CHAPTER 444: CHAPTER 444: IN DEATH...

A mass of gray-black crystalline substance, resembling withered roots, floats silently in space, bathed in the distant starlight, with the planetary shield of the Taixu Spirit Hub just a few kilometers below, emitting a hazy glow.

The ugly seed thus remains just a stone’s throw away from its final target—silent, perhaps already dead.

The hastily launched planet-guarding forces linger near the shield nodes, building a defensive line with the towering Immortal Palace maneuvered into emergency orbit, with experts from various sects vigilantly on edge against the bizarre crystal, ready to defend against its sudden fall to the mother planet.

But after several minutes, the "Inference Star Body" still hasn’t moved at all.

"Is it really dead?" Erin leaned against the observation window in the command hall, staring wide-eyed at the distant crumpled "crystal cluster" in space, her curiosity tinged with nervousness. "Could it be that the C-type was right, and this thing ran out of fuel just by coming over from Shuji?"

This unexpected situation left the experts gathered at the planetary defense line in a dilemma, with no one daring to make a rash decision just yet—attack or not? If not, then this thing just hovers over the mother planet; but if they attack, what if it gets provoked? After all, it doesn’t seem to have any apparent "intention" to initiate attacks... But faced with the "Dark Angel," does it really have a concept of "intention" that can be interpreted rationally?

Yu Sheng received a communication from the "Taia."

"We released a mechanical bird, but the entity didn’t react at all to its approach," Yuan Hao’s figure appeared above the communicator, his expression grave. "The Divine Sense can’t penetrate it, but we can roughly confirm that there’s still some energy reaction at its core... We dare not let anyone get too close, fearing the influence of mental contamination."

Yu Sheng listened intently, then slowly raised his head, gazing at the "Inference Star Body" in space, seemingly weighing the situation.

A moment later, he gently exhaled and broke the silence: "I’ll go myself."

"You..." Master Yuan Hao opened his mouth, seemingly instinctively wanting to dissuade him, but stopped abruptly—recalling the blood-red storm at Shuji, his expression shifted slightly before he continued, "How confident are you?"

"Hard to say, but this might be our last chance," Yu Sheng responded slowly. "I can’t replicate that storm at Taixu Spirit Hub again; if the ’Inference Star Body’ really falls into the atmosphere, not even I can stop it—it’s better to try while it’s inactive."

Yuan Hao observed Yu Sheng through the communication interface for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Understood. What do you need us to do?"

"Nothing. Just pull back further," Yu Sheng thought for a moment and then added, "And if I fail, make sure to intercept it at the atmosphere—by any means necessary, prevent it from reaching the surface of the Taixu Spirit Hub."

"Okay."

Concluding the communication with the "Taia," Yu Sheng gently exhaled and rose from the captain’s seat.

Hu Li immediately stood up beside him: "Savior, shall I take you there?"

"No, this time I have to directly contact the core of the Dark Angel; it’s too dangerous," Yu Sheng waved his hand. "I’ll handle it myself."

"Then..." Hu Li thought for a moment, then pulled out a tail from behind. "I’ll use my tail to take you there~"

Yu Sheng’s eye twitched slightly.

To be fair, this was indeed a regular method for solving problems at the travel agency; typically, he and the fox girl always handled things this way.

But on this occasion, he suddenly had another idea.

"We do have a spaceship after all," Yu Sheng grinned, a look of eagerness on his face. "I have a new trick."

A moment later, Yu Sheng arrived in a compartment located mid-way through the Otherworld Inn.

Inside the spacious hangar, a large number of intimidating silver-gray ordnance were neatly secured on racks, a heavy fortress torpedo being transferred onto the loading track by robotic arms, as others busily dismantled the warhead’s protective casing.

Standing by this torpedo, akin to a small launch vehicle, Yu Sheng’s eyes sparkled.

Erin was bewildered by the sight, looking up at Yu Sheng dumbfounded: "...didn’t you say the ship’s weapon subsystem was offline?!"

"It is offline, the fire-control and guidance units are still offline," Yu Sheng said offhandedly, "only this one launch tube is operational—and even that requires direct ’neural control’ from me to activate."

He paused briefly, then added: "But torpedoes don’t need complex subsystems for launch; shooting at a stationary target just needs a clear aim and a solid push. Once the engine ignites, it’s all about brute force."

Erin was dumbfounded, struggling to contain herself: "So your ’new trick’ is stuffing yourself inside a torpedo and firing yourself out? Isn’t there a more conventional way—maybe reconsider using the silly fox’s tail? At least everyone’s accustomed to its style..."

Yu Sheng placed a hand on Erin’s head.

"Hu Li’s tail lacks penetration capability," he explained seriously. "It’s primarily about explosive damage, and there’s a real chance it might scatter most of me into space upon detonating—I’ve got to find a way to ’drill’ into the Inference Star Body, and this might be the only shot at a ’jumping’ opportunity; a fortress torpedo, designed to counter main battleships and heavy fortifications, is the optimal choice."

The little puppet listened in a daze: "... So this TM was the result of your careful consideration?!"

"Nonsense, I’ve always been someone who thinks things through!" Yu Sheng glared, "Ever since I learned about the ’Inference Star Body,’ I’ve been pondering various ways to deal with it — do you think all my usual brilliant ideas and fantastic plans rely solely on a flash of inspiration going dark?"

Erin nodded blankly: "Yeah, what else?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she jumped behind Hu Li with a "swish," poking her head out from a bunch of tails to look at Yu Sheng: "No settling personal scores using public grounds! Also, does this trick of yours have a name?"

Yu Sheng couldn’t be bothered dealing with the puppet, and upon hearing the latter half of the sentence, he just grinned and casually said, "Considering the nature of this tactic and the carrier used, I call it ’Jumping Yu Lei’..."

Erin: "...?"

The little puppet pondered for a long time before she realized how the four words "Jumping Yu Lei" were combined, and just as she was about to say more, Yu Sheng had already turned around and walked towards the giant warhead that had been "processed."

The warhead of the heavy fortress torpedo was completely dismantled, with temporary welded fixed brackets and a seat in the empty payload cabin. Yu Sheng went inside, secured himself in the seat, and the nearby mechanical arms immediately started moving, beginning to weld the protective cover of the payload cabin.

As the protective shell was about to close, Yu Sheng sat inside the payload cabin and looked out, seemingly thoughtful: "Should I say something now? Something a bit more stirring and impassioned..."

"Say a P!" Erin glared with crimson eyes, "You’ve got such a grim task and now you’re thinking about bright things?!"

Hu Li thought for a moment, stepped forward, and said: "Savior, come back for dinner when you’re done."

Luna nodded beside her: "Yes, indeed."

Sitting in the torpedo’s payload cabin, Yu Sheng suddenly felt like life was a bit bleak, and thinking of such a brilliant idea only to get these reactions made him sigh at the people around him...

The next moment, everything around him truly turned dark.

"...Seems like I should have installed a light in here,"

Yu Sheng thought belatedly in the darkness.

He then switched to the perception and view of the Otherworld Inn and issued the launch command.

After a slight tremor, there was acceleration enough to instantly kill an ordinary person.

The airlock opened, and the pipeline depressurized. Accompanied by a trace of gas dispersing into space, a silver-gray speck of light shot out from the launch tube in the midsection of the Otherworld Inn.

After a brief glide, the torpedo engine ignited, and the specially modified "ammo" drew a silent bright line in space, flying straight towards the quietly hovering "Dark Angel" in the distant darkness.

Countless Immortal Boats stationed in high orbit simultaneously observed the tiny missile — despite its huge size compared to humans, it still appeared as an insignificant insect in front of the gray-black "crystal cluster."

A moment later, the "insect" made contact with the Inference Star Body.

The anticipated big explosion or scene of a "secret weapon" unleashing its power, changing the world, did not occur — the entire contact process was silent, with almost no fire. The fortress torpedo, with its warhead removed, struck a tangled node of roots on the crystal cluster, creating a small collision flash there, then directly shattered its loose and fragile outer layer, broke through several "crystal branches," and finally got stuck deep in the crystal structure.

After that, the small amount of explosives carried in the torpedo’s payload cabin was triggered, and a weak flash briefly lit up inside the crystal cluster.

Yu Sheng also disappeared in a flash.

In a chaotic darkness, with his five senses deprived of any anchor, Yu Sheng felt as if he was floating in an endless void. The feeling was so familiar it felt like coming home.

He could even deftly rebuild his "self-awareness" quickly in this void and preemptively restore his perception of the real world through the connections established by blood.

Just like now.

He felt himself dispersing within a cold, hard mass, felt himself seeping into the crystal cluster, as if infiltrating a new shell. He sensed himself making contact with remnants of certain things within the crystal cluster and perceived a dim light gradually appearing in the darkness... and sounds.

"Go... find a new home, take root, and find a way to survive..."

He suddenly opened his eyes.

In the chaotic interplay of light and shadow, a hazy yet familiar figure stood not far away.

"Friend, you’ve arrived."