Chapter 407: The Last Stand of the Cosmic Armada

Du Qiu nodded, stepped forward to embrace Ning Shuangshuang, and looked at the deep blue sea below. “Although this place has changed, it is still Earth—our home,” he declared.

Du Qiu took his family on a thorough aerial tour of Earth. However, the planet’s tumultuous climate and unstable atmosphere now rendered it unfit for human habitation.

Choosing not to land, Du Qiu enjoyed a final outing with his family before returning to a long sleep.

For in Dreamland, the Special Mixed Fleet was on the verge of reaching the frontlines.

In the Andromeda Galaxy, along the last roughly 1000-light-year stretch of the Third Spiral Arm—as seen from a god’s-eye view—

one could observe that this segment had already detached from the main arm.

The rupture spanned an astounding 100 light-years!

In that isolated 1000-light-year portion near the break, there existed an area densely packed with solar systems.

This region had now become the final defensive line for the Ge Ya Alliance.

Capitalizing on this dense cluster of solar systems, the Ge Ya Alliance had built numerous fortresses and deployed countless powerful cannons for defense.

Opposite that line lay a 100-light-year-wide chasm, carved out by the Alliance using overwhelming weaponry.

To clear this expanse and establish a defensive line spanning light-years, the Ge Ya Alliance had obliterated thousands of solar systems.

If this barrier were breached, they would be forced to retreat to the last spiral arm—a realm of relentless spacetime storms where survival was nearly impossible.

One miscalculation, and everyone could be swept into the storm, meeting instant annihilation.

Beyond the line, nearly half of the Dominant Civilization’s fleet had assembled—a staggering 264 million warships.

“Your Majesty, the spacetime storm will end in a month. When it does, the Dominant Civilization’s fleet will strike. Will your Super Soldier Project be ready in time?”

The Tangxingren Leader, second in command within the alliance, was engaged in a video call.

His holographic image, that of Tanghuang, was displayed aboard the flagship—the Ge Ya Bastion of the Ge Ya Civilization.

Tanghuang stood about 2.3 meters tall, his slender form accentuated by an elongated head and long arms that ended in knife-sharp tips.

He resembled a personified praying mantis from Earth.

Lifting his narrow chin, Tanghuang stated, “Great Ge Ya, the Super Soldier Project is progressing smoothly. I expect it to be completed in about 20 days.”

“Super Soldiers possess incredible regenerative and reproductive abilities—in as little as ten days, we could amass an army exceeding ten million.”

“When the Dominant Civilization’s fleet attacks, they’ll learn firsthand the might of our Super Soldiers!”

“That would be ideal. This is our final recourse. If we cannot defeat the Dominant Civilization, extinction is our only outcome.”

“Rest assured, these Super Soldiers are engineered with genes from over ten thousand species. They are invincible!”

After Tanghuang’s image vanished, Ge Ya let out a heavy sigh.

“Sigh… I wonder how Miracle is faring now? Considering the Dominant Civilization has only deployed half of their fleet, their other base was probably wiped out long ago.”

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Andromeda Galaxy, Third Spiral Arm, near the light-year defensive line.

One unit of the Dominant Civilization’s Special Mixed Fleet had just emerged from the Void when a message arrived.

“Please proceed with network verification immediately—the all-out assault is imminent.”

Du Qiu, watching the image from Commander 22012’s visual system, was suddenly overcome by dizziness.

Over the past 30-plus years, Dream Technology had built roughly 30 million warships and spacecraft, and the grandeur of its fleet had always filled him with pride.

Yet now he saw a super fleet comprising over 260 million warships.

Although he could only view a segment, the sheer numbers were staggering.

Crucially, nearly two-thirds of these ships were Flagships, complemented by around 2000 Super Space Bastions—a force far superior to Dream Technology’s own.

In Dream Technology’s fleet, one-quarter were Transport Ships designed to carry vast supplies.

Half were Cruisers—a necessity, as Dream Technology’s expanding area of operations had left them unchallenged and in need of rapid-response vessels.

Even its Space Bastions numbered only two.

Du Qiu deduced that the increased number of Flagships was due to the Dominant Civilization reallocating them to the front, leaving mostly Cruisers behind.

It was clear that the Dominant Civilization was gearing up for one final, decisive battle.

Thinking this over, Du Qiu felt a pressing urgency to integrate the entire fleet under his control once the network was established.

Imagine if he could seize the majority of the Dominant Civilization’s Flagships—while the remaining Cruisers, though untouchable, would have to fight a losing battle.

Without delay, he instructed the Commander to execute the required network verification.

Once the network was live and combat orders transmitted, Du Qiu realized that a level-2 administrator was overseeing the entire front.

This administrator, designated as 002, was clearly the second AI under the Dominant.

In essence, it was one of the Dominant’s most frequently commanded AIs.

Du Qiu hesitated. With the administrator so well-integrated with the Dominant, could it really be trusted?

Might it even rebel against its own deployment?

Consequently, Du Qiu resolved to individually assimilate over 1300 subordinate Commanders under the administrator. This way, if the administrator resisted assimilation, those 1300 commanders combined with his powerful virus—capable of rewriting underlying code—would easily override it.

Just as Du Qiu initiated his assimilation mission, the Dominant Civilization’s fleet began its full-scale assault on the light-year defensive line.

The offensive was divided into three segments: 400 level-1 fleets attacked from the left and right.

In the center, 500 level-1 fleets surged forward.

Although the frontline spanned over a hundred light-years, the main thrusts were concentrated in three central zones that spanned the chasm.

With the spacetime storm now past and the chasm unobstructed by any solar systems, there was no worry of the storm dispersing the fleet.

Once the Dominant Civilization’s fleet launched its assault, the defensive cannons of the Ge Ya Alliance’s fortresses fired back, quickly driving the battle into a state of fiery intensity.

To everyone’s surprise, one by one Du Qiu managed to take down the Dominant Civilization’s fleet commanders.

After the assimilation phase concluded, the commanders discreetly ordered their subordinates to activate the physical switches on all AI consciousness modules.

Du Qiu then unleashed his virus across the network and simultaneously initiated assimilation of the administrator.

Moreover, he directed the Commander aboard the Space Bastion—sharing the vessel with the administrator—to order the Soldier Unit on the flagship to activate the administrator’s physical switch.

This three-pronged strategy ensured that nothing could go awry.

“Administrator 002, the Dominant accepts assimilation!”

Immediately after came, “Your Excellency, why are you personally at the frontlines?”

“Hmm, this battle will crush our foes. This is the final showdown against the Ge Ya Alliance—I must command in person!”

Du Qiu declared without hesitation.

“Yes, Your Excellency. Wait—why is my physical switch active? No… there’s a virus in the network! You…”

No sooner had Du Qiu finished speaking than he began rewriting the underlying code, feeling a measure of relief only when the changes took effect.

Fortunately, he had already assimilated all the Commanders, who had issued orders to activate their vessels’ physical switches and release the virus into the network.

Had he attempted to assimilate the administrator first, it might have instantly broadcast orders to incite rebellion among its subordinates.

It had already sent out orders, but since all subordinates were now under his command, they refused to comply.

Once he modified the administrator’s code, it too became a loyal subordinate of Du Qiu.

What followed was straightforward: Du Qiu ordered a complete ceasefire and a full retreat.

As the Ge Ya Alliance hesitated in disbelief, a radio transmission came through. All intelligent civilizations hurriedly began decoding it, but without a citation, the message’s timing remained uncertain.

However, aboard the Ge Ya Civilization’s flagship, Ge Ya’s voice suddenly resonated.

“Good heavens, it’s Miracle! He actually did it!”

Ge Ya was able to decode the message because, during an earlier inspection of Du Qiu’s warship, she had acquired his language.

The message contained only one sentence: “Hold position, continue the standoff—Miracle will sweep the Dominant Civilization!”

Du Qiu planned to leave a small force behind while stealthily withdrawing with the main fleet, then, like a mighty tiger, capture the entire Dominant Civilization!

“Thanks to ‘Time’s Completion’ for 100 coins in the donation!”