Order Star Domain, core star sector, Hope Barrier.
This was a magnificent defensive line composed of countless stars transformed into war fortresses. Massive energy bridges linked the stars together, forming a crystalline Great Wall stretching across several light-years and radiating a gentle yet resilient light of order. This was the front line of the order civilization's resistance against Annihilation's corrosion, as well as the seat of the Order Council—the highest authority in the Order Star Domain.
At the center of Hope Barrier floated a pure white hall as majestic as a galaxy—the Order Holy Hall. At this moment, within the deepest level of the hall, the Star Gazing Council Hall, the atmosphere was so grave it seemed capable of freezing light itself.
The oval Council Hall was immense. Its dome displayed a dynamic vision of the star sea, clearly marking the ever-expanding, heart-chilling dark territory of the Annihilation Star Sea. Hundreds of floating seats surrounded the hall, occupied by leaders of the major allied worlds in the Order Star Domain, legion elders, and ancient recluses. They took all manner of forms. Some resembled humanoid figures condensed from radiance, some were energy lifeforms, while others retained beastly or plant-like traits. Yet without exception, they all exuded formidable auras and the authority of those weathered by countless ages.
Yet at this moment, the faces of these great figures, who normally held the fates of countless living beings in their hands, were all shrouded in an impenetrable gloom. The unceasing reports of disaster from the front lines, the increasingly severe corrosion of the Annihilation Star Sea, and the worsening depletion of resources made even Hope Barrier seem as though it might collapse at any moment.
Presiding over the meeting was the rotating chairman of the Order Council, an elderly man of the Radiant