Chapter 1 Rana's Dream

The Sunil race vigorously promoted a culture of worshipping superhumans and the military. The concept of dedication was instilled from a young age. Rana had dreamed of joining the army since he was a child, becoming a glorious soldier to protect his race, and he trained hard. His neighbor happened to be a veteran, and Rana and the nearby children often asked the veteran to train them, counting the days with their fingers, looking forward to reaching the age for enlistment.

The calamities occurred every few years. The intervening time was a period of development for collecting resources, building more weapons, and training a new batch of soldiers. The Sunil race generally began recruiting after a calamity. Although the population was 90% less than at its peak after the Dark Star disaster, it was still relatively dense in a big city.

There were two modes of conscription: one was voluntary enlistment, which goes without saying, and the other was compulsory conscription, targeting prisoners and families with multiple children. Moreover, all young people of eligible age had to serve a period of military service to undergo basic soldier training, so that they could be temporarily conscripted as soldiers in times of crisis.

Rana's wish was more than just military service, of course. He wanted to apply for enlistment and become a formal soldier, but he was strongly rejected by his parents.

"How can you say such a thing? Protecting the race is glorious. Countless people have sacrificed for it, and I am willing to dedicate my life as well. This is an honor!" Rana widened his eyes.

Rana's parents tried to persuade him, "You are still young, there are many things you don't understand. So many people join the army every year, it won't make much difference if one less joins."

"No, this is shameful! My dream is to protect the race!" Rana's tone was impassioned.

"Have you ever thought about us?" Rana's mother sobbed, "You used to go to Mr. Niveler next door for training. He died in battle yesterday, and his body was brought back in several pieces. You didn't see the scene. His wife fainted several times, and only orphans and widows are left in the family, who will have to rely on pensions for the rest of their lives, which is too pitiful. But at least she has a child of a few years old to raise. We are old and only have you. If you die, what will we do? How can you let us live?"

Rana was speechless, looking tangled, and muttered, "This is wrong..."

"Rana... Superhumans, the military, and Mr. Niveler are all great people, but we are just ordinary civilians. I love my race, and I will contribute to the race by producing and working. The battlefield should not be a choice for us to consider." His father put his hands on Rana's shoulders and said earnestly. He respected superhumans, respected the military, and was grateful for their contributions, but when it came to himself, he couldn't make the same choice.

Rana lowered his head and said nothing.

His mother said anxiously, "Rana, you must promise us, don't do anything rash!"

"...I promise." Rana said in a muffled voice, "I will serve in the military, but I will not enlist."

His parents immediately breathed a sigh of relief, looking kind.

Outside the window, Melos leaned against the windowsill, raised his head, and stared blankly at the sky.

In the sky, the huge figures of nine battleships were like heavy dark clouds, blocking the sunlight that should have shone into the city. The airflow from the bottom engines turned into a long-lasting wind, and the strong smell of blood outside the city was transmitted into the city, becoming almost imperceptible.

Many memories flashed in his mind one after another: Fagorna's wry smile, Rana's enthusiasm, the drunkards' accusations, the bloody battlefield, the sacrificed soldiers, the worshiping people, the countless times of detachment after waking up from alcohol, guarding the bar and letting himself slowly rot every day, and the Dark Star disaster that he hadn't recalled for a long time, which was the last time he saw his brother Delphius:

Delphius in his memory still wore thick glasses. His hair had not been taken care of for a long time, messy and greasy, reflecting light. He wore a white research suit, which looked like a robe on his thin and short body, inexplicably funny. His figure appeared on the screen communication screen, behind him was the research institute with the dome blown up. Delphius habitually pushed his glasses and said to his tall younger brother Melos, "You brat, I've left you something in the laboratory at home. The password to open the door is your parents' birthday reversed. No need for you to bother cracking it."

His tone was still the same, with that feeling of hoping that iron would turn into steel, but there was a hint of nostalgia. The communication ended there. He looked out the window, and in the direction of the military research institute where Delphius worked, countless hideous Dark Star battleships floated, and a mushroom cloud exploded on the ground.

He used the password to open Delphius's private laboratory—Melos had always wanted to sneak in and cause trouble, but never knew the password. He saw the legacy his brother had left him...

More memories floated up. Melos still remembered that he was just an idle gangster at the time, enjoying himself everywhere with his brother's salary. He had a terrifying talent and reached the B-level superhuman level at a young age, a thousand times stronger than Delphius, but he was always inferior to his brother and was often scolded and blamed.

"Brother..." Melos murmured.

The memories were like tumbling bubbles, and the last fixed picture was Han Xiao's deep eyes, with what seemed to be a torrent of time hidden within.

Melos' expression settled slightly. He returned to the bar, entered the attic, and opened a dusty closet, which led to the secret basement of the bar. It was already covered with dust. He slowly walked down, turned on the light. The basement was filled with a pile of boxes, many of which were Delphius's belongings.

He went straight to the corner of the basement, pulled out a wooden box, brushed off the dust, and opened the lid.

Inside was a suit of armor with deep colors. This was the legacy Delphius had left him, an armor secretly tailored for him—【Shattered Light】!

During the Dark Star disaster, Melos survived with this armor, and then never used it again, throwing it in the basement to gather dust as a memento of his brother.

This may be the last general-level armor that the entire Sunil race can still use.

Melos stared blankly at the armor, his eyes gradually becoming sharp.

"It's been too long since I've fought... I hope I don't get cramps."

...

The beasts that appeared in the late stage were even more perverted. They were all overlords at the top of the food chain on this planet. Some had already broken away from the category of beasts and could be directly called monsters: giant acid-flying beetles with wingspans of more than a hundred meters, which could withstand more than a dozen orbital guns without dying. They could spit corrosive acid that adhered to the shields of battleships and sizzled. One such monster could be easily dealt with, but when they appeared in groups, the firepower of the defense line gradually became overwhelmed. A battleship had its shields broken, its outer armor damaged, and it crash-landed, emitting smoke, and emergency repairs were underway.

"What do the monsters on this planet eat to grow up?!"

The mercenaries were amazed. What was the concept of a monster with a wingspan of a hundred meters? Its size was almost the same as that of a Sunil's small battleship. This was just a wild animal that evolved on the planet, and there was only a small probability that it would grow to this size. Such oversized monsters did not require ground reconnaissance troops; aerial reconnaissance aircraft could directly locate them.

Those synthetic beasts and Starry Sky races were not included.

Missile aerial bombardments continued, deafening. Suddenly, alarms sounded in the defense circle, and an emergency broadcast was transmitted.

"Impact preparation! Impact preparation! Mountain beasts have been detected approaching, estimated to arrive in fourteen minutes. All fighters prepare, and high-energy condensed particle cannons begin charging!"

At the fifth line of defense, the ground cracked, revealing an ultra-large cannon with a steel-like, extremely complex structure. The cannon barrel was hexagonal, embedded in a hollow particle stabilizer, as if the cannon barrel was divided into sections. The high-energy reaction alarm immediately sounded inside Han Xiao's mecha, and the muzzle of this giant cannon gradually lit up with a strong light.

This high-energy condensed particle cannon was a discarded product ejected from the central wormhole of the Shattered Star Ring, an interstellar-level war weapon. It was unknown which advanced civilization it came from. It was picked up and sold by scavengers. The Sunil race spent a lot of money to buy it. This was a lesson learned from the heavy losses in the first calamity. There must be a trump card to deal with powerful beasts.

Although it was a discarded product, it also cost the Sunil race a huge amount of wealth. The technology of higher civilizations implemented technical confidentiality. It could not be repaired or researched, it could only be used. Each shot consumed a huge amount of energy. The Sunil were short of energy. Firing one shot was equivalent to burning a lot of wealth. Their energy technology was naturally not as good as advanced civilizations. It needed a long time to charge before firing. This human giant cannon would only be used when encountering the most powerful monsters.

The Sunil race had explored this planet for more than ten years and recorded a large number of beasts in the illustrated book. The mountain beast was one of the top monsters among them. Powerful beasts were led away by wild combat troops. The appearance of this mountain beast undoubtedly indicated the failure of the wild troops.

Han Xiao was surprised and let out an oh, casually blasting through a nearby Thunder Leopard with a single shot. He looked back at the high-energy condensed particle cannon, feeling like his saliva was about to flow out.

"This feeling of a deer crashing in my heart..." The great technician Han Xiao widened his eyes.

ps: (The next chapter will be updated at midnight or in the morning, these few days of updates are probably like this, my kidneys and work and rest have collapsed...)