The old man you see with your phone is highly suspicious.

The Seventh Expedition, the pioneers, brought back this good news after the deaths of hundreds of elites, completing the first "anchoring ceremony" and proving that "magic essence" could be guided and utilized.

Meanwhile, through the recorder named "Ishan," Xue also saw that the United Front had begun to dispatch billions of small teams to set up anchor points in various galaxies throughout the universe, ensuring at least one anchor point in each galaxy.

Among these billions of records, Xue's Law suddenly saw the record of the Milky Way - Solar System - Dead Star as the anchor point.

Is it a coincidence?

Xue's Law even has a hunch that this "dead star" at this moment could very well be the future Earth.

However, this was just one of billions of records, and the recorder quickly moved on to recording more anchor points.

The success of the Seventh Expedition and the achievement of further experiments in utilizing magic essence enabled the United Front to begin a large-scale completion ceremony.

Soon, the 8th, 9th, and 10th teams followed the route drawn by the 7th expedition team with their blood, one after another, using the lives and souls of the entire fleet as fuel, to set up the foundations of a series of massive ceremonies on the edge of the vast void of space.

Like driving life-saving stakes into a flood, they anchored planets that would otherwise have been twisted and swallowed by the vast void of the universe, thus becoming the basis for one ritual after another.

In a very short time, the United Front organized even more expeditions.

The 11th and 12th expeditions, and even some of these expeditions, contained acquaintances of this "Ishan".

That was their Eldar God-King, and a member of the 11th Expedition.

The tree god of the Domini Treant race is the captain of the 12th Expedition.

Thus, the twelve teams, hundreds of millions of elites, and tens of thousands of kings who were deities in their respective civilizations all fell one after another. They exchanged their lives for a mere theoretical possibility and a beacon paved with corpses leading to the final battlefield.

The higher-ups haven't revealed to those below what kind of future this anchor point will create or what consequences it will achieve. However, Xue Lu, as an observer at this moment, may have guessed the outcome of this ceremony...

“Your Majesty…” Xue Dinglu murmured.

Thus far, the 12 expedition teams have paved a beacon path ahead, with the first 6 teams only bringing back the unusual particle known as "Magic Element".

The 7th to the 12th expeditions paved this beacon road with their lives and souls, and only the sacrifice of the last expedition is needed to complete this ritual.

As the recorder, Ishan could see that more and more massive teams, like fireflies, were spreading across galaxies throughout the universe. They seemed to be doing something futile, simply placing beacons in galaxies, as if they could just put them anywhere.

Countless people died on the road because of this, and "Ishan" recorded one death after another. He silently packed these records together and then sent more people on this road as if they were going to their deaths.

He had no idea that the information he was randomly selecting might kill countless people and countless teams.

He was a pessimist, as Xue's law could tell. Even though he always maintained an optimistic attitude in front of his wife and daughters, he was still a pessimist at heart.

Even after his wife passed away from overwork during this period, "Ishan" became extremely pessimistic. Xue Luding had a feeling that if it weren't for his daughter who needed to rely on him, he might have chosen to commit suicide long ago.

Until, suddenly, a secret message arrived.

“Mr. Ishan, you have been selected as a member of the 13th Expedition and will need to undergo intensive training... In addition, there is more than one 13th Expedition. In order to ensure success, the United Front has prepared a large number of '13th Expedition Teams', and you will join one of them.”

At this moment, looking at this news, Ishan, who had discovered that he might have unintentionally killed millions of people, was tormented by moral and conscience condemnation. He would have chosen suicide if his daughter hadn't been still young. Now, he seemed to have finally found his direction.

So, after making arrangements for his daughter, he resolutely joined the Thirteenth Expedition.

Whether by coincidence or not, his team had exactly 13 members, including his close friends.

Tree Man, Domini.

Chapter 479 Walking Against the Light

Expedition Team No. 13 does not consist of just 13 people.

This was the final war for the Global United Front. In preparation for this final ceremony, the Global United Front formed countless "Expedition Teams No. 13".

It could be several thousand, or it could be tens of thousands...

After all, even recorder Ishan and repairman Domini, who weren't even considered "elites," were chosen to be members of Expedition 13. This gives you an idea of ​​just how many teams the United Front had prepared.

And they all knew, and even the volunteers who came to summon them knew, that none of them would ever return.

Just like the expeditions that paved the way for future generations, none of them returned alive, and it is impossible for any of the members of Expedition 13 to return either.

They have already sacrificed enough for this magic essence ritual: the destruction of 12 expeditions, the countless pioneers who planted beacons in billions of star systems, the deaths of countless people, and the countless scholars who drowned in the magic essence while trying to calculate its equations...

Even Ishan's deceased wife was one of the scholars who were among the victims.

And this final step, which is also the most important step, will be taken without any complaints from anyone.

The machine race's calculations have also been transmitted again: if nothing is done, even the most remote regions of the universe will be completely swallowed up by the Great Void in less than 500 years.

Even if their generation could barely survive and hide on the edge of the world, waiting for the end of their lives, they wouldn't care about the deluge after their death.

But they still made it this far, for that future...

Tomorrow is coming.

But someone has to hold onto this final dawn.

Expedition Team No. 13 begins a seven-year-long intensive training program to integrate the team!

No one complained, and they all knew that their team was unlikely to be the last one to go. For this final expedition, the United Front organized thousands of Expedition Teams No. 13 to advance in a saturation-style manner.

Any team that reaches the designated equation area will complete the ritual.

However, apart from the higher-ups, no one knew how many teams there were. They probably all thought there were at most two or three teams, one main team and two reserve teams. During training, everyone was told that they were the main team.

In fact, tens of thousands of teams are undergoing the same training and preparation.

Recorder Ishan and Tree Man Domini were among them. Everyone in their team underwent brutal special training. There were no substitutes, no reason for them to step down without any burden. They could only complete exhausting training every day to make themselves stronger.

Their team had exactly thirteen members. Apart from Ishan and the tree-man Domini, the rest of them had gradually become familiar with each other through years of training and practice.

A liar named "Sak" is a creature whose race has made him accustomed to lying, so he is constantly ridiculed by the people in the party as "Sak the Liar".

Engineer Locke, a robust orc, is in charge of energy and boiler maintenance.

Navigator Avira, like Ishan, is an Eldar and is responsible for navigating the route and confirming the final ritual point.

Karl, a male dark elf, is said to be a race skilled in betrayal in the story. He is also a secret agent of the United Front, responsible for liaison and communication with headquarters.

Hogg, the bone dragon, is the mainstay of the expedition and its bodyguard. He is also a true undead, a unique race that can revive even when broken into bones.

The prince of the EyeQ tribe, a person with a giant eyeball, is the team's observer and lookout. He is the member responsible for observation and lookout before entering the area affected by the Great Void. His true form is a strange species whose entire head is an eyeball.

The Zerg Queen looks like a humanoid mantis, but is much more robust. Like the Bone Dragon, she is also a key combatant for the team.

He's a bit like a bull with four arms; he also serves as the team's combat force and bodyguard.

A female ghost, responsible for recording the team's psychological issues and mindset.

An agent resembling a giant catfish is in charge of safeguarding the magic beacon device.

A space ghost draped in a cloak, who has never interacted much with others and is quite aloof.

Together with Domini, the Treeman who served as a starship mechanic, and Ishan, the Eldar who served as a recorder and clerk, they formed this 13-person expedition team.

Although they all came from different races, with different cultures, customs, and aesthetics, during this era, all races had a haphazard, long appearance, giving the impression that other races were nothing more than monsters.

However, this period is precisely the time for them to work together, prepare for various emergencies, and conduct simulated training for the entire process of moving forward.

Over the years, they have all become friends to some extent.

During this period, they not only had training time, but also rest time, vacation time, and time to visit their families.

Over time, even the other teammates became familiar with their families. Many of them had no family; some had lost their families, while others had lost theirs because their planets had long been swallowed by the Great Void.

People like Ishan, who have daughters, are naturally very rare to be willing to join an expedition.

However, as a result, Ishan's daughter, Fugu, naturally became the child that everyone in the team took care of.

They were all very happy to see that little bean sprout grow into a young girl who was said to be doing very well in the school arranged by the United Front and had become the subject of praise by her teachers.

The little girl also has a sweet tongue; every time she comes over, she addresses everyone as "uncle" or "aunt," which makes her like the mascot of the whole group.

Time flies by.

Over the past seven years, they have undergone countless special training sessions, completed numerous simulations, and conducted countless test flights on their journey to the ceremony site.

Now, everything is ready.

Not only them, but all the other members of Expedition 13, along with tens of thousands of other teams, were ready to move forward.

At the same time, the cosmic void continues to expand at a rate that exceeds everyone's expectations, and its influence now extends to a region spanning over a billion light-years.

This expansion has reduced countless civilizations that hadn't had time to evacuate, as well as the frontline bases of the united front, to nothingness.

Meanwhile, according to the calculations of the headquarters androids, the universe will be destroyed in less than 300 years.

Therefore, the departure time for Expedition No. 13 has been determined.

Thus, the efforts of several generations and the sacrifices of countless elites will be completed in their generation, amidst the cosmic void disaster that has spanned a century.

On the last night before the expedition departed, a deliberately suppressed silence permeated the base. The team members were either saying what might be their final farewell to their families, or sitting alone at this angle, looking towards the vast emptiness in the distance, or towards the direction of the billions of stars behind them.

Tomorrow will be the time for them to walk against the light.

Whether feeling anxious, excited, indignant, or calm.

Different reactions were observed in each team member.

In the room of Vice Captain Ishan, however, there was a childlike innocence that was out of place in the outside world. His 10-year-old daughter, Fuge, was excitedly showing him her new painting.

Over the course of seven years, the team members have confirmed their individual identities and roles, and Ishan has become the vice-captain.

In Fougue's painting, there is a somewhat distorted giant painted with gold and silver crayons. It radiates light, with its arms outstretched as if to embrace the entire universe. The background is densely packed with stars represented by dots of various colors.

She is an outstanding child. At school, her paintings are often the envy of other children and parents, and she has earned the nickname "little painter" at school.

"Daddy, look! This is 'King Zun'!" Her eyes sparkled. "It's the king of the stars, it will protect everyone and drive away the darkness!"

Her innocent words reflect her image as a "superhero" who can overcome all difficulties.

She knew nothing. She didn't know that her father and those uncles and aunts were members of Expedition 13. She only knew that they were going to carry out a mission, and that her father and uncles and aunts trained very hard every day for this mission.

However, when Ishan opened her mouth after learning the truth, she only felt bitterness in her mouth.

"Dad, there's a parent-teacher conference on Holy Day, and I'll be giving a speech as an outstanding student representative. Can you come?" The little girl, Fuge, looked on with indescribable pride and anticipation.

Ishan, the vice-captain who had finally persevered until now, felt as if something was blocking his throat. He knelt down and gently hugged his daughter.

“I’ll be back…Fogg, Dad will be at your parent-teacher conference…”

The little girl seemed unaccustomed to her father's tight embrace; she twisted and broke free from his overly forceful hands.

"And there's more! I also have gifts for my uncles and aunts!" She proudly pulled out several small ornaments made of clay and sequins from her pocket, strung together with colorful ropes.

They are crudely made and vary in shape, but they all try to imitate the outline of the radiant giant in the painting.