"How could this happen?"

Staring at the Thunderclap, now broken into three pieces, Yun Yi felt as if all his strength had drained away. He leaned back in the pilot's seat, motionless, his eyes fixed on the massive wreckage and the scattered corpses on the ground.

Just a few hours ago, they had been hoping to use this planet for a ground battle. However, as the Thunderclap was about to enter the planet's atmosphere, the pursuing government fleet caught up. With just one volley from less than ten ships, the already fragile Thunderclap was nearly shattered. That single attack had also destroyed most of the ship's systems, including the anti-gravity device that would have allowed for a safe landing.

Without the anti-gravity device, the Thunderclap plummeted like a meteor, crashing violently onto the planet's surface.

As for Yun Yi, when the ship entered the atmosphere, the section he was in was hit, creating a massive crack. The force of the impact dislodged his mecha, and within seconds, he was flung out of the ship. Fortunately, he was inside his mecha at the time. In a state of extreme calm, Yun Yi immediately activated the mecha, turned on the anti-gravity device, and fled in the opposite direction of the ship's descent.

He knew full well that the enemy wouldn't just leave. They would surely scan the crash site. And with the Thunderclap in such a state, it was unlikely that anyone other than a few armored soldiers could have survived.

As expected, shortly after landing, Yun Yi shut down the mecha's engine and active radar. Less than a minute later, several fighter jets and mechas from the enemy fleet flew overhead, scanning the entire planet. In the distance, faint streaks of light broke through the sky—perhaps the concentrated laser beams from the fighters or missiles launched from the mechas. The battle was over in an instant, leaving Yun Yi no time to react, let alone help.

After ensuring that the surroundings were quiet, Yun Yi gradually relaxed and took the opportunity to examine the planet.

This planet was truly strange.

Located in the remote reaches of the universe, it had an atmosphere capable of sustaining most forms of life. The mecha's sensors detected oxygen and other essential elements in the air, though in limited quantities. It was enough for humans to survive without additional equipment.

However, Yun Yi didn't dare leave his mecha to breathe the outside air. Although the mecha's sensors hadn't detected any harmful substances, caution was still the best policy in his current situation.

Hiding in the hills, Yun Yi kept an eye on the sky. About two or three hours after landing, the government forces gradually left the area.

Yun Yi suspected that there were few, if any, survivors on the Thunderclap. But after the enemy left, he immediately rushed to the crash site. The sight of the shattered wreckage filled him with despair.

Carefully maneuvering his mecha, Yun Yi meticulously searched every corner of the Thunderclap, which no longer resembled a ship.

The hope of finding survivors was slim, but Yun Yi didn't give up. He followed the battlefield search and rescue protocols he had learned, scouring every inch of the ship for signs of life.

Everyone hopes for a miracle, but miracles are always so far away.

All he found were broken bodies and severed limbs.

The mecha with half its body blown away by a beam cannon belonged to the squad leader. The torso without legs was the chief of staff. The old man with bloodied white hair was Lord Trensor, who had selected Yun Yi for the mission and had always looked out for him. "Sanchiras! Government forces! I will make you pay in blood!"

After about two hours of searching the wreckage and the surrounding area, Yun Yi had to stop. By then, he had lost all hope of finding any survivors.

"I can't let them lie exposed like this."

Using his mecha, Yun Yi quickly dug a large pit next to the ship. After burying all the bodies he could find, he stood before the mound of earth, lost in thought.

How could he leave this desolate and distant planet?

The mecha's engine was nowhere near powerful enough to take him off the planet and back to the Restoration Army base. Even escaping the atmosphere was impossible. The mecha's communication equipment couldn't bridge such a vast distance either. To contact the base, he would need ship-level communication devices.

Fortunately, while searching the command room, Yun Yi found a communication device. Although its exterior was damaged, the main body seemed intact, and it might still work. With this in mind, Yun Yi quickly located several spare energy cells in the wreckage and installed them into the device. Then, with a mix of anxiety and hope, he activated the communicator.

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"Beep... beep..." After the startup sound, the communicator's indicator lights all lit up, and it successfully connected to the communication computer.

Seeing the device return to normal operation, Yun Yi breathed a sigh of relief. Though the ship-level communicator was far more complex than the one on his mecha, the basic operations were somewhat similar.

Soon, Yun Yi entered the base's communication frequency and password, attempting to contact the Restoration Army base. For some reason, the planet's electromagnetic interference was severe, making it impossible to establish a stable connection. The signals sent out were intermittent.

With no other options, Yun Yi moved several more energy cells to the communicator, hoping to take advantage of the brief pauses in interference to establish contact with the base.

"Gurgle..."

After hours of effort, Yun Yi's stomach growled. He reached into the mecha's refrigerator and grabbed some food. The mecha carried a small supply of food, enough to last about five or six days. The Thunderclap had some functional food synthesizers and plenty of energy cells, but without organic materials as a base, the synthesizers couldn't produce edible food.

"I wonder if there are any living creatures on this planet. If I can't contact the base for too long, I might starve to death."

Leaving the wreckage, Yun Yi piloted his mecha into the air, surveying the seemingly barren planet.

The planet's surface was mostly covered in endless stretches of yellow sand, with some hills and mountains. At the planet's north pole, Yun Yi discovered a large amount of frozen water. While this wasn't useful to him—the ship's food synthesizer could extract hydrogen and oxygen from the air to produce fresh water—water was a basic necessity for most life forms. However, Yun Yi found no signs of life around the icy regions.

After circling the planet twice, Yun Yi returned to the Thunderclap, disappointed. As the planet rotated, the sky gradually darkened. A few rooms inside the Thunderclap were still intact, and Yun Yi installed a small oxygen generator in one of them, allowing him to spend the night outside the mecha.

Lying in bed, the exhaustion from the day's battles, escape, hiding, and searching weighed heavily on Yun Yi. But the pain of losing his comrades and the loneliness of being stranded on an alien planet kept him tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Touching the necklace around his chest, Yun Yi's face showed a hint of contentment. This necklace, given to him by his father before his death, was said to be a family heirloom. Whenever Yun Yi felt lonely or lost, touching the necklace brought him a sense of peace.

The chain was made of ordinary alloy, with a shiny silver finish and a sturdy, hard texture. What puzzled Yun Yi was the strange stone hanging from it. About the size of a thumb, the oval-shaped stone wasn't made of any material Yun Yi recognized. He had once searched for information about it online but found no answers. The stone emitted a faint blue glow, giving it a mysterious appearance, though it wasn't particularly beautiful compared to the famous gemstones of the universe. He had no idea where his family had obtained it.

Holding the necklace, Yun Yi finally fell into a peaceful sleep.

"Screech... rustle rustle rustle..."

In the middle of the night, a cacophony of sounds came from outside the wreckage. Yun Yi woke with a start, quickly dressed, grabbed the beam gun by his bedside, and quietly opened the door.

Though most of the Thunderclap was in ruins, the section where Yun Yi had chosen to stay was relatively intact. Outside the door was a short corridor, and his Red Mane III mecha was parked at the end.

Not knowing what was causing the noise, Yun Yi steadied his nerves and quietly made his way toward the mecha.

Just as he stepped into the corridor, the sounds outside stopped. Yun Yi quickly climbed into his mecha, and as the cockpit sealed shut, he breathed a sigh of relief. But then, what he saw made his eyes widen in shock.

"What the hell is that?"

In the darkness, with no light to see by, Yun Yi couldn't make out the scene outside. But what sent chills down his spine were two massive, glowing orbs floating in the air not far away.

If he wasn't mistaken, they were the eyes of some creature. Yun Yi stared at the eyes, not daring to move. The eyes were about ten meters off the ground. If the creature wasn't flying, how massive must it be?

"Rustle rustle rustle..."

Though he couldn't see the creature's body or movements, Yun Yi could tell from the shifting distance of the eyes that the creature was circling the Thunderclap's wreckage, seemingly fascinated by it.

"Screech..."

Suddenly, the creature let out a deafening roar. Before Yun Yi could react, the ground shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck. In the distance, more glowing eyes appeared, like scattered stars. The creatures gathered in large numbers, their thunderous footsteps shaking the earth as they ran across the land.

Watching the horde of creatures, Yun Yi was filled with terror, not even daring to breathe. Since humanity had entered the space age, most creatures—even the terrifying giants of ancient times—were no match for humans. But the universe was vast, and on some planets with extreme and unique environments, there existed creatures that were still formidable.

During his training at the Restoration Army base, Yun Yi had come across information about such creatures in the database. Some were incredibly fast, reaching several times the speed of sound. Others had shells so tough they could withstand attacks from small-caliber particle cannons.

The planet Yun Yi was on wasn't one he recognized, and there was no record of it in the mecha's computer. As for the creatures on this planet, it was best not to provoke them. If they were as dangerous as some of the creatures he had read about, a sixth-level warrior like him wouldn't stand a chance.

After the nearby creature let out another roar, it joined the horde and disappeared into the distance. Yun Yi exhaled in relief, quietly activated the mecha's engine, and turned on the sensors.

After analyzing the data, the mecha's computer displayed a three-dimensional image of the creature.

This creature stood about thirteen to fourteen meters tall and was nearly fifty meters long. It had two pairs of antennae and eight legs, resembling an enormous centipede. The horde of monsters Yun Yi had seen numbered at least a thousand, charging wildly across the land.

Once all the creatures were out of sight, Yun Yi didn't dare return to sleep. He feared that the monsters might trample over the Thunderclap's wreckage while he slept, leaving him dead before he even knew what had happened.

Before dawn, Yun Yi encountered several more waves of monsters. But as the sun rose, the creatures vanished without a trace. Yun Yi even piloted his mecha around the planet to search for them but found nothing.

Returning to the wreckage, the communicator still hadn't established contact with the base. Yun Yi grew increasingly anxious. If he couldn't contact the base before his food ran out, he might have to face those terrifying monsters after all.