"So tell me—since when does the Xianzhou Alliance assign a Messenger-level being to guard a mere merchant ship?"
Phantylia eyed the man before her suspiciously. She suspected he might be the one who had toyed with her earlier—but he neither wore the signature mask of the Masked Fools nor exuded their peculiar aura.
That made her a little unsure.
"This unidentified guest—attacking me out of nowhere, isn't that a bit rude?"
Nolan spoke with a stern face, feigning indignation.
He hadn't expected Phantylia to appear on the Luofu, but now that she had, there was no way he could show weakness—otherwise, everyone on board could be in grave danger.
Since she seemed convinced he was on her level—someone capable of resisting her illusion arts—he decided to play along and see if he could fool her completely.
Nolan had more than enough survival means; even facing an Extinction Lord like Phantylia, he didn't need to fear being wiped out instantly.
Thus, his calm demeanor and composed tone weren't an act—and even this Extinction Lord, master of psychic power, couldn't sense anything off about him.
"Hmph." Phantylia gave a cold snort.
The Antimatter Legion existed solely for destruction—and the Extinction Lords embodied that very nature. If she had a suitable body right now, she might have been tempted to test this man herself.
But as Heliobus, her true form's combat ability ranked among the weaker of the Messengers. Since this person could so effortlessly resist her psychic attacks, that meant she wouldn't be able to easily subdue him.
He was clearly a mental powerhouse as well—and if she were to take damage while fighting in her true form, it wouldn't be easy to recover.
Better not to risk injury and delay her own plans. Once she found a strong enough vessel to possess, she could always come back and settle the score.
With that thought, the emerald flame flickered once—then vanished like a candle flame burning out. A powerful psychic shockwave surged out, leaving only her voice echoing faintly behind:
"Remember this, nameless boy!"
Crap!
Nolan could feel it—an immense psychic wave was spreading outward indiscriminately. There was no way he could block it with his own spiritual strength.
If he teleported away, the ship would be annihilated—and everyone aboard would turn into cosmic dust.
But if he stayed, while he could redirect the damage himself, Tingyun and the rest of the crew wouldn't survive.
Within a fraction of a second—barely a tenth—countless calculations flashed through his mind. In an instant, he activated the Void Star Sea.
Just before Phantylia's psychic blast erupted completely, he replaced the surrounding space with the Void Star Sea, dragging that devastating wave into the void itself.
Of course, not to the sector where the All-Devouring Narwhal was stranded—otherwise, that young creature would've been reduced to mush in an instant.
He could sense the psychic wave detonating somewhere deep within the Void Star Sea, causing faint turbulence throughout the space—but eventually, the ripples subsided, and calm returned.
"Phew…" Nolan let out a quiet breath of relief.
The Void Star Sea was a world-tier ability—a space as stable as reality itself, expanding in size as his level increased.
At present, it spanned roughly a sphere of 116 kilometers in diameter—large enough to absorb and disperse Phantylia's psychic burst without issue.
Besides, the psychic energy was source-less now; with Phantylia gone, it wouldn't last long anyway.
He glanced around the control room. Thankfully, everyone was unharmed—though still trapped within her illusion.
For an ordinary person, breaking free of an Extinction Lord's illusion would be impossible. But for Nolan, it was as simple as one cast of Divine Maiden's Purity.
A gentle white glow formed in his palm. He placed it against Tingyun's shoulder—her dull eyes instantly regaining their brightness and liveliness.
Tingyun blinked and rubbed her forehead.
"Huh? My head suddenly feels… dizzy."
"You were struck by an illusion. You've just regained consciousness—it'll take a moment to adjust. Rest for a bit and you'll be fine."
Nolan briefly explained what had happened—Phantylia's sudden appearance and attack.
"Phantylia?!" Tingyun's pale face showed pure shock. "I've heard the tales—an Extinction Lord with a thousand forms. If she attacked us suddenly… could it be she intended to disguise herself as one of us and infiltrate the Luofu Xianzhou?"
The Luofu was equipped with powerful identification systems; a being like an Extinction Lord could never just stroll aboard.
So she'd have to resort to infiltration—through possession and deception.
Otherwise, Tingyun truly couldn't understand why someone like that would bother attacking a small merchant vessel with nothing of great value aboard.
"Now that you mention it… that actually makes sense," Nolan said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.
"In any case," Tingyun said, "I must report this to the Xianzhou immediately. Mr. Nolan, please continue dispelling the illusions on the others."
"No problem—just a small matter." He nodded without hesitation. It was what he'd intended to do anyway.
"I am most grateful!" Tingyun said, smiling brightly. She turned and walked toward the console, her pale legs stepping lightly beneath her short skirt, her heart unknowingly warming toward him.
[Tingyun Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 320 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.5 (330/500).]
Seeing the prompt appear on his interface, Nolan smiled slightly and nodded, then moved to the nearby crew members.
With a series of gentle waves, he cast Divine Maiden's Purity on each of them in turn.
The results were immediate—soon, everyone was stirring awake.
"…What happened? Did I fall asleep?"
"That's weird—I was monitoring the radar, but now I'm standing up?"
"My head's spinning… maybe low blood sugar?"
The revived foxfolk crewmembers all felt some vague confusion, but Nolan didn't tell them about the attack—especially not that the attacker was an Extinction Lord.
Better to leave that explanation to Tingyun; she was the one in charge here, and she'd know how to handle it without causing panic.
If everyone learned the truth now, their morale could collapse—and accidents might occur during the return trip.
Using her long-range telepathic device, Tingyun quickly reported the incident to the Xianzhou. Then she approached Nolan again.
"Benefactor, please come with me. There's an important matter we must discuss."
"Uh… Benefactor?" Nolan blinked, a little confused by the sudden title.
"Hehe, Mr. Nolan just saved both me and all my fellow foxfolk, didn't he? If that doesn't make you our benefactor, then what does?" Tingyun said softly, smiling with her crescent-shaped eyes.
"…Fine." Nolan didn't mind the title. As he followed Tingyun out of the control room, he asked, "So, what's this important matter?"
"Benefactor, as you know," Tingyun began while walking ahead gracefully, "I've already reported the incident of the Extinction Lord Phantylia's attack on our merchant vessel to Lady Yukong of the Luofu's Sky-Faring Commission.
"Although the command room's cameras didn't capture Phantylia's image, the anomalies from the illusion we all suffered—and your conversation with her—were both recorded.
"After receiving my transmission, Lady Yukong took the matter very seriously. To prevent Phantylia from attempting to infiltrate us again on our return journey, she wishes to commission you, Benefactor, to escort us safely back to the Luofu.
"She also said that the Xianzhou Alliance will pay you a generous commission as a token of gratitude."
Tingyun's large fox ears twitched slightly as she looked up at him with those pleading, almost pitiable eyes.
"…All right, fine."
With the way she kept calling him "Benefactor," there was simply no way Nolan could refuse. Besides, he could teleport back to the Herta Space Station anytime.
He wasn't in a rush to return anyway—this might be a good opportunity to visit the Xianzhou Alliance and see it for himself.
"Wonderful! Thank you again, Benefactor!" Tingyun said joyfully, her charming eyes sparkling.
[Tingyun Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 370 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.6 (200/600).]
After Phantylia's covert withdrawal, the Xianzhou forces—now reinforced by ground troops—pressed their advantage. When the Fragments of Abundance began to run out of energy, a few of their bio-warships tried to disobey orders and warp away.
But the Xianzhou fired spatial warp-interference bombs at them. The instant the Fragments opened their wormholes, the passages collapsed completely.
Bio-warships had the advantage of fast warp startup—they were made from cosmic creatures that could naturally warp through space.
It was like the difference between a human and a robot: walking was innate for one but required computation and mechanical control for the other.
Still, even a living warship needed a few seconds to initiate warp—and that was enough time for an interference bomb to hit.
In the end, none escaped. The Fragments of Abundance were all captured.
The Xianzhou Alliance—especially the fleets—usually reduced such prisoners to cosmic dust.
But they wouldn't waste the spoils. Those captured bio-warships would no doubt be kept as war prizes to offset the cost of battle.
Once the war was over, the stationed forces on Baihuang Star held a victory banquet, inviting the Patrolling Rangers and the freelance interstellar adventurers who had come to help, and paid them their commission fees.
Naturally, Nolan received the most generous reward.
On top of the base commission of one million credits, the Baihuang garrison added sixty million more.
Overnight, Nolan had become a multimillionaire.
It seemed that as long as one had power, money was easy to make—no matter where in the universe. He wondered if these credits could buy any ultra-durable materials from the Galactic Peace Corporation.
If only there were a suit or armor strong enough to withstand a Messenger's attack, that would be perfect. He decided to browse the site later to check.
During the celebration, Nolan also met other adventurers who had come to assist—some familiar names from commission comment sections, such as "Youming-9A" and "Invincible Boteo."
The former claimed to be a well-known star-sea explorer from the Nether Star—a pale-skinned man with a complexion like polished jade, so translucent he almost looked ethereal.
Perhaps that was simply a trait of the Netherfolk—far more ghostly than even Hu Tao's little spirits.
As for "Invincible Boteo," he was a space cowboy, part-cybernetic, exuding a wild and unrestrained air.
He had a strong sense of justice—perhaps too strong—the type who'd destroy evil by any means necessary.
Most of them were above Level 90, powerful in their own right, but in space battles, personal strength meant little.
After all, combat ranges started at hundreds or even thousands of kilometers—sometimes tens of thousands.
Even Nolan's only long-range abilities were Flowing Sky Shot and the gravity-based Naganohara Meteor Shower.
Otherwise, in the scale of interstellar warfare, an individual was about as useful as a drifting meteorite.
When the victory banquet ended, all the mercenary groups departed, and Nolan boarded the Luofu once again—this time bound for the Luofu Xianzhou.
It lay over two hundred light-years away. Given the Luofu's performance, the trip would take about a week.
Naturally, Nolan didn't intend to sit around bored that whole time.
Back in his cabin, he browsed the Galactic Peace Corporation's shopping site—but found no armor that strong.
The best option available was a protective suit for near-star research, priced at three hundred million credits—far beyond his means.
Even if he could afford it, he wouldn't buy it; it was designed for heat resistance, not durability.
Better to just buy the raw materials and have Ei forge something herself.
Though she might not be able to make armor capable of withstanding a Messenger's strike, with all the bizarre materials scattered across the cosmos, crafting something superior to the cursed armor should be possible.
When the ship entered rest hours, Nolan left the "Sword God" to guard his room, then returned to his Wonderland Space.
He climbed the stairs to the third floor, intending to bring Raiden Ei over to the Luofu to examine the materials suitable for forging armor.
But just as he reached the meditation room, he was stopped by Raiden Makoto, dressed in a pale-violet kimono.
She was no longer a soul projection—thanks to the Wonderland's properties, her own divine attributes, and Nolan's affection skills, she had fully regained a tangible soul-body.
Aside from having slightly less spiritual power than Ei, she was practically identical to her sister.
"What's wrong? I just need to talk to Ei about something," Nolan said curiously.
"You're going to do something indecent with her again, aren't you?" Makoto's cheeks flushed faintly. "She's in the middle of enlightenment right now, refining her power—so don't disturb her."
She often saw this man and Ei entangled together, clothes scattered everywhere… really, could he not behave himself in front of others?
(End of Chapter)
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Guys, please give it a try to the new fic: "DxD: The Transfer Student of the Demonic High School"
Don't forget to add it to your library!! Thanks!
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