Chapter 348: Fifty Years of Stability

A chitinous ocean littered with countless biological ship wrecks.

The Ancient Warship, its body the size of a satellite, drifted slowly, covering a distant star and casting a vast shadow.

A Moon-class cruiser churned thick smoke, its tilted hull struggling through the shadow to push across the chitinous sea.

Occasional self‑detonations spewed countless ship fragments and crew into the void.

Next to the Moon-class cruiser, a Sword-class Escort Ship was docked, simultaneously repairing the vessel and transferring its crew into its own hull.

While the two warships were busy, a line of armed merchant ships equipped with alloy filters collected all the drifting chitinous matter along the way.

They prepared to transport it to the rear Orc cultivation world, to accelerate its troop‑raising development.

Looking along the path of the armed merchant ships, the Ancient Warship's hull reappeared, gradually drifting past and revealing the distant star again.

Aolake's scarred hull was simultaneously receiving frantic repairs from the Mechanical Church and directly devouring warship wreckage for self‑repair.

The once invincible Holy Ship now glowed with welding sparks.

The highest point of the warship.

The apex of Xisi's chapel.

The massive porthole perfectly reflected the surrounding galaxy; from here one could see the entire battlefield.

The room had no lights, bathed entirely in starlight.

Xisi stood before the porthole, gazing at his feet; behind him, in the quiet, the hatch slid slightly aside to both sides, and Fanluosi, under the gaze of Black‑Gold 101, stepped in lightly.

"Sir, the battle‑damage report is ready."

Fanluosi's voice even trembled slightly, and the military report he held felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Xisi gave Fanluosi no reply; in fact, there was no need to.

As a one‑time, continuous, suicidal strike against two Tylian tendrils, its cost could not be expressed in any numbers on paper.

Just by looking at the scene before him, the carnage was evident.

In the boundless chitinous sea, a warship still intact was as rare as a phoenix feather.

The warships were scattered at extreme distances from each other, and even now, long after the war, occasional flashes of fire could still be heard from cabins where Tylian landing beasts were being torn apart.

Many warships survived the final battle, but due to severe damage they had become steel 'meteors', helplessly rolling slowly through the chitinous sea.

They then used radios, lights, and other equipment to send distress signals to any friendly ships still able to move.

The once countless tens of thousands of ships now, in Xisi's eyes, numbered barely a hundred.

And even those hundred were not powerful battle cruisers or battleships.

They were very mixed, ranging from the lowest light escort ships to the highest Emperor battleship.

The reason they survived was not any warship firepower, but sheer luck!

And luck was completely equal!

"This battle has rendered the Empire's last mobile fleet useless."

From the quiet behind, another voice sounded.

Most of the Empire's legends who had once battered the Doomsday Shadow had already departed, each occupied with their own urgent matters and unable to stay by Xisi's side; even Luo Jia had been forcefully teleported back to Alert Star by the Divine Emperor and the Four Gods.

Thus, the only one who could speak now, even if his voice went unheard, could only be Makado.

Listening to Makado, Xisi still stared silently out the window, his gaze following the human souls returning to Subspace as the nest shadows faded.

Behind him, Makado seemed not to need any response from Xisi; after finishing his sentence, he also turned his eyes to the galaxy gradually returning to calm, and added the final line:

"May the fifty years of development be worth today's sacrifice."

When Makado finished, the room fell silent; even Lei Shande, the steadfast commander of the Empire's Fist, showed unmistakable bewilderment on his face.

The battle was unprecedentedly brutal; survivors among the participating factions were barely a handful. Though the war's objectives were achieved—the two Tylian tendrils deep within the Empire were completely repelled—the Empire's peaceful star domain regained stability, the Empire avoided a two‑front war, and regained a vast rear for development.

Yet everyone present doubted whether the gained fifty years could ever again produce a mobile fleet of this scale for the Empire.

If not, then strategically this battle was a loss beyond measure!

Facing the silent bewilderment behind him, Xisi finally withdrew his gaze from the outside, gave no direct answer to Makado's question, and instead turned and strode toward the fleet's Bridge.

While briskly walking past the crowd, he spoke:

"All forces shall immediately proceed to Alert Star, leaving only the old damaged warships to cooperate with merchant ships in clearing the battlefield."

"Makado, do not return to Terra; I will station myself at Alert Star to completely cut off any Dead Spirits incursion into the Empire's rear."

"Therefore, for the upcoming Empire reforms, please have Makado implement them at Alert Star."

After speaking, Xisi strode out of the room, leaving the people behind him exchanging glances, all finally fixing their eyes on Makado.

Makado showed no hesitation, following Xisi out the door.

His action conveyed the clearest message:

"What else is there to hesitate about?"

The battle is over; now we must hope Xisi can truly carry the countless miracles he forged on the battlefield into governance!

Seeing even Makado offer no objection, the others suppressed their emotions and turned to follow Xisi.

Soon, with Aolake reigniting its engines, after gathering the few surviving Orc warships, Aolake almost alone headed for Alert Star.

The remaining Empire fleet will, after refitting, proceed to the lost worlds of the peaceful star domain, fully eradicate Tylian remnants, cleanse those worlds, and bring them back under Empire control.

Luo Jia and Kiriman, who had been frazzled under Dead Spirits pressure,

Upon hearing that Xisi had finally ended the war against the Tylian and was heading to aid Alert Star, they both let out a huge sigh and immediately broadcast the news to the entire army.

At this very moment, Alert Star.

Above, the Orbit was wholly controlled by Dead Spirits.

Except for Black Stone Peak, which, surrounded by dense artillery and warships, still held its ground resolutely.

The entire Alert Star no longer possessed any air superiority.

The land once blessed by Xisi, under Gauss rays, has again become a cratered plain.

And then in those pits were the Huai Yan Zhe and the Extreme Warrior, two former old rivals, leading a great number of mortal soldiers, gritting their teeth as they fought the Dead Spirits to the death.

Yet as Kiriman and Luojia released the news that Xisi would soon arrive, before the human defending forces could be uplifted, it was the Dead Spirits' fleet that began to contract first!