Chapter 775: Arrested

Star beast invasion?

Li Xiaofei was greatly surprised when he received the news.

According to the long-standing protocols of Chongque City, whenever a base planet evolved to a certain stage, it was indeed customary to introduce some ‘enemies’ as external stimuli to accelerate the process of evolution. The most common enemies were star beasts.

The sky cracked open. It was as if Pandora’s box had been opened as countless terrifying creatures of bizarre shapes emerged from the rift and descended upon the human world like a torrential rain.

Countless regions were instantly reduced to a living hell. Experts of the Dragon Group scattered in all directions to hunt the beasts. Yet the casualties were devastating. Never had so many Dragon Group warriors fallen in a single day since the formation of the Dragon Group.

Daoist Sanjue and Zhao Guoqiang both fell in battle alongside their comrades. Qi Honglei and Li Baoguo were severely injured. Moreover, over three thousand Sky level superpower individuals of the Dragon Group perished within a single day...

The number of ordinary human casualties exceeded one hundred million. Humanity had reached the brink of extinction.

Li Xiaofei was both shocked and enraged. He charged into the battlefield without a moment’s hesitation, slaughtering star beasts like a scythe cutting through wheat.

Whether it was ordinary cannon fodder star beasts, high-stage star beasts, super star beasts, or even Beast Kings, none of them could withstand a single blow from Li Xiaofei. They all crumbled like weeds before him.

He stood tall in the void and unleashed a wave of pressure. His divine sense swept across the land, locking onto the locations of the star beasts. Within just a few breaths, he had wiped out every star beast within several hundred miles.

Within tens of minutes, all star beasts within the Great Xia Realm had been annihilated. This was the first time Li Xiaofei had fully unleashed his power on Earth No. 1818. He was like a divine being from ancient legend descending upon the mortal world. His sudden appearance gave the desperate, wailing people who were struggling to survive the onslaught of the star beasts, a fleeting sense that a savior had arrived.

Soon, Li Xiaofei had swept across all the continents and eradicated every last star beast. Some Beast Kings who possessed intelligence sensed the overwhelming pressure from a high-stage lifeform and fled in terror, burrowing deep into the ocean to shiver in fear.

Li Xiaofei had no time to finish hunting them down. His divine sense scanned the heavens and quickly located the spatial zone where the array gate had first begun transporting in star beasts.

He instantly punched through the void. One could faintly glimpse several massive ships that resembled military transports through the rift in space. They were lurking in the darkness of space like grotesque and terrifying sea beasts.

The insignia of the Military Division of Chongque City could be seen on the hulls of the ships. They were Beast Transport Ships.

Li Xiaofei’s killing intent erupted like madness. He blinked into the breach before the spatial rift could close. His figure burned like a blazing star, surging toward the fleet at breakneck speed.

Boom!

He launched a punch at the lead transport ship. A visible energy shield materialized in mid-air, managing to resist Li Xiaofei’s strike for only a fraction of a second before shattering like thin ice hitting the ground. The terrifying force of his punch tore straight through the ship’s hull without restraint.

The giant vessel trembled as explosions rocked its several kilometer long body. Blinding flames mixed with black smoke surged outward! In an instant, alarms blared furiously throughout Subspace.

“Warning, warning...” A cold, metallic synthesized voice rang out from one of the warships, “This is Transport Ship of the 4th Fleet, 3rd District, Military Division of Chongque City. Chief Evolution Officer Li Xiaofei, cease your actions immediately. Cease your actions immediately...”

“Die.” Li Xiaofei showed no mercy.

It was this very fleet of transport ships that had used Subspace jumps to deliver the star beasts to Earth No. 1818. The number, scale, and strength level of the star beasts deployed had far exceeded all acceptable thresholds. An overwhelmingly enraged Li Xiaofei obliterated the entire transport fleet, condemning them to remain in Subspace for all eternity.

The situation had significantly stabilized by the time he returned to Earth No. 1818. The Dragon Group had assumed command and coordinated humanity’s efforts to rebuild their homeland at full speed.

But the sudden strike from the skies, the abrupt catastrophe brought on by the star beasts, had inflicted deep psychological trauma upon humanity, shattering the worldview of many. This calamity from beyond the heavens was far beyond anything the human mind could grasp.

All along, even the most fervent UFO enthusiasts had never truly believed that aliens would invade. But on that day, the disaster crushed humanity’s once-simple, almost naive hopes regarding aliens.

Fortunately, Li Xiaofei had appeared in time and turned the tide. When the latest casualty and economic loss reports were released, even Li Xiaofei couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air.

The global death toll had exceeded one hundred million. More than a hundred cities had been destroyed by the star beasts. Countless other damages were beyond measure. But Jiepeng had fared the worst of all.

It had been simultaneously attacked by dozens of super Beast Kings, and its major cities had been almost completely flattened. A nuclear power plant had been damaged and detonated, releasing radioactive wastewater that flooded the land, thoroughly contaminating the islands. Jiepeng had nearly been wiped off the map. Less than one percent of its population survived, and the region was a barren, lifeless wasteland.

***

Xiajing City.

“Chief.” Zhang Hongjing, Li Guorui, and others attended the funeral of Daoist Sanjue and the other fallen. They gathered silently around Li Xiaofei.

In this era of catastrophe descending from the heavens, the strength Li Xiaofei had displayed was humanity’s only hope.

Li Xiaofei said nothing as a light drizzle fell from the sky. The weather was unusually gloomy, reflecting Li Xiaofei’s heart. He did not immediately return to Chongque City to demand answers.

Standard protocol was that the deployment of star beasts to a base planet to stimulate evolution required the approval of that planet’s Chief Evolution Officer, as well as a detailed plan outlining the location and timing of the drop. However, this time, the Military Division of Chongque City had clearly bypassed him.

Of course, it was also possible that this attack had been orchestrated from the shadows by Eden. But mobilizing such a vast fleet of transport ships and releasing so many star beasts was truly impossible. If Eden was behind it, then its reach and power were far beyond anyone’s imagination.

Li Xiaofei waited. He waited for someone to step forward and question what had happened. Until then, he had resolved to accelerate the evolution of Earth No. 1818.

He released a vast number of Energy Spores across the planet. Everywhere, except for Jiepeng, experienced a dramatic surge in spiritual energy. Humanity, having just endured immense hardship, now saw more and more people awakening their superpowers.

Great Xia had a head start, and thus remained in a position of overwhelming advantage in superpower development. The Dragon Group maintained a firm grip on the global situation. A new era of evolution had arrived.

Ten days later, a formal letter of inquiry from Chongque City was delivered to Li Xiaofei. The message demanded that he return immediately to Chongque City to explain to the City Lord’s Office and the Council why he had attacked and destroyed the 4th Fleet Transport Ships of the Military Division’s Third District.

It had finally come. A trace of coldness flickered in Li Xiaofei’s eyes. So he had been overthinking it. It really wasn’t the doing of Eden. It had been Chongque City’s decision all along.

He calmly convened an emergency meeting and assigned several tasks to Li Guorui, Zhang Hongjing, and the others. He then visited Ah Qing, who was in closed-door cultivation at the golden summit of Mount Emei, only to be turned away at the door. Afterward, he traveled to Mount Kilimanjaro, where he met with Shin Koharu and sat quietly for a while before the ice statue of Ishihara Masami.

Twenty-four hours later, he arrived in Chongque City through a specialized teleportation array. The moment he stepped out of the Military Guard Bureau's teleportation fortress wormhole, he was immediately surrounded by a wave of heavily armored elite soldiers.

Every nearby checkpoint, the sky above, hidden sentries, all manner of concealed weapons, formation energies, and both overt and covert guards; all of them locked onto Li Xiaofei.

Li Sheng, the Director of the Military Guard Bureau, appeared in full formal attire. His expression was cold and his demeanor sharp.

“Chief Evolution Officer of Earth No. 1818, Li Xiaofei,” he announced, “According to City Lord’s Decree No. 3123, I hereby inform you that you are under arrest. Your charge is launching an unprovoked attack on a military transport fleet, causing massive personnel and property losses. You have the right to remain silent, but anything you say can and will be used as evidence in court. If you resist, we are authorized to execute you on the spot.”

Li Sheng’s voice rang clearly through the entire fortress. Before the words had even fully settled, dozens of oppressive auras surged, locking onto Li Xiaofei without hesitation. Countless threads of killing intent fixed upon him like invisible chains.

Li Xiaofei let out a sigh. He said nothing. He simply raised his hands slowly.

Click.

A pair of specially forged shackles locked around his wrists.