Under his desk there was a blood-golden ball the size of a head, like a mixture of molten gold and solidified septic blood, with a dark red metallic glow.

At the same time, black thorns pierced out from the inside of the flesh ball, pulsating at the frequency of breathing, sometimes contracting into thorny spikes, and sometimes expanding into spider web veins.

At the ends of some silk threads hang translucent egg-shaped vesicles, with unformed embryo-like black shadows floating inside. The floor where the blood-colored veins have taken root has been transformed into biological tissue.

When he saw it for the first time, Steve felt like retching uncontrollably and his stomach was churning. He subconsciously turned his head, only to run into a pale face with bloodshot eyes.

It was the consul who had just gone down.

!!!

Steve’s pupils contracted and his expression was horrified, but he couldn’t even scream.

The Archon’s eyes were bloodshot and his voice was low: “You, shouldn’t come here.”

………

At the same time, with Li Ming’s order, more than 30% of the intelligence forces in the entire galaxy entered an unprecedented active state.

But when the instructions were passed down layer by layer, all those involved were confused and had no idea what “anything abnormal” meant.

“Everything abnormal means everything abnormal. Is it hard to understand? Report anything abnormal!” At a small secret meeting, the head of the intelligence team gritted his teeth and shouted angrily.

Although I was confused about the instructions from my superiors, I still had to take action.

All the activity on the intelligence front triggered a series of chain reactions.

The Federation, the Star Alliance and all the major civilizations had to respond passively, thinking that something big had happened and cautiously conducting various tests.

As a result, when they finally got the four words “everything is abnormal” after going through so much trouble, they were also confused.

“Can you tell me? What does “all abnormalities” mean? Is this a secret code or an activation password?”

Intelligence workers were filled with doubts. Both the executors and the interceptors were at a loss.

………

A month later, in the Starry Sea, a fleet of plunderers was intercepted by several small warships with sword and shield emblems.

The interceptors were quite cautious and did not use means of mass destruction. After a fierce battle for some time, almost all the pirates in the entire fleet were captured.

On the deck of one of the completely shut down warships, all the plunderers were detained here, some of them had broken arms and legs and were shivering.

Fully armed soldiers, holding high-compression energy light guns, stood around, aiming at the predators. The surface of their armor was engraved with sword and shield emblems.

“The Covenant’s Blade Fleet…” The predators trembled.

Compared to the patrol fleet, the Blade Fleet is more advanced and is specially designed to deal with certain higher-level threats.

This group of roaming star pirates only operate on the edge of the sea of ​​stars. The highest level of life forms among them is only level B. How could they have the ability to attract these people?

The leader was a young man wearing a lavender combat uniform with a sword and shield emblem on his chest. He was tall and burly.

If Li Ming were here, he might be able to recognize this acquaintance. He was the “fellow villager” Zhang Hengyu who negotiated with him on behalf of the Star Alliance.

I don’t know why this young man with such a bright future has fallen to this point.

Zhang Hengyu looked down at the group of predators without saying a word, just pacing slowly around.

The group of looters were forced to squat on the ground, and only his boots could be seen, with cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

“Sir!” Finally, someone couldn’t stand the pressure anymore and wailed, “We won’t dare to do it again. We just looted a few spaceships and never killed anyone.”

Zhang Hengyu narrowed his eyes slightly and did not respond to the wailing guy. Instead, he walked up to one of them, grabbed his hair and forced him to look at him.

“Iron Claw Johnny…” Zhang Hengyu said slowly, “Why would Blood Wolf’s deputy stay in such an unknown plundering group?”

The guy he caught had a hideous face, thick red hair on both sides of his cheeks, and was breathing rapidly.

“Blood Wolf?” The other predators looked stunned. This was a famous predatory group nearby, and its leader was an A-level life form.

Johnny’s eyes were fierce, and he showed no fear at all. “You can kill me or chop me up, it’s up to you.”

Zhang Hengyu restrained his expression, and with his other hand he touched the ring, and three pictures were projected, “Have you seen these three people?”

The woman on the left has a head full of red hair, the man in the middle has a pair of deep blue eyes, and the man on the right looks ordinary.

Johnny’s pupils shrank slightly, but he said in a muffled voice: “Never seen it before!”

The other party’s tiny reaction naturally did not escape Zhang Hengyu’s eyes. He sneered and whispered: “Camilo Civilization, Lord Leir, your daughter is very cute.”

But he couldn’t help but sigh in his heart, thinking that he was the one who had talked to Qinglong in the past, but now he was threatening a predator with his family.

“You…” Johnny’s face changed drastically. This was his disguised identity, almost no one knew it, but it was seen through by the young man in front of him.

“Alas, your luck is too bad. Do you know who this guy is…” Zhang Hengyu pointed helplessly at the young man with azure eyes, “He is the grandson of Count Ferdinand of the Principality of South Wind, a first-class civilization of the Star Alliance.”

“It’s fine if you just looted, but why are you killing people? His family will stop at nothing to kill all the relatives and friends of the attackers.”

“No, it wasn’t us, we didn’t do it!” Johnny has realized that now is not the time to fight back, and hurriedly shook his head.

“All the evidence points to you, and it’s hard for me to help you.” Zhang Hengyu said helplessly.

“No, someone commissioned us to do a job near the Nerost civilization. I was in another place at the time. After receiving the news, I was ready to meet up with them.” Johnny explained repeatedly: “But when I got there, I only saw the ruins of a spaceship.”

“This…” He looked at the photo, “These three guys are lying in the ruins, already dead, with claw marks all over their bodies. It really looks like our people did it.”

“That’s it.” Zhang Hengyu shrugged.

“But I felt strange at the time. If someone had killed someone, the body would never be left here.” Johnny said hurriedly, “Out of instinct, I searched the bodies of the three people and found… found something.”

“Oh?” Zhang Hengyu became interested and bent down.

“You, you have to promise not to touch my family.” Johnny gritted his teeth.

Zhang Hengyu had a blank expression on his face. “You insist on me bringing your daughter here before you are willing to have a normal conversation, right?”

Johnny’s heart trembled, his face changed, and he said, “Yes, in my belly.”

Zhang Hengyu immediately raised his hand, and his men came over and checked his stomach, but found nothing.

“You can’t find it…” Johnny raised his hand to indicate that he was not a threat, and then slowly stood up. His chest and abdomen moved, and he opened his mouth and vomited out a white bag.

“The stomach of the beakless beast is naturally shielded from electromagnetic detection…” The subordinate picked up the white bag, opened it, and shook out a pile of things.

“Well, the one in the silver box and all the other things are mine…” Johnny couldn’t help but say.

Zhang Hongyu signaled his men to open the silver box, which contained a fingernail-sized, almost transparent round film.

“Boss… it’s a wearable pupil recorder, using a special shadow-engraving method to record, military grade…” The men carefully checked it. Johnny explained, “Their smart terminals and other valuables are all gone. I don’t think this thing can change his pupil color, and he’s still wearing it, so it must be something special. If it’s our search, we shouldn’t be so careless.”

Zhang Hengyu remained silent, waiting for his men to connect the equipment. The so-called shadow engraving method is to leave unique traces through the reaction of external light and shadow.

It is then read using a special decoding device. The entire process does not involve any energy signals or electromagnetic reactions and is extremely secretive.

But it is also quite blurry and can only be seen clearly after high-definition processing.

The video plays bit by bit, accompanied by a voice-over.

“…Exploring Nyrost, these young people, why are they so curious…” Zhang Hengyu sighed. He was afraid of the situation in front of him.

As a result, as he watched, his expression changed.

He saw the strange bloody flesh ball, saw the hideous-looking Archon Nerost, heard the wailing and pleading of several people, and then was controlled and sent to the spacecraft…

“Replay, lock on to that Nilester…” Zhang Hengyu’s face was solemn, staring at the virtual screen, with a dull expression and bloodshot pupils.

“Interesting…” Zhang Hengyu had a feeling that something was wrong here.

He wanted to visit the Nerost civilization, but was hesitant.

“Also, I couldn’t contact the leader and the others after this incident.” Johnny couldn’t help but say, “I think something happened to them, so they hid in this group of predators.”

Zhang Hongyu looked at him deeply. He knew that something had happened to Blood Wolf, and the leader’s body was still in his warship.

However, he did not mention this matter, and turned around to give an order, “Take Johnny away, and as for the others, kill them all.”

………

In the Mechanical Royal Court, Li Ming frowned, feeling Yongyuan’s activity.

“It’s improved a little bit, and it’s improving almost every day. What on earth is it doing?”

This speed is not slow. After a few more years, it is estimated that it will enter a “weak” activity level, and the Yuan clan will begin to appear in the main universe.

In the past two months, the shield has hardly found any clues. We are afraid that it is inside the Eternal Abyss, in which case it would be impossible to even destroy it.

However, only by exerting influence on the main universe can the activity level be increased. It is difficult to influence the main universe inside Yongyuan.

Once you enter the “medium” active level, the ultimate life form will appear.

The current speed is much faster than he imagined.

It is also much faster than what is recorded in Titan and Glorious Dynasty.

From the time Yongyuan was noticed to be active to the time the Yuan clan appeared, the time recorded in these two evolutionary eras was calculated in hundreds of years.

From the appearance of the Yuan Clan to the appearance of the Lord of Yongyuan, there was a gap of more than a thousand years.

Buzz–
The smart terminal suddenly rang, and Li Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly. It was Anduin, and he answered it immediately.

In the virtual projection that popped up, Anduin frowned slightly and greeted, “Chairman.”

“What’s the matter?” Li Ming asked directly.

Anduin hesitated and said, “You asked me to look up some things about the Alchemist Baron. I might get something out of it.”

Li Ming couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. Levenbaker was no longer that important.

“Tell me.”

“There are several pictures…” Anduin said. Li Ming also received new messages. He clicked on it and saw a bloody ball of flesh.

Blood species! Li Ming immediately thought of the thing he had seen before.

“This thing is very similar to the method used by the Alchemist Baron.” Anduin said, “It was discovered in the Nerost civilization not long ago. The man was the local governor and was suspected to be controlled.”

“Not only that, further investigation revealed that rulers of more than one nearby civilization were suspected to be under control.”

Hmm? Li Ming realized something was wrong. Levenbeck was operating on a large scale?

He remembered something. According to Costat, Levenbeck had been studying Adam’s body, and his purpose must be to advance to the ultimate life form.

If he has made some achievements in this area and transformed the blood species, it is indeed possible for it to spread on a large scale and then assist itself in evolving into the ultimate life form.

But the problem is that this guy saw me stabbing Adam to death with his own eyes, and he must know that I have been sending people to investigate him.

Such a large-scale action could not fail to attract one’s attention. Even if one could become the ultimate life form in the end, he would not be able to turn the tide. Adam was a living example.

Moreover, no matter how his alchemical substances evolve, they will probably have to absorb a large number of life forms. It is definitely impossible to evolve silently.

Unless Levenbaker is sure he won’t be threatened by me.

Who can help him? Li Ming thought of Tanus almost immediately. Could it be that Yongyuan’s increased activity was due to him?

Is it far-fetched?
Li Ming reflected immediately that Levenbaker was a cunning man with many burrows, and he would never take the risk to do this without certainty, so there was a certain probability.

Moreover, this guy and I have had several grievances and disputes, and we can be considered enemies. I definitely cannot sit back and watch him become the Ultimate Life Form.
Whether it’s because of him or not, it’s necessary to take a trip.

“Chairman?” Seeing Li Ming remained silent, Anduin called out tentatively.

“Notify all trusted members to go to the Sea of ​​Stars and not to leak the news.” Li Ming said suddenly.

“Understood.” Anduin nodded solemnly.

Li Ming added: “In addition, I want to know more details about this matter.”

Anduin’s expression slightly changed. “We intercepted this information from the Star Alliance. As for the investigator, you should be familiar with him. His name is Zhang Hengyu.”

“Him?” Li Ming was slightly stunned. “Why would he go to the front line…”

“Gutierrez has stepped down,” Anduin reminded.

“Oh.” Li Ming suddenly realized, “Then I have to have a good talk with him.”

After ending the communication, Li Ming’s expression flickered. If it was only Levenbaker who was causing trouble, it would be easy to deal with.

But if Tanus really has help, then the situation will be different. Perhaps it means that the other party is already able to deal with the threat posed by him.

However, he glanced at the control page and found that all eight machines had been upgraded, and the mechanical bodies manufactured in the past two years had also been stored.

Li Ming’s eyes flickered. “If you still think I’m as strong as I was during the “Empire War”, you’ll be in big trouble…”

(End of this chapter)