"Good heavens, this so-called Empire of the Dead, they can even resurrect robots and battleships that have been completely destroyed?"
Even Zeke, strong as he was, couldn't help but curse after hearing Szarekh's description of that Necron race.
For some reason, Zeke understood even better why The Circle God and the others wanted to come to this universe; this universe was clearly more interesting than his previous Multiverse.
Moreover, its carrying capacity was excellent, and it also had the Warp connecting various locations... No wonder those few individuals from the Void Realm all wanted to come here, and even those Fallen Empires wanted to do the same.
This universe was large enough that if they could get here, they could re-establish their empires in different star systems.
Even the Overlords in the Void Realm could come to the real universe to develop their own civilizations, thereby finding a way to defeat the Terran Dominion.
More importantly, as the universe became so vast, the Aether Engine that the Terran Dominion previously used to destroy entire universes could no longer blow up the entire universe as it did before.
The Terran Dominion possessed various cutting-edge technologies and top-tier battleships, but the Terran Dominion's most powerful weapon was still the Aether Engine.
When this universe was so vast that the Aether Engine could not directly destroy the entire universe, then the Terran Dominion's most powerful weapon would be rendered obsolete.
Those powerful revival empires, the Overlords in the Void Realm, and some high-level Star Sea Empires could simultaneously acquire large territories in this universe and develop anew.
For these nations in the Star Sea and the Fallen Empires, this was tantamount to regaining a starting line equal to the Terran Dominion.
This universe was truly too vast; even with humanity's navigation technology, it would be impossible to fight across the entire universe.
Distance was the best barrier... Zeke finally understood the thoughts of The Circle God and the others.
Of course, this topic was getting a bit far-fetched, so Zeke shifted his attention back to that Necron Empire.
"Although Szarekh, you said that, is there a possibility that this Necron race would be absolutely first-rate for dealing with the Tyranid Swarm?"
"I don't know why these bugs are attacking our Galaxy so fiercely, but ultimately, after prolonged warfare, our Galaxy should have already inflicted pain upon these bugs."
"If we place a new civilization in front of them right now, do you think they might shift their location to feed?"
The threat posed by the Tyranid Swarm was truly too great; humanity had to invest massive resources into the eastern Galaxy border to fight the Tyranid Swarm.
This was genuinely hindering humanity's development.
Since learning about the vastness of this universe from Szarekh, the sense of urgency in Zeke's heart grew stronger.
He thought to himself, how could he suddenly feel uneasy? So this was the reason.
The Terran Dominion had destroyed several universes, but naturally, the territories within those universes were not brought along; the Terran Dominion remained the original 1,000 star systems.
Although 1,000 star systems were extremely prosperous under the Federation's development, it was not much of an advantage when the Lost Empires and Void Realm Overlords began developing their own civilizations.
Since he already sensed that a war that would sweep across the entire universe was imminent, Zeke had to do something for his civilization.
He arrived in this universe earlier than any civilization belonging to the Void Realm Overlords or those revival empires, so he naturally had to accelerate development.
Only by doing this could he create a sufficient lead for humanity when the Terran Dominion arrived and prepare for the upcoming cosmic war.
He could not let the Tyranid Swarm continue consuming humanity's resources; those resources must be used to develop humanity's own planets.
As of now, the millions of worlds belonging to the Imperium of Man have not yet developed into the state a spacefaring civilization should be in.
Therefore, Zeke felt that he really couldn't waste any more money.
"Szarekh, send me the coordinates of that Necron race. I want to see how far away they are from us and if we can lure these bugs over there."
"Are you really going to divert trouble to the east and lead these bugs to that Necron race?"
Szarekh was shocked by Zeke's idea, but his hands were honest, and he still chose to send the coordinates to Zeke.
"We finally have a chance to draw these damned bugs away from our Galaxy so we can develop better. Why shouldn't we try it?"
Zeke input the coordinates sent by Szarekh into the system of the brilliant-class battleship, and the next second, a coordinate appeared on the brilliant-class battleship's star chart.
A distance of 1 megaparsec???
1 megaparsec = 1 million parsecs ≈ 3.26 million light-years.
"Alright, alright, alright, that's definitely you, Szarekh. You actually went this far out."
It is known that the territory of the Imperium of Man, centered on the Solar System, expanded outward for a total of 50,000 light-years.
And the Galaxy, centered on its galactic core, spans about 180,000 light-years; this scope of territory is already quite enormous.
At the very least, the Imperium of Man hasn't even controlled the entire Galaxy, only a portion of it.
There are definitely not a few galaxies similar in size to the Galaxy at this distance.
"Szarekh, didn't you find any unique civilizations in the galaxies closer to us? Why did you travel this far out?"
Because this distance was truly too far, if the Tyranid Swarm were really lured over, they could devour more planets along the way, making the Tyranid Swarm even stronger, which was not what Zeke wanted to see.
Zeke could not believe that no new interstellar civilizations had emerged within a distance of 3.26 million light-years. That was completely illogical, especially since the Galaxy alone had produced so many civilizations. Why wouldn't other galaxies of similar size have them?
"There are."
"However, during the times I explored, they were all relatively weak civilizations. How could they possibly solve the problems of our Infinite Empire? Therefore, I naturally only looked for civilizations with technology levels similar to ours."
Szarekh puffed out his chest and said proudly... Zeke felt speechless because of him.
But ultimately, he only had himself to blame for asking such an unreliable guy like Szarekh. In his eyes, only God-tier civilizations were worthy of his attention.
Before Zeke appeared, the Necrons looked at the Imperium of Man as if they were just looking at a bug that had entered their home.
If it weren't for Zeke's appearance forcibly elevating humanity to the level of a God-tier civilization, Szarekh probably wouldn't have been willing to negotiate and cooperate with him.
"Forget it, forget it, I'm done talking to you. You are truly unreliable. Order The Wall to activate its weapon systems. We are preparing to strike out!"
Szarekh's unreliability made Zeke lose interest in continuing their discussion and learning about the situation on the galaxy's outer rim, so he decided to explore it himself.
As for the Necrons... that distance was a bit too far, so he could only rely on luck. If he could encounter a naturally formed wormhole in the universe that led there, then attracting the Tyranid Swarm would be possible.
But if not... then, of course, he would have to give up. After all, the Tyranid Swarm's consumption was terrifying. If they were given enough territory to reproduce, when these bugs attacked the galaxy again, it would be the end for the Necrons and humanity.
Even if the Terran Dominion had directly arrived in this galaxy at that time, it would have been useless—
Other civilizations could develop well, but humanity had to develop while also brutally fighting these bugs, and these bugs had already developed to an incredibly powerful degree.
If this were truly the case, once those old Revivalists re-established their civilizations...
Once those super-entities in the Void Realm developed their own civilizations in the real universe, wouldn't humanity be in trouble?
By then, humanity would probably only be able to pray for a level 30 singularity to appear and trigger the Contingency.
Only when a cosmic catastrophe that the entire universe had to face emerged could humanity be freed from the threat of the Tyranid Swarm, and this was not what Zeke wanted to see.
Seeing this, Szarekh sheepishly retracted his head, then reached out and picked up another small biscuit, putting it into his mouth.
Under Zeke's command, The Wall activated... Guilliman, the Imperial Regent of the Imperium of Man, witnessed a sight at this moment that he would never forget in his life.
The massive wall that enveloped the entire eastern galaxy suddenly emitted a dazzling blue light.
A huge energy shield appeared on the outer perimeter of The Wall, followed by countless streams of light that were shot out from within The Wall, directly rushing towards the fleet's concentrated fire zone where battles were ongoing in front.
Dense, even enough to cover over a hundred light-years of cosmic void, Tyranid Swarm units instantly melted away under this wave of light attacks, like a hot knife cutting through butter.
Even the brilliant-class battleship's scanner couldn't detect how many Tyranid Swarm units had been destroyed in this round of attacks.
It should be known that the brilliant-class battleship is a currently active military battleship of the Terran Dominion. If even an active military battleship cannot scan how many Tyranid Swarm have been annihilated, it is enough to show what The Wall firing at full power means.
This was a technological crystallization forged through the joint cooperation of humanity and the Necrons. This wall could be called The Wall of Lamentations; any enemy encountering The Wall meant there was no further advance.
The defensive power of this wall had exceeded everyone's imagination. Even the most powerful black hole-class battleship currently in service with humanity, firing a shot at The Wall, would be unable to affect it.
And defense was not the primary reliance of this defensive line; its true reliance was its unparalleled, powerful firepower.
A black hole-class battleship facing an attack from The Wall would only be able to last for one day before being completely shattered.
It could be said that the Necrons and the Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus of the Imperium of Man, along with the scientists of the Terran Dominion, jointly forged the The Wall defense line, which even god-tier civilizations could not overcome.
This scene of The Wall firing at full power to attack the Tyranid Swarm filled Guilliman with excitement and longing.
But the next second, as the Imperial Regent, he began to calculate the resources expended in that last round of attack.
With his superior brain and the assistance of the brilliant-class battleship, Guilliman reached a conclusion.
"Hmm, two months of production profit from one galaxy was just fired off."
Is The Wall defense line strong?
Strong!!!!!
Guilliman looked at the scene where the Tyranid Swarm was almost entirely wiped out by 1/10 within the brilliant-class battleship's detection range.
Who would dare say that The Wall's recent attack was not sharp? The bugs suffered heavy losses directly.
And this was only the Tyranid Swarm losses detected within the brilliant-class battleship's detectable range.
How many Tyranid Swarm losses would there be in areas where the brilliant-class battleship could not detect?
This defense line could truly be said to be humanity's most solid reliance.
But...
It's really expensive!!!!!
"Let's..." Zeke glanced at the Tyranid Swarm losses scanned by the brilliant-class battleship, then waved his hand again, preparing for another round of attack.
He hadn't even finished speaking when Guilliman's hand clapped over Zeke's mouth, preventing him from uttering another word.
"No, no, no, no, no, we can't fire again, we can't fire again."
"It's so expensive. Although the power is indeed strong, it's too expensive. We can't fire again, we can't fire again."
"I think the gap we've opened now is enough. Why don't we just seize this opportunity to rush out? Let's not fire anymore."
As the Imperial Regent, Guilliman's face and heart were filled with immense sorrow.
So poor! The current Imperium of Man simply couldn't afford to fire this defense line many more times.
"Alright, alright, if we don't fire, then we don't. Guilliman, quickly move your hand from my mouth."
For someone of Zeke's level, the mouth was not the only tool for speaking; he simply habitually used his mouth to speak.
Since Guilliman was so pained by the resources just expended, it was better to stop the attack for now.
It wasn't just Guilliman who felt the pain; Zeke also felt the pain of this wave of expended resources.
"The Wall, cease fire. Fleet, assume battle formation and charge forward, breaking through the Tyranid Swarm's position."
"The brilliant-class battleship will be on the outermost perimeter, responsible for clearing the forward Tyranid Swarm. The emperor-class battleship will be inside, responsible for checking for gaps and eliminating Tyranid Swarm units that were not destroyed by the brilliant-class battleship."
"All combat units must activate their shields and form a combined shield to prevent the Tyranid Swarm from breaking through the firepower blockade and entering the battleships."
"Attention, crew members, remember to protect the Genestealers we are carrying inside our ships. These are our treasures to attract a portion of the Tyranid Swarm away from the galaxy."
The last command from Zeke left Guilliman utterly bewildered.
Why were they carrying a batch of Genestealers? It turned out that Zeke's intention to explore outside the galaxy wasn't just for exploration; he also planned to lure away a batch of bugs.
Zeke hadn't come up with the idea of luring them away after talking to Szarekh; he had intended it all along.
Orders were rapidly received and executed by the battleship's AI.
To cover Zeke's battleships and enable them to break through the Tyranid Swarm's encirclement, the human and Necron fleets on the front lines also launched an attack.
In less than 12 hours, a 140-light-year-long passage in front of the human fleet, blocked by the Tyranid Swarm, was cleared.
And this was basically the limit of what the Necron and human fleets could achieve; the rest would have to be handled by Zeke's fleet themselves.
After the Imperium of Man defenders at The Wall had done everything they could, Zeke's fleet began its assault forward.
A single shot from a brilliant-class battleship's main cannon could clear out all the Tyranid Swarm in an area the size of a star system.
Currently, these Tyranid Swarm lacked any capability to block a main cannon blast powerful enough to directly destroy a star system.
Unless the main Tyranid Swarm catastrophe fleet of the Original Saurian, which was currently preventing the Terran Dominion from reaching this galaxy, arrived, their current Tyranid Swarm forces could not withstand attacks originating from the rules level.
Under the sweeping attacks of the Brilliant-Class, the Tyranid Swarm fleet was virtually powerless. Tyranid Swarm hit by the brilliant-class battleship didn't even leave behind wreckage; they were completely wiped clean.
Of course, due to the large attack range of the brilliant-class battleship, when it was sweeping the peripheral Tyranid Swarm, some creatures still managed to escape by chance.
At this time, the emperor-class battleships, regular battleships, and cruisers at the core of the fleet came into play.
The weapons on the warships never stopped firing, beams of light constantly eliminating the Tyranid Swarm approaching them.
In Guilliman's eyes, he only saw a scene of overwhelming destruction, but this sight did not last long.
Zeke's actions drove the Tyranid Swarm even crazier, prompting them to charge. However, a new anomaly appeared during the battle... Although the Terran Dominion had the upper hand in the war against the enemy, this advantage was only related to the quality of their warships.
Facing the combined forces of multiple civilizations, even the Terran Dominion.
The Terran Dominion deployed 41 brilliant-class battleships to this region through Zeke, but what about the Tyranid Swarm? Couldn't they open a passage using their existing Tyranid Swarm fleet?
Of course, just as Zeke couldn't completely bring Huikong to this galaxy, the Tyranid Swarm fleet couldn't maintain the passage for long; they could only accommodate a small batch of ships passing through.
Just as Zeke was commanding his fleet to slaughter the enemy, a massive deep space black hole appeared two light-years directly ahead of him.
It was at this moment that Zeke's alarm bells rang loudly.
"They're here."
"The real enemy has arrived."
"Huh??"
Hearing this, Guilliman, who was admiring the Human fleet's slaughter of the Tyranid Swarm, looked confused.
"What real enemy, Uncle Zhou? What are you talking about?"
Guilliman was puzzled. However, when he turned his head, he also saw the deep space black hole that had appeared two light-years away, as the brilliant-class battleship had already projected this scene onto the main screen.
The black hole in deep space was profoundly black, looking as if it intended to suck everything in, yet it was distinctly different from a conventional black hole.
Even separated by two light-years, Guilliman still felt that some immense threat was approaching from that location.
"Next, all surrounding Tyranid Swarm will be handled by the emperor-class battleships and their accompanying auxiliary fleets."
"brilliant-class battleships, focus fire on that black hole!"
The surrounding Tyranid Swarm were being unilaterally slaughtered and could not significantly affect Zeke.
Compared to these numerically superior Tyranid Swarm, Zeke was more concerned with the black hole before him.
The brilliant-class battleships, which had been massacring the Tyranid Swarm in the Void Realm—a slaughter, even—all turned their muzzles and locked onto the massive black hole two light-years away.
At this moment, the size of the black hole was still continuously expanding.
Immediately, a coordinated Lance volley from 20 brilliant-class battleships struck the black hole.
However, the concentrated attacks, which should have been able to easily destroy a star system, struck the black hole but failed to cause any effect.
The black hole didn't even shake; only its rate of expansion paused momentarily.
The Terran Dominion possessed a large amount of cutting-edge technology, but this did not mean that the Renaissance Empires, the catastrophes, and the entities in the Void Realm lacked their own ultimate hidden weapons.
Zeke communicated with his civilization by relying on the eternal throne, but the other group of entities relied on their own ultimate dark technologies.
The Terran Dominion did not allow them to approach the sector of the universe where Zeke was located.
Yet, how rich and attractive was this sector of the universe?
Under this influence, these individuals united, preparing to jointly oppose humanity.
Therefore, this Tyranid Swarm black hole received unique technological enhancements from various civilizations, especially the Higher-Dimensional Daemons.
The technology contained within the Higher-Dimensional Daemons, famous for manipulating space and dimensions, could not be stopped from expanding further, even by the current battleship artillery of the Terran Dominion.
Zeke's plan to divert disaster seems to have failed; he now needs to face the genuine Tyranid Swarm catastrophe fleet.
"Keep firing, don't stop, continue shooting at them."
"Shoot the edge of the black hole! Absolutely do not let it expand to the size of a quasar warship. Restrict it so that even if the enemy comes through, they can only bring battleship-level warships!"
Naval warfare?
Zeke was not afraid of this; he was afraid of the enemy deploying quasar warships, as he currently did not possess the Terran Dominion's quasar warships.
Under his command, the brilliant-class battleships continued to attack the edges of the black hole, beams of energy constantly striking the perimeter of the deep space black hole.
This time, unlike the direct attack on the black hole, it caused significant commotion.
The thick energy beams successfully stopped the expansion of the enemy's deep space black hole.
Based on the current situation, a deep space black hole of this size could only support the passage of a battleship.
In fact, only male warrior-class battleships could pass through this channel; the Tyranid Swarm motherships would not be able to.
"Phew..."
"That was close. We almost let the Tyranid Swarm motherships through. If the Tyranid Swarm motherships had come through, the trouble would have been truly massive."
Zeke patted his chest.
Even though Zeke was now an extremely powerful Evil God, in true stellar empire conflicts, while individual power was great, it could not influence large-scale stellar warfare.
He could not defend the entire empire alone; he had to rely on warships. If the Tyranid Swarm motherships came through, the Tyranid Swarm fleet would be able to continue expanding within this galaxy.
If that happened, the situation would become completely uncontrollable.
This was also why the Renaissance Empires and the Void Realm Overlords prioritized sending the Tyranid Swarm through.
Although Guilliman and Szarekh did not know why Zeke suddenly looked so relieved, if Zeke sighed in relief, did that mean the situation was still under control?
Maybe... "No good, Zeke, look! That deep space black hole is starting to expand again!"
Zeke had barely finished sighing in relief when the black hole in deep space expanded again, and this time, it was exactly the size of a Tyranid Swarm mothership.
Trouble just got big...
"Szarekh, the situation is critical now. Notify our The Wall defense line to unleash full firepower and mobilize all available battleships to our current location."
"At the same time, inform all combat units on The Wall defense line to enter a state of combat readiness. If our battle here fails, then the crew will be humanity's last line of defense."
"These bugs must not be allowed to enter the Galaxy!"
The size of the deep space black hole had already expanded to a range where the Tyranid Swarm's mothership could pass through, so what would happen next was self-evident.
Zeke didn't believe that a black hole of just the right size was merely a stroke of luck for the enemy... "Understood, I will notify the fleet to come to our location and inform The Wall defense line to enter the highest state of alert."
Listening to Zeke's unprecedented seriousness, Szarekh knew that the real challenge was probably coming.
Zeke had never shown such a state before.
Even when the massive Tyranid Swarm fleet outside the Galaxy threatened him, Zeke had never revealed such an anxious expression.
What was about to happen would probably exceed their expectations.
Szarekh began to communicate with the human and Necrons defense lines in The Wall region through the communication system and started mobilizing the fleet to rush in that direction.
Meanwhile, Guilliman, Khor, and Karacis were sitting at a table, with no one daring to speak a word beside them.
Zeke turned his head and saw Guilliman sitting obediently. After a long period of thought, Zeke spoke.
"Guilliman, I'm sorry, but our journey will probably have to end early. Now you need to return to the Imperium to take charge of the overall situation."
"If the battle at the Galactic Rim fails, humanity will face its greatest challenge ever. I need you to return to the Imperium of Man and do your utmost to mobilize the army to the city walls!"
"If we fail here, I will use my last remaining strength to stabilize The Wall defense line, preventing their powerful battleships from being effective, forcing them to fight the type of battle the Imperium is best at."
"Everything is up to you. Remember to continuously send reinforcements to The Wall defense line; this place concerns the survival of humanity."
"Uncle Zhou..." Guilliman hadn't even finished speaking when Zeke waved his hand, sending him into an emperor-class battleship.
The emperor-class battleship immediately started its engines, detached from the main fleet, and headed towards the Dragon Gate Pass of The Wall defense line.
Its duty was to safely deliver Guilliman back to the Imperium, so there could be no delay.
Perhaps because the Tyranid Swarm fleet was about to arrive, both the Original Saurian and the Tyranid Swarm had stopped their advance and were standing still.
These bugs were waiting; they were waiting for their mothership to arrive.
The human fleet had also ceased its attack. brilliant-class battleships and emperor-class battleships were doing their utmost to calibrate their weapon systems and ensure an ample energy supply once the battle began.
During the standoff between the two sides, the emperor-class battleship carrying Guilliman returned to The Wall.
Guilliman himself was returning to Terra under the protection of the emperor-class battleship, but along the way, he saw an endless stream of human and Necrons fleets moving against the current.
The moment he entered The Wall, he had no idea how many battleships he had seen.
He could only see densely packed battleships floating in the void, and even more battleships were pouring out of The Wall, ready to join the moon of war.
In addition, the remaining 20 of the 21 brilliant-class battleships originally stationed at The Wall defense line also set sail.
Only one brilliant-class battleship remained on the planet where Zeke's parents resided.
This was the largest moon of war Guilliman had witnessed since taking charge of the Imperium of Man.
The human and Necrons fleets poured out en masse. Battleships below the moon of war, black hole-class, satellite-class, and titan were as numerous as grains of sand.
The Necrons' World Engines, Star God weapons, and elite armies from various dynasties also came out in full force.
And all of this was merely due to a single order from Zeke, who had instructed the Silent King to mobilize all forces in The Wall region.
And when Guilliman entered The Wall, he also saw large numbers of Imperium of Man Astra Militarum, Space Marines, and Custodes forces gathering.
Under the command of officers of various ranks, these forces were orderly proceeding to their respective defense lines, and on their bodies, they all carried dog tags identifying them.
This level of combat readiness had only been seen during the large-scale offensive launched by the Tyranid Swarm when The Wall had just been completed. The warriors of the Imperium of Man were already somewhat mentally prepared.
Veterans could be seen sharing experiences with some new recruits.
Veteran: "Keep your tags on. This tag can protect you from Warp Daemons, so when you die, you'll die more quickly."
"More importantly, you can also realize your own value, and your family can receive your death gratuity."
New Astra Militarum recruit: "What about our bodies? What will happen to our bodies?"
Veteran: "You still want a body? No such thing. You won't have a body. If the Tyranid Swarm reaches below The Wall, then the moment you die, nothing will be left of you."
"What do you think this defense line beneath us is? It possesses some special functions. Your and my deaths will become part of this defense line."
"Actually, among us veterans, there's a joke about this defense line."
"This defense line is the backbone of humanity, and we warriors standing here are using our flesh and blood to forge a new The Wall."
Why did Zeke call The Wall defense line humanity's ultimate defense?
Because it wasn't just made of those high-grade zero-element armor.
Even the most amazing zero-element armor has a day when it will be destroyed, so recovery became the most important need for this defense line.
It had too much black technology on it.
And the most important black technology was that the bodies of human warriors who died on it would, with the help of their dog tags, integrate into The Wall after death.
The bodies and flesh of all warriors would forge humanity's new The Wall.
As long as humanity still had an army capable of standing on The Wall, then this ultimate human defense line would never fall. This was the most terrifying defense line built by the Space Commander and humanity.
Of course, just as humans could integrate with The Wall, the Necrons could too, as they were, after all, living liquid metal.
Their deaths would also allow their bodies to integrate into this defense line, further reinforcing it or becoming ammunition.
Guilliman saw a lot along the way. He saw many human armies preparing for moon of war, and he also saw how terrifying the human army stationed at The Wall truly was.
What were the The Golden Imperium and other galaxies he had encountered before?
If the vast human army stationed on The Wall were to launch an all-out attack, the Imperium of Man's army would be able to sweep away everything in the old Galaxy.