The Iron Rose was not a planet; it was a hollowed-out moon, encased in a shell of jagged, black obsidian and defensive spire-cannons. Located in the "Dead Zone" between two collapsing stars, it served as the High Inquisitor's private laboratory—a place where the Empire's "failures" were sent to be recycled into Star-Soul energy.
As the Mirror Sovereign exited warp, the gravity wells of the twin stars tugged at its hull.
"The atmospheric pressure outside is high enough to crush a standard frigate," Vanya reported, her hands moving like a pianist's over the tactical console. "The Iron Rose is shielded by a 'Gravity-Veil.' We can't fire railguns; the slugs would just curve back and hit us."
"Then we don't fire slugs," Lin Feng said. He stood at the center of the bridge, the Mirror Locket humming with an aggressive, rhythmic vibration. "We fire light."
The Siege Begins
From the obsidian moon, thousands of "Hollow-Drones"—unmanned fighters powered by the drained souls of prisoners—swarmed out like a cloud of soot. They didn't use lasers; they used "Entropy-Beams" that rotted metal on contact.
"They're trying to melt our skin off!" Kara yelled from her cockpit. "Boss, the Ares units can't take much of this!"
"Hold your position, Kara," Lin Feng commanded. He closed his eyes, feeling the Locket's sync rate climb. 28%... 29%... 30%.
[Sync Threshold Reached: 30%]
[New Ability Unlocked: Photonic Refractive Shielding.]
"Locket! Cover the fleet!"
Lin Feng didn't project ships this time. Instead, the Mirror Sovereign emitted a blinding flash of silver light. The light didn't dissipate; it clung to every ship in the Volaris fleet, forming a shimmering, prismatic skin.
When the Entropy-Beams hit the silver coating, they didn't rot the metal. They bounced.
The beams reflected off the ships and struck the Harlot-Drones, turning the Inquisitor's own weapons against his swarm. In seconds, the space around the moon was filled with the silent explosions of a thousand shattered drones.
The Descent
"Now! Punch a hole!" Lin Feng roared.
The NIHIL Mecha shot out from the Sovereign's primary hangar. Clutched in its massive obsidian hands was a "Gravity-Drill" mirrored from a mining rig. Lin Feng, piloting the NIHIL from the bridge via a neural link, slammed the drill into the moon's surface.
The obsidian shell cracked.
"Mina, give me the layout," Lin Feng said.
The cat-girl, now sitting at the auxiliary navigation station with a look of fierce determination, pointed to a sub-level. "The 'Blood-Labs' are in Sector 4. My sister... and the others... they're in the cryogenic vats near the central reactor."
"Kara, Lilith—take the ground team," Lin Feng ordered. "I'll keep the moon's external defenses busy. If you see anything with an Inquisitorial seal, don't ask questions. Erase it."
The Horror of the Rose
Inside the labs, the air smelled of ozone and copper. Kara led the way, her hybrid mecha's hydraulic fists smashing through reinforced blast doors like they were made of paper.
Lilith flitted through the shadows above, her wings silent. Every time a guard raised a weapon, a violet blur would descend, and the guard would fall, his mind shattered by the Succubus's psychic scream.
They reached Sector 4.
"Ancestors save us..." Kara whispered, stopping in her tracks.
The room was filled with hundreds of glass tubes. Inside weren't just "failures." There were Elven children, Orc elders, and even human cadets who had gone missing from the Academy. They weren't being held; they were being harvested. Glowing tubes ran from their chests into a central turbine that pulsed with a sickening, golden light.
"They're using them as living batteries," Lilith said, her voice dripping with a rare, genuine rage. "To power the Inquisitor's 'Eternal Soul' project."
"Get them out," Kara growled, her eyes glowing green. "Now!"
The Inquisitor's Shadow
As the team began smashing the vats and stabilizing the survivors, a holographic projection flickered to life in the center of the room. It was the High Inquisitor.
"You are too late, Lin Feng," the projection sneered. "The data from the Void-Core you stole has already been uploaded. We don't need the physical artifact anymore. We have the formula for Divine Refraction."
"Formula?" Lin Feng's voice echoed through the lab's speakers.
"The Empire was built on the souls of the many to serve the few," the Inquisitor said. "You think your locket is unique? It is just a mirror. And a mirror can be shattered."
Suddenly, the central reactor began to overload.
"He's scuttling the moon!" Vanya shouted from the bridge. "Lord Captain, the Iron Rose is going to collapse into a singularity in three minutes!"
"Kara! Get the survivors to the transports!" Lin Feng yelled.
"What about the data?!" Lilith asked, looking at the central terminal.
"Forget the data! Save the people!"
In a frantic race against time, the Volaris crew loaded hundreds of weakened prisoners into the mirrored shuttles. Kara was the last one out, carrying Mina's sister—a small, pale cat-girl—in her massive armored arms.
The Cold Truth
The Iron Rose imploded. A silent, violent collapse that swallowed the obsidian moon and the twin stars, leaving nothing but a dark void.
Back on the Mirror Sovereign, the medical bays were overflowing. Mina was weeping as she hugged her sister. But Lin Feng stood alone in the dark of the NIHIL's cockpit.
He looked at his hand. It was shaking.
The Inquisitor's words haunted him. Divine Refraction. He looked at the Mirror Locket. For the first time, he saw a small, hairline crack on its surface. The Locket wasn't invincible. The more he mirrored, the more strain it took. And the Empire now knew exactly how to break it.
"Master?" Lilith stepped into the cockpit, her expression somber. "We saved three hundred. But the Inquisitor... he's already moved his main project to the 'Throne World.' He isn't hiding anymore."
Lin Feng looked out at the stars. "He thinks he's found the formula. He thinks he can mirror souls."
Lin Feng's eyes turned a cold, crystalline violet.
"Vanya, set a course for the Dust Sector. We're done with skirmishes. If the Empire wants a war of reflections, I'll give them a universe they can't tell apart from a nightmare."
The Master of Infinity wasn't just seeking revenge anymore. He was starting a revolution.