Chapter 352 Deployment!
The Nova Universe.
This was a Third-Grade universe in the First Gate's rankings, meaning that it possessed at least 10 million captured territories, which put it not far from the overall first, which was currently still the Holy Universe.
This was a tip-top universe in the prime of its power, above trillions but below only a hundred at best. Incidentally, this universe had border disputes with the Eternal Universe due to Portia's rampant claiming, which later escalated to war.
Their forces had given the Superpowered Army a great headache in the past, using up more than 70% of their manpower. When these forces were recalled for Dante's reshuffling, this universe even pushed back and reclaimed many lost territories in a short time.
This had initially caused the upper echelons of the Eternal universe much distress until they realized Dante was casual about it and was also cooking something much more important. Soon, the issues with Lara including his fight with her came to light and none of them had time to care about this.
But for the Nova Universe, this was a crowning achievement that they deeply celebrated. Ever since they had been engaged by Portia in her path of dominance, they had lost many elite forces and even leader characters to her, causing many to be filled with a mixture of fear and hatred.
So when she left their path and the ones left to defend her work were absent, they were filled with joy and many theories began to run rampant within the Nova Universe. Like the current Eternal universe, the First Gate was public knowledge due to the benefits it brought, and even a step further than the Eternal Universe, they publicized their progress to every denizen of the universe. Read latest chapters at novelhall.com Only
The reigning theory was that the Eternal Universe had realized the mistake they made in offending them and had chosen to tactfully withdraw in order to appease their superior universe. This seemed logical to them because there was no sensible reason for the Eternal Universe to withdraw its forces so suddenly and so thoroughly.
After all, for the Nova Universe, which had benefited for many generations due to the exploits in the First Gate, the existence of such a system was everything to them. The First Gate was the pinnacle of existence to them and superseded all forms of things, being of supreme importance.
What at all could be of a higher priority than such a perfect creation?
There was even a great celebration ongoing on a certain exotic planet in which all the dignitaries and powerhouses of the Nova Universe had been invited to. There, they engaged in social engagements of all kinds full of mirth, wine, and great food while they laughed about their successes.
Within this star station, hundreds of AI-controlled androids, cyber warriors, and battleships were being constructed every second from an assembly line. As the being within the mecha had already obtained information on the entire civilization of the Nova Universe when they subdued various leaders, these creations would form a small army and enter a war gate to different parts of this universe.
The goal? Obviously conquest.
Dante was already skilled at universe-wide conquest after having subdued his entire home universe's known space as well as civilizations, while continually pushing the boundaries of unknown space. The protocols embedded into the systems and AI chip of the being within the mecha were clear on what steps to take at each time.
It was also because of this that the being within the mecha only watched the process for a short while before entering warp space, traveling rapidly towards another sector of the universe to repeat their actions.
According to their directives, they only had a gross total of a week to establish one star base in each sector before they had to drop everything and focus on their number one priority, which was to find and lure Lara Sanguis into the light for Dante to capture.
In actuality, the directive to establish bases was only secondary, but the reason why this being within the mecha was so fervent on it was that they would obtain great benefits for how much of the universe they had conquered before Lara Sanguis was captured.
It was a small incentive program that Dante had launched for the God of Technology Army that would decide the positions and ranks of each member. For now, they were all ranked the same, but the results of each soldier's conquest would decide their fate.
In a matter of days, the entire universe was riddled with star bases that began pumping out forces from the moment it was spawned. These forces appeared and targeted weaker planets that were not even level 1, quickly subduing the native species there if there were any.
Subdued planets would then have central bases created within the strongest city or continent of that world in which ground troops would be manufactured, as well as spatial defense troops, in case of a reclamation force.
In typical Dante fashion, civilians of that world's dominant species would then be offered to undergo the basic enhancements in exchange for order and control over their growth, making them all around better than they were before.
The lesser species or 'animals' of that world would be enhanced based on the function they served to the dominant species, not their inherent functions.
So using earth as an example, a cat was a pet to humans, so it would be enhanced in longevity, cuteness and be given the ability to communicate rather than have its hunting and killing skills enhanced as it was also technically a predator.
After such conquest, the planet would then begin its rapid growth phase to be integrated into the wider universe as a whole.