Chapter 196: The Fire of Purgatory (2)

“Are you doing this for yourself, or for the rebellion against the Empire?” Yang Hao suddenly asked, his voice calm but laced with coldness. “The annihilation of the Trinary Sea probably affects you the most, doesn’t it? For your own position, you were willing to make your daughter the fiancée of an Imperial General, and now you’re willing to let her die. Mr. Steve, you’re truly a big shot, willing to do anything to achieve your goals.”

“Leader Yang Hao!” Steve inhaled deeply, his voice turning hoarse.

But Yang Hao waved his hand dismissively. “This is my ship, and it obeys only my orders. I won’t allow the Doomsday Kiss to be launched, so it won’t be launched.”

“Are you just going to let the Trinary Sea star system be destroyed?” Steve’s eyes widened. “With so many ships, the military force we’ve accumulated over so many years, are we just going to abandon it?”

Though Steve was heartless and unprincipled, his words did hold some truth. The Trinary Sea was filled with countless ships and many innocent people. Though they had been dragged into Steve’s war machine, they certainly didn’t deserve to die.

As Yang Hao hesitated, Steve thought he had already decided to do nothing. The man’s eyes flashed with viciousness, and he bluntly gave the order: “Launch! I order you to launch immediately!!!”

The preparations for launching the Doomsday Kiss had long been completed; all it required was for X13 to press the button. However, X13 obeyed Yang Hao’s orders, so Steve’s words had no effect whatsoever.

Therefore, in theory, no matter how hard Steve gave orders, they wouldn’t have any effect.

But today was an exception.

Suddenly, someone rushed forward, struck X13 aside with the butt of a gun, and pressed the launch button.

The Doomsday-class battleship gave a slight tremor, like a gentle push. But in an instant, all the energy vanished, and the lights and instruments paused for a full second. At the top of the battleship, from the muzzle of the Doomsday Kiss, a massive and brilliant silver glow erupted. This glow resembled an inconceivable swarm of meteors, swiftly rushing toward the direction of the Sunset Fleet.

The weapon known as the Doomsday Kiss, which had never been used before, had actually been launched.

Yang Hao stared up in shock as the silver light illuminated half the universe. The distant starlight instantly lost its color, and along its path, all matter was annihilated by the passing silver glow. The brilliance hadn’t even fully erupted yet, and it already possessed such power. If it struck the Sunset Fleet, especially concentrating its energy on a single point like the fleet’s formation, what kind of unimaginable force would be unleashed? No one could even begin to guess.

Everyone stared in shock at Lei, the squadron commander who had just launched the Doomsday Kiss. This man acted as if he had just done something ordinary. Not only did he press the button, but he also shot through the control panel of the Doomsday Kiss, making it nearly impossible for X13 to perform any follow-up recovery actions.

In other words, the Sunset Fleet, the Titan Warship, Luo Dongjie, and Amanda were all doomed to die in this launch.

Yang Hao watched as Longyun and others placed swords against Lei’s neck, trying to subdue the man, but Yang Hao shook his head and stopped Longyun.

Lei’s face was firm and resolute. “Mr. Steve is right. The Trinary Sea star system is vital to the rebellion against the Empire and absolutely cannot be lost.”

Looking at Lei’s self-righteous and solemn expression, as if preparing to face execution, Yang Hao could only shake his head. He didn’t bother arguing with this stubborn fool and instead turned to X13. “Get me a forcefield belt.”

X13 immediately threw one over.

As Longyun watched Yang Hao fasten it around himself, a faint blue forcefield immediately enveloped his body. A sense of foreboding welled up inside Longyun. “What are you planning to do, Yang Hao?”

Yang Hao looked up at the glowing mass of the Doomsday Kiss, rapidly approaching the Sunset Fleet. The Titan Warship, still paralyzed by its energy concentration, showed no sign of defense. Soon, it would become a blazing hell, and anyone nearby would have no chance of survival.

But Yang Hao was heading straight for that death trap. “I’m going to save Amanda. Others might be willing to sacrifice her, but I will bring her back.”

“You’re insane!” Longyun blocked Yang Hao’s path. “The Doomsday Kiss is the most powerful weapon besides the Light Hunter. Once launched, it can annihilate everything. Going there would be suicide.”

“I won’t let my woman die before my eyes,” Yang Hao smiled. “Just like I won’t let my friends die.”

Of course, Longyun couldn’t stop Yang Hao. The Yang Hao of today was no longer the one of yesterday. He shot upward like a rocket, straight through the damaged hull of the battleship, quickly vanishing into the vastness of space.

Inside the ship, the members of the Sword Team and Longyun watched anxiously as Yang Hao disappeared into the distance, while on the communication screen, Steve’s lips curled into a faint, sinister smile.

This strike from the Doomsday Kiss not only destroyed the Sunset Fleet and saved the Trinary Sea star system but also eliminated Yang Hao, who had miraculously returned from death. Wasn’t that an unexpected bonus?

Would Yang Hao really die? At least it seemed so. He wouldn’t even get to see Amanda before slowly perishing in the vacuum of space.

Although Yang Hao could already fly, his flight was only slightly better than basic levitation. In space, distances were measured in light-years. Although the distance to the Sunset Fleet wasn’t that far, even if Yang Hao flew there, it would still take an extremely long time.

But the glow of the Doomsday Kiss had already covered half the distance. In less than ten minutes, it would strike the Titan Warship’s fatal point. By then, even if Yang Hao didn’t care about his life, it would be impossible to get close.

At this moment, Yang Hao was like an ant slowly crawling through the universe.

“Disciple, how long do you think you’ll take to crawl there? By the time you arrive, you won’t be rescuing that girl—you’ll just be collecting her ashes,” the Hunyuan Zi quipped, still in the mood for jokes.

“Cut the crap and spit it out!” Yang Hao snapped. “You said reaching the Yuan Ying stage would allow me to ride a sword through the skies. But now I can’t even fly properly. I could fart farther than I can fly.”

“I just wanted to see how sharp your wits are,” Hunyuan Zi sighed. “I hoped you’d figure out the secret to sword flight on your own. Who knew you’d be so slow, still crawling around like a baby.”

“Hey! I’ve only been learning cultivation for a few months. To have reached this level already makes me a genius beyond compare, unrivaled in the heavens and unmatched in the world,” Yang Hao threatened. “Are you going to teach me sword flight or not? If not, I’ll immediately dissipate my powers and let myself drift into space, becoming your floating coffin.”

Even someone as eccentric as Hunyuan Zi was helpless in the face of this apprentice. He had no choice but to give in. “Alright, alright. Just take out a sword.”

Without needing to be told, Yang Hao already held the Flame Sword in his hand, ready.

“The secret to sword flight is to attach your Yuan Ying to the flying sword, letting your Yuan Ying control the sword, which then pulls your physical body along. This allows you to ride the wind and travel faster than a meteor.”

Yang Hao was highly skeptical. Given how clueless Hunyuan Zi was about basic cosmic knowledge, how could he possibly know how fast a meteor really was?

But there was no time to waste. To save his beloved, Yang Hao didn’t hesitate—he followed Hunyuan Zi’s instructions and attached his Yuan Ying to the Flame Sword.

“Waaah!! It’s burning me!!!” As soon as his Yuan Ying touched the Flame Sword, Yang Hao realized he had been tricked. This wasn’t sword flight—it was a volcano. The Flame Sword, refined by Yang Hao, had already reached the point where its flames were nearly as hot as true immortal fire. His Yuan Ying couldn’t withstand the heat, and in a panic, he screamed in pain.

“Who told you to choose the Flame Sword? Stupid,” Hunyuan Zi showed no sympathy at all, instead taking the opportunity to have Yang Hao’s physical body scratch his ears and pick his nose, clearly enjoying himself.

Though Yang Hao felt like he was being roasted alive, he thought to himself—if he had chosen the Ice Blade instead, wouldn’t he have turned into a popsicle? Even if it was like being roasted alive, at least it was better than freezing.

With this thought, his mind calmed, and his cultivation improved. In just a few seconds, Yang Hao had already learned to control the sword. Compared to playing a racing game, it wasn’t that much harder, but the speed was terrifyingly fast.

As Yang Hao exerted just a little force, the sword shot through the air like a beam of light, and the stars and cosmic debris around him rushed backward at incredible speed. Yang Hao estimated that if he gave it his all, the sword’s speed would rival that of a battleship’s jump, even reaching faster-than-light speeds.

But unlike a spaceship or a car, the sword had no brakes, so Yang Hao dared not go at full speed. Even so, he still arrived ahead of the Doomsday Kiss attack wave by several dozen seconds.

Several dozen seconds was enough. Like a high-speed bullet, Yang Hao quickly broke through the outer hull of the Titan Warship.

The largest and most powerful Titan Warship of the Empire had been breached by Yang Hao.

In the military structure of the Galactic Empire, a fleet is composed of various warships—cruisers, destroyers, battleships, and supply ships—all essential components. In terms of firepower, each warship has its strengths, but the battleship is undoubtedly the main force in combat. With its firepower configuration, the battleship is essentially an invincible war machine. The reason the Imperial Army can dominate the universe is precisely because battleships form the core of their forces.

However, in every major army, the flagship is always the Titan Warship. This is not because the Titan Warship possesses powerful ultimate weapons—in terms of firepower, ten battleships firing together can match it. The key lies in the Titan Warship’s immense size and its capacity for integration.

How big is the Titan Warship?

If a battleship is an insurmountable chasm in space, a massive war machine, then ten battleships combined would barely approach its scale.