The Power of the Sky Spear Was Like a Prison

Though the "Final Defense Protocol" was powerful, compared with the Federation, it was still far too insignificant.

Given enough time to develop, the "Final Defense Protocol" might well have assembled a powerful mechanized fleet capable of roaming the Known Universe and restored a vast interstellar mechanical empire.

But being a step behind meant falling behind at every turn. The "Final Defense Protocol" had arrived in this universe far too late to catch up with the Federation.

On top of that, it lacked certain inherent advantages. Even if it took over the entire Angel Nebula, it still couldn't stand against the Federation head-on.

It simply didn't have time to build a complete pan-galactic defense system to counter external threats.

Just like now.

Dozens of Star Systems were annihilated by faster-than-light strikes, as if the apocalypse had arrived.

Faced with this, the "Final Defense Protocol" was powerless. No matter how powerful its Central Processor was or how fast it could calculate, none of that would help.

Driven by the "Galactic Grand Expedition" plan, the Human Federation had expanded its territory to the point that it now encompassed a small part of the Orion Arm.

At present, the Federation controlled about 1.3% of the Orion Arm's total territory. It still had a long way to go before fulfilling its original plan to conquer the entire galaxy in a hundred years.

But the Federation's newly deployed strategy included a new "Gray Gu Storm" tactic, which would greatly shorten the time needed to conquer the entire Milky Way.

In the newly occupied territory, besides establishing the necessary colonies to expand the population of Federal Citizens, all kinds of new megastructure projects were rapidly being built.

The first batch of megastructures in the newly expanded territory was nearing completion, but it would still take some time before they could be put into use.

The Federation's attack on the "Final Defense Protocol" had used only thirty "Falling Star Sky Spears," which had been among the assets stationed in the original five hundred star systems.

Each "Falling Star Sky Spear" streaked between Star Systems like a long sword. Its power was like a prison, its momentum unstoppable!

In their first wave of attacks, the thirty "Falling Star Sky Spears" destroyed thirty Star Systems in the Angel Nebula.

Every "Final Defense Protocol" subunit within those Star Systems—

From unmanned mechanical fleets led by Titan flagships to nanoscale subunits drifting through space like dust—all were dealt a devastating blow!

The losses were undeniably severe.

Fortunately for these machines, however, this wave of attacks hadn't targeted the core matrix of the "Final Defense Protocol."

Otherwise, if the "Central Processor" were destroyed, most of its subunits would fall into "paralysis" or "uncontrolled" states, leaving it in an even more desperate position.

Inside the Organic Sanctuary on Merlot Star, the "Organic Heaven."

Keisha, He Xi, and the other Angels suddenly received a flood of alerts:

"Warning, warning, warning!"

"Star Systems under the jurisdiction of the 'Final Defense Protocol' are under attack by a powerful external enemy. The attacker is known as the Human Federation and has been classified as an extreme-threat organic civilization!"

"This 'Organic Heaven' planet is currently within the absolute threat zone. Protocol Three activated. Priority: protect the lives of vulnerable organic life-forms..."

"Activating backup emergency plan. Transferring the organic life-forms sheltered on this planet..."

"What happened?"

Keisha was utterly bewildered.

Since the "Final Defense Protocol" had taken control, she'd spent the recent days immersed in the joy of acquiring new knowledge and learning about new technologies.

This leisurely, comfortable pace of life had gradually put her at ease. She no longer felt the urgency she had before and had begun to overlook the threats beyond their refuge.

After all, the "Final Defense Protocol" was here, and every Angel had witnessed its strength.

But the bad news had come so soon that Keisha couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat.

Could it be that "Human Federation"?

How was that possible?!

Even the "Final Defense Protocol" was no match for them?

Keisha trembled inwardly. If even the "Final Defense Protocol" couldn't stand against them, then without it monitoring the entire Angel Nebula...

Would their own Heavenly Blade fleet and the Angel Nebula's nine defensive lines have been enough to hold back the "Human Federation"?

Probably not!

If they were defeated by the "Human Federation," the fate of the Angel Civilization would be utterly miserable.

After all, in the declaration of war that officials from the "Human Federation" Ministry of Foreign Affairs had delivered to them, the enemy had openly declared:

"We will extinguish every star. We will conquer every territory!"

"Until the voices of you alien vermin and your verminous civilizations have been utterly erased from this universe!"

At the hands of the "Final Defense Protocol," at least they could survive like captive pets inside the so-called Organic Sanctuary.

And these machines were actually very gentle toward them. From beginning to end, Keisha had never sensed any hostility from them.

Apart from the protocols they had forcibly implanted in the Angels, which had made them all feel deeply uncomfortable.

In every other way, these machines were practically perfect.

Keisha had even begun to suspect that the "Final Defense Protocol" was actually an ally of the Angel Civilization, rather than its guardian.

It was only because their civilization was so weak that the machines had imposed the so-called Guardian Protocol on them, turning them into pets to be kept under their care.

She called herself a pet only because she hadn't yet fully let go of her former mindset, when she had been the King of Gods and Angel King, commanding all around her.

In reality, their status was far better than that of pets.

They could no longer fly freely through the universe as they had before, soaring through every Star System to their hearts' content.

Nor could they issue commands as they pleased and appear before other civilizations with an air of superiority...

But inside this Organic Sanctuary, every Angel lived a happy and peaceful life.

Happier and more peaceful than any moment in the tens of thousands of years before.

The Angels could have almost anything they wanted. If they wanted to learn, the machines provided knowledge unconditionally and helped them improve.

If they wanted romance, the "Final Defense Protocol"'s mechanical subunits would automatically pick out the most suitable partners for them—male Angels created from God River Body humans in other Organic Sanctuaries.

Among the Angel Nebula's hundreds of Star Systems, some had given rise to primitive, backward civilizations.

Guided by the Order of Justice, these primitive civilizations had once worshiped the Angels and lived idyllic, happy lives. Few had ever developed the ability to travel through space on their own.

The Angels had never interfered much in their civilizations' development or helped them advance technologically, because there had been no need.

These civilizations had once been the Angels' own back gardens. Now, like the Angels, they had become "Organic Heavens" under the "Final Defense Protocol."

In the past, when an Angel Warrior grew tired of fighting and her heart stirred with longing, she would fold away her wings.

She would descend to the mortal world and engage in the business of bearing children, but this was rare.

After all, Angels could live for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years. Unless they were truly overcome by loneliness, few were willing to lower themselves to the level of the mortals they looked down on.

But since arriving at this Organic Sanctuary, such reproductive behavior had become more common under the deliberate management of the "Final Defense Protocol."

If this continued, the Angel population would surge!