The issue wasn't whether the enormous fleet was taking losses. The problem was that ever since this vast Mechanical Fleet began its attack, neither the frequency nor the number of its assaults had diminished.
According to feedback from the Sentinel Array, TV-1514 Ironheart Exterminator had been constantly adjusting its strategies and tactics during this period, continually diverting fleets toward star systems bordering the Empire. It had even dispatched Detachment Fleets to attack NPC Factions along the Empire's borders. Clearly,
it intended to keep expanding the border between them.
"This is a mad civilization!" declared Zhou Hongbo, a major general commanding the colony's military. "Given our status as Natural Persons, and Ironheart Exterminator's hatred of carbon-based intelligent life, we have reason to believe
TV-1514 Ironheart Exterminator has changed the direction of its attacks. Those detestable metal men have aimed their damned probes at us—at the sacred territory of the Dragon Soul Empire!"
His judgment was correct. On the one hand, the Sentinel Array had gathered a wealth of data and feedback. On the other, Lin Zhichen had glimpsed the outbreak of war by shielding himself from the chaotic River of Fate.
Ever since Pseudo Strong Interaction Material appeared, humanity's fate had changed. That change still hadn't subsided, and the River of Fate surrounding the Dragon Soul Empire churned with chaotic tides.
Most sages who specialized in fate had already been rendered blind. As a Saint, his situation was somewhat better. If he was willing to spend time and effort, he could still find what he wanted to see amid the tangled threads of fate.
And so, a defensive war to protect the colony began quietly. The few Forge Worlds had no choice but to divert precious production capacity toward increasing their output of military equipment.
Just as construction of the colony's