Currently, Lei Ting, unable to fly across the distance in a short time, once again demonstrated his prowess as the galaxy’s premier artisan by manifesting a Star Net signal booster out of thin air in the depths of space.
*Tsk. If stable personal spatial displacement equipment hadn't remained undeveloped, I’d have crafted a set for myself by now.*
This foray into the battlefield had exposed too many of his shortcomings—a lack of rapid displacement capabilities and a deficiency in high-lethality finishing moves.
Although his sheer power allowed him to fly at speeds far exceeding those of ordinary espers, it did not match the true potential of his ability level. To address this, he had to find another way... perhaps by starting with that mysterious dimension, using it as a shortcut, or studying it to master the theoretical knowledge and technical application of miniature space-time travel.
As for high lethality...
While he could now destroy a star system in a short time or turn it into a radioactive, toxic wasteland, his utilization rate of his own superpower remained insufficiently high.
In other words, if an average person had a thousand energy units and a hundred health points, he had a hundred thousand energy units or more, but only two hundred health points. In conventional combat, a single attack of his consumed a thousand energy units to deal ten thousand damage; the enemy would be dead regardless. If the target was a metallic object, it was even better, as it carried a built-in one-hundred-percent "instant death" proc.
However, enemies in high-level combat—like the "Creeping Hounds" he had just encountered—might have fifty thousand energy units but a hundred thousand health points. Furthermore, under the support and nourishment of that strange dimension, they recovered exceptionally fast.
If he didn't tap into his stored nuclear energy, a normal attack would deal ten thousand damage, two thousand of which would be negated by a dark mist shield, resulting in eight thousand net damage. The problem was that before the next strike could land, the enemy would not only be fully healed but would have stacked their shields again.
That place was their home turf, and more of those baffling enemies were flanking him from the distance. If he didn't want to get bogged down in endless piecemeal reinforcements or a war of attrition, he could only quickly annihilate everything in sight or retreat.
But even so, retreat was his only real option. He lacked the ability to kill all at once an enemy force that could fill half a star system and was constantly replenishing its numbers.
Indeed, it wasn't until he left that he realized those ghostly things were actually multiplying—a snowballing growth. No wonder their numbers only seemed to increase the more he killed.
In short, he lacked highly destructive means or the technology to lock down a region of space. He had some preliminary ideas regarding this, but the specifics of implementation would have to wait until he returned to the Federation to see if any research institutes had produced something new he could "borrow."
If only his radiance could release heat. Unfortunately, it couldn't. After all, "Solar Star" was not true stellar power; even if it possessed some star-like qualities, its "lack of temperature" made it eternally distinct from a real sun.
But it didn't matter. His power was far from reaching its final, fixed form. He would find ways to compensate for everything he currently lacked.
Golden radiance, the towering mecha, and the spherical signal booster traveled through the starry void together. Lei Ting stared fixedly at the dark planet in the distance.
*Alright, putting aside "Star Gates"—which are essentially hardcore tech that forcibly holds a space-time rift open—the "Jump Engines and Induction Fields" widely implemented across the galaxy are actually the most basic applications of quantum and space-time technology.*
It was also technology the Galactic Empire had once scavenged from the "Ring World"... the very foundation upon which the Empire maintained its rule over such a vast territory.
However, when the Empire's capital on the Ring World fell, something occurred that remained highly classified even in today’s Coalition databases. From then on, almost all technical data the Empire hadn't shared was destroyed, and even shared technologies mostly vanished, suspected to have been hit by a mysterious technological purge with a radius stretching from the Galactic Core to the far side of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
But truthfully... if the Empire really possessed such power, why did they fall?
Lei Ting flew toward the distant planet at full speed. He even went as far as dismantling his mecha, using the power of "Solar Star" to hurl himself forward in his light armor state, looking like a pebble fired from a slingshot into deep space.
He had already cast the signal booster far ahead. Although he didn't know the current situation on that planet, his mental strength had already scanned some space debris drifting from that direction, detecting Human Union technological signatures and fresh, still-warm fractures.
Strong spatial fluctuations had occurred recently, and there were traces of Human Union activity... the people attacked alongside him were likely on that planet. Thus, on a planet where interference was too strong for detection, they would certainly need a signal booster.
Lei Ting watched the spherical booster fly off into the distance. His thoughts were currently very chaotic, which was why his mind had wandered to the Ring World earlier.
Under intense mental stimulation, his ability, which had recently entered the "Expansion Phase," seemed to be "expanding" in a literal sense, but this was clearly having an effect on his psyche.
Although the existence of "Immovable" naturally granted him immunity to most mental turmoil, he could not make the things rising from the depths of his heart disappear entirely.
In fact, "Immovable" actually slowed the rate at which his superpower evolved, as superpowers were closely linked to one's state of mind and emotional fluctuations. The price of being so emotionally stable that one never lost control was a slowdown in evolution; this was not difficult to understand.
But whether he abandoned "Immovable" or let it completely suppress all emotion, Lei Ting would likely turn into something "decidedly non-human" while his superpower underwent a massive evolution...
In the starry sky, the black-armored Superpower Mecha Pilot shook his head, forcing himself to clear his thoughts for the moment and focus on the task at hand.
As he brought the planet within the range of his mental scan, Lei Ting was astonished to find that the planet’s dimensional state was somewhat similar to the space-time he had entered previously.
No, "similar" wasn't the right word. Rather, its "coordinates" seemed to lie between the two, though its physical mass existed in this universe.
Therefore, it would neither be attacked by the demon-like creatures of that other space, nor could it be easily detected by the conventional technology of this universe. Even Lei Ting’s mental strength found it difficult to penetrate deep into its atmosphere for a precise lock-on; he could only barely find a blurry marker.
The insignia of the Flo "Deep Space Stealth" units.
"Placing oneself within the cracks outside of space"—that was likely the true face of "Deep Space Stealth" technology. But... how was it achieved?
If the Flo people had developed such technology themselves, they shouldn't be just a minor civilization... Were they limited by certain conditions that prevented them from rolling out this technology across their entire military, or... had they simply obtained the technological results without the corresponding data?
Lei Ting’s brow furrowed as he hovered outside the planet.
The situation was eerie and unclear. He didn't dare act recklessly; if he accidentally pushed this planet—which existed between two states—into that other space, or killed the Federation citizens on it while drastically altering the planetary terrain, his guilt would be immense.
*Did the mad "Double-S" ranks in history face situations like this too?*
This scenario where one was clearly very strong, yet "not strong enough"... this problem where one could certainly achieve results by acting, yet "dared not move"...
The feeling of being shackled caused an extreme sense of agitation to churn in Lei Ting’s heart. He crossed his arms, a golden light flashing in his eyes as he forcibly suppressed the emotions that were making the energy within him surge.
He could not lose his sanity at a time like this.
And... he wasn't entirely without options.
***
"The situation on this planet is very wrong. It’s suppressing our superpowers."
Sandro had a tube of nutrients clamped in his teeth, a faint blue glow shimmering in his eyes. He looked solemnly at the person in front of him. "Do you feel it?"
"Of course. I feel it more clearly than you do." Knott, sitting opposite him, adjusted several firearm components, which made dull, cold clicking sounds in his hands.
Not long ago, when Sandro’s group of four encountered danger, it was this veteran who had saved them.
His ability was the energy shield common to the Guardian class. Normally, it could tank several explosive rounds without issue, but on the battlefield just now, he had nearly drained himself dry just to withstand the force of a single explosion.
"I don't know what's going on..." The two students from the Second Academy beside them couldn't help but sigh.
"Don't overthink it. That's just how war is. You kill me, I kill you, ambushes back and forth. In the end, a winner is decided, but no one truly wins everything." Knott said, reassembling the firearm he had just inspected. "If only 'Solar Star' were here..."
"Hmm?" Sandro raised his eyes, which flickered with a cold light. "You know him?"
He obviously didn't mean "know" in the general sense—was there anyone in the Federation who didn't know Lei Ting?
"He saved my life." Knott seemed to smile beneath his faceplate.
Afterward, they rested for a while. Sandro took out his scanner again, checking for the direction with the best signal.
In less than two seconds, he sighed. "...Still that way. The high ground heavily guarded by the Flo. Maybe we haven't been here long enough... or maybe this damn planet doesn't rotate at all. The signal hasn't shifted in any other direction."
"Tsk..." The group voiced their collective frustration, their expressions so complex they were one step away from swearing.
While a war of attrition wasn't out of the question, this was the Flo people's home turf. The enemy had supplies and they didn't; if things dragged on, they were finished regardless.
In fact, they were already in a bad spot... the nutrient tube Sandro was chewing on had been contributed by Knott. Old soldiers always knew to hide a few things on their person for a rainy day.
"We’re retreating for now," Sandro said. "There are no enemies to the southeast. We’ll head that way first."
The others looked at each other and offered no objection. But Knott still asked, "How do you know there are no enemies there?"
"After combining the intelligence you gave me, I realized there’s a crashed Federation ship over there... and the thing the Flo fear most: nuclear radiation."
"Crap?!" The group was stunned. "There’s nuclear radiation and you still want to go there?!"
*Please, man, Orion humans are afraid of radiation too!*
"Radiation sequelae aren't an unsolvable problem for the Federation. Besides, I have a very bad feeling..." Sandro’s expression was grim. "It’s just a gamble with our lives. We have to find a way out as soon as possible."
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