The stars ended here.
Beyond the outer boundary of the First Supreme Heaven, the gentle starlight of the civilized cosmos faded into absolute, pitch-black nothingness.
Carried atop the diamond-gold shell of Old Master Xuan, the flagship Sovereign Aurora led the combined armada into the dark void. Behind her sailed twenty-four hundred converted star-fortresses, their emerald-and-gold Taichu emblems blazing like guiding beacons against the emptiness.
On the bridge of the flagship, General Tie Canghai stood beside Lin Mo, his scarred hands resting on the bronze handrail.
“Chairman Lin, throughout military history, no fleet has ever ventured this far,” Tie Canghai said, his deep voice carrying a solemn weight. “Ancient legends say the edge of the universe is where reality rots away into the abyss. The Heavenly Plunder Bank chose this location because no ordinary soul could survive the cosmic decay.”
“Banks always build their headquarters where regular people can’t reach them,” Lin Mo replied mildly, leaning against the polished rail. “Back in Jiangcheng, the payday lenders set up their main offices on the top floor of a building with a broken elevator and three flights of rusted stairs. They figured if you were too tired to climb, you were too tired to dispute the interest rate.”
