The Pharmacist nodded. "We've had our fair share of encounters with these creatures.
They don't seem so difficult to deal with.
But when they're up against battleships, they're much stronger.
Both his judgment and combat power seem to have increased by a lot. "
Lan Jue nodded. In her mind she recalled Jueti's Desperate Gambit when he'd killed so many of them.
The Pharmacist's voice was low. "No creature is perfect. We're like that, and so are the aliens.
We just haven't found their weakness yet.
I think we should work hard in this direction when we investigate.
We might even need to conduct some experiments. "
"That makes sense.
For example, we could try to attack them with equal levels of biological and technological energy. We could see how much damage they'd receive. "The Wine Master understood immediately.
Zeus -1 flew quickly. Tyrannosaurus hadn't gone very far, so it wasn't long before they were back in the heart of the Shattered Starfields, near the former home of the three planets.
Lin Guo-guo sat in the pilot's chair. Her eyes had turned to gold, and her psychic simulation was in full swing. Combined with the Blinding Stone, Zeus -1 seemed to blend in with the universe. He looked no different than a speck of cosmic dust.
From a distance they could see some aliens.
They were coming from all directions, heading in a single direction.
There were all kinds of them.
The most eye-catching were the umbrella-shaped aliens.
These beasts could carry other beasts with them as they flew.
From the looks of it the aliens blotted out the sky, and they were all heading in the same direction.
Everyone looked at each other, surprise in their eyes.
Lan Jue spoke up. "We didn't see many aliens when we were scouting. We thought they'd all been withdrawn.
But now it looks like that's not the case.
These aliens must have been sent out before the battle began. They're not among the aliens. "
Now it looked like that was the case. This meant the aliens had a reason for doing this at the start of the campaign.
They didn't want to fight humans with ordinary aliens.
Why was that?
Many of these aliens were as strong as human warships, and some of the larger ones were even larger than a Chancellor class mothership. Why would the aliens want them to flee?
It wasn't long before they caught sight of the alien planet. It was the largest one they'd encountered before.
The vortex at the center of the planet was gone. It glowed with a reddish-purple light and appeared smaller than it had been before.
From Lan Jue's perspective, it was probably because the Moonfiend Star was no longer there.
The aliens swarmed toward the planet from all directions, blending into it without making a sound.
It was like a bee returning to its nest.
Lan Jue and the others observed from a distance. With Lin Guo-guo's spiritual power, they could only stay here for an hour at most.
The alien planet had no intention of pursuing Tyrannosaurus.
However, Lan Jue did not dare to send the news back here.
The energy fluctuations would attract the attention of the alien planets.
As they continued to watch, they began to notice something was wrong.
As more aliens merged into the planet, its color deepened. It seemed to grow larger as well.
The more aliens merged into the planet, the larger it grew.
The reddish-purple hue turned to a dark red, and the alien planet's aura grew more terrifying.
"He's not pretending to be weak, is he?" Su Xiaosu blurted out the question.
Everyone in Zeus -1 felt their hair stand on end.
The alien planet was pretending to be weak, even when it was so strong?
In that case, how powerful would its true power be?
It was trying to trick the humans into believing it had a certain level of power.
In future battles, it would show off its true power and inflict heavy losses on the humans.
"No, it can't be that simple."
The Pharmacist muttered. "It's not just pretending to be weak. If it was, it wouldn't need to absorb the energy of other aliens. All it would have to do was control its energy levels.
There must be more to it than meets the eye.
Jueti said there is a limit to how much energy a human can use. Exceeding that limit will result in universal protogenia's suppression, or even destruction.
If the alien planet is a living creature, then it's at that level. If it's fighting us, it has to control its power.
In other words, if we don't separate the aliens, it'll break that limit.
That's why it's suppressing its power. "
"The three bastions of the Northern Alliance are quite strong. Ordinary aliens would suffer casualties if they fought them.
It's also possible that the planet is trying to protect its wings. "
Lan Jue nodded at the Pharmacist's words. "It's possible.
Let's wait and see. "
There seemed to be no end to the Marauders' return.
Suddenly, an oppressive feeling washed over them. Everyone turned to look.
In the distance, an enormous reddish-purple figure was slowly approaching.
Another alien planet!
When they saw the second planet, everyone held their breath.
Were the alien home worlds planning to regroup here?
If that was the case, then all the judgments would be reasonable.
The alien planets weren't in a hurry to leave the Shattered Starfields. They wanted to take advantage of the terrain and finish devouring the energy in this area.
This planet was smaller than the one they had encountered before. It flew slowly, not too fast. Eventually, its purple body stabilized and came to a stop not far from the largest planet. It floated in the night sky.
"Let's go. Let's see if this is the same planet Arachnid destroyed." Lan Jue's voice was low.
Zeus -1 was on the move again, circling the planet.
No scars!
There were no scars on the planet.
This meant either it wasn't the same planet that destroyed Arachnid, or Arachnid's self-destruction hadn't caused any damage.
Before they could finish their observation, another oppressive feeling came from off in the distance. The third planet had returned.
It glowed with a terrifying reddish-purple light.
There was an obvious dent on its side, and the color was much lighter.
It looked like someone had taken a bite out of a chocolate bar.
Its flying speed was a little slower, and there were faint liquid-like undulations in the concave area.
Now that they saw it, they didn't need to investigate the other planet.
Without a doubt, Arachnid's self-destruction had damaged the planet.
The three planets had gathered.
Then, to everyone's surprise, aliens began to emerge from the largest planet and head for the other two.
The three planets began to change in size.
"Boss, I can't hold on much longer." Lin Guo-guo's Discipline was starting to falter.
"Let's go," Lan Jue said.
Xiaosu turned Zeus -1 around and flew off at a steady pace.
Their observations had been useful. At least they had confirmed for the Northern Alliance that there were no pursuers.
At the same time, seeing one of the planets damaged was a great help in determining the enemy's true strength.
Zeus -1 flew to the back of a larger planet before coming to a stop.
Lin Guo-guo immediately ended her training.
"What do you plan to do next?" The Wine Master asked Lan Jue.
Lan Jue thought for a moment. "I'm going to go out and capture one of the aliens.
Just as the Pharmacist said, we need to do more research before we can come up with a better strategy to deal with the aliens.
If we don't, we'll be too passive. "
"You're going alone?" The Wine Master asked.
Lan Jue nodded. "We don't have a bastion to rely on, so we'll have to rely on ourselves.
Also, without Mom, even if you teleport, with your own strength, it will take more time to teleport.
We can't risk Zeus -1 going after an alien.
I'll go alone. It's a small goal, and I'll be able to return after I'm done.
Escaping would be easier. "
The Wine Master's brows furrowed. "You're already the Violet Princess's target. Isn't that too dangerous?
Without the protection of your psionic simulation, you'll be easily detected. "
Lan Jue said. "It's the same for everyone. Anyone who goes will be easily detected.
How about this, prepare a portal in the ship.
When I get back, we'll teleport away whether or not there are pursuers.
It'll be safer that way. "
The Wine Master nodded. "Very well. Be careful."
Lan Jue said. "Don't worry, I'll be at my strongest.
Don't you worry about my adaptability? "
"I'll go with you," the Pharmacist said.
Lan Jue looked at her. She saw the determination in the Pharmacist's eyes, and something else.
"Alright!"
Lan Jue took Zhou Qianlin's hand and walked to the back of the ship. Zhou Qianlin's face was as calm as ever, the light in her eyes dim.
Lan Jue looked at her beautiful face and sighed. After a moment's hesitation, she spoke softly. "You should stay on the ship. Don't come with me." He wrapped his arms around her and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, but not on her lips.
With that, he helped her sit down. "Wait for me here. I'll be back in a while." With that, he stroked her long hair and stood up to leave.