Somewhere in an unknown region of space.
A mysterious encrypted message was traveling through the barriers of the cosmic structure, spreading in an extremely covert manner—
"United Star, United Star, come in, United Star!"
"This is the fortress planet 'New Jade Gate Pass,' capital of the Human Federation's 3498th frontier star sector!"
"No response. Still no response. Have we really been abandoned..."
"Navigator log corrupted, log corrupted—"
"It has now been 5,569 years since we lost contact with United Star."
"5,569 Solar Calendar years ago, due to some unknown spacetime effect, we, along with the 5,468 galaxies under the Human Federation that belonged to the 3498th star sector, somehow 'crossed over' together and arrived in another unknown universe."
"In this universe, we encountered unimaginable enemies and suffered heavy losses..."
"To preserve the spark of our civilization, and to protect our many human compatriots, we made a difficult decision..."
"5,460 years ago, at the strong urging of the vast majority of the population, we were forced to establish a new military federal government, centered around the former sector capital on 'New Jade Gate Pass,' to command the overall situation."
"We are the 'Human Second Federation Government'! An Si, former governor of the 3498th star sector, has been promoted to Grand Marshal of the Second Federation."
"We have always longed to return to the embrace of the Federation. When that day comes, we will immediately hand the authority of the Second Government back to the Federation Government..."
"Humanity above all. We will fight the alien scum of this universe to the death."
"If United Star or any other Federation star sector receives this message, please contact us as soon as possible..."
—Navigator ***491, "New Jade Gate Pass," capital of the former Human Federation 3498th star sector.
Hou Shen Galaxy.
In the vast reaches of space.
A colossal, square-shaped warship cruised among the brilliant stars at conventional faster-than-light speeds.
The Return to Void Class Sky Burning Divine Weapon, Gonggong, was several times larger than an ordinary planet.
When such a behemoth arrived in the Shen Galaxy, the entire Lieyang Civilization was thrown into an uproar.
Pan Zhen urgently mobilized the Lieyang Civilization's fleet and dispatched an advance force in a bid to repel the invaders, but to no avail.
Like an ancient deity in a fit of rage, Gonggong unleashed terrifying attacks. Its vast array of cannons roared in unison.
The instant they met, Gonggong easily wiped out the advance fleet Lieyang had sent to intercept it.
One ship against a thousand—a truly terrifying feat!
The news reached Lieyang Planet.
Aboard the Lieyang Civilization's celestial warship, Cloud Heaven Court.
Pan Zhen sat in the command seat, his voice aghast and his expression stricken with panic.
"What?!"
"A single warship wiped out my advance fleet of 1,300 ships in a single encounter?!"
"Yes, General..." Wu Zhao, the Lieyang Civilization's Crimson Phoenix Sky Protector, said bitterly, her pretty face pale.
"Our Lieyang fleet couldn't even get within range of that warship before it was completely wiped out!"
"Four of the fleet's guardians—Yuan Li, Xuan Kun, Lei Yan, and Yu Xu—all perished!"
"That warship gave us no chance to turn things around. We tried to open communications, but they ignored us completely... They're heading straight for the Heavenly Dao Galaxy!"
Pan Zhen clenched his fists. His body trembled uncontrollably, and his entire being felt ice-cold. Even the searing Stellar Energy inside him couldn't stop the chill from spreading through him.
The inability to communicate meant their civilization wouldn't even be given the chance to surrender.
If they couldn't surrender, they could only resist with everything they had.
But what could they possibly use to fight back?
Ever since Main God Lena had gone missing on Planet Earth, and that fool Xuan Tianji had gone to Earth to provoke the Human Federation, Pan Zhen had known that a clash with the Federation was inevitable.
So, lately, Pan Zhen had been pushing the Lieyang Civilization to prepare for war with all its might.
But even as he readied for battle, Pan Zhen had held on to a sliver of hope.
Pan Zhen had already come to regard the Milky Way as the territory ruled by the "Human Federation."
The vast Milky Way ought to be enough to satisfy the ambitions of their civilization.
After all, as far as they knew, no civilization had ever possessed the power and appetite to monopolize the resources of an entire galaxy and still reach out toward other galaxies.
According to the divine-right interpretation of the ruling principles of God-Making Civilizations, in today's Main Biological World, where God River Body life forms predominated—
If a civilization possessed the ability to complete the God-Making Project and successfully create a god,
then that civilization qualified to ascend to the rank of a "God-level Civilization." If no civilization within its galaxy could rival it,
then in the eyes of other God-level Civilizations, it automatically gained the right to rule all the territories in that galaxy.
Of course, this so-called recognized right to rule had no clearly defined boundaries, nor was there any written rule establishing it.
For these God-level Civilizations, ruling a galaxy simply meant that the galaxy could be considered part of their sphere of influence and general territory.
It was like a wild beast on Earth marking the edge of its territory with urine, letting the other beasts know that the land belonged to someone.
They could freely make use of the resources within their territory, but in reality, they had no way to govern such vast lands effectively.
The moment the Human Federation appeared in the Milky Way, occupied Earth in its entirety, and destroyed Super Seminary on Earth,
Angels, Lieyang, and the other God-level Civilizations had already acknowledged that the Federation had the right to rule the entire Milky Way.
They had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Whether the Federation accepted that recognition was another matter entirely.
At the very least, the officials in the Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs couldn't be bothered to listen to those "idiotic" God-level Civilizations prattle on for even a single sentence.
In the official words of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—
"We are the rulers of the stars. You pitiful vermin have no right to bestow honors on us!"
The Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials held these "idiotic" civilizations in utter contempt, and even ignored them entirely.
In Pan Zhen's eyes, the Human Federation was a primordial beast that had suddenly appeared in the Milky Way, while the Milky Way itself was a morsel that the various God-level Civilizations had ceded to it.
The Federation probably wouldn't come knocking until it had completely devoured the Milky Way.
But the Human Federation had shattered Pan Zhen's fragile hopes all the same.
Contempt or not, they still had to follow the proper "Zhou Rites" procedure.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had declared war on the Lieyang Civilization on behalf of the Federation, and even sent a warship to attack them.
When Pan Zhen saw that the Human Federation had sent only one warship to the Hou Shen Galaxy, he had initially breathed a sigh of relief.
He had thought the Human Federation must really look down on Lieyang Civilization to think a single warship could invade them.
Although the colossal vessel looked terrifying, Pan Zhen believed Lieyang might still be able to match it.
So he gathered his confidence and sent more than 1,300 warships in an advance fleet to intercept the behemoth.
As he waited for the battle report to come in, Pan Zhen had even wondered whether they should try to capture the warship as intact as possible.
That would make it easier to dismantle and study the vessel, in the hope of uncovering some of the other civilization's technology.
After all, they knew next to nothing about the Human Federation.
But now, Pan Zhen's eyes held nothing but utter despair.
If the Lieyang Civilization couldn't even defeat a single warship of theirs, how could they possibly keep fighting against the Federation?
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