Chapter 482: Chapter 281: The Pasture Master Is Coming_2
Yes, although there has been a change in the situation, Shen Shi still wasn’t prepared to give up.
Regardless of success or failure, after this battle, human civilization will surely enter the eyes of the upper echelons of the two systems, and perhaps even the Pasture Master will personally take action. The subsequent plan of "settling" is an inevitable trend. In other words, the current situation might very well be the opportunity for human civilization to fish in troubled waters in this system war for a certain period.
At least, this is the case in the third future timeline.
Therefore, Shen Shi did not want to leave just like that.
He thought for a moment and then added:
"By the way, send someone to conduct intelligence exchanges with the Mude System and say that we have discovered the Thousand Alliance’s confidence and have decided to retreat."
This was not intended to side with the Mude System but rather to prevent them from being simply wiped out.
After finishing all this, Shen Shi and human civilization seemed to have entered a state of settling in advance, with most traces disappearing, including Shen Shi not going anywhere, just staying near the Mude System’s frontline base silently observing and waiting.
Indeed, quite a lot could be seen from this.
The Mude System clearly believed the intelligence traded to them, showing obvious signs of contraction, gradually reducing deployments, and increasing the establishment of defensive devices. Just the overlapping phase spaces alone were somewhat beyond imagination——at least when humans attack, it would be impossible to imagine how many warships, weapons, and traps were buried here.
As for the Thousand Alliance’s response, it was somewhat thought-provoking.
The Mude System’s obvious changes were impossible for the Thousand Alliance to overlook, yet they still made no changes, merely occupying the territories that the Mude System had contracted, advancing step by step.
This at least confirms that the Thousand Alliance’s confidence indeed does not stem from a long-term strategic adjustment but rather from some immediately effective means.
A special weapon device, or even a relic device, is the most likely possibility.
Additionally, the Thousand Alliance noticeably intensified their search for human civilization.
Shen Shi almost daily received reports from humans lurking in dangerous areas. With personal terminals and a strong Primordial Energy Mastery, they blend into this battlefield like drops in the ocean. Even with the technical strength of the Thousand Alliance, it’s highly unlikely to excavate them all.
At most, they could find a small portion.
But even so, the Thousand Alliance did not relax at all. Each time they occupied a new place, the first thing they did was conduct large-scale searches using both conventional technology and Primordial Energy Technology, often employing them back and forth, determined to find any trace.
"They are worried about us," Shen Shi said in his heart.
Due to changes in the world line, human civilization indeed gained a significant reputation in this war and had a fair amount of information grasped.
Both the Thousand Alliance and the Mude understood clearly that this mysterious third party in their eyes possessed extremely powerful Traceless Transition Technology, allowing them to deploy large fleets in a very short time.
However, they probably hadn’t confirmed that human civilization’s Traceless Transition Technology required pre-positioned "coordinates."
At most, it existed as a speculation on a list of possibilities.
In other words, the current situation was a reaction to such speculation.
"To be so vigilant over a speculation, their concern is already apparent. In other words, we might indeed pose a significant threat to the Thousand Alliance’s plan this time." After drawing this conclusion, Shen Shi felt a sense of anticipation.
Sometimes, the enemy understands you better than you do, and from their actions, you can see what you could be doing.
"Hide completely!" Shen Shi ordered again, "If anyone is discovered, even if they are sacrificed, send more to reinforce!"
In war, as long as it’s for greater benefits, one must not fear sacrifice, especially once the Holy Land is fully secured, battlefield losses significantly reduce. After all, if outmatched, retreat immediately; total annihilation simply doesn’t happen.
At this moment, the sacrifice, in Shen Shi’s eyes, was worth it.
He even tripled the merit reward for each "coordinate" holder with a personal terminal lurking, showing the importance he placed.
Time began to slow down.
The entire star system battlefield’s atmosphere seemed to start feeling peculiar.
Even those born on frontline planets and living freely in peaceful cities seemed to bear an implicit weight.
Ten years, fifty years, a hundred years...
From the time Shen Shi issued the contraction order, three hundred and forty years passed just like that.
The Thousand Alliance appeared to have controlled three-quarters of the star system, surrounding all controlled areas of the Mude System, even including external nodes, looking as if to completely annihilate the Mude System.
However, Shen Shi was very clear, and the Mude System was also very clear, that the Thousand Alliance’s surface strength alone could not possibly achieve this.
The most important thing is——
Shen Shi received news from two other battlefields that the Pasture Master hadn’t appeared for over a century.
This news couldn’t possibly reach here quickly, only human civilization, possessing the Holy Land and having long sent personnel with personal terminals to those places, could know.
However, this news shocked Shen Shi.
The reason is simple.
The transmission speed of intelligence information is much faster than the speed of Teleportation Technology. Based on the Mude System’s technical level, it would take about two hundred years, no more than three hundred years, to send information from here to the central battlefield, the star system the Pasture Master formerly controlled. Considering the time, that seems to be when the Pasture Master first disappeared!
"Indeed, they came here." Shen Shi narrowed his eyes slightly.
He could likely imagine it, after all, the Mude System holds advantages in the other two main battlefields, while only here, the Thousand Alliance exudes confidence. Since that’s the case, regardless of the Thousand Alliance’s trump card, bringing forth the Pasture Master is a highly probable choice.
Additionally.
Shen Shi hadn’t forgotten that the Pasture Master was ultimately an individual, not a collective civilization.
As the same supreme ruler, Shen Shi was well aware that when realizing something is wrong, one tends to trust oneself more than civilization, given the vast amount of power and trump cards controlled, and the uncertainty towards others within civilization when even you can’t see clearly. Hence, taking action personally or deeply intervening often becomes an important choice.
Though uncertain whether the Pasture Master is the same, the likelihood of the Pasture Master coming personally, given the undisclosed trump card of the Thousand Alliance, is indeed high!
So, does he have a chance to meet this Pasture Master?
Realizing this, even Shen Shi felt a bit unsettled emotionally.
His memory easily returned to the beginning.
The first time he heard the name "Pasture Master" from the first future line, Shen Shi felt he was a terrifying interstellar overlord.
Bring it to his understanding, like Thanos in Marvel’s story.
Taking the entire cosmos, countless civilizations, as his breeding grounds, with a thought shattering galaxies, all life perishing, civilizations waning, he seemed like an unmatched ultimate antagonist bringing despair to countless civilizations.
And as human civilization’s strength continued to rise and its understanding of the cosmos deepened, this point didn’t change at all; it only became clearer.
He was truly a great mountain, always pressing on Shen Shi’s heart.
Until he truly mastered the trading market and received the transformation from the Bronze Hall, did this pressure and faint fear start to ease.
And now, after more than three thousand years, is it finally time to contact this Pasture Master?