This time, Xi Yan got serious.
We weren't joking! Great Khan, you had the Shroud backing you and the End of the Cycle supplying your power. So what?
A transmigrator from a higher dimension naturally had cheats of his own!
You dared underestimate a Stellaris player?
You dared push a Stellaris player into a corner?
[Select war justification: Eliminate the Threat] [Modify war policy: (select all) No retreat: fire rate +33%, disengagement chance -100% Defense in depth: fire rate in home territory +10% Rapid deployment: range +10%, sublight speed +25%] [Activate wartime emergency policies: edicts cost no unity; waive population resettlement costs; remove empire unity, amenities, and housing upkeep; resources consumed by population -30%; resources produced by jobs +30%; waive amenities, happiness, and stability penalties; war exhaustion does not increase] [Activate edicts: fortify the border, fleet supremacy, capacity subsidies, mining subsidies, forge subsidies, research subsidies, astral binding, astral shielding] [Activate ambition edicts: ambition: scientific revolution, ambition: desperate measures, ambition: fortress proclamation, ambition: architectural renaissance, ambition: hearts and minds, ambition: omnifarious acquisition, ambition: a grand fleet, ambition: will to power]
The super cheats were online!
A mere AI, a Great Khan who had been a joke in older versions, dared challenge the noble Fourth Calamity?
The Shroud? What of it? I was the Fate-Chosen Emperor. Those who believed in me had nothing to fear from psionic corruption!
Of course, all that was merely an abstract way of putting it. Xi Yan had indeed declared a wartime state of emergency and issued a series of edicts, mobilizing the entire empire.
Other empires also discovered that faith in Xi Yan seemed capable of resisting the Shroud's mental corrosion, greatly increasing his recognition throughout the universe.
No devout faith was required. Merely reciting the Fate-Chosen Emperor's title silently was enough to resist