The rampage of the attacking Great Devourer units didn't actually last very long.
At the moment Chronos was preparing to warp after suppressing the flagship, Celia urged, “Retreat quickly. It’ll be trouble if we can’t all get back at once.”
Following her prompt, the Great Devourer retreated once more, gathering near the Chronos ship that had deployed its warp field. Begrun, Yuno, and the other units wreaking havoc inside the factory didn't insist on annihilating the enemies before them, choosing instead to pull back.
“Warp.”
Simultaneously, Chronos confirmed through the hive mind that all units capable of withdrawing had assembled. It then initiated the warp, instantly vanishing from Kalamanda.
They arrived in the orbit of Planet Cadia. The suppressed flagship appeared alongside Chronos, which slowly descended. It intended to land the massive vessel on the ground below, where others were already waiting, as a trophy.
Elise looked at it with satisfaction. Just as she gained abilities by devouring the new organisms Lin Miao provided, that giant ship was nothing more than prey in her eyes.
“The space battleships used by the military actually lost...” On Cadia, those looking up at the sky, like Adian, collapsed to the ground in despair at the sight.
Though they had harbored a faint hope, they never imagined Zion’s regular army would fall in a fleet battle against the Great Devourer.
“They are powerful, just as you said. Without a surprise attack, this victory would have been impossible,” Celia explained to Adian after returning to the surface. She noted that the Zion military still held the advantage in overall firepower and combat strength.
“Even so, I don’t think the Zaun Coalition’s ships could have won like this even if they raided the rear,” Adian said, shaking his head. To him, the regular army had ultimately been defeated in the same way he had been.
He argued that while the surprise attack was indeed the cause of victory, the fact that they could win through such an attack in the first place was due to the Great Devourer’s power.
Realizing they were at a disadvantage in a direct exchange of fire, the Great Devourers had chosen to engage in close-quarters combat in space. This unique choice allowed them to contend with the superior firepower of the etheric civilization fleet.
At least for now, that choice had proven correct.
“That is also true,” Celia did not deny his words. The evolution of the Great Devourer would never stop at mere imitation.
Elise always sought further development while imitating her opponents. By combining and transforming both old and new knowledge, the Great Devourers were constantly forging a brand-new path that had never been seen before.
‘And this is only the beginning.’
Celia’s gaze turned elsewhere. Within the hive mind, images of the Kalamanda they had left behind were surfacing.
Elise had intentionally left a Brood Lord in the space there, putting it into biological suspended animation where its defense reached its limit, effectively turning it into a reconnaissance satellite.
This Brood Lord became the eyes of the colony, and by extension, the eyes of Lin Miao.
“Is—is it really okay to do this!?”
“The orders have come from above. Advance. Most of the defensive facilities have already been destroyed!”
In Kalamanda, the Zaun Coalition forces had watched helplessly as the Great Devourer launched its sudden assault and the Zion forces collapsed, leaving them at a loss.
The Great Devourer had spent all its effort creating chaos in a short time before departing, leaving behind only mostly destroyed facilities and disintegrated units.
In other words, an unexpected opportunity had presented itself to those who fought openly and secretly every day for the disputed territory.
The Zaun Coalition calculated that they could swallow the entire disputed territory in one go and finally decided to go to war.
‘I never expected things to turn out like this. A war that was bound to break out again someday, starting because of something like this...’
The Zaun Coalition commander issued the invasion orders to his subordinates and then gazed blankly at the debris and corpses floating in space.
This was something that no one, including the artificial intelligence they used, had been able to predict.
“As expected, they didn’t miss the opportunity.”
Lin Miao looked at the two deities on the deity forum who had begun to clash fiercely. The infuriated one was the Zion deity, Azure Silver Construct, who had been the victim of his surprise attack.
Its opponent was naturally the Zaun Coalition deity vying for the disputed territory. For them, battle became inevitable the moment they decided to exploit the intervention of the Great Devourer, which was akin to a natural disaster.
Originally, declaring an area as disputed territory meant both sides were ready to go to war and seize the land at any time.
Even if the opportunity arose in an unexpected way, no deity would pass it up once it was presented before them.
[Azure Silver Construct: You fool, being led by the nose by an Outer God! I will never let you off!]
[Zaun Coalition: That’s your problem. This has been brewing for a long time; it’s about time we had a real showdown anyway.]
The war of words and under-the-table maneuvering between the deities on the forum quickly evolved into a large-scale war between their factions.
Zion declared war on the Zaun Coalition, and the Zaun Coalition, having seized Kalamanda, was already prepared for full-scale war.
“Therefore, Zion’s likelihood of active intervention has decreased now. This is exactly the result we wanted.”
Lin Miao shared this outcome with his servants. After all, the primary reason for deciding to create chaos in the first place was to achieve this goal.
“The Goddess of Light Association is isolated and helpless once again.”
From the very beginning, the Great Devourer had only one targeted prey. Once they encountered trouble, they intended to bite down and never let go.
While the Chronos that had warped to Kalamanda returned to the nest openly with its trophy, the Chronos units that had been on standby finally began to move.
“Simultaneous strikes on twenty of the Goddess of Light Association’s Pioneering Zones.”
Lin Miao did not give Goddess Hestia any room to breathe. The Great Devourer had lured Zion in just to retaliate against the Goddess, who had tried to use the war with the Great Devourer to turn the tide.
Now, they were finally deploying in full force.
“Twenty Chronos units, warp complete.”
Elise grinned as she surveyed the forces deployed for battle across various locations. Below the units entering space were twenty Pioneering Zones of various sizes, all peaceful and serene.
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