Given the uncertainty of the situation, and the clear involvement of an unknown Lord Ravager, even 'Jingliu' couldn't say for sure if the Denizens of Abundance would attack the Xianzhou Fanghu like in the original.
Or if they'd switch targets to another Xianzhou vessel—after all, the Yuque and the Fanghu were pretty close.
Plus, with her identity being what it was now, showing up on the Luofu was one thing, but going to any of the other Xianzhou ships would be highly inappropriate.
So 'Jingliu' didn't rush off to the Xianzhou just yet.
Instead, she asked Baiheng for Celenova's current coordinates.
Originally, the Galaxy Ranger had planned to use this chance, while Celenova's strength was greatly diminished, to make a big move.
But before they could act, news of the Denizens of Abundance broke, which turned the Rangers' mission from tracking to simple surveillance.
Anyway.
The Rangers had been keeping a constant eye on Celenova's movements.
This let 'Jingliu' find Celenova's Legion without any trouble.
After greeting the Ranger who'd been tailing Celenova all along, 'Jingliu' made no attempt to hide herself and charged straight for Celenova's location.
What choice did she have?
She had to confirm which Lord Ravager was behind these Denizens of Abundance first.
The chances were low, but what if it was Asat Pramad?
Or maybe Nanook had a sudden whim and cooked up a new Lord Ravager—it wasn't impossible.
She herself had already fiddled with quite a few new templates for Nanook.
If an actual eighth Lord Ravager popped up one day, it wouldn't be surprising at all.
In fact, if you really wanted to stretch it, she herself, Khaslana, and Irontomb could all be considered Lord Ravagers.
They just didn't follow orders.
Celenova, seated within her spacecraft, frowned slightly as she looked at the target displayed on the radar.
A Stellaron Hunter?
Weren't the Stellaron Hunters active over at Pteruges-V: New Babylon recently?
Some woman named Kafka had stirred up a huge commotion in New Babylon before dramatically joining the Stellaron Hunters.
So what was one of them doing all the way out here, and targeting her?
Whatever.
Celenova clicked her tongue, raised a hand, and waved it lightly:
"Tch, Left Wing Fleet, aim and fire a volley first."
Her avatars, spread across each fleet ship, relayed the command with almost zero latency.
Tens of thousands of vessels, except for the main cannons that couldn't be turned, all locked their various weapons onto that single, almost negligible target.
After a few seconds of preparation, a continuous wave of diverse attacks crossed several light-years in an instant.
Firepower enough to extinguish a star was precisely concentrated within a planet-sized area.
This was the true, horrifying efficiency of Celenova's Legion on full display.
Ordinary fleets couldn't achieve such precise saturation fire; no matter how coordinated, there would always be a time lag.
But Celenova pulled off this absurdly precise feat.
The almost simultaneous, precisely overlapping barrage made the sheer force converge in this unbelievable way.
Faced with such an attack, unless you were an Emanator with high survivability like Preservation or Abundance, you'd have to get out of the way.
Up until now, 'Jingliu' hadn't gained any powers like that.
Defense was never her strong suit either.
Besides, she wasn't in the habit of just standing there and taking a beating.
So, the Phase Flame ignited in an instant.
Right as Celenova's pupils contracted in shock, 'Jingliu's' figure vanished completely from the detection equipment.
Then, the fierce volley slammed into the target location.
Turbulent light and heat spread outwards from the impact point.
It looked incredibly dramatic, but Celenova's mood immediately sank like a stone.
Because there, in the very heart of the Legion, right in front of the flagship of the Destruction Legion, 'Jingliu' appeared with a smile.
And as if deliberately mocking her, she raised her left hand and waved.
The familiar silver ring on her finger made Celenova's anger flare up instantly.
'Jingliu' waited a moment.
One of Celenova's avatars approached.
Knowing she couldn't win a fight, Celenova didn't make a move.
"What are you doing here?"
"Came to ask you about something."
'Jingliu's' shameless attitude honestly made Celenova laugh in frustration.
"And why would I tell you anything?"
"Because you can't beat me. I'm guessing all this fanfare you're putting on is to draw attention for someone, right?"
'Jingliu' didn't dance around much.
Small talk was pointless. The only reason she could stand here and talk face-to-face with Celenova wasn't because they were old buddies.
If Celenova could beat her, she'd have burned her to ashes by now.
"The Denizens of Abundance are attacking the Xianzhou. I'm guessing your goal is to reinforce, right? Both the Xianzhou Natives and the Denizens of Abundance followers make for pretty good material."
"Hmph, so what? You want to intercept me here? Go ahead and try."
Celenova didn't back down verbally.
Fight if you want, run if you can't—kicking up a fuss here would actually help complete Phantylia's commission anyway.
"I just need you to tell me which Lord Ravager stirred up the Abundance followers to act. Was it Phantylia? Or someone else?"
"..."
This one, she really seemed to know a lot about the Lord Ravagers.
Celenova frowned slightly.
She'd found it strange before. This one had clearly never met them, yet she always felt like she knew plenty about the Lord Ravagers.
At the very least, she knew who a few of them were.
Especially Phantylia.
That one was always operating while wearing someone else's face.
Most factions only knew there was some cunning Lord Ravager, but had no specific intel.
Yet this one could blurt out Phantylia's name.
That in itself was very odd.
"You're dreaming a little too big here. Why would I sell out my comrade?"
"Fine, don't tell me. Then the power I was planning to use on someone else will just have to be used on you."
'Jingliu' didn't hold back on the threat.
She raised her hand, and strands of memory instantly pulled away from the void, gathering at her fingertips.
The power of Propagation mixed within the power of Remembrance.
Under Celenova's darkening expression, a True Sting was effortlessly born right there.
"Skree—!"
The little bug flapped its wings and circled 'Jingliu' twice, celebrating its own birth.
Celenova's eyes were full of disbelief as she stared straight at "Jingliu."
She gritted her teeth and forced out a single word:
"...Propagation?"
Celenova's mood was terrible right now.
Absolutely terrible.
She had thought that without Irontomb's body, even if this person was still strong, she'd no longer have that disgusting ability to forcefully seize someone else's Legion.
Even if she couldn't win, she wouldn't suffer such heavy losses like last time.
But!
What was she seeing now?
The Power of Propagation.
True, she couldn't steal her Legion anymore, but now she could use the Legion as material to modify into a swarm!
"That's right. Even if it's only temporary, I don't mind a little contest with you. Let's see whose army-spamming ability is stronger—Destruction or Propagation."
"..."
A threat.
A completely undisguised threat.
Wielding the power of Propagation, even for a short time.
Either let her go ruin Phantylia's plan, or let her own Legion fill this massive crater.
The choice was pretty obvious, wasn't it?
Phantylia would just have her existence exposed.
But if she, Celenova, actually tried to compete with The Swarm in army-spamming, that would be pure overconfidence!
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL