At the same time, on the giant steel warship.
A man in a black military uniform, his neck covered in a layer of scales, suddenly opened his eyes. A flash of confusion flickered within his golden vertical pupils. The moment he opened his eyes, the surrounding insect swarms prostrated themselves on the ground. Their steel wings pressed tight against the floor, and their antennae vibrated slightly, transmitting ripples of mental power that spoke of terror and submission.
High-level Insectoids possessed absolute suppression over low-level ones.
The instant he opened his eyes, all the Insectoids—including the entire giant ship—stalled in the air. Their mental network, usually as solid as a rock, suddenly fell into a state of disorder. The Insectoids that had been stationary on the giant ship began to turn violent and restless, their attacking steel wings and appendages unfurling.
A restless, buzzing hum swirled around the giant ship. Many Insectoids could not restrain their impulses and began to slaughter their own kind. It was only when the high-level Insectoid inside the ship released his pressure that they finally, barely, calmed down.
The killing intent in the high-level Insectoid’s golden vertical pupils gradually surfaced.
Something had just invaded their mental network, even causing him to suffer a moment of misjudgment.
He slowly stood up. Due to his killing intent, the scales on his body gradually emerged onto the surface of his skin. He opened his mouth, and within the ultrasonic waves audible only to Insectoids, he transmitted a single command.
“Continue forward.”
…
Her head felt heavy and groggy, and Yan Changfeng began to let her thoughts wander.
With so much blood lost, would she suffer from excessive blood loss?
She must have delayed the Insectoids for a while just now, right? It felt like only half a minute. It was a pity her mental power wasn’t strong enough yet; that was the best she could do.
Why hadn’t rescue arrived yet?
Her body’s recovery speed was slightly faster than she had expected. By the time she heard the sound of the giant ship, her thoughts had already begun to clear.
Yan Changfeng looked up toward the floor-to-ceiling window. The giant black warship’s cannon ports were already aimed at the starship. White and silver Insectoids occupied almost the entire field of vision outside of the giant black ship. At the very top of that giant ship, a pair of dazzling golden vertical pupils seemed to be pronouncing their death sentence.
The giant ship did not attack immediately. The high-level Insectoid with the golden vertical pupils scanned every inch of the starship. His gaze drifted past the massive floor-to-ceiling window; when he saw the humans trembling as they awaited death, it was as if he were merely glancing at some space junk.
Yan Changfeng felt a bit listless. She truly had no strength left. Otherwise, if she had to meet those eyes, she would have definitely given them a massive eye-roll.
After the vertical pupils scanned the entire starship, the laser cannons were all aimed at the ship simultaneously.
Hundreds of cannon ports fired laser bullets at once. Almost everyone on the starship closed their eyes at the same time.
However, death did not descend. All the laser bullets were blocked by a golden, transparent barrier that surrounded the entire starship. The fire exploded outside the ship, but it caused no damage to the starship at all.
Yan Changfeng did not close her eyes. She stared fixedly at the barrier that had suddenly appeared. The golden light was like a miracle from a deity, painting the pitch-black universe in hues of gold. Outside that barrier, two silver-grey mechas hovered in the air, confronting the Insectoids atop the giant ship.
Someone beside her cried out in surprise, “It’s General Xia Sheng’s Divine Favor Skill, ‘Guardian of the Stars’!”
“Great, we’re saved!”
Yan Changfeng blinked.
Divine Favor Skills were also known as the blessings of the gods. Those who possessed them were called God’s Chosen. Even the weakest God’s Chosen could rival someone with S-class mental power and physique. If the person was already an S-class powerhouse, stacking a Divine Favor Skill made them an existence feared even by major factions.
Looking at the confrontation outside the barrier, aside from the relief of surviving a disaster, Yan Changfeng felt more anticipation for the second Divine Favor Skill card pool.
Yan Changfeng had been looking forward to seeing a battle between a God’s Chosen and the Insectoids, but before the fight could begin, her head spun. She felt blood starting to flow out of her eyes and nose again. She wanted to wipe it with her sleeve, but she slumped over uncontrollably and fainted.
…
“K307 starship, traveling between Baiyu Star and Blue Star, passing through the Trash Star Cluster. Attacked by Insectoids at 4:23 on July 13, Star Year 1085. General Xia Sheng and Major General Bai Yang arrived in time for the rescue.”
In an office, several people in military uniforms frowned as they watched the holographic projection.
A brown-haired man tapped the table with his knuckle. “Casualty report.”
The electronic voice continued its broadcast.
“K307 starship carried a total of 823 people. 137 suffered minor injuries, 15 suffered second-level heavy injuries, and one person was detected with mental power collapse, classified as a sixth-level heavy injury.”
The red-haired woman stood up with a “whoosh.” “How could someone have a mental power collapse? What caused it?”
“Upon testing, the preliminary judgment is mental power link overload and excessive use of mental power. Combined with the scene, the probability of this being the cause is 34.71%. No other possibilities have been found for the time being.”
The people present might not have understood medicine, but they understood mental power. This kind of mental power collapse usually only occurred when someone with low mental power linked to a mech that far exceeded their endurance range.
The current situation was too bizarre—so bizarre that they couldn’t help but wonder if the smart brain’s judgment had made an error.
While the Alliance military headquarters was evaluating the accident, Yan Changfeng had only just woken up in the hospital.
Above her was a snow-white ceiling, and next to her head was a bouquet of flowers she couldn’t name.
Yan Changfeng tried to sit up, and the sharp voice of a nurse immediately came from the side.
“Ahhh! Don’t move!”
Her groggy brain instantly snapped awake.
Realizing her emotions were too intense, the nurse suppressed her trembling voice, picked up the communicator next to her, and shouted toward the nurse station, “Someone come quickly! The patient in bed T205 suddenly woke up! Go get the doctor!”
Yan Changfeng actually felt that her current condition was quite good, but for some reason, the nurse looked as if the sky were falling.
The nurse was even muttering, “It couldn’t be terminal lucidity, could it?”
Yan Changfeng: …
That’s a bit much.
She tried to raise her hand to get the nurse’s attention. “Hello, I actually think there’s nothing wrong with me.”
The nurse let out a startled sound, her hands frantically reaching for the testing instrument nearby while she shouted at Yan Changfeng, “Don’t move yet!”
Yan Changfeng obediently did as she was told, nearly holding her hands up in surrender.
The testing instrument wasn’t complicated. Several lasers scanned her body. The nurse peeled back her eyelids to look again and again before finally pulling out the test results printed by the device in disbelief.
Yan Changfeng clearly saw the expressions on her face: first shock, then doubt, and finally total bewilderment. She had rarely seen so many shifting emotions on one person’s face.
“Nurse sister, am I saved or beyond help?”
The nurse gripped the report, looking at Yan Changfeng in a daze. “If you don’t feel any discomfort, you can get out of bed and walk right now.”
“Okay.”
Having been lying down for who knows how many days, Yan Changfeng couldn’t wait to get out of bed. The nurse didn’t say much else. She likely couldn’t go far, but even just getting some fresh air nearby was better than lying there forever.
Before leaving the room, Yan Changfeng vaguely heard the nurse grumble.
“Wasn’t it a mental power collapse? Why did the test only show excessive mental power usage? Could the instrument have malfunctioned at the time?”
…
It had to be said that Blue Star’s environment was many times better than the Trash Star.
Yan Changfeng sat on a bench in the greenery. Although she didn’t know the specific strength of her mental power right now, after what happened on the starship, she could clearly feel that her mental power was more than twice as strong as before.
In the state of her Spiritual Eyes, everyone’s movements were slowed down more than several times in her sight. Her perception of her surroundings had also expanded to a distance of several dozen meters. Although it wasn’t as precise as within ten meters, the improvement was still massive.
She guessed that her current mental power and physique strength had likely reached D-class.
Due to the massive consumption of mental power, Yan Changfeng had not yet fully recovered. She could only endure the pain to release a small amount.
Opening her eyes again, Yan Changfeng could clearly see the content of the newspaper held by a patient standing across the pebble path. She could feel the slight breeze stirred by the overcoat of a person passing beside him and hear the sound of green leaves falling onto the soil from a distant tree.
Yan Changfeng tried to independently expand and shrink her perception range. After a few more tries, she could control it skillfully.
She stood up, wanting to try running a few steps in the courtyard to see how much her physique had improved. However, hurried footsteps suddenly came from behind her. The moment several people in white lab coats saw her, their expressions were as anxious and angry as a wife catching a cheating husband.
It gave her a strange urge to run away.
The attending doctor bowed his head, panting for breath. “Why did you run all the way out here?”
Yan Changfeng instinctively helped the man up and explained, “Didn’t they say I could walk around?”
The doctor: “They said you could get out of bed and walk around. Who told you to walk all the way here? Do you know how long it takes to walk from the ward to this spot?!”
Yan Changfeng: “One star hour.” Is that far?
The doctor: “…”
Who asked you to answer?
It was Yan Changfeng’s completely unfazed, “dead pig unafraid of boiling water” attitude that directly left the doctor speechless. His lips trembled again and again. Finally, as if losing all strength and options, he let his hands drop.
“Come back with me!”
Yan Changfeng nodded. “Alright.”
After returning to the ward, the attending doctor took her through various examinations again. However, every single piece of data showed that her body was completely free of any mental power collapse. It was just general excessive use of mental power; she just needed to rest for a while and she would be fine.
In the end, having no other choice, several doctors conferred and came up with a possibility.
“It might be because your mental power usage was excessive, approaching the brink of collapse. Your physical constitution was average to begin with, which led to a state of pseudo-mental power collapse.” The doctor hesitated while making the record, not forgetting to praise the hospital. “But thanks to the excellent treatment level of our hospital, combined with the patient’s unique circumstances, you were able to recover to normal mental power levels in a short period of time.”
After finishing the entire report, the doctor breathed a long sigh of relief.
“Observe for two more days and then you can be discharged. Don’t worry, the interstellar navigation company will be responsible for all treatment costs this time, including follow-up compensation fees.”
Hearing that she didn’t have to spend her own money, Yan Changfeng immediately felt a weight lift from her heart.
After the doctor left, the nurse from before came over to chat.
“I heard you guys saw General Xia Sheng use a Divine Favor Skill?”
“Yes.”
“Was it cool?”
Yan Changfeng’s mouth twitched. “It was pretty cool, but the scene back then was a bit life-threatening. I didn’t dare look too much.”
“Oh, I see.” The nurse looked a bit disappointed.
“What happened with the aftermath of that accident?” Yan Changfeng was curious. She hadn’t seen any large-scale reports of the accident on the Star Net; it seemed the news had been suppressed.
“I don’t know. Anyway, don’t ask around. With General Xia Sheng’s Divine Favor Skill, what could possibly go wrong?” The nurse was tight-lipped, refusing to reveal even a bit.
“Oh.” Mentioning Divine Favor Skills, Yan Changfeng actually didn’t know much. Or rather, from the original owner’s memories, she didn’t have much understanding of this world. Most of what she knew came from newspapers she had scavenged.
“Nurse sister, are Divine Favor Skills common?”
An expression of astonishment immediately appeared on the nurse’s face. “How is that possible? Why would a god grant a blessing for no reason? Each deity will grant no more than three Divine Favor Skills at most. In fact, many gods don’t bother with their believers at all.”
In other words, most believers were just one-sidedly devoted.
Although she had been a cultivator in her past life, Yan Changfeng was a contradiction; she was a typical atheist. Having suddenly traveled to a world where the descent of gods clearly occurred, she found it quite fascinating.
“Then, can someone possess different Divine Favor Skills at the same time?”