Chapter 63: Material Technology, Boy

A multitude of people gathered in the square, nearly four thousand well-dressed merchants from the nest. 

These individuals were steeped in panic, expressing their fears to family and friends. 

When Poison Sting appeared before them, the chatter ceased, and they turned to him with a glimmer of hope in their eyes. 

"As you are all aware, the First Army has turned traitor," Poison Sting lamented. "Their combat prowess is formidable, making it difficult for us to prevail, but we will do everything in our power to ensure your safe passage to Tyron II." 

As he spoke, he cast a glance at his servant. 

The servant smiled and nodded with narrowed eyes. "The transport ships are ready." 

"Did you hear that? Hurry and follow him to the transport ships!" Poison Sting clapped his hands and shouted. "Do not linger here; you are merely the first wave of refugees, and there are many more behind you. The sooner you act, the more people can be saved from this nest!" 

"Follow me," the servant said cheerfully as he turned away. 

At that moment, no one hesitated; everyone hurriedly gathered their families and followed the servant. As they passed by Poison Sting, many even knelt to express their gratitude. 

In their eyes, at least, Poison Sting was a good man. He and his forces from Tyron II were diligently evacuating the civilians, far superior to the governor, who had long since vanished. 

The servant guided the crowd along a broad path to an open area, where numerous transport ships awaited, their doors flung wide, eager for the throngs to board. 

Given the urgency of the situation, no one questioned why the doors stood open while the engines remained cold and silent. 

One by one, the transport ships filled to capacity. Once they could no longer accommodate even a single additional person, the doors would close. 

Inside the first transport ship, an elderly man pressed against the cockpit, complaining about the stench of sweat in the air. 

"Damn that bastard Klein for returning without a word about the First Army's rebellion!" 

"Why the hell hasn't this transport ship started?" 

Just as everyone believed that boarding the transport ships would carry them to low Earth orbit, where they could transfer to the vessels the marshal had mentioned, Poison Sting donned a different outfit and walked deliberately to the center of the space where the ships were docked. 

Clutching a staff in his hand, he began to chant in a language incomprehensible to the others. 

Soon, an eerie blue mist enveloped the entire area. 

With a strike of his staff upon the ground, a sharp crack echoed through the air. 

As the sound resonated, all transport ships transformed into steel cages. 

Poison Sting and his servant turned to leave, blue flames erupting behind them. 

"Is it truly necessary to take such measures for the vanguard?" the servant inquired. 

"We are not contending with ordinary foes," Poison Sting replied with a smile. "I hope to leave behind some of the worthless scum, so they may be conscripted into the next battle. The ritual will disrupt their teleportation technology." 

"But my lord…" the servant began, but Poison Sting raised a hand to silence him. 

Stopping in his tracks, he gazed intently at his servant and instructed, "Knowledge and wisdom—these are our most potent weapons." 

"Very well, my lord. You are right." 

"Indeed, you have much yet to learn, you old fool." 

… 

In the depths of the nest, 

Qin Mo sat calmly in the subterranean chamber of the fortress, hands pressed against the floating teleportation device, channeling the energy of the Star God to power it. 

Currently, the teleportation was on a massive scale; the First Army's tens of thousands of troops drained the device's energy with every activation, and they were teleporting from unpredictable locations, increasing the strain. 

Amidst this energy consumption, Qin Mo felt a twinge of fatigue, yet he remained resilient, confident he could sustain his efforts until the army annihilated the enemy. 

But before long, the energy expenditure ceased abruptly. The teleportation device, overloaded with power, shimmered with surging energy; a mere thread of it could detonate the entire fortress. Qin Mo quickly withdrew his hands. 

"What's going on? Has the army been annihilated?" he wondered aloud, retrieving his communicator to inquire further. 

At that moment, the door swung open, and a frantic Klein rushed in, skipping formalities to report the situation. 

"The engaged troops have temporarily halted their advance; there's something amiss with the descent." 

"According to the information I've gathered…" 

Klein began detailing the bizarre occurrences. 

After listening, Qin Mo realized that strange phenomena had manifested in the nest: intermittent blue turbulence surged through the air, compelling weaker psychics within the enemy forces to resort to using rifles in combat. 

Furthermore, Grey, engaged on the front lines, discovered that the energy interference device in his powered armor was overloaded, causing erratic readings on the HUD. 

Not only he, but others also reported similar disturbances, prompting a prudent decision to cease combat temporarily and avoid falling into the enemy's trap or provoking more dreadful consequences. 

"Interference—this is interference," Qin Mo concluded. 

He quickly discerned that the current situation involved severe disruptions in the nest, akin to an EMP electromagnetic weapon, incapacitating devices associated with the subspace. 

The origin of this interference remained uncertain; perhaps it was the result of a powerful psychic. 

Qin Mo speculated that the enemy had initiated this disruption, even divining their thoughts. 

They mistakenly believed that the teleportation technology they witnessed was the standard utilized within the human empire, based on subspace principles. Such teleportation exposed users briefly to subspace; due to the brief exposure, subspace entities would not target them. 

However, given that this was a subspace-based teleportation, interference could yield catastrophic outcomes, far worse than being trapped in a dimensional channel due to energy depletion. 

Upon this realization, Qin Mo found himself unable to refrain from commending the enemy's psychics, acknowledging their ingenuity, as such a strategy was beyond the imagination of most. 

"What shall we do?" Klein asked. 

"None of the current anomalies concern us in the least. We shall continue our assault," Qin Mo replied, placing his hands once more on the teleportation device, supplying energy for another large-scale dimensional teleportation for the army. 

Reassured, Klein turned to leave, conveying Qin Mo's orders. 

Before long, the energy stored in the teleportation device was drained and immediately replenished. 

Evidently, the army had resumed employing dimensional teleportation in their operations. 

"Ha ha ha…" Qin Mo laughed aloud, a sudden craving for the battlefield igniting within him. 

For once on the battlefield, he could witness the enemy bewildered by their own troops being re-teleported, their expressions sure to be utterly fascinating. 

"Material technology, boy," Qin Mo murmured to himself.