297: Your house was robbed? No, it was the target that came.

The smile on Lin Fan's face suddenly froze.

His Divine Sense, like an invisible sharp sword, pierced through layers of the Void Realm, clearly "seeing" the Star Domain being consumed by the flames of war.

Qingmu Star.

This planet, which he regarded as his grand rear base, was currently enveloped by a cyan light curtain as thin as a cicada's wing and covered in cracks, swaying precariously under a storm-like bombardment of energy.

Outside the light curtain were two massive fleets, each exuding a different aura.

One was pitch-black as ink, with Devilish Qi surging over the vessels; countless hideous demonic runes flickered with an ominous blood-light. Those were the Demonic Fiend Battleships of the Heavenly Charm Sect.

The other was hidden in the Void Realm, its hulls seemingly merging with the darkness. Only at the moment of firing would a corner of a hideous silhouette be exposed. Those were the Ghost Shadow Fleet of the Shadow Hall.

Thousands of warships formed an airtight net of death, completely blockading the entire Azurewood Star Region.

Destructive beams and Demonic Energy Cannons that twisted the Law were poured frantically onto Qingmu Star's Planetary Protection Formation as if they cost nothing.

With every bombardment, the cyan light curtain would tremble violently, its light dimming a fraction and its cracks increasing by an inch.

Collapse was only a matter of time.

A cold fury, one that hadn't appeared for a long time, slowly rose from the depths of Lin Fan's consciousness.

The secret base he had worked so hard to build, the nest he thought was safest, all the backup measures he left to protect Zhao Linger and the others... in the short time he was "dead," someone had actually come knocking and used it as target practice?

His home was being stolen?

No.

Lin Fan's eyes became incredibly deep in an instant.

This wasn't stealing his home.

This was someone specifically delivering the freshest, most suitable targets to his doorstep... Qingmu Star, Underground Base, Main Control Room.

The piercing alarm had already been ringing for three days and three nights.

The red warning lights reflected off everyone's faces in the room, making them look deathly pale.

"Report! Energy Core No. 3 is overloaded and has been forcibly shut down!"

"The Planetary Protection Formation's energy reserves are below three percent! It's estimated to hold for... three hundred breaths!"

"High-energy reaction detected! It's the enemy's flagship main cannon! The target is directly aimed at our base's main entrance!"

One desperate message after another gathered through the communication Formation into the ears of Zhao Linger, who was in the center of the main control room.

She wore a form-fitting Formation Master's robe. Her originally gentle face was now filled with exhaustion and resolve. Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared fixedly at the giant light screen in front of her, which displayed the suffocating apocalyptic scene outside the base.

"Sister Linger, we... we can't hold on anymore!"

Fatty Zhang slumped in the command chair, his magnificent Dharma robe already soaked with sweat, his plump face devoid of color.

He looked at the two fleets blotting out the sky outside the light screen, his voice trembling.

"Are those sons of bitches from the Heavenly Charm Sect and Shadow Hall crazy? They've come out in full force! Even old monsters at the Body Integration Stage are here! Is our little place really worth such an effort?"

Despair.

A bone-chilling despair enveloped the entire main control room.

The Planetary Protection Formation they were so proud of was as fragile as a sheet of paper under the reckless attacks of two elite fleets and a Body Integration Stage Old Ancestor.

Zhao Linger took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the tremors in her heart. Her voice sounded somewhat low due to hoarseness.

"Activate the Final Defense Contingency Plan. Everyone retreat to the lowest level of the base and hold out using the terrain... hold for as long as we can."

This was already the last resort.

A method that was almost equivalent to waiting for death.

However, just as she was about to give this order that was practically a death sentence.

In the very center of the main control room, the space rippled imperceptibly without any warning.

It was like a pebble being thrown into a calm lake.

The next instant.

A figure appeared out of thin air, standing silently behind Zhao Linger.

The noise in the entire main control room seemed to have been hit by a mute button.

Everyone seemed to be under a binding spell, their eyes wide as they stared fixedly at the person who had suddenly appeared, their faces filled with extreme shock and disbelief.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Until Fatty Zhang's plump body suddenly bounced up from his chair and let out a voice-cracking scream.

"Bo... Boss?!"

Zhao Linger stiffly, bit by bit, turned around.

That face she had depicted countless times in her dreams, in her despair, and in her expectations, now clearly entered her sight.

It was still that ordinary look that would be lost in a crowd.

It was still that expression with a hint of laziness, as if he couldn't take interest in anything.

It was him.

Lin Fan.

He was back.

Zhao Linger's eyes instantly turned red. The grievances, fears, and forced strength she had accumulated for three days and nights burst like a dam at this moment.

A thousand words were stuck in her throat, turning into a sobbed murmur.

"Lin Fan..."

Lin Fan reached out and gently patted her shoulder. His gaze went past her, looking at the brilliant "fireworks" on the main control screen.

He spoke calmly, as if he were just stating a trivial matter.

"Yeah, I'm back."

He paused, his brow furrowing slightly.

"It's a bit noisy outside."

These words were like a shot of adrenaline, fiercely injected into the heart of everyone present!

One second it was doomsday, and the next, their backbone had descended from the heavens!

Fatty Zhang almost crawled and scrambled over, hugging Lin Fan's leg and starting to wail: "Boss! You're finally back! If you were one step later, you'd only be here to collect our corpses! Those bastards from the Heavenly Charm Sect and Shadow Hall are going too far!"

"The Formation can't hold anymore! They have a Body Integration Stage Old Ancestor overseeing them and have deployed specialized Law-breaking Battleships!" Zhao Linger also quickly recovered from her emotions and reported urgently.

"I know."

Lin Fan's Divine Sense had already perceived everything on the battlefield.

Just an old fellow at the Early Stage of Body Integration, with old lingering injuries and unstable blood-qi.

Someone like that is worthy of being called an Old Ancestor?

He vetoed Zhao Linger's previous order, his tone flat but carrying an unquestionable majesty.

"No need to hold out."

Everyone in the main control room was stunned.

"No need to hold out? Then what do we do? Open the doors and surrender?"

Under everyone's puzzled gazes, Lin Fan issued an order that made their Souls tremble.

"Open all the passages of the base."

Zhao Linger snapped her head up, her beautiful eyes full of shock: "What?"

Lin Fan looked at her and repeated it once.

"I said, open the doors."

His voice wasn't loud, but it seemed to carry some kind of magic that made his words Law, causing all questioning words to get stuck in their throats.

Under everyone's incredulous gaze.

Lin Fan walked alone toward the giant alloy gate, the thickest and final line of defense of the base.

He didn't look back, only leaving behind a faint sentence.

"I'll be right back."

Rumble—!!!

Accompanied by the heavy sound of metal friction, that giant gate, which was enough to withstand the full-force strike of an ordinary Body Integration cultivator, slowly slid open to both sides.

Outside the door was the deep and cold cosmic Void Realm.

And the two massive fleets directly facing the gate, their main cannons already charged to the limit and exuding an aura of destruction.

Lin Fan's figure, under the reflection of the base's internal lights, cast a long shadow.

Without the slightest pause, he took a step out.

Appearing alone in front of the two massive fleets.