"This is Wildcat Franco, reporting live. The Voyager Project has completed its first phase. As we see, these thirty-five spacecraft will carry the crystallization of human wisdom and take a firm step towards the sea of stars."
If Bai Qi were present, he would surely see many familiar faces. Peter Parker, the professional photographer from the Daily Bugle, and Clark from the Daily Planet. One was Spider-Man, the other Superman, though both were here today in their capacity as reporters.
In the command center, besides the staff, were also the CEOs of the various corporate groups that had contracted parts of the plan, such as Lex Luthor of LexCorp, Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprises, and Tony Stark of Stark Industries, among others.
In short, all familiar faces.
Of course, for this historic moment, Bai Qi, as the chairman, was also present. She made an appearance before the media and, along with the other big shots, completed the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"She's really beautiful, isn't she?"
To capture more good photos, the Daily Planet didn't just send Clark. Besides Lois, there was also the little red-haired reporter who often appeared with Clark.
The moment Bai Qi appeared, the little red-haired reporter's eyes were fixed on her. Not only him, but many others present were captivated by Bai Qi's perfect figure and beautiful face.
Compared to others, Clark knew how terrifying Bai Qi on stage was. Frankly, with her colleague's physique, she could knock him over with a single punch.
"Take it easy, don't forget the main business."
"Of course, of course, I know. Let me take a few more shots."
Soon, with everything ready, the thirty-five warships ignited their engines simultaneously, taking a firm step towards the sea of stars.
But before they could take their second step, an accident occurred.
The sky suddenly changed, large dark clouds instantly obscured the sky, and a biting wind cut across everyone's faces like a knife.
The sudden change caught everyone off guard.
The command center descended into chaos.
"What's going on? What were those guys at the meteorological bureau doing? Why weren't we alerted in advance?"
The director of the meteorological bureau at this moment was looking at the readings on the monitor, his hair nearly falling out.
"No, this shouldn't be happening."
Time was of the essence. Before the meteorological bureau could analyze the situation, the sky outside changed again.
A colossal castle, composed of massive white stones, broke through the thick clouds, appearing in everyone's sight. Then, dragons flew out of the castle, madly attacking the spacecraft that had just taken off.
Facing the incoming dragons, the captain decisively ordered an attack, aiming to eliminate a portion of them before they got too close.
Unfortunately, the rapid development of the past few years had given humanity a blind confidence. Their advanced spacecraft were only sufficient for basic space exploration. In actual combat, they couldn't even defeat the fleets of other civilizations in space, let alone these external void creatures.
Even though these dragons were merely cannon fodder under the command of an ancient dragon, they were creatures that had lived in the void for years. Their hardened scales could withstand most terrestrial heat weapons, and their sharp fangs and claws could easily tear through the outer armor of spacecraft.
The result was that the spacecraft, built by humans with great effort and money, were like oversized toys to these dragons. They were nearly all destroyed before they could even travel far from Earth.
The reason they weren't completely annihilated was thanks to the superheroes on the ground, or rather, Superman.
Upon noticing something was wrong, Superman immediately changed into his costume and took to the air. Relying on his enhanced physique, he repelled several dragons. Other key members of the Justice League also responded urgently, counter-attacking the invading dragons.
"What's the situation now? Where did these dragons come from?"
After the dragons appeared, Bai Qi lost any inclination to continue watching. She rapidly returned to the flagship in outer space via the Shadow Kingdom.
Octavius, standing nearby, after a period of research with a group of technopathic demons, provided an answer.
"Princess, comparing with the data in our database, we preliminarily infer that these dragons are extraterrestrial creatures."
"Extraterrestrial creatures? You mean from the void?"
"You could put it that way," Octavius nodded and continued his report. "According to our analysis, these dragons are merely a vanguard force. We detected immense energy reactions within that sky castle. I fear an ancient god is hidden within it." Sudan Novel Network
Octavius hesitated for a moment before asking, "Should we wake His Majesty?"
It was not Octavius's fault for being so cautious. They had dealt with many external invasions over the years, but those were just void creatures. No matter how powerful void creatures were, they were a completely different concept from ancient gods.
"There's no need."
As soon as Octavius uttered those words, Bai Qi negated them.
Seeing Octavius's displeased expression, Bai Qi added, "Father entrusted the main world to me. I cannot seek his help every time something happens. If we lack the courage to fight an ancient god, then how can we be worthy of the responsibility of protecting this world?"
As soon as Bai Qi said this, Octavius, whose face had been grim moments before, instantly lost his guarded expression. It was replaced by relief.
What Octavius had said earlier was mostly a test, trying to gauge if Bai Qi had the courage and determination to bear responsibility. Now, it seemed Bai Qi had truly grown up.
Bai Qi's combat plan was simple: a decapitation strike.
Those dragons were indeed not weak, but the members of the Justice League could still handle them. The truly terrifying entity was the ancient god hidden within the castle.
To truly end this crisis, the best method was a surprise attack, to eliminate the ancient god in the sky castle with lightning speed.
Once the ancient god was dead, the rest would merely be pawns, easily defeated.
Unlike fighting Thanos, Thanos was at least an indigenous inhabitant of the main world. The ancient dragon, however, was a blatant invader from outside. There was no need to hold back.
Bai Qi's plan was to lead a large number of elite demons and the remaining fleet on Earth directly to the sky castle, go straight in, find the ancient dragon, and kill it.
After hearing Bai Qi's plan, Octavius admitted that he had been too hasty. While Bai Qi now possessed the courage and determination to take responsibility, her combat approach was indeed a bit reckless.
Big sister, you're not your father.
Bai Qi was a terrifying existence who had traversed many worlds and wielded immense power. Daring to fight an ancient god head-on was based on absolute strength and experience. This was her first ancient god, and she dared to imitate her father by going to a feast alone. Truly... alas.