Sivis took longer than I expected to organize this tiline because there are indeed more Imperial relics in this universe than initially guessed. After Sandora provided an ancient star map, we discovered tens of thousands of remnants from the Old Empire Era in many already fragnted star systems. These remnants range from a fully chanized colonization star to a defunct Excavator Probe. Sivis almost deployed all the probes in stock to detect the destruction tiline of these relics, eventually compiling a tiline that matches the star map, with precision down to the minute.
Due to the terrifying mobility of the Imperial Army, even a minor resistance could be crushed at superluminal speeds. A one-hour deviation on the tiline could result in a record discrepancy of several light-years in the Revenge Army’s action logs.
I connected this tiline to a holographic projection, and everyone imdiately gathered around, curiously observing the image now marked with nurous ti points. After setting it up, the star map rged with the tiline, and this colorful dot matrix diagram was filled with dense numbers. I had to use colors to distinguish them and remove much of the small-scale remnants data to see any patterns.
Sorting by the attack ti and using transitional colors to mark this "Doomsday Map," we imdiately noticed an interesting phenonon: the star map displayed colorful blotches spreading outwards like drops of oil on water, forming concentric circles.
"The Revenge Army launched attacks from over a dozen points simultaneously," Sandora pointed on the star map, occasionally enlarging or placing so blotches into the labeled area below the map, "Big House Corner constellation, β-5 constellation, Deep Sea Base... I can identify a few of these; they were originally Revenge Army fortresses, stockpiling large military forces and undertaking the production base roles, equivalent to the current Kuiper Belt Base. However, the remaining ruins don’t seem to belong to this universe. The destruction of the Old Empire probably led to a world intersection, bringing space from other universes here."
"These colors are very even," Qianqian squeezed in under my arm, despite not understanding much, her question went straight to the point, "What does this an?"
"It ans the Revenge Army encountered no resistance when sweeping through this universe," Big Sister’s tone was very serious since many conjectures were directly confird for the first ti, "We initially assud the Revenge Army was split into two parts, with one part going mad and another holding onto the remaining bases resisting, only for the mad army to eventually triumph, destroying the Old Empire bases in this universe. However, the situation now seems less optimistic. All bases were destroyed under near-uniform advancent... showing no signs of resistance."
All the Revenge Army remained in a state of madness, and all Old Empire bases were systematically wiped out, one after another, in a deliberate manner. The so-called "sober Revenge Army" never existed; they executed this doomsday plan with absolute unity and synchronization.
Sandora’s face turned very grim. With her intellect, she had discerned the truth revealed by the tiline as soon as it appeared. But she rely bit her lip, refraining from further comnts. I knew she wasn’t numb to all of this but was temporarily burying everything in her heart. No matter who was behind all of this, they would bear the wrath of this once Tyrant when the truth was fully revealed.
We adjusted the star map coordinates and size, setting the center point to the Mobra Star System, and imdiately found sothing unusual.
Big Sister was right, I was utterly shocked.
The Mobra Star System is the only system in the entire universe not fully subjected to the Extermination Order. After the Revenge Army went mad, it too was attacked, but midway through, the Revenge Army suddenly withdrew. I speculated that Mobra might be the last on the destruction tiline. When the Revenge Army brought the war here, ti was running out, leaving Mobra partially unscathed. However, the vibrant colors on the tiline revealed a fact—
The Mobra Star System was one of the first star systems to suffer the catastrophe in the entire universe!
"This... doesn’t seem right," I directly retrieved the numbers initially hidden for convenience, only to reconfirm that the Imperial relics in the Mobra Star System were among the first group destroyed relics, "The Revenge Army attacked here first after going mad. The Old Empire remnants near the Mist God Star were the first to perish... but the Revenge Army’s subsequent actions resembled an abrupt halt!"
Indeed, an abrupt halt. The Revenge Army loitered around the Mobra Star System for possibly up to ten years, but besides almost destroying Mobra’s ecosystem initially, they made no moves, not once attacking within the star system. During these approximately ten years, they obliterated everything related to the Old Empire across the universe, while this seemingly unremarkable small star system stayed intact.
"It seems our initial decision to protect Mobra was right," Sandora placed her hands on the table, a mysterious radiance on her face, "There must be a secret within this star system that halted the original Revenge Army actions. Intelligence officer! Notify Zaku imdiately and have all their historical docunts..."
Sandora’s command was cut short as Sivis’s image abruptly appeared in the tactical center, speaking urgently, "Your Majesty! Ergency! The Sixty-second Engineering Team is under attack!"
Along with Sandora, I exchanged glances, almost shouting in unison, "So soon?!"
We anticipated the Revenge Army would obstruct us from expanding bases, and once they discovered those engineering ships, they’d undoubtedly launch attacks. Yet it’s incredible they appeared so soon!
The engineering ships themselves are specially modified special service ships, irreplaceable advanced vessels even in the Old Empire Era. Although they lack strong firepower, they possess formidable defensive capabilities and invisibility, designed for Xyrin Hosts to rapidly establish bases in hostile front line environnts. The accompanying space cloaking device can hide a spherical space nearly ten thousand kiloters in radius. Additionally, the Xyrin Hosts themselves are experts in information control, though they don’t reach the strange talent of Little Baobao, who can randomly distort information even before the True Gods. Yet, hiding a base under probe surveillance is quite manageable. The combined effect of these two is not simply one plus one. I even suspect a mass-produced Bubbles could stealthily build a highway to a Void Node aboard an engineering ship—but how could one day not pass before an engineering ship ca under attack?
"What’s the damage status?"
The first thing I inquired about was the damage status, with Bubbles standing up beside , a look of concern on her face. Although mass-produced hosts are essentially computational machines sans independent thought, they are, after all, split off from one’s own body. Though I always found it humorous when Bubbles proudly referred to those hosts as "my daughters," this little otaku truly considered them as her children. This feeling may not be as deep as mother-daughter bonds but is not far off either.
"The escort fleet lost seven Expeditionary-class battleships, both accompanying Eternal-class mother ships were heavily damaged, currently under ergency repairs, and the engineering ship suffered light damage, safely returning. Several of the Revenge Army’s Armored Scorpions successfully boarded our ships but were slaughtered by the Host Guard, with one host slightly damaged in battle, currently undergoing examination."
"Dad, you all chat slowly, I’m going to check it out!"
Upon hearing a host was injured, Bubbles left such words and dashed out fiercely like a runaway... bubble.
"What about the course of the attack?" Big Sister asked, "How were you exposed?"
Sivis displayed a troubled expression; this simple question surprisingly left her at a loss for words. After hesitating for a mont, she sowhat reluctantly replied, "So far, it seems to be a coincidence."
"That’s not an explanation a soldier should give after an attack." Big Sister frowned and said.
"I am very sorry, Your Majesty, but there is no other explanation. The invisibility system of the engineering ship has been functioning well, and all information interference functions of the host have been normally activated. At the ti, the engineering team had already comnced reconstruction of the target relics and deployed the Xyrin Nest and Scan Tower. It can be confird that no probes of the Revenge Army exist near the Sixty-Second Space Fortress. Overall, there is no way the Revenge Army could have discovered this engineering team. Moreover, the enemy encountered by the Sixty-Second Engineering Team didn’t seem prepared. The opposing side was made up of a mixed formation of Frontier-class Fortress Ships and a large number of Expeditionary-class Warships, a configuration unsuitable for a surprise attack..."
I understood what Sivis was saying. In fact, when the enemy fleet includes Frontier-class Battleships, it can be judged that it was truly an accidental encounter. No one in their right mind would use Frontier-class Battleships in a surprise attack; those slow-moving behemoths are unsuitable for rapid engagents. It’s like ancient assassins who, at most, carried short swords. Have you ever seen anyone carrying a Fangtian Hua Ji to assassinate soone? They might even get stuck in a skylight!
"It seems it really was an encounter," Sandora said thoughtfully. "I didn’t expect they would start patrolling the Main Material Plane so quickly, and even with Fortress Ships. This could be an attempt to execute a blockade... What about the situation with other bases connected to Sixty-Second Space Fortress?"
"The plan has been urgently revised. The four adjacent engineering teams have now been transferred to a safe backup route and continue their work. The Revenge Army fleet lost its trace after the encounter, and no other engineering teams have reported being attacked so far."
"Let them stay vigilant; it looks like the Revenge Army has already started patrolling the universe. After this contact, they might soon increase patrol density, and another full-spectrum scan is not out of the question."
I gave so instructions, and after giving a military salute, Sivis’s image left the tactical center to arrange counterasures against the Revenge Army patrols. Big Sister stood nearby with furrowed brows, wearing the sa thoughtful expression as Sandora.
"What’s the matter? Any other issues?"
I knew these two were war veterans, one with a ticulous mind, and they might have thought of sothing easily overlooked, so I quickly asked.
"This is the third ti, right," Big Sister exchanged a glance with Sandora, "coming and going without a trace."
Sandora supplented: "The previous encounters were like this as well. They always appear suddenly, and our early warning radar is useless. The enemy only registers a mass response upon entering the Main Material Plane, so we cannot track their jump path."
"Is this the unique technology of the Revenge Army?" Qianqian leaned over and asked.
Sandora imdiately shook her head: "Of course not, otherwise I wouldn’t be so puzzled."
With those words, I also ca to realize it, but then I was left as puzzled as Big Sister and Sandora. If these two couldn’t understand the issue, I definitely couldn’t either, and this matter should be the headache of the intelligence departnt officers. Our only use is to moan about it. I actually felt a bit unbalanced, thinking how Sandora is far-sighted, but there’s no way around it, considering she ruled the world millions of years ago. However, it’s strange how Big Sister always thinks one step ahead of everyone else. You have to understand that my lovely sister has always had a single-thread mind since she was a child, capable of thinking about only one thing at a ti. How could she be so gifted in strategy? Could this be a demonstration of concentrated energy?
Leaving the tactical center, it was already evening outside. Because a "day-night" cycle on the Mist God Star lasts for half a month, we simulated Earth’s day and night alternation in General City. It was now the ti when the lights just ca on in the evening, and the artificial do above the city was adjusted to a dark state, simulating a bright moon with a big smiley face on it, and a floating bubble beside it marking the current Beijing Ti...
It seed like today’s the pack was designed by Qianqian.
Even after nightfall, the Imperial Base would not quiet down. As far as the eye could see, all the arsenals and assembly camps remained brightly lit. From ti to ti, newly assembled War Puppets and light vehicles would march out from these factories, completing final scans at the nearest checkpoints under the command of the city host, then boarding large transport ships to report to their commanders at each outpost. The blue Ghost Energy light flow slowly drifted in the night sky, everything proceeding silently in an orderly manner. The Imperial Base, operating at full capacity, was an astonishingly efficient war machine, continuously producing new soldiers and warplanes like a production line, while processing discarded parts collected from battlefields. The "field-filling technology" and "information materialization" technology of the Xyrin Apostle alleviated the shortage of raw materials in their arsenal, but recycling battlefield scraps still saves so energy consumption. During warti, even a minute fraction of one percent in efficiency improvent couldn’t be ignored, and such calculations are inseparable from the operations of Xyrin hosts in those factories daily.
Connecting to the information link, the progress in the arsenal beca clear. In the last ambush, we lost quite a few light warships while intercepting Revenge Army escort formations, yet most of these losses have been replenished—taking less than forty-eight hours to replace all those war damages.
This is a production speed that can be described as terrifying, and I have every reason to believe that the Revenge Army’s base production efficiency might be several tis that of General City and the outpost combined, and that’s an optimistic estimate. Although Eternal-class Mother Ships cannot be compared with mass-production puppets and warplanes in production, their army’s replenishnt speed is still unmatched by us.
If it cos to a war of attrition, the Imperial Army would have already lost before the battle begins. No wonder Sandora chose the "Phantom Project", a seemingly risky gambit. The Phantom Project may appear to use nurous false bases to mislead the Revenge Army and protect our real bases, but it has another purpose: to act as a large quantity of bait, attracting the main forces of the Revenge Army to reveal themselves, reducing enemy numbers through face-to-face combat whenever safely possible. Sandora’s every plan contains a dozen steps, and I can usually discern only three or four steps—so under normal circumstances, I don’t even try to look at it, which only adds to my inferiority...
"Hoo—wow—"
A soft, indistinct whisper entered my ears, and I felt a slight movent in my chest pocket. Then, instinctively, I placed my hand over the opening of my jacket pocket, looking like I was saluting. A few seconds later, my hand felt a slight weight, and my thumb was being hugged.
"Awake now? Still not over the ti difference?" I asked playfully while looking at the Little Goddess, rubbing her eyes drowsily in my palm. Her dress and wings were crumpled, evidently having a sleeping posture no better than the rcury Lamp. Dingdang has a rather amusing quirk; she often fails to adjust to ti differences and, when on missions with us, has to adjust to the target world’s ti line, continuing till the mission ends. When she returns to Earth, she adjusts back, then does it over again...
Dingdang batted her wings for to help smooth them out while murmuring sleepily, "Mm, slept for twenty-four hours, adjusted over..."
: "..."
First ti I’ve heard of directly adjusting over a ti difference; is she aligning with Alaya!
Just as I thought of Alaya, a warm breeze brushed past, followed by Holy Light descending from the sky. A silver-haired girl with wings rubbing her eyes staggered to stand in front of . She looked at the sky and grumbled: "Lord Brother, it’s not dawn yet?"
Dingdang erupted with laughter, shaking my index finger vigorously: "Haha! Another one who couldn’t adjust!" (To be continued. If you like the work, you are welco to vote for recomndations, monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian), your support is my greatest motivation.)
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