In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.

The military mobilization of the various Star Fields in the explored universe continued, especially in the Flickering World. Under the construction of the engineering fleets and various planet modification packages, the various war facilities in the large war zones were quickly completed. Military factories were active all day, and countless starships of various models were sent out every day.

The three Universal Civilizations were also in full swing, recruiting a large number of Supers from the various races to join the army. At the same time, they summoned back the vast number of reserve soldiers who had once served in the army and gave them further military training in the various military bases to replenish the military strength gap between various military posts. They also carried out mandatory basic military training among the galactic residents to expand their flow of troops.

The war mobilization speed of the interstellar era was beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Under the unification of the three Universal Civilizations, the war machines of the explored universe operated at high efficiency. All kinds of resources were being thrown into the corresponding gaps to be used efficiently.

The construction of the intercepting circle on the frontline was also progressing rapidly. Although the World Tree Civilization had failed in their assault, they did not stop harassing in small groups and had exchanged fire with the intercepting troops many times. As the space stabilization anchor orbit set by the three Universal Civilizations was expanding further and further away, the World Tree Civilization’s jump point was also constantly moving backward, further away from the intercepting circle.

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As a result, the World Tree also treated the destruction of the space stabilization anchor orbit as an important battle target. It sent its vanguard troops to attack the space stabilization anchor orbit in different routes many times, unsealing the different jump points, and sending reconnaissance troops to this coordinate.

Due to the World Tree reconnaissance troops constantly splitting up, the overall structure of the space stabilization anchor orbit was like a three-dimensional tree model with many divergences, extending continuously. Countless streams of light representing both fleets jumped between the ‘tree branches’, colliding from time to time and erupting into local battles.

In the three Universal Civilizations’ interception circle’s main base, high-intensity energy sources that represented the battle points kept appearing on the General Surveillance Strategic Radar. The World Tree fleet would occasionally succeed, destroying the branches of the space stabilization anchor many times. They needed to be repaired and troops needed to be sent to pursue the new batch of reconnaissance troops that were put on these jump points by the World Tree.

As the interception circle and space stabilization anchor orbit continued to expand, the number of openings left for the enemy would also increase. This was unavoidable, but the three Universal Civilizations could still deal with the current defensive line. “The harassment of the World Tree is endless. Although this is an effective method, it will take a very long time. They must have made multiple preparations. They should be preparing a new wave of attacks to create a huge gap in our defense line, removing our control over the intercepting circle.”

In the conference room at the interception circle’s main base, Simon was discussing with the commanders and staff sergeants.

In the past month that Black Star was not around, there had been small conflicts between the two sides, but there were no large-scale battles. The overall situation was quite stable, and the number of times a Beyond Grade A group was dispatched could be counted on one hand.

Hila was in charge of the surveillance channels of Destiny’s Child, and there was no news of the World Tree making a big move. Both sides were in a stalemate for the time being with both sides attacking and defending. The enemy did not make much progress.

Simon and the others naturally understood that the World Tree would not continue to tangle with them like this. In the past few days, he had an intense tactical intuition and felt that there would be some changes soon.

“According to the data, the frequency of the World Tree attacking the Space Stabilization Anchor orbit has decreased by 37% in the past five days, and the number of reconnaissance troops has increased by 73%. Furthermore, we have discovered that the World Tree Civilization has left behind a large number of topological space directional marks near the anchor orbit. We speculate that the World Tree Civilization is trying to bring super long-range weapons at the jump points that are not covered in the orbit, destroying the various branches of the orbit remotely.”

Simon pressed his hands on the command platform with a solemn expression. Another commander nodded and said: “The anti-over-the-horizon radar is in an activated state. If the World Tree adopts this plan, the dynasty’s super long-range anti-particle base cannon, the federation’s Psionic Planetary Obliteration Beams, and the church’s Soul Sniper Beam can lock onto the source of the attack and carry out the counterattack mission.”

“I’m just afraid that the World Tree will set up the Lerbo Space Protection Belt. That would not be good.”

Simon shook his head.

Beyond-visual-range warfare was also the main form of interstellar warfare. In this regard, the three Universal Civilizations were strong on offense but weak on defense. However, the World Tree Civilization was different. According to the intelligence provided by Black Star, the World Tree Civilization had a Universal Treasure-level special defense weapon that could be used in beyond-visual-range warfare. It was called the ‘Lerbo Space Protection Belt’.

This kind of defense technology had a similar effect to the Psionic Seal Ring. It was like a portable miniaturized version, distorting the universe constants of an area, preventing the over-the-horizon strikes from penetrating it.

However, this restriction went both ways. The external energy attacks could not pass through, and the attacks from the inside would also be blocked. Therefore, it was difficult for the fleet that opened the Lerbo Space Protection Belt to attack from the outside. Because the Lerbo Space Protection Belt could not move along with the spaceship after it was opened, it was not used in battle. It was usually used to protect some important facilities.

Only physical weapons such as interstellar missiles and starships’ close-range assault could ignore the effects of the Lerbo Space Protection Belt. Other energy weapons were basically useless. However, the majority of super long-range weapons were energy weapons, so this technology was often used in beyond-visual-range warfare. The protective belt would be retracted when firing and opened when the firing was stopped. This way, it was very difficult to be put at a disadvantage in beyond-visual-range warfare.

While the upper echelons were discussing, the entire surveillance radars that covered all the space stabilization anchors suddenly issued an alarm. Hundreds of red lines representing high-energy attacks suddenly broke into the edge of the radar and quickly hit different branches of the orbit.

The 3D radar model in front of everyone reacted, and hundreds of red ripples appeared. The destruction report of the orbit was quickly sent back. “It’s confirmed to be over-the-horizon strikes. The World Tree really used this method.” Simon’s expression froze. Speak of the devil. He had just mentioned over-the-horizon strikes when the World Tree’s attack wave arrived. His recent intuition had come true.

The jump point of the World Tree’s super long-range weapon was located outside the range of the radar.

“Analyze the attack trajectory and counterattack,” Simon ordered.

The anti-over-the-horizon radar started to work, quickly analyzing the curvature, angle, and other factors of the enemy’s hundreds of attacks.

Over-the-horizon strikes did not usually move in a straight line. Under various universe environmental factors, the attack trajectory would show different deviations. For example, a sniper needed to calculate the wind direction, distance, trajectory, gravity, and other conditions. It was the same for over-the-horizon strikes. More parameters needed to be calculated, and the calculation model was very complicated. The reverse lock was to reverse engineer these factors and obtain the coordinates of the source of the attack.

Very soon, the final result was sent to the three Universal Civilizations’ super long-range weapons through quantum communication. Crack!

A huge planetary fortress stretched out rows of enormous cannons. The base slowly turned, and the barrels turned as though they were aimed at empty space. The actual super long-range sight had already locked onto the space coordinates calculated by the artificial intelligence.

Immediately after, the cannon barrels started to light up from its base, and dark blue particles rapidly gathered from all directions, accumulating energy in the muzzle and releasing a dazzling light. When the power was accumulated to its peak, the color turned from blue to red, suddenly releasing huge energy beams, disappearing into the vast starry sky in the blink of an eye. However, this round of counterattack was like a stone sinking into the ocean, there was no response.

Simon and the others waited for a while. However, the second wave of attack from the World Tree came, and hundreds of orbital branches were destroyed. The source of the attack was exactly the same.

“The counterattack did not seem to have any effect. Maybe you were right. They used that defensive technology…” One of the commanders looked at Simon and secretly cursed.

“Continue firing. Do not stop,” Simon frowned.

The weapons of the three Universal Civilizations began to fire continuously. Although they could not observe the effects of the attacks, the enemies’ attacks had stopped.

“Even if the World Tree has set up the Lerbo Space Protection Belt, our frequency of firepower is enough to suppress them and prevent them from taking back the protective belt. This way, they won’t be able to continue attacking us,” one of the staff officers said. Simon knocked on the table and shook his head. “This is just a temporary plan. If we want to solve it once and for all, we’ll have to send out fleets to attack them on the spot and destroy their artillery bases… Call some Beyond Grade As to move out and try to take over the Lerbo Space Protection Belt.”

Not long after, the Beyond Grade As on standby in the base were summoned to the conference room. After hearing Simon’s explanation, they quickly understood the situation.

Kasuyi stroked his chin and asked:

“Not only do we have to destroy the enemy’s artillery base, but we also have to confiscate their special equipment. Then, it will be up to Manison or Kant, how many people do we need?”

“It’s best if there are ten Beyond Grade As or more. Bring a batch of Thrones along,” Simon nodded.

“Isn’t ten a little too much? We probably won’t meet any World Tree experts on this trip.” Sun Hunter turned to look at Hila. “Can your surveillance channels see the situation of this artillery base?”

“No.” Hila shook her head.

The World Tree did not use Oracles for this stronghold, and Destiny’s Child could not spy on the other party’s personnel. Therefore, everyone knew almost nothing about the situation of this base. Currently, they only knew the location calculated by the anti-over-the-horizon radar.

“This is just to be safe,” Simon explained. “The other party might not have built this base just to bombard from afar, they might also use it as an outpost. We can’t sit back and watch the World Tree build a bridgehead. We have to take the initiative to attack and keep pushing their formation further away.”

The group discussed for a while and quickly decided that Kant would lead nine Beyond Grade As, including those from the association and direct line descents, out.[a]

Since they estimated that there were no World Tree experts among the targets, Aurora did not follow them and remained at the main base.

Very soon, Kant and the others formed an expedition team and arrived at the edge of the radar through the Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device, heading toward the World Tree’s temporary base.

The three Universal Civilizations’ armed fleets only arrived at their destination after a few days.

Outside the window, a group of galactic bases was floating in the area, surrounded by a hazy glowing space. It was the Lerbo Space Protection Belt.

Over-the-horizon light beams kept shooting from the back of this fleet. This was the firepower suppression that the three Universal Civilizations had been maintaining for several days. However, the moment they entered the Lerbo Space Protection Belt, the speed of the energy beams instantly became like a tortoise crawling. At the same time, the beams of light rapidly shrunk until they dissipated. All of its power was obliterated, as though they had entered an energy restriction zone.

“This is the place. The target is clear.” Kant’s Lord’s Avatar’s electronic eyes flashed, sending the image back to the main base.

At the same time, the battleships of the three Universal Civilizations shot out interstellar missiles one after another, dragging their exhaust flames into the Lerbo Space Protection Belt. The physical missiles were not affected at all, and they headed straight for the temporary bases at the center. However, the next moment, the armor on the surface of the bases slid, and rows of turrets rose up. A metal storm suddenly appeared, forming a concentrated barrage. All the galactic missiles were destroyed halfway, and a series of fireworks exploded.

Energy weapons were ineffective, and physical missiles could not penetrate the barrage.

“This is a problem. It seems like we have to charge in and let the fleet pass through the Lerbo Space Protection Belt. Only then will we be able to attack their bases,” the fleet commander said in the channel.

The Lerbo Space Protection Belt was unable to isolate the quantum communication network. Kant opened his quantum network vision and tried to hack into the bases to seize control, but he was blocked by the firewall.

“There’s a force protecting their firewall. I can’t enter.”

Kant retracted his vision and hesitated.

“It feels like a trap.”

“Hmm, there is indeed something fishy. Assault team two and three, go in and take a look.”

The fleet commander waved his hands and ordered a group of assault battleships to approach the enemy’s bases. Most of the fleets stayed around the flagship and did not move. After all, the enemy had opened the Lerbo Space Protection Belt and the weapons could not attack them.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

However, at this moment, the radar on the spaceship suddenly issued an ear-piercing alarm.

Hundreds of large-caliber Planetary Obliteration Beams suddenly shot over from another direction, heading straight for the armed fleet.

“There’s a problem! Defend!”

Kant’s expression changed, and his mechanical army rushed out to form layers of shields. At the same time, the armed fleet also activated its own shield.

The next moment, hundreds of light beams shot over, blasting the protective shield until it was on the verge of collapse. Electric arcs shot out, and cracks appeared.

This wave of over-the-horizon strikes destroyed a small portion of the fleet before they were blocked. However, before the situation could stabilize, a large number of over-the-horizon strikes came from all directions, causing the fleets to retreat in defeat.

The image was transmitted back to the main base’s conference room, and the expressions of Simon and the others changed slightly.

Manison knocked on the metal chin of the Lord’s Avatar and said:

“It seems like the World Tree has built camps outside of our radar range, covering each other within over-the-horizon strikes range and guarding each other. I’m afraid the goal is not just to build an outpost but also to use the Lerbo Space Protection Belt to build a firepower coverage area like us and wear down our military strength…” “Do you have any suggestions?” Simon asked. “If Black Star’s surveillance channels can’t get the coordinates of these bases, then as long as the bases don’t open fire, they will be invisible to us. However, the Lerbo Space Protection Belt is too difficult to deal with, and long-range attacks have almost no effect. If we use our troops to fill in the gaps, we will fall right into the enemy’s trap. This isn’t easy.”

Manison slowly shook his head.

The three Universal Civilizations did indeed have plenty of Universal Treasures, but the World Tree had conquered one civilization after another, and its foundation was even more astonishing. It also had many strategic weapons and could not be underestimated.

Upon hearing this, Simon’s expression turned grave. He could not make up his mind. He pursed his lips and sighed. ‘It’s a pity that Black Star, the special consultant, isn’t here. If he was, I could have asked for his opinion…’

[a]meaning unclear