More than a month has passed in the blink of an eye.
Military mobilizations across the vast Explored Universe been ongoing, with a significant force deployed in the Shattered World. Under the construction of engineering fleets and various planetary terraforming kits, war facilities in major war zones are rapidly being completed, and military factories in various locations are operating around the clock, with countless starships of various types rolling off the production line every day.
The massive recruitment drive across the entire Galaxy, spearheaded by the Three Universal Civilizations, is in full swing. It is recruiting a large number of superhumans from various races into the army, while also recalling a massive number of reserve soldiers who have previously served in the military. These soldiers are receiving further military training at military bases in various locations to fill manpower gaps in various military positions. Furthermore, basic military training is being forcibly implemented among the interstellar population to expand the source of manpower.
The speed of war mobilization in the interstellar era is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Under the unified command of the Three Universal Civilizations, the war machines that Explored Universe are operating with high efficiency, and various resources are being invested in the corresponding gaps for efficient utilization.
The construction of the frontline interception perimeter is also progressing rapidly. Although the World Tree's assault failed, it has not stopped harassing the interception forces with small groups, engaging them in firefights multiple times. As the spatial stabilization anchor tracks laid by the Three Universal Civilizations are moving further and further away, the World Tree Civilization's jump point is also constantly shifting backward, moving further and further away from the interception perimeter.
Therefore, the World Tree also considered disrupting the space-stabilized anchor rails as an important operational objective, repeatedly dispatching vanguard forces to attack different sections of the space-stabilized anchor rails, unblocking different jump points, and redeploying Reconnaissance troops at these coordinates.
As the World Tree Reconnaissance forces continuously split up, the overall structure of the space-stabilized anchor track resembles a three-dimensional tree model with numerous branches, extending continuously. Countless streaks of light representing both fleets jump between the "branches," colliding from time to time and triggering local battles.
The global monitoring strategic radar images of the main bases of the Three Universal Civilizations' interception zones continuously showed high-intensity energy sources representing the points of conflict. The World Tree forces were occasionally able to succeed, destroying branches of the space-stabilizing anchor orbits multiple times, requiring repairs, as well as pursuing a new batch of Reconnaissance troops deployed by the World Tree at this jump point.
As the interception perimeter and the space-stabilizing anchor orbit expand, the number of openings for the enemy to breach will also increase. This is an unavoidable trend. However, the forces of the Three Universal Civilizations are still able to cope with the current scale of the defense line.
"The World Tree's harassment is relentless. Although it's an effective method, it takes a long time. They must have two plans in mind, secretly brewing a new offensive to create a huge gap in our defenses and strip us of our control over the interception zone."
In the operations conference room of the main base of the interception zone, Simon and a group of commanders and staff officers were discussing in hushed tones.
In the month or so that Black Star was away, there were constant minor skirmishes between the two sides, but no major battles, and the overall situation remained relatively stable. The number of times the Beyond Grade A group was mobilized was very few.
Hila's monitoring channels for the Chosen Child of Destiny have not received any news of the World Tree making any major moves. The two sides are currently in a stalemate, with each side launching attacks and defenses, and the enemy has not made much progress.
Simon and the others naturally understood that the World Tree wouldn't keep entangled with them like this forever. In recent days, he had a strong tactical intuition that something unexpected would happen soon.
"According to statistics, the frequency of World Tree attacks on space-stabilized anchor orbits has decreased by 37% in the past five days, while the number of Reconnaissance troops deployed has increased by 73%. Furthermore, we have discovered a large number of topological space orientation targets left by World Tree forces near anchor orbits, suggesting that the World Tree Civilization is attempting to deploy beyond-visual-range weapons at jump points not covered by the orbits to remotely destroy various orbital branches."
Simon placed his hands on the control panel, his expression solemn.
Another commander nodded and said, "The anti-over-the-horizon radar is already operational 24/7. If the World Tree adopts this plan, the Empire's over-the-horizon anti-particle base cannons, the Glory's Psionic Energy star destroyer beams, and the Arcane's psionic Sniping beams can all lock onto the source of the attack and carry out counterattack missions."
"The worst-case scenario is that the World Tree will deploy Raelbo Space Protection Belt; that would be disastrous."
Simon shook his head.
Beyond-visual-range combat is also a major form of interstellar warfare. In this respect, the Three Universal Civilizations are strong in offense but weak in defense. However, the World Tree is different. According to intelligence provided by Black Star, the World Tree Civilization possesses a special defensive weapon of Universal Treasure level for beyond-visual-range combat, called the "Raelbo Space Protection Belt".
This defensive technology functions similarly to the Psionic Energy Restriction Belt, like a portable, miniaturized version. It distorts the cosmological constant of a region, preventing energy-based long-range weapons, including those used for beyond-visual-range attacks, from penetrating it and creating a protective zone.
However, this restriction is bidirectional; external energy attacks cannot penetrate it, and attacks from the inside out will also be blocked. Therefore, fleets that have deployed the Raelbo Space Protection Belt find it difficult to launch external attacks. Because the Raelbo Space Protection Belt cannot move with the ships after it is deployed, it is generally not used in mobile warfare, but rather in positional warfare to protect certain important facilities.
Only physical weapons like interstellar missiles and close-range assaults by starships can ignore the effects of the Raelbo Space Protection Belt; other energy weapons are essentially ineffective. Since most beyond-visual-range weapons are energy weapons, this technology is often used in beyond-visual-range combat. The shielding belt retracts when firing and expands when firing ceases, making it difficult to suffer losses in beyond-visual-range firefights.
While the group of high-ranking military officers were discussing the matter, the global monitoring radar, whose detection field of view covered all stable anchor orbits in space, suddenly issued an alarm. Hundreds of red lines, representing high-energy strikes, suddenly rushed into the edge of the radar's field of view and quickly struck different bifurcated orbits.
The 3D radar model in front of everyone reacted, and hundreds of impact points spreading red ripples appeared immediately, with reports of orbital damage quickly transmitted back.
"Confirmed to be a beyond-visual-range attack; the World Tree did just that."
Simon's expression hardened. Speak of the devil, and he appears. He had just mentioned beyond visual range when the World Tree's attack wave arrived. His recent intuition had come true.
The jump point from which the World Tree deploys its beyond-visual-range weapon is located outside the coverage area of the global surveillance radar; the distance is unknown.
"Analyze the attack trajectory and launch a counterattack," Simon ordered in a deep voice.
Once operational, the anti-over-the-horizon radar rapidly analyzes factors such as the curvature, offset angle, and star positions along the path of hundreds of enemy over-the-horizon attacks, assisting the intelligent system in quickly processing massive amounts of data.
Beyond-visual-range (BVR) strikes are generally not linear; under various cosmic environmental factors, the attack trajectory will exhibit different deflections. Just as Sniping needs to calculate conditions such as wind direction, distance, ballistics, and gravity, BVR strikes also require calculating more parameters to correct the strike direction. The calculation model is extremely complex, while reverse locking is the reverse derivation of these factors to obtain the coordinates of the attack source.
Soon, the final results were transmitted via quantum communication to the beyond-visual-range weapons deployed by the Three Universal Civilizations.
Kerala--
A massive planetary fortress extends rows of giant twin-barreled guns, their bases slowly rotating and their muzzles turning as if aimed at an empty starry sky. In reality, however, the beyond-visual-range sights have already captured the spatial coordinates calculated by the AI.
Immediately afterwards, starting from the base of the cannon barrel, the energy circuits lit up section by section. Dark blue particles rapidly gathered from all directions, accumulating energy at the muzzle and bursting forth with dazzling light. When the power reached its peak, the color changed from blue to boom, and suddenly a series of huge energy beams were released, disappearing into the vast starry sky in the blink of an eye.
However, this counterattack seemed to have vanished without a trace.
Simon and his group waited for a while, but what they received was the World Tree's second wave of beyond-visual-range attacks, with hundreds more orbital branches destroyed, all originating from the same source.
"The counterattack doesn't seem to be working. Maybe you were right, they used that kind of protective technology..." A commander next to him glanced at Simon and muttered to himself, "What a jinx!"
"Keep firing, keep attacking, don't stop." Simon frowned slightly.
The Three Universal Civilizations began firing their beyond-visual-range weapons in an endless barrage. Although the effects of the attacks could not be observed, the enemy's beyond-visual-range attacks also ceased.
"Even if the World Tree has set up Raelbo Space Protection Belt, our firepower at this frequency is enough to suppress them, preventing them from having time to withdraw the shield and thus preventing them from launching further attacks against us," an advisor said.
Simon tapped the table and shook his head, saying, "This is just a temporary solution. To solve it once and for all, we need to send a fleet on a ground assault to destroy their artillery positions... We also need to call in some Beyond Grade A personnel to accompany the operation and try to seize the Raelbo Space Protection Belt and bring it back for research."
Before long, the numerous Beyond Grade A waiting at the base were summoned to the operations conference room. After listening to Simon's explanation, they quickly understood the situation.
Kasuyi stroked his chin and asked thoughtfully:
"We need to destroy the enemy's artillery positions and seize their special equipment. How about Manison or Kant lead the team? How many men do we need?"
"Ideally, ten Beyond Grade A or higher, along with some books, and a batch of Throne as well." Simon nodded.
"Isn't ten a bit too many? We shouldn't encounter any World Tree experts on this trip." The Sun Hunter turned to Hila, "Can your and the Book's monitoring channels see the situation at this artillery outpost?"
"No." Hila shook her head.
The World Tree did not use any prophets for this base, Child of Destiny could not see the composition of the other party's personnel. Therefore, everyone knew almost nothing about the situation of this base. At present, they only had the location calculated by the anti-over-the-horizon radar as a clue for tracking.
"This is all just to be on the safe side," Simon explained. "The enemy may have built this outpost not only for long-range bombardment, but also as an outpost. We can't just sit idly by and watch the World Tree build a bridgehead. We need to take the initiative and keep pushing their lines further and further away."
After a brief discussion, the group quickly decided that Kant would lead the team, along with nine other Beyond Grade A members, a mix of association members and members of the Civilization's core group.
Since no World Tree experts were anticipated among the targets of the attack, Aurora did not need to accompany them and remained at the main base on standby.
Soon, Kant and his group formed an expeditionary force with an army group, and arrived at the edge of the radar field of view via High-Dimensional Apocalypse Teleporter, heading towards the World Tree's temporary base.
After sailing for some time, the armed fleets of the Three Universal Civilizations arrived at their destination.
Outside the window, a cluster of interstellar bases floated in the area, surrounded by a hazy, luminous space— the Raelbo Space Protection Belt.
Beyond-visual-range beams continuously shot from behind the fleet. This was the firepower suppression that the Three Universal Civilizations had been maintaining for several days. However, once they entered the Raelbo Space Protection Belt, the speed of the energy cannons suddenly became like that of a tortoise. At the same time, the beams rapidly shrank until they dissipated, and all their power was annihilated, as if they had entered an energy forbidden zone.
"This is it, target confirmed." The electronic eye of the Kant Dominion's avatar flashed, transmitting the image back to the main base.
At the same time, warships from the Three Universal Civilizations launched interstellar missiles, trailing plumes of fire as they entered the Raelbo Space Protection Belt. The physical missiles, however, were largely unaffected and headed straight for the temporary base complex at the center.
But the next moment, the armor on the base surface slid, and rows of guard turrets rose up, spraying out a storm of metal, forming an impenetrable barrage that detonated all the incoming interstellar missiles halfway through, exploding into a series of fireworks.
Energy weapons were ineffective, and physical missiles couldn't penetrate the barrage of bullets; they were as difficult to attack as a tortoise shell.
"This is not a good situation. It seems we need to launch a surprise attack from there, allowing the fleet to cross the Raelbo Space Protection Belt, which would make it easier to launch an effective strike against their base complex," the fleet commander said in the channel.
The Raelbo Space Protection Belt could not isolate quantum network communication. Kant opened his Quantum Network Vision and attempted to infiltrate the base cluster to seize control, but he was blocked by the firewall.
"There's a force protecting their firewall; I can't get in."
Kant withdrew his gaze and hesitated before saying:
"I feel like this is a trap."
"Hmm, something's fishy. Second and Number Three assault teams, go in and take a look."
The fleet commander waved his hand, ordering a group of assault ships to approach the enemy's base complex, while the main force remained stationary around the flagship, since the enemy had deployed the Raelbo Space Protection Belt and could not launch any attacks.
"Beep beep beep--"
But at that moment, the ship's radar suddenly emitted a piercing alarm.
Suddenly, hundreds of large-caliber star-destroying beams shot out from another direction of space, heading straight for the armed fleet.
"Something's wrong! Defend!"
Kant's expression changed, and the mechanical legion surged out, forming shields. At the same time, the armed fleet also activated its own shields.
The next moment, hundreds of beams of light blasted over, causing the shield to tremble precariously, arcs of electricity to fly, and cracks to appear everywhere.
This wave of beyond-visual-range attacks killed a small group of troops, while the rest of the force was blocked. However, before everyone could stabilize, large-scale beyond-visual-range attacks came from all directions at the same time, immediately causing the fleet to retreat in disarray and Danger at Every Turn.
The footage was simultaneously transmitted back to the main base's operations room, and Simon and his team's expressions changed slightly.
Manison tapped the metal chin of the Dominion's avatar and said:
"It seems the World Tree has built an unspecified beyond-visual-range (BVR) battalion in an area beyond our radar's reach, covering each other with BVR strike range and watching out for one another. Their goal is likely not just to establish outposts, but also to utilize the Raelbo Space Protection Belt to create a fire-covered area, emulating us, and wear down our military strength..."
"What's your idea?" Simon asked, turning his head.
"If Black Star's monitoring channels can't obtain the coordinates of these bases, then as long as the bases don't fire, they're invisible to us. The Raelbo Space Protection Belt too troublesome; long-range strikes are almost ineffective. If we use troops to fill the gap, we'll be playing right into their hands... This is not a good situation."
Manison slowly shook his head.
While the Three Universal Civilizations do indeed possess ample reserves of Universal Treasure, the World Tree, having conquered one civilization after another, boasts an even more astonishing foundation and a considerable number of strategic weapons, making it equally formidable.
Upon hearing this, Simon's expression turned serious, and he seemed somewhat unsure of what to do. He pursed his lips and sighed inwardly.
'It's a pity that Black Star, the special advisor, isn't here, otherwise I could ask for his opinion...'