Early the next morning, Fang Er once again brought the fleet to the vicinity of Crimson Flame Star.
Looking at the planet spewing lava in the distance, he gave his orders without hesitation.
"Bai Di, charge the Star Annihilator cannon!"
"Lock onto one-fifth of Crimson Flame Star's position and fire!"
Ten minutes later, the Star Annihilator cannon fired a dazzling ball of light.
After leaving the muzzle, the ball of light rapidly expanded and flew towards Crimson Flame Star.
Soon, the ball of light came into contact with Crimson Flame Star's atmosphere.
The murky, ash-filled atmosphere was instantly torn open by the ball of light.
The volcanic ash within the ball of light's range vanished in an instant. The ball of light did not stop but continued to plummet towards Crimson Flame Star's surface.
"Boom!"
A deafening sound shattered the tranquility of space.
Before everyone's eyes, Crimson Flame Star was like an apple that had been fiercely bitten into.
The ball of light struck one-fifth of Crimson Flame Star's position, and then, it pierced through!
"Rumble..."
Crimson Flame Star's ground began to collapse and fracture on a massive scale in the next moment!
Countless volcanoes erupted in rapid succession within a very short period.
The earth-shattering spectacle was like the end of the world.
Crimson Flame Star's core was damaged, and its gravitational field was consequently affected.
The atmosphere, already depleted by the bombardment of the Star Annihilator cannon, suddenly began to expand violently.
Then, with a bang, without any warning, it exploded like a pricked bubble!
The sky-obscuring volcanic ash, under this impact, scattered towards space.
The scene was like a sand ball having a breath of immortal air blown upon it by someone...
This shocking spectacle continued for tens of hours.
Fang Er, Li Shimin, Xi Tong, and others watched from the flagship Bai Di.
It wasn't until Crimson Flame Star calmed down slightly that they ordered the flagship to slowly approach it.
At this moment, Crimson Flame Star had completely changed its appearance!
The volcanic eruptions stopped, and everywhere one looked, there were glittering gemstones.
If, the first time they saw Crimson Flame Star, the gemstones were like sesame seeds on a flatbread.
Then now, what they saw before their eyes was almost an ocean paved with gemstones!
"Ma Chao, Zhu Zi, Wang Xuance, Zhang Tian!"
"Execute!"
"Yes!"
As his order was given, the docking bays of the flagship Bai Di opened, and numerous spore-class spacecraft, like worker bees leaving the hive, flew towards the ground.
All the gemstones were ignored; only the Tang Shi mixed within the gemstones was sought.
That is, the shimmering crystals mentioned by Li Wan!
This action, which came at such a great cost, akin to killing the goose that laid the golden eggs, also yielded abundant rewards.
"My Lord, a mineral vein has been discovered!"
Suddenly, Ma Chao's excited voice came through the communicator.
Fang Er quickly led his men to his location, which was also where the Star Annihilator cannon had previously struck.
In a massive crater thousands of meters deep, a shining mineral vein appeared before everyone's eyes!
The entire mineral vein was composed entirely of Tang Shi!
It was about several hundred meters long and dozens of meters high!
How much was here could no longer be estimated; it would likely only be determined after excavation.
The flagship hovered at a height of a hundred meters, and engineering vehicles were deployed.
The Sky Fire Army, each performing their duties, began excavating this mineral vein at the fastest possible speed.
Fang Er was almost grinning foolishly!
With so much Tang Shi, he could spend it as he pleased!
He wouldn't feel a pang of regret even if he smashed a piece for every piece he used!
Thousands of people worked here for dozens of hours. Looking at the piles of Tang Shi in the warehouse, yet the mineral vein before them still seemed un-emptied, Fang Er suddenly had a premonition of ill omen!
Tang Shi, which was like a forbidden item for the black market's high echelons, was present here in such abundance!
Glancing at the time, he quickly ordered a halt.
"Everyone, withdraw!"
"Charge the Star Annihilator cannon! Destroy this planet completely!"
Li Shimin looked at the mineral vein before him, his expression akin to having a piece of his flesh cut off, filled with heartache.
"An Zhi, this... you're not taking the rest?"
"No more!"
"If we dig any deeper, I fear something will happen!"
Fang Er's expression was extremely serious.
Given how close they were to the black market, the commotion caused by destroying a planet would absolutely not escape the notice of those in high positions.
If they sent people to investigate and discovered this shimmering crystal vein, who knew what actions they might take!
Although everyone was reluctant, seeing his solemn demeanor, they said no more.
Everyone returned to their spacecraft one after another, and the engineering vehicles were simply left behind.
A few minutes later, the flagship withdrew from Crimson Flame Star, and the Star Annihilator cannon unleashed its might once more.
This time, the target was the center of Crimson Flame Star!
"Boom!"
As the Star Annihilator cannon fired, the entire Crimson Flame Star was instantly pierced through.
Gravity caused the entire planet to collapse from its center.
"Withdraw!"
The ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger, and Fang Er dared not delay any longer.
The flagship Bai Di returned to the skies above Atarri Star in less than half an hour.
"Quick, activate the array tower!"
Fang Er rushed out of the spacecraft and handed a bag of Tang Shi to Yuan Tiangang, who had been prepared long ago.
"Hahaha, good! Good! Good!"
"You're still reliable, young friend, to have acquired so much Tang Shi so quickly!"
"Just watch, this humble Taoist will now show you how awesome the formations left by our ancestors are!"
Yuan Tiangang was completely excited, not even noticing that he had blurted out a curse.
Taking the bag, he took out the Tang Shi from within and placed them one by one into the designated grooves of the array tower.
This array tower was completely different from the one on the flagship, and also different from his glove that could open wormholes.
This array tower itself had the function of energy conversion, and Tang Shi contained immense energy within it.
The reason why the flagship and the glove still needed external energy stimulation to activate Tang Shi was simply because the array tower's function was not yet perfected.
Therefore, when he inserted the last piece of Tang Shi, a faint blue light suddenly shot out from the tip of the tower, gradually forming a light screen that enveloped the entire array tower.
After the light screen reached a certain scale, it began to shake violently, and then, in an instant, the light screen contracted, spread upwards along the array tower, and struck the sky.
"Boom!"
The void was struck, and a dark point quietly appeared.
"It's done! Hahaha, it's done!"
Yuan Tiangang happily patted his thighs and, looking at Fang Er, his beard trembled.
Fang Er had seen this dark point countless times!
Every time a wormhole was opened, this was the earliest phenomenon that appeared.
As expected, after the dark point appeared, it began to expand rapidly.
From the size of a sesame seed, it gradually formed a circle with a diameter of about one meter.
And this was only the beginning!
Ten meters!
Fifty meters!
One hundred meters!
Five hundred meters!
...
The dark point, no, it could no longer be called a dark point now!
The black opening grew larger and larger until it could accommodate a Great Emperor-class flagship before its expansion gradually stopped.
Fang Er subconsciously looked at Yuan Tiangang. He truly hadn't expected that this old Taoist would actually achieve it!
Just as he was about to praise him, he heard Xi Tong's voice in his mind.
[Little thief, quickly, an unidentified fleet is approaching Atarri Star!]
Then, before he could react, Xi Tong issued evacuation orders to all ships on his behalf.
Watching the five flagships withdraw one after another, Fang Er casually threw Yuan Tiangang into the wormhole above his head.
Then, he himself plunged into it.