High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Lal seemed to see what he was thinking and chuckled: "The place you're standing right now is less than two million kilometers away from the nearest node of the Black Dimension Nebula. That's considered close. On the battlefield of space, a million kilometers is just a breath away."

"You'll get used to it eventually. In wars between civilizations in the universe, the scale is never measured in kilometers."

"The standards you learned on your home planet will only limit your judgment here."

"True high-level powerhouses fight across light-years in a single battle, and in a decisive battle, the battle lines stretch for billions of kilometers. If you're still using your experience from your home planet to measure the battlefield, you'll suffer a loss."

Song Chen did not refute it; he knew that what Lar was right.

From the moment he entered the Moonshadow Civilization, he had already noticed that his spatial awareness was being constantly refreshed.

The universe is too big, and he is still adapting.

Lal then turned to look at the combined fleet slowly adjusting its formation in the distance, and changed the subject: "Do you know why the Bloodshed Civilization has its eye on the Milky Way?"

Why?

"The Milky Way galaxy occupies a very special position in the universe. Its cantilever structure forms many natural weak points in space, and its psionic energy channels are very rich, making it especially suitable for the reproduction of devouring civilizations."

"The Blood-Eroding Civilization is the most aggressive of all devouring civilizations; wherever they go, they consume everything in their path."

"A Type IV civilization is already quite prominent in the universe, but they still can't change their habits. To them, the Milky Way is just a piece of fat meat."

"Aren't they afraid of being wiped out?"

"They're afraid, so the main force is coming."

Ral's voice lowered.

"The Blood Erosion Civilization had already calculated this; they knew that there was no unified government in the Milky Way, and that each civilization governed itself independently."

"If there were a civilization powerful enough to unite the power of the entire galaxy, they certainly wouldn't dare to come."

"But the problem is that the Milky Way is too scattered, so the Blood Erosion Civilization is betting that we can't come together."

Song Chen understood the weight of those words. If the Milky Way was truly a disorganized mess, then the Black Dimension Nebula was the weakest dam on that mess.

Once it is destroyed, the entire Moonshadow Civilization and even more distant civilizations will be exposed to the fangs of the Blood-Eroded Civilization.

"That's why we need to build a super defense line here," Song Chen asked tentatively.

"That's natural. If we can hold onto the Milky Way, we can still breathe. If we can't, everyone will go home and wait for the Blood Erosion Civilization to come knocking on our doors one by one."

"But just listen to these words. Your task now is not to think about the survival of the galaxy, but to survive until the war ends."

Song Chen was about to speak when he was drawn to a light that suddenly brightened in the distance.

From the direction of the Black Dimensional Nebula, a dazzling blue light surged from the depths of the void, and then, a massive, speechless metallic structure slowly emerged from the light.

It was an engineering mothership, dozens of times larger than a war fortress. Dozens of mechanical arms, each over a thousand kilometers long, extended from the hull. Each arm slowly unfolded in the vacuum, like a steel spider weaving a web.

It was surrounded by a dense swarm of engineering ships and escort vessels. With a flash of blue light, an asteroid in front of it was sliced ​​into countless fragments.

Then, countless small machines swallowed up, melted down, and reshaped them in a very short time, turning them into a standardized defensive module.

Similar scenes are playing out repeatedly throughout the nebula.

Song Chen watched as those fortresses were assembled from scratch, from tens of kilometers to hundreds of kilometers, or even thousands of kilometers, in a very short time.

Some fortresses were directly transported as a whole, unfolding dramatically upon arrival, like folded pieces of paper suddenly being pulled open.

Some were towed from even farther away, with the powered ships acting like a swarm of worker ants pulling metal mountains to their designated locations.

Some fortresses were built on the spot, with energy beams shooting out from engineering ships in all directions, outlining the keel in the void, and then layer by layer, armor was poured, weapons were installed, and energy pipes were laid.

"These construction machines are really reckless when they get to work," Song Chen exclaimed.

Lars heard this and chuckled: "War is all about logistics. What you see now is just the initial framework. Later on, we need to lay out energy grids, plant space anchors, and adjust gravity traps."

"Once it's all completed, this defensive line will stretch for seven light-years. Do you think there are too many fortresses? You can wait until it's fully covered before you see."

"Seven light-years..."

"This is enough to give the Blood Erosion Civilization a hard time. As long as they can't break through the spatial blockade, they can only fight a positional war with us outside the nebula. Once their supplies are cut off, that's when we'll launch a counterattack."

"But the prerequisite is that the entire Milky Way galaxy must survive this crisis first."

……

In the days that followed, Song Chen saw something new arrive almost every day.

Sometimes they are the giant condensation turrets of the Frostmoon civilization, drifting in from afar like icebergs, their barrels covered with a perpetually frozen shell, but their internal psionic reactions are so intense they seem about to explode.

Sometimes it's the particle storm array of the Radiant Sun civilization, where hundreds of Prism Warships form a huge geometric array that, when charged together, can illuminate a small area as brightly as the surface of a star.

Sometimes it's the Moonshadow Clan's airborne platform, with black decks stretching for tens of kilometers, from which warriors jump down in dense numbers, falling into the gaps in the defense line like scattered beans.

On another occasion, Song Chen witnessed a heavy fortress of the Cangxing Alliance undergoing a defense test.

It was a flat, disc-shaped fortress. Suddenly, twelve layers of psionic shields lit up on its surface, and then all the idle main cannons on the defensive line fired at the same time, with beams hitting the target from all directions.

When the light faded, the fortress's outer protective shield remained intact; only the surface temperature had increased slightly.

The test was completed, and cheers erupted from all around.

The defenses are getting thicker day by day.

On the eleventh day, a moment that left a deep impression on Song Chen arrived.

The Nine Luminaries Civilization emblem, which had been hovering above the space city, suddenly erupted with a tidal wave of psionic energy, causing the entire space city to tremble slightly.

Everyone stationed on the defensive line was alarmed and looked up in that direction.

A voice rang out.

The sound didn't need a communicator or rely on electromagnetic waves; it permeated the entire space, like the universe itself opening up.

"Gentlemen, I am the Emperor of the Nine Luminaries Civilization."

"This is our home."

"We have lived here for countless years, witnessed stars go out, witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations, and also seen the light on the other side of the universe."

"Now, a bunch of beasts who only know how to devour want to take a piece of our flesh. They brought 10 billion, so we'll bury 10 billion right here."

"We will never back down."

Upon hearing that voice, Song Chen instinctively held his breath.

The body reacted automatically, the star core spun violently, and all the blood and mental energy were forced into the deepest part.

This is instinct, an instinct etched into the very bones of every psionicist when facing higher-level life forms.

He saw a figure emerge from the highest point of Tian Shu.

The man was tall and wore a pure white robe with sleeves trailing behind him like two glowing comet tails.

He had no weapons or armor; he stood there in the void, empty-handed.