Chapter 444

Chapter 444: In Death…

A lump of gray-black crystalline matter—like withered roots twisted into a knot—floated silently in space, bathed in distant starlight. The planetary shield of the Grand Void Spiritual Axis shimmered only dozens of kilometers beneath it.

That ugly seed had stopped there, a fingertip’s distance from its final target—sleeping, or already dead.

The planetary guard that had rushed into orbit held position near the shield nodes, building a defense line around a towering Immortal Palace that had emergency-maneuvered into place. Experts from every sect watched the strange crystal warily, bracing for it to drop into the homeworld at any second.

But after tens of minutes, Yanxing Entity still didn’t move.

“Is it really dead?” Irene pressed herself against the observation window, eyes wide. Curiosity fought with fear in her voice. “Did C Buckle actually call it? Did it run from Shu Ji and just burn out?”

The situation left everyone trapped between choices, and no one dared decide.

If they didn’t attack, it would keep hovering over their homeworld.

If they did attack—if they provoked it—what then?

The opponent was a dark angel. Did it even have intent in any human sense?

A message came through from Taia.

“We released an automaton bird,” Immortal Yuan Hao reported, face grim in the hologram, “but it didn’t react at all when the bird approached. Divine-sense probing can’t pierce its interior, but we can roughly confirm there’s still some energy response in the core. We don’t dare send anyone closer in case of mental contamination.”

Yu Sheng listened, eyes fixed on the motionless mass beyond the window, weighing it in silence.

Then he exhaled softly.

“I’m going over.”

“You…” Immortal Yuan Hao started, instinctively ready to argue—then stopped. Shu Ji’s blood-colored storm flashed through his mind. His expression shifted, and when he spoke again, his voice was steadier. “How sure are you?”

“Hard to say,” Yu Sheng admitted. “But this might be the last chance. I can’t create another storm like that on the Grand Void Spiritual Axis. If Yanxing Entity drops into the atmosphere, even I won’t be able to stop it. Better to try now, while it still hasn’t moved.”

Immortal Yuan Hao stared at him for a long moment, then nodded.

“Understood. What do you need us to do?”

“Nothing,” Yu Sheng said. “Just pull back farther.”

He paused, then added, “And if I fail, you do everything you can to intercept it in the atmosphere. No matter what—don’t let it touch the ground.”

“Understood.”

Yu Sheng ended the call and rose from the captain’s seat.

Foxy immediately stood too. “Benefactor, want me to take you over?”

“No.” Yu Sheng shook his head. “This is direct contact with the core of a dark angel. Too dangerous. I’m going alone.”

Foxy thought for a second, then reached behind her and yanked one of her tails free, like she was pulling out a rope.

“Then I’ll send you with my tail~”

Yu Sheng’s eye twitched.

Normally, on Hotel, that was the standard solution. Under normal circumstances, he and this fox young lady solved plenty of problems exactly like that.

But this time, a different idea clicked into place.

“We do have a ship,” Yu Sheng said, grinning suddenly, eyes bright with a dangerous kind of excitement. “And I’ve got a new toy.”

A moment later, he arrived at a compartment in Hotel’s midsection.

Inside the hangar-like space, rows of intimidating silver-gray warheads sat locked neatly into racks. A heavy fortress torpedo—about the size of a small launch rocket—was being pushed onto the loading rail by mechanical arms. Other arms worked quickly, removing protective plating from the warhead section.

Yu Sheng stood beside the torpedo, eyes shining.

Irene looked so stunned she went still. “Didn’t you say the weapon subsystem on this ship can’t be used?!”

“It can’t,” Yu Sheng said casually. “The fire-control and guidance units are still offline. Only this one launch tube works—and that’s only because I can directly ‘brain-control’ it.”

He patted the torpedo like it was an obedient pet.

“But firing a torpedo doesn’t require anything complicated during launch, and we’re shooting a fixed target. As long as we aim and spit it out, we light the engine and go.”

Irene gaped. “So your ‘new toy’ is stuffing yourself into a torpedo and shooting yourself out?! Could you maybe do something a little less… undead? If not, maybe reconsider Foxy’s tail. At least we’re used to that.”

Yu Sheng reached out and bonked her on the head.

“Foxy’s tail doesn’t have enough armor penetration,” he said with a straight face. “It’s mostly explosive damage, and if it detonates, it’ll probably scatter most of me into space. I need to drill into Yanxing Entity as deeply as possible. This boarding chance may only come once. A fortress torpedo built to punch through capital ships and heavy fortifications is the best choice.”

Irene stared at him, blank. “…So this is what you got after thinking it through?”

“Of course!” Yu Sheng snapped. “Ever since I learned about Yanxing Entity, I’ve been thinking up ways to deal with it, okay? You think all my brilliant ideas come from my brain going dark for a second?”

Irene nodded solemnly. “Yeah. What else?”

As soon as she said it, she blurred behind Foxy, poking her head out from a pile of tails like a child hiding from an angry parent.

“No public revenge!” she shouted. “Also—does your… move have a name?”

Yu Sheng wasn’t going to argue with her. He only grinned wider.

“Considering the tactic and the carrier, I’m calling it ‘Boarding Yu Lei.’”

Irene blinked.

“…Huh?”

It took her an embarrassing amount of time to figure out how the name fit together. But before she could complain, Yu Sheng had already turned toward the modified payload.

The torpedo’s warhead had been removed entirely. Inside the empty bay, a temporary brace and a seat had been welded into place. Yu Sheng climbed in and strapped himself down. Mechanical arms immediately moved in, welding the protective shell back over the bay.

Just before the casing sealed shut, Yu Sheng glanced out, thoughtful.

“Should I be saying something right now? Like… something heroic?”

“Say my ass!” Irene yelled, eyes glowing red with fury. “You’re doing the most undead thing possible, and now you want to be wholesome? If you want to be wholesome so bad, install a lamp in there!”

Foxy stepped forward, thinking it over with deadly seriousness. “Benefactor, come back for dinner when you’re done.”

Luna nodded once beside her. “Mm. Yes.”

Strapped into the payload bay, Yu Sheng suddenly felt life lose some of its shine. With a plan this glorious, those were the reactions he got?

What kind of people did he even have around him…

Then it truly lost its shine.

“…Yeah,” Yu Sheng thought in the darkness. “I probably should’ve installed a lamp in here.”

He switched to Hotel’s perception and issued the launch order.

A slight vibration.

Then acceleration violent enough to kill an ordinary person instantly.

The airlock opened. The tube depressurized. With a faint hiss of gas spilling into space, a silver-gray point shot out from Hotel’s midsection.

After a short glide, the torpedo’s engine ignited.

The specially modified “ammo” carved a silent, bright line through the darkness, flying straight toward the motionless dark angel hanging like a curse in the distance.

In high orbit, countless celestial ships watched the tiny missile streak forward. Compared to a human, it was enormous. Compared to that gray-black crystal lump, it was nothing—an insignificant bug.

A moment later, the bug touched Yanxing Entity.

No massive explosion followed. No sky-shaking secret weapon scene unfolded.

The impact was almost silent.

The fortress torpedo—stripped of its warhead—slammed into a knot of root-like structures. It flashed briefly, then punched through the loose, brittle surface layer, shattered several crystal branches, and finally jammed deep inside the core.

Only then did the small amount of explosives in the payload bay detonate.

A weak flash flickered inside the lump.

Yu Sheng flickered too.

And then there was only vast, boundless darkness.

Senses with nothing to cling to. Self with nothing to hold.

Yu Sheng floated in endless void, a feeling so familiar it was almost like coming home.

He had learned to rebuild himself in this emptiness—to stitch together awareness fast, to use the blood-built connection to recover perception ahead of time.

Like now.

He felt himself disperse inside something cold and hard, seeping into the crystal mass like he was entering a new body. He felt himself brush against remnants inside it. Faint light appeared in the dark…

And he heard a voice.

“Go… find a new home. Take root. Then find a way to survive…”

Yu Sheng snapped his eyes open.

In twisted light and shadow, a hazy yet familiar figure stood not far away.

“Daoist Friend,” the figure said softly, “you’re here.”