123: Stop

Tianen Star System, once hailed as the brilliant pearl connecting the two spiral arms, had now lost its luster under the baptism of war.

The light of the stars still illuminated this expanse of space, but floating in orbit were no longer busy merchant ships and shuttles, but countless wreckage of warships and space stations dismantled down to their skeletons.

In the command hall of the Iofer Federation flagship, the Abyss Dominator, the red arrow on the holographic Star Map leading to the Perseus Arm was flickering, tempting every iofer general eager for conquest.

As long as they crossed these last fifty-plus light-years, they could strike directly at the outpost of the Angel Theocracy Empire's homeland—the Apocalypse Galaxy.

However, Federation speaker Barlena pressed the pause button at this critical moment.

"We will begin our return journey after resting here for three months."

After arranging the ownership of billions of "livestock" on the two colonial planets, her soft yet majestic voice continued to echo in the command room, like a basin of ice water poured onto the heads of those generals who were staring at the Star Map like wolves and tigers.

"speaker!" A burly general of the Red Demon Clan couldn't help but step forward. "We have already fought all the way here. As long as we continue to advance and take down the Apocalypse Galaxy, the entire Perseus Arm will open its doors to us! Wouldn't stopping now mean all our previous efforts are wasted?"

Barlena did not answer immediately; she just waved her hand lightly and brought up the current damage assessment report of the fleet.

"Take a look, this is the price we have to pay." Barlena pointed to the data left by that super warship. "Just one warship, using that hit-and-run tactic, caused our main fleet to lose nearly one-fifth of its strength. Our frigate formations were almost crippled, heavy cruisers lost more than half, and we even lost dozens of battleships."

"More importantly," a haze flashed in her purple eyes, "our logistics supply line has been stretched to the limit. Transporting a single blast ammunition from the hinterland of Orion to here requires transit through dozens of star systems. And when the Angel people retreated, they not only took away the population but also viciously destroyed all industrial facilities and energy nodes along the way. The current Tianen Star System cannot provide us with supplies; instead, it has become a huge resource black hole."

"If we force our way into the Perseus Arm and face the counterattack of the Angel people's homeland defense system, once that damned super warship enters the fray again..." Barlena looked at the general coldly, "Do you intend to let your soldiers starve to death in space, or be blasted into ashes by the enemy's firepower because their shield energy is exhausted?"

The general opened his mouth, finally lowered his head, and retreated back into the ranks.

Although failing to achieve the ultimate victory in one battle and completely crushing the old adversary that had been entangled for thousands of years left Barlena with an indescribable sense of regret, as a succubus who had climbed to the top through cruel political struggles, she understood the principles of "cutting losses" and "knowing when to stop" better than anyone else.

From a macro-strategic perspective, the Iofer Federation had already made a massive profit with the war reaching this stage.

She had accomplished the feat that generations of iofer leaders had dreamed of—completely clearing the influence of the Angel Empire out of Orion. From now on, this star sector would belong only to the Iofer Federation; there would no longer be that annoying golden emblem.

Moreover, the foundation upon which the Angel Empire relied for survival—their once incomparably powerful Star Navy—had suffered devastating damage in this battle.

"According to the intelligence department's assessment," Barlena looked at the shrinking golden area on the Star Map, a mocking smile curling the corner of her lips, "the Angel Empire's decayed and inefficient industrial system will need at least one hundred standard years, or even longer, to restore its fleet to pre-war scale and combat capability."

A hundred-year strategic security period was crucial. From now on, the positions of offense and defense would be reversed. The Iofer Federation would firmly occupy the strategic initiative, while the Angel people could only watch from the Perseus Arm as the Iofer Federation slowly integrated the power of the entire Orion.

Barlena's thoughts drifted back to thousands of years ago.

At that time, the Iofer Federation was just a young civilization that had just entered the faster-than-light era, full of ambition but slightly immature. When they first encountered the glorious Angel Theocracy Empire, which descended like a god in the sea of stars, they felt a desperate sense of oppression.

At that time, the Angel Empire was at the peak of its civilization. Their psionic technology was unfathomable, their individual combat power was enough to crush the iofer's interstellar warships, and their material technology was also on par with the Federation, even surpassing it in some areas.

For a very long period of history, the Iofer Federation could only rely on its massive population base and fearless spirit of sacrifice to hold on at the border, using mountains of corpses and seas of blood to block the Angel people's overwhelming "purification" offensive.

Every iofer person remembered that history of humiliation, remembered those planets that were "purified" by psionics.

But time is fair, and also cruel.

After the war entered its third millennium, that once glorious theocracy began to rot from within.

Excessive religious fanaticism imprisoned thought, a strict hierarchy stifled creativity, and the massive noble class became parasites sucking the blood of the empire. The decay rate of the Angel Empire was even more exaggerated than the iofer strategists had expected.

When Barlena came to power, she was surprised to find that the once invincible opponent was already strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

"Their material technology has stagnated for eight hundred years, while our blast cannons have iterated eighteen times." Barlena had mocked her opponent this way in the parliament, "They occupy the two richest star systems of the spiral arms and have several times more colonial planets than us, but their total industrial capacity is actually less than half of our Federation!"

At that moment, she understood that the scales of victory had long since tipped.

As long as the Angel Empire did not undergo a thorough reform like scraping poison from the bone, and did not resolve the increasingly serious internal class conflicts and sectarian clashes, their threat to the Iofer Federation would only become smaller and smaller, eventually becoming a massive but harmless living fossil.

"They are no longer a concern now."

Barlena sentenced her old adversary to death in her heart.

However, although the external threat was resolved, internal worries and distant concerns weighed heavily on her heart like two mountains.

She dismissed most of the generals, leaving only a few trusted aides, and then opened a top-secret encrypted document.

It was the complete video footage of the destruction of the Gate of Hell star system broadcast to the entire universe by the Faleim People.

Even though she had watched it countless times, when the once prosperous capital star system in the footage collapsed in physical laws in an instant and turned into an indescribable void, Barlena still felt an indescribable tremor.

"Faleim..." She whispered the name, as if chewing on a piece of red-hot iron.

If the content in the footage was true, then the technological level of this suddenly emerged unknown civilization had likely reached a level that the iofer people could not understand, or even imagine.

Modifying reality parameters, making the speed of light infinite, reversing the gravitational constant, making the strong nuclear force ineffective...

Barlena simply could not imagine how such things could be done; it was more exaggerated than any mythological legend.

But as an extremely rational politician, Barlena forced herself to calm down from the fear and began to analyze the behavioral logic of the Faleim People.

"They might have the ability to destroy us instantly, but they didn't do so."

She brought up another piece of intelligence, which was the flight path map of that Faraim Fleet.

On that straight return route, the task force did indeed destroy all iofer targets along the way, leaving a death corridor hundreds of light-years long.

For Barlena, fortunately, although that route ran through the Federation's hinterland, most of the star systems it passed through and the military bases it destroyed belonged to the spheres of influence of several of the most powerful opposition warlords within the Federation who were most unconvinced by her, the "Succubus speaker."

Especially that K6 sector governor who had been clamoring to impeach her; his lair was on that death corridor, and his private army that he had accumulated for a lifetime was wiped out by the Faleim People's firepower.

"In a sense... they helped me clean house."

A trace of relief appeared on Barlena's face.

The Faleim People's attack was precise and restrained (relative to their capabilities). They destroyed the capital and fought their way out; that was to demonstrate power and warn.

Since they did not continue to expand the scope of the attack and did not touch other core industrial star systems, it meant that they did not intend to completely destroy the Iofer Federation, or perhaps they felt it was unnecessary, or the cost was too high.

"This is the so-called distant worry." Barlena made a judgment, "My judgment is that as long as we don't actively provoke that monster again, at least in the short term, they will not take action against us again."

Excluding this biggest uncontrollable factor, Barlena's gaze became fierce again.

The real serious threat she had to face was the restless warlord forces within the Federation.

Although the news of the capital being destroyed was forcibly blocked, rumors would spread sooner or later.

Once those warlords with heavy troops confirmed that the central government had paralyzed and the Supreme Council that had been pressing on their heads had been turned to ashes, the Iofer Federation would fall into an abyss of civil war even more chaotic than the split era of the mother planet.

This absolutely would not do.

"I still have this huge fleet in my hands that has just won a victory and has high morale."

Barlena looked at the overwhelming group of warships outside the window; this was the most solid trump card in her hand, and also the cornerstone of her power.

"Pass the order down!"

Barlena said to her trusted aides.

"We will head directly to the Iron Heart Star System, which will be renamed the Eye of the Abyss."

The Iron Heart Star System was a highly industrialized fortress star system and also the place where Barlena started; it had her most loyal forces and the most perfect industrial system.

"I will establish a new temporary capital there and reorganize the Supreme Council!"

"As for those guys who want to engage in separatism, want to be independent, or question my authority while taking advantage of the capital's destruction..."

A smile full of temptation and deadly danger, unique to the succubus race, appeared on Barlena's face.

"Even the Angel Empire has been defeated by me; that thousand-year-old arch-rival has fallen at my feet."

"I don't believe I can't handle a mere group of internal warlords and those lowly slaves!"

"Since the Gate of Hell has been closed, I will build a new abyss for them on the ruins!"

Following her order, a baptism of blood and fire was about to unfold within the Iofer Federation.