Chapter 408: The Turning of the Cosmic Tide

As the Dominant Civilization fleet retreated to the opposite side of the Lightyear Defense Line, the last few races of the Ge Ya Alliance were left completely baffled.

At that moment, Ge Ya suddenly sent a message.

“The enemy must have some devious scheme. Let’s raise our guard and hold the line!”

Immediately after, Tanghuang connected with Ge Ya and asked, “I’ve just prepared to deploy the Super Soldiers. What do we do now?”

“Since the Dominant fleet has ceased its attack, we should use this time to rapidly reproduce the Super Soldiers. If we can amass hundreds of millions, we won’t fear their next assault.”

“Understood, Lord Ge Ya.”

Meanwhile, Du Qiu led most of the fleet in an orderly withdrawal.

By accessing the Administrator’s Database, Du Qiu obtained intelligence on all base systems and remaining fleets of the Dominant Civilization.

Using this distribution map, Du Qiu chose a route and prepared to return, planning to bring all bases and fleets into his command along the way.

Apart from a minimal defensive force, all extra fleets would be assimilated into his army.

In other words, this fleet would grow ever larger until the Dominant detected it, at which point the combined forces would sweep away any remnants of defiance from the Dominant’s bases and fleets.

Of course, to prevent the Dominant from escaping, Du Qiu mimicked the method previously used against the Ge Ya Alliance by ensuring his return route passed by the three River System Channel Gate exits first.

Having mastered spatial technology, Du Qiu had long arranged for the bases near the frontline to ramp up production of Space Gates – ensuring that at every stop his fleet could set one up.

With these Space Gates, fleet maneuvers would speed up dramatically.

Otherwise, traveling the 160,000-lightyear diameter of the Andromeda Galaxy from one end to the other would take over a century.

And with that kind of time, the Dominant might muster another formidable fleet, forcing a head-on clash.

Du Qiu had no desire for such a confrontation – not only would the outcome be uncertain, but even a victory could leave the Andromeda Galaxy in ruins.

Look at the state of the Andromeda Galaxy now – it’s already devastated, with remnants of Lightyear Defense Lines scattered everywhere.

Those were the sites of massive battles; not a single solar system remained intact.

Without stable solar systems, the frequency of space–time storms skyrocketed. Today, such storms in Andromeda far exceed those of millennia past.

Du Qiu’s rampage back was largely smooth. After seizing the bases at the three River System Channel Gate points, he directly targeted the Headquarters Base System of the Dominant.

However, when Du Qiu’s grand fleet was just 100 lightyears from the Headquarters Base System, the Dominant finally noticed the issue.

The Dominant had just finished his consciousness separation experiment when he discovered that several base administrators had shockingly activated the physical switch – a move that was completely forbidden.

Quickly, the Dominant made a tentative contact with the frontline commander’s administrator, who responded that the battle was still raging and that the Ge Ya Alliance had deployed new combat forces.

Yet when he requested the latest battle report video from Administrator 002, there was only silence.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Dominant immediately led the Headquarters Fleet in a retreat – although he chose to flee toward one of the River System Channel Gate exits.

By the time Du Qiu and his forces arrived at the Headquarters, it was clear that the Dominant had slipped away.

But upon learning the direction of the Dominant’s escape, Du Qiu couldn’t help but smile broadly.

Fortunately, his foresight had led him to secure those three Channel Gate points early on. If the Dominant intended to flee there, he would simply wait like a trap set for a rabbit.

Such a strategy was, of course, dependent on the Space Gates.

Du Qiu’s massive fleet quickly set up Space Gates and linked them to the ones at the River System Channel Gates.

Knowing that the Dominant could appear at any base or fleet at a moment’s notice, Du Qiu had to install an encompassing blockade and shielding measures here – ensuring that once the Dominant fleet showed up, there would be no escape and no way to transfer consciousness.

This shield needed to be vast, and luckily, Ge Ya’s data provided just the right specifications, along with additional countermeasures from the Dominant’s own defenses against Ge Ya.

With a dual strategy in place, they ensured that the Dominant’s consciousness could not slip away.

Thanks to the Space Gates, Du Qiu established a massive enclosing circle.

This was a circle with a diameter of 10 lightyears, divided into three defensive perimeters: from 10 to 8 lightyears, then to 5 lightyears.

Each layer was equipped with powerful shielding measures designed to prevent the escape of the Dominant’s consciousness.

Each perimeter was fitted with hidden Space Gates such that once the Dominant fleet penetrated the blockade, they would emerge onto the defensive lines, leaving nowhere for the Dominant to escape.

At this point, Du Qiu’s fleet boasted a total of 300 million warships, while the Dominant’s Headquarters Fleet numbered only 24 million. Despite all being Flagships and Space Bastions, facing a tenfold opposition was utterly futile.

The Dominant’s frantic dash for the Channel Gate signified an inner terror.

This terror wasn’t born overnight – it had been festering for a long time.

Perhaps because the Dominant had not only seized three Channel Gates initially, but his Headquarters Base System was merely 1,000 lightyears from a gate.

With a sixth-level peak civilization capable of traveling thousands of times the speed of light and executing occasional spatial jumps, the Dominant fleet could reach the nearest gate in just six months.

The decision not to establish a closer base over the years was due to increasing damage to the River System from the war – with space–time storms near the Channel Gates growing in frequency, duration, and range.

For safety, the Dominant Headquarters Base had relocated from being 100 lightyears away to 1,000 lightyears.

Du Qiu was unaware of these developments, which is why he never suspected that the Dominant, instead of consolidating his forces, would sprint away at the first sign of trouble.

In truth, Du Qiu could not comprehend that the Dominant and Ge Ya had been locked in conflict for over ten thousand years and were exceedingly familiar with each other.

“You can’t descend upon my subordinates, and I won’t dare to descend on your AIs,” the Dominant sneered.

Forced to fight on the scale of technological prowess and fleet size alone, neither side could risk a full-scale personal intervention.

When the Dominant chased Ge Ya into the Andromeda Galaxy, his initial display of might was impressive – until Ge Ya cut off his escape routes and enlisted the aid of the local sentient civilization, dramatically bolstering their force.

In panic, the Dominant first engaged Ge Ya in a battle for the Channel Gate. Before the war, his plan was simply to snatch the gate and then make his escape.

After the skirmish, realizing his own strength was on par with the Ge Ya Alliance, his confidence returned and he proceeded to capture the other two Channel Gates, completely sealing off any retreat for the Ge Ya Civilization.

Thus, the two forces began a long, grueling siege in the closed-off River System.

With victory seemingly at hand, the Dominant began experimenting with Consciousness Splitting.

Yet, at that moment, the massive army – which should have ended the conflict in one decisive blow – suddenly betrayed him. Did this mean that all his subordinates had been compromised by Ge Ya?

Even now, the Dominant’s sole enemy in his mind remained Ge Ya – no one else.

With his own subordinates proving unreliable, he dared not risk descending upon any other base; a single misstep or a shielding from Ge Ya would spell his complete annihilation.

Thus, instead of directly descending upon the Channel Gate base to escape, the Dominant led his Headquarters Fleet in a near-suicidal dash towards it.

All the while, he cautiously probed the Channel Gate to determine whether Ge Ya had truly taken control.

Unfortunately for him, once Du Qiu discovered that the Dominant had requested a frontline battle video from Administrator 002 – which revealed his subordinates were out of control – Du Qiu immediately ordered all base and fleet commanders under his command to go into disguise.

Convinced that the Dominant would not dare to descend, Du Qiu could only monitor the situation by observing the vortex formations on the consciousness modules to determine if the AI was compromised.

Given his detailed understanding of the Dominant Civilization’s original vortex signatures, Du Qiu easily forged a disguise.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to assume that the Dominant would willingly step into the trap.

Six months later, the Dominant’s fleet finally entered Du Qiu’s encirclement.

The closer the Dominant fleet got to the Channel Gate area, the more they slowed down – in a superluminal travel state, they weren’t overly worried about space–time storms.

But when the Dominant fleet reached just 6.5 lightyears from the Channel Base, the Dominant himself was hit by an unprecedented sense of crisis.

He immediately ordered the entire fleet to reverse course.

At that very moment, Du Qiu launched his attack.

The first three layers of the shielding activated immediately, and soon a vast armada emerged through the Space Gates, surrounding the Dominant fleet in overwhelming force.

Within the Channel Base, countless fleets poured out and commenced a full-scale assault.

Once, these warships had been allies within the same civilization; now they were split between two camps, locked in a desperate fight to the death.

Seeing his fleet surrounded in the void, the Dominant tried to initiate a consciousness transfer, only to discover it was impossible.

His consciousness could only operate within a ring spanning 2 lightyears.

It became clear that the enemy had established a spherical shield at 6 lightyears to block his advance, and another at 8 lightyears.

Now, his consciousness was trapped between these two spherical shields.

With nowhere to go, the Dominant could only retreat back to the original AI module labeled 000, helplessly watching as his fleet dwindled.

In panic, he broadcasted across space, “Ge Ya, we are unique sentient beings. Why must you stand against me? Spare me, and we can live in peace!”

Du Qiu ignored his pleas, relentlessly battering the Dominant’s fleet until only the flagship Space Bastion remained, before finally speaking amid the Dominant’s continuous entreaties.

“Dominant, stop your pleading. Ge Ya is not even here.”

“What?!” The Dominant was stunned, quickly asking, “Who… who are you?”

“I am Miracle. This world isn’t inhabited solely by you and Ge Ya – haven’t you forgotten that the Tianhuang Civilization once embodied sentient life?”

“Are you… a Tianhuang being?”

“As for you Pleiadians, have you forgotten how you once feverishly attempted to recreate beings with the consciousness of the Tianhuang?”

The Dominant was momentarily dumbfounded. “So you are a creation of the Pleiadians? Is your body still functional?”

“Of course – I’m doing just fine!”

“So they maintain other experimental bases? No wonder you were able to seize my deployment – I should have deactivated your consciousness modules long ago.”

Du Qiu laughed and remarked, “You wouldn’t dare, because only by descending with your consciousness can you decisively control these AIs. Otherwise, you’d constantly worry that one day they might betray you!”

The Dominant fell silent. Du Qiu’s words rang true; someone who had betrayed his own kind and then waged war against them would never trust anyone – not even his own AIs.

“Fine then. What do you intend to do with me?”

“You’ve poisoned two entire River Systems. You deserve to vanish from this universe.”

With that, Du Qiu commanded the pre-prepared hundred-plus Space Bastions to fire simultaneously, annihilating the Dominant’s flagship as if no Space Bastion had ever existed there.

Once the Dominant was dealt with, Du Qiu finally felt at ease.

He then used the Dominant’s name to order all bases and fleets of the Dominant Civilization to link up with the Space Bastion he occupied.

After everything was networked, Du Qiu – still under the Dominant’s name – ordered all AIs to activate their consciousness module physical switches, immediately releasing a virus across the network to modify all underlying data.

In an instant, the entire Dominant Civilization fell under Du Qiu’s control!

From that moment on, Du Qiu renamed the Dominant Civilization as the Miracle Civilization.

However, just as Du Qiu was about to relax in Dreamland, he suddenly received a superluminal broadcast from Ge Ya.

“Miracle, I made a grave mistake. We created a devilish race that will devour the entire universe!”

“The entire Ge Ya Alliance has already been swallowed up. Farewell, Miracle – good luck!”

Shocked, Du Qiu immediately led his fleet through the Space Gates, rushing toward the frontlines.

There was no direct Space Gate between here and the front; he had to cover continuous distances – a journey taking just over twenty days.

Arriving at the base closest to the front, ready to pass through a Space Gate, he received an urgent distress signal from Manager 002.

“Lord Miracle, countless insectoids from the Ge Ya Alliance are attacking us. We’re fighting them off desperately and need immediate reinforcements!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Du Qiu ordered all warships to surge through the Space Gates to reinforce that frontline area.

As his massive force emerged from the Space Gates into the void, Du Qiu witnessed the ferocity of the battle.

He had deliberately left 30 million warships behind to mislead Dominant Civilization spies hiding among the Ge Ya Alliance, but shockingly, only a few million remained.

These were being assailed by legions of bizarre, gigantic insectoids!

The smallest insectoid was equivalent to an ordinary landing ship, while the largest rivaled a main fleet warship in size.

Fortunately, the smaller ones were numerous and the larger ones few.

Otherwise, Manager 002’s fleet would have been utterly decimated.

Staring at these insectoids, Du Qiu had only one thought:

“I never expected that the insect race from Earth’s games actually existed!”

In an instant, a chill ran down his spine – this was a disaster.

If these insectoids were indeed akin to those in the game, they might well become his worst nightmare.

Du Qiu quickly ordered every warship to open fire and eradicate the insectoids on sight.

The battle raged for a week, eventually ending in a hard-fought victory for Du Qiu’s Miracle fleet.

However, the Miracle fleet suffered total losses exceeding 50 million warships.

In truth, Du Qiu had considered pursuing the retreating enemy further, but a space–time storm at the Lightyear Defense Line forced him to halt.

After losing several dozen warships, he finally ceased his attempts to breach the storm.

Gazing at the enemy’s solar system, Du Qiu knew trouble was brewing – he had clearly seen a small contingent of insectoids slip away.

According to Manager 002, the space–time storm here was like a seasonal monsoon – it appeared every month, lasting anywhere from one to three months.

Using the space broadcast, Du Qiu called out toward the enemy, summoning Ge Ya, but received no reply.

It seemed that the entire Ge Ya Alliance had been utterly annihilated.

When he inquired with Manager 002, he learned that just as the previous space–time storm was drawing to a close, a sudden bout of fighting erupted on the other side – a conflict that lasted only a few days before ending.

As soon as the battle ended and the storm subsided, billions of insectoids charged over the divide.

“Wait a minute – do these tiny insectoids also possess superluminal speeds?”

Du Qiu interrupted Manager 002’s explanation.

“Oh, only the larger insectoids cross the divide. Once they’re on the other side, the smaller ones swarm out from within them.”

“How fast do the larger ones travel at superluminal speeds?”

“Approximately 800 to 900 times the speed of light – still somewhat slower than our warships.”

After a moment’s thought, Du Qiu declared, “I order you to hold this position and establish a formidable defense. Eliminate every insectoid that dares cross over.

When the storm ends, feel free to launch a probing attack on the enemy!

Also, compile a full report on the insectoids’ weaknesses so that we can quickly manufacture counter weapons.”

“Yes, Lord Miracle. May I ask how many fleets I will command?”

“I’m assigning you 1,500 first-level fleets!”

Du Qiu then issued an order to all bases scattered throughout the River System for an all-out mobilization, prioritizing the quick outfitting of warships with weapons designed specifically against the insectoids.

In no time, the entire Miracle Civilization plunged into a state of total war. Once the Dominant Civilization had secured control over the River System, their offensive momentum waned, and reinforcement rates dropped, as their superiority was already indisputable.

Yet Du Qiu pressed full force, unleashing a terrifying surge of productive power.

Countless warships were produced in an endless stream.

Not only did Du Qiu deploy heavy forces at the Lightyear Defense Line, he also established three defensive perimeters.

Additionally, between the Second and Third Spiral Arms, he set up defenses to prevent any insectoid horde from bridging thousands of lightyears straight into the heart of the River System.

This plan had been meticulously laid out by Du Qiu during several dream sessions.

In reality, Du Qiu was also actively upgrading Miracle Technology, accumulating advancements in preparation for a next-generation fleet replacement.

Time passed imperceptibly.

One year, two years…ten years…

During this period, as the space–time storm at the Lightyear Defense Line subsided, vast forces crossed the divide to scour the enemy solar systems – only to find nothing.

It was as if the insectoids had vanished without a trace!

Until one day, Miracle Technology in reality finally reached the level of a sixth-level civilization’s fleet, and an exploration fleet discovered a passage from the Milky Way to the Magellanic System.

Du Qiu ordered a first-level fleet to be dispatched for exploration into the Magellanic System.

Shortly after emerging from the passage in the Magellanic System, that fleet sent out a distress signal, accompanied by a video report.

Watching the video, Du Qiu’s face went pale.

The insectoids had somehow made it into the Magellanic System!

This meant that the barrier between his dream and reality had finally been breached.

Seeing his first-level fleet utterly annihilated, Du Qiu realized that his new mission was about to begin!

(End of Chapter)