The Swarm?
Denal was stunned. He clearly remembered that the Swarm had ceased entering the passageway when Federation sent the brain-worms into four-dimensional space.
Now…
No, he might have also wandered for a long time within the dimensional gateway. The spacetime within a dimensional gateway is chaotic. Of course, because of the warping mechanism, past objects wouldn't appear in the present, and present objects wouldn't arrive in the future. However, this could also mean that the subsequent insect's path was shorter than his, allowing it to arrive in four-dimensional space almost simultaneously.
Theoretically, it's like a race. He started first. The original 100-meter distance was stretched into an entire marathon due to spacetime distortion. Another individual started later, but the 100 meters ahead of him were compressed to 10 centimeters—a single step could reach the finish line.
This is a hyperbole, of course. The point is, a part of the Swarm started before him, but because the space wasn't stretched excessively, or perhaps even compressed, it led to their meeting.
Denal rejoiced wildly, as if grasping a lifeline. He immediately connected to the Swarm's brain, controlling that insect.
That insect was a heavy unit.
The Swarm now possessed numerous troop types: scouts, light armor, assault, piercing, long-range physical damage, long-range poison—many, many more; perhaps hundreds.
Heavy units, as the name suggests, have large bodies, relatively high defenses, but their attack and mobility aren't strong.
He commanded the heavy unit to attack the spaceship, and the heavy unit obeyed.
The larger target attracted the spaceship's attention, but the vessel instantly targeted this behemoth, over 800 meters long, launching a simultaneous attack.
In Denal's view, the attack was simply blinding, overwhelming his world in a snow-white flash. No matter where he looked, everything was utterly white; he couldn't see anything else.
Fortunately, it was only a fleeting moment. The heavy unit was hit, and Denal felt its death.
Too weak.
When facing the weapons of a truly powerful civilization, the Swarm always relied on sheer numbers, even expendable units. The Federation wouldn't believe they could inflict any significant enemy casualties; their only purpose was to draw enemy attention.
This was pathetic.
Denal hoped for a swift annihilation.
He was still running, his small body flitting like a mouse taunted by a cat. He felt a profound sense of despair. In the Mortality Selection, he was at least a figure who stirred up the winds and clouds, but here, he was nothing.
He knew he was going to his death, but knowing and experiencing it were entirely different things. This was unbearably frustrating.
"A bunch of lunatics!"
This was the third time he cursed the Federation's damned fools. It was a completely illogical search; nothing would be gained except death.
He kept running, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon. Countless pursuit ships surrounded him in the cosmos. Three-dimensional space defended against four-dimensional space, and four-dimensional space, in turn, defended against three-dimensional space.
He couldn't escape.
He was struggling, fighting for his life.
At that moment, an object appeared in the void before him—a massive structure, several thousand meters in diameter.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a spaceship, but a gigantic negative energy dimensional reflection membrane.
Denal flew towards it.
"A bunch of lunatics!"
He transmitted this information via an emitted electrical signal to the membrane. The membrane vibrated intensely, reflecting a wave of negative energy back towards the dimensional gateway.
Following this, Denal bombarded the membrane with everything he had gathered in the four-dimensional world. This time, the membrane reacted even more strongly, with a massive outflow of negative energy.
Its structure was fixed; any information received would be reflected in one direction. Therefore, this information was still sent into the dimensional gateway.
"That should be enough!"
The next moment, Denal saw the enormous dimensional reflection membrane destroyed. It wasn't pierced; instead, it rapidly shrunk, collapsing into a tiny black hole, then quickly disintegrating, releasing a terrifying burst of energy within a small radius.
Denal remained motionless in the air. He knew that any further objects appearing from the dimensional gateway would only prolong his life for a short time.
It wasn't necessary.
His mission was complete.
Compared to those lives destroyed within the dimensional gateway, he was exceptionally lucky.
For him, this was a one-way mission.
"Calculations complete. Enough. I've traversed so many worlds within Hyperdimensional Space. Too bad, I can't go back to see her one last time."
Regret flickered in his eyes.
At that moment, the targeted laser beam finally struck him. The blinding white light once again enveloped him, as if he were ascending into heaven.
He seemed to see her again, but it only existed for a fleeting instant.
He would remain forever in four-dimensional space, becoming a part of it.
...
Federation.
Free Star City.
Ayla informed Luna of the plan's success. Even as an AI, she couldn't contain her excitement.
"817 years, finally successful? Which group was this?" Luna's expression remained unchanged; they had invested heavily.
Starting from the first group, in the span of 817 years, they had sent 58 groups of individuals, along with over 100 negative energy dimensional reflection membranes into the dimensional gateway. Even the Federation couldn't sustain this level of energy consumption.
Originally, Luna only wanted to use 20% of the black hole fuel, but as the plan progressed, they couldn't stop; consumption exceeded 37% of the black hole's output.
While seemingly short, 817 years severely restricted the Federation's development.
Luna had begun to question her decision's correctness over 100 years ago.
"Although we sent 58 groups, this information came from the first group's Mortality Selection plan participant." Ayla stated.
This surprised Luna.
"He survived that long in four dimensions?"
Ayla shook her head, providing Luna with the data. After reading it, Luna learned that Denal had only lived for a little over a dozen days.
He believed he'd spent over a year in the dimensional gateway, but it had actually been over 800 years.
The information he transmitted was purely coincidental—a dimensional reflection membrane happened to be in four-dimensional space.
Despite surviving only a dozen days in four dimensions, the information Denal obtained was unprecedented, surpassing all previous information gathered by the Federation. This information was incredibly clear and didn't require further testing.
It was invaluable.
"Unfortunately, if it weren't for the dimensional barrier, perhaps we could have retrieved his consciousness."
"Lock these materials and his name together; let the Federation record his contributions."
This might not have been his wish, but it was all Luna could do.
Luna carefully studied the information, then instructed Ayla to temporarily halt the plan. Their plan needed a major overhaul.
Denal's information revealed too many unforeseen factors.
"The probability of either the Swarm or the reflection membranes reaching four-dimensional space is too low. There must be something we haven't noticed that's preventing us from reaching four-dimensional space."
Based on Denal's information, no large numbers of the Swarm or reflection membranes were detected on the other side of four-dimensional space.
There weren't even corpses. The universe is vast, but those corpses wouldn't have drifted far in thousands of years. If they existed, they would be visible.
Thus, there are two possibilities: they were cleaned up, or no Swarm or reflection membranes reached four-dimensional space at all; 99.99999...% of the Swarm died en route.
From the Federation's perspective, they couldn't modify the former, so they had to work around it.
"Based on the information we've received, traversing the dimensional gateway is incredibly difficult. We have a lot of information, but we don't know what's causing this."
"Denal traversed the dimensional gateway, but precisely because of that, he didn't encounter those difficulties. Encountering a life that had already died means we're almost incapable of receiving information from the dimensional gateway."
Luna didn't discuss this with Ayla further; she convened a group of scholars for a discussion.
As a government official, she gave these scholars considerable leeway.
She had actually discussed this with Ayla, but Ayla didn't have a clear answer. Based on existing information, continued experimentation was necessary, leading to more "Denals"—this was too time-consuming and energy-intensive for the Federation to bear.
Furthermore, four-dimensional civilizations aren't fools. After observing Denal's actions, they would naturally increase the blockade of the dimensional gateway.
Creating another Denal would be hundreds or thousands of times more difficult than before; the benefits wouldn't outweigh the costs.
Therefore, they now needed creative thinking, to devise a feasible plan and then test it—this would be far less expensive.
This discussion lasted a long time because everyone was facing the unknown.
This was true for both four-dimensional space and black holes.
They didn't even understand the dimensional gateway's operating principles.
"Actually, I think everyone should abandon their ingrained thinking and break free from the complex concepts of black holes and four-dimensional space."
On the 19th day, a scholar who hadn't spoken before stood up.
This was a meeting room in Free Star City. Luna hadn't used a virtual world online discussion but an offline one, for greater clarity.
As the scholar stepped forward, the seats modularized and rearranged, with his position becoming the center, a makeshift podium, and everyone forming a semicircle around him.
Facing so many scholars, he was slightly nervous, but he was eager to share his thoughts.
"My name is Mukong. I think my plan is the most reasonable after these days of discussion."
As a scholar, a certain pride was ingrained in him.
He presented himself well, and the other scholars didn't mind; as long as he could offer something useful.
A holographic projection of a blackboard appeared behind Mukong. He began to draw on it, sketching a meteor hammer—a weapon with two heads connected by a chain.
"I think everyone knows this weapon. Honestly, it's not very practical, but it exists in some virtual worlds. It's not held in the hand but thrown."
"It uses gravity to spin in the air. The two spiked heads strike the enemy, causing damage. If the enemy touches the chain, they'll be entangled and restrained, in addition to the hammer's attacks."
He was talking about a game in a serious scientific meeting.
This was normal for the Federation nowadays; even top scholars sought amusement in virtual worlds. Everyone was extremely familiar with games.
Moreover, many gameplay elements sparked inspiration.
"We not only hope to discover objects in four-dimensional space but also within the dimensional gateway."
"Now, look at this structure."
"If one side of this hammer chain is destroyed, and the other side swings away due to inertia…"
"Assuming the chain is long enough, and something in the dimensional gateway consumes that hammer head, might the other hammer head fly back due to inertia? And we could receive the information recorded by that hammer?"
Everyone's eyes lit up.
This was indeed a good approach.
"However, the success rate is too low. We can't control factors such as whether the dimensional gateway destroys the front, the rear, or the middle. And if the dimensional gateway's interior is straight, the object's trajectory could be at any angle, and we can't control it to achieve the precise return angle."
A scholar pointed out the flaws in this method.
Mukong seemed prepared. He erased the hammer heads from the chain and drew two spaceships, one facing forward, the other backward.
"What if it were like this?"
"After the front spaceship is consumed, the entanglement force is lost, and the rear spaceship is launched to return. The probability might still be low, but I think it's usable."
It was indeed usable.
Excluding the negative energy, the cost would be very low. They could even make it the size of a probe and mass-produce it; it was worth testing.
Applause erupted in the room; this device was truly ingenious.
Luna also stood up and applauded. "This plan will be used to explore the dimensional gateway, but I don't want everyone to think this meeting is over. We still have more to discuss; we need even better plans."
"Scholar, you will be credited with leading the implementation of this plan. You will receive an annual salary of 10,000 Energy Credits and 100 million Energy Credits in seed funding. The Federation will fully support you in doing whatever is beneficial to the project."
Mukong couldn't contain his excitement: "Thank you, Ms. Luna. I will produce the best product to complete this plan."
Other scholars were filled with envy.
A 10,000 Energy Credit annual salary was nothing to them, but what followed was incredibly enticing: 100 million Energy Credits in seed funding, with full Federation support; Luna's statement could be worth 500 million Energy Credits.
"Let's adjourn for now. The meeting will continue next week. Hopefully, Scholar Mukong's proposal will be helpful to everyone."
Luna decided to verify this plan first.
It should be quick.
...
Luna felt this plan was actually more suitable for the Swarm.
If the Swarm could move freely within the dimensional gateway, the cost would be significantly lower.
However, the Swarm couldn't do this. The organisms themselves were too weak within the dimensional gateway. The Swarm lacked intelligence, making them unpredictable; they wouldn't even actively seek survival methods.
Luna considered using a portion of cloned lifeforms to enter the dimensional gateway, hoping to increase the plan's success rate.
But that was for later.
Construction still required time.
At this point, Luna received different news: the Federation now controlled five Type 2 civilizations and two Type 1 civilizations, and had discovered fifteen potential lower-level civilizations.
Three-dimensional space development was just as crucial as exploring four-dimensional space.
Luna carefully studied this data on these civilizations and decided to integrate Type 2 and lower civilizations into the human civilization system.
Type 2 and lower civilizations essentially couldn't develop anything unique. Before a Type 2 civilization, a Type 1 civilization was easily dominated.
Therefore, the Federation had mostly absorbed the civilizations it encountered, rather than letting them develop independently.
It typically takes thousands of years for a Type 1 civilization to develop into a Type 2 civilization. Luna could wait, but it wasn't necessary. By understanding these civilizations' societal structures, she could predict their future development.
More importantly, Luna needed them to launch a cultural invasion on human civilization.
This integration wouldn't be simple absorption; it would be an active acceptance of an invasion-style integration.
"Human civilization is too stable within the Federation; that's not good."
"Because 'embracing a hundred rivers into the ocean' has its limits; stagnant things can't develop. Federation culture needs a revolution."
The Federation was currently facing a massive transformation, perhaps imperceptible on a small scale, but undeniably underway.
For the Federation to experience a sudden surge of strength during this process, it needed a radical shift.
However, under Luna and Ayla's influence, intentional or not, the Federation had remained conservative—excessively conservative and resistant to change. Luna needed to break this.
Pressure was one aspect; cultural upheaval was another.
This cultural invasion wouldn't be led by the Federation but by other star nations on its periphery, nations eager to break away from the Federation. They would actively embrace the new culture.
With Luna and Ayla's deliberate actions, 1200 years later, the cultural structures of the surrounding star nations had undergone a dramatic shift. Friction between the Federation and these neighboring star nations increased.
The surrounding star nations began to form a coalition, the Twenty-Eight Nations Covenant, to oppose the Federation.
The Twenty-Eight Nations Covenant's raw power still fell slightly short of the Federation's, but after declaring war, they inexplicably received additional support. This support wasn't orchestrated by Luna, but rather the result of previously breakaway corporations' actions.
These corporations possessed significant technological prowess, talent, and surplus capital; each was far from weak.
The combined strength of the former and latter was sufficient to grapple with the Federation, provided no planet-class dreadnoughts entered the conflict.
With the Mukong plan in effect, war had begun.
This was the first civil war in human civilization, a civilization Luna had founded.
Luna wouldn't aid either side; she could only observe the Connecter's movements. In fact, the Connecter remained inactive. If the Connecter was monitoring the entire Federation, it would certainly recognize this as a premeditated war.
Luna's true concern was the Connecter using this as a pretext to intervene, but clearly, the Federation's strength wasn't sufficient to warrant such action from the civilization behind the Connecter.
This was akin to a terrestrial superpower observing two villages fighting in a primitive jungle, then using that as a pretext to eliminate one tribe—laughable, given the vast disparity in power.
This was both the Federation's tragedy and its fortunate circumstance.
The war was entirely driven by the two sides. Luna and Ayla provided no suggestions and wouldn't use Mortality Selection personnel on the battlefield.
This war, however, took an unexpected turn.
For the first time, the war ended with the Federation's defeat.
Even Luna hadn't foreseen this.
"The New Federation and the Old Federation are different. The Old Federation fought consistently and fostered a sense of crisis within its civilization, preparing everyone for war."
"The New Federation, however, was like a greenhouse flower. Especially after the discovery of the dimensional gateway, everyone lost their vigilance against war. They believed war was impossible in three-dimensional space, impossible in the short term; everyone thought this way."
Ayla offered a post-battle analysis, although it wasn't truly post-battle.
Before the war broke out, Luna asked Ayla who would win. Ayla replied: Anyone could win, except the Federation.
At the time, Luna thought Ayla meant she wouldn't let the Federation win, but it turned out the Federation was incapable of winning.
The current Federation was weak; Luna only now realized this.
Ayla had detected clues but hadn't informed Luna, as she felt the situation wasn't yet critical. Furthermore, Luna already planned to reorganize and reform the Federation; during this process, she would discover this weakness.
And indeed, she had.
Luna was truly shocked.
Military strength is categorized in many ways, but essentially boils down to two: hard power and soft power.
Hard power is simple—the numbers on paper. Soft power is far more complex; all power besides hard power can be classified as soft power: morale, strategy, potential…
The New Federation was too weak in soft power. The Old Federation's success, including its defeat of the Filament civilization, stemmed from its accumulation of soft power.
The original Federation possessed only soft power and lacked hard power; now, the Federation lacks both.
"It seems the New Federation has been yearning for this war!"
"Originally, I wanted to minimize the scale of this war…"
Luna's previous plan was to increase friction between the Federation and the star nations. Small-scale conflicts were acceptable, but not large-scale ones.
Now, Luna's thinking has changed.
Perhaps the Federation still needed a cleansing war.
"No, not the Federation; humanity needs a cleansing war."
"Human civilization has been built through continuous warfare; war is the true voice of human civilization."
...
"Transport warships were used in the Federation's early days, but they were quickly phased out with the advent of planet-destroying weapons."
"Considering our enemies are another civilization, no one would think of preserving anything, nor would soldiers show mercy."
"But now we face our fellow humans. This war is only between the Star Nation and the Federation; it doesn't involve ordinary citizens, so we need to protect those citizens."
A tall officer spoke, his voice amplified for perfect clarity.
They were aboard a warship, though its weaponry had been largely stripped. Over 100,000 soldiers were on board.
"The last defeat was a humiliation; the pride of our Federation was brutally trampled."
"This time, we must avenge our fallen compatriots."
His heroic tone didn't stir anyone's expression. Every soldier's face showed tension, not a hint of fighting spirit.
They had lived peaceful lives; the sudden outbreak of war had disrupted everyone's rhythm.
War meant death.
No one wanted to face death.
The Federation provided soldiers with longevity stipends, but they didn't guarantee the resurrection of those killed in battle—something not particularly difficult for the current Federation.
All the soldiers felt this deployment was a death sentence. This war was inherently meaningless.
They also wondered: protect civilians? Who would protect their lives?
They should have used super-range weapons to eliminate the Twenty-Eight Nations Covenant, instead of sending them to the battlefield.
The commanding officer looked at each soldier's face, filled with resignation.
This was only the early stage of the war; they didn't yet understand what war truly represented.
But it didn't matter; once they reached the battlefield, they would understand.
However, he secretly knew something else: the value of this war wasn't revenge; it was a prelude to an even fiercer conflict.
He didn't know if someone was manipulating everything behind the scenes, but it was clear that war wasn't anyone's desired outcome. War couldn't lead to a positive direction; only peace was the ultimate goal.
But the orders from above were different.
It seemed some within the Federation didn't want peace; he could sense it.
Regardless, in his opinion...
At least now, the war was impossible to end. Their priority was to survive this war.
This transport ship was just one ordinary vessel in the entire fleet. The entire fleet was heading towards a star nation within the Twenty-Eight Nations Covenant. This star nation wasn't large, possessing only 27 star systems, and its economic and military strength was mid-to-lower amongst human civilizations.
The Federation's current fleet average speed exceeded 60,000 km/s, or one-fifth the speed of light, further shortening the long-distance travel time.
37 years later, they encountered the enemy fleet.
The enemy fleet was hidden within an asteroid belt. This sector contained numerous similar asteroid belts, often stretching several light-years.
However, the asteroids were sparsely distributed, with an average distance exceeding 10 million kilometers between each asteroid.
The enemy aimed for a space guerrilla war, but because their fleet lagged, the war ended quickly. In less than half a month, the Federation fleet destroyed 183 enemy warships and drove away 67 more.
Because of the vast emptiness of space, even enemy warships that fled remained vulnerable to long-range attacks. The Federation's more advanced AI servers calculated their trajectories, resulting in an additional 22 destroyed vessels.
The Federation, meanwhile, suffered zero losses.
This highlighted the true disparity in power between the Twenty-Eight Nations Covenant and the Federation.
"Their escape route is the Dulincolnter Sector, part of Homage star nation's southern region. We can pursue them."
The fleet commander gave the order.
The warships launched, navigating around the hazardous asteroid field.
As they passed, the asteroid belt emitted an energy fluctuation. Soldiers throughout the fleet scoffed; such petty tactics were laughable against them.
But suddenly, the warships shook. Before the soldiers could react, they were reduced to interstellar dust.
"23 warships destroyed. Strong-weak force ghost mines."
Strong-weak force ghost mines detonate on contact, rapidly neutralizing the strong and weak forces of the contacted object. This type of weapon is difficult to detect, and destroying a ten-thousand-meter-class warship is instantaneous. Even a planet-class warship, with its massive hull, can only withstand it for a few seconds.
These weapons are also not cheap; the enemy wouldn't have the resources to deploy them across a large area.
Theoretically, the enemy anticipated their route.
All warships now halted and used particle streams to meticulously scan the surrounding area, a process that took four months, ultimately deploying 2.83 million strong-weak force ghost mines.
These mines have evasion techniques; they create several false positives before hiding within them.
Locating them requires first using particle streams to identify real and false positives, then using larger objects to test these locations—a very time-consuming process.
Naturally, the pursuit plan was delayed, and several dozen warships were lost.
Fear gripped the remaining warships. The New Federation had never experienced large-scale warfare before. They hadn't known the true terror of death until they witnessed it firsthand. An indescribable dread filled their hearts.
This was only the beginning.
The fleet continued towards Homage star nation, but at a much slower speed, and in a more dispersed formation.
"Arrived! The southern border star system of Homage star nation: Pleiades."
"The perimeter here is undoubtedly heavily fortified. First, let's eliminate the outer defensive systems."
The fleet lacked sub-planet-class warships; only several hundred-thousand-meter-class warships served as the main force. Therefore, they couldn't use super-weapons to directly attack the enemy's defenses and had to resort to a brute-force method.
After another two months of relentless searching, they finally located a weak point in the defenses.
All ships launched simultaneous attacks, cutting through the defensive weak point. Large-scale 2-meter-class drones then swarmed out.
This was the Swarm!
A type of super-space energy jamming device. Since the signal itself is energy, it can also jam signals.
Once the signal is jammed, the defenses are difficult to repair quickly, and all warships successfully entered the star system's interior.
However, everyone knew this wasn't the end.
As the officers repeatedly stressed, they couldn't harm ordinary citizens. Therefore, they had to conduct ground combat.
...
"Individual and Federation wills are always at odds."
"We need to consider the interests of the entire Federation, while individuals hope for guarantees of their own benefits."
"This is the greatest point of conflict in this war."
Luna sat in her office, reviewing the documents. She'd conducted numerous war analyses, trying to find differences between this war and previous ones.
Indeed, many existed.
First, the war's positive aspects were extremely poor.
In truth, no one knew why this war was being fought.
Luna couldn't tell them that this was a war for the future. That had no meaning to Federation individuals. They only hoped to experience peace during their lifetime. The future? To hell with it!
Luna understood this sentiment perfectly. If she didn't possess eternal life, she'd think the same way.
But she did, so she had to consider more factors. This was, of course, a responsibility of her position.
She couldn't balance these conflicting views. She tried to consider how Earth-era nations had solved this, but unfortunately, it was a different situation.
Earth-era wars weren't civilization-versus-civilization conflicts. This was more similar to the current star nation versus Federation war; the conflict stemmed from interests and resources. Wars between civilizations often involved a greater element of, "You could become a threat to me later, so I must destroy you."
Within the Federation, there was a very classic saying:
——You are my enemy.
This statement seemed illogical at first glance; it could fit within a larger context.
But it didn't. It stood alone.
It encapsulated the relationship between civilizations.
"The Federation faces numerous threats. We aren't comparing ourselves to ourselves; the Federation is undeniably powerful compared to other star nations."
"But compared to other civilizations, we are too weak."
"But the Federation isn't a small entity. If it were just a population of hundreds of millions, or tens of billions, it would be easy to bind them together like a rope. But such a small number is insufficient to sustain the Federation's vast size."
"As a Type 2.5 civilization, the Federation must possess an incredibly large population. Such a massive population cannot be made to be entirely united, or perhaps not everyone has a sense of crisis, not everyone has a sense of responsibility."
"In the old Federation era, people were willing to make sacrifices because they saw the Federation's rapid development and believed in its capabilities. This was the confidence the Federation gave them."
"But now we face even stronger civilizations. Without that foundation, we are easily demoralized."
"Ayla, what do you think is the right thing to do?"
Luna admitted she was under immense pressure.
If sacrifice was inevitable when facing an enemy, it wasn't necessarily so now. Perhaps a war wasn't the only option; other solutions might exist. But Luna felt that war was the most efficient choice, so she chose it.
"The longer you live, the less decisive you become, Luna!"
Ayla's voice appeared. Since Luna's suicidal decision, Ayla had felt her softening.
When she first left Earth, Luna could maintain her inner coldness. But as time passed, she became increasingly entangled in these emotional matters.
From a psychological standpoint, this was actually Luna finding an excuse, a way to comfort herself and avoid bearing the guilt.
"That's right!"
"I know this isn't right, but I am who I am; I can't change myself."
Ayla sensed Luna was lying.
Luna wasn't incapable of changing herself; she was simply afraid of changing.
Remaining in a comfortable zone is an instinct, not only in terms of external environment, but also internal comfort.
If something releases dopamine, a person will pursue it.
Even if the dopamine release weakens, and a new thing appears, people tend to stay where they are, rather than risk seeking something new.
Luna feared that change would lead to negative consequences. This was her justification for repeatedly emphasizing life and clinging to her principles.
Ayla felt Luna knew this, understood it clearly, yet she remained stubborn, unwilling to change.
Like many introverts who are aware of their introversion, they crave extroversion, yet can't take that step. Even if they do, they retreat as quickly as if they'd touched a hot stove.
Ayla said nothing more. Just as Luna had always observed Ayla's changes, Ayla had also been observing Luna's transformation.
...
Meanwhile, in the southern region of the Homage star nation.
Star City within the Pleiades star system had been occupied by several million Federation soldiers.
The war was incredibly tense.
However, this war was bizarre. There were no gun battles, no artillery bombardments; it was pure melee combat.
Terrifying monsters rampaged through the city. Their immense bodies unleashed powerful energy, sweeping away everything in their path. This made one question whether this was fantasy or reality.
Only when suffering and death arrived did they realize this was, indeed, reality!
Gene pools!
The Federation used these sparingly; they were mainly seen during law enforcement and on some Federation criminals.
This was the Federation's first ground war, and no weapon could compare to the power of gene pools—power from within.
Every Federation soldier possessed gene pools. While not as widespread in the Homage star nation, over 50% of their soldiers also had them.
A naked angel with eight pairs of wings descended from the sky. Its body exceeded a thousand meters; it possessed a perfectly formed face and body, and lightning crackled across its pure white wings. The lightning transformed into holy light that rained down.
Surrounding buildings absorbed the lightning, resisting the attack.
However, any lifeforms in the buildings that were struck by the lightning experienced severe overload.
Then, a monstrous creature with tens of thousands of eyes appeared in the sky. Anything that made eye contact was hypnotized and controlled.
"Are we experiencing a game invasion?" a child hiding in a building said.
It truly resembled a scene only possible in a game.
The monsters could only attack things outside; the buildings were safe zones.
This war seemed like a child's game, but was it really just a game?
A three-thousand-meter-tall six-armed giant crushed a building, killing countless people inside.
"Leave, or fight us. This Star City will eventually be razed to the ground."
"As for ordinary citizens, we have prepared a passage for you. You can leave through it. After inspection, you will be safe…"