"Avalon! Record everything!"

Ace immediately instructed his A.I.

The Mana-Based Observers that they've sent to monitor the fleet can still be controlled by Avalon even with such a great distance.

[ Affirmative ]

Ace nervously went to the Moon Base's headquarters as he wanted to see the live feed from various observers.

He's acting like this as the information about the strength of the fleet is extremely vital.

If they know the Empire's strength, it would greatly help them in calculating the result of the battle once they faced each other.

Of course, Ace didn't dare to put an ambush this early as the fleet might decide to stop their stealthy activity and just force their way to the Magic Earth.

It would be better if the fleet just continued with their current pace to let the people on Earth have more peaceful days to continue their research in improving themselves.

It didn't take long before Avalon managed to identify the Mech Frames that they have…

[ We have identified 3-types of Mech Frames. ]

"What are they?"

[ Dragon's Warrior, Serpent's Marauder, and Wolf's Sledger. ] Avalon replied.

Ace can easily remember these three powerful Mech Frames of the past…

They are Mech Frames that could easily contend against his Lotus Mech with a Radiant Wave Technology.

"I expect that they've made enhancements with these Mechs already…"

[ That's is correct. Although the frame still looks the same, we can see some additional weapons and improvement in its speed. ]

"Very well… That's still acceptable. However, I want to make sure that they do not have any technology related to mana."

[ No signs of it. Since they are also unable to detect the Mana-Based Observers, we can assume that they do not have anything against Mana. Do not be paranoid, Ace. ]

"Hahaha… You're right… Mana isn't something they can have for themselves."

Ace laughed at himself for thinking too much as he let Avalon monitor the Mech Frames from the Empire.

It seems that they are exploring the asteroid belt and it's something that would take a very long time.

***

[ Empire's Fleet ETA: 18 days ]

Ace woke up from his sleep after a sudden sound of alarm…

He immediately asked Avalon for a report.

[ A disturbance caused by unknown energy. The energy seemed to be trying to enter the Moon Base but with the several layers of Magic we've placed with the help of Veda, we managed to stop it. However, it caused some damages to some of our equipment and exhausted 13% of our Mana Reserves. ]

"What? 13%?! Where did that come from? Have you identified the source?"

Ace was shocked to hear the amount of Mana that was used since 13% of their reserves should be equal to firing their Satellite Cannon by 30 times…

[ No. We tried to locate the source but there are no traces. I couldn't trace Mana so I asked for help from some magicians stationed here. ]

"Tsk… Is it from the Empire's Fleet? No, that's impossible… Wait--- How about the missing Celestial Being?!"

[ Unlikely. There's no way we can stop the power of a Celestial if we used Wallace's report as a reference. ]

"Is that so?"

Ace tried to think but he doesn't have an idea.

[ In any case, if the attack didn't come from space, we might consider checking whether it is an attack from the surface. You should be aware that aside from gaining followers, you also gained enemies after taking over the moon. ]

Avalon reported truthfully. Well, he wouldn't be surprised if he has some enemies wanting him to fail.

After all, he truly accomplished a lot of things and perhaps robbed other businesses' source of income.

In the meantime, Ace instructed Avalon to fix anything they needed to fix and get a supply from Earth as soon as possible.

This sudden attack that wasn't from the Empire wasn't in his calculation.

After all, the people from the Earth don't even have a method to break through the barrier-like atmosphere… There shouldn't be any way for them to attack their Moon Base at all.

"Sigh~ Another problem occurred. I can't even trace the source of the attack. I just hope that they won't attack us when I'm dealing with the Empire…"

Ace thought for a while as he considers whether to ask his friends on Earth for help about this.

Perhaps if he asked Yumi, Lacus, and Miya, they might be able to help him narrow down the list of possible suspects…

'Tsk…'

As he's about to call Yumi regarding this, a call came to his communication device. It's from Wallace.

"Hey, Ace… Sorry… I think I caused you a lot of trouble. It was my bad." Wallace immediately said after Ace accepted the call.

"Huh? What are you trying to say?" Ace had a bad feeling about this.

"Well… I managed to evolve my Void Phase and I tried moving to your Moon Base to surprise you but… I didn't know you've set up such strong defense that my ability was thoroughly canceled! What in the world is that defensive array? Are you trying to catch a Celestial Being? I don't think that even smashing an asteroid in your base would destroy it…"

Wallace praised Ace's defense set up but the latter is not having it…

"You… You've destroyed a lot of precious devices due to that!"

Ace blurted out but he immediately took control of himself.

He took a deep breath to calm down as he slowly explained to his other self the damage that was done.

Although the damages are repairable, they still disrupted their work and wasted their precious time.

In the end, Wallace apologized as he explained to Ace about his current strength and plans.

"Alright… Your Void Phase is awesome… However, instead of going here to surprise me, deal with the 6th Gen Mana Artifact or perhaps the 7th Gen Mana Artifact. Help Aeolia or something… I don't think that 5th Gen is enough…"

Ace replied as he explained the recent information he got from Avalon.

"Ho~ Those three Mech Frames… Don't worry, I'm sure that our Mech Knights can handle them… However, you're right… I'll make some arrangements with Aeolia to teach me the 7th Generation. In the meantime, you should practice A.O.T.L as well... Who knows, it might help you later in the war."