Streams of light flashed across the universe, stopping not far from the planet. It showed itself as the exploration fleet of the Black Star Army.

“Deputy Army Commander, we’re here.”

On the bridge, Hila gazed at Planet Phiri through the porthole and saw Gorutan’s fleet docked in orbit, facing them directly.

“Open the wide-area communications and contact them.” Hila decided to be show manners before they acted.

The signaler sent out the message, and after a while, the communication call popped up on the screen.

After connecting, a bestial humanoid’s picture appeared on the screen. It was a Calamity Grade Officer.

“I’m Gorragon’s, the son of the Beast Ancestor. I pay respects to Your Excellency Hila.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Hila frowned.

“Lord Father hopes to invite you for a meeting in Planet Phiri, and he’s waiting for you on the surface right now.”

“Discuss what?”

“I do not know of Lord Father’s thoughts. The issue here is, do you dare to come?” Gorragon aggressively replied.

“Alright, then clear the path for my fleet to land. We can talk after.”

“Apologies, but Father has mentioned that he will only allow you to proceed. The rest of the fleet must remain.”

“Then ask him to scram,” Hila immediately replied in a decisive manner. “All battleships, heed my order. Advance forward, and annihilate any that dare to block us.”

At this moment, the communicator’s screen flickered, and Gorutan’s figure appeared.

Facing someone of the same level, appearing completely nude would be too impolite, and thus, he had put on a simple, sleeveless tunic, standing with his arms crossed and an impassive expression.

“Not bad. It seems like the Black Star Army has a tough Deputy Army Commander.”

Seeing this, Hila immediately raised her fist, stopping all orders. She narrowed her eyes. “Gorutan, I’m very curious. The Black Star Army and you have no conflicts, so why are you provoking us?”

“Do you want to know why? If you meet up with me, I’ll tell you,” Gorutan replied. “Depending on whether you have the courage, I’ll be waiting on the surface of the planet with the answer.”

As he spoke, Gorutan’s fleet took the initiative to shift away from Planet Phiri, putting the planet in between both fleets. Right now, Gorutan was left alone on Planet Phiri.

Hila thought for a moment before turning to address the vice fleet commander. “Activate a full scale detection of Planet Phiri and its surroundings to check if there are hidden vital signs or energy sources.”

The commander nodded and sent down the order. He came back moments later with a report. “The surroundings are clear, and there’s only a life signal on the planet representing Gorutan. How about it? Should we fire?”

Before his superior could give any orders, this vice commander was already thinking of ambushing and getting rid of Gorutan.

“Since he has shown such sincerity, I want to hear what he has to say. Wait on standby and keep the weapon system on alert mode. The moment the enemy’s fleet shows any abnormal reactions, just fire straight at them.”

Even if her fleet attacked, it would not deal much damage to Gorutan. Since he dared do such a thing, he was definitely prepared for all consequences, so Hila could only meet with him since she could not guess his intentions.

Maybe Gorutan wanted to set the battlefield to attack her, but she was not anxious. This was what she wanted; even if she could not beat a Pinnacle Beyond Grade A Super, she still had the confidence to block their attacks for a period of time.

Hila sat in a small spaceship and rapidly descended the atmospheric layer of Planet Phiri, stopping at a high altitude.

Shua!

The hatch opened, and Hila stepped out onto the air, looking down on the surface of the planet.

Within the rugged barren plains, Gorutan sat on a boulder, with his elbows placed on his knees. He looked up at Hila as he slowly spoke.

“As an Esper, the fact that you dared come so close to a Pinnacle level Pugilist shows that you have courage.”

The sound that came out from his mouth seemed to cause the air in their surroundings to oscillate, spreading out far like the echoes of thunder.

Hila did not land, choosing to remain floating in the midair as she replied, “Get straight to the point. What did you want to meet me for?”

Gorutan stared at Hila before explaining, “I don’t know how people will look at this, but in my eyes, you have the most potential among this batch of new Beyond Grade As.”

“So?” Hila raised a brow.

“Someone with your talent will rise to a higher realm in the future. There’s no need for you to remain as someone’s subordinate. Moving out as an independent entity would suit you better.” Gorutan drily spoke.

Hila’s eyes flashed dangerously, and she coldly snapped, “Who are you representing in trying to drive a wedge between Black Star and me? The three Universal Civilizations?”

“I’m only representing myself and the Galactic black market’s Management Committee. You can just take my words as a sincere suggestion.”

“Don’t you think that you’re meddling too much?” Hila snorted.

“I can see that you’re someone who is extremely stubborn and does not like to heed the commands of others. There will be a day when you’ll eventually choose to be independent.” Gorutan had a look of interest in his eyes. “When that day comes, I’m willing to give you an invitation to become one of the members of the Galactic black market.”

Not only was he sowing discord, he was also trying to poach her.

However, Hila showed an expression of indifference. “My communicator is on. Black Star can totally hear your words.”

“So what if he hears them?” Gorutan did not mind it. “You have the freedom of choice; you’re not his slave.”

“I’m not interested in your invite.” Hila remained unmoved. “Are you done? If so, you can take your troops away, and we’ll take it as though this provocation did not happen.”

“I don’t think this is provocation. Planet Phiri does not belong to your Black Star Army. It’s a free competition zone, not your territory. No one stipulated that others could not occupy the planet that you guys are interested in.” Gorutan shook his head.

“You long had the intention to occupy this planet, but you chose to wait for us to make our choice before you took it for your own. If this is not provocation, then what is?” Hila said.

“Don’t be too overbearing, little kid.” Gorutan grinned. “It’s first come, first served, so it’s you who needs to leave. Go find another planet. This is my stronghold now.”

The moment he spoke, the atmosphere became tense as both people faced each other.

He had been entrusted with this by others, no matter what Hila’s reaction was, but he would not have given way either. His goal was to force Hila’s hand so that he could test out her skills.

In his view, this mission was very simple. He just had to fight with Hila, allowing the Black Star Army to suffer some losses. Then he could decide if he wanted to withdraw or not.

While this type of conflict and provocation would draw Black Star’s ire, it would not be to the point of wanting the other party dead. He was certain that just as he did not wish to make an enemy out of Black Star, Black Star did not wish to make an enemy out of him. Both sides were not so easily provoked.

Hila’s expression turned frosty. Gorutan was right. The Black Star Army was being unreasonable. However, if they retreated, the other party would not only not praise them for being reasonable, but they would treat them as weaklings.

If all problems could be solved through reasoning, there would be no need for disputes and wars.

Since neither side wanted to retreat, the only solution left was to use force.

Looking at Gorutan’s expression, which bore no good intentions, Hila fell silent for a few seconds before she suddenly moved!

Boom!

A tremendous death energy storm swept through, turning into a tornado as it blasted downward!

“Pretty scary.” Gorutan twisted his neck a little before stepping down hard.

Bang!

The earth cracked, and he stomped upward, leaving a huge ring-shaped crater on the ground, scattering dust everywhere.

He seemed to have turned into a comet, slamming into the torrential rain of death energy. The dark-brown Pugilist flame wrapped around his body, revealing a wild, arrogant temperament.

Bang!

Before Hila could react, the fist wreathed in pugilist flames landed squarely on her stomach.

The shield surrounding the battlesuit was shattered, and there were even cracks on her outer armor. Hila was slammed outward like a bullet, her speed breaking the sound barrier.

“Insane strength, insane speed…” Hila’s expression slightly changed.

The shock absorption properties of the battlesuit could not withstand such a strong impact, and Hila could only feel that her internal organs seemed to have been flattened by this blow. The pain was overwhelming, and she only managed to stabilize her body in midair after much difficulty.

Both Gorutan and Black Star were at the pinnacle of Beyond Grade A, but the feeling she got from crossing blows with Gorutan was completely different from Han Xiao.

Han Xiao had displayed a complete suppression, where he was without weaknesses, controlling the battle from start to finish as though he could just adapt to anything. However, Gorutan’s battle style was complete savagery, just like the invincible rampage of a beast.

Hila’s impression of Beyond Grade A Pugilists mainly came from Heber, but fighting pinnacle level Beyond Grade A Pugilists was a totally different ball game, and they could not be seen as being on the same level.

Be it speed, strength, or energy intensity, there was a qualitative change. Objectively speaking, one Gorutan was enough to pummel three or four Hebers to death!

Only upon reaching the SS tier would someone be considered at the pinnacle of Beyond Grade A, and this battle strength was nothing to be joked about.

After his hit, Gorutan did not pursue her but rather remained floating, his head lowered as he observed the death energy eroding his body.

Because of his tanky body, the majority of the attacks were blocked purely by his body’s strength. The damage done to the body was small, and only a few layers of Death’s Erosion had stacked.

“A corrosive energy related to vitality… It seems like the rumors were true. You used such a method to gravely injure Tolaen. The more you accumulate, the stronger the power.”

Gorutan glanced at Hila before covering himself with a jet of energy. It shattered the Death’s Erosion stacks, directly dispelling them. As Pugilists relied on their bodies, they naturally had many skills to dispel negative statuses.

“This is going to be tricky…” Hila gritted her teeth, but her eyes lit up.

She found that Gorutan’s combat capability was overwhelming, but this did not make her back down, instead increasing her fighting will.

The next moment, Hila took the initiative to start another round of attacks, and the death energy surged like a wave, attacking while wrapped around her.

The tsunami-like crimson wave surged over, and Gorutan launched himself into it. In an instant, an invisible shock wave was generated and exploded in midair, enveloping the incoming death energy.

Boom!

The vibrations echoed around the entire space. Gorutan’s lunge was actually a skill, which caused the particles in the space in front to oscillate at high frequencies, collapsing the layers of incoming death energy.

“It seems like your strength is unworthy of your attitude.”

Gorutan’s expression remained indifferent, and his figure disappeared suddenly as he started to move at full speed.

Whoosh!

The difference in their speed was too great. Before Hila could react, he had already arrived beside her, and his leg containing great power whipped and slammed hard on her back.

Boom!

Her entire body arched like a bow from the impact, shooting up like a cannonball all the way out of the planet’s atmosphere.

“Cough cough… I cannot fight him in melee battles.” Hila felt as though dozens of bones were broken just from that kick, and she immediately changed her strategy.

When faced against Tolaen, she could still rely on her vampiric abilities to hold on, but comparing him with a pinnacle level Beyond Grade A, her attributes differed too much, to the point that she could not even see his figure!

In melee battles, a pinnacle level Beyond Grade A Pugilist was nigh invincible, and forcibly going head on with them was just asking for death.

“In a one-to-one battle, I have no way to retaliate. I need to complicate this battlefield.”

As Hila thought about the possible battle tactics, the built-in communicator rang, and Han Xiao’s voice came from it, with a tone that seemed as though he was smiling.

“How is it? Have you felt the power difference? Do you need help?”

“No need.” Hila shook her head. If she always relied on Black Star for help, how could she grow?

“But you’re not his opponent. If you can’t do it, just let me take over.”

Han Xiao raised a brow. He had known long ago that Hila would not be able to cope against Gorutan.

During the Meeting of the Gods, he had collected the attribute information of Gorutan, and there were a great deal of question marks. Even he himself might not be able to beat Gorutan head on, so Hila would have it worse. If a pinnacle Beyond Grade A could be dealt with so easily, there would be no need to use them as deterrents.

But he knew that even if Gorutan could not be beaten, Hila would not be the one at a disadvantage, so he did not interfere to allow Hila to gain more experience.

“Humph, wait till I’m almost beaten to death before you help.”

Hila stabilized her body and turned around. While using her death energy to attack and contain Gorutan, she tried to increase the distance between them.

This was not even considered a struggle, merely a unilateral beating. If not for Gorutan deliberately slowing down the offensive to force out Hila’s abilities, she would probably have already been beaten up. The high speed and strength he possessed was enough to break through most methods.

But truth be told, Gorutan did not have it easy either. After suffering from the repeated attacks of death energy, he felt a slight fear toward it.

“What a strange ability. If I couldn’t forcibly crush it with my strength, her abilities would put me in a lot of danger…”

Just as he knocked Hila back with yet another punch, he discovered that Hila had tweaked the direction of her knockback, flying toward his troops.

“She actually took the initiative to fly toward my troops? Isn’t she afraid of being besieged?”

Gorutan stopped in shock, but this time, Hila suddenly made a different gesture, and a sudden surge of mental energy burst out.

The world before his eyes warped and turned into an inky black space.

Lowering his head, all he saw were the grudges of countless creatures.

[Abyss of the Dead!]

While Pugilists would also temper their minds, their Psychological Resistance was not high to begin with, so Gorutan easily fell into the mental attack, freezing on the spot.

Taking this chance, Hila accumulated her death energy and ran straight through the shield established by the Gorutan fleet, rushing right into the fleet formation.

“What is she trying to do?” Gorragon, who had previously spoken with Hila, stood in the command room of one of the spaceships, looking confused.

Before he could take any action, Hila raised both her hands, and the death energy exploded, enveloping the entire fleet.

“What‽”

Gorragon got a shock, immediately commanding the fleet to retreat and avoid it.

However, his command had yet to be sent out when the dark red energy encompassed his entire sight.

Gorragon’s eyes widened.

Bang bang bang!

In a flash, countless battleships were chewed up by the death energy like biscuits, and countless children of Gorutan were reaped.

With the [Vampiric] effect, she obtained enough vitality to recover her HP.

Just that short exchange previously made Hila clear that she was far from being Gorutan’s opponent if they fought head on. With her own HP, she could not sustain the battle for a long time, so the only way was to enhance her endurance by turning it into a group fight, absorbing more vitality for herself.

Her combat capability in a large group fight was much higher than in single target battles!

Hila ran rampant within the fleet, killing wantonly, and her status quickly picked up even as countless screams were drowned in the explosion.

At this time, Gorutan finally got rid of the mental attack from [Abyss of the Dead]. The moment he returned to his senses, he was greeted with the image of Hila slaughtering his descendants, His expression warped in fury.

In his view, Hila was killing his descendants to vent her anger!

“You dare‽”