Sitting in front of his desk, Luo Feng pondered for a moment before contacting the intelligence department. The connection was quickly established.
“Your Highness Luo Feng,” a crisp voice came through the laptop screen.
“I’ve just received the highest-ranked mission,” Luo Feng said. “I need detailed information regarding the first stage of this mission, ‘The Fire Phoenix Group,’ including the residences and strengths of all eighteen high-ranking members. How long will it take to send it all to me?”
“It’s already prepared.”
The crisp voice replied, “The information is now being sent to your inbox.”
“Alright,” Luo Feng nodded.
Beep!
A massive amount of complex intelligence was compiled and directly sent to Luo Feng’s inbox. The file was simply named “Fire Phoenix Group.” Sitting at his desk, Luo Feng clicked it open and began reading rapidly. The intelligence provided by the department was far more detailed than the earlier mission briefings.
“It’s truly…”
“Utterly vile!” Luo Feng’s expression darkened as he scanned the text further. “They’ve descended to such repugnant depths. Back on Earth, particularly during the apocalyptic era following the Great Nirvana, many acts transgressed all moral boundaries. Yet I never fathomed that compared to the cosmic horrors unfolding across the universe, Earth’s darkest chapters would pale into insignificance—mere putrid specks of corruption.”
(Note: I’ve rendered “末世” as “apocalyptic era” and “涅槃” as “Nirvana” to preserve the metaphysical weight of the terms while adapting them for an English fantasy context. The translation amplifies the visceral disgust and cosmic scale implied in the original, using phrases like “repugnant depths” and “cosmic horrors” to match the tone of high-stakes fantasy narratives.)
Amidst the wars fought by countless powerful beings, the entire 1008 Cosmic Nation enjoyed peace.
Sacrifice brought peace!
The mighty warriors stood as sentinels at the borders of mankind!
In such a peaceful world, certain individuals with power and background—such as a son of a Domain Lord who dominated a low-tier civilization in the cosmos—would stagnate at the Stellar King level, unable to progress further, and lacked the qualifications to inherit the family leadership. Without a goal, they naturally began to rot away.
These individuals, who lacked purpose yet wielded power and wealth, would commit unimaginable atrocities.
Eating humans alive, consuming infants—these were no longer shocking to the rotten elite. They would unleash their boundless imagination in torturing slaves, knowing full well that such acts would not be punished by law. After growing bored of torturing slaves, they turned their attention to the citizens of the cosmos. If torturing slaves no longer brought satisfaction, then they would torture cosmic citizens instead. In short, human desire is endless, and the Fire Phoenix Group exists to satisfy these twisted cravings.
“If there were such people in my Luo family, I would kill one if there was one, ten if there were ten. Such rotten beings are better off dead.” A flash of coldness passed through Luo Feng’s eyes. “However, the borders of humanity are vast, and the population is infinite. There will always be both outstanding elites and despicable scum.”
The Eighteen High Lords, also known as the 18 directors of the Fire Phoenix Group.
These eighteen directors jointly controlled the entire Fire Phoenix Group, and every hundred years, one of them would be elected to temporarily serve as the leader, with the position rotating among them.
The eighteen directors were:
Kelaqi: A 9th-tier Domain Lord, currently dwelling upon the slave-breeding world known as ‘Bes Planet.’
Kafen: An 8th-tier Domain Lord, currently dwelling upon the capital world of ‘Cuilang Prime’ within the Cuilang Starfield.
Bennidixika: A 9th-tier Domain Lord, currently dwelling upon the tourist world known as ‘Fudi Planet.’
…
Pansi: 3rd-tier World Lord, currently residing at the Fire Phoenix Group’s headquarters, the “Bain Asteroid Belt.”
“Eighteen,” Luo Feng said, looking at the list of eighteen names and their respective locations. “Babata, calculate their positions and choose the shortest possible route. I don’t want to take any detours.”
“Understood!”
Babata quickly calculated and immediately responded, “I’ve finished. Luo Feng, the shortest route for your mission would be to target Kelaqi first, then Kafen… and finally Pansi. It’s exactly the same order as listed in the intelligence report.”
A glint of coldness flashed in Luo Feng’s eyes as he chuckled darkly, “It seems the intelligence department has thought things through thoroughly. Let’s move out—head to Bes Planet!”
…
Originally heading toward the Heilongshan Starfield of the Qianwu Cosmic Nation, the Yimo Starship slightly adjusted its angle in the dark universe.
“Estimated arrival at Bes Planet in five months and eight days!”
…
Five months and eight days later.
Inside the control room of the Yimo Starship, Luo Feng and Dylan stood silently as Babata’s countdown echoed through the chamber: “5…4…3…2…1…Transit!”
In an instant, they had transited back into the original universe. Through the external virtual display, they could see the distant stars.
“Bes Planet,” Luo Feng’s gaze settled on the nearest planet in the distant starry sky. It was a planet with a white and dark-red mottled appearance. The white was the cloud layer, while the dark red was the dominant color of the planet itself. This was Luo Feng’s first destination—Bes Planet.
“Your Highness, what’s the plan?” Dylan looked at Luo Feng.
“Dylan, remember—don’t interfere at all. This mission must be handled by me personally.” Luo Feng gazed at the distant planet, a trace of coldness flickering in his eyes. “As for how to handle it, I’ve already made my decision.”
The highest-ranked mission had initially left Luo Feng puzzled and confused.
But after some contemplation, he had more or less figured it out. First, the personalities of the members of the Virtual Universe Company’s Primordial Secret Realm varied widely. Geniuses often had unique traits—some were bloodthirsty, some were cold and indifferent, some were gentle and kind, and some were mad and eccentric. History was filled with countless such geniuses.
Different personalities would naturally approach the mission differently.
Those with a penchant for slaughter would likely pass immediate death sentences.
Others, more composed, might only impose prison sentences if the crimes weren’t deemed too severe.
Clearly, there was no one-size-fits-all solution. It would be unreasonable to force everyone to choose execution.
Therefore, this mission indeed had no fixed answer—it all depended on the individual’s approach.
Moreover, the mission description had already stated—”The first stage is the first step of the entire highest-ranked mission and also the most important one! This step determines whether you can proceed to the next stage, and it also sets the foundational tone for the final ‘additional reward’ judgment after completing all four stages. Therefore, please complete this stage with utmost seriousness and completeness.”
Foundational tone?
Luo Feng believed it mainly referred to confirming the individual’s personal style!
“There is no right or wrong in choice.
Everything depends on whether the high-ranking officials of the Virtual Universe Company appreciate your methods. If they do, they will grant a high completion rate, even a 100% completion reward,” Luo Feng murmured. “That’s why the mission requires continuous Virtual Universe Network transmission from start to finish.”
…
The Yimo Starship continued its approach toward Bes Planet. This modified F-class spaceship was undetectable by Bes Planet’s defensive systems.
As they reached the planet’s atmosphere.
“Whoosh!”
Luo Feng and Dylan flew out from the ship’s hatch, and Luo Feng immediately stored the Yimo Starship within his inner world.
“Babata, activate the Virtual Universe Network synchronization transmission,” Luo Feng ordered.
“Activated.”
From this moment on, everything Luo Feng did would be recorded and observed.
“Dylan, let’s go down,” Luo Feng said.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Two streaks of light rapidly descended into the atmosphere of Bes Planet. Dylan, being an immortal god, was naturally undetectable to the planet’s inhabitants.
…
On the eastern hemisphere of Bes Planet, vast mountain ranges stretched endlessly. The peaks were barren at the top, clearly due to the high altitude making plant survival difficult. The lower parts of the mountains were covered with red trees and vegetation. Many native inhabitants struggled to traverse the forests. At several ten-thousand-meter altitudes, the difficult terrain made it extremely challenging for these natives to gather medicinal herbs.
“Honghuo Grass” was the primary medicinal herb exported from Bes Planet.
Slaves were responsible for harvesting the Honghuo Grass. Each small tribe was required to collect a sufficient amount annually. If they failed, large numbers of slaves from that tribe would be taken away and sold as punishment.
Under the overwhelming military power of the slave-trading syndicate and the omnipresent high-tech surveillance across the planet, no slave tribe dared to defy the slave-trading organization.
“Father, I can’t go on. Let me rest for a bit.”
“Endure it. Hurry and find more Honghuo Grass. You’ve only found ninety-two sprigs today, fewer than yesterday. At this rate, our family won’t get enough food and will starve.”
The slaves wandered through the forests, carefully searching for Honghuo Grass.
Honghuo Grass was a naturally occurring herb on Bes Planet, difficult to find. Those unfamiliar with it might not even recognize it even if they saw it, given the countless plant species in the deep forests.
…
At that moment—
“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”
Two figures descended rapidly from outer space, landing instantly on a mountaintop.
Atop the peak stood a man clad in silver battle armor and boots, with a forearm-mounted holo-display. He coldly surveyed the endless land below. Beside him stood a bald man in black robes, his eyes glowing like a celestial deity descending upon this planet.
“Are those the slaves of this planet?” Luo Feng, standing on the mountain, gazed into the distance. He could clearly see the faces and pores of the natives in the forests far below.
“Yes,” Dylan nodded. “According to the reports, these natives were originally the inhabitants of this planet. After the Fire Phoenix Group purchased it, their status was changed to ‘slaves,’ bound for generations. They must use their natural talents to harvest this rare Honghuo Grass.”
…
Standing atop the mountain peak, Luo Feng instantly cast his mental perception across a thousand kilometers, clearly understanding everything within that range.
“Within a thousand kilometers, there are 82,190,000 natives,” Luo Feng gazed at the pitiful inhabitants below, his voice low. “Only twelve of them are at the Star-Training level, while the rest are all ordinary apprentices. There are also many surveillance devices within this thousand-kilometer radius, keeping every move of these natives under strict control.”
“Slaves…” Luo Feng murmured, recalling his own Earth, which had nearly become a slave planet.
Dylan looked at Luo Feng.
“Whoosh!”
In an instant, Luo Feng’s figure flickered, and he had already reached hundreds of kilometers away. Dylan quickly followed suit, flashing his body to catch up.
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