Within the Star Alliance, in the Malgaus Star System.
A narrow spatial rift stretched across the starry sky, like a knife cutting open the belly of the universe, spewing out an endless green torrent.
Countless World Tree warships emerged from the wormhole, forming armies that dispersed in all directions as dense streams of light, heading to invade planets on the star map.
The World Tree Fleet traveled at an extremely high speed, and before long, a prosperous planet came into view in the distance. The planet's defense forces had already taken to the air and were deployed in outer space, ready to defend against the invasion and fight against the World Tree.
Buzz--
Just then, a flash of light appeared in the distance, and a massive fleet of starships, shrouded in starlight, rapidly approached. The outer armor of the ships was engraved with the Star Alliance's mark. This was a rapid support force urgently deployed by the military, stationed at a nearby military fortress, responsible for maintaining order in the area.
Inside the Star Alliance rapid support fleet's flagship, a sharp-looking middle-aged commander gripped the edge of the table tightly, gritting his teeth as he stared out the window at the enemy forces that outnumbered his own countless times. A chill ran through him as he let out a hoarse roar:
"The 17th and 18th detachments have landed. Immediately organize the civilians to board boats and escape. The rest of you... launch a full-scale attack! Buy time!"
Upon receiving the order, the rapid support force immediately launched a desperate assault on the incoming World Tree without hesitation.
Facing an invincible opponent, the Star Alliance fleet still launched a counterattack head-on. This scene was extremely tragic, like a lone army without any help, enduring a relentless onslaught from enemies many times its size.
However tragic it may be, the gap in hard power will not be narrowed as a result. Their fearlessness cannot stop the spread of the surging green tide. The world-destroying green tide does not stop and easily engulfs the armed fleet.
The Star Alliance fleet's counterattack only caused a small ripple before disappearing into the endless green tide.
Roots tear through the sky, their thorns piercing into this bustling urban planet, like straws, devouring the matter and energy within, turning them into nourishment for themselves.
In the flagship of this World Tree fleet, the Heart Tree King looked down at the planet, his eyes shining with Glimmer. His vast mental power had already covered the entire planet, hypnotizing and guiding all life forms to abandon their escape and willingly join the roots, becoming a member of the World Tree.
Watching the last few Star Alliance warships explode into countless fragments under the concentrated fire of the World Tree fleet, the Heart Tree King shook his head.
"It's just a futile struggle..."
He turned to look at the countless soldiers in the cabin, and saw that every one of them had a fanatical look on their face; war was what they were best at.
Noticing the Heart Tree King's gaze, everyone raised their arms and cheered.
"For the Mother Tree! For Father God!"
After Black Star subdued the World Tree, he became the "Father God" in the hearts of all World Tree members, his will surpassing that of the Mother Tree.
Heart Tree King silently repeated the same phrase before turning his gaze away and looking up at the starry sky, his eyes seemingly able to penetrate infinite distances and lock onto the Star Alliance's home planet.
Star Alliance Capital, Joint Conference Room.
Unlike the joyous atmosphere of a few days ago, the room is now shrouded in gloom, filled with negative emotions such as fear, despair, and anxiety.
In the past few days, intelligence reports of the World Tree's invasion have been breaking out across the country. As if overnight, the entire Star Alliance territory has been in crisis, with countless planets falling into danger.
All the high-ranking members of the Star Alliance present no longer possessed the high spirits they had displayed just a few days ago. They looked haggard and were dressed in disheveled clothes. They had been working almost non-stop for the past few days, engaging in one heated debate after another.
"Isn't the World Tree Civilization still at war with the Three Universal Civilizations? Why have they invaded us without a word?"
The leader of the Star Alliance looked worried and exhausted, with bloodshot eyes and a hoarse voice.
Sevinis trembled slightly, his voice shaking as he said, "Could it be that the World Tree Civilization thinks it has already crippled the Three Universal Civilizations, and therefore wants to fight on two fronts? What should we do?"
Many high-ranking members of the Star Alliance looked worried.
They thought the Three Universal Civilizations were still fighting the World Tree to the death, and that they had only spared some of their forces to fight them as well because they had discovered their location. It felt like they were happily enjoying someone else's drama, and suddenly it was their turn to be caught in the crossfire, leaving them completely bewildered.
"What else can we do? Since the World Tree has attacked, we have no choice but to fight back!" Someone slammed their fist on the table, trying to hide their fear.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than someone objected, shouting:
"What's the point of fighting! Even the Three Universal Civilizations were no match for the World Tree; they were crippled in just a few years. We can't even defend our own territories. Let's hurry up and relocate the refugees, preserve our lives, and abandon our land to flee!"
"That won't do! We still have the strength to fight! The World Tree is ravaging my territory. As long as everyone sends troops to support us, we can definitely defeat the World Tree!" someone else said in a deep voice.
"You're talking nonsense! We don't even have enough troops of our own, why would we help you?!" another man shouted.
This argument immediately ignited a fuse. The emotions of the crowd, which had been compressed to their limit over the past few days, suddenly exploded, splitting them into two groups: one advocating for war and the other for retreat. The argument became extremely heated.
If most of the people present hadn't been remotely projected, they probably would have already rolled up their sleeves and started fighting.
The Star Alliance is composed of more than forty civilizations. It is not a monolithic entity, and each civilization has its own interests and positions. They can usually unite together, but when faced with the pressure of a powerful external invasion, internal divisions immediately erupt.
Unable to reach a consensus among member states, some high-ranking officials from civilizations who already disapproved of stirring up trouble began to complain loudly.
"Everyone, calm down! Calm down... We have other options. We can't fight the World Tree on our own, but since the Three Universal Civilizations are in the same situation as us, perhaps we should take the initiative to communicate with them and join forces against the enemy... As for our past schemes, we can put them aside for now. Defeating the World Tree together is the most important thing. They will definitely know what's important. We can settle accounts with the Three Universal Civilizations in the future. Right now, we need to protect ourselves before we can talk about the future..."
The leader of the Star Alliance loudly offered suggestions in an attempt to ease the tension, but to no avail. Everyone was speechless at his proposal, completely ignoring it and continuing their arguments, making the situation increasingly uncontrollable.
In the past, many Star Alliance members wouldn't have shown him such disrespect, but now that each civilization is facing life and death, no one takes him seriously anymore.
The group had a huge argument, and many people were furious. They stopped arguing and logged off, refusing to listen to the Star Alliance's unified command anymore. They decided to go their separate ways when disaster struck.
Before long, only a mess remained in the conference room, with the leader of the Star Alliance sitting alone in his seat, his heart filled with bitterness.
After a heated argument broke out at the highest levels, the leaders of several civilizations issued orders without hesitation, ignoring the Star Alliance's instructions. They packed up their resources and populations and hastily began migrating and fleeing, preparing to escape the Star Alliance's territory and enter the Unexplored Universe.
While most civilizations were initially annoyed and panicked, they hadn't yet decided to abandon their homes. However, upon seeing some people decisively flee, they immediately became anxious—everyone else has started running away, and if they don't follow, wouldn't they be left behind to cover their retreat? That won't do!
The chain reaction happened quickly. One after another, Star Alliance members dared not delay any longer and began to migrate and flee, no longer caring about the Star Alliance's agreements.
When these member states disobeyed orders one by one, the Star Alliance's mechanisms quickly collapsed, and the vast Star Alliance seemed to break apart overnight. One after another, the fleets of civilized nations began to flee and go their separate ways.
In the past, Star Alliance members would not easily disobey the Number One of the Star Alliance, otherwise they would be isolated by others. But now, who cares about such things? With the World Tree attacking and internal disagreements within the Star Alliance, this united cosmic civilization is destined to fall apart. No one intends to stick together and wait to die; they only want to die for their fellow cultivators.
--This was Han Xiao's deliberate calculation. The Star Alliance's organizational structure had too many weaknesses: too many conflicting interests and no dominant civilization with absolute power. Even if they were to be united, it would be impossible for them to reach a complete consensus.
Normally, the members of the Star Alliance are somewhat wary of each other, but once a crisis of survival breaks out, it will be difficult for them to unite. They will most likely split up. Once this collective will is broken up, the Star Alliance, this little giant, will be like being dismembered. Its resistance will drop by several levels, and it will basically lose most of its fighting spirit.
Back then, the Star Alliance secretly leaked intelligence, hoping to incite internal conflicts within the interstellar society. Han Xiao's actions were a case of turning the tables on them, employing a divide-and-conquer strategy to incite internal divisions within the other side.
The spaceports of the homeworld of the Lorl Civilization were already overflowing with people. Anti-gravity transport vehicles were carrying batches of supplies onto the fleet. Countless panicked civilians lined up to board the ships under the orders of heavily armed soldiers. No matter how anxious they were, they could only suppress their feelings and obediently follow orders.
Not long ago, a group of people tried to start a riot, but they were ruthlessly suppressed and executed on the spot. The bloodstains hadn't even been wiped dry yet, so no one dared to cause any trouble at this moment.
Before long, the first fleet was finally fully loaded. Without waiting for the follow-up ships, it took off directly into the depths of space and began its escape.
Sevinis was already on the main ship. As the leader of the civilization, he dared not linger on the home planet any longer. The refugee fleet was divided into several groups and set off. In order to escort him, more than half of the armed forces followed the first refugee fleet, which had the smallest population capacity.
"Finally, we've set off..."
Sevinis breathed a slight sigh of relief.
He remembered that in the "battle report," both emperors of the empire had been tortured to death by the World Tree, showing that the World Tree Civilization enjoyed carrying out decapitation operations. He was afraid that he would follow in their footsteps and be "ravaged to death." So he just wanted to run away as soon as possible and dared not stay on the home planet to be a target... As far as he knew, the leaders of other civilizations basically had the same idea and all fled their home planets.
As the spaceship slowly accelerated, Sevinis finally felt less apprehensive and muttered to himself:
"We should be safe for now..."
However, before he could finish speaking, the spaceship's radar suddenly emitted a piercing buzzing sound, pointing directly at the front of the spaceship. An energy source that pierced the sky appeared out of nowhere, blocking its path.
The next moment, a Mechanical Deity swelled in the wind, its size instantly exceeding that of the entire fleet stacked together, blotting out the stars and the sun, and a giant hand suddenly descended.
Rumble rumble--
Like ripples on water, the Psionic Energy burst forth, and the entire fleet exploded in a series of bursts, like firecrackers. In the blink of an eye, the armed escort fleet was almost completely annihilated, not even a ripple remained, turning into a vast expanse of fireworks in the starry sky, a truly beautiful sight.
"This is Black Star?!"
Sevinis was shocked and hurriedly turned around and shouted:
"Run! Run!"
Before he could finish speaking, many of the spacecraft operators were already sweating profusely.
"It's no use! The fleet's intelligent matrix is completely locked down; it's uncontrollable. The spaceship is paralyzed!"
"No..."
Sevinis's eyes widened instantly, revealing extreme fear. His pupils reflected the ever-enlarging hand of the Supreme Heavenly Venerate, the mechanical patterns on the palm becoming increasingly clear.
Click!
Han Xiao directly grabbed the main ship, absorbed it into his body, and captured Sevinis and a group of high-ranking officers on board.
Immediately afterwards, he suddenly raised his hand and punched, unleashing a burst of energy that, like a gamma-ray burst, surged and spread over a wide area, instantly "evaporating" a large group of warships that were about to counterattack.
"The first one."
Han Xiao turned around and vanished in a flash, as if he had never been there.
His goal was to capture the leaders of all the Star Alliance civilizations, leveraging the advantage of individual power to strike at the heart of the enemy.
With its current combat power, the success rate of decapitation strikes against a civilization of the Star Alliance level is almost 100%, with a perfect kill every time, and no one can stop it.
"Lord Sevinis has been captured by the enemy!!"
Because Han Xiao's decapitation was so efficient, when Sevinis and other high-ranking officials were captured, the remaining defense forces of the home planet simply did not have time to come to their aid.
The personnel remaining at the ground base stared blankly at the spot where Han Xiao had disappeared, listening to the busy tone on the command channel, and suddenly fell into a state of chaos without a leader.