The stars, but they become the gray wind

For the Alliance, which is in a difficult situation, the loss of transport ships is not just one or two. Because the Empire has been harassing and attacking the transport supply fleet that transports food and necessary materials to the front line, the Alliance has lost a large number of transport supply fleets. This information made the commanders of both sides fall silent after seeing the report and the complete video recording.

There is no doubt that these images and reports are most likely true. No captain or crew member of a ship would be stupid enough to go to the trouble of fabricating such intelligence just for the failure of an insignificant material transport mission or the failure of a harassment guerrilla mission.

If this video recording is genuine, then who is responsible for the wormhole-like astronomical phenomenon in that galaxy and the unidentified warship? The suspected method of short-range superluminal travel within the star system is completely different from the mainstream ship structure design of the Alliance and the Empire. And since the strange and unknown astronomical phenomenon, every function displayed by this warship is like a crushed ball of common sense thrown into the trash.

The video footage and photographs related to this report have been culled by Reinhard's intelligence personnel and sent to the research department in the Imperial capital of Odin for analysis and study by the veteran scholars. While the final conclusion remains uncertain, Reinhard is certain of one fact: this ship was not built by the Empire, the Alliance, or Pheza. This warship, with its bizarre appearance and functionality, completely inconsistent with the design philosophies of any of them, could only have been designed and constructed by another nation in this universe, one whose technological development path diverges radically from that of the Empire, the Alliance, or Pheza.

"Gilfias, what do you think would happen if either we or the rebels obtained the technology contained in this warship?"

"Lord Reinhardt, if our army possessed such warships, we might be able to break through Iserlohn Fortress head-on and wipe out the entire rebel force. However, if we allow the rebels to obtain this technology, sooner or later we would suffer unprecedented losses since the Battle of Dagon and the fall of Iserlohn Fortress." After briefly reading the relevant reports and video footage, Reinhardt's most trusted red-haired friend replied.

Gilfairs was very wary of the technology and capabilities displayed by the unidentified giant battleship captured in the video. He told Reinhardt frankly that if a fleet composed entirely of such battleships could be formed, it would be an almost invincible fleet for the Empire and the Alliance. No military force of either the Alliance or the Empire could compete with this fleet. It would not be impossible for this fleet to break through the obstruction of the Iserlohn Fortress head-on with a violent attack, march straight into the territory of the Empire or the Alliance, and then rely on the powerful mobility of this fleet to destroy all the military forces in the Empire or the Alliance.

"Because of this, we must now, at all costs, try to contact this spaceship and the forces behind it before the rebels do. I have already reported the relevant matters to Odin. Before Odin's diplomatic envoys officially arrive, Gilfers, I need you to divert the rebels' attention and slow their reaction. Whenever necessary, you can freely utilize intelligence, personnel, and supplies. If the situation is urgent or unavoidable, I allow you to use all means to disrupt any form of contact between the forces behind the ship and the rebels. Do you understand?"

"As you command, Lord Reinhardt." The red-haired young man bowed solemnly to his best friend before turning and leaving the room.

Reinhardt was the only one left in the room. He turned and looked out the window, thinking about the temporary change of strategy for the next action plan.

Reinhardt was well aware that while he had been ordered, as Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Space Fleet, to defend against the invasion and attack of the Free Planets Alliance's rebel expeditionary force, he also knew that as Fleet Commander-in-Chief, he had no authority to engage with a strange alien nation. According to Imperial tradition and law, such matters must be reported to Odin. If he attempted to make contact before then, he would likely be accused of treason by the aristocratic families who had always disliked him. Reinhardt knew that those corrupt aristocratic families had long been dissatisfied with his style of work and the speed of his promotion, and they were waiting for such an opportunity to accuse him and gain leverage over him.

If, at this point, they continued with their original plan of fortifying the occupied territories and harassing the enemy's logistics fleet, they would be handing over the opportunity for prior contact with the forces behind the unidentified warship. If the allied rebels truly acquired the technology aboard the warship, it would inevitably lead to endless trouble. Therefore, they had to seize the initiative. However, the inefficient and incompetent Imperial bureaucracy operated no more efficiently than Reinhard's meritocratic army. Ministers and nobles, obsessed with palace power struggles, would wait an indefinitely for a conclusion and the formation of a formal diplomatic mission. In desperation, Reinhard had to temporarily change all previous plans, ordering several of his generals, including Gilfairs, to lead their fleets in an immediate attack, attempting to contain the rebels' forces in other directions. At all costs, they were determined to capture the previously worthless star system where the mysterious astronomical phenomenon had occurred and seize the opportunity for prior contact with the alien nation.

At this moment, Reinhardt would probably never realize that this insignificant little decision he made was like a butterfly that could cause a storm by flapping its wings, sending the train of galactic history onto another previously unimagined and completely unknown path.

…………

"Why are there so many space whales?" Yuki was quite confused as he looked at the long line of space whales emerging from the star gate following the Salem on the screen.

"They are also quite curious about the possibility of creating wormholes between different universes on the eleven-dimensional space-time brane through the naked strange ring at the center of the Kerr black hole. They said they wanted to observe it up close."

"Okay, just observe it, just don't collide with the outermost circle of macroscopic cosmic string matter." Yuki noticed that it seemed that several space whales were too close to the macroscopic cosmic string matter that was rotating around the naked strange ring wormhole at a speed close to the speed of light, so he warned them in the communication channel.

Can naked singularities and strange rings really exist in our universe?

Aphrodite's hive consciousness's curious question was displayed on the holographic communication channel in front of Yuuki.

"Yes, and through exposed singularities and strange rings, we can also create wormholes that violate the law of causality. At the singularity, time and space no longer exist, and all physical laws will also be invalid here. We can use it to modify the space-time laws of the local universe according to our preferences and needs."

"Similarly, we can also use the special properties of naked singularities to trigger a new Big Bang, creating an artificial miniature universe independent of our universe, and obtain infinite energy, matter and information through naked singularities."

"All physical laws in the macroscopic universe completely fail at naked singularities. Through naked singularities, we can obtain true superluminal negative energy flow, create a superluminal version of the warp drive, and maintain the existence of stable wormholes. Based on this, we can create a closed time-like curve time machine."

"You can even understand it without exaggeration: our entire existing technology is based on the application of naked singularities and naked singular rings."

[So... as long as it's a Kerr black hole of the right mass and size, you can peel off its inner and outer event horizons while preserving the ring oddities. Then the galactic center black hole at the center of the entire galaxy must be one of your most important targets, right?]

"As you guessed, there is indeed a larger-scale space-time bridge wormhole leading to other universes on the 400 million stellar-mass black hole at the center of our Milky Way."

"It's just that the external facilities that maintain the existence of the wormhole are... uh... very... difficult to describe."

【? ? ? 】

"This... is really hard to explain. It has something to do with the selfish motives of one of our creators."

"Anyway, we do have a larger-scale space-time bridge at the center of the Milky Way that connects to other universes, and we do have plans to build similar bridges on a larger scale in the future."

"But anyway, it's better for us to take it one by one in this regard."

"I myself still haven't quite gotten used to this feeling of having so much energy and material, everything I need and can imagine, that I have an endless supply. Having expanded to this scale, you probably have similar feelings, right?"

[Hmm... there's too much excess energy and matter. Besides using it for further expansion, even at my level of consumption, it's simply impossible to consume this excess matter and energy. This is one of the main reasons why the scale and speed of my expansion over the past million years don't match the results calculated by the Fermi Paradox.]

The total amount of energy and matter is so high that even if I put all my energy into consuming it, I still cannot use it up. Further expansion will only make the problem worse. Therefore, after the number of galaxies under my control reached a certain scale about hundreds of thousands of years ago, the expansion rate of my Andromeda Galaxy slowed down.

Chapter 221 Undercurrent

The proposal submitted by Reinhardt, who was far away at the front, to send a diplomatic mission to the forces behind the unknown alien spacecraft that appeared in the star system near the entrance of the Icheron Corridor on the Empire side and to try to establish contact was conveyed to the capital of the Galactic Empire, Odin, and was soon delivered to Marquis Lidenrad, who served as the Prime Minister of the Galactic Empire.

"This is the application and proposal submitted by that blond boy. What do you think of it?"

Marquis Lidenrad put down the holographic display in his hand, stood up and walked to the wine cabinet next to his desk, took out a glass, and poured himself a glass of fine red wine. After taking a sip of the red wine in the glass, the expression on Marquis Lidenrad's face was quite subtle.

"Sending a formal diplomatic mission to the front lines at this critical juncture of the rebel invasion? This is truly unheard of. When was the last time we sent a formal diplomatic mission to the star field near the Iserlohn Corridor?"

"Perhaps it was around the time of the disastrous encounter between the Empire and the rebels, over 150 years ago, when they first crossed the Iserlohn Corridor?"

The secretary sitting on the sofa in the Marquis of Lidenrad's office looked worried when he mentioned this.

"At that time, our army had finally crossed the narrow and dangerous Iserlohn Corridor, jubilant at the discovery of a new world, when those long-planned rebels launched a surprise attack on our unprepared forces. Back then, my great-grandfather's ship sank in a sudden attack by the rebels. Just think of how despicable those rebels were."

"Since then, our battles with the rebels have continued for over 100 years, and are still going on today."

"If this really is a spaceship from an alien country we've never seen before, what do you think we should do?"

“How is that possible?

The secretary who had served as the most trusted subordinate of Marquis Lidenrad for many years first rejected Lidenrad's idea with a smile. The fantasy of aliens appeared long before humans set foot in the starry sky. At that time, after humans had realized the nature of a small part of the universe using the newly developed science and technology, many humans were thinking about a question. There are so many stars and planets in the universe, so is it possible that there are life forms like ours on so many planets?

This question persisted for nearly a hundred years. At a time when the search for answers to this question was at its peak, humanity's enthusiasm for searching for aliens reached a level that seems incomprehensible to later generations. Rare natural phenomena, as well as photographic and visual illusions, were mistakenly believed to be aircraft piloted by aliens. People at the time even gave these phenomena a name: UFOs.

Some artists and creators with wild imaginations have fabricated virtual alien images and given them an evil mission to invade the earth. Due to the influence of these images and works, countless cultural creations centered around aliens have been released.

After the devastating nuclear war in 2039, many years later, in 2360, Dr. Antonelliano and his team completed the development of the superluminal engine and officially launched large-scale colonization of the star system in 2391. However, humans had to accept the fact that there were no aliens in the entire Milky Way.

For hundreds of years, humans have been tirelessly exploring and developing the vast sea of ​​stars, and human footprints have gradually covered an entire arm of the Milky Way, but still no evidence of the existence of any alien civilization has been found, nor any traces or clues of its past existence.

For a considerable number of scholars and citizens who support the existence of extraterrestrial life, this is a despairing reality. The social groups they represent have long been eager to find evidence of extraterrestrial life to disprove the Fermi Paradox. However, the lack of any trace of extraterrestrial civilization within the known Milky Way galaxy actually proves the Fermi Paradox's validity. Humanity is alone in this universe, and Earth is the only planet in this cold, dead Milky Way, home to civilization. In the entire universe, Earth, a resource-poor planet located in the outer ring of the Milky Way, is the only place in the universe where intelligent civilization has emerged. Even other planets, despite possessing highly habitable natural and atmospheric environments, have yet to discover aliens or any other form of extraterrestrial life.

Even Marquis Lidenrad's experienced secretary initially doubted the existence of aliens, reacting to the strange spacecraft and unknown astronomical phenomena, which were so completely different from those of the Alliance Empire. He even subconsciously considered it to be a strange country that possessed some technology never before seen by the Alliance and the Empire, rather than a genuine alien civilization.

However, the Prime Minister, Marquis of Lidinard, obviously had some different opinions on this.

"Whether or not this is a true alien nation, the technology on that spacecraft must not fall into the hands of the rebels. Therefore, sending a diplomatic mission is necessary."

"Regarding the personnel selection and list of this diplomatic mission..."

"I have already sent people to contact several of His Majesty's most trusted ministers and nobles. I believe we will have a result soon."

"But whether this delegation can arrive on time is a strategic issue on the front line. Can Reinhardt's blond son hold the front line until our delegation arrives?"

"That's not our concern. If the blond boy loses to the rebels, even if he manages to hold the line for a while, his forces will suffer heavy losses. We can use this opportunity to dampen his influence and teach him to be more restrained. If he wins against the rebels, it will only add to his previous achievements. If he fails to hold the line and loses to the rebels again, he will be blamed, and we can use this as leverage to make him an obedient guard dog."

The secretary and Marquis Lidinrad smiled at each other in tacit understanding. Lidinrad took out an exquisite wine glass and poured a glass of wine for his secretary. The two of them toasted happily to celebrate their thunderous plans, but they had no idea what consequences this contact would bring.

At the same time, after the report and video records from the expeditionary force commander-in-chief Robos were delivered to the desks of the alliance's top leaders headed by Treunicht, the alliance's top members of the Supreme Council became a little restless.

Apart from a few senators like Hovan and Lebelo who truly care about the future of the Alliance and are worried that the Empire may try to establish contact with aliens and obtain their technology first, other senators are more concerned about whether these suddenly appearing aliens can bring them more votes and boost the current low support rate in the parliament.

For the senators, led by Treunisit, this costly and laborious 30 million-dollar expedition was merely a showmanship designed to achieve a predicted large-scale military victory over the Empire, boost sagging support, and secure more votes in the upcoming general election. Therefore, achieving a large-scale military victory over the Imperial Army with maximum efficiency and speed was what these politicians desired. While the sudden appearance of aliens might not offer much benefit to the current Alliance government, it certainly would have considerable disadvantages.

After all, for the Alliance, which considered itself the legitimate successor to the Galactic Federation and openly despised the Galactic Empire's founding emperor, Rudolf, whom they considered a shameless kleptocrat, nothing could shake public sentiment more than a growing number of enemies. To prove their superiority over the Empire, the Alliance had to outperform it in certain competitions and contests.

In the eyes of the people of the Alliance, contacting a truly alien country and establishing formal diplomatic relations is a matter of course. If the Empire establishes contact with the alien country first, causing the Alliance to be at a disadvantage in this matter, then the peace faction and other political parties that oppose the current Supreme Council policy will certainly spare no effort to attack the current Alliance government and criticize its incompetence in domestic and foreign affairs. This is undoubtedly bad news for the current Alliance government's already precarious support rate.

Therefore, the proposal to establish contact and communication with the aliens before the Empire at all costs and to find ways to prevent the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Empire and the aliens as soon as possible was quickly passed by all with a high vote. Such a proposal with no one opposing or abstaining was quite rare in the history of the alliance.

Treunicht also specifically mentioned at the meeting that the Empire would not concede defeat. If they found themselves being obstructed by the Allies, they would make every effort to break through. He also believed that the aliens, whose initial contact with the Empire had been secretly obstructed by the Allies and who lacked a certain degree of trust in the Empire, would not easily believe the Empire's claims in the future. Given the Empire's corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy, simply organizing a diplomatic mission would likely take considerable time. This time would be enough for the Allies to mobilize the nearest fleet and troops and seize control of this crucial node system for contact with the aliens.

Outside the Alliance's entrance and exit on the Empire side of the Iserlohn Corridor, the fleet closest to this desolate galaxy that had been completely ignored by both the Alliance and the Empire was Yang Weili's 13th Fleet. The task of rushing to this galaxy as quickly as possible and gaining control of it fell to the 13th Fleet.

Thus, the Empire and the Alliance unknowingly embarked on a silent race to make first contact with aliens and establish communication.

…………

While the Empire and the Alliance were engaged in this diplomatic competition, Yuki was preparing a huge surprise, or more accurately, a shock, for both sides in the former black hole galaxy that she named "Void Gate" - a barrier star ring built on the desolate, atmosphereless planet orbiting the black hole.

As a planetary shield system on a planetary scale, the Rampart Ring is composed of a vast array of pentagonal and triangular building blocks that envelop the entire planet. Their surfaces are densely covered with yellow etchings and intricate patterns. The Rampart Ring possesses computing power comparable to that of the early, planetary-scale Tree of Life. This planetary-scale computer and planetary shield possesses exceptionally robust protection and highly effective self-repair capabilities. Besides serving as a defensive planetary shield, the Rampart Ring also serves as a carrier for annihilation cores. A gravitational acceleration field encircling the entire planet accelerates massive antimatter particles and precisely targets starships. This level of acceleration, when ejected at near-light speed, carries a tremendous amount of energy, capable of devastating any fleet, creating a dazzling display of fireworks across the starry sky. "This is the surprise I prepared for you..." Sitting in the orbit of the planet in the Void Gate galaxy, Infinity Yuki happily watched the construction of the Barrier Star Ring one after another. However, the von Neumann self-replicator disassembled and reassembled part of the planetary material to form it at a high speed. For the current Sky Star and Glass Eels, it is no longer the era many years ago when a planetary-level celestial project of the planetary ring level took nearly several months to complete. Nowadays, the time spent on building such a planetary-level celestial project is almost measured in days, or even hours. The time it took for the glass eels to build the Tangyuan Star repulsive energy grid-shaped orbital star ring initially was more than two years. Now, if the construction time of such a facility cannot be controlled within one day, it is almost considered to be unqualified.

The barrier star ring constructed by Yuki is a specially adjusted and enhanced version, capable of producing and accelerating the output of antimatter particles in a shorter period of time. A large number of structural blocks use chromium-core materials on the outer parts to improve protection. The entire structure even has the protective ability to protect planets from stellar explosion-level disasters and survive basically intact.

[The Barrier Star Ring is online, the Annihilation Core is ready and can be fired at any time.]

Yuuki looked at the giant structure that enveloped the entire planet and smiled. She pressed the start button of the annihilation core and planned to give it a try.

A beam of light containing tens of thousands of tons of antimatter particles rose from the yellow etchings and complex patterns of the Rampart Star, and then sank into the darkness of deep space. Yuki watched the rays composed of the antimatter torrent disappear into deep space, and nodded in satisfaction.

"As a planetary defense facility, it's quite powerful."

When Yang received the order from Commodore Hawke, his adjutant and staff were baffled. Commodore Hawke declared with a smug air, "This mission is highly confidential. Under direct orders from Marshal Robles, the specific details of the operation must not be disclosed to the admirals of other fleets on the front lines. The troops must maintain secrecy and operate in a low-key manner." Yang's 13th Fleet was to quickly dispatch a squadron to a desolate, uninhabited galaxy, seemingly uninhabited on the star map.

At such a critical juncture, sending a squadron to a worthless and desolate galaxy without explaining the reason was an order that was simply unreasonable, including Yang's adjutant, Lieutenant Greenhill. When Hawke gave this order in the communication, Greenhill suppressed his anger and did not scold Hawke on the communication screen in front of him.

As a soldier, Yang Weili was also dissatisfied with this completely unreasonable order that did not explain the reason to him. However, since it was a direct order from the marshal, he could not disobey it directly. He had to send a squadron from the limited troops on hand to the galaxy marked on the star map as having nothing but a massive black hole and a desolate planet orbiting the black hole without any valuable resources.

On the other side of the Empire, several great nobles and some lesser nobles were practically fighting for a chance to join the diplomatic corps. The grand and glorious mission of contacting aliens, a mission worthy of being recorded in the official annals of the Empire, drove the lesser nobles, eager to elevate their status and reputation, to a frenzy of competition. Some great nobles, well aware that communicating with aliens might yield greater benefits and leverage, as well as increased power and advantage within the Empire, were unwilling to pass on such a golden opportunity to others or their rivals in the power struggle. Nobles, great and small, began their own efforts.

And a puppet emperor who had always been regarded as a force undermined by the nobles naturally noticed the nobles' recent actions. In order to restrain these increasingly lawless aristocratic forces, Frederick IV, who had placed all his chips on the lion Reinhard in recent years, also made up his mind.

The Alliance's recent military actions on the front lines have been aggressive. Reinhardt is trying to stall for time, but it may not last. Meanwhile, as the Alliance's supply lines are reaching their limits, the day of total defeat for the Alliance is drawing near. Clearly, now is the time to place a bet. By placing a crucial stake in Reinhardt's favor, he could gain the power to effectively curb and eliminate the influence of the powerful aristocrats.

Frederick IV, who could already sense that he was old and frail and would not live long, decided to step on the accelerator again for this train that was already speeding on an unknown road, adding another push to the wheels of history.

On the way to the desolate galaxy near the entrance and exit on the Icherlen Empire side, the squadron led by Yang encountered some unexpected obstacles. On this route that should have been safe, the squadron led by Yang encountered harassment and guerrilla warfare from small and medium-sized Imperial fleets no less than dozens of times. Fortunately, under the command of Yang Weili, every attack of the Imperial fleet was resolved. The squadron of the 13th Fleet did not suffer any losses, but the continuous harassment and guerrilla warfare by the Imperial Army inevitably slowed down the marching speed of the squadron. It took the fleet more than a week to reach a position only one jump away from the target galaxy.

Just as the 13th Fleet's squadron had completed its final jump, arriving in a system that was supposed to contain only a black hole and a desolate planet, the officers and soldiers were stunned speechless by the bizarre astronomical phenomenon before them. The original black hole was gone, leaving only a single ring, lying flat on the galaxy's ecliptic plane, rotating at near the speed of light. Only then did Yang, who had been deliberately concealing information from Hawke and others, realize that he might have been tricked. At this moment, the radar operator in front suddenly shouted.

"Warp signal detected! It's the enemy! 3000 in number!"

At this time, an Imperial Army fleet of the same size appeared in front of the 13th Fleet Squadron. Yang Weili turned his attention from the astronomical phenomenon in the center of the galaxy to the Imperial Army fleet that had just appeared, and couldn't help but frowned.

.........

When Gilfias led more than 3000 warships and jumped into this star system from another route, the fleet's optical observation system almost immediately noticed the allied fleet only five light seconds away. Originally, Gilfias planned to lead this high-speed fleet to arrive first and control this desolate star system that almost no one visited on the star map, to clear the obstacles for his own diplomatic mission. However, due to the distance and time difference between the two sides, his fleet arrived at this star system almost at the same time as the squadron from the 13th Fleet led by Yang. The two sides who suddenly encountered each other ignored the strange astronomical phenomenon in the center of the galaxy. At the moment when both sides were about to open fire on each other's fleet, a dazzling flash of light cut through the void and swept through the area where the two fleets were confronting each other.

"Report... Report! We have detected fortress artillery bombardment that far exceeds the level of Thor's Hammer main gun!" The technical soldiers at the radar and fire control positions had expressions of disbelief on their faces. If he had not read the data on the screen wrongly, the diameter of that beam and the energy it carried were at least thousands... no... at least ten thousand times that of Thor's Hammer main gun.

"what!"

"what!"

In the fleets of both sides, both fleet commanders, Yang Weili and Gilfias, stood up and stared at the space outside the ship with their eyes wide open in disbelief. There, a planet, or something that was originally a planet, was slowly turning from the blind spot behind the strange ring-shaped object to the visual range of both fleets.

"What... is that?" Siegfried muttered.

"The target has a diameter of 6000 kilometers. It should be a planet orbiting the black hole in the original galaxy, but it seems that something has wrapped up the planet." The staff officer beside Yang Weili zoomed in on the image. Under the gaps between the pentagonal and triangular building blocks that covered the entire planet, the shadow of the original planet could be vaguely observed. At the same time, the dense yellow etchings and complex patterns on the surface of the building blocks were surging on the surface of the building blocks like living organisms.

[Annihilation Core launch completed, charging complete, do you want to launch it again?]

"Launch path confirmed, lock onto the gap between the two fleets, and open fire!"

Yuki decisively pressed the launch button, and a huge amount of antimatter particles once again poured out from one of the structural blocks on the surface of the Barrier Star Ring into the void. In the distance, the fleets of the Empire and the Alliance once again observed the signs of the Annihilation Core opening fire. The officers and soldiers of the fleets of both sides were immediately frightened to death. It was not until the beam from the Annihilation Core once again passed through the gap between the two fleets that Yang and Siegfried finally breathed a sigh of relief. If those two shots had hit their fleet just now, the fleets of both sides would have been destroyed, as the saying goes. In an instant, they were reduced to ashes and turned into atoms floating in the universe. If the opponent's accuracy was so poor that he missed two consecutive shots, Yang and Siegfried would never believe that the opponent could not hit them. The two shots just now were obviously expressing some kind of warning, otherwise their fleet would have been reduced to ashes long ago. Yang Weili knew this very well, because in the process of capturing all the Irvin fortresses in the past, he had done similar things to the imperial fleet in the fortress, bombarding the opponent's flanks with fortress cannons, causing only minor damage to the opponent as a warning.

Thinking of this, Yang Weili also became curious about what this thing in front of him was.

On the other side, on the Imperial fleet's flagship, the HMS Barbarossa, Siegfried felt a drop of cold sweat dripping from his forehead. It had only been less than a month since the Imperial destroyer chased the damaged Alliance transport ship and discovered the strange astronomical phenomenon and the unidentified alien spaceship in this galaxy. The last image of the galaxy taken by the Imperial destroyer when it left clearly showed that there was nothing in this galaxy except the strange astronomical phenomenon and the strange alien spaceship. And only less than a month had passed, and the barren rocky planet in the galaxy was wrapped in a huge pentagonal dodecahedron formed by countless triangles, like a planetary shield. Siegfried was very sure that it could not be the work of the Empire or the Alliance, so the answer was obvious: it was the force behind the strange alien spaceship that caused the planet's appearance to change drastically in just one month.

You know, this is not just a simple transformation of the planetary environment. It is a solid shield that can cover the entire planet. Even this strange device that seems to have directly transformed a planet into a fortress seems to be equipped with giant fortress weapons with power far exceeding that of Thor's hammer. The technological level represented by such engineering efficiency made Siegfried feel a chill crawling up his spine. The empire almost exhausted the financial and material resources of its treasury over the years to build the Iserlohn Fortress. If you compare the Iserlohn Fortress with the facility in front of you that is truly the size of a planet, the Iserlohn Fortress is just like an inconspicuous little toy.

Chapter 222: Indestructible Barrier Star Ring

The planet is shrouded and enveloped by a massive barrier ring, the lines on the surface of the ring's structural blocks and the densely packed yellow etchings constantly emerging between light and dark.

Compared to the Barrier Star Ring, which is larger than a planet itself, the fleets of the Alliance and the Empire confronting each other in the distance are not so noticeable. Compared with the Barrier Star Ring, the fleets of the two armies facing each other are as small as two groups of flies.

Gilfias stared intently at the giant fortresses in the void in the distance. After firing two warning shots, the fortress became silent. After that, all communication requests and messages sent to the fortress by both the Empire and the Alliance fleets fell on deaf ears. It just floated there quietly, like a strange eye, observing the Alliance and Empire fleets that were like two groups of ants in the distance.

Under the military deterrence of this real planetary fortress, the fleets of the Empire and the Alliance that were confronting each other on the scene did not dare to exchange fire for the time being. It seemed that the fortress would only react to objects approaching it. Two Imperial reconnaissance ships tried to approach the fortress at the risk of being destroyed, but after sailing to a certain distance near the fortress, they were caught by an invisible force. No matter how strong the thrusters and engines were, they could not break free. The warships caught by this strange force were directly thrown far away. Except for a few people who were accidentally injured in the process of being thrown out, the crew members on board were basically fine.

On the other side, in the Alliance's 13th Fleet squadron, Yang Weili, who had been deliberately concealing the news from the Alliance, also began to think about the origin of the huge fortress in front of him. He knew very well that neither the Alliance nor the Empire had the ability to complete such a large-scale project, and the appearance and style of this fortress did not look like the technology of the Alliance or the Empire. Combined with the strange astronomical phenomena that occurred in the galaxy, where there should have been a stellar-class massive black hole, a high-speed rotating ring and a wormhole interface shaped like water waves were formed. Yang Weili also guessed the specific origin of this strange fortress in front of him.

However, this speculation still made Yang feel a little unbelievable, but considering the recent strange reactions and actions of the alliance's top leaders, this was the only reasonable possibility.

Yang and Siegfried both felt helpless about the fortress before them, so both sides decided not to provoke the fortress and its still unidentified builders and controllers for the time being. Although the two armies were still in a state of confrontation, under the threat of the fortress's powerful and terrifying cannons in the distance, both sides did not dare to make any small moves.

After sending news about this place to Heinessen and Odin in the rear, both sides received orders from the top to stay put and wait for support.

When the Empire and Heinessen received the news from the Yang and Siegfried fleets on the front lines, they momentarily wondered if there was something wrong with their eyes. After repeatedly confirming the authenticity of the news, the top brass on both sides were in an uproar. Both sides were horrified by the massive planet-like fortress that had not existed a month ago. The footage of the fortress firing was also recorded and sent to Heinessen and Odin as a video. According to the analysis and estimation of the technical teams on both sides, the power of this giant fortress's main gun when firing was conservatively tens of thousands of times that of Iserlohn Fortress's main cannon, Thor's Hammer. Faced with such a colossal cannon, both the Imperial nobles, who were full of food and drink, and the selfish politicians of the Allies were reconsidering their attitude towards the controller behind the fortress. At the same time, diplomatic envoys from both sides were rushing to the desolate galaxy, each wanting to be the first to establish formal diplomatic relations with the fortress's owner.

If they could obtain the technology of the power behind the construction of this fortress, even with just a little help and support, the balance of the long-standing war between the Empire and the Alliance would surely tip in their favor.

The imbalance between the Empire and the Alliance was obviously something that Feisha, who was trying to take advantage of the situation to gain more benefits, did not want to see. This news was passed through the Alliance and some politicians and nobles in the Empire who had deep interest exchanges with Feisha. After being passed through layers of hands, this information finally arrived at the desk of Feisha Lord Rubinski.

Facing the ridiculously large fortress that covered the entire planet in the picture, Feisha's self-made lord Rubinski was unprecedentedly silent. He had a premonition that if such technology fell into the hands of either the Alliance or the Empire, it would definitely destroy the current balance of power. This would undoubtedly be the worst news for Feisha. Only if the Imperial Alliance maintained its current state could Feisha continue to benefit from it.

Lubinsky, the current Lord of the Fessan Autonomous Territory, believes that the Imperial and Alliance governments are mere puppets, acting for Fessan's economic benefit, implementing their policies and plans. However, the entry of a new force capable of disrupting this balance could erode Fessan's privileges and unique position between the two nations, potentially shattering the long-standing relationship between Fessan and the Earth Cult behind them. To prevent this, Fessan must participate in this fateful encounter, and if necessary, disrupt the Alliance and Empire's contact with this unidentified alien force.

But what Rubinsky overlooked is: What should you do when you encounter a troublemaker who is not going to abide by the existing rules, is not going to continue playing the game with you at the table, and intends to overturn the table and beat up everyone present?

…………

On the other side, in the Void Gate Galaxy, when Yang finally took a break from his busy schedule and returned to his bedroom to rest for a while, Yuki was already waiting for him in the reception room of the other room with an unopened bottle of brandy.

"General, I win, Admiral Yang."

As the recharge of the annihilation core was finally completed, antiparticle rays that shone like stars flooded the attacking allied fleet like a tsunami, and wiped out tens of thousands of allied fleets in front of them in the blink of an eye.