Wasteland's Only King

“Impossible!”

“God, what kind of weapon is that!”

“It’s over, everything’s over. Of all the fortresses our Tarot Civilization brought this time, only mine is left…”

“Commander Xi’en, we’re withdrawing!”

“We’re withdrawing too! We’re done with this war, done with it!”

“…”

The so-called high-level civilizations aren’t actually that high.

Most of them, just like the Selza Civilization, came from Level II Civilization Forces, and have been cultivating their power in this Wasteland Star System for ages to reach their current scale.

But…

They never imagined.

Facing a player who just rose from the Newbie Village Star Realm, an alliance of over a hundred civilization forces could be annihilated by a third in an instant!

At this moment.

Sean Gardner is panting heavily, struggling to calm his nerves.

“No, no…”

He glares at the distant starry sky, at the massive ring that has fallen silent once more.

The earlier decomposer wave emanated from that ring—at Tier Seventeen, there’s no way he sensed it wrong.

“Even though I can’t figure out what that weapon is…”

“An attack like that must require a long charge-up.”

“It can’t be fired again so soon!”

“This is just bluffing, they’re trying to scare us off!”

Sean Gardner’s voice, from its initial gloom, grows more certain.

He’s sure his deduction is right.

Meanwhile in the comm channel,

The leaders of the high-tier Civilization Forces, who were terrified seconds ago, finally start to regain composure.

“Yeah…”

“That makes sense…”

“Even the Celestial God Civilization couldn’t fire that kind of attack over and over—it’s too devastating!”

“Idiots! Bunch of idiots—keep fighting if you want, but our Tarot Civilization is out!”

“…”

The majority of surviving high-tier Civilization Forces accept Sean Gardner’s theory.

Only a handful, heavily damaged or relatively weak, remain resolute in their decision to leave the alliance.

Sean Gardner ignores these cowards.

“Loot always belongs to the victors.”

He leaves only this cold remark in the comm channel.

Then,

He gives the order, preparing for the Hunting Alliance’s counterattack.

“All energy!”

“Go all-in, end it in one strike!”

To avoid anything dragging out, Sean Gardner chooses to go all-in this round.

Vmmm—

Vmm vmm—

As his orders come down,

each Super Large Fortress, except for their final emergency jump reserve, unleashes all available energy.

The terrifying waves of energy make the starry sky shudder uncontrollably.

But…

BOOM—!

BOOM—!!

Before Sean Gardner’s all-in strike can be fired,

three thunderous explosions erupt almost simultaneously.

The explosions come from three different directions.

To be more precise,

they come from three Odin Sky Battleships—ships that had appeared earlier but were dismissed by Sean Gardner and the other Civilization Forces.

“Shit!”

“It’s them!”

Sean Gardner senses the threat and instantly his scalp goes numb.

But, it’s too late.

BOOM—!

BOOM BOOM—!

The Odin Sky Battleships are Star Domain-level warships from a Level IV Civilization.

Their power far exceeds the standards of the Star System Wasteland server—even if, by deploying them here, they’ve been nerfed somewhat.

“Jump!”

“Full-speed jump!”

Sean Gardner’s cockpit is now bathed entirely in the glow of red warning lights.

To put it this way—

when the Decomposer’s energy waves had hit earlier, the fortress sensors could still respond.

Now?

The results on the scanner panels are nothing but question marks and gibberish!

Which means…

these attacks from the Odin Battleships are even more terrifying than what the Decomposer unleashed before!

Sean Gardner decides instantly.

Even a moment ago, he was determined to counterattack.

“Jump!”

“Divert all energy!”

As the Alliance Commander, temporarily overseeing energy controls for all Civilization Fortresses, he makes the most selfish choice.

Screw them, so long as I get out!

He siphons all energy originally reserved for charging from the other fortresses, funneling it to power Cross Tower Civilization’s three fortress jumps!

With this terrifying energy influx, this isn’t just a full-power jump—it’s a maxed-out, overclocked space jump.

But…

[Beep—]

[Beep—!]

[Space locked—jump failed!]

The sudden mechanical warning is a bucket of ice dumped on Sean Gardner’s soul.

“How could this happen?”

Sean Gardner is dumbstruck.

He understood the enemy could try to lock down this starry sky—which is why he redirected all available energy to try and let Cross Tower Civilization’s fortress break through with brute force.

In theory,

with this level of power, even the Celestial God Civilization could be faced head-on; the jump should succeed…

BOOM—

BOOM—!

Another thunderous blast bursts in space.

Sean Gardner stares blankly.

This time, he finally sees it clearly.

Behind the three massive Odin Space Air Carriers, an even greater supermassive Interstellar Mother Ship emerges from the void—its size defies description.

From the start of the war till now, it’d never revealed itself, nor could any fortress, fleet, or instrument from Hunting Alliance detect a trace of it.

But now?

This Star Domain Mother Ship, worth fifty billion Wasteland Source Points, a priceless gem even for Level IV Civilizations, finally shows itself!

Vmmm—

Vmm vmm—

The Star Domain Mother Ship continually radiates space waves in all directions.

It’s the one that has sealed the starry sky tight.

Forget Cross Tower Civilization—even a Tier Nineteen Evolver from Celestial God Civilization, or a cheat’ed Super Large Interstellar Fortress, couldn’t jump a single meter in this starry sky today!

This is the final piece of Carol’s total wipeout plan!

Whoosh—!

Three brilliant beams of light roar forth.

Sean Gardner’s vision is blinded entirely by the light—he can’t see anything else.

In space,

explosions erupt, fireworks bloom.

Even the P-8808 Star Realm shakes violently—its endless nebulae boiling and surging.

Cross Tower Civilization, Tarot Civilization…

The entire Hunting Alliance—Super Large Fortresses, Large Fortresses, Commanders, fleets, Evolvers…

Under the charged strike of the three Odin Sky Battleships, everything is erased into nothingness!

Dawn Fortress, Tower of the Sky.

Yu Jin gazes at the dazzling, radiant fireworks of the Star River before him, sighs softly.

“What a pity.”

Although he’d made up his mind long ago, at the moment he completely destroyed these fortresses and fleets, he still felt a trace of regret.

But,

that regret doesn’t linger.

The next second.

Shua—!

The interface of the “Wasteland” game automatically pops up before his eyes.

Shua shua—!

A stream of textual reward messages appear.

Yu Jin glances idly—such rewards had already popped up before, when the Decomposer wiped out a third of those fortresses and fleets.

The contents, nothing but some Civilization Source Points and an upgrade on the Star System Wasteland rankings, as usual.

But this time—it’s a bit different.

“Hmm?”

Yu Jin reads the last lines appearing on the interface, arching his brows.

“Unexpected surprise?”

Only to see—

At the bottom of the screen, it boldly displays—

[Congratulations!]

[Blue Star Civilization leader, Dawn Fortress Lord, Yu Jin!]

[Within one year of logging into the Star System Wasteland Server, you have destroyed fortress fleets (minimum Intermediate Fortress) belonging to a hundred other civilization forces!]

[You have unlocked a hidden achievement: Civilization Hunter!]

[Civilization Hunter—]

[Passive Effect: Your coordinates will be actively revealed to other civilization forces in the surrounding Star Realms!]

[Active Effect: You can gain one-fifth of the resources from destroying other civilization forces’ fortresses/fleets!]

[Resources include but are not limited to: energy, mecha, spaceships, warships, fortresses…]

[You destroyed fortress fleets from 151 civilization forces including Closter Civilization!]

[Civilization Hunter achievement effect automatically triggered!]

[You have obtained rewards…]

[Super Large Interstellar Fortress *20!]

[Large Interstellar Fortress *100!]

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