Chapter 2578 - Harvest Season
The boundless starry sky was filled with chaotic streams of shattered stars. Those who observed it often thought the starry sky was empty, but in reality, it was filled with debris. There could be rubble, shattered stars, or even dormant "dead stars" of nova source worlds. It could also include various ancient secret realms.
The Star Hunters' fleet of starships lurked within one such region. The area was much larger than the region Skywolf had passed through to reach the Sun. Centered around the invisible sawtooth, the Traceless, their ships were like lurking bats directing hungry gazes at Gladeus. The Star Hunters had just used an entire heliacal-class unowned nova source to replenish their entire fleet with sufficient miniature nova source.
Having settled that, they could begin another large-scale theft of unowned nova sources. They would continue robbing Lin Xiaodao blind and drive him crazy. Lin Xiaodao's previous "restraint" had given them a great sense of psychological superiority.
After all, Gladeus's primary adversary was still Ebonia and its ebons. As long as Lin Xiaodao remained vigilant against the ebons, the Star Hunters could hide on the side and toy with him at will!
But now, incoming information indicated that a major event was happening!
Inside the Traceless, the three bosses of the Star Hunters, who dominated various mundi, had expressions that were incredibly icy. They stared at the black figure within a transmission stone not far away.
"How is this possible? There’s only a hundred sanctuary-class worlds in the Infinitum Mundus and we know about each one of them. How could one without a nova source suddenly pop up and swallow over ten thousand nova sources in just a few days?" After hearing the intelligence report, the man with white hair and multicolored eyes widened his eyes and stood up from his seat with an expression of disbelief.
"Third Boss, it’s the truth. It isn’t just me, either—many people witnessed it very clearly," the shadow lowered his head and reported.
"Since it's the truth, there's no need for discussion. We just need to trust our brothers' eyes. The question now is, is that star at the sanctuary class?" The invisible man said in a somewhat milder tone. It was hard to see his body clearly as he was composed of transparent water ripples and clouds.
"Even if its original level was ether class, it can only temporarily become a sanctuary-class world after consuming over ten thousand unowned nova sources. That’s for certain," the voice of the man in the blood cocoon rasped.
"Ether class? Highly unlikely. Apart from the Infinitum Mundus, the surrounding mundi haven't seen an ether-class world fall. An ether-class fusion formation will decay after around ten million years if it's not supported by nova source," the white-haired man confidently asserted.
"Bosses, we can be absolutely sure about its class," the black shadow said, his face appearing somewhat anxious as he hurriedly continued, "this new world, after absorbing the unowned nova sources, immediately activated a type of cloaking that conceals it to an extremely high degree. It’s begun to escape as well. Lin Xiaodao's infinitum-class ship is escorting it and it's getting farther and farther from Gladeus and the Myriadstar Zone. Our brothers are afraid to get close and can only give their all to track it. Right now, we're worried that it might escape our communication range, so I ask the bosses to make a decision as soon as possible!"
"It's escaping away from Gladeus? And the Gladean Ruins are escorting it?" The news made all three leaders of the Star Hunters suddenly stand up and directly stare at each other. Just now, they had all been frowning, but now their gazes were flickering.
"Indeed!" the black shadow said.
"Well, if a sanctuary-class world hides next to Gladeus and is protected by the Gladean Ruins, it indeed won't fear us much, but it will fear the ebons and the Ebonfiend! Once the ebon army returns, it’ll become a burden for Gladeus. After it consumes the unowned nova sources, it’ll definitely need to escape!" the white-haired man sneered.
"It seems that in order to protect the unowned nova sources, the other side is also taking risks! Lin Xiaodao's prior 'tolerance' was for this very moment of daring. Once they truly manage to escape, we'll have incurred losses for nothing. This trip would be a waste." The blood cocoon's blood mist churned.
"Big Brother, Second Brother, in this situation, shouldn't we give chase? The only thing we're afraid of is the Gladean Ruins! And that ship will definitely prioritize guarding Gladeus. So it’ll ultimately return. Once it leaves, the new sanctuary-class world will become ours. It's equivalent to a new 'unowned' world, its value surpassing over ten thousand unowned nova sources. Moreover, it was just mentioned that it has a cloaking formation, right? Not even Gladeus has such a thing! So this new world is practically tailor-made for us Star Hunters! We've wandered for so long. If we can have a ghost-like base, that’ll be incredible." The white-haired man grew excited.
"This new world might be the most significant target and harvest of our Star Hunters after so many years...." The blood cocoon began throbbing.
Their voices grew increasingly hoarse.
"Bosses, the movement speed of this star is quite fast. It looks like you'll need to set out," the black shadow within the communication stone said.
The invisible man took a deep breath and softly said, "Issue my order to privately release the news about Lin Xiaodao using a sanctuary-class world to consume the unowned nova sources in the Myriadstar Zone to Shenxi Xingtian as quickly as possible."
Hearing that, the white-haired man smiled.
"In that case, once the Ebonfiend is activated and Lin Xiaodao receives the news, he won't be able to protect it for long. Once he believes it's safe and leaves, that's when we'll reap the harvest." Water ripples surged on the invisible figure's body; he wasn't particularly anxious.
"No need to rush, it might be a trap after all. What if the Gladean Ruins targets us? What’ll we do if it goes away and returns?" he indifferently said.
"Does that mean, Big Brother...?"
"Regardless of where that star goes, we’ll follow it without rushing to attack. Along the way, we'll leave behind brothers who can communicate. We'll do that until someone sees the Gladean Ruins return to Gladeus, or until the ebon army comes to Gladeus to seek justice for Lin Xiaodao's private consumption of the Myriadstar Zone. That's when we'll strike," the invisible man said. If the ebon army returned, the Gladean Ruins might be back even if they didn’t see it.
"Big Brother, you're as meticulous as expected. Lin Xiaodao essentially put himself in a desperate situation. We, as the true hunters of the universe, need to learn patience from you and launch a fatal strike against our prey at the optimal moment," the white-haired man chuckled.
The invisible man smiled. "It’s indeed quite interesting.... We call ourselves Star Hunters, yet we've never hunted down a homeland of our own. If we’re successful, only then can we truly be called Star Hunters!"
He took a deep breath and issued the command. "Set out!"