Three hundred thousand-foot-long crimson dreadnoughts blotted out the heavens above Iron-Root Star, their reactor cores humming with a deafening, sky-cracking vibration.
Down in the square of Village #4, the newly warmed air turned scorching and oppressive as three hundred massive bow cannons. Each wide enough to swallow a mountain peak—aimed straight down through the clouds at the ten thousand branch families!
Up on the bridge of the central flagship Blood-Reaper #1, Fleet Commander Gu Lie stood with one steel-gauntleted hand resting on his firing console and a cruel sneer carved across his scarred face.
“Commander Gu Lie!” his tactical officer reported, glancing at the sensor screen.
“There are ten thousand unharvested branch children and that Grade-Seven Star-Marrow girl standing right in the center of the blast zone! If we fire the Galactic Blood-Furnace Formation at full power, won’t it burn the raw bones along with the villagers?”
“Who cares if the raw bones get charred?!” Fleet Commander Gu Lie barked coldly.
“Golden Heir Gu Wuji gave us a strict two-hour deadline to deliver the tribute from Branch System #36! If a bunch of rebellious country miners dare to plant our Rank 8 Inspector upside down in the dirt, we refine their entire village. Flesh, souls, and bones together—into a single pot of Crude Blood-Furnace Slag!
