Chapter 828: Chapter 828. Approaching Storm and Spacecrafting Development.
In a zone near Liu Shu’s territory, a World Tree shaped like a giant flower with a female-shaped stalk, suddenly scowled. "Hey, Balaya. What do you take me as?"
The voice of the much stronger World Tree spoke indifferently. "My subordinate, Deadly Petal. If you don’t want to get into trouble, go and get rid of that newcomer."
"Tsk. Whatever. This is not the first time either. So, how strong is this newcomer?"
"Second Ascension."
"Huh?" Deadly Petal was confused. "Why do you call them newcomer when they are at the same level as me?"
Balaya answered indifferently. "They are not even a tenth of your age. So, they are a newcomer."
Deadly Petal felt a sense of crisis from those words. Then, she received Balaya’s orders and coordinates. Balaya, to make sure nothing went wrong, didn’t tell Deadly Petal about Liu Shu’s strangeness related to other World Trees. She only gave her the information Danlier told her and let her go as if she were a hunting dog.
"Tsk. When I reach the Third Asension, I want to see if she is still so arrogant."
Her ternary essences then pulsed, and the 14 Solar Systems Deadly Petal controlled felt her presence manifest. A second later, Deadly Petal spoke. "Go to these coordinates and get rid of the local power."
As for micromanaging or anything else, Deadly Petal didn’t care. Like most True World Trees, she was the strongest military power, so as long as she led, the rest could follow at their rhythm. ’That zone is a bit far, but I should be able to spread my roots to her nearby Solar Systems in 10 years..." Inspecting the interstellar map, Deadly Petal smirked. "There are also a few ownerless Solar Systems over there. Getting them as I invade won’t be too much of a problem."
Meanwhile, the leaders of Deadly Petal’s territory frowned deeply, but they were not too surprised. This was not the first time their local World Tree would send them into a sudden crusade.
An elderly man with white hair but a straight posture sighed. "Lady Deadly Petal is truly fickle."
A younger man asked, confused. "So, do we retreat from the frontline we’ve set against the nearby Solar System?"
A woman spoke seriously. "Lady Deadly Petal’s orders are a priority. It is a shame since we’ve managed to push the Sacred Rose Bud Sect past their limit, but there is no other way."
A man with a somewhat rugged appearance complained. "What about our brothers and sisters who died trying to weaken them?"
The elderly man, the leader of Deadly Petal’s empire, spoke with a sigh. "We can’t go against our Lady’s whims. If you can’t suggest a method that will take them down within ten years, we have no other choice."
The rugged man pursed his lips, but he nodded. "With their ability, resisting another 50 years won’t be much of a problem... Ten years is far too little."
Everyone sighed for one second, and then the planning began. "Alright, taking Deadly Petal’s advance speed, she should spread her roots over in around ten to fifteen years. Our ships are faster than her, so we can use the next five years to safely retreat from our current frontline. Then, we gather the ships and start advancing..."
The discussion continued.
***
In the Nexus, similar events were unfolding. The leader, who had become somewhat wary of Liu Shu, gave an order to the Eclipse World, the closest major world, to prepare to go to war again.
Of course, Rhazor had, during his failed expedition, consumed far too many resources. This was something the leadership of the Nexus knew. However, since the battle situation with the Covenant was de-escalating, some of those frontline armies could now be redirected and start a new front there.
Destroying Liu Shu was not their main objective, but a convenient elimination while starting a war from a different front.
***
In the Golden Sap Empire, the Verdant Elder received Danlier’s message around two years later. The message was long, but to summarize, it read as such: "Negotiation has failed. Please make sure to return and leave the Golden Sap Empire."
While they could sacrifice envoys such as Elyne and the others, who were registered as less than Star Lord powerhouses before, Level 200 individuals were not as freely expendable. Much less one that was so deeply connected with the local church.
If the Verdant Elder was sacrificed, Danlier and the rest of the political sphere would not hear the end of it from the Covenant Church higher-ups.
The Verdant Elder finished reading the message and sighed, slumping back. "It has been quite long since I was so... utterly defeated."
His journey here, which he had at first taken as a quick expedition, had, at some point, extended over two decades. Now, it was time to return. "How many of us will return, though?"
The Verdant Elder glanced at his System Page, and a complicated light flashed in his eyes. He was not stupid, but he was also loyal. He had not been in the position of Verdant Elder lightly, and benefits would not sway his loyalty.
However, he could not speak for everyone. "When I give the message... How many will return?"
As he mulled, he had not noticed that Liu Shu’s gaze had long been observing his every move. Naturally, she had also read the report the Verdant Elder received.
’Ho~. I thought the Covenant would not act so violently. Where did I miscalculate?’
From the reports, information, and past actions from the Covenant in similar situations, Liu Shu had imagined that their leader, Danlier, would not be so rash. ’Did my blessings become a source of unease?’
No matter how intelligent, Liu Shu could not have guessed that their reaction stemmed from Balaya’s overbearing orders. So, while confused, she was not too nervous.
The reports that the Verdant Elder had sent had been closely monitored by Liu Shu, so she could tell how much they knew. In terms of information, the other side was in the light while she was in the dark.
’What worries me more is the Nexus.’
While she didn’t know that a certain someone had poked the Nexus a while ago due to her actions against the Merchant group, Rhazor’s utter defeat meant that the Nexus would stop taking her lightly.
"From now on, I am facing enemies who won’t underestimate me ever again... at least not among Interstellar Empires. Perhaps Globular Star Cluster Empires still fail to see my true potential. I won’t bet on it, though."
It had been about five years since Liu Shu made contact with Etheria, and the Golden Sap Empire had sent several "envoy" groups to those worlds. Liu Shu also used <Recolocation> and moved quite a few Level 100+ World Trees to those locations. For instance, she moved Snow, the World Tree she met far in the past, to the Arctic world. As for the primitive world, it didn’t need too much attention. So, Liu Shu just picked a Level 130 World Tree and threw it there to communicate with the local ones.
Moreover, over the next five years, Liu Shu arrived at the remaining Solar Systems she could take over and gradually surrounded those of the Covenant and Nexus.
"The ones I need to tackle next are those that belong to the local powers."
There were three of them, and unlike the three where no <First Ascension> powerhouses could be found, these Solar Systems had strong individuals.
"The mercenary groups are quite useful in this regard."
Usually, she would send part of her army to deal with these things, but with the new vanguard group, Liu Shu felt much more comfortable. Even if an accident occurred, the losses would not sting her.
As she smiled at this, her thoughts paused. A gentle frown appeared between her brows. "...Aren’t I pampering my military forces far too much?"
She mulled over it, and soon arrived at a conclusion. "Yes, I am. They are not accessories that can’t face hardship." A sigh escaped her. "Thankfully, I saw through that mistake."
After reaching her conclusion, Liu Shu began ordering her generals. Once she did, it was as if they had been waiting, and all of them began moving busily.
"Three Solar Systems. If I send ten <Second Ascension> powerhouses to each of them, together with around 200,000 Level 150+ soldiers, there should not be any complications, right?"
Her <Second Ascension> powerhouses were all under her blessings because these Solar Systems couldn’t stop the infiltration of her roots. So, once she took over, the space would become her domain, applying all of her buffs.
For instance, in fights between World Tree armies, they would try to advance together with the roots of their World Tree. That way, while the fights were usually much fiercer, both sides could enjoy the benefits of their local True World Trees.
A few weeks later, all of them left, and Liu Shu smiled in satisfaction. "Great, I’ll ask Farian to coordinate with my army. Then, those that show promise will be slowly integrated, while those who don’t... well."
The feeling of her plans falling into place was quite satisfactory. "Local technology is also booming."
Thanks to integrating with the foreign technology, her people had jumped from the medieval era to the interstellar one in just a little over a century. During this time, Liu Shu had constantly spread and integrated her biological computer, making it part of countless new designs.
Her scientists, with Liu Shu allowing them to experiment and innovate at will, were making significant advances in several technologies almost every year. By now, the merchants who once came and had an absolute advantage had fully integrated and were beginning to see true competition.
Aurelius, Cassian, Selene, and Virelya, the four previous top economic powerhouses, were now sweating as the hungry businesses that appeared from within Liu Shu extended their claws with the intent of ripping them apart and surpassing them.
Of course, since they were also under Liu Shu’s blessings, getting ahead of them was not an easy task. To summarize, the healthy competitiveness among her people in all her worlds was creating business monsters.
"Among all the things that I’ve advanced the most is..." Liu Shu glanced at the outer orbit of her planet, at around one-third of the distance of the moon. There, a large mass of roots and many other materials was slowly forming.
These roots, having absorbed plenty of space-related materials among many others, were slowly forming a space station. A living space station.
"It has been a tremendous undertaking, but I am confident I can finish it in less than ten years. Once I finish the first, the rest will follow easily. I will finally be able to build space military bunkers and other similar stations for vigilance and truly become an Interstellar Empire."
Until now, everything outside the worlds was held entirely by Liu Shu’s efforts. However, in about ten years, such things would stop being true.
"The most important thing is if I manage to create a living space station, creating living starships is just around the corner."
Her fleet would no longer be an amalgamation of stolen ships through war, but a true locally built fleet.
Her lips arched with uncontrollable excitement.
Comments