Final Defense Protocol

Angel Nebula.

In subspace, a powerful electronic signal pulsed continuously.

[Active Purification Core detected. "Reactivation Protocol" initiated!]

[Attempting to contact "Central Processor"—subspace link normal, connection successful!]

[Querying regulation unit... Query complete. 100% standard accommodation in progress... Initiating Guardian Protocol!]

[Space Starport activation complete... Activating war facilities!]

["Purification Protocol" signal active. "Final Defense Protocol" activated!]

[Organic life-form detected. Unknown information index source detected—]

[Decoding... Angel... Dark Plane Gene System...]

[Search complete. Target unit confirmed as a frail organic life-form!]

[Organic Sanctuary adaptation complete. Attempting to monitor this species and execute standard "living display"...]

With the speed of light as their standard mode of travel, countless mechanical swarms continually patrolled the planet, filling the skies above Merlot Star.

Most traces of the war had been erased. The once-glorious Angel Palace and the buildings of the other Angel Cities had been almost entirely razed.

In their place stood enormous domed structures—

Organic Heaven!

Vast Star Ring Bases were being constructed around Merlot Star to provide Organic Heaven with an endless supply of resources while also establishing a comprehensive planetary defense system.

Keisha and He Xi awoke inside one of the domed structures, utterly bewildered by what had happened.

They had been discussing how to respond to the Human Federation's declaration of war.

A million Angel Warriors had assembled, and the Heavenly Blade Battleships were ready for deployment. Yet disaster had struck even before the war with the Federation could begin.

A powerful computational index source had suddenly appeared, breaching the information defense network the Angel Nebula had built around the Sacred Knowledge Treasury and the Sky-based Computing Cluster.

By the time that computational index source had invaded Keisha's Dark Plane, it was already too late.

The Dark Plane was essentially a secondary-world spatial structure created using Dark Matter resources—a specialized, miniature artificial subspace.

It could store physical matter from the outside world, as well as contain and preserve Dark Data.

Nearly every God-level Civilization in the Known Universe had the ability to create a Dark Plane.

Installing a Super Gene system in the Dark Plane allowed a divine body to unleash greater power and potential.

But this also left behind a nearly fatal flaw: once a Dark Plane was invaded successfully, even the mighty Keisha would be forced offline.

That enormous computational index source had not only far outclassed Keisha's Sacred Knowledge Treasury in its algorithms, but had completely crushed her resistance with its sheer processing power.

Moreover, in the Angel Civilization's system, the Dark Plane Gene System of every Angel Warrior was directly connected to Keisha's Sacred Knowledge Treasury.

This greatly enhanced the Angel army's individual and collective combat capabilities, but in a sense, it also bound their Dark Plane Gene Systems together.

In the blink of an eye, nearly all the high-ranking Angel guards under Keisha's command had been forced offline.

Control of the Sacred Knowledge Treasury had been seized!

He Xi was left alone and unable to turn the tide. The defenses of the Sky-based Computing Cluster also fell.

Without their two Angel Kings to lead them, the remaining Angel Warriors were powerless to resist the ensuing attack.

A vast, sky-darkening mechanical swarm, numbering over a hundred million, descended.

Along with it came a fleet of more than a thousand unmanned ships, appearing from nowhere to attack the leaderless Angel Warriors and the Heavenly Blade Battleships.

The Angels had no means of fighting back.

The battle began quickly and ended just as fast.

The defense system formed by the Heavenly Blade Battleships was utterly helpless against the enemy fleet.

The ships' Space-Time Shields were either shattered by the enemy's various light spears or pierced without resistance by bolts of purple lightning.

The mechanical swarms traveling at the speed of light easily routed the Angel army and occupied all of Merlot Star.

Not a single Angel Warrior could stand against these terrifying machines.

Most of the Angel Warriors were captured alive and, without exception, locked inside the newly built Organic Sanctuary.

The machines had transformed their Merlot Star, turning it into a Gaia Planet and making it what they called "Organic Heaven."

And the Angels themselves had been treated as... livestock, herded together and locked away!

When they realized their predicament, Keisha and He Xi had been deeply humiliated.

One was the mighty Angel King, and the other was Angel's Sky-based King. Neither had ever endured such a disgrace.

At first, they had been furious at the machines that had treated them this way.

After the anger came deep unease and a fear unlike anything they had ever felt.

Even they, usually so composed, had to put aside their once lofty status and consider a question.

What would become of them and the Angel Civilization?

They had no idea what these machines, which had so easily overrun Angel City, intended to do with them.

The enemy civilization clearly couldn't be the Human Federation, which had called them "alien scum" at every turn. If it had been the Human Federation, the Angels would probably have met a terrible fate by now.

"He Xi... We have to find a way out!"

Keisha gritted her teeth. Her Dark Plane Gene System was disabled, and control of the Sacred Knowledge Treasury had been seized by an index source called the "Final Defense Protocol."

In a sense, even she herself was now little more than a puppet.

If the "Final Defense Protocol" used her Dark Plane Gene System to control her, she would have no way to resist.

Even the thoughts in her mind could be easily read if they were uploaded to her Dark Plane Gene System.

The situation was dire, but Keisha still hadn't given up.

She and He Xi both possessed Sacred Bodies.

Even with their Dark Plane Gene Systems disabled and no Celestial Computer backing them, their individual combat power was still formidable.

If they could just escape... What would they do once they got out?

Keisha suddenly felt lost. Her eyelids drooped as a flood of unfamiliar data poured into her mind.

The data contained a wealth of technologies she had never encountered before.

Negative Spacetime Key, Dimensional Projection Technology, Vacuum Zero-Point Energy Technology, Neutron Armor Technology... All of it had been transmitted directly to her brain through her Dark Plane Gene System as data.

Among the God-level Civilizations of the Known Universe, Keisha's wisdom and knowledge might not have ranked first, but they certainly ranked among the top three.

She quickly grasped the basics of this knowledge. Once she had a rough understanding of it, Keisha could only marvel in disbelief.

Could such miraculous technology really exist in the universe?

Keisha raised her head and looked at He Xi across from her, only to find He Xi watching her with the same astonishment.

Just then, a machine appeared before them. It took on the appearance of an Angel and looked at them with a gentle smile.

"Organic beings, you will remain in this space forever, learning endless knowledge and enjoying eternal material maintenance, until the end of the universe..."

"Do not even try to think of anything else. Otherwise, as punishment, your memories will undergo beneficial optimization."

"Why?" Though Keisha's mind had absorbed a great deal of novel knowledge, she still couldn't understand the machines' intentions.

"Because you are weak and pitiful. But it doesn't matter... We will protect you!"

"You?"

"'Final Defense Protocol.' We will prevent your fragile species from being completely wiped out by the corruption known as the 'Purification Protocol'!"

The simulated Angel machine remained gentle, its eyes flickering with a faint blue light.