverses his previous approach, beginning to assign the Black Star Legion more substantial war duties, and pays special attention to Nilo, whom Han Xiao had specifically highlighted.

In virtually every engagement, Nilo’s grand detachment is allocated critical combat missions, which then trickle down to the individual squads, making the battles exceedingly frequent.

Coincidentally, the majority of the Super Academy graduates belong to various squads within this detachment. The continuous high-intensity, high-risk combat places an immense burden on these still-green students. Even Nilo finds it hard to bear, wondering in bewilderment what his detachment could have done to offend the commander.

Due to the relentless high-pressure battles, Nilo’s mechanical losses are severe, depleting nearly half of his reserves. When not in combat, he cannot rest either; he must toil bitterly to repair his machines, terrified of being left without equipment for the next fight.

At times like these, Nilo is deeply grateful to Leonard.

—It’s just about not sleeping, isn't it? I mastered this ability long ago when I was forced to immerse myself in studying.

This is no mere figure of speech; it is truly a proficiency on his attribute panel:

—[Advanced Fatigue Resistance]: Stamina recovery efficiency during rest +500%, stamina depletion rate -60%. Reduces the severity of the "Mental Fatigue" debuff caused by lack of sleep and rest, capping the accumulation at merely "Slight Mental Fatigue" at most.

For those blessed with talent, even staying awake can forge a proficiency. Han Xiao simply doesn't know who to complain to about such unfairness.

However, the other graduates lack Nilo’s inspirational background and are utterly exhausted. Even Mia no longer has the time to chat on the comm and flirt with him.

Unable to fathom the commander’s intentions, Nilo knows that grumbling inwardly is useless. He can only grit his teeth and fight on, unaware that Taini has thoroughly orchestrated his schedule.

High-intensity combat inevitably leads to casualties, but that is the nature of tempering troops in real battle; losses cannot be avoided. Nilo’s squad is fortunate; though fatigued, no member has fallen yet. Amidst the frequent engagements, the bond of camaraderie between Nilo and his squadmates grows ever stronger.

The Crimson Empire holds an overwhelming advantage in this war. In the blink of an eye, many days pass as the various imperial fleets advance steadily, crossing multiple star systems and finally drawing close to the borders of the Kunde race’s territory.

With the grand army pressing upon their borders, the scouts move first. The legions approaching the Kunde territory from different directions dispatch massive scout forces to probe the enemy lands ahead. Among these scout forces are both remotely piloted unmanned fleets and combat squads carrying ground assault troops.

As expected, Nilo and his squad are selected to form part of the scout force, tasked with the perilous mission of pathfinding.

Meanwhile, as the imperial forces explore the Kunde borders, a secret mechanical force quietly dispatched by Han Xiao, following his guidance, has arrived in the vicinity of the Kunde homeworld.

……

It is a dark planet that appears to be a barren world. Its outer space is filled with floating armed reconnaissance satellites and canopy camouflage devices designed to obscure the planet's surface. Through the high-speed anti-camouflage sensor eyes of the mechanical warriors, the true visage of the Kunde homeworld can be discerned. In reality, it is a sapphire-like planet where oceans cover the vast majority of the surface, dotted with oceanic cities and floating metropolises.

"So this is what the planet originally looked like."

The mechanical fleet halts in the deep space far from the planet, all activating stealth camouflage. Han Xiao’s technology and mechanical prowess are more than enough to render the Kunde homeworld's sensors blind to the presence of these mechanical warriors.

One of the machines is Han Xiao’s Overlord avatar, bearing his consciousness, carefully observing the planet.

In his previous life, after the Shining Star Cluster was opened, Han Xiao had come here for a mission. Back then, the Kunde homeworld had already been drastically transformed, completely remodeled by the Empire.

Because the Empire had struck straight at the heart of the dragon, the homeworld's population had been largely evacuated. However, the Kunde had not blown up their homeworld at this time; many facilities remained, and a final small fleet was stationed there for temporary management. It currently still served as one of the Kunde race's core quantum network nodes.

"Let's get to work."

Han Xiao cricks his mechanical neck, and with a thought, abruptly enters the quantum network vision.

The vision turns pitch black once more, leaving only the glowing orbs representing quantum network nodes, varying in brightness, interconnected by slender lines of information flow, forming the structure of the network.

Han Xiao directly locks onto the main quantum network node of the Kunde homeworld. His consciousness transforms into a streak of light, arriving in a flash. The node's firewall unfolds before him, like layers of dynamic data walls in motion, yet in his eyes, it is riddled with loopholes and cracks.

Unwilling to alert the Kunde, he opts for deep data diving rather than a direct intrusion, skillfully slipping through the loopholes in the data firewalls and breaching the backdoor.

The opponent's quantum network technology is utterly pathetic; all confidential permissions are mere formalities. It is like entering a house where the owner is away, with tools in hand that can open any room or safe. Don't ask why—just ask, and the answer is absolute freedom to do as one pleases.

Soon, the Kunde race's central data repository sheds all its defenses, laid completely bare before Han Xiao, like a dessert awaiting consumption.

"Philip, package and copy their database."

Han Xiao gives the order.

His target was merely the still-imperfect version 1.0 of the Spacetime Shearing technology, but since he had already come all this way, he might as well package and take all the Kunde data with him.

Philip begins to toil away. Copying an entire star-cluster-level archive will take some time. Taking advantage of this interval, Han Xiao decides to check all entities connected to this node.

Through path tracing, he can locate the movements of all Kunde fleets. For him, it is a mere casual task.

"Let me see where the Kunde forces are..."

Importing the coordinate data into the star map, Han Xiao takes a glance. Suddenly, his eyes shift, discovering some intriguing intelligence.

The Kunde fleets are roughly divided into four groups. The core fleet, centered around the command headquarters, is hiding and standing by within their territory. The second is the frontal combat force intercepting the Empire at the front lines, drawing a battle line at the border, which is quite normal. The third is the fleet carrying evacuating civilians, which has already moved far away from Kunde territory.

What catches Han Xiao's attention is the fourth group. Countless squads are dispersing toward the territorial borders in other directions, seemingly attempting to form an encirclement. But at such a vast distance, it is clearly not an encirclement in the conventional sense; it appears they are executing a special combat mission.

With Han Xiao’s current breadth of knowledge, he is naturally not left in the dark. He quickly forms a conjecture, his mind stirring:

"In this situation, there should only be three possibilities... First, fleeing; second, covering the evacuation of civilians; third, setting up a special trap. Fleeing can be ruled out. As for the evacuating civilians, they are heading in the opposite direction, not traveling with these fleets, so that can be ruled out too. That leaves setting a trap as the most likely scenario. As for what kind of trap..."

Han Xiao narrows his eyes, analyzing the situation based on the means available to the Kunde race. The enemy's most probable plan is to bury massive amounts of Primal Essence at the edges of their territory, catalyzing its expansion to devour every celestial body within their lands, leaving not a single scrap for the Empire.

He is not just guessing blindly; there are too many such examples in the Exploration Era wars. Those countless artificial barren cosmic belts are not the result of Primal Essence running rampant?

"So, the Kunde race intends to turn their homeland into a lethal trap, luring and destroying the imperial fleets. Ho, quite ruthless, wanting to take a massive bite out of the Empire before fleeing." Han Xiao shakes his head with a clicking sound.

Only a civilization that fails to recognize the peril of Primal Essence would misuse this substance. The formation of a single natural celestial body requires billions of years and is subject to random probabilities. Yet wherever Primal Essence passes, it devours all celestial bodies, turning the universe into a vacuum zone, a desolate wasteland where no material resources can be found. It is truly a place where nothing grows.

Moreover, as long as the pollution remains untreated, Primal Essence will expand endlessly. As its volume grows, its contact area with external matter or energy increases accordingly, and its expansion efficiency actually accelerates. If it grows to a terrifying scale, it might become impossible to contain even with treatment. By then, all living beings can only race against the apocalypse.

The Three Universal Civilizations are keen on exploring unknown regions for another crucial reason: the fear that in places beyond their knowledge, an unfamiliar advanced civilization might have dumped Primal Essence without treating it, allowing it to expand endlessly. If that happens, the entire universe's living beings will eventually suffer the catastrophe.

In the historical background of his previous life, there was no detailed record of the Empire's campaign against the Kunde race. Han Xiao does not know if the Kunde adopted a scorched-earth policy last time. However, the celestial bodies in the Light Dust Star Cluster were well-preserved in his past life, proving that even if the Kunde had implemented a scorched-earth plan, the Empire had stopped it in time.

Thinking it over, Han Xiao decides to hand this intelligence over to the Empire later; it will undoubtedly significantly boost his mission evaluation.

"Although Primal Essence is terrifying, it takes time to expand to a certain scale. The Empire has plenty of time to resolve the issue."

Han Xiao nods silently, his mood lightening.

He had only come to copy the Spacetime Shearing technology, never expecting an unexpected bonus.

After a while, Philip finishes copying the data. Han Xiao leaves a backdoor program, then erases all traces of his visit. Having completed the wrap-up work, he immediately exits the quantum network vision and orders the mechanical fleet to return.

The Kunde homeworld quickly vanishes from the Overlord avatar's sight. From start to finish, his visit has not alerted a single soul; he is truly a little thief.

A peak Super-A-class Virtual Mechanic is unparalleled in intelligence theft, an existence that even the Three Universal Civilizations must regard with apprehension.

……

At this very moment, the Kunde high command, whose home has been thoroughly ransacked without their knowledge, is holding a new meeting.

The theme of the meeting concerns the Supers.

In the chamber, the Kunde leader sweeps his gaze across the assembly and says in a deep voice, "The enemy's Super technology has endowed their warriors with formidable individual combat power. According to the data from the crashed ships, this Super technology is a method for individual lifeforms to cultivate themselves. A single individual can even possess the power to destroy a planet. Our proudly boasted warriors are simply no match for the Supers."

The assembly's mood is heavy. The Super system is a technology that requires luck to discover, and the Kunde race, much like Han Xiao, is evidently on the blacklist of the Goddess of Fortune.

The super-star-cluster-level civilization pulling the strings behind the scenes mentioned the existence of Supers, yet did not bundle the cultivation methods of Supers and hand them over to the Kunde, leaving the Kunde race still without a Super system.

The Kunde leader speaks slowly, "Supers. This is precisely what we lack. Everyone, we have already decided to leave our homeland. If we can obtain this technology from the enemy, it will help us establish a foothold in our new home."

"You mean..."

"I want the frontline forces to find a way to capture some of the enemy's Supers and bring them back as experimental materials. Once we have their bodies, we can unravel the principles and mysteries of the Super system."

"In that case, the operational doctrine for our frontline troops will need to be revised."

Rousing themselves, the assembly plunged into discussion.

Most men yearn for formidable personal might and boundless longevity, let alone these elites who bask in privilege; for them, strength has always been inextricably bound to power, and should a transcendent, otherworldly force exist, then the might of the fist is the very essence of authority.

They covet the existence of these espers with fierce envy, and now, not content with employing the scorched-earth stratagem to thwart the Empire's ambitions, they also seek to plunder new technologies from imperial hands that they themselves lack.

……

Days later, at the border of the Kunde territory.

An imperial scout fleet was advancing in stealth.

Comprising over twenty warships, mostly vessels of the Black Star Legion, the fleet carried numerous combat squads, including not only Nilo but also Mia and a large contingent of academy graduates.

They had been deep within Kunde territory for several days, maintaining vigilant watch and readying themselves for skirmishes at a moment's notice, yet they had not encountered a single enemy.

Aboard one of the warships, a large cluster of legionnaires gathered around a star map to debate the current situation; Nilo, stroking his chin as he gazed at the celestial chart, could not help but voice his bewilderment:

"It is truly strange. Before we even reached Kunde territory, we were intercepted by the enemy day after day, yet now that we are deep within their domain, no one bothers to challenge us?"

Hearing this, the others turned to cast a glance his way, but remained silent.

A short distance away, Mia stood with her arms crossed, her delicate brows arching as she chimed in, her tone laced with confidence:

"Perhaps the enemy realized they could not withstand the Empire and has already fled in full."

"I doubt it is that simple," Nilo said, shaking his head.

This time, Nilo's squad and Mia's squad were sharing the same vessel, accompanied by several other combat teams.

Tempered by the crucible of recent warfare, Nilo's combat prowess had improved considerably, yet his personal aura remained unchanged; after all, with his baby-faced visage, he could hardly muster a fearsome glare, looking more endearing than intimidating no matter how one looked at it.

Mia, on the other hand, had proven her combat strength in the heat of battle, her demeanor growing ever more self-assured.

Boom—

At that very moment, the fleet reached its designated target coordinates, abruptly dropping out of warp.

Beyond the viewport lay a planet, the current objective of their scout fleet's exploration: to seek out worlds suspected of being Kunde colonies and attempt a ground landing.

And upon the surface of this planet, the unmistakable traces of a city were plainly visible.

Seeing this, the expressions of everyone in the room tightened.

"It seems we've found the place. Everyone, stay on your guard."