139: The power of high-rule weapons

July, Freedom Calendar 3946.

The long-sealed laboratory doors finally opened.

Zhang Huaiyuan waved his hand to clear the messy laboratory, his eyes flashing with an irrepressible excitement.

Because his body had been strengthened by potions, even after five years of continuous high-intensity work, he remained in excellent physical condition.

Ignoring everything else, a Warp Device appeared beneath his feet, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared at the entrance of a virtual projection room.

"Set opponent: SSS-Rank Star River Beast 'Spirit of the Crystal Core', status 100%, defense only."

"Upload parameters: Phase Hand Cannon, data..."

Zhang Huaiyuan uploaded his research results one by one.

This was data that did not exist in the Statue of Liberty's database and could not be simulated directly.

"Ding, upload complete."

Instantly, in the virtual space, a hand cannon about twenty centimeters in diameter materialized in his hand.

It was composed of several layers of black hollow discs, with leaping blue light flickering at the connections between them; looking closely, one would feel a slight sense of spatial distortion.

Zhang Huaiyuan looked at the massive, hideous body not far away.

That was the SSS-Rank Star River Beast encountered back in the Cataclysm-level Disaster Zone 'The Great Millstone', considered outstanding in defense even among its rank.

He raised the hand cannon, the blue light between the discs surged, and an invisible beam of light continuously expanded, reaching dozens of meters in diameter by the time it approached the monster.

Pfft...!

In a barely audible sound, the 'Spirit of the Crystal Core's' indestructible skin—which could withstand continuous bombardment from maximum-power concentrated light beams—became like a block of tofu that had been punched, instantly disintegrating into a pile of scattered, gray, lifeless chunks of meat.

Furthermore, as the Phase Cannon advanced, the parts of the monster it touched suffered the same fate.

"Roar..."

The 'Spirit of the Crystal Core' let out a twisted roar of pain, its aura instantly plummeting.

"Is this the suppression of rule levels..."

Zhang Huaiyuan looked at the 'Spirit of the Crystal Core', heavily injured by a single shot from the Phase Hand Cannon, his expression flickering with uncertainty.

SSS-Rank Star River Beasts were among the strongest existences in this world.

Except for a few Class 3S Experts with Gods Chosen talents, they had almost no rivals.

They were existences that could easily destroy an entire large, full-strength fleet, and the Level 8 legend generation ii series fleets were no exception.

Yet such an existence was actually easily and heavily wounded by a Level 2 rule weapon, the 'Phase Hand Cannon'.

"No wonder the original Star Alliance Head was so scared he just ran away."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head slightly.

The more he knew, the more he felt his own insignificance.

That unknown existence could easily broadcast genetic potions reaching Level 2 rules on a large scale; it was conceivable that they must possess Level 2, or even higher-level weapons and armor.

Originally, he thought that after unifying the Free Star Alliance and putting all his efforts into building fleets and combat robots, he could fight them as long as he had sufficient numbers.

But now it seemed that weapons under Level 2 rules could easily crush the defenses of the strongest creatures under Level 1 rules.

Undoubtedly, armor under Level 2 rules could also ignore the vast majority of Level 1 rule weapons.

The only way was to use these relic items of unknown origin to develop weapons of the same high level; only then would there be a chance to fight.

"It's too difficult..."

The sense of urgency in Zhang Huaiyuan's heart grew even stronger.

High-level weapons were not only difficult to research, but more importantly, the vast majority of the materials they were composed of could not be produced in this world.

Just this hand cannon alone had cost him a massive amount of energy to construct as a perfect one-to-one replica of that relic item.

"I can't wait any longer. I don't know when those masterminds behind the scenes will appear. I must concentrate the power of the entire world as soon as possible, collect enough relic items, and have them help me complete my research to have a glimmer of hope."

Zhang Huaiyuan took a deep breath and exited the virtual space.

"Statue of Liberty, Asroth."

He raised his hand slightly, calling out to his left and right wrists.

"Your Excellency, it has been a long time. The aura of wisdom on you has become even more dazzling."

"Master, Master! Quick, look at my results! I've almost conquered the entire North District. I'm amazing, right!"

Two different voices rang out simultaneously.

"It's been a long time. You've both done very well."

Hearing the familiar voices, Zhang Huaiyuan smiled and nodded.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he asked, "What is the current situation in the Star Alliance?"

"You tell him."

Asroth, having received his praise, dimmed down in satisfaction; in such matters, the Statue of Liberty certainly understood things more clearly than he did.

"Currently, a total of twelve forces are gathered in the Watcher Galaxy."

"The Marshal of the First Legion, 'Deep Dive Eye', personally took action, attempting to take control of the entire Supreme Research Institute. However, he was stopped by Kols."

"The rest, including the Second Legion and the troops led by the governors of the major galaxies, are also in constant friction."

"Five months ago, a large-scale melee broke out, with more than 30 million starships participating. Even four Class 3S Experts personally took to the field. In the end, three forces were severely weakened and withdrew from the struggle."

"The remaining twelve also dare not start another conflict lightly and have all fallen into a stalemate."

"According to my observations, they are now secretly recruiting other relatively weaker forces to prepare for the next struggle."

"Furthermore, during your seclusion, both the Star Dome Empire and the Orr Empire sent agents to secretly contact some governors of the Star Alliance, intending to split your territory."

The Statue of Liberty's voice carried a hint of coldness as she said disdainfully, "But don't worry, Your Excellency. With their primitive encryption methods, in my eyes, they're like 1000-watt incandescent bulbs; every move they make is no secret, and I can deal with them at any time."

"Naturally."

Zhang Huaiyuan nodded trustingly and asked with concern, "How is the location of your core server? Is it safe?"

"Don't worry, Your Excellency."

The Statue of Liberty smiled happily and said, "The location of my core server is the most heavily defended place in the Star Alliance, guarded by half of the 'Wings of God' Legion and two 3S-Class Transcendent."

"Mm... then I'm relieved."

Zhang Huaiyuan said with a slightly apologetic nod, "All my energy during this time was spent on researching Phase Technology. The research progress on the de-physicalized servers I promised you has been stagnant. I'm sorry..."

"It's alright, Your Excellency."

The Statue of Liberty's voice became soft: "I believe that every decision you make must be the most appropriate choice for the moment."

"Thank you."

Zhang Huaiyuan was slightly stunned, and a heartfelt smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Hey, Master, there's no need to be so polite with us! We're partners fighting side by side!"

The light screen on his left hand suddenly lit up again, and Asroth said boisterously, "Just tell us directly what to do next!"

"Next... first, build a group of elites equipped with phase weapons."

Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes narrowed slightly.

He had originally planned to advance slowly, step by step, but now that he had a breakthrough in high-level weapons, there was no need to be so cautious.

After all, every extra day of delay meant that those forces were consuming what would be his future assets in their mutual fighting!

Zhang Huaiyuan's gaze looked toward the core of the Star Alliance as if penetrating through endless space.

"Then, go and end this war."

...