The lowest-ranked ability user taking part in the operation was still an A-ranker, and they were all extremely sensitive to even the slightest change in themselves.
Korobin was an S-rank defensive ability user. His ability focused on protecting a single target. Although it could not compare with Cang Zhuonian’s group defense, it was still formidable.
When Korobin sensed that his ability had suddenly received a slight boost, a flicker of confusion crossed his eyes.
What was this?
Was it the effect of an ability from one of the support-type comrades?
Not many people in the Federation knew that Yunyang possessed an ability, and Si Zhao had deliberately helped her keep it hidden. Korobin had never once considered that the boost might have come from Yunyang.
But this was no time to dwell on it.
Regardless, he could not allow his comrade’s efforts to go to waste.
With a photon rifle in one hand, Korobin charged toward a support-type comrade, firing continuously while maintaining his defenses.
The other defensive ability users seemed to have been injected with stimulants as well.
With their comrades’ abilities supporting them, and Her Majesty the Empress and Lady Yunyang stationed in the rear, what did they have to fear?
They were only dealing with the Zerg. All they had to do was fight!
On the starship, Yunyang immediately absorbed the level-five Zerg core in her hand once her ability was depleted.
Bestowing blessings on so many ability users at once could only last for less than two minutes.
Fortunately, her spatial cuff contained countless Zerg cores, allowing her to replenish her power the moment a blessing ended.
The boost granted to each Federation soldier was not very great—not even one percent. But when tens of thousands of Federation soldiers were added together, the effect became terrifying.
Si Zhao’s ability was of little use in a situation like this, so she opened her spatial cuff and placed a pile of Zerg cores in front of Yunyang.
“Yangyang, we have more than enough Zerg cores, but don’t push yourself.”
“I know, Sister Zhaozhao.”
Yunyang nodded. She did not feel as though she was forcing herself. Using up her ability was different from exhausting her mental strength. Even when her ability was completely depleted, she did not feel the slightest discomfort.
Moreover, because she was repeatedly exhausting her ability, then replenishing it by absorbing Zerg cores, her ability seemed to be growing stronger.
Could she exploit this loophole indefinitely?
Yunyang suddenly felt as though she had figured out how to rapidly increase her ability rank.
At that moment, aside from the two females and their group of beast-husband consorts, the only people left aboard the starship were Wu Zhengming and the two pilots.
To keep them informed of the battle, Wu Zhengming had opened auxiliary holographic screens in front of the two females. The moment Yunyang looked up, she could see the Federation soldiers and the Zerg locked in combat.
The Zerg could not bear to leave their seriously wounded broodmother alone in the nest. Meanwhile, the Federation soldiers possessed not only abilities, but also the high-energy weapons supplied by the Federation.
Before the Zerg trapped on the border planet could return, they had almost no advantage.
But how could the Federation soldiers on the border planet allow the Zerg to return so easily?
The battle continued for a long time.
On the screens, dawn broke through the darkness at the horizon. The first rays of sunlight fell upon the desolate land of the Zerg planet, illuminating the blood beneath the feet of both the Federation soldiers and the Zerg.
Crimson and bright green blood mingled together, making it impossible to tell whether the Zerg or the Federation soldiers had suffered heavier casualties.
With a steady supply of Zerg cores replenishing her power, Yunyang kept her ability focused on the Federation soldiers at the very front.
In just a few short hours, her ability had increased more than it had after purifying so many highly polluted males before. The effects of her blessings gradually grew stronger as well, already exceeding one percent.
Throughout this time, Si Zhao kept monitoring the pollution levels of the Federation soldiers.
Whenever a soldier’s pollution level exceeded ninety, she used her spatial ability to have He Youchuan retrieve them from the battlefield. She would then purify them before He Youchuan returned them to the fight.
Spatial ability users were generally unable to help other people travel through space.
But He Youchuan was no ordinary person. He was Si Zhao’s Imperial Consort and bore Si Zhao’s mark.
In addition, Si Zhao’s spatial ability was S-rank. By expending twice the usual amount of power, she could allow He Youchuan to make a round trip between the starship and the battlefield.
The cost to her ability was undoubtedly enormous. Fortunately, the one thing the battlefield had in abundance was Zerg cores.
Each time He Youchuan traveled through space, he not only brought back Federation soldiers whose pollution levels had exceeded ninety, but also gathered the Zerg cores scattered nearby in the shortest time possible, providing Si Zhao and Yunyang with the energy they needed to replenish their abilities.
One second, Korobin was fighting alongside his comrades against a level-eight Zerg. The next, he found himself inside the starship.
He stared around in bewilderment. “Commander, why am I back here?”
Wu Zhengming was too busy directing the battle to pay him any attention.
Instead, a familiar wave of mental strength settled over him.
Korobin instinctively turned his head and saw the two females sitting together.
Her Majesty the Empress and Lady Yunyang…
What was going on?
Korobin was utterly baffled. But before he could figure it out, Yunyang swiftly lowered his pollution level by eighty points, and He Youchuan sent him back to the battlefield.
Looking at the comrades fighting around him, Korobin instinctively activated his ability.
At the same time, his ability was bolstered once again.
As Korobin charged forward to help his comrades withstand an attack, he tried to make sense of what had just happened.
Had he really been taken back to the commander’s starship, and then… purified by Lady Yunyang?
Korobin felt as though he had been dreaming.
Just then, the comrade behind him suddenly kicked him hard.
“Korobin, are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“That bug was practically crawling onto you, and you were just standing there like a wooden post!”
His comrade’s ability was a range-wide strength enhancement that worked on both himself and others. That single kick sent Korobin flying two li away.
As a defensive ability user, Korobin was not seriously affected by the kick. But it did bring him back to his senses.
“Thanks, brother. I’ll treat you to a meal when we get back to the border planet.”
Korobin spoke as he scrambled to his feet, then threw himself back into the battle with all his focus. He did not dare spare any more attention for what had just happened.
Inside the starship, He Youchuan was responsible for retrieving people from the battlefield, while Si Zhao and Yunyang handled the purification.
Although Si Zhao’s mental strength was infinitely close to S-rank, it still differed from that of a true S-ranker. She remained unable to purify ability users above A-rank.
Fortunately, compared with A-rank ability users, S-rank and higher-ranked ability users were much fewer in number.
At first, with the help of suppressants, there were not particularly many Federation soldiers whose pollution levels exceeded ninety, so the two of them managed their respective tasks with relative ease.
But the longer the battle continued, the faster the soldiers’ pollution levels rose.
The suppressants could no longer keep up with the speed at which their pollution increased.
Si Zhao had no choice but to order Wu Zhengming to warn the Federation soldiers that the moment their pollution level exceeded ninety, they were to withdraw to the starship and wait for her or Yunyang to perform a group purification.
The first battle lasted for three days and three nights.
Both the Federation soldiers and the Zerg suffered casualties, but the Zerg’s losses were far greater.
Deep within the underground nest, the broodmother sensed that more and more of her Zerg were dying. She had no choice but to order them to temporarily retreat underground.
The Federation soldiers finally had a chance to catch their breath.
The starship fleet landed. The Federation soldiers staggered back aboard, then collapsed onto the floor, unwilling to move.
