Chapter 123: Your Head Is Too High—I Don’t Like It

Chapter 123: Heads Held Too High—I Don’t Like It

All Saint Casians who were aware of the situation were equally on edge.

Especially the military escort.

With even the Crown Clan on high alert, it was hard for them not to feel nervous.

Meanwhile, the patrol mech squad of the Gesen Empire received the order and immediately raised their weapons, aiming at the Saint Cas starship.

In their eyes, the Saint Cas starship was nothing more than a weird, rundown hunk of junk. In this star system, the strongest combat power lay in mechs—not only could they be equipped with formidable weapons, but they were also way more nimble and mobile than any massive starship.

So, while they had never seen such a beat-up starship before, they assumed it was no different from other starships.

The mobility of their mechs would easily run circles around them and take them out fast.

Not to mention, the unfamiliar, odd-looking fleet seemed to be tinkering with something—their communication methods appeared different, and when the connection was finally established, the line was full of static.

"Leave the Survival Contest zone immediately. We are under orders to expel you. You are already half a day late—the gates of the Survival Contest are no longer open to you. No matter which podunk nation you hail from, get the hell out of here, now!"

"Hahaha, small nations will always be small nations. At this speed, even if you had arrived on time, you wouldn’t have stood a snowball’s chance. And with so many starships—each one a damn cruiser—did your entire country come along?"

"Move your asses to the hunting zone on your own. Weaklings like you are perfect beast chow."

Saint Cas scout team: ?

They had already observed this unfamiliar squad and sensed something fishy when the strange mechs aimed what appeared to be weapons at them—the hostility was dripping off them.

It was hard to tell whether this was standard evac procedure or a straight-up ambush.

But when the communication came through, no one expected such words.

Communication wasn’t an issue—both sides seemed to be using standard interstellar language.

But—

When had Saint Cas ever heard such cocky, disrespectful trash talk?

Though under the leadership of the Crown Clan, Saint Cas had their own pride akin to that of their sovereign and royal family, such in-your-face hostility was new.

Hearing it now was almost... weirdly amusing.

"Survival Contest? Beasts?"

The members of the Saint Cas scout team exchanged glances, completely stumped for how to respond.

They understood each word individually, but strung together, it made no damn sense.

Who was holding a Survival Contest?

Was it because resources here were so scarce that humans had to fight for survival, tossing the weakest to the beasts?

Saint Cas had calculated countless possibilities, but never could they have imagined just how messed up this place was.

Let alone how far the beasts here had evolved.

They looked at each other again, their expressions hard to read.

If that's the case, then those responsible for maintaining the order of this Survival Contest must be the strongest force in this star system, right?

However, Saint Cas initially still opted for a peaceful approach. Seeing the Little Highness's location so close at hand, they couldn't help but grow anxious—they weren't about to stick around here any longer.

"We are here to find someone, not to participate in your so-called Survival Contest. We won't crowd your turf."

The mech squad of the Gesen Empire had expected the other side to cower and beg for a chance to re-enter. But reality was completely different from their expectations.

The other party seemed utterly clueless about what they were saying, like they were talking to a wall.

"Huh?"

Over comms, the Gesen Empire's mech squad was also baffled.

"What's wrong with these guys? Feigning ignorance?"

"Anyway, we've already warned them. Time to engage."

Someone spoke up.

"We have a record of the warning. Even if someone complains later, they'll have to accept it."

"Haha, true—"

As the person spoke, they had already piloted their mech, raising the gun in its hand without the slightest hesitation, aiming it at the Saint Cas starship at the front.

A faint glow had begun to emerge from the barrel of the gun—the tell of a heavy weapon being activated and ignited.

Inside the Saint Cas starship.

"No reply from hostiles. They have initiated offensive measures, displaying an extremely hostile attitude toward us."

"Open the outermost hatch."

Amos wrenched his gaze away from the glowing dot marking his young one's location. Holding the Psychic Sword in one hand, he turned and marched from command.

"Fei Man, you have the conn."

Fei Man straightened up.

She lifted a finger and lightly tapped the brim of her cap, nudging the military hat upward slightly to reveal her stunning but cold features.

"Yes."

Saint Cas had never encountered an attack without retaliating.

Fei Man also turned and walked toward the door—this supposed mighty force of the star system?

"Arm ship guns—defensive posture."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The Gesen Empire's mech squad had already acted, loosing cannon fire straight at the Saint Cas starship.

They all waited for the deafening blast.

Instead, they saw something strange happen—the beat-up hull plating of the ship suddenly deployed some bizarre weapon from within. A spinning vortex, followed by an intercepting weapon streaming light, was launched, colliding midair with their cannon fire. With a thunderous detonation, the projectiles detonated in the space between them.

The force of the blast catapulted the Gesen Empire's mech squad backward, left momentarily dazed.

"What is that?"

"What's installed on that starship? Some kind of unidentified heavy weapon?"

"No intel on any nation developing such weapons—they actually blocked it—"

By now, the Gesen Empire's mech squad had begun to sense something terrifying.

At the same time, a figure seemed to dart past them.

A figure that didn't even acknowledge them, moving with urgent purpose—

By the time they realized it, the figure had already vanished.

"What just passed by?"

"No idea, I didn’t get a clear look. Was it some alien beast?"

"What happened?"

"Get answers from them—now!"

"Captain, these unidentified hostiles have shut down all comms, leaving only one message—opening fire means declaring war on Saint Cas."

"Saint Cas? What Saint Cas?"

"This doesn't add up—"

"Captain, Captain... I rewatched the footage just now, and... I think what just passed by... looked like... a human?"

"Impossible, you’re overthinking it. How could it be a person? Unaided in the vacuum? That’s impossible for humans."

Impossible?

"Captain! Look ahead!!"

The Gesen Empire squad turned their gaze forward, with growing dread.

Ahead of those damaged but operational starships.

A lone figure stood exposed, unprotected, where no human could possibly survive.

A silver-black crown rested on her head, and she wielded a lance. The glow of her crown slowly brightened, and along with it, Fei Man's *Psychic Weapon* flared to life in tandem.

Fei Man’s crimson eyes locked onto the mechs, her wings beating with casual power behind her.

"No, no—attack!! Weapons free!!!"

The mech squad launched their assault simultaneously—

Countless glowing dots reflected in Fei Man’s pupils.

The telltale glow of charging mech cannons.

Fei Man took a deep breath, with a powerful wingbeat, and her lance moved with fluid grace. In an instant, she was upon them, her lance striking like a meteor, precise yet devastating.

The concussive blasts came instantaneously—

The cannons still in their barrels were disabled mid-charge. Some, due to her unfamiliarity with their mechanisms, malfunctioned catastrophically and cooked off in their chambers. The explosions instantly rang like thunder in their cockpits for several pilots, and the one directly hit was knocked unconscious in his harness.

Fei Man was already hovering above them.

Her crimson eyes lowered, the glow of the crown on her head flaring brighter.

"Is this how you treat our family’s kids as well? Firing upon the starships of Saint Cas—means picking a fight with the Crown Clan. As a top-tier power in this starfield, I’ll show you exactly what I mean."

Fei Man's voice was quiet and measured.

Like a mountain stream hitting rock—crystal clear but freezing cold.

"Stay sharp—don’t get cocky—"

Fei Man murmured softly, recalling the words Amos had left her with before departing.

Alright then—

Fei Man's crimson eyes gleamed.

She’d burn through over half her psychic energy to face this first battle—though it was not against an alien beast.

And so—

All anyone heard was a thunderous **boom**—

Countless fragments scattered as Fei Man's unleashed psychic energy erupted violently.

Even Fei Man froze for a second, stunned by the sheer force of her own power, which had obliterated the enemy in an instant.

That mech squad had vanished—no, perhaps that wasn't the right way to put it.

That squad was now scrap metal.

But weren’t they just talking all that smack?

Fei Man double-checked, baffled.

...Seriously?

That’s all they had?

All the Saint Casians who had arrived in this starfield were on high alert. Except for when she was around Xiao Chuzao, Fei Man was all cool, collected, and unflappable.

Especially when facing unknown circumstances that required careful judgment.

Thus, seeing Fei Man look this thrown was downright weird.

Uh...

"Hey, Second Bro, I think we can go together to pick up—"

Fei Man eyed the wreckage, white-knuckling her psychic spear, then lifted her gaze toward the direction Amos had left—

Hmm.

Amos had already dipped.

Guess we’re catching up.

Fei Man finally glanced at the Saint Casians—who looked just as floored.

"Keep moving forward."

*

The disturbance here wasn’t major, and with the various sounds of the entire Survival Contest venue as background, the loud noise barely drew any notice.

The Gesen Empire, too busy tracking its own team’s progress in the Survival Contest, naturally wouldn’t realize that a squad’s signal had quietly disappeared—gone without a trace.

Meanwhile, a high-tier Aberrant Beast had already left the area.

Ji Yu was one of the earliest Aberrant Beasts spawned from this corruption.

Nothing particularly strange had happened, really.

But the psychic energy set him on edge.

It forced him to flee the Survival Contest zone, almost in panic. His energy wings shuddered, the feathers lining his long lashes quivered—restless, that creeping dread.

Ji Yu couldn’t remember how long it had been since he last felt this way.

To put it bluntly, he predated this corner of the galaxy. Finally, he turned his gaze in a certain direction—

The place all Aberrant Beasts feared on an instinctual level. Though the pollution power there was immense, no beast ventured further in.

Like some unseen horror waited there, forbidding their approach. Even though there was no immediate danger nearby—and humans from the Gesen Empire occasionally ventured there—the Aberrant Beasts never did.

Their instincts screamed at them to stay away.

It was what they called the Aberrant Beast’s *Forbidden Zone*.

Bathed in overwhelming pollution power.

Though Shan Hu and others had once claimed that psychic energy wasn’t so fearsome, that the Forbidden Zone held nothing to fear, one thing was clear: not even Shan Hu would step foot there.

Yet, despite their dread, that place seemed to harbor formidable power—power to make them unstoppable.

Ji Yu’s body shook faintly, exhaling deeply as he stared in that direction.

Weird—

He glanced back at the Survival Contest zone behind him.

That unnatural feeling.

That churning unease.

In the grip of tension and unease, Ji Yu slowly began rallying the Aberrant Beast Legion around him, closing in on the zone.

Then, he marched toward the one place no Aberrant Beast had ever entered.

Power—

He needed to obtain new power—

Only with that power would he feel whole.

In another stretch of the cosmos, others were already dissecting Saint Cas’s every move and making their own judgments.

*

It's been nearly ten days since the tense situation in Saint Cas.

Although the Saint Cas authorities have kept everything tightly under wraps, organizations closely monitoring Saint Cas can still tell something's off.

In a remote corner.

This is yet another relocated base of the Hymn Organization, the who-knows-what-number relocation.

The top brass of the Hymn Organization are seated around a round table, with screens displaying the intel they've collected—including recent developments in Saint Cas.

“We haven't seen anyone from the Dwight family in a while.”

“Saint Cas is jumpy as hell right now. Has something unexpected happened?”

“Unexpected? Good. If something unexpected has occurred, let it wipe the Crown Clan out—save us the hassle.”

“Something must have gone wrong.”

The leader of the Hymn Organization, seated at the head of the table, gave a soft chuckle.

“Our nearby followers have reported—ten days ago, the frontline forces of Saint Cas had a brief moment of chaos, and the whole country was spooked. Comrades, you see, waiting pays off.”

It has been who knows how many years since the Hymn Organization went head-to-head with the Crown Clan and had to go underground.

They keep growing, but they must also duck from the Crown Clan's shadow, waiting for the next opportunity.

And now, it looks like our chance is here.

“So, how do we grab this chance?”

One of them spoke up, then turned to look at Chastity.

“This is indeed a question that requires careful consideration, but there’s no need to worry too much.”

Chastity said with a slight smile.

“Based on years of gathering intel on the Crown Clan, we’ve identified someone—an individual standing beside that irritating Little Crown Clan, with seriously unstable mental energy.”

“Who? What?”

“Ah, now that you mention it, I kind of remember—someone named Chao?”

“Chao Huangmu.”

Chastity continued.

“He seems to have the bloodline of the Longlived race, probably has the Soul Race bloodline.”

“The Soul Race? Aren’t they supposed to be extinct? Shouldn’t they only exist in our laboratories now?”

“Should we eliminate him too?”

“No, comrades, don't get your panties in a twist. This Soul Race descendant is merely an unstable hybrid, never exhibiting the traits of the Longlived race from childhood. He poses no threat, but he could trigger a chain reaction—making him our new in for our plans. We know little about the Crown Clan, but the Soul Race? We know them like the back of our hand.”

"Ah, I understand now."

"I will start preparing for the next steps."

"True, though we're still short-handed."

Shenghua said, glancing at the Hymn Organization's top brass who hadn’t gotten any reinforcements at all.

"True. The trials to become one of the Seven Virtues are far too demanding. Very few can endure them, let alone that detestable agriculture professor from Saint Cas. Saint Cas has been expanding its influence in these areas, making it increasingly difficult for us to find members who harbor extreme hatred toward the Longlived race. Even our previously prepared candidates have been eliminated."

"On the other hand, Shenghua seems to have held on, with no major issues."

"That's right. She's likely the only one left. Reports indicate she has remained very compliant and continuously recruits new members for our Hymn Organization. It seems she can be entrusted with more significant responsibilities."

"Is that so?"

Shenghua smiled.

"In that case, let’s arrange a time to prepare a grand ceremony for our potential new member."

"Yes, to offer hymns to the 'Divine.'"

*

Meanwhile, at the Survival Contest grounds.

Chao Huangmu manipulated his psychic energy, aiming the now even more formidable cannon at Ji Yuan, who had abruptly retreated.

To Chao Huangmu, this was just a large weapon, no different from the energy guns he had used before—except it could better channel his psychic energy, making it even more powerful.

But to Ji Yuan, the sight sent chills down his spine.

Though Ji Yuan’s mech was equipped with the finest armor plates from the Gesen Empire, capable of withstanding simultaneous assaults from countless mechs and counterattacking, he was still stunned by what he saw.

The sheer force exuded an overwhelming pressure.

Could a mech truly possess such power?

In his dazed state, Ji Yuan couldn’t be sure.

But he would die.

That was the only thought in his mind.

At this moment, his entire being was numb.

He would really die.

He had to eject from the mech.

A seasoned warrior, his instincts kicked in as he swiftly pressed the ejection button. Exhaling sharply, he shouted to the nearby mechs,

"Only this one is a real threat! Take out the surrounding mechs first, then focus fire on this one!"

With that, he rolled out of his mech’s cockpit.

Little Chuzao was watching all this, his reactions lagging.

"Huh? How'd he roll out?"

Chu Zao clumsily maneuvered his small mech.

Behind him, Finn was a bit more skilled, but seeing the group of mechs unhesitatingly target Chu Zao—the one with the most obviously unsteady controls—pissed him off.

Though the little one was unharmed, Finn wasn’t pleased.

Meanwhile, the round fired by Chao Huangmu blew to bits instantly the mech Ji Yuan had just abandoned.

At the same time, a barrage of shells came flying toward the Holy Land.

Chu Zao looked up—a familiar Psychic thread shimmered faintly in the air.

"Hmm? Dad...?"

Hearing this, Finn dropped the act entirely—

Was Amos arriving?

Then this mess could be left to Amos.

Finn decisively abandoned the mech—

Kaboom—kaboom—kaboom! The explosions sounded as if they had struck the mechs or perhaps detonated midair, the blasts churning up dust clouds.

For a moment, everyone watching breathlessly could no longer see the situation in the Holy Land.

Ji Yuan let out a sharp breath.

He clambered up, certain that the weak Holy Land had been dealt with. He drew his weapon and demanded a backup mech.

Eyeing Chao Huangmu’s mech, now surrounded and motionless, he snapped,

"Take him down! Find his weak point first—don’t panic! He’s definitely a rookie. Who cares about Saint Cas’s Holy Land? You’re the most valiant warriors of the almighty Gesen Empire—"

Chao Huangmu’s mech shook slightly—like it was laughing.

"So Third Uncle’s role was to intercept these lame-ass shells, huh?"

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the dust.

Finn thought—these clowns seemed weaker than they’d expected.

Ji Yuan froze, whipping his head toward the source of the voice.

In the glow, something resembling a crown shone.

The mechs he had commanded stood utterly still—then, moments later, collapsed with a resounding crash. Upon closer inspection, each mech appeared pierced by flaming arrows.

When... had that happened?

"Third Uncle aimed for the shells first. I aimed for the people. Whoever nails their target first wins."

Another voice spoke as its owner stepped out of the dust.

Crunching over countless shards, he walked step by step until he stood before Ji Yuan.

What... is happening?

It wasn't just Ji Yuan.

Across the entire star system, those watching the live broadcast of the Survival Contest—whether cheering or despairing—saw the young boy's beautiful face. He smiled and spoke, his tone warm and friendly, lighthearted and cheerful, even in such an environment.

"Facing Saint Cas, you hold your head too high—I don't like it."

Chu Zao's eyes flared with light, and the golden crown atop his head suddenly erupted in golden radiance—this was the first time the young boy had purely used his own spiritual force to suppress someone. Against the backdrop of churning dust clouds, his glowing eyes seemed startling, even terrifying.

Boom—Ji Yuan hadn't a moment to react before the overwhelming pressure slammed him into the ground.

The wind ruffled Chu Zao's wild curls.

He had warned them before, but they hadn’t listened—and now—

They heard Chu Zao speak, each word dripping with menace. Chu Zao himself felt no sense of oppression, and with his father about to arrive, the young boy didn’t want to be bothered with these fools—he missed his dad.

But to others, the scene was anything but harmless.

Like the arrogance of a demon king, he spoke softly, with disdain.

"On... your... knees—"