“Preparing World Bridge System!”

“Mobilizing all Martial Sages!”

“Deploying as many Martial Masters as possible!”

The Strategic Command Center of the Kandrian Empire was bustling with activity as all divisions and teams got to work following established protocols as they got to work upon the impending news of five incoming convoys across the entire continent in the directions of the six other continents.

The Emperor of Harmony stood upon the elevated platform with a grave expression as he inspected the ongoing preparations as he read through the various intelligence reports incoming each second about the five convoys converging upon the Panama Continent.

His golden eyes were profoundly severe as he considered the sheer consequences of what was about to unfold.

“If not for the manifold…” A faint murmur escaped him. “We would be doomed.”

The manifold allowed the Martial Sages who fought off the tekvores to recuperate in less than an hour of real time.

If not for this major and crucial shortcoming of Martial Sages being promptly handled, they couldn’t have deployed the sixty Martial Sages that they had come back from the Esocline Federation just hours prior.

With five convoys converging upon the Panama Continent with potentially hostile intentions, the Emperor of Harmony couldn’t hold back even a single Martial Sage.

Each of the over three hundred Martial Sages of human civilization had been deployed across the continent, waiting to receive the five convoys in a fiery defensive battle to protect the Panama Continent.

Many nations across the entire continent declared martial law once more, putting the entire continent in a state of emergency.

They had no idea whether the Martial Sages would actually be able to hold back the incoming convoy of true world aliens once more.

Given the horror story that was the power of each individual tekvore, they didn’t dare assume that Martial Sages would naturally be stronger or naturally be able to succeed against their various enemies.

The Martial Sages themselves understood this truth after going through the reports of the previous battles.

They understood that this was another situation that was so extreme that it was likely that their status as Martial Sages were not enough to guarantee their success or survival.

Thankfully, they had long grown accustomed to this mindset due to their eleven years in the Central Highlands of the Beast Domain, where not even Martial Sages could be too safe.

To a certain extent, the same was true of human civilization in Beast Incursion.

Every existing nation, organization, and human territory had survived seventeen long years of the Beast Incursion.

Day in and day out, the relentless bombarding of frenzied beasts and monsters had tempered human civilization to an extraordinary degree.

They didn’t need to ‘prepare for war’ against the true world.

No, they were already prepared for a war.

They had lived their lives in an existential war for many years.

Each inch of human territory was extremely well-protected and extremely well-defended.

It meant that human civilization didn’t need to undergo a fundamental change in how it organized itself anymore. The Collectivist Reforms that the Emperor of Harmony had proposed were simply enhancing the cohesion of human civilization to mobilize its effective power more completely.

Regardless, for now, they were profoundly over-reliant on the World Bridge.

“We need more World Bridges,” the Emperor of Harmony realized. “If for no other reason than the fact that we can’t be so reliant on a single point of failure that could cripple all of human civilization.”

What would happen if the World Bridge experienced wear and tear like all machines and eventually broke down?

Then all Martial Sages would be concentrated in the Kandrian Empire and unable to be swiftly deployed across human civilization.

“Thankfully, with the resources that the Esocline Federation and the Kandrian Empire have, we can build another one.”

However, the biggest issue with the World Bridge was its sheer energy consumption, accounting for a truly absurd amount of energy with each activation.

It turned out that creating a wormhole was highly energy-intensive.

It was why the Emperor of Harmony had already commenced the construction of economic corridors for high-speed Martial Artist transmission across the entire continent. They truly needed an alternative to the World Bridge, and they needed it quickly.

“Your Majesty,” an official drew his attention with a serious expression. “All five Martial Sage parties have been deployed through the World Bridge. However, we have kept the World Bridge on standby as per protocol to facilitate their return. Of the five convoys, two don’t have a Transcendent candidate caliber Martial Artist. We have tried compensating by deploying multiple peak Sages in the two remaining battalions as per protocol.”

The Emperor of Harmony nodded. “Continue monitoring the situation on the incoming convoys. Work with the closest Sage-level powerhouses to potentially deploy their siege weapons from afar to attack the incoming convoys.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

He breathed deeply as he steeled his nerves for what was about to come.

The fact that two of their battalions were absent Transcendent candidates was truly nerve-wracking.

Even if Martial Sages as a whole may no longer be as invincible as before, Bodhisattva Maitreyi proved that the Transcendent candidate power level was still a peak that could not be overcome easily.

“…If only Ieyasu didn’t betray us.”

The Emperor of Harmony grew frustrated just thinking about it.

If the Panama Continent had him and Rui, then the Emperor of Harmony would be a lot more confident in their ability to deal with the incoming attacks from the true world. And yet, one of them was still in a coma while the other had betrayed them, perhaps already having run off to the true world.

“Five minutes left, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor of Harmony’s attention returned to the present as several large screens at the very forefront of the strategic command center of the Kandrian Empire began showing footage of the Martial Sages reaching each location.

“Let’s pray that we emerge from these battles victorious,” the Emperor of Harmony’s tone was ominous.

–