Liu Shu's prediction was quite on point. The worlds were not completely helpless and left with no defensive measures. Nevertheless, those defenses were something far too outclassed to affect Liu Shu.
Even then, the leadership didn't stand still and tried to fight back by attacking the roots with strategic-class weapons. Giant towers rose from the ground, cannons gathering outrageous amounts of ternary essence pointing at Liu Shu's sky-pillar-like roots.
The citizens, who had been terrified, noticed the sky lighting up even deep into the night. Weapons of mass destruction impacted the tall roots, creating mini-suns that forced the world to shift from night to day.
The people of the Nexus looked with hope, waiting for the aftermath from the bunkers. The tremors and powerful shockwaves struck the surface, leveling many small towns and cities.
Liu Shu was moderately surprised. She had expected some kind of resistance, but she had not thought that the Nexus would bombard her roots with attacks powerful enough to cause artificial natural disasters around the world.
Moreover, the high energy concentrated and created toxic Aether radiation. If Liu Shu didn't have the means to cleanse the place, their attacks, even if successful, would've ushered in an age of disease and longevity problems.
'...Are they that scared?'
Liu Shu felt that she had miscalculated the severity of the population's indoctrination toward World Trees.
'I had thought that staying silent was the best tactic, but at this pace, they will self-destruct before I can even properly take over.'
Their attacks, for instance, caused some damage to Liu Shu's roots. Some were surface characters, a few meters deep. Nothing worse than that. For roots larger than mountains, those wounds equaled nothing more than a scratch.
In terms of
"People of the Nexus, stop your attacks. You are only hurting yourselves. I have not come here to become a tyrant, nor a ruler. I have come to become your environment, to become your canopy. Please, stop hurting yourselves. The world is crying, and life is dying."
She didn't expect much. If they insisted, though, Liu Shu was going to act. At first, she had preferred it if her people came and took over the government positions by themselves. She didn't want to help during the takeover because her people needed some level of independence. When there were many more worlds, if they had always relied on Liu Shu, wouldn't they have trouble?
Now was the perfect moment for them to practice with world takeovers from the Nexus and other larger powers.
'But if I do that, at this pace, there won't be a government to substitute, only ruins.'
As Liu Shu had expected, she could see the overheated cannons lighting up once again. They were desperately shooting, even if the weapons melted from their own attacks.
'...Sigh.'
"Stop."
In all four worlds, Liu Shu's voice manifested. This time, Liu Shu targeted the leaders and others in charge of ordering the attacks. Her voice, coated in her nascent divinity, boomed in their minds like a mini explosion.
Tens of thousands of high-ranking members saw the world turn completely white before darkness engulfed their thoughts. That single word, boring the pressure of Liu Shu's soul to its fullest, became their judgment.
Then, with Aether Mana control, Liu Shu created elemental mini spheres around the weapons, swallowing them before they could explode. As for the cannon beam attacks, Liu Shu just took them with her roots.
Those didn't cause much environmental damage other than increasing pure heat. So, she didn't mind much.
The soldiers had frozen as well when Liu Shu spoke. Even if they were not the targets, every single lifeform had been able to feel Liu Shu's nascent divinity. That overwhelming and endlessly large presence that seemed to look down from the skies was far too oppressive to resist.
It made one feel as if they were nothing but a simple mortal in the domain of a true god. Looking at everyone's reaction, Liu Shu sighed to herself again. This was the reason she had wanted to not interact.
Her presence was far too oppressive. 'Well, fear caused by indifference and true fear caused by intervention differ from what I planned, but I should make do.'
If the fear's source was intervention, people would forget eventually. Without additional intervention, Liu Shu's authority might decrease and become a fleeting afterthought.
Fear born from indifference was different. It permeated society, culture, and even the thoughts of people. It was not "If I do something wrong, I will get punished." It was "Doing wrong is going against that being."
Two similar yet fundamentally different mindsets.
'Well, if I play my cards correctly, I will be able to slowly change the source of that necessary fear.'
Without superiors to give orders and with Liu Shu's presence having manifested, if only momentarily, the result was clear.
Soldiers lost their will to fight, the population lost their protectors, and the system the Nexus built became history.
'What about Carter's reaction?'
Liu Shu connected with the other parts of her vast, boundless consciousness, quickly absorbing the information. 'Hm. Well, he acted as expected.'
After knowing the situation in the Seaplace Solar System, Carter had decided to decisively abandon it. Liu Shu's roots had already arrived at the worlds, so what was the point? Trying to retake the Seaplace Solar System was as difficult as trying to take any of Liu Shu's external Solar Systems. The result of those attempts had become quite clear during their long war.
So, the only option was to abandon it and guide the remaining 80 million soldiers to defend the Azure Star Solar System.
Liu Shu, if she had been in Carter's place, might've also decided to give up on the Azure Star Solar System and save the remaining army. Losing two Solar Systems was less damaging than losing an army of 80 million soldiers and the starships.
'If he is not retreating, is the Nexus sending reinforcements?'
This was something Liu Shu was completely in the dark about. Many individuals had fled and, naturally, informed the Nexus about her power. By now, Liu Shu's existence as a powerful World Tree was bound to completely spread and solidify in this area of the galaxy.
'This is a bit… annoying.'
From now on, as she expanded, Liu Shu was bound to fight more political battles than real ones. In a way, it was good because the number of deaths would certainly decrease. However, the expansion rate might slow down sharply unless Liu Shu was prepared to antagonize everyone and be labeled as a wild and senseless World Tree.
'Only after I reach the
Liu Shu didn't lack strength. She lacked numbers. Currently, while Liu Shu had taken over five Solar Systems beyond Ceperet, they had not matured.
So, until now, Liu Shu has been fighting with the strength of one Solar System in terms of population. 'Without the
The
"Hm…" Liu Shu glanced at Carter's group and then shifted her sight toward Verdantia, Seraphina, and Obsidianis.
These three were already "behind" the Azure Star Solar System, waiting for Carter to arrive. Liu Shu's roots, as well, had long entered through the Azure Star Solar System's Oort Cloud and were waiting at the edge of the enemy's detection range.
'During the first expeditions of the Nexus, I mapped the place myself and made sure to check where my roots would get noticed.'
The Seaplace Solar System was not as heavily defended as the Azure Star Solar System, where Carter had been residing and organizing the army before departure.
Azure Star Solar System had space fortresses, interplanetary weapons, and many land-to-space type cannons. In a way, it was severely armed.
'It doesn't mean much.'
Liu Shu was utterly unafraid. These weapons were dangerous, but they were dangerous to a World Tree like Deadly Petal. That same Deadly Petal was now being crushed and beaten back by Liu Shu's roots.
Glancing over at the Covenant's situation, Liu Shu smiled faintly. 'This side is also developing as I expected.'
This war had been long and arduous. Liu Shu had truly stretched her resources thin, taken the most damage she had ever taken when it came to scale, and lost the most soldiers she had ever lost.
Her initial numbers were around 20 million soldiers and 15 million ants. While she had replenished those numbers with recruits freshly out of the military academy over the years, those numbered to a few hundred thousand, nothing significant.
By now, Liu Shu's army had been reduced to around 12 to 13 million soldiers and 8 to 9 million ants. Tremendous losses, but if put on a scale with those of her enemies, it was a miraculous result.
The Nexus had gone from 300 million to 80 million.
The Covenant had gone from 170 million to less than 70 million.
The number of starships both sides lost was more than an order of magnitude larger than those the Golden Sap Empire lost.
'Either way, I am not expecting more losses from the Covenant. The final target is getting rid of Carter and forcing him away.'
Killing him would be ideal, but Liu Shu didn't place much hope. If those who escaped were VIPs, Carter was a VVIP. Someone like him would have several ways to escape safely, even if Liu Shu used her time or direct-attack skills.
"Verdantia, Seraphina, Obsidianis."
The three Sylvans, sitting in a control room inside one of the stolen World-Type Motherships, answered. "Yes, love."
"Be prepared. Carter has arrived at the Azure Star Solar System."
Verdantia smiled, taking a sip of the Eternal Tea. "We will."
Obsidianis smirked, her charming body sitting languidly as she leaned sideways. "It is time to drive those pests out of our surrounding Solar Systems."
Seraphina tapped the table, her silvery eyes gleaming faintly. "After this, the workload will increase quite a lot. We need to naturalize these nine Solar Systems as quickly as possible and create a proper barrier around Ceperet Solar System."
Obsidianis sighed. "I wonder if some kind of interstellar teleportation technology will drop onto our lap somehow?"
Liu Shu chuckled. "As if such deals come easily. I am working on it myself, don't worry."
Verdantia recalled. "Right, you were building something around Ceperet, right? Something like a fortress or a space station?"
Liu Shu smiled. "It's not much of a fortress as it is a central hub. Different from the
The three Sylvans were curious, but now it was time to prepare for war. So, standing up, they began preparing for the final strike.