At a higher orbit, the Edge Fighter has also regained balance, firing bursts with its underslung machine gun.
At that mont, Li Cheng caught a glimpse of sothing from the corner of his eye.
It was an artificial satellite rushing in from the ten o’clock direction at a speed of 7.5 kiloters per second. The surface paint of the satellite was not marked with the Boundary Earth project, but rather... Starlink Company.
Li Cheng’s pupils shrank suddenly; he saw the Phase Change Demon fully open its web-like structure ford from its lower body, accurately catching the Starlink satellite, and instantly flying far away with it.
The original battle between Li Cheng and the Phase Change Demon took place on a near-Earth equatorial orbit, rotating with Earth, maintaining relative stillness in spatial positions.
But the Starlink satellite ca from the tilted orbital direction at ten o’clock, and the Phase Change Demon departed with the satellite, suddenly distancing itself from Li Cheng by dozens of kiloters.
The Phase Change Demon had been scheming for so long just for this opportunity. It decisively abandoned the portion of its body contaminated by acid, lting the remaining body completely and infiltrating into the satellite’s interior.
The Boundary Earth project satellites were co-manufactured by the GOC and Whale Song Guild, and had undergone anti-transcendent power protection, but Starlink had not.
The Phase Change Demon’s erosion and assimilation went unimpeded, connecting to the internal cable panel of the satellite.
Then, the Invisible Power spread with the satellite as the center, at light speed, to low Earth orbit LEO, and with montum unabated, it spread to dium Earth orbit O above 2000 kiloters from the ground, and the geosynchronous orbit above 35,000 kiloters from the ground.
A total of ten thousand Starlink satellites simultaneously began discharging their stored propellant.
In low Earth orbit with altitudes of 200-2000 kiloters, extrely thin atmosphere still exists, and satellites moving at high speeds will collide with these trace gas molecules creating drag, consuming the satellite’s kinetic energy, slowing flight speed and lowering orbital altitude. Thus, low Earth orbit satellites reserve propellant, discharging gas every few weeks or months to maintain orbital altitude.
Those satellites above the altitude of 2000 kiloters, for adjusting posture, avoiding space debris, and leaving orbit after completing missions, are also equipped with a propulsion system.
The Phase Change Demon burned itself, sharing all of its extraordinary creature essence and strength using a network connection to every Starlink satellite, allowing each satellite’s propulsion system to exert thrust exceeding its theoretical limit, starting acceleration from slow to fast.
7.5 kiloters per second,
8.9 kiloters per second,
10.1 kiloters per second,
Finally, the first Starlink satellite in low Earth orbit broke through 11 kiloters per second, reaching second cosmic velocity.
Second cosmic velocity ans that the satellite can escape Earth’s gravity and travel into outer space.
And those satellites in geostationary orbit only need escape velocities of 4.3 kiloters per second to reach deep space.
This was the Phase Change Demon’s plan; after failing to hack into Cloudflare Company, it chose to infiltrate Starlink, erode and assimilate the satellites and banish them from Earth.
Ten thousand satellites enter deep outer space in different directions, and relying solely on human civilization’s power, it is practically impossible to recover them all in a short ti.
These satellites will beco the Phase Change Demon’s "beacons," guiding the forces behind it to Earth’s location.
Li Cheng imdiately understood the entire plan, instinctively taking a deep breath.
Phase Change Demon, you’re a ruthless one, hiding deeper than anyone.
Li Cheng raised his hand to summon a semi-cha form of Massive Swarm; after the last battle with the Alpha Python, Massive Swarm’s battle damage hadn’t been repaired, and the injuries worsened.
Fortunately, it doesn’t need to fight to death now.
The Massive Swarm cha silently carried Li Cheng, the vector nozzles at its back spewed flas, spinning in place, continuously accelerating. Then, it threw Li Cheng towards a higher orbit.
As the altitude climbed, the Phase Change Demon that had flown away along the orbital curvature beca visible again. Li Cheng raised his hand to summon the Alchemy Magic Cannon, his eyes firm.
The power of the Eight Diagrams Demon Cannon depends on the extraordinary materials invested. Ordinary materials can’t kill the Phase Change Demon, so it must be....
The Mantis Arm Bone Blade swung, cutting off Li Cheng’s left arm, both legs, and scorpion tail, throwing them into the Tripod Furnace.
Buzz—
The Furnace of Eight Trigrams vibrated fiercely, scalding steam erupted from every hollow structure, and vast airflow, seemingly pulled by Invisible Power, began frantically swirling, condensing,
materializing at the top of the furnace into a five-ter-long crimson beetle horn.
The long horn was entirely crimson, its rough surface covered with spiky barbs, even under the bright sunlight at the terminator’s end, it exuded a fierce aura.
The Multi-threaded Brain Domain thod started at full capacity, the brain operating based on a six-base genetic system quickly calculating orbital paraters, then, fired.
So fast one couldn’t clearly see its afterimage, the crimson beetle horn vanished at the cannon’s mouth, transforming into a tiny dot of light, catching up to the Starlink satellite.
Boom!
The satellite exploded mid-air, the grandeur of the fireball could be clearly seen by the naked eye from the Earth’s surface, even by ordinary people.
Li Cheng slowly lowered the Alchemy Magic Cannon, the Insect Lord Demon’s self-healing ability had long since activated, binding blood vessels, regenerating cells.
Tiny amounts of exposed blood droplets began boiling violently due to the lowered boiling point in the vacuum environnt, then froze into shining ice crystals, floating around Li Cheng.
Did it succeed...?
Tension and confusion simultaneously appeared in the hearts of the Special Affairs Bureau, Whale Song, GOC Headquarters, and all guild higher-ups capable of observing the near-Earth orbital battle.
Everyone watched the explosion firelight anxiously.
Smoke gradually cleared, revealing the sight of a severely damaged satellite wreck.
The Phase Change Demon, originally mountain-like, was now shrunk to the size of a basketball, easily lifted by hand.
It lay haggardly on the wreck’s surface, its lower body skin spread like a thin sheet, protecting 30% of the satellite’s core components.
Success, yet also failure.
Nearly 8000 Starlink satellites lost the energy supply of the Phase Change Demon’s remote energy provisioning, their propulsion systems ceased accelerating, being recaptured by Earth’s gravity.
Yet, 2000 satellites achieved escape velocity required by their orbit, and without looking back, moved far away from Earth, carrying the shared essence of the Phase Change Demon in various directions, heading into the universe.
"It’s over, all over."
At Whale Song Guild Headquarters, a programr in a checkered shirt slumped backward, collapsing into an ergonomic chair.
This Lv30 Whale Song senior mber, known as [Black Trojan Horse], knew very well, Players are strong, filling rivers and moving mountains with ease.
However, when compared to the vast scale of the cosmic universe, players are also very weak.
The Jupiter storm cyclone called the Great Red Spot is about 25,000 kiloters long, 12,000 kiloters in vertical span, releasing energy every second equivalent to six of the most powerful hydrogen bombs in human history, Tsar Bomba detonated simultaneously.
And an artificial satellite’s escape velocity of 11.2 kiloters per second is equivalent to Mach 32, far exceeding the terminal speed of hypersonic missiles. Ordinary players can’t catch up.
If transcendent individuals ride multistage rockets accelerating in space, they’d be able to catch up. But this requires competing with the forces behind the Phase Change Demon.
The Phase Change Demon also understood this; if it had personal consciousness, it would likely show a gratified smile, murmuring a low whisper, "My task is complete, haha."
Ping—
A weak light suddenly lit in the dark universe.
The Phase Change Demon straightened its body abruptly, and Li Cheng turned his head to look into the far distance.
The second, the third, dots of light like fireflies, sparkled and extinguished.
Each light point was an explosion firelight from a satellite.
"How could this be?!"
The higher-ups of Whale Song and Special Affairs Bureau Guild couldn’t help but exclaim because Starlink as a comrcial company project was distributed at different heights and inclinations on Earth orbit.
With extra thrust provided by the Phase Change Demon, these Starlink satellites left their original orbit, distanced by hundreds or thousands of kiloters, distributed in three-dinsional space, and moving further away from each other every second.
Ping ping ping ping ping—
Explosion light frequency increased rapidly; note that when the first batch of Starlink satellites launched, the Slaughter Field Ga had not yet arrived. There’s absolutely no remotely activated self-destruction device installed on the satellites.
Which ans, the Transcendent individuals are involved.
The explosion lights shining one by one, like stars illuminating the sky,
When the last satellite in geostationary orbit beyond 35,000 kiloters from Earth was destroyed, the night sky returned to peaceful tranquility.
Step.
A foot clad in silver-white tal armor stepped onto the Phase Change Demon’s satellite wreckage.
Michael descended at that spot.
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