The energy afterglow of the purple-gold ship cannon slowly dissipated in the starry sky, and fragments of metal wreckage silently tumbled and drifted away under the effect of inertia. The clamor of battle had completely subsided, and this abandoned area on the edge of the asteroid belt returned to dead silence, leaving only the spatial structures scorched by energy emitting faint and abnormal thermal radiation, as well as the indescribable cold afterglow of god slaying weapons and Psionic Disintegration permeating the air.
The "shadow shuttle" still floated quietly in the center of the battlefield. On Artoria's face behind the porthole, there was no joy or excitement of a victor, only the calm of a completed mission and a trace of imperceptible fatigue. High-intensity mental control, precise calculation, and the final activation of a forbidden weapon were not entirely without burden for her.
But now was not the time to rest.
She glanced at the battlefield scan map displayed on the tactical panel, which was densely marked with countless small points of light—these were the godslayer no. 1 armor-piercing round warheads, casings, and unexploded micro-missile warheads that had been fired from the "Hive" floating cannon array and the "Bedrock" heavy mecha rapid-fire cannons during the battle, but had failed to hit their targets or penetrate Suma Li's divine body and remained in space. This even included several special armor-piercing rounds that had been blown away by Suma Li's final energy burst and were embedded in distant metal wreckage.
These were not ordinary metal fragments. The core of every godslayer no. 1 armor-piercing round contained precious special materials and energy runes capable of effectively interfering with and destroying Super Genes and divine body structures. The micro-missile warheads also used high-efficiency shaped charges and special fragments. Even those casings were made of an alloy formula far exceeding conventional aerospace materials, possessing extremely high energy conductivity and structural strength.
In the Angel Civilization, such god slaying weapons were also strategic reserves, and every single round was worth a fortune. In her recent wave of saturated strikes, she had fired tens of thousands of warheads! Although most of the energy was consumed upon impact or interception, the projectile materials and some unexhausted special energy cores still remained.
"My own assets are so meager; I can't let them go to waste," Artoria whispered to herself, a pragmatic light flashing in her eyes. Although Teacher Hexi had said she could use resources as she pleased, she knew deeply the value of these high-grade materials. To recover even a little bit was her goal, a habit of frugality and efficiency brought from her own civilization and branded into her very bones.
She closed her eyes again, her mental power sinking back into the Dark Plane to maintain a connection with the auxiliary interface of the Sacred Knowledge Vault. Simultaneously, she activated the powerful "Ling Shu" computer array in her own Dark Plane, which combined psionic energy with machinist technology.
"Initiate 'Homing' protocol," Artoria commanded in her consciousness. "Target: Mark all battlefield munitions and valuable wreckage. Priority: Recover intact or semi-intact god slaying warheads, special core materials, and unexploded warheads. Secondary target: High-value alloy fragments and repairable mechanical unit core modules."
The "Ling Shu" array operated at full power, combining real-time battlefield scan data to begin complex ballistic backtracking, mass analysis, material identification, and value assessment. Countless data streams traversed Artoria's consciousness, as if unfolding a fine-to-the-millimeter "resource recovery grid" covering the entire battlefield for her.
"Calculation beginning... Spatial coordinate marking... Mass locking... Micro-gravitational traction field generation..."
Following her control, with the "shadow shuttle" as the center, countless extremely tiny, almost invisible pale blue gravitational vortices quietly emerged in the starry sky, precisely appearing beneath every marked warhead, fragment, and piece of wreckage. These gravitational vortices were not traditional gravity wells, but directional, gentle traction fields formed by Artoria's precise control of gravitons using psionic energy, like countless invisible hands.
Then, a strange scene appeared.
In the starry sky, those metal warheads, fragments, and wreckage that were originally floating quietly or drifting slowly began to act like iron filings attracted by a magnet, breaking away from their original trajectories and floating toward the nearest pale blue micro-gravitational vortex. Upon approaching the vortex, they were not swallowed but were stabilized by a gentle force, then gathered in an orderly, queue-like fashion along preset energy channels toward a "recovery port" that had quietly opened beneath the "shadow shuttle," its edges shimmering with silver runes.
The recovery port was connected to a "warehouse" in Artoria's Dark Plane that had undergone special expansion and partitioning. The warehouse was categorized, with independent spaces dedicated to storing munitions, materials, and repairable parts. Every recovered item would undergo a quick energy scan and structural assessment before entering the warehouse, being automatically classified, marked, and stored in the appropriate area. Severely damaged items would be sent to a decomposition furnace to extract basic materials, while better-preserved ones would be stored in the spare warehouse or await repair.
The entire process was efficient, quiet, and... possessed an indescribable, OCD-like orderly beauty belonging to a "machinist." Tens of thousands of pieces of ammunition wreckage were cleared away in just a few minutes, leaving the starry sky clean, as if that fierce battle had never happened and even the "battlefield" itself had been meticulously tidied.
Only the metal and energy that had been completely vaporized or structurally disintegrated beyond recovery by ship cannons and explosions, and the patch of pure "void" left by Suma Li's total annihilation, silently spoke of everything that had occurred here.
"Recovery complete. Total recovery: 17,342 intact or semi-intact god slaying no. 1 warheads, 4.8 tons of special core materials, 233 unexploded micro-missile warheads, 152.7 tons of high-value alloy, and 47 repairable 'Hound' and 'Hive' core modules. Other materials have been decomposed and stored," the "Ling Shu" array reported the results calmly.
Artoria nodded slightly. Although the losses were still immense, being able to recover nearly twenty percent of the high-value munitions and a large amount of material was already a very good result. Frugality in managing the household starts with small things.
After doing all this, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back in her seat, and rubbed her aching temples. Minerva timely handed over a cup of warm energy drink, her eyes full of concern.
"That was hard work, Ling."
"Mhm, it's fine." Artoria took it and sipped, feeling the mental fatigue ease significantly. She looked out the porthole at the starry sky that had returned to silence, and then at the complete data stream recorded on the tactical panel from the start to the end of the battle, including the all-encompassing battle footage captured by the "shadow shuttle's" external sensors.
She pondered for a moment, then tapped her finger on the panel to package the high-definition battle record—which spanned several minutes and included the initial ship cannon fire, the deployment of the mechanical flood, the saturated strike, Suma Li's counterattack, the close-quarters counter-kill, and the final Psionic Disintegration—along with a brief tactical analysis and energy readings into an encrypted data packet.
Then, through the highest authority encrypted channel reserved within the "star dome" king sword that connected directly to Queen Keisha, she sent the data packet along with a short message:
"Mission complete. Target Suma Li confirmed completely annihilated, no residue. Battle record attached for Teacher and Queen's review. — Artoria"
Once it was sent, she paid no more attention to what would follow; she knew her teacher and the Queen would see it and understand.
"Xiao Xiao, we're heading back, returning to Juxia City." Artoria set the auto-navigation and handed control of the "shadow shuttle" to the auxiliary AI, while she relaxed, preparing to take a short rest during the return journey. The continuous high-intensity combat and precise control left her in urgent need of recovery.
The "shadow shuttle" started up once more, its optical camouflage and energy stealth field activated, turning into an imperceptible stream of light that silently departed this starry graveyard that had just been thoroughly "cleaned," heading back toward Earth.
...
However, what Artoria did not know, or rather, did not care about, was that from the moment her "shadow shuttle" deactivated its camouflage and boldly launched the first ship cannon fire, to the subsequent pouring of the mechanical flood, the saturated strike, and even the final recovery process that was so clean it was chilling, the energy fluctuations, spatial disturbances, and the undisguised characteristics of the god slaying weapons had already acted like a giant stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up countless ripples hidden in the shadows.
AI Model: gemini-3.1-flash-lite
She did not deliberately hide her figure, or rather, when using ship cannons and a mechanical legion of such scale, wanting to completely hide was inherently impossible.
This brief yet intense battle that occurred near the edge of the solar system, near the asteroid belt, had its energy signatures and some blurred footage already "seen" by countless "eyes" in the Known Universe, each in their own way.
Merlot Heavenly Court, Angel Network.
The combat records were immediately accessed by Queen Keisha and Hexi.
The two monarchs quietly watched the entire process, from Artoria's decisive clearing of the field, to the dominance of the opening ship cannon fire, to the precise coordination of the mechanical torrent, to the transformation of Suma Li from arrogance to shock and then to despair, to that final counter-intuitive punch, and finally the taboo method of total annihilation... and, after the battle, the "frugal" recovery operation that didn't even spare the shell casings.
After a long while, the corners of Hexi's mouth curled up uncontrollably, her eyes flashing with pride, gratification, and a hint of "my child is really making me proud," but her tone was deliberately kept flat: "Hmm, the tactical execution is not bad, but resource recovery awareness... needs improvement; the recovery rate could be increased by another 0.5 percent."
Queen Keisha nodded almost imperceptibly, a hint of satisfaction flashing deep within her golden eyes, but there was more of a deep contemplation.
That final punch... and that "spirit particle disintegration"... Xiao Artoria's growth speed and direction, it seems... are even more interesting and hold more potential than anticipated.
She cast her gaze toward the distant Chi Wu Star System.
Heavenly Blade Seven, Advance Command Post.
Angel Leng, Angel Zhui, and other high-ranking Guardian Angels also received partial combat footage through encrypted channels.
Watching the rain of godslayer no. 1 armor-piercing rounds flying across the sky, the mechanical sea that obeyed orders like an army, and Suma Li's defeat that was stifling to the extreme, even the Angel Warriors, known for their calmness, could not help but whisper among themselves.
"Too... too extravagant! Using godslayer no. 1 armor-piercing rounds like ordinary bullets?"
"That firepower density... even a Third Generation God Body would have to kneel!"
"That last move... was it space manipulation? No... what was up with that fist? Isn't she..."
"Don't ask, just watch. Anyway... she's one of our own."
An indescribable emotion, mixed with shock, amazement, and a re-evaluation of the "Star Vault Steward's" strength, quietly spread among the Angel Warriors.
It turned out that this "guest," so highly valued by the Queen and the Heavenly Base King, was not just a technical genius, but in battle, she was an absolute... "monster."
Lieyang Star, Cloud Sky Hall.
Floating in front of General was an energy fluctuation analysis chart and several extremely blurry, yet key-feature-distinct screenshots.
His expression was calm, but his eyes were sharp as knives, and his fingers tapped unconsciously on the armrest.
"god slaying no. 1... large-scale deployment... mechanical legion... and that final... suspected existence-level erasure attack method..." General whispered to himself, "The Angel Civilization's technological iteration... or rather, the changes brought by Lady 'Artoria' are more subversive than we estimated."
He looked at the silent Xuan Tianji beside him: "Any new news from Leona?"
"The Goddess only sent back a message saying she met this Artoria and her Guardian Angels, and had a brief meeting. The other party... was sharp in speech, straight to the point, but had no direct hostility. Regarding this battle... the Goddess did not mention it, possibly... she didn't notice, or the Angels intentionally shielded information in that area." Xuan Tianji bowed and reported.
General waved his hand, signaling him to withdraw.
He was left alone in the hall, gazing toward the direction of Earth on the star map, his brows locked in a deep frown.
The new quality of combat power and the "protective" determination displayed by the Angels meant that Lieyang's layout on Earth needed to be more cautious.
Especially... the close-combat ability that Artoria displayed at the end, which surpassed conventional cognition, and that method of total annihilation... made him feel a faint sense of unease.
Deno Remnants, deep within the Super Seminary.
Du Kao, Lian Feng, and others gathered in the top-secret observation room, facing energy spectrum charts that were even blurrier and even had some interference patterns.
The monitoring equipment they relied on was far less advanced than that of the Angels and Lieyang, but it was enough to identify the iconic energy signature of the god slaying weapon, as well as the terrifying energy yield.
The room was dead silent.
Everyone was stunned by the extremely luxurious firepower projection and the clean and efficient battlefield "cleanup" at the end.
"This... how many resources must this consume?" a young researcher muttered.
"It's not just a resource issue," Lian Feng said, her voice dry, "it's the tactical philosophy... completely different from any mainstream civilization in the Known Universe. Using precious god slaying weapons as conventional consumables, using absolute quantity and precise coordination to make up for the gap in individual quality... this..."
"And that last strike..." Du Kao spoke in a deep voice, interrupting Lian Feng, his expression extremely grave, "Suma Li... I vaguely remember this name, a Heavenly Scum from the ancient era, whose strength cannot be underestimated. To be... solved so easily, even traces of his existence erased... this kind of method..."
He paused, looked at the crowd, and said in a heavy tone: "The Angels' attitude is already very clear. This 'Artoria' is their absolute reverse scale. And she herself... is by no means an easy person to deal with. Below a fourth generation divine body, at the level of a Third Generation God Body... I'm afraid it's already hard for anyone to pose a substantial threat to her. What's even more terrifying is that we completely don't understand her power system, especially... that last punch."
Yes, that last punch.
At the moment Suma Li launched his desperate surprise attack, almost face-to-face, a ferocious arm armor instantly covered Artoria's seemingly delicate arm, and then, with physical kinetic energy that was pure to the extreme and unreasonably fast, combined with some unknown energy burst, she blasted away and severely injured the Third Generation God Body Suma Li with one punch... This completely violated their conventional understanding of the power levels of Super Soldiers!
That was definitely not the physical fitness and explosive power that a first or even second generation Super Soldier should have!
How did she do it?
What technology was that arm armor?
What was the energy source?
Questions flooded in like a tide, but there were no answers.
The Angels wouldn't explain, and Artoria herself certainly wouldn't.
They could only suppress this shock, doubt, and deep apprehension in their hearts.
Demon One.
The atmosphere in the main control hall was oppressive.
Morgana looked with a gloomy face at the monitoring results on the screen representing Suma Li's signal completely disappearing into nothingness, as well as the sporadic intelligence coming from the front regarding that brief battle.
"Bitch..." she cursed under her breath, not knowing if she was cursing Artoria, the Angels, or the useless Suma Li, or... cursing the situation that was increasingly spiraling out of control.
"That dead pervert Karl, still saying to follow the plan... Plan my ass! The Angels have already played such a card! That little girl..."
She scratched her hair irritably.
The combat power displayed by Artoria might not be enough to make her, a fourth generation divine body, feel a fatal threat, but that tactical approach, that extravagance of using god slaying weapons as bullets, and that strange final punch and annihilation method... all made her feel extremely uncomfortable and vigilant.
More importantly, what this represented behind the scenes was the Angels' unreserved support for Artoria, and... some kind of more terrifying potential that she didn't want to think too deeply about.
"Notify A-Tai, have him check the Demon One's stealth protocols again! Without my permission, no one is allowed to approach Earth's atmosphere! Also, the plan... suspend it, wait until the 'new stuff' from Karl's side is in place!"
In the void of Death Song Academy.
That remaining faint light flickered slightly, receiving fragments of information from all sides.
Karl "watched" that star region, which had returned to calm, and the coordinates where Suma Li had completely disappeared.
After a long time, a silent thought flowed: "An interesting 'key'... an interesting 'variable'... the growth speed... is pleasantly surprising. It seems the tension of the'script' needs to be further increased..."
Inside the returning "shadow shuttle," Artoria leaned on Minerva's shoulder and fell into a deep sleep.
She didn't know, nor did she care, what kind of boulder her "combat assessment" had cast into the undercurrents of the Known Universe, stirring up how many ripples and turbulent waves.
She had only finished a "chore" assigned by her teacher, and incidentally tested her "toys" and her fists.
As for the audience's silence, amazement, apprehension, and scheming... that was their business.
She, according to her own thoughts, did what she wanted to do.
That is all.
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