The solution did not come from making the barriers stronger.
That was the first idea they abandoned.
It was also the most obvious.
Several Lunarian specialists had calculated how much additional material would be required to simply reinforce every conquered world's existing boundary.
The numbers were absurd.
Some worlds were enormous. Others were wrapped in layered spatial formations that had been expanded over centuries. A few used native Laws unique to the worlds themselves, while others depended almost entirely on artificial arrays.
There was no single barrier design that could simply be copied and placed around all of them.
Even if there were, maintaining a shell strong enough to withstand repeated attacks from Monster Emperors would consume enough energy to become its own strategic problem.
That realization changed everything.
The Lunarians stopped asking how much more force the barriers could endure.
