"I understand," Bai E replied.

"The coordinates will be sent to you," Xing Zhuo quickly said, "It's an abandoned small resource transfer station, not on regular routes, relatively hidden. We've arranged for a modified 'Swift Shadow Level' high-speed assault fighter to wait for you there. It is equipped with the latest stealth coating and low detectability warp engine, very fast but has weak armor. Fuel and supplies are full. Once you get it, leave immediately, do not linger, and do not contact us again."

"Thank you," Bai E solemnly expressed gratitude.

"Good luck, Sir Bai E." Xing Hen's voice came through, with sincere blessings and a hint of melancholy, "You must... survive."

Communication was cut off.

Following the coordinates provided by Xing Zhuo, Bai E piloted the nearly falling apart 'Falcon,' struggling to reach the desolate transfer station.

On the abandoned platform, sure enough, docked a sleek 'Swift Shadow Level' fighter, painted in deep space camouflage, with sharp lines like an arrow.

It quietly sat there like a falcon waiting for its master in the darkness.

Bai E set the 'Falcon' to automatically navigate to the nearest asteroid belt for self-destruction, then quickly boarded the 'Swift Shadow'.

The cockpit of the fighter was simple yet advanced, the control interface resembling that of the 'Falcon', allowing him to quickly familiarize himself with the basic operations.

After confirming that the fuel, life support system, stealth, and warp device were in good condition, he initiated the engine.

The deep and powerful roar of the thrusters echoed in the silent space station.

The 'Swift Shadow' fighter shot out of the berth like an arrow, swiftly and lightly rushing into the infinite dark void.

Seated in the narrow cockpit, Bai E brought up the star chart.

The star system where Mine Star is located has been marked as a deep red zone of highest danger.

During his conversation with Xing Zhuo, some more time had passed.

The time left for him might already be less than ninety hours.

He did not directly use long-range warp to reach Mine Star, as it would be too easy to be detected by a monitoring network potentially set up by Star Alliance or Peak Alliance.

He chose to follow a winding route, using nebulae and gravity anomaly regions for cover, quietly approaching the target area at sub-light speed.

Outside the porthole is the eternal, unfading spectacular Star River, cold and distant.

Once upon a time, he came to this Star Domain with hopes for a new home and determination to protect his comrades.

Now, he must charge back alone into what has become a mechanical hell, soon to face the most powerful destructive forces in the universe.

He remembered Catherine, Rose, Kuang Xin, Ares trapped in their Mecha and survival pods... thought of Helen who might still be struggling in the lab... recalled the members of the 'Fire Hammer' labor group, soldiers of the Seventh Legion, and countless ordinary immigrants who followed him to Mine Star believing he could bring a new life...

"I will rescue you," Bai E muttered to himself, his gaze sharp as a knife, seemingly piercing through the fighter's armor, straight at the distant blue point in the starry sky being swallowed by a dual crisis.

"I will take care of that Demon and lead you away."

The 'Swift Shadow' fighter sped through the darkness like a lone comet, rushing fearlessly toward the death-marked deep red Star Domain.

No reinforcements, no plans, only sheer courage and a belief that must be fulfilled.

As the distance closed, Bai E could clearly observe the terrifying changes in the star system where Mine Star is located through the fighter's long-range sensors.

Once a home as New Bauhinia, this star system now shares a different face.

Floating on the outer orbit of the star system are countless structures composed of abandoned ships, satellite debris, and metal structures of unknown origin, pieced together into bizarre "defense rings".

These structures are not static, but driven by a unified will, moving and reorganizing slowly yet systematically, like a steadily growing, cold metal tumor.

Inside the star system, the few original asteroids and mining stations have been completely transformed, their surfaces covered in shimmering, data-flowing metal veins, becoming nodes extending the will of the "Electronic Demon".

As for Mine Star itself, that once blue planet, now its surface is enveloped in a thick, pulsating dark purple energy cloud, beneath which vast geometric structures vaguely rise, piercing the sky, the entire planet seems transformed into a massive, cold, malevolent mechanical heart.

Even more chilling is the "traffic" within the star system.

Numerous intelligent fighters, drones, and even forcibly modified civilian ships, painted with the old emblem of New Bauhinia but now covered with distorted circuitry and scarlet single eyes, shuttle back and forth within and outside the star system like locusts, forming an impenetrable death defense line.

They act in neat unison, carrying a lifeless, efficient ruthlessness.

Illuminating the fact that home is no longer, but rather the intricately constructed nest and lair of the "Electronic Demon".

Just as the 'Swift Shadow' fighter tried to utilize the stealth coating and low detectability engine to discreetly infiltrate the star system's comparatively weaker defense zone, a sudden change occurred.

From a seemingly peaceful dust cloud ahead, twelve sharp-edged, fully black 'Razor' Level intelligent interceptors with a single scarlet electronic eye as a sensor suddenly emerged.

They evidently had long locked onto him through a network perception surpassing conventional sensors, appearing without warning, instantly forming an encircling formation.