Chapter 7499 Entering the Jaws of Death

The combined fleet finally arrived in the ominous Hypeh-Tekas System.

The Saint Commander almost decided not to go through with this risky venture due to the continued inability to glean any useful intelligence from this restricted star system.

Just as the different detachments of the Premier Fleet and the Bluejay Fleet converged at a star system that was located only a few light-years away from their mission location, all forms of remote observation failed to yield any results.

"Optical sensors and other long-distance sensors have failed to register anything of importance. The light that has traveled to our current location is several years out of date. We are observing a long-range snapshot of what the Hypeh-Tekas System used to be just after the Great Severing. The Red Cabal had yet to turn this location into a restricted area. We can only rely on our more exotic non-lightspeed sensor systems to determine that the present situation at this site has changed. We have detected… unusual distortions. However, the signal-to-noise ratio is so bad that we cannot derive any definite conclusions from this unreliable set of data."

In contrast to the RA and RF officers and scientists who relied on high-tech instruments to determine what was taking place in the adjacent star system, the seers who hailed from the RC could share a bit of actual substance.

"Now that we have traveled as close to the Hypeh-Tekas System as we can before actually entering it, we have slightly been able to refine our scryings." The Farseer explained to Casella. "We are much more certain about our conclusion that we are actively being obstructed by the other side. We are convinced of this as the resistance is too systematic for it to be a natural phenomenon. It appears that the Red Cabal, the deathborn or another group not only possesses the relevant knowledge, but are actively making use of it to blind our senses."

That had worrying implications. The native aliens did not have a cultivator tradition, so they shouldn't be proficient in these kinds of arts.

There was a good chance that cultivators loyal to the Cosmopolitan Movement may have lent the Red Cabal a hand!

That was not the only possible explanation, though.

"Who do you think is responsible?"

"We truly cannot say. We cannot even tell you whether the obstructions are technological or mystical in nature. The only means of obtaining the answers is to launch an incursion into the Hypeh-Tekas System and see for ourselves. If we can record and analyze the opposing side's solutions at close proximity, we will be able to develop countermeasures that should help us the next time we encounter similar blockages."

"Have you been able to ascertain other details, Andrea?"

The Farseer paused for a few seconds. "The Hypeh-Tekas System is steeped in death, and not just in a figurative manner. If we choose to venture forward, then we must be prepared to guard your lives well. The boundary between life and death may be thinner than anywhere else in the new frontier. It is not healthy for human beings with weaker souls to expose themselves to such an environment over a prolonged period of time. If the concentration of death energy is higher, then it can potentially drain their lifespans."

That sounded quite concerning!

The Saint Commander frowned. "Is this the reason why the crew of the Terran stealth frigate failed to maintain contact after their initial burst transmission?"

"The possibility exists. There may be other reasons behind the quick elimination, but your theory is plausible."

"Then it is of great importance that we guard against this lethal effect. Are you able to deploy any countermeasures?"

"That is what we have been working on in the past week." Andrea Vos replied. "We have been working together with the Terrans to plant at least one Gaia Tree in every starship. We cannot vouch for their effectiveness, but they should at least provide a light amount of protection. Living mechs and most particularly Woodsap mechs should also be effective in repelling unpleasant energies. However, we believe that the most powerful forms of protection will come in the form of your Command Field and the Saint Kingdoms of other ace pilots."

Casella could already think of that herself. "That may be true, but we will all be strained if we have to sustain our domain fields for days on end. It is better if we can rely on the Gaia Trees and possibly the Woodsap mechs to cover all of our naval assets. We must never put our hopes behind protection that only has a single point of failure. It would be even better if we can deploy a third solution."

"My fellow formation masters and I are already working on that." The head of the Moloch Squadron said with a smile. "We are in the process of developing a makeshift defensive spell array that should counteract an environment that is saturated with death energy by generating the opposing element. We cannot make any promises regarding its effectiveness, but if it works, we hope it will provide sufficient protection to an entire fleet as long as its starships do not disperse too much."

That sounded like a promising solution, but only if it actually worked.

"How soon will you and your men be able to complete this new formation?"

"Not in time before we are scheduled to arrive. However, this is not entirely detrimental to our work. If we are able to experience the actual environment inside the Hypeh-Tekas System, we will finally know what we are dealing with. We can incorporate much more targeted and effective measures into our defensive qi formation. Once we finally deploy it, the protection that it can offer will surely be satisfactory."

The delay in time was unpleasant. Saint Commander Casella could not judge whether it was better to postpone their mission to cobble a more rudimentary solution together.

In the end, she decided to move now rather than later with the hope of developing a more effective countermeasure.

Casella did not know why, but her intuition told her that they would all come into contact with something unfathomable at their next destination.

Rather than put her hopes behind a half-baked solution, it may be better to take a risk in order to obtain a more targeted and effective means of protection.

With those thoughts in mind, Casella issued the fateful order, thereby bringing the Larkinsons and other elite personnel right into the jaws of death!

During the tense and relatively brief period of hours in FTL travel, the various soldiers, servicemen and civilians felt little different than before.

At most, a vague weight seemed to press onto their souls. The closer the distance, the heavier and more substantial this invisible burden became.

Yet from the moment all of the starships of the combined fleet exited from FTL travel at the same time, they immediately lost their breaths as this metaphorical weight seemed to become stronger by at least several orders of magnitude!

"Ah!"

"My heart!"

"Emergency!"

A large amount of personnel spread across dozens of starships experienced severe discomfort right away!

Despite the Gaia Trees planted on their respective ships, these vitality-filled bioproducts could not offer strong protection, especially in the more distant sections of larger hulls.

Most of the people who became debilitated at the start were indeed stationed at these distant and less protected locations.

However, there were also a handful of people who experienced the same soul-crushing weight that were situated a hundred meters or less from a Gaia Tree!

Regardless of what was happening, rescue personnel immediately picked the distressed men and women up and brought them right next to the Gaia Trees or other potent sources of life!

"It is working! I can breathe again."

"Miiiaaaow!"

"Miow miow miow!"

"Whoa. Our cats are coming as well."

It was not just the humans that got affected by the oppressive environment of the Hypeh-Tekas System.

The cats that made themselves home in the Larkinson-owned vessels seemed to be sensitive towards it as well, though strangely not as badly as the most vulnerable humans.

All of them were able to move to the Gaia Trees by themselves, thereby avoiding any trouble for their human owners and partners.

Several minutes passed as the various crews addressed the most immediate problems.

This also gave them enough time to ascertain the conditions of this highly unusual star system.

"Well, the seers are correct." Ves said over the command channel. "The Hypeh-Tekas System is indeed drenched in death energy. What I find the most remarkable is how it has become so ubiquitous that the anomalous energy field apparently has a diameter of well over 10 AUs! This is ridiculous! Most God Kingdoms cannot even cover so much distance! There is so much of it that I cannot imagine how the Red Cabal has managed to produce so much. Even if the phase whales have slaughtered tens of billions of humans or native aliens, it is impossible to produce so much death energy, let alone make it stick around!"

Formation Master Andrea Vos shared her own observations. "This is an unnatural environment. No ordinary means can create the conditions that we are being subjected to. While we need more time to fully understand what we have come into contact with, we can share our preliminary conclusions. The first and most important is that we are fairly certain that this extremely large field of death energy is a deliberate outcome. We are even willing to bet that a foreign but highly profound grand qi formation is responsible."

"What?! Are you sure?"

"No other possibilities can provide a satisfactory explanation, sir." The qi cultivator responded. "A spell array at the scale of at least several AUs is the most probable cause according to our own analysis. Whether the formation is human or alien in origin remains unclear. All we can state is that the methods and application of the opposing side is incredibly profound. We are not dealing with amateurs. They know their craft even better than us. This means that our adversaries may have implemented other spell arrays that produce different effects."

That sounded bad. Really bad.

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