At this moment, the battlefield had taken on a particular formation.

The entire battlefield formed a roughly spherical shape, with a diameter spanning tens of thousands of kilometers. At its very core, undoubtedly, was the Alien Beast and the All Nations Pay Tribute starship it had ensnared. Surrounding them was a vast empty zone. Xiao Yu’s other ships dared not get too close to the beast, as its offensive power was simply too overwhelming. Village-Class and Town-Class starships couldn’t withstand even a single strike from its tentacles.

Further out, however, was a dense mass of ships, above, below, in front, behind, to the left and right. Ships were everywhere, and hundreds of thousands of vessels were unleashing their fury nonstop at the central region.

A City-Class starship equipped with a Four-Dimensional Shield was cautiously advancing toward the center of the battlefield under heavy fire cover.

“As a Nation-Class ship, the All Nations Pay Tribute has the most powerful energy supply of all ships. If it truly gets destroyed, the Four-Dimensional Shield mounted on it will rupture and release an enormous burst of energy. Even if that can’t kill the Alien Beast, it should at least cause significant damage. In that case, I’ll have a chance to destroy the beast completely…”

Xiao Yu was silently calculating. But overall, it was still a losing trade. The value of a Level 4 Alien Beast did not outweigh that of over ten thousand scientists and a Nation-Class ship.

“Master, what’s the situation now? Things inside the All Nations Pay Tribute aren’t looking good. Several areas have exploded. Seven scientists are already dead, and dozens more have been injured. But overall, the energy supply is stable, and the multi-layer shield system hasn’t shown any signs of collapse…”

At that moment, Xiao Yu received a report from Luka Two. As the leader of all scientists from the Psychosocial Sciences Division, Luka Two still remained calm at this moment. There was not a trace of tremble in its voice as it reported to Xiao Yu.

In fact, Xiao Yu knew exactly what was happening inside the All Nations Pay Tribute, thanks to the omnipresent surveillance systems.

“That much, Luka Two must know as well… and yet it still chose to report to me, does it want to hear some truth about the situation? So, even you’ve started to fear, haven’t you?” Xiao Yu sighed internally. “The fear of death is a universal trait of all intelligent life. Even someone like Luka Two can’t avoid it. But that’s not a problem. In fact, the very fact that it held on this long before contacting me is proof enough of its formidable psychological resilience.”

“Don’t worry. I already have a plan to deal with this creature. Just hold on and wait,” Xiao Yu replied after brief consideration, choosing to deceive them.

“If I truly can’t save you, then let you die with hope in your hearts,” Xiao Yu thought bitterly. “The shattering of a Four-Dimensional Shield will instantly release a massive surge of energy, blowing the All Nations Pay Tribute into pieces in a single moment. You’ll die in an instant, without pain…”

“The Specter elder taught me never to let emotions cloud my judgment. If something cannot be saved, then all efforts must go toward minimizing the loss. Abandoning these ten thousand-plus scientists who’ve contributed so much to me may be cruel, but it’s necessary. Still… if I really must lose the All Nations Pay Tribute, then I must obtain the corpse of this Alien Beast in return!”

“The Specter Heart must also be reclaimed!”

Once again, Xiao Yu made up his mind. At this moment, he cast aside all hesitation and uncertainty, only cold, ruthless logic remained in his heart.

Under Xiao Yu’s control, the City-Class starship continued to inch toward its target with extreme caution.

At the center of the battlefield, the Alien Beast, resembling a giant jellyfish with a tail, was still using its tentacles to bind the All Nations Pay Tribute, thrashing wildly. All around, hundreds of thousands of starships had formed an unbreakable net. With the All Nations Pay Tribute’s own propulsion holding it back, the beast was completely unable to escape.

Of course, this only applied as long as the All Nations Pay Tribute had not yet been destroyed. If it were destroyed and the beast freed from its restraint, breaking through the encirclement wouldn’t be difficult for it at all.

According to Xiao Yu’s calculations, the probability of losing the All Nations Pay Tribute had already risen to ninety-one percent. But until the final moment, Xiao Yu still didn’t intend to give up hope. Though, deep down, he had already mentally prepared himself for its loss.

Whether or not the All Nations Pay Tribute could be saved, and whether the Specter Heart could be seized, now depended on this one City-Class starship…

At this moment, Xiao Yu was engaged in a contest of firepower with the Alien Beast. If his firepower was strong enough, so strong that the beast believed it would suffer severe damage before it could destroy the All Nations Pay Tribute, then it would naturally abandon the ship. But if it believed it could endure Xiao Yu’s attacks, then the outcome needed no explanation.

At the current stage, the most powerful weapon at Xiao Yu’s disposal was the massive energy released when a Four-Dimensional Shield collapsed into three-dimensional space. Therefore… Xiao Yu planned to sacrifice a City-Class starship in exchange for the survival of the All Nations Pay Tribute. Even if the chances of success were slim.

The City-Class starship continued its slow approach.

Under the cover of concentrated fire from the surrounding vessels, this quiet City-Class starship didn’t attract much attention from the Alien Beast.

Gradually, the distance closed, closer and closer.

When the distance shrank to one thousand kilometers, the City-Class starship launched its attack.

At one thousand kilometers, the massive Alien Beast and the All Nations Pay Tribute were just tiny specks to the naked eye. But at this range, for both Xiao Yu and the Alien Beast, it was a trivial distance they could cross in an instant.

The close-range assault of a City-Class ship could not be underestimated. After all, it was a full-fledged combat vessel. Its massive hull was packed with all kinds of weapons and ammunition. More importantly, the proximity meant the beast had the power to destroy it without suffering much additional fire.

Thus, by Xiao Yu’s estimation, the Alien Beast would not pass up the chance to eliminate this City-Class vessel.

And just as Xiao Yu had predicted, he saw the colossal beast that had been tightly restraining the All Nations Pay Tribute suddenly shift. In the blink of an eye, it appeared before the City-Class starship. Countless tentacles surged forth like a spider casting a net, tightly coiling toward the vessel.

“Heh…” Xiao Yu sneered coldly in his mind. At this critical moment, he sharply maneuvered the City-Class ship.

Since City-Class ships were categorized as large vessels, their maneuverability was not as agile as Town or Village-Class ships. But this ship was already destined for destruction. In this situation, Xiao Yu had no reason to care whether such a sharp movement might damage its structural integrity.

“If it’s going to die, let it die with purpose. Blowing off a few of your tentacles isn’t enough.”

As countless tentacles came surging forward, Xiao Yu had the City-Class ship make a sudden evasive jump, instantly flashing dozens of kilometers away, leaving the tentacles grasping at empty space. In the next instant, the ship was in a new position.

That position… was right beside the beast’s tail.

“With a tail that massive, there’s no way it’s just for show. I’m guessing your strongest attack method is this tail… So now, with prey delivered to your doorstep, will you strike or not?”

Xiao Yu stared intently at the battlefield, a faint nervousness rising in his heart.

That’s right, this maneuver had been intentional. Xiao Yu had deliberately guided the ship to the side of the beast’s tail, with the express purpose of provoking it into attacking with that tail.

If everything went as Xiao Yu predicted, the result would be spectacular. The explosion caused by the Four-Dimensional Shield’s collapse on the City-Class ship would give him at least a forty percent chance of severing the tail. At the same time, he could seize the Specter Heart and deal serious damage to the beast.

Time ticked away, measured in microseconds. Under Xiao Yu’s gaze, all of the beast’s movements seemed to slow down. He watched as the City-Class ship perfectly dodged to the side of the beast’s tail. He watched as the beast lifted its enormous tail. He watched as that tail lashed mercilessly toward the ship…

Everything was going just as Xiao Yu had expected.

“Fire!” Xiao Yu issued a new command. This time, the target of the attack was not the Alien Beast, but his own City-Class ship.

Xiao Yu feared that the beast’s strike alone wouldn’t be enough to destroy the ship. So he chose to lend it a helping hand.

Immediately, a portion of the fleet turned their weapons toward the City-Class starship and began a relentless bombardment. Compared to Province-Class ships, City-Class ships had weaker defenses. Under such intense firepower, its shield began to glow brightly. Xiao Yu knew, this was a sign that the shield was on the verge of shattering.

And just as the glow of the shield reached its peak, the massive tail, radiating pure destruction and carrying an unstoppable force, came crashing down upon the City-Class starship.