This junior brother had small eyes and single eyelids, and he didn't look like any good person.

Although the senior brother's exterior was rough and burly, in fact, he was meticulous. After thinking, he directly shook his head and refused, stating that although he was in charge of the firewood room, he also abided by the sect rules and didn't dare to commit any taboos. In his heart, he was thinking, "I don't want to die; I may have the techniques, but you'll need to be alive to use them. Just going back and forth once from here to the Immortal Mountain's buildings takes 40 minutes, let alone that they still need to go to the Book Pavilion to find martial arts manuals. All in all, wouldn't it take at least a couple of hours? Who knows if the Space Fleet wouldn't have already come down upon us before we could even leave."

Like-minded good brothers, if there's no scheme in common, they are but strangers. On hearing this, the junior brother snorted silently, calling him an idiot under his breath. As the saying goes, "For wealth, a man risks his life; for food, a bird risks death." He had lived this long and had never seen such an idiot. There's another saying, "The bold starve to death, and the timid get scared to death," or rather, "The bold get stuffed to death, and the timid starve to death." He looked at how he snuck into Immortal Mountain—these mere techniques wouldn't be hard to grasp at all.

Thinking this, the junior brother didn't entangle any further and stealthily slipped away without looking back.

After the junior brother left, that senior brother's somewhat dull eyes also glinted with a sharp light, and he spat, "Pff, dumbass."

At this moment, a tense and peculiar atmosphere filled every corner of Immortal Mountain. Some disciples were genuinely concerned for the plight of the sect, and these were mostly inner disciples. As for the outer disciples, to put it bluntly, they were no different from temporary workers: when things looked bad, they could just walk away without a care.

Still, many disciples saw this as an opportunity. At such a time, they had to advance or retreat with their sect. They figured that swiftly rising through the ranks was no longer a distant dream, and of course, joining the Mecha was the first choice.

Hence, a great number of Immortal Mountain's disciples were leaving, escaping, dispersing, and there were also quite a few with fierce faces charging inside, leaving many of the inner disciples swearing in astonishment. What on earth was going on? Were people really getting hotheaded enough to take a stand at such a critical moment?

However, John wasn't going to give the Jade Clear Sect time to react. At this moment, the Blazing Flame Fleet was rapidly marching at tens of astronomical units per hour. In just a few hours, the planet wreathed in purple light was already visible on the imaging equipment.

The Space Fleet approached like a vast black cloud bearing down, enveloping the sky as it surged forth from outer regions. To John's annoyance, the planet didn't even have an armed force—it could be said that John was now seeing red in his fury, at the angriest moment of his life.

Behe-3, as a remote planet of the Zana Republic, didn't have any ground military forces either. Supporting troops had already been sent, resulting in deaths, injuries, and desertions. The arrival of the Blazing Flame Fleet to this point indicated that the supporting troops had resisted to their utmost—a pity because the Blazing Flame Legion was an ace troop seasoned by early battles, purified by bloodshed. Against regular forces, it was like adults fighting children—a gap in power. They had absolute faith and execution power, daring to charge and with superb military quality—qualities not possessed by ordinary units.

The local civilians had never seen such a battle display. At first, they were surprised by the spectacle, but the next second, as death-ray weapons abruptly rained down from the void, the chief's Azure Dragon Hall was instantly enveloped in smoke and raging fire, followed by a full barrage from the legion's weapons.

With hissing and booming sounds, countless laser beams fell like a dense rainstorm, turning the main entrance of Immortal Mountain into a hell on earth in an instant. The towering Azure Dragon Hall collapsed with a thunderous crash, along with countless tall buildings and wooden huts. Thick smoke quickly spread across the sky, obscuring the sun...

John inherited the Blazing Flame Legion's unwavering iron blood doctrine—there was no room for talk, just immediate action. From the get-go, a ferocious display of fleet firepower thoroughly covered the target area of several kilometers...

Inside the Command Room, John's usually hearty and laughing face was now devoid of warmth, replaced by a cold killing intent as he rapidly relayed various orders.

"Fire, fire fiercely, leave no one behind—Gunpowder Barrel."

"Present."

"Ready."

"Each of you lead an armored division from the left and right coordinates of Immortal Mountain, execute a scorched earth attack on these two regions, and be careful not to let peripheral soldiers harm civilians or damage villages and crops. Anyone who disobeys will be shot on sight."

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir."

Gunpowder Barrel and Wolf Head didn't dare to delay for a moment and immediately carried out the orders. Both of them were well aware of John's temper. Normally, anything goes, but the current John was like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Apart from the legion commander, who might scold him, no one dared to rub him the wrong way at such a time.

Before they got far, another communications soldier hurried into the Command Room: "Report."

"Speak."

"Legion Commander, our scouts have detected six civilian shuttles fleeing towards the mainland from outside the domain; the target is 13 astronomical units away from the planet. Awaiting your instructions."

"Chase them, have them stop their ships immediately, and if warnings prove ineffective, destroy them directly."

John nearly roared his command, causing the guard to shudder with fright, "Understood."

God damn it! Think they can escape? Did they think the Blazing Flame Legion was some kind of joke? Even if it meant slaughtering their way to the inland star domains of the Zana Republic, they were going to be left behind at all costs—nobody was going anywhere. Every time John thought of the cause of the Legion Commander's death, his heart would twist in agonizing pain, and now, his emotions were as uncontrollable as a breached flood.

"Guard!"

"Present."

"Mobilize the Special Ops Team to track down the disciples of the Jade Clear Sect locally. Arrest them, and execute any resistors on the spot."

"Yes, sir."

The guilt lies in the treasure you carry, not in being a nobody. In that instant, John finally exhibited the ferocity that characterized him during his time with the Iron-Blooded Rebels. Having issued his orders, he quickly left the Command Room, pushing past a Mecha maintenance soldier, and with a few leaps, mounted one himself. He wanted battle, as if that was the only way to temper the emotions raging within him.

Far outside the Twin Planets domain, nearly 20 astronomical units away, the shuttle of the Jade Clear Sect had already initiated maximum speed in a desperate flight to the mainland. However, civilian shuttles were much slower than military speedboats and lacked long-distance scanning equipment. They could only rely on basic projections for observation. The distance wasn't considerable, and even the civilian shuttles had spotted the pursuing forces of the Blazing Flame Legion—a mixed fleet of small ships, including medium destroyers and cruisers, but the majority were escort speedboats.

"Great, great one, we've spotted the Blazing Flame Legion catching up to us," Mingfei reported, her face devoid of any color.

"Is that so..." Wu Tian's voice remained calm. He had anticipated that they would be pursued, but what he hadn't expected was that only a little over three hours had passed, and this troop was moving at such an astonishing speed. It confirmed the saying: "The essence of war is speed." "How far are they from us now?"

"17, no, they're already down to 16 astronomical units, and their speed is far superior to ours. I'm afraid they'll catch up in an hour."

"Accelerate."

"We're already at maximum speed."

"Is that so..." Wu Tian and the other elders could easily escape, as they each had translocation equipment. But how could they bear to abandon their disciples who had followed them?

Yet, they had to leave; there was no chance of survival otherwise. From the information they had about the destruction of the Jade Clear Sect, it was clear that even if these people surrendered, the Blazing Flame Legion would not simply let things be. In other words, to flee was to die, and not to flee was still to die.

It was at this moment that an elder hurriedly reported, "Great one, the Blazing Flame Legion has forcibly established a communication link with us through technological means."

"Hmm?"

"Great one, the Blazing Flame Legion is demanding that we stop immediately or they will open fire. They promise not to implicate the shuttle pilots, these innocent people. Right now, six shuttle pilots are causing a commotion, wanting to stop the ships, but we've taken control and are forcing the acceleration."

"What!?"

Boom...

Talk is idle chatter; don't take warnings as a joke. Amidst their conversation, the shuttle suddenly shook. A column of light, like a gamma-ray beam, shot straight into the distant depths of space. Under the blast of the shockwave, the last of the civilian shuttles was already engulfed in the cosmos, instantly destroying one of the civilian shuttles.

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