Planet Master

198- Ambush at Magadan (2)

The Slayer Division, along with Jeliel, was battling against the First Split Body Outer Being at Rank 6. Their battles would spread to the entire starfield if not for the space inside the Mothership that Jeliel controlled being strongly reinforced.Suddenly, the Outer Being roared and affected the battle that the Slayer Division was carefully not to be heavily corrupted by its aura alone.

The Slayer Division standard for being there was to become a Rank 8 transcendent. Of course, the vice leader was a Rank 9 transcendent and could decimate the Outer Being.

But the problem was that the corrupted thing truly could not be repaired. As for organic things, they could recover only after the corruption was removed from them.

The Slayer Division was careful not to break the internal workings of the Mothership so they formed an isolation formation where the First Splitbody Outer Being was contained.

Then the vice leader sent attacks one after another and that reduced the Outer Being into a state of powerlessness. Then the vice leader used a certain storage box to contain the outburst of the Outer Being.

After that, he sealed the box using the familiar technique specialized for the Outer Being.

Then they quickly went back to the bridge and realized that the bridge was slightly damaged. But the vice leader caught some corruption and wanted to heal it.

“Are you alright after the attack?” the vice leader asked. He knew that Dian’s group was without enhancement and support so he was concerned.

But to his surprise, there was only a trace of the Outer Being turned into dust as the dust entered the four humans.

“Looks like we managed to create the scenario when you all are away again.” Tatsumi said while coughing up air, clearly still in the midst of recovery.

“We are sorry, alright. We did not expect that the Outer Being would send a Nobility-class to investigate. By the way, kill this.” The vice leader threw the box and released the contents.

Ame was a step faster as she changed her umbrella to a spear, thrusting with all her might at the incoming Outer Being she barely perceived and killed it after hitting its core.

The First Splitbody Outer Being was then turned to dust along with its core, slowly flowing toward Ame.

“Hmm, I see.” Ame commented after assimilating with the dust.

“What do you understand?” Charlene came to Tatsumi’s side and provided recovery while asking Ame.

“Well, the main structure of the so-called Outer Beings, along with the memory of a transcendent fighter.” Ame replied concisely.

“Please tell us more.” Tatsumi requested that of her. Ame looked at Tatsumi and her gaze softened.

“It is consistent with what the others told us so far. It is just that this ambush operation is initiated by this particular Nobility to make sure that any budding problem will be eliminated. Fortunately, we killed its Splitbody.” Ame explained.

“Right, when the Splitbody is killed, it weakens the original Outer Being. So…”

-

In the void some distance away from the Mothership. Ao Guang was becoming more aggressive in his attack. Firstly because the corruption could be cured by humans and secondly because he could see the sign that the Outer Being Nobility’s Splitbody was killed.

Ao Guang, with the support that came from Tabitha, could crush the Soldier-class Outer Being but it needed to be careful of the corruption ray it emitted. The Nobility class was more stronger as well as more troublesome.

But with the support from Tabitha as well as a method to get rid of the corruption, he could fight with ease.

‘Why is his fighting style so aggressive? This is unusual. Furthermore, my Splitbody has been defeated thoroughly. This is strange since they should just return to me.’ The Nobility Outer Being thought.

But its thought was cut short by the relentless attack from Ao Guang. Claws, Dragon’s Breath, tail swipe, any attacks imaginable were thrown to the Outer Being and the Outer Being now felt the consequences of its split body being assimilated.

‘I have become weaker! What’s going on!?’

Ao Guang had the Outer Being cornered as he unleashed a combo of claw attacks before swiping his tail and then ending it with Dragon’s Breath.

The Outer Being Nobility was thus mostly eliminated when Ao Guang used the sealing box to contain the remains of the Outer Being Nobility. Then he felt something abnormal around the universe. The Outer Beings were being congregated to his direction.

“No, it is the direction where we create waves. Looks like it is an encirclement.” Ao Guang then quickly dispelled the reinforced space and returned to the Mothership.

-

“They will create an encirclement regardless of whether the Nobility Outer Being is alive or dead.” Ame finished her reports.

“Should’ve said that first.” Tatsumi said.

“What’s that you say?” Ao Guang suddenly appeared and the Slayer Division exclaimed.

“You sensed them too, right? The Outer Being surrounding Magadan Frontline. We need to contact the Commander about this.” Ame said seriously.

“Please do as she says. I am afraid that this is a targeted scheme. If they managed to find the true source of the disappearance of their lower members, the fear might spread to the upper echelon and force them to do something drastic just to eliminate the source.” Tatsumi said in a firm tone.

Of course, everyone knew the source of the disappearance of the Outer Beings was the four humans that Dian had brought.

“I also requested that we retreat. I have gained enough and should be sufficient to promote to Fourth Rank Planet Master.” Dian said.

After all, the profit should only be allowed to go to him on the premise that the safety of his group was guaranteed. If not, it was wiser to retreat.

Tritis heard what Dian had said. She also requested to contact the Commander before their eventual retreat.

Then Jeliel managed to connect to the Magadan Command Center.

A hologram appeared on the bridge. The half-beast white tiger commander Leah appeared on the hologram projection.

“I assume you would contact us since you have detected the movement of the Outer Beings.” Leah said confidently.

“That is right.” Tritis spoke truthfully.

“Well, despite the order from Venerable Yuan and Gorith to launch an offensive, those Outer Beings still have some reserves to do this encirclement. You have managed to do something that probably cannot be done by others, right?” Leah grinned, and her two canine teeth were visible.

“You catch on quick. We are en route to escape from this Frontline-59, right?” Tritis looked at Jeliel and knew that Jeliel was already on the case.

The Mothership had already entered hyperspace and started its warp engine. They currently were moving through one universe after another but the encirclement became tighter.

“Right, Your Excellency.” Jeliel replied.

“But the encirclement becomes tighter as we move to the Command Center.” Jeliel added.

Dian then convened with his group in the meantime.

He looked at a dozen individuals who followed him to this dangerous place. He felt that he did not treat them well and only cared about himself in one moment.

“Father God, are you alright?” As the one who had observed Dian the most, Tatsumi had an inkling when Dian was not fine. At least, his instinct as a living being told him so.

Dian looked at Tatsumi, who was sitting cross-legged, and patted him on the head.

“I am just considering repaying you all for helping me. That is what I intended to do.” Dian opened his mouth and looked Tatsumi in the eye.

“No need for that. You are doing something that will benefit us all, right? I know that to be the case but you shouldn’t regard yourself short.” Tatsumi blinked his eyes and stared back at Dian.

“He is right. You should focus on making things better for yourself and for others.” Charlene went to Tatsumi’s side and also said this to Dian.

Dian felt guilty about doing this from the start. Now that even his race was consoling him, he felt suffocated inside. He had no way to properly repay this, so he felt guilty.

“You are doing this because you wanted your races and civilization to advance, right? So don’t feel guilty about this and strive more.” Tritis saw this and then gave Dian some words to encourage him.

“Most of the things we have are due to give and take. If I take something from them, it is proper that I compensate them with something of equal value.” Dian reasoned with this.

“The fact that you are thinking about this shows that you are a proper being to me. So let us do something for our civilization too. So far, our transcendent capabilities and technological prowess have increased just by staying here.” Tatsumi said while looking at Charlene and the others.

“Even so, I need to properly repay you, otherwise, I will feel guilty.” Dian vehemently raised the point, so Tatsumi knew that Dian would not budge on this. Therefore…

“How about injecting me with energy? That should repay me the most.” Tatsumi suddenly said after some time thinking.

“Husband!” Ame and Charlene were the first to protest. They knew that injecting pure energy into them was dangerous even if Tatsumi had perfect compatibility with Ether.

“This is between Him and me. If He wanted to repay us so badly, might as well do this.” Tatsumi stated.

“But first, let’s purify ourselves from the corruption first, shall we?” Ao Guang said as his body was filled with crimson-black color.

“Let me do it in his stead.” Ame offered herself for the task while Tatsumi had to be powered up with pure energy from Dian.

“We are too.” The Slayer Division was the one who had faced the Outer Being. So there would definitely be some signs of corruption. They also felt that only the humans in front of them could strip the corruption away.

And so, Ame received quite a lot of dust. So much so that she divided it and gave the rest to Long Wu, Charlene and Tatsumi.

Tatsumi on the other hand was sitting while Dian placed His hand on Tatsumi’s head. Then he channeled his pure energy into Tatsumi’s body. As He did this, Dian realized that dust was assimilating with Tatsumi’s body.

“Ugh.” Tatsumi felt pain and almost jolted out. But then he started to let the dust assimilate in a manner that tempered his body properly. His energy vein, blood vein as well as cellular activity increased due to the incoming surplus energy.

Ame, Charlene and Long Wu also seated themselves and did exactly as Tatsumi did. Bore then ordered the rest of the group to form a circular formation with the four in the center. Bore knew that protecting the four was their most important duty while they were on the move.

The stars outside could not let their bright light reach the Mothership at all as it moved.

Even so, making advancement during the travel was both exciting and dangerous.

Tatsumi even started to bleed out from his pores, staining his clothes red. But his expression turned calm as he strengthened his body, mind and refined his techniques from watching Ao Guang and the others showing off to him indirectly.

Dian had to remain in his position. He had to channel pure energy into Tatsumi as repayment, and the dust of the Outer Being began to assimilate into Tatsumi, though the process was slow.

First Heavenstage.

Second Heavenstage.

Third Heavenstage.

Before Dian knew it, Tatsumi had broken through to the Third Heavenstage in one fell swoop. That was just his transcendent base. His body was also strengthening to catch up too, reaching Rank 3 prowess too as his mind started to open the third Mind Palace locked with Psyche-Lock.

But a pool of blood had accumulated beneath Tatsumi without his realizing it.

He was internalizing the technique he had theorized while stabilizing the incoming energy to make it his. The three connected dantians were pulsing with Ether. The Ether flowed in his body and rammed against his energy vein, forcing it to expand.

The process also grazed his blood vein and caused internal bleeding in him.

This also happened to Ame, Charlene and Long Wu. They were also bleeding externally and internally but Dian gritted his teeth and also covered them in protective membranes which cost several energy points.

They were also breaking through to the First Heavenstage of the Planetary Realm, then to the Second.

They were increasing their transcendent base as if pursuing Tatsumi.

Bore and the others were watching, wanting to know the intricate workings of the transcendent who became a pioneer, paving the way for future generations.

Dian then felt that his energy pouring on Tatsumi was finally cut off. He retracted his hand and could only watch with concern.

Then a crack could be heard from Tatsumi as his brow furrowed and he finally broke through to the Fourth Heavenstage of the Planetary Realm. Jeliel then reinforced the space slightly so that the breakthrough did not disturb the ongoing Mothership.

Fortunately, one of the features of the Mothership was its own separate internal space. This made it possible for one to do things despite the situation outside.

And this feature also helped the Machina Race to break through to a higher transcendent rank inside the Mothership without being detected outside.

Then Tatsumi breathed out, and a crimson mist appeared. Heat was generated and a small spark of lightning appeared around his body.

“Hah.” Tatsumi opened his eyes and saw the mess he was in and the pool of blood under him. He also felt a metallic taste as well as smelling it in his nose.

“Oh, time to clean myself.” Tatsumi swept his hand and the pool of blood turned into Ether and flowed back into his body, to be recycled to his heart.

“How fortunate of you.” Dian forced a smile. He felt that his Star Child was suffering yet he could not help much with that.

“Yes. I am in the middle of the Rank 3 transcendent, right?” Tatsumi asked Dian for confirmation since the rank classification came from Dian.

For the Cerulean Planet civilization, Rank 3 was called the Planetary Realm.

Tatsumi then introspected himself and saw that the planet seed had grown into a planet. Not just one planet but several planets existed in his lower dantian. They were floating in the middle of it and the space in the lower dantian was expanded just like the starry skies Tatsumi often saw in the sky.

He felt that his little planets could connect with the ones outside. And his initial planet was so similar to the Cerulean Planet in form and composition that Tatsumi wondered whether something was in effect there.

“Right, you are.” Dian nodded.

“Good, but are they also advancing?” Tatsumi turned his head since his mental scan had sensed that three humans were trying to raise their transcendent base.

Tatsumi blinked his eyes and his black eyes turned jade-colored. He saw the circulation of the assimilated dust that turned into transcendent energy of the person they were assimilated with.

But he also noticed the small pools of blood under them as they sat cross-legged there, bleeding through their pores.

His heart suddenly filled with worry but then he looked at Dian and He was just looking at them without interrupting. Tatsumi decided to trust Dian on this one.

‘I mean, I was also in a similar situation. Who am I to say to assist them when it is a personal matter?’ Tatsumi thought.

“Their breakthrough is fundamentally different from ours.” Ao Guang noticed the abnormality within the energy unleashed and the pulse it generated.

“Hmm. The cause is most likely the transcendent path they take.” Tabitha closed her eyes and tried to connect the effect and the cause and she got the answer even though it was a bit vague.

Tatsumi stood up and looked around. He sensed the hyperspace the Mothership was in and knew that he was safe inside.

“Thank you for the gesture.” Tatsumi patted Bore on the shoulder as a form of recognition.

Bore sighed and nodded. The others were filled with envy as they saw a transcendent reaching higher heights.

“But more importantly, we are moving between universes according to the specifications of the Mothership. Is that correct?” Dian asked Jeliel.

“Yes. The Mothership is designed to travel between universes. It is the main battle ships of the Machina Race. My mission is to safeguard Her Excellency Tritis so my actions will greatly reflect that.” Jeliel replied with her synthetic tone.

“But the Outer Being surrounding us is commanded by the Nobility-class, right?” Dian asked again.

Which Tritis nodded with a heavy expression.

“Then why are they maintaining the encirclement?” Dian pressed.

“Because they received a directive from the higher Nobility-class.” Tritis said.

“That is why I gave the order to Jeliel to move in a certain direction. After we defeated the Nobility-class Outer Being, we just moved away while the Mothership handled the attack from outside.”

Dian sighed but when he thought about it again, it was understandable. All of the things Dian had seen were due to Tritis helping him, lending him a hand as promised. But he should not take that for granted.

“We just need to get back to the Command Center, right?” Dian asked the last question he had on his mind.

“Yes. But we need a strong frontal attack to break through the encirclement. That is why we need to get rid of the strongest enemies first. That has come true, so all we need to do is to lend your transcendent energy to let the bow cannon fire.” Jeliel said.

“Note: I want to include all of the transcendents on the Mothership to do that. This is also to test a certain hypothesis and will be included in battle data against the Outer Being.” Jeliel stated.