Chapter 87 Exotic Invasion (Part Four)

Chapter 87 Exotic Invasion (Part Four)

Seeing Cang Cheng fend off the exotic race's surprise attack, Hilmeth's heart, which had been pounding with worry, finally settled.

Cang Cheng reassured Hilmeth, "Don't worry."

Hilmeth nodded, and then immediately charged back into the battlefield.

Not worrying was impossible.

So what he could do was eliminate all enemies that posed a threat to Cang Cheng.

Hilmeth gathered his energy, and the four furnaces behind him clicked and transformed, merging into one.

White metal and blue energy circuits flickered with light, glowing faintly behind him.

Like a crescent of alien light, it cast a cold and deadly glow around him.

At the same time, the four wing-like rapid-fire guns transformed from his exoskeleton also aimed at the masked figure.

Hilmeth looked down at the army of star beasts and exotic beasts.

With a focus of his mental energy, a fiery sword appeared in his right hand.

In his other hand, he held a silver rapid-fire gun, the Spirit Runes on the gun already lit up.

He turned into a silver beam, surrounded by red flames and heat, and dove down.

Weapon power output at maximum!

A blinding light illuminated a vast stretch of the sky, like a falling meteor, dazzling and overwhelming.

The sound of the explosion rang out, echoing through the clouds.

Rolling smoke blocked the view, obscuring the truth.

All eyes were on the main battlefield, where the sheer power of the attack left everyone in awe.

"Is this really the combat power a human can achieve?"

"The general is so impressive!"

"The destructive power of this weapon must be at the starship level!"

"Damn exotics, get out of the Canglan Star Region."

...

The anxiety caused by the Light Dog Clan's invasion was dispelled as the lone general charged into the enemy ranks with unmatched ferocity.

At this moment, everyone was single-minded, with only one thought—eliminate the exotics, even at the cost of their lives.

As the smoke cleared, the people of Luoxing Star expected the enemy to be decimated, but something astonishing unfolded.

The Light Dog Clan and the star beasts were completely unharmed!

The Light Dog Clan's tail was emitting light, which gathered onto one person, and that person constructed a powerful light barrier, successfully blocking the attack from the fused furnaces.

Moreover, Hilmeth's fiery sword, aimed at the masked figure, was deflected by the tail of a massive crustacean-like star beast.

Hilmeth quickly adjusted his assault, pulling the trigger with his left hand to launch his attack.

The attacks all landed on the scorpion's hard tail, accompanied by a series of ding ding ding sounds, but they only left shallow marks on it.

The attack was ineffective.

The ground began to tremble, and with a series of loud cracks, it split open. A starship-sized giant scorpion emerged from beneath the earth.

Corrosive liquid dripped from its sharp tail, and a human-faced red flower the size of a human head bloomed on its back, emitting a strange fragrance.

It was this scorpion that had just blocked Hilmeth's attack with its tail.

Its species was unknown, but it was clearly an S-rank threat.

At the same time, a dense swarm of small scorpion star beasts appeared, a dark mass filling the area.

They devoured the star beasts and Light Dog Clan members standing around, reducing them to piles of bones and fur in the blink of an eye.

Surrounded by the scorpions, the masked man stood calmly, even reaching out to touch one of their bodies.

He looked at Hilmeth provocatively. "I didn't expect the general to be on Sunset Star. Perfect, I'll eliminate you while I'm at it. I've lost quite a few men to you; today, I'll avenge them!"

The masked man snapped his fingers, and the swarm of scorpions rushed towards Hilmeth.

Hilmeth, outnumbered, was quickly overwhelmed by the scorpions.

He couldn't break free for the moment.

The masked man felt a surge of satisfaction.

No matter how advanced Cang Cheng's weapons were, weren't they still unable to break through the defenses of the Light Dog Clan?

Even with Hilmeth's help, what could Cang Cheng do? Hilmeth was just one man—how could he possibly hold off this well-trained army of exotics?

So what if Cang Cheng was an ANKEN? A Spirit Rune Master might be powerful, but could he really tear apart a starship with his bare hands?

No one could save the Sunset Star natives, and no one could save Cang Cheng.

Cang Cheng was going to die here today.

With Cang Cheng's abilities under his control, the entire Canglan Star Region, and even other C-grade civilization star regions, would soon be his!

Cang Cheng stood on the watchtower, looking into the distance.

After the Light Dog Clan joined, the star beast army, which had been significantly weakened, grew in numbers again, surpassing the number of Awakened on Sunset Star by more than 50 times.

Such overwhelming numbers were truly daunting.

However, although there weren't many people on Sunset Star, there were plenty of machines.

"Ming Bai, activate the robot squad!"

On the floating screen, a small robot waving a chess piece appeared. "Roger that."

The next moment, gaps opened in the white walls, and robots flew out, diving deep into the enemy lines.

The robots were implanted with a self-destruct program; they would explode when attacked, upon reaching their target location, or when detecting exotics and star beasts.

Each robot's self-destruct blast packed the power of an A-grade heavy cannon, ensuring devastating destruction.

Relying solely on the robots' self-detonation was not enough. Cang Cheng drew a complex pattern in the air with one hand.

As his fingertip completed the final stroke, a fluorescent blue light dissipated in mid-air.

The Spirit Rune was complete.

Then, the ground began to bulge, and mud figures holding weapons suddenly appeared, filling the battlefield that had moments before contained only enemies.

In the blink of an eye, the mud figures launched a direct attack on the Light Dog Clan.

Many Light Dog Clan members who hadn’t reacted in time were swiftly struck, their hearts pierced, and they died instantly.

Level A Spirit Rune—Earth Guard.

The Earth Guard rune summoned undying mud figures, their numbers determined by the user's mental energy.

This way, the balance of numbers between the two sides on the battlefield was considerably restored.

At this moment, the battlefield was divided into three parts: Hilmeth against the scorpion clan, the self-detonating robots against the star beasts, and the mud figures against the Light Dog Clan.

The thunderous sound of robot detonations continued, while the Light Dog Clan was at a loss against the mud figures that kept resurrecting. Scorpions died in waves.

The battlefield was a chaotic mess, with bodies piling up faster than they could be counted.

Among the dead, there wasn’t a single Luo Ri Star native or resident of the Canglan Star Region.

With technology, Spirit Runes, and weapons, Cang Cheng managed to keep the death toll at zero during the invasion of Luo Ri Star!

With only a few people, he created the illusion of tens of thousands of soldiers.

This battle felt like something out of a fever dream—no, not even a dream could be this absurd. But Cang Cheng had indeed achieved the impossible. However, the battle was far from over.

The appearance of the Light Dog Clan caused interference with the signal, turning Zhang Qian's live stream from Watchtower 15 into static.

*

The members of the 'Unmask ANKEN' group were anxiously worried about Zhang Qian and the residents of Luo Ri Star.

They also sent information about the occupation of Luo Ri Star to the military department of the Canglan Star Region, hoping for reinforcements to arrive soon.

However, the nearest military fortress was 5 light-years away; distant water couldn’t quench an immediate thirst.

"What can we do? Can Luo Ri Star hold out?"

"With both star beasts and exotic clans, it’s clear the enemy came prepared. Why did they target Luo Ri Star? It’s just a border world!"

"Worrying won’t help. Luo Ri Star’s defenses are stronger than we thought, and with a general in charge, all we can do is trust them."

Yes… They couldn’t help now, they could only trust.

If Luo Ri Star opens donation channels, we’ll definitely contribute to the cause!

"But on the other hand, I didn’t know the border worlds of our Canglan Star Region were so easily invaded..."

"Neither did I, I thought our star region had a high level of safety, but it turns out... someone has been protecting us all along."

"War is closer to us than we ever imagined."

The media in the Canglan Star Region always reports only good news, giving its people a sense of stability.

But this time, as they faced the invasion of Sunset Star, people were abruptly jolted into the harsh reality of war.

War was no longer just a distant threat.

At Watchtower 15, Zhang Qian had already fulfilled the group’s dream—unmasking ANKEN—though she was still in shock.

When the leader of the Light Dog Clan attacked Cang Cheng, his attack was deflected by a protective barrier, but Zhang Qian didn’t yet understand what was happening.

When Cang Cheng gathered magic at his fingertips and began writing complex Spirit Runes in the air, countless small mud figures appeared.

Zhang Qian was stunned.

This—this had to be one of ANKEN’s unrevealed Earth System Spirit Runes! It was almost certainly Level A!

The way Cang Cheng handled the Spirit Runes was eerily similar to ANKEN.

Wasn’t this the exact same as ANKEN?!

Looking at the prince’s slim figure, the perfect jawline, the beautiful pure black eyes, the nimble stance…

Wasn’t this exactly like ANKEN?

And considering that Cang Cheng had used the Blizzard Rune provided by Mo Yu during the Exchange Competition, and now he was using an unknown high-level Spirit Rune, could there be any doubt left?

Prince Cang Cheng… was ANKEN!!

The Blizzard used in the Exchange Competition was by Cang Cheng!

Cang Cheng had used a Level A Spirit Rune right under the noses of all the people of the Canglan Star Region—how had no one realized he and ANKEN were the same person?

Were their eyes blind?

Cang Cheng indeed had a connection with ANKEN.

Because he was ANKEN!!

The mask of ANKEN had been taken off by her!

Zhang Qian thought she had discovered something incredible—after all, she now knew ANKEN’s identity.

She looked left and right, wanting to share with others.

However, Edward and a few others at the same watchtower, along with two soldiers on leave, seemed used to it, only exclaiming, “This army of mud figures Spirit Rune is really amazing!” and such.

The guards from other watchtowers were eliminating the approaching star beasts and seemed to have long been accustomed to their governor casually using powerful Spirit Runes.

Why were the others so calm?

It was like everyone knew Cang Cheng was ANKEN—except her.

Had she been shielded from the news of the entire star region?

Zhang Qian had such an illusion for a moment.

*

The masked figure, looking at the nearly tied battle situation, could not maintain his composure.

He led a fleet to sneak attack Sunset Star, but they hadn’t even taken down the planetary defense system of the enemy.

He attempted to ambush Cang Cheng, but was easily deflected by him.

He ordered the Light Dog Clan to abandon their ships and land, thinking they could overwhelm Cang Cheng with their numbers, but instead found themselves fought to a standstill by Cang Cheng's unexpected robots and mud golems.

To him, this was a humiliating defeat.

The masked man couldn't believe that he, of all people, couldn't gain any advantage over someone who was widely known as a useless nobody in the Canglan Star Region. He couldn't even do anything about the little nobody.

The masked man glared at Cang Cheng, his eyes filled with anger and suspicion. "Who exactly are you?"

With a thought, Cang Cheng's Wind Wing runes unfurled behind him.

He leaped from the watchtower, his movements graceful, and amidst the chaos of war, he landed steadily in front of the masked Cang Mu.

A smile lingered on Cang Cheng's lips, but his sharp aura did not lose to Hilmeth's in the slightest.

A king faces another king.

The masked man had not considered Cang Cheng a threat before, but now, the fifth prince whom he had overlooked for years gave him a wake-up call.

He struggled to gauge the true strength of the man who still smiled.

If he had known how formidable Cang Cheng was, he would have eliminated him first, absorbing his power instead of letting him grow to a level that even he found troublesome.

The masked man said, "You came alone. Bullets don't discriminate. Aren't you afraid of dying here?"

"Since I dared to come, I naturally have my reliance. I wonder if you'd still be so calm once all your allies are tied up, brother."

The hidden lens in Cang Cheng's eyes clearly displayed information about the masked man.

"Race: Light Dog Clan (hybrid)

Estimated strength: S+

Database character match: Cang Mu

Position: Former Chief Advisor"

The single word 'brother' caused the masked man to lose his focus for a moment.

How did Cang Cheng know his identity?

At that very moment, a mutated claw pierced through Cang Mu's chest from behind.

A voice that Cang Mu had almost forgotten rang out in his ear.

"Long time no see, I've missed you, Brother Cang Mu."