Chapter 1347 Deadlock
Black Star’s opinion was an important reference for the three Universal Civilizations to carry out their decisions. It was as easy as reading a walk-through to fight a monster, allowing the upper echelons of the three Universal Civilizations to fully experience the joy of sucking up to someone powerful.
However, he could not contact Black Star now. He could only think of a way and act according to the situation.
Simon composed himself and said slowly:
“Therefore, there are two key points that need to be resolved. One is to locate the various camps, and the other is to use an efficient method to break through the Lerbo s.p.a.ce Protection Belt and destroy the enemy’s artillery bases.”
“If we can’t find anything from Destiny’s Child’s surveillance, we can either pa.s.sively wait for their bases to launch attacks and a.n.a.lyze the source of the attack, or wait for our control range to slowly cover it…”
A staff sergeant said.
Hearing this, the church commander shook his head and said:
“As long as the World Tree’s beyond-visual-range encampment exists, it will continuously keep destroying our s.p.a.ce anchoring orbits-monitoring the base station, and other facilities-stopping us from expanding our control range. In areas that we have yet to cover, the World Tree can expand the size of the camp at will, and there will be no end to it. These resources are just a drop of water in the ocean to them, and they are using an extremely low cost to form a tug-of-war with us, obstructing our movements… So, from the looks of it, we can only wait for the other party to make a move, then lock onto them. This is very pa.s.sive.”
“How about a large-scale search using reconnaissance s.h.i.+ps?”
“The area to be covered is too large. This method is like finding a needle in a haystack. Furthermore, the other party will surely send out a large number of patrol fleets near the camp area. It won’t work easily.”
“What about mysticism?”
Upon hearing this, Secret Master interrupted and said: “The World Tree has a targeted defense in this area, we can’t use mysticism to locate it.”
Everyone discussed for a while but could not come up with any effective countermeasures. They had no choice but to temporarily put aside the problem of positioning and discuss how to attack.
“Compared to positioning, destroying the base is not difficult,” this time, the dynasty commander spoke. “We can use the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Technology to let the small fleet carry high energy bombs directly through the Lerbo s.p.a.ce Protection Belt and blow up the enemy’s base.”
“s.p.a.cetime Splicing Technology… is indeed feasible.”
Simon pondered for a few seconds before nodding
The three Universal Civilizations had communicated with each other during the war mobilization phase, and they had briefly introduced most of their trump cards to facilitate dispatch. Therefore, the upper echelons of the federation and church all knew that the dynasty had the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Technology.
In terms of attacking the camps, everyone had the same opinion. The s.p.a.cetime Splicing Technology was extremely suitable for this kind of tactic. Compared to sending the army to take the brunt of the firepower, this was clearly a method with a lower consumption rate. They would only have to pay for a few hundred battles.h.i.+ps at most, as well as a group of dispensable suicide squads. It was mainly to be safe and to switch to manual control under unexpected circ.u.mstances.
Everyone knew who the suicide squad was.
“Let the Immortals of our army carry out the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Operation. This is a job they love,” Aurora said while blinking.
“Sure.”
Simon had no objections. After pausing for a moment, he added: “The suicide squad better choose low pollution bombs, and they have to be powerful enough. Otherwise, they won’t even be able to blow up the base’s s.h.i.+eld.”
After deciding on the method of attack, the group returned to the topic of positioning. There had to be a solution.
“It’s not impossible to pa.s.sively wait for the enemy to attack, but if we can’t block the enemy’s attacks, our losses will only continue to increase. We need to find a way to protect the various branches of the s.p.a.ce anchor.”
“With all due respect, it’s almost impossible to protect all the Orbit Branches under the over-the-horizon strikes of the enemy whose scale is unknown. After all, there are too many branches, and the number is still increasing. We don’t have the Lerbo s.p.a.ce Protection Belt, so we can only try to eliminate the topological s.p.a.ce directional marks left behind by the enemy’s small troops,” an officer said helplessly. “The enemy is in the dark while we’re out in the open, so we can’t deal with them for the time being. However, if we can seize and a.n.a.lyze the Lerbo s.p.a.ce Protection Belt, we can also have the same defensive capabilities as the other party and mitigate our pa.s.sive situation,” Simon said. “Therefore, apart from the s.p.a.cetime Splicing daring attack, we still have to send official troops based on the situation.”
The s.p.a.cetime Splicing Technology could only send them to their deaths. They could not obtain the spoils of war, and they had to rely on their high-level combatants.
Currently, the few pieces of good news were that the targets of the World Tree’s over-the-horizon strikes were limited. They could either target the topological s.p.a.ce directional marks left behind by the reconnaissance troops or take the targets near the base, unable to accurately attack other locations. This meant that every camp was a bait, and the three Universal Civilizations’ fleets would only be exposed to the attack range when the fleets attack. Therefore, they were not too worried about being hit by the over-the-horizon strikes.
Kant’s army quickly retreated, losing quite a lot of manpower. Most of the exterior armor of the remaining battles.h.i.+ps had traces of damage, but they had not completed their mission nor were they able to destroy the World Tree camps.
The only reward was that when they received the other side’s over-the-horizon strikes, the artificial intelligence a.n.a.lyzed the locations of the new camps, giving new targets to the three Universal Civilizations.
Not long after, the second fleet set off and split up toward these bases. They were all equipped with the improved s.p.a.cetime Splicing Device by the dynasty which would only activate when they arrived at their destination.
The crew members were all temporarily enlisted army players. They did not convey the tragic feeling of a hero leaving and never coming back. The atmosphere of every battles.h.i.+p was very relaxed, and many of the players had happy expressions on their faces. They did not look like a group of death squads, but like they were on a holiday. “I didn’t expect such a suicidal mission to be so rewarding. Luckily, I got it.”
“We can complete the mission just by dying, this is too easy.”
“How comfortable. If I can come a few more times, wouldn’t it be like farming experience points?”
Hearing the excited discussions of the players around him, Frenzied Sword felt very happy.
The players were the designated members of the suicide squad, and only the players could accept this mission. The mission briefly introduced the combat mission of the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Force, and the players were shocked to realize that this mission was actually not difficult for them at all. However, the mission reward was so high that even the credit for destroying the enemy base would be given to them.
This meant that he did not have to do anything at all. As long as he sent himself to death, the experience would come flowing in. It was extremely easy and was the same as farming experience! According to the forums, this combat mission was very important, and it was actually very difficult. It was equivalent to a death mission for normal soldiers. However, their natural advantage happened to counter this difficulty, so they could obtain a high reward that did not seem to match the difficulty at all.
Not many players were willing to miss such a good opportunity. Due to the limited number of slots available, many players almost fought over it, and only a very small number of people obtained the chance to go on the expedition.
Amidst the excited atmosphere of the players, the various fleets arrived at different World Tree camps. Without a word, they activated the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Device and moved toward the base.
All kinds of long-range attacks came one after another, shattering the fleet. However, the next moment, the fleet returned to normal and continued to jump forward. Very soon, they entered the Lerbo s.p.a.ce Protection Belt and were unaffected. When the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Army was halfway there, the World Tree camps realized that this was an unknown s.p.a.cetime technology through their s.p.a.ce radar. They quickly stopped their regular attacks and used s.p.a.cetime methods to target the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Army.
The s.p.a.cetime Splicing Technology was not unsolvable, and its nemesis was the s.p.a.cetime technology. Back then, the dynasty had also used the same method to crack this technology from the Kunde Race. The World Tree camps’ response was very effective, and the frame skip of the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Technology began to decrease.
However, after many years of improvements by the Crimson Dynasty-although the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Technology was still restrained by the s.p.a.cetime methods—its resistance had already greatly increased, and it could last for a longer time. The s.p.a.cetime Splicing Technology Team, which was equipped with high-energy bombs, resisted the attacks of the World Tree camps and stubbornly pa.s.sed through the Lerbo s.p.a.cetime Protection Belt, exploding among the camps.
Amidst the shock waves, dazzling energy cl.u.s.ters lit up in the universe one after another, engulfing the entire encampment.
At the same time, in the temporary base of the Black Star Army, white light flashed, and the army players who acted as a suicide squad were revived in the stronghold. Frenzied Sword opened the interface, looked at the mission that had been completed, and smiled.
“Nice, nice. After eating this reward, my level should be higher than the players in the first tier… I wonder if this kind of mission is a one-time thing. I really hope it comes a few more times.”
With the a.s.sault of the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Technology, the three Universal Civilizations were able to effectively attack the World Tree’s camps. The World Tree did not have a good solution for this kind of black technology. They could only continue to carry out their original strategy and continuously destroy the anchoring orbit of the three Universal Civilizations, while the three Universal Civilizations continued to send people to destroy the exposed camps.
As the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Force was not afraid of conventional attacks, the World Tree reduced the over-the-horizon strikes at the incoming fleet, not wanting to expose the locations of more camps without reason. Using this advantage, the three Universal Civilizations secretly sent out a wave of normal fleets led by high-level combatants, mixed in with the s.p.a.cetime Splicing Force, and successfully broke through a camp. They seized a Lerbo s.p.a.ce Protection Belt and hurriedly sent it back to the interception circle’s main base for a.n.a.lysis. At the enormous frontline research inst.i.tute, the generator of the Lerbo s.p.a.ce Protection Belt was suspended in a vacuum bubble. A large number of mechanical needles were inserted into the structure of the device, continuously testing the parameters and derivation principles. Countless technicians were busy in front of different instruments.
Simon and the other high-ranked officers were also paying attention to the progress of the a.n.a.lysis at the research inst.i.tute. The remote projection stood on the ground, showing the image of the Lerbo s.p.a.ce Protection Belt midair. “It was originally just an attempt, I didn’t expect to obtain this device in reality. The expedition team was almost wiped out.”
“If we can a.n.a.lyze this technology, not only will we be able to deal with the enemy’s over-the-horizon strikes, but our interception circle will also be harder to break.”
Just as they were rejoicing, the lights of the research inst.i.tute suddenly turned into a blinding blood-red color, and a buzzing alarm sounded.
“Warning! Warning! Detected unknown data trying to infiltrate the firewall…”
The technicians present were shocked and quickly checked the source of the problem.
“What’s going on?” Simon’s expression changed.
“Reporting, this device seized from the frontline seems to be carrying some kind of highly latent data virus. It is invading the firewall on its own and trying to obtain information from our database…” the research team leader hastily replied.
“Where’s the investigation report? Why didn’t we find this virus before?” Simon asked.
“This… All the tests were pa.s.sed… We can only explain that this unknown virus escaped our detection,” The research team leader gritted his teeth.
At this time, the frequency of the alarm increased once again. Many technicians were sweating and shouting.
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“Level 1 firewall has been broken! Level 2 firewall has been broken!”
“Too fast! This virus is invading too quickly!”
“Requesting immediate activation of main artificial intelligence to suppress it!”
Simon hurriedly looked at the screen of the technicians and saw that this unknown virus had broken through the layers of the firewall and was about to officially enter the interception circle base’s quantum network.
However, at this moment, streams of silver data suddenly appeared and wrapped around the unknown virus. It was as if the white blood cells had swallowed a virus. No matter how hard the virus tried, it could not break free from the blockage of the silver data and slowed down.
A large amount of silver data appeared once again and condensed into Manison’s virtual body with a calm expression.
“Mechanic Emperor!” Simon’s eyes lit up.
“I sensed the fluctuations in the network. It seems like there’s something wrong here… Is this the virus of the World Tree?”
Manison extended his hand and grabbed the struggling unknown virus.
Upon seeing this, Simon immediately asked: “How’s the situation?”
“This thing is a virus-type artificial intelligence, not just data.” Manison replied calmly.
This time, the unknown virus suddenly exploded and disappeared. The alarm at the research inst.i.tute immediately stopped, and the lights returned to normal.
“You destroyed him?” Simon was stunned.
“No, he realized that he could not break through my blockade, so he disintegrated on his own… If I’m not wrong, this artificial intelligence is a member of the World Tree, and he can also enjoy the revival of the World Tree. He has an innate advantage in the quantum network, and most firewalls can’t stop him.”
Manison narrowed his eyes.
“I see…” Simon pondered for a few seconds before his expression relaxed. “Luckily, you’re here this time. Otherwise, even if we could get rid of him, we would have leaked some information.”
The three Universal Civilizations could also have eliminated this artificial intelligence virus by utilizing more artificial intelligence computing power, but they were a step too late. If not for Manison’s high-speed reaction, the enemy’s artificial intelligence virus might have invaded the quantum network and shared information with the World Tree.
Due to the lack of intelligence, the previous attack had failed. Thus, the World Tree had used more methods to gather information about the three Universal Civilizations. So naturally, there was no lack of information warfare.
“Black Star isn’t here. Leave this to me.”
Manison calmly replied and deactivated the virtual body.
Upon hearing this, Simon exhaled.
Currently, when the strongest Mechanic in the galaxy was mentioned, everyone’s first thought was Black Star, which caused the Mechanic Emperor’s presence to decrease.
However, he could not underestimate the Mechanic Emperor just because of Black Star’s strength. After all, he was at the peak of the Mechanic cla.s.s from the previous generation, and his strength was still there. If the conflict of ideals was not mentioned, Simon still believed in the Mechanic Emperor’s abilities.
Although they had temporarily lost Black Star’s help, the three Universal Civilizations were still able to fight the World Tree back and forth with the foundation laid by Han Xiao.
Both sides used all kinds of Universal Treasures and special technologies to restrain each other, temporarily unable to do anything to each other.
The World Tree would occasionally send out some foreign experts to test the waters. Due to Black Star’s existence, the World Tree had already turned these foreign experts into cannon fodder. Since they could not be used on the battlefield, they might as well use them to hara.s.s and exhaust the enemy.
However, because Han Xiao had entered the Sanctum, the foreign experts of the World Tree did not receive Virtual Purification and could only be killed by the Beyond Grade As of the explored universe.
However, even without Black Star’s support, the Beyond Grade As were still able to hold their own and did not cause any trouble.
The two sides fought back and forth, while silently building up their strength.
After two months, Han Xiao returned from the Sanctum.