Starforce Warriors

The endless sea of lightning had annihilated the entire fleet centered around the Xipi aircraft carrier. Only one survivor remained, Blaylon. Yet the entire battle, captured clearly by various spy satellites, had already been transmitted to the eyes of world leaders and governments across the globe.

Five Omega-level Awakened. Only two of them had made a move, and they had completely wiped out a Yiggs carrier fleet. This allowed the entire world to witness, clearly and unmistakably, the terrifying power of Awakened.

It meant that the vast global network of military bases Yiggs had constructed, as well as the six aircraft carrier fleets stationed in East Asia, had completely and utterly lost their deterrent value.

The era had changed. Global uproar erupted. At the same time, Great Xia officially issued a final ultimatum at the United Nations.

"The Yiggs forces and their coalition must permanently withdraw from the East Pacific region. No Yiggs military presence will be tolerated within East Asia's maritime territory ever again."

The ultimatum was forceful, brazen, and absolute. This was not the style of the old Great Xia. In the past, Great Xia had neither the strength nor the right to speak such words.

But now? As the Great Xia representative declared this statement from a position of overwhelming dominance, the entire conference hall was plunged into a deathly silence.

Bang!

The Yiggs representative suddenly slammed the table, rising to his feet and roaring, "This world is still under Western control! We possess the largest number of nuclear warheads on the planet! We can plunge the entire world into a nuclear winter within four hours! No one gives the Yiggs an ultimatum, unless you're ready to die with us!"

Yes. Nuclear weapons. The most powerful and destructive invention in human history. Yiggs currently held the world's largest and best-maintained nuclear arsenal.

In addition, the Europe Independent Nations and the Bayer Federation also possessed a significant number of nuclear warheads. Together, their combined stockpile exceeded Great Xia's more than eleven times over.

Moreover, they held control over intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines... They could deliver these doomsday weapons to any corner of the globe in the shortest possible time. This was the foundation of Yiggs' confidence.

But the Great Xia representative only smiled faintly. "It seems you still don't understand what the New Era means."

The middle-aged man, with flecks of gray at his temples, stood firmly. His voice wasn't loud, but it rang out with unwavering strength as he declared, "The New Era is one where Great Xia speaks, and its words carry weight. The old order has already been shattered. Aircraft carriers, stealth bombers, intercontinental missiles, satellite weapons, biological weapons, atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs... All of these have long since lost their deterrent value. You still haven't adapted to how diplomacy works in the era of Awakened. I'll say this only once, if your forces are not withdrawn from the designated zones within three days, prepare to be destroyed."

With that, the Great Xia representative turned and left. The Yiggs representative stood there, face dark with fury. Representatives from other nations, along with United Nations staff, all bore expressions of stunned bewilderment.

Never had humanity come so close to the brink of full-scale nuclear war since the end of World War II. The scent of gunpowder seemed to drift through the air of the chamber. Everything that had transpired was instantly relayed to the leaders of nations across the globe. Great Xia had never been so forceful. And three days had never felt so short.

Three hours later, news broke that Yiggs had entered a full-scale nuclear war alert status, with all nuclear warheads placed on immediate launch readiness.

The Europe Independent Nations, traditionally aligned with Yiggs, followed suit and took similar actions. Economic sanctions against Great Xia were publicly rolled out without delay. Military forces across multiple countries began rapid mobilization.

At the same time, the international battlefield of public opinion erupted. Media controlled by Western powers began broadcasting accusations worldwide, declaring Great Xia as a force of evil. They painted Great Xia as an ancient nation of sorcery now attempting to seize global control through illegitimate means and aiming to enslave all of humanity.

While Yiggs vehemently denounced Great Xia in the online war, they simultaneously made repeated attempts to initiate high-level meetings, requesting the opening of negotiation channels.

Unfortunately for them, this time, the Great Xia they faced was unlike any Great Xia the world had ever known. Verbal entanglements were meaningless.

Time ticked away, second by second. Three days. Seventy-two hours. Four thousand three hundred and twenty minutes. The fate of humanity converged on this moment.

Yiggs began deploying reinforcements to its major military bases as other nations began joining the mobilization sequence as well.

If we cannot repel Great Xia's aggressive advance this time, then the history to come will no longer belong to us.

Freedom has always been something worth giving our lives to defend.

Resist Great Xia's tyranny, let liberty lead the West!

Slogans like these flooded international media platforms. Amidst the noise and chaos, Li Xiaofei remained on the quiet Rebun Island in Hokkaido, sitting calmly on a seaside cliff, gazing at the sunlit ocean beneath the fading glow of sunset.

"The two energy systems cannot fully coexist. When channeling true qi, psychic abilities are repelled. And the reverse holds true as well," Ishihara Masami said.

She was dressed in a flowing white sundress and looked every bit the image of a pure, innocent high school girl. No one would ever imagine that this gentle-looking young woman was in fact the Silent Lake's Number One Sword Saint, Jiepeng's most powerful martial artist.

As the prime research subject in Li Xiaofei's quest to fuse psychic abilities with martial arts, Ishihara Masami had reached the forefront of global cultivation in both disciplines. Yet, things were not unfolding as Li Xiaofei had envisioned.

Psychic abilities and martial arts, in the end, were not truly compatible. Their mutual rejection became increasingly pronounced especially as both forces advanced into the sub-cosmic lifeform stage.

As a top-tier powerhouse, Ishihara Masami could clearly feel that if she continued her cultivation, her body would eventually suffer tremendous damage. Yet she showed not the slightest intention of stopping.

When she gazed at the foreign man sitting quietly in the chair, lost in thought, her eyes shimmered with reverence and affection. She could never forget that moment, when she was drowning in despair and was unable to take revenge. He had appeared like a god from the heavens and changed the course of her destiny.

From that moment on, she knew he was her god. For the rest of her life, she would weep for him, smile for him, be obsessed with him, fall for him, die for him and offer him everything she had.

Though she understood that she could never become his woman, it didn't matter to her. As long as she could remain by his side, feel his breath, see his face, and stand near him, that was enough.

What did it matter if she ruined herself through cultivation, if it meant seeing him again and again? So long as she continued down this path, she would always get the chance to see him, sooner or later.

Off in the distance, snow began to drift over the ocean. Winter had finally arrived on Rebun Island. A single snowflake landed gently on Li Xiaofei's hair, glistening like jade. Ishihara Masami suddenly smiled silently. White hair could never be replaced by snow. But to have met him at all, was the greatest fortune of her life.