Just like every civilization with the ability to fight across worlds, the Fallen Apostles had set up massive defense systems in every border world. Apart from interference stations and disruptors that floated in the Void, those defense systems also had 'pass-locking' facilities that were integrated with the World Barrier.
We all knew what it was like to 'jump' into a world from the Void. If a world was a database sealed with a specific coding method, then Void fleets were additional data with a special coding method and response frequency. The additional data had to be tuned and translated, changing its' frequency 'to contact the world, and changing its' coding 'to achieve mutual understanding with the world. Only then could it enter a physical universe.
And the defense systems installed on the World Barrier usually worked from that aspect: they would conceal the World Barrier's true 'frequency', release incessantly turbulent and chaotic information, change the various law constants of the universe, and prevent foreign objects from entering the world through deception, encryption, distortion, and refusal of response. The battle the Empire's fleet was waging on the Fallen Apostles' World Barrier was more like a battle of decoding speed and scanning precision. There was no artillery fire, no army ambushing, and the soul-stirring struggle was all hidden in the clash of data. As the most powerful host among the fleet, Bubble had personally participated in the battle. She mounted herself on the mainframe of the Empire Admiral, and after working hard for almost half an hour as a high-speed calculator, she finally broke through the enemy's' firewall 'on the World Barrier. The moment the World Barrier was breached, she said something that particularly touched me:
"Child's father, this world is now code-free …"
Do you know how much I wanted to rush into the engine room, drag that shorty out and hang her up for a beating!
Although the process of breaching the World Barrier was indeed decoding, although the world would have no password after the disruptors were cracked, although … whatever the case, couldn't that lass have said it in a more normal manner!
"The Sixth and Seventh Fleets have already entered the physical plane. There are many spatial mines there, but most of them have been cleared and only caused light damage to the fleets." Xi Wei maintained a spiritual link with the frontlines, the Storm Commander's powerful battlefield data analysis ability allowing her to scan and monitor the entire battlefield by herself. "The enemy has set up layers of defenses there, and the sovereign hub they use to control the universe is well protected. We have to find a way to destroy that thing, or the control of this world would always be in their hands."
Sandora glanced at the tactical analyzer and said calmly, "Fourth Fleet, install disruptors and interference devices on the world barrier. First Fleet, stay outside for now to prevent the enemy from counterattacking. The Royal Fleet is preparing to 'sink.' "
"Your Majesty, the warzone in the Physical Realm has yet to be completely suppressed."
"That's why we're going down to suppress them." Sandora shrugged. "The Royal Fleet isn't here just to watch the show. Prepare to 'sink.' "
The aide-de-camp no longer had any objections, and the Royal Fleet's void engines activated once more, beginning to modify their signature to approach the physical universe ruled by the Fallen Apostle. Bubbles, on the other hand, began to report the progress of the 'sinking'. "Attention, we are about to make contact with the World Barrier. Information deviation from target by 15% … 10% … 5% … Rule modification complete. Sinking into the physical universe. Space turbulence detected.
Before the broadcast even ended, a violent tremor had already spread throughout the command hall. The earth shook in an instant as the world turned upside down, and Shallow Shallow who had been dozing off on her seat rolled to my feet. I bent down to pull Shallow Shallow up while listening to Bubble's voice continue the broadcast. "No need to prepare. I think I said it was too late."
"… It's fine if you take over the ship's mainframe, but can you return the broadcasting rights to the System?"
Bubble's voice was solemn. "This is to improve compatibility and system stability. Switching to external monitoring."
The large holographic projection in the command hall immediately switched from the complex diagrams and abstract images of the Void Voyage to a direct view of the space the fleet was in, with more than ten direct views showing us the appearance of the universe.
Space was dark, with almost no stars twinkling, no bright clouds or any other prominent celestial structure. The entire universe was shrouded in a very dim yellow background, monotonous and desolate.
"The laws of this world aren't that 'friendly'. The stability of matter is poor, and the gravitational force has almost all dissipated to other dimensions. It's difficult for large celestial bodies to gather, and the number of matter clusters in space is pitifully small. Elementary particles are distributed throughout the universe in a discrete state." Shadora quickly looked at the scan report in front of her. "The background hue in space is the 'color' of this world. It's like a uniform and loose dough with almost no structure. A chaotic world without celestial bodies … can't give birth to life, and there won't be any evolution from birth to death. It's classified as a 'sick fetus' in the world. It's rare, but it seems to be the norm in the Abyss. "
"Only a 'sick fetus' universe that lacks the power to evolve can survive long enough in the Abyss," I nodded. "A normal world with a complex structure would have long been killed by the pollution of the Abyss. In this damned place, only things with simple structure can survive."
At that moment, a sudden flash of light appeared on the external monitoring screen, interrupting my conversation with Sandora. It was an attack from the Fallen Apostle.
We were still on the battlefield, and this wasn't a good place to lament about the law of the Abyss that 'fools have long lives'. Sandora immediately connected the small holographic device in front of her to the warship's tactical analysis switchboard. She quickly ordered, "All mothership-level units, begin counterattack. Seventh Fleet, preserve your strength. Leave your Glow Circle for the enemy's motherships. "
I looked at the image sent back by the external monitoring screen. Of course, there weren't any enemies within my field of vision. The nearest enemy fleet was twelve light years away, and both sides were currently firing at each other through the hyperspace system. At present, the artillery fire outside was extremely fierce. The Empire's fleet was in the center of the tightest defense, so it wasn't too obvious. However, the artillery fire at the edge of the Joint Shield was already so concentrated that it could be described as a torrential rain. A large spatial rift opened up on one side of the Empire's fleet, and the hyperspace firepower that was distorted like rippled glass arranged themselves into a matrix just a few kilometers away from the Joint Shield. The long axis was already over tens of thousands of kilometers. A torrential psionic torrent poured out from it, splashing on the fleet's Joint Shield and causing intense ripples.
Obviously, that area was the 'main focus' of the Fallen Apostle.
Fortunately, with Xiaoxue's advance instructions, we had placed a large number of fortress ships in the most heavily attacked area, and the Seventh Fleet's' Throne of Judgement 'had also greatly strengthened the flank defense. Most of the Seventh Fleet's ships were antiques from the old Empire era, relics of the old days that they had reclaimed from the Melovans. Not only were they ancient, but they were also messily modified by the impetuous Melovan engineers. Fortunately, Alleria worked overtime to repair these ships, and with the durability of the Empire's equipment, these antiques still retained their former combat power. A large group of ships from the last era, along with a small number of new warships that had just been trial-produced, was tantamount to the first time the newly reorganized Seventh Fleet was tested in high-intensity warfare. So far, the fleet's performance was not bad: the Throne of Judgement withstood the most dangerous main cannon firepower on the flank, while the tilted, weird cubes did not use their not-so-powerful weapon systems and instead focused on strengthening their defenses. They constantly and nimbly switched their shell modes: full absorption and full reflection, and each cycle meant that another enemy ship was heavily damaged by their own firepower.
On the other hand, the magnificent and dangerous Radiant Rings were temporarily preserving their strength in the inner zone of the Combined Fleet. They were similar to the destroyers of aircraft carriers, and had the ability to kill unshielded targets in one hit. This ability was useless when the enemy had shields, but when the battle dragged on and the shields were almost depleted, the Radiant Rings would unleash their terrifying power. This was a type of warship that had a considerable advantage in the later stages of the battle. So now, they were quietly waiting under Sandora's orders.
The spy probes had already reached the edge of the universe in a short period of time. Apart from some interference zones, the scanned map of this world was clearly presented in front of us, along with the approximate distribution of the Fallen Apostles. According to the intelligence sent back by the spy probes, the enemy in this world was about the size of three whole armies. It was surprisingly small, almost half the size of the Imperial Army. It was hard to believe that this was the entire garrison of the Fallen Apostles. This made us, who had always been at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, feel a little happy. I knew that a large part of the reason was that the Protoss had pinned down the enemy's military power on the other side of the battlefield. Another part of the reason was the internal turmoil of the Fallen Apostles a few days ago, but as for the rest … Was there really no other reason?
In the end, it was probably fate that couldn't stand our smooth sailing rhythm. Just as I was thinking about how I could quickly take down this universe by relying on our advantage in numbers, the warning radar suddenly sounded. "Warning, high-level information has been detected, pointing to the current universe … Enemy forces confirmed to be arriving. Number of enemies unknown."
As expected, this sort of thing was just like the wrinkles on one's forehead. Even if the Protoss had pinned down the majority of the Fallen Apostles' military power, they would still be able to squeeze out a fleet to counterattack the Imperial Army located on this battlefield.
At the same time as the warning radar sounded, the Fourth Fleet, which was currently laying down various interference devices on the world barrier, also sent a report. "Your Majesty! The enemy's reinforcements are currently jumping into this world! They have used the World Gate, so the effects of the Void Disruptor are limited! "
The "sovereignty" of this universe was still in the hands of the Fallen Apostles. This also meant that the enemy could directly send troops into this universe through the World Gate. The Void Disruptor was used to stop the "Void → World" jump, while the World Gate was a "World → World" teleportation. Even though the Void Disruptor could interfere with this kind of teleportation, the effect would be greatly reduced.
However, since we had yet to destroy the sovereignty hub of this world, the Fallen Apostles' "World → World" teleportation would not stop. The only thing the Fourth Fleet could do was continue laying down the Void Disruptor. Even though it couldn't completely stop the World Gate, it could at least interfere with it, right?
"As long as it's effective," I quickly replied. "Continue with what you are doing. Stall for as long as you can. Leave the matter of the sovereignty hub to us."
"We have to find a way to establish a stable stronghold." I raised my head and looked at Sandora. "Only then can we pull our Celestial System Fleet over. In addition, we have to cut off the Fallen Apostles' control over this world. Otherwise, they will be able to squeeze out a fleet from the mainland to send troops over here. "
Sandora nodded. "Mm, the second point is more important. We have to first find a way to destroy their sovereignty hub. As long as we flatten that place, the Fallen Apostles' sovereignty over this universe will come to an end."
Bubble's voice resounded in the command hall through the spaceship's broadcast system. "The sovereignty hub of this universe is located twelve thousand light years away. It is a tightly guarded artificial galaxy. Seventy percent of the enemy's fleet is gathered there. However, we have the advantage in numbers, so we can consider attacking forcefully."
Sandora nodded. "Then we will attack forcefully … The sovereignty hub itself has combat capabilities. Attacking forcefully might be difficult, but it is still better than letting the enemy's reinforcements flood in endlessly."
The Alliance Fleet immediately locked onto the direction of the sovereignty hub and began to attack the twelve thousand light years away.
The so-called "sovereignty hub" was actually not something new. It was just that we had rarely needed to mention this concept in the past. The sovereignty hub was not a single facility, nor was it a building as it sounded. It was a set of large-scale, systematic equipment, a system used to ensure the control of the entire universe.
We previously talked about how to determine the management rights of a universe: absolute traffic control, the oaths of all civilized civilizations in the world, military mobilization rights, and so on. The sovereignty hub was something used to ensure these rights.
First, the Sovereign Hub includes a frequency modulation hub that encrypts the World Barrier. It is used to control the Void Disruptors on the World Barrier and near the World Barrier, as well as to control the entry and exit of the entire world. However, following the destruction of the World Barrier, this part of the Fallen Apostle's Sovereign Hub has already lost its effectiveness. Second, the Sovereign Hub also includes a "broadcasting" system. It will broadcast in a loop across the cosmic background radiation and all high-energy frequency bands, announcing the Sovereign Owner's hegemony over this universe. When other civilizations in the universe develop to a certain extent, they will be able to receive these broadcasts, and they will have to obey the rules set by the Sovereign Owner. However, I don't know if the Fallen Apostle's territory has any "subjects". Thinking about it, there shouldn't be any other races living in the Abyss region other than the Fallen Apostles themselves. Furthermore, this universe doesn't even have a habitable environment, so the Sovereign Hub here definitely doesn't have a "broadcasting" system. Lastly, the Sovereign Hub usually includes teleportation channels like the World Gate. These channels are extremely important, as they can ensure the Sovereign Owner's direct rule over the world.
These channels are extremely important, as they can ensure the Sovereign Owner's direct rule over the world. The Imperial Army's advantage in ambushes is naturally much more convenient than traveling through the Void. Generally speaking, the Sovereign Hub only has these three functions. Other than that, they also possess powerful defensive capabilities. There will be military bases surrounding them. The Sovereign Hub itself is equivalent to a fortress that is easy to defend and hard to attack. Every world within the borders of the Empire has such a Sovereign Hub. For example, the Sovereign Hub of the Shadow Realm is a union formed by the City of Shadows and the Mother Planet, Gaia. This union can control the passage of the capital world, broadcast the declaration of the Empire, open the World Gate, and fill it with soldiers from the Empire. As long as this union exists, the management rights of the City of Shadows will always be in the hands of the Empire.
This border world of the Fallen Apostles also has a Sovereign Hub, and it is still trying to repair the World Barrier that has been breached and send in a steady stream of reinforcements. If the Sovereign Hub is not destroyed, the following battle will become an extremely disadvantageous war of attrition. The advantage of the Imperial Army's surprise attack will also be gone.
We have attacked the border world of the Fallen Apostles in the past, but the Sovereign Hub we encountered back then was not as difficult to deal with as this one. The enemy knows that the situation is critical. On one side, the Protoss army is pressing down, and on the other side, the Imperial Army is attacking fiercely. Once the border world is breached, it will be very difficult for them to fill the gap in time. The Imperial Army will enter the Abyss through this gap, and it will be like a hot knife through butter. So, the enemy has concentrated all the available fleets near the Sovereign Hub, surrounding this small artificial galaxy tightly.
The Sovereign Hub is more than ten thousand light years away from our "landing" point. The Empire fleet has successfully skipped most of the distance through hyperspace warp. Although we encountered the enemy's gravitational traps and coordinate misdirection along the way, with Xiaoxue around, these traps were all safely bypassed. In the end, we had no choice but to stop when we were 1,270,000 kilometers away from the Sovereign Hub. The enemy has replaced the entire 1,270,000 kilometers of space around the Sovereign Hub, and the spatial coordinates here are all wrong signals. If the warp engine uses the Sovereign Hub as a target, we will probably be thrown to the edge of the universe.
"Motherf * cker … My trypophobia is about to act up when I look at the radar …" Bryndis looked at the holographic projection in front of her and suddenly cursed, "They have surrounded this place like a ball of yarn."
"That is the Sovereign Hub." Sandora pointed at the holographic projection. "The World Gate should be hidden by its force field, but we can scan that there is a spatial rift opening nearby. The enemy is definitely trying to stall for time by entrenching themselves in defense. They have a lot of reinforcements this time."
I looked at the location that Sandora pointed at, zooming in and zooming in. Finally, I saw a dim binary star system.
It was two black and red man-made celestial bodies. Their size and appearance were almost identical. Each of them was about twice the size of Earth, and their surface was covered in crimson vein-like patterns. Due to the strong interference and limited scanning accuracy, I couldn't be sure what was on these two planets, but I was sure that the central control of this universe was concentrated on them, including the controller of the World Gate.
As long as this binary star system was destroyed, the Fallen Apostle's reinforcements would be cut off, and the celestial system fleet would be able to peacefully expand in this world.
But before that, we had to first deal with the shocking number of space fortresses around the binary star system, as well as the defense forces that could make even Icetis suffer from trypophobia.
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