“Is it another blind Predator Civilization?” That silver-gray small spaceship was still hovering in place. It neither attacked nor attempted to flee; instead, it sent a message to Xiao Yu’s fleet in a tone that sounded rather comical.

“Another one? Looks like they’re frequently harassed by Predator Civilizations, and they’ve repelled them time and again without ever failing,” Xiao Yu thought. “But that has nothing to do with me. This must be a drone. No need to waste time talking to it, i’ll just destroy it. It’ll be a good chance to test the performance of a Level 5 Civilization’s ship.”

Under Xiao Yu’s control, several hundred County-Class ships surged forward. Countless large gun barrels locked onto the small spaceship, and once it was targeted, Xiao Yu gave the attack order without hesitation.

In that moment, elemental decay bombs, material disintegration beams, gravitational bombs, energy bombs, and other weapons surged out in unison. The rest of the fleet closely observed the small spaceship’s response, ready to collect data on the process of its destruction.

Thus began the first confrontation with a Level 5 Civilization.

Under Xiao Yu’s overwhelming bombardment, the silver-gray small spaceship held out for only an instant before it exploded into a fireball in the next moment. But before it was destroyed, Xiao Yu had already gathered enough information.

He saw that when the material disintegration beam struck the ship, ripples immediately spread across its surface, blocking the beam.

That was clearly the ship’s shielding system. In that instant, based on the output of his own weapons and the defensive behavior of the small ship, Xiao Yu had roughly deduced its capabilities.

His conclusion: for the same mass, the defensive strength of his own ships was clearly inferior to this small one. However, the ship’s shielding ability did not exceed Xiao Yu’s expectations.

“It seems that, compared to Level 4 Civilizations, Level 5 Civilizations haven’t made significant advancements in energy shields,” Xiao Yu silently reflected.

The ship successfully withstood Xiao Yu’s initial strike. But when faced with the subsequent barrage of beams and various other weapons, its energy shield was quickly broken through, and the ship exploded and disintegrated.

The destruction of the first ship signaled the official start of war. Xiao Yu swiftly brought his fleet into combat mode.

The large ships had not activated their four-dimensional shields; at this stage, Xiao Yu had only enabled standard force field shields. A total of 550,000 menacing ships grouped together and began advancing toward the inner star system at sub-light speed with an imposing presence.

“We are the Black Blood Civilization from the depths of the universe! We are here to launch an attack on the Molian Civilization and have no quarrel with any other civilizations! If you wish to avoid being caught in the crossfire, leave this sector immediately! Once war begins, we will initiate indiscriminate attacks!”

While advancing, Xiao Yu also issued a broadcast, warning the other civilizations currently present at the Azure Market.

Previously, through infiltration of the Molian Civilization’s computer systems and information gathered from other sources, Xiao Yu had learned that there were currently about a dozen civilizations present at the Azure Market. These civilizations generally had fewer than 20,000 ships each, with even fewer combat vessels.

At this moment, the distance to the foremost planetary fortress of the Molian Civilization was less than a three-hour flight. According to Xiao Yu’s plan, the first battle would occur there.

Most of the other civilizations’ ships were stationed here, including Xiao Yu’s own 50,000 vessels. To avoid complications, even though these forces were not worthy of his concern, Xiao Yu still issued a warning.

Faced with the massive fleet of 550,000 ships, these civilizations seemed to panic almost immediately. Under Xiao Yu’s watchful eye, their ships rapidly gathered and began fleeing in the opposite direction. The Molian Civilization appeared not to interfere either.

“So, how will they deal with my 50,000 ships?” Xiao Yu thought, then gave a signal to Luka Two. Luka Two understood and immediately sent a message to the Molian Civilization: “Excuse me, is your Azure Market currently under attack?”

“Yes,” the Molian Civilization responded. “A Level 4 Predator Civilization that appeared out of nowhere is claiming it wants to rob us. But please rest assured,  merely a Level 4 Civilization. We have more than enough strength to deal with it. Your safety will be guaranteed.”

“We naturally trust in your strength,” Luka Two replied. “However, are you sure you don’t need any help? We have 50,000 ships here, and a significant portion are combat-class vessels. If necessary, we can provide some assistance.”

“Thank you for your kindness, but there’s no need. Leave it to us,” the Molian Civilization replied. “However, for your safety and to ensure you are not affected by the conflict, please follow our guidance and temporarily take shelter in the inner star system. Trust us, under our firepower, this Predator Civilization will be quickly eliminated.”

“Take shelter in the inner system?” Xiao Yu sneered inwardly.

The Molian Civilization allowed the other trading civilizations to scatter and flee as they pleased, yet when it came to these 50,000 ships, they suddenly brought up “taking shelter in the inner star system.” The implication was obvious, they simply wanted to better monitor these ships and prevent them from fleeing during the chaos.

“Heading to the inner system? That’s exactly what I want,” Xiao Yu thought with a cold smile. “The deeper this nail is driven in, the more destruction it can cause. I can even take the opportunity to learn about your internal defense systems.”

“Thank you for your concern. Your civilization is truly powerful and benevolent,” Luka Two offered a few measured compliments without giving anything away. “Then please, lead us to a safe place.”

The star system where Azure Market was located had five planets: three gas giants and two rocky planets. According to the Molian Civilization’s arrangement, all visiting civilizations were required to station their ships in orbit around the outermost gas giant.

“I wonder how many forces they’ve stationed on the four inner planets?” Xiao Yu pondered slowly.

During this process, Xiao Yu saw no ships sent to intercept them. Instead, there was a flurry of ship movements within the inner system. Many vessels were launching from the orbits of the inner rocky planets, converging around the outermost gas giant and forming battle formations.

At that moment, Xiao Yu completely understood the Molian Civilization’s war strategy.

“They want to use the numerous space fortresses and defense bases around this gas giant to stage a defensive battle, destroying the invading enemies during their assault?” Xiao Yu sneered.

It had to be said, this was a very reasonable war plan. If Xiao Yu were the one in command, he would likely make the same choice.

As expected, the number of ships arriving to join the battle was no more than 10,000. The largest ship was only slightly larger than the Yanjing. This indicated that the Molian Civilization’s military forces stationed here were centered on space fortresses and defensive bases, with mobile ships merely playing a supporting role.

In that case, staging a defensive battle centered around space fortresses and defense platforms was completely logical, if Xiao Yu hadn’t already left behind hidden mechanisms in advance.

The Molian Civilization’s forces were on high alert, while Xiao Yu’s fleet advanced aggressively.

At this moment, the two sides were ten million kilometers apart, only a one-minute flight.

The hidden mechanism Xiao Yu had left behind transmitted a message to him.

“Attack imminent?”

Upon receiving this warning, Xiao Yu didn’t retaliate, nor did he activate the four-dimensional shield.

“I’ll just tank the first wave,” Xiao Yu thought. “That way, I’ll get a direct sense of the Molian Civilization’s offensive capabilities. It’ll help me better allocate my forces and command the war.”

The hallmark of a Level 5 Civilization is antimatter technology. As expected, Xiao Yu saw that the first wave of attacks from these space fortresses and defense platforms consisted primarily of antimatter bombs. Mixed in among the countless antimatter bombs were endless gravitational bombs, material disintegration beams, and other weapons.

This didn’t surprise Xiao Yu. The major breakthrough brought by antimatter technology is actually in the field of energy. This means that although Level 5 weapons might still resemble Level 4 weapons in terms of attack patterns, the difference lies in the energy source used.

Weapons powered by antimatter technology would be vastly more destructive than those of Level 4 Civilizations.

Against the backdrop of a blazing star, around the gas giant that resembled a massive beast, countless volleys of firepower erupted, hurtling toward Xiao Yu’s fleet at extreme speed.

Xiao Yu was fully prepared to take the hit. His force field shields were operating at full power.

These weapons still couldn’t exceed the speed of light. This meant that Xiao Yu could calculate and precisely anticipate the moment of impact.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven… hmm? Something’s wrong.”

When the countdown reached seven, Xiao Yu sensed something off.

When the countdown hit zero, he was supposed to be hit first by the material disintegration beams traveling at light speed. These beams moved faster than any other valuable weapon.

But the attack came before the countdown reached zero. That meant one of two possibilities. First, there were hidden Molian forces nearby that he had failed to detect, and the attack came from them. Second, the Molian Civilization possessed a viable faster-than-light weapon. A weapon whose velocity exceeded that of light.