Chapter 1648 The God of异能

The pitch-black expanse of space stretched out, with two fleets facing each other from afar.

Yi Shen's figure flickered, disappearing from the throne and instantly teleporting into the command center, standing beside Hakison.

"The opposing force is an Imperial armed fleet, numbering five million warships. Their vessel performance exceeds ours. Their ability to intercept us indicates they have precise knowledge of our coordinates. My advice is to avoid engagement and retreat immediately..." Hakison said calmly, analyzing the situation as he faced Yi Shen.

However, Yi Shen ignored him, releasing his energy perception. In his senses, the Imperial fleet formation contained three star-like, dazzling energy sources – all Super-A Grades.

Sensing the number of opponents, Yi Shen revealed a hint of disappointment.

"Only three?"

At that moment, the radar sounded an alarm again. A Void Spirit Sect fleet appeared from behind, surrounding Yi Shen's forces along with the Imperial fleet.

Sensing the appearance of two Void Spirit Sect Super-A Grade energy sources, Yi Shen finally relaxed.

"Five people... now this has combat value."

"The Crimson Empire and Void Spirit Sect have indeed joined forces. It seems they've been lying in wait here, with a fleet more than three times our size, intending to annihilate us. Your Excellency Yi Shen, I suggest an immediate breakout and retreat," Hakison said slowly.

Yi Shen didn't even look at him, stating indifferently, "Inform all ships, prepare for battle. Hold them back, don't let the fleet disturb my fight."

"...Understood." Hakison's tone carried a sense of "as expected." He knew that Yi Shen didn't care about their lives at all and only treated his subordinates as tools.

In Yi Shen's presence, Hakison issued the battle orders. The Fallen Ark fleet changed formation, facing outwards in a defensive array.

Yi Shen nodded. The next moment, his figure flickered, teleporting outside the warship into the cosmic void.

Immediately afterward, a mental wave exploded from Yi Shen's center. The Imperial and Void Spirit warships were equipped with mental shielding devices, capable of resisting mental abilities to a certain extent. However, the five Super-A Grades received Yi Shen's mental waves, establishing a mental channel for communication.

Han Xiao was among them. As soon as the mental connection was established, he heard Yi Shen's calm voice.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Hearing this, Han Xiao's eyes flashed. He exchanged a look with his companions, understanding each other's intentions.

—If Yi Shen had teleported away at the start, they wouldn't have been able to stop him. Yi Shen's words clearly indicated he intended to stay and fight, so the first step of "Operation God-Slaying" could be considered a success.

After exchanging glances, Han Xiao and his two companions left the Imperial warship and entered space. The two from the Void Spirit side also flew out of their fleet. Both sides surrounded Yi Shen from a distance, the atmosphere tense.

Militzaus and the other three mages concealed themselves, setting up a spacetime locking area. Manison concealed the fact that the Shining Federation was involved, also lying in ambush, only lending his spatial stabilization device to others. After discussion, the five people directly engaging Yi Shen were Han Xiao, Viru, and Swordswoman Fu from the Empire, along with the Sun Chaser and a psychic from the Void Spirit Sect.

The two psychics were mainly responsible for mental attack output. Viru was a semi-tank warrior. The Sun Chaser was the ADC. Han Xiao was the real powerhouse, arriving in person with all his strength, covering the roles of main tank, control, physical output, and containment. He was the main force in the direct battle.

"Black Star, it's you again." Yi Shen glanced at the crowd, his gaze finally landing on Han Xiao.

"Since you attacked me, this day was inevitable. You knew that, didn't you?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.

"Sigh, fate is truly interesting. I was no longer planning to deal with you, yet you cling to me, seeking death... or rather, you are all seeking death."

Yi Shen shook his head.

Hearing this, the Sun Chaser couldn't help but interject coldly, "I wonder if your decaying brain still remembers how many times you've been beaten back by three Super-A Grades. Facing five of us, do you think you still have a chance?"

"Heh, that was the me of the past. Speaking of which, I must thank Black Star's Evolution Cube. The Empire and the Void Spirit Sect will regret sending you to deal with me."

As soon as Yi Shen finished speaking, the Sun Chaser launched a preemptive strike, deploying a modified psionic annihilation particle cannon around him. His small body burst with dazzling mechanical force lightning, the mechanical force coursing through the giant cannon like an extension of his limbs, manipulating the giant cannon to fire dazzling psionic particle rays that seemed capable of piercing through space.

Yi Shen teleported to dodge. These annihilation cannons, amplified by various Gunners, easily penetrated the shields of the Fallen Ark warships. The tough, high-strength alloy armor was like paper, quickly warping and shattering. The beams pierced through the hulls, and in an instant, the entire ship collapsed towards the beam, as if absorbed and devoured, leaving no debris or parts. The warship was completely annihilated from the atomic level.

As the first shot rang out, the Imperial and Void Spirit fleets suddenly opened fire. The Fallen Ark fleet retaliated fiercely. The two fleets exchanged fire, and the pitch-black void was instantly illuminated by crisscrossing particle cannons.

The battle erupted!

Han Xiao and the other four also launched their attacks.

Apostle Weapons led by You Zu launched a siege with the mechanical army. Viru wielded his weapon, attacking Yi Shen. Swordswoman Fu and another psychic directly launched wave after wave of mental attacks. The Sun Chaser became a non-stop turret, unleashing a furious barrage.

The scene instantly became chaotic, and the battle entered a white-hot phase from the very beginning.

Yi Shen's fighting style was to flexibly use various abilities based on the environment. Faced with the siege of five Super-A Grades, he wouldn't force a head-on confrontation. With his ability to teleport, the pressure from the five-person siege was greatly reduced. On the contrary, he could easily approach by passing through the mechanical army's encirclement.

Powerful mobility meant he had control of the initiative, placing him in an almost invincible position. He could attack or retreat at will.

Therefore, Yi Shen had no intention of escaping for the time being, instead treating the five as useful opponents to test his strength.

However, defeating five Super-A Grades working together was something almost no one in this universe could do. It wasn't a simple comparison of combat power. The density of attacks from five cooperating Super-A Grades was enough to force a normal opponent to only defend and not counterattack. Yi Shen currently had the advantage of mobility, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, but with Han Xiao and the others supporting each other, he couldn't defeat them one by one.

The situation stalled for a time.

Han Xiao had been vigilant, worried that Yi Shen had gained a leap in strength after his evolution, but after actually exchanging blows, his heart calmed down.

During the Beacon Star battle, Han Xiao had fought Yi Shen and understood his combat strength. Yi Shen's current combat strength had indeed increased, but it was far from reaching a transformative level.

'It seems the Evolution Cube's strengthening of him isn't enough to cause a heaven-and-earth change in his raw power, he's still within the scope of a Super-A Grade...'

Han Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If Yi Shen had truly broken through the limits of the Super-A Grade and reached the so-called "new level," there might have been a chasm-like gap in combat power, just like the difference between Calamity Grades and Super-A Grades.

Fortunately, the Evolution Cube, while useful, didn't have the ability to break through tiers.

When formulating the plan, he had tried his best to overestimate Yi Shen's strength, but the strength Yi Shen was currently displaying didn't meet his expectations, making the success of the operation even greater.

The other four basically thought the same thing. If Yi Shen's strength increase didn't exceed their expectations, then they wouldn't have much pressure holding him back.

However, the next moment, a sudden change occurred!

Yi Shen teleported again, dodging a wave of concentrated fire, then suddenly opened his arms, sending a mental message to everyone:

"The warm-up is over."

As soon as his voice fell, black spheres popped out of Yi Shen's body. These were all clones that had been prepared long ago. They were activated, reverting to black mist-like humanoids, containing surging energy.

Each clone had received a different ability from Yi Shen, possessing a quasi-Super-A Grade combat power, and the number of clones... was as many as dozens!

"How can he have so many clones?!" The Sun Chaser's expression changed drastically.

Yi Shen's information was no longer a secret. Everyone knew that his cloning ability had a clear limit, and using so many Super-A Grade clones at once exceeded the records!

Seeing this, Han Xiao's heart tightened, and he instantly understood.

The Evolution Cube hadn't allowed Yi Shen to break through to a new level, but it had expanded his combat power at the same level. Instead of increasing "depth," it increased "breadth." Compared to other systems, Mechanics were most sensitive to the terror of quantitative change. Mechanics relied on expanding the size of their mechanical army to continuously increase their combat power, eventually leading to qualitative change.

The evolved version of Yi Shen had a similar effect.

Yi Shen's own raw power hadn't increased dramatically, but he had gained a stronger cloning ability. Dozens of Super-A Grade clones, each of which could be considered half a Super-A Grade, even if the clones were relatively fragile and shared different abilities, were still an incredibly powerful force.

In essence, the Super-A Grade individual Han Xiao and the others had to deal with had turned from one to dozens!

The degree of threat had increased exponentially!

Originally, in the many encirclements of Yi Shen in history, it wasn't as if five or more Super-A Grades hadn't been dispatched. Even if Yi Shen couldn't win, he could always retreat unscathed.

But this time, Yi Shen had the ability to face five or even more Super-A Grades head-on. He wasn't satisfied with escaping. If he could defeat or even kill the five Super-A Grades sent by the Universal Civilization this time, he would break his own record, deter the Universal Civilization, and also obtain the most satisfactory combat power test results.

What Yi Shen didn't know was that his opponents numbered more than five. There were six more people hiding in the bushes, preparing to ambush him.

As soon as the dozens of clones appeared, they split up, most of them rushing to fight Han Xiao and the others. The scene changed from five people besieging Yi Shen to Yi Shen besieging five people.

The remaining clones then intervened in the fleet battle, using their Super-A Grade combat power to wreak havoc on the Imperial and Void Spirit warships. The Fallen Ark fleet, which had been at a disadvantage, gradually turned the tide.

The pressure on Han Xiao and the other four increased sharply. They were facing the attacks of dozens of Super-A Grade ability users with different abilities. If it weren't for the help of the mechanical army, the other four wouldn't have been able to withstand it.

Through his clones, Yi Shen unreservedly displayed the various abilities he had accumulated. His main body retained "Enhanced Cell Self-Healing" and "Ability – Black Hole," while the other clones had a myriad of strange abilities.

In the chaos, Han Xiao looked at Yi Shen's main body, which hadn't joined the siege, his gaze solemn.

His current performance truly matched his nickname:

God of Abilities!

The five were in danger, but Han Xiao was fine. His body was durable enough, but the mechanical army was rapidly being consumed under the attacks of multiple Super-A Grades, and the Apostle Weapons were also struggling.

Han Xiao had originally wanted to see if he could save the "Perfect Mechanical Sense" character card, but seeing the situation, he knew he couldn't hold back anymore. He immediately activated Perfect Mechanical Sense. The mechanical force lightning swelled and contracted, becoming even thicker and more dazzling.

As his mechanical affinity soared, Han Xiao endured the bombardment of Yi Shen's clones, gritting his teeth and ordering the mechanical army to focus fire on Yi Shen's clones.

Each ability could only be used by one clone at a time, so most of Yi Shen's clones didn't have resistance abilities. They had the destructive power of a Super-A Grade, but lacked the corresponding durability. They were basically very fragile, so the mechanical army's bombardment quickly achieved results.

Beams of dark blue light struck the black mist-like figures. Under the concentrated fire of psionic cannons, a quarter of Yi Shen's clones were quickly annihilated.

But the next scene made everyone's hearts, which had just been put down, hang up again.

Yi Shen's main body, relying on his "Ability – Black Hole," not only didn't dodge but instead actively met the attack, frantically absorbing energy, and then continuously splitting off new clones to replenish the losses of the clone army.

This scene filled everyone's hearts with solemnity.

"This is troublesome..."

...

"Troublesome..."

On the other side, the six Super-A Grades hiding in the dark to set up a trap also learned about the abilities Yi Shen displayed on the front lines through the psionic network constructed by the psychics, and their hearts sank.

Ravenlaude's expression was grave, "Yi Shen's cloning ability has been strengthened. Even if we successfully set up the spacetime locking area, he can use a large number of clones to buy him time. This plan won't work."

Their plan was to trap Yi Shen with the spacetime locking area and, before he could escape, control him according to Han Xiao's plan.

But the strength Yi Shen displayed was unexpectedly strong. Even if they temporarily trapped Yi Shen, they wouldn't be able to control him before he broke free.

"We still have to try. Don't stop, keep setting it up." Militzaus was also uncertain, but they could only continue to execute the established plan. They had no better options at the moment.

"I wonder how long they can last," Manison said indifferently.

Before the trap was completed, they couldn't intervene to help. The task of delaying Yi Shen could only be entrusted to the five on the front lines. Han Xiao and the others were currently under tremendous pressure.

The six in ambush weren't confident that Han Xiao and his group could hold out until they completed the trap.