Dante was seated in the command center of the ship, gazing through the main screen at the void of space outside Earth. Currently, his flagship was hovering beside the moon, its massive and imposing shape still appearing small compared to an actual planetoid.
The young man took in a deep breath and scanned the other screens. With just his eyes, and without having to rely on detailed reports from his base AI and his chip, Dante could see hundreds of thousands of ships suspended in space above the planet Earth.
Well, it shouldn't be too surprising, now should it? His base had been working tirelessly for about a month or more at full capacity, producing ships at an astonishing rate. Whenever a ship was completed, it would be 'parked' in space because Earth's atmosphere could only accommodate so much.
Furthermore, the physical dimensions of the floating islands were too limited to accommodate all the ships on the ground. Naturally, with the level of technological control Dante had, Earth's inhabitants were completely ignorant of the fact that the entire solar system, from the very edge of Earth up to as far as Pluto, was brimming with spaceships of every class, forming this colossal armada.
To be honest, from the perspective of Earth's inhabitants, it was quite terrifying. Imagine living your whole life, completely unaware that just at the edge of your vision, in the dark corners you couldn't see, a terrible monster was lurking, watching you, yet you would never be able to see it.
Well, at least, Earth's inhabitants were fortunate that they were not Dante's target. Whatever the case, now that his flagship was secure and his initial space fleet was ready, it was time to begin. With a wave of his hand, Dante wordlessly commanded the armada to move out.
The difference between himself and any normal conquering force setting out to explore was that, due to his long-range detectors and scanners, he knew the exact layout of his nearby space. He knew which planets could support life, which ones had valuable minerals, and especially, which planets harbored civilizations.
Naturally, his armada was divided into groups, each with its specific goals. There were mining ships tasked with harvesting resources from planets sustainably over time, increasing Dante's rapidly growing wealth. Then there were colonization ships designated to settle habitable planets with civilizations below level 1 on the cosmic scale.
Even a civilization on par with humanity currently fell into this category, considering that humanity was only at level 0.75 at best. These civilizations would either be chipped, similar to the human race, if they submitted, or eradicated if they resisted.
Unlike humans, who enjoyed various benefits and welfare, as well as the Racial Advancement System, any subjugated species below level 1 would mostly be strictly maintained as second-class citizens. They wouldn't be forced into slave labor, as it was unnecessary given the existence of Dante's robots and AI that could perform tasks more efficiently. Instead, they would continue with their civilization as before, but with the acknowledgment that Dante owned everything they loved and believed in.
However, Dante couldn't apply the same treatment to civilizations at level 1 and above. In terms of firepower, Dante was currently at the universal scale, meaning that he was at least level 5. To his knowledge, there were no level 5 civilizations in the universe currently, not even level 3.
The vast majority of civilizations were either unranked, barely at level 1, with only a handful of 'rulers' at level 2. In other words, Dante could theoretically dominate the entire universe as long as he had enough troops.
But Dante was skeptical, not because he doubted himself, but because he was prudent. If outcomes were solely determined by these metrics, history would be devoid of surprises in various conflicts.
What made it interesting was that many upsets had occurred in ancient and recent history. Right now, despite all his power and apparent superiority, Dante was acting cautiously, like America entering the Vietnam War while already knowing the war's history. He was handling everything steadily, planning to conquer, consolidate, and then proceed.
It was a strategy focused on stability, allowing him to retreat if he encountered species with unique abilities that countered his own. Imagine if he encountered a level 0.4 civilization, lagging behind even humanity but possessing abilities akin to the Namekians from Dragon Ball and the power to gather seven orbs for wishes. If they wished for Dante's demise and he couldn't counter their esoteric power, he would be defeated.
Dante was following a battle plan similar to the one employed by the Eternal Universe's Earth when they first ventured into space exploration and conquest. They also adopted a stability-focused approach, identifying habitable planets and weaker species before subjugating them. When they found formidable enemies they couldn't easily overcome, they initiated negotiations, formed alliances, and sometimes betrayed their allies later.
Dante didn't necessarily need to be present for this conquest, but he felt it was right to be there for his first one. So he sat in the flagship, which slowly cruised out of the solar system while the other ships in the armada entered warp space and departed.
Dante didn't need to focus on the harvesting ships, but he paid close attention to the conquest ones. Many ships appeared in space above planets of various sizes and colors, featuring native level 1 civilizations. Within his first conquest, there were over 300 targeted native level 1 civilizations, and as for those below level one, their numbers exceeded 100,000.
Dante 'observed' their progress through the quantum relay network between his ships and focused on one in particular. What set this race apart from the others was that, among all the civilizations Dante had encountered, whether humanoid, bestial, bipedal, quadrupedal, or even those with irregular forms like floating masses of tentacles or other nonstandard shapes, this one was unique—it was a digital species, an AI civilization!
They were the only ones in the entire Milky Way who had achieved basic quantum communications. When Dante had first accessed the Etranet and returned to Earth, his AI chip had automatically attempted to connect with the home universe but had found a void where pockets of quantum communications were taking place. Essentially, they were like humanity right now, broadcasting radio signals and digital waves into space in an attempt to contact extraterrestrial life.
This AI civilization was also broadcasting various peaceful messages, hoping to establish contact with species of similar developmental levels. In the end, they had unwittingly brought trouble upon themselves as the largest part of Dante's conquering armada appeared in the space above their planet.
Although they had orbital space stations and some elementary planetary defenses, it was nothing in the face of superior technology. Immediately, a scene reminiscent of Star Wars unfolded, with beams of light flashing across space. These beams struck ships that were hastily dispatched by the AI civilization. These ships were unmanned, for obvious reasons, and their attacks mostly proved futile as they collided with the formidable shields of the fighters.
In this fleet, there was a Destroyer-class ship leading the charge, along with 200 Battle-class vessels and 3000 Interceptor-class ships. Dante had their spec sheets in his retinas, but he focused on their actual performance before delving into the ship manuals.
Even without reading the spec sheet, Dante could tell that Destroyer-class ships were about one and a half times smaller than his current flagship, a battleship-class model. They resembled the battle cruisers that dotted the skies of the Star Wars universe in terms of size and utility. Their shape was more like a horizontal rectangle, with a dark black and red paint job that gave them a sinister appearance.
Next came the Battle-class ships, which were typical large warships with formidable combat abilities and smaller bays. They were akin to the cruisers frequently used by separatists. In the Eternal Universe, having a battle-class ship was the basic requirement for being a spacefaring warrior. Each battle-class ship could hold about 5 interceptors and 10 mining ships.
As for the Interceptor-class ships, they were theoretically similar in style and function to famous ships like the A-wings and X-wings, but they were larger than most typical sci-fi tier ships used for basic space and aerial combat. They were about the dimensions of the Millennium Falcon, a fact made possible by the perfect harnessing of Psionic energy without harm.
Dante watched the battle unfold through his personal quantum network as the digital AI civilization's ships attempted to put up a fight against his fleet.
The beams of light, energy blasts, and the impressive maneuvers of his ships made for a dazzling display in the depths of space, though unlike in movies, there was no sound to accompany it.
The AI civilization's ships, while advanced in their own right, were no match for the technological might and overwhelming numbers of Dante's armada... well, just a small part of it actually.
Their attacks were largely ineffective against the shields of the invaders, and their orbital defenses crumbled easily under the relentless assault.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶