The Blade Technique taught by the old man really was a bit different from the usual kind. Normally, the Blade Technique involved an eight-point cycle, with the spiritual sea at the center, circulating through eight key genetic core points around the body. But what Old Man taught used sixteen points, doubling the difficulty. For a rookie whose eighth brain region hadn’t even opened yet, Brian Carter really suffered back then. The key was... there was basically no special effect at all!

And in this beautiful hellhole, Brian Carter could only kill time by training. Without powered armor, he’d be dead and coughing up blood not long after stepping outside.

As a young man full of energy, and especially as a pure, innocent virgin, it was quite remarkable that Brian Carter could actually settle down and focus.

He’d been on Norton Star for a week now—a very peaceful week. Occasionally, he’d think of Old Man, but young people really do adapt quickly. To be honest, ever since he started practicing the Blade Technique, this was the first time Brian Carter had been so serious. If he didn’t focus on doing something, he’d go crazy. As long as he could form the first cycle, the normal Blade Technique was pretty easy to do, though it lost its effect over time. But Old Man’s cycle didn’t seem to have much effect either, and it took over five hours to complete a cycle—who had that kind of time?

But after taking care of his own business here, Brian Carter could only choose between having a dumb conversation with the dazed Black Charcoal, or training by himself. For the sake of his bright future, his great prospects, and for the day he could look down from above and toss Old Man a bottle of wine—then throw another one—Brian Carter decided to do some meaningful cultivation.

But fate wasn’t giving this hardworking young man a chance. On the morning of the seventh day—supposedly the day God rested in history—the alarm blared, as if trying to pierce Brian Carter’s eardrums. Brian Carter saw the screen filled with... Zago.

Damn it, which bastard said there were no Zago here!!!

Chapter 2: Escape

A dense swarm of Zago—though they were the most ordinary reptilian type, those claws could easily tear through steel. Shredding a rookie like Brian Carter would be no problem at all. The Federation never said there’d be things like this here. Where was the army?

“Master, under attack, under attack, please evacuate immediately, please evacuate immediately!” Black Charcoal beside him expressed its sense of crisis at top speed.

Brian Carter’s mind went blank. He was just a freshly graduated high schooler, dragged to this hellhole by a shameless Old Man. Right now, he should be on Earth, enjoying the sunshine and white clouds, enjoying the beauty of youth!

Calm down, calm down. What would you do if you were in danger on Earth?

Call 110!

But here?

Of course, call for help!

Like he’d discovered a new continent, Brian Carter dashed to the screen and frantically pressed buttons. Beep... connected.

“Help, help, Zago, lots of Zago, this is...”

Screech...

The beauty on the screen didn’t even get a word out before it turned to static. Hiss... hiss hiss...

What does it mean to want to cry but have no tears?

Signal interference???

There really was that kind of Zago unit—no attack power, but able to emit electromagnetic waves to jam human communications. Clearly, Norton Star’s anti-interference measures weren’t up to par.

On the monitor, the Zago casually tossed work robots weighing several tons into the air. As soon as they hit the ground, a bunch of octopus-like monsters swarmed in and tore them apart, quickly turning them into scrap metal. Brian Carter touched his own face—so tender, so soft.

“Black Charcoal, are there any weapons here?” Thinking quickly, Brian Carter didn’t want to die just like this—he wanted to fight back.

Black Charcoal shook its head blankly. “Master, the base is not equipped with weapons. If needed, please contact headquarters. Armed warriors will provide support.”

“Nonsense!” Brian Carter was so angry he could jump. He was still young, the sapling of the motherland—how could he die here!

Too bad, if he’d succeeded in opening his brain region and had powered armor, he... Looking at the screen, at least hundreds of Zago, he swallowed and gave up on the idea of a heroic massacre. At least he could run!

The Zago were tearing through the defenses layer by layer.

At this moment, alarms blared across the entire sky of Norton Star, and the main base was under massive attack by the Zago army. Norton Star had been under development for some time, with no sign of Zago until now. Clearly, these reptiles had been plotting a huge conspiracy. The soldiers were resisting, but the number of Zago was terrifying, and they’d appeared so suddenly, catching humanity completely off guard. Even the main base was on the brink of collapse—who had time to worry about anywhere else?

The highest-ranking officer in charge of the base, Colonel Earl, decisively ordered an evacuation. If they didn’t leave now, everyone here would be doomed. This was a conspiracy—a blatant Zago conspiracy!

In space, four giant mother nests were continuously spewing meteor-shower-like pods toward Norton Star. Norton Star’s defenses were nowhere near enough.

On Earth, at the highest human council, the representatives were passionately debating.

“This is a conspiracy—a conspiracy the Zago have been brewing for a long time! Our defenses on Norton Star were flawed; we should have fixed this long ago!”

“Senator Saul, strengthening the garrison there would require astronomical spending. You voted in favor back then too!”

“This isn’t the time to argue about that!”

“In the solar system, the Zago can’t possibly compete with us. We should have guessed they’d set their sights on Sagittarius!”