At Tom’s command, both his side and the Moraise civilization immediately abandoned all other tasks and began preparing for evacuation with full effort.

All residential ships and critical vessels, such as transport ships loaded with essential supplies, crucial supercomputing ships, and so on, immediately gathered together and were classified as the First Echelon.

If events unfolded as they anticipated, then these First Echelon ships would have the highest evacuation priority.

Of course, Tom’s side had a higher priority than the Moraise civilization.

It was already good enough to take them along; Tom was not so kind as to be polite and deferential in the face of a life-or-death crisis.

Following the First Echelon was the Second Echelon, composed of another portion of transport ships, warships, and scientific research vessels, then the Third Echelon, consisting of various unmanned combat facilities, inexpensive basic material ships, and so on, all the way to the Fifth Echelon.

While formulating various specific evacuation plans for all possible scenarios, numerous ships continuously maneuvered rapidly in space, simultaneously awaiting further developments.

Time slowly passed. About 7 hours after Tom’s detectors, positioned near the core of the battlefield, observed neutrinos, some new changes occurred.

At this moment, the entire Star Beast Nation seemed to shake instantly. The light from over a hundred stars also flickered simultaneously at this instant, like a light bulb flickering due to unstable voltage.

After this flicker, the core of the battlefield, which seemed to be shrouded in layers of "mist," released boundless light, as if stardust had converged and a primordial star had finally ignited nuclear fusion, emitting its first ray to dispel the mist.

This is...

A supernova explosion occurred!

No, the Destroyer Civilization’s Cataclysm of Destruction has been activated!

The moment this beam of light was observed, the detectors Tom had placed there were instantly destroyed. And because the light carrying that energy had not yet arrived, in Tom’s eyes, the core of the battlefield still appeared as layers of mist.

But he knew that the influence, based on the spatial dimension and not bound by the speed of light, had very likely already reached his solar system.

If this were to cause any changes, it might not be long before it appeared before him!

Tom’s detection devices, deployed throughout the solar system, were simultaneously set to maximum power and highest precision, meticulously monitoring every change in the solar system.

Then, the next moment, many black, spherical objects appeared in the detector’s field of view.

These black spheres were all perfectly spherical, varying in size. The largest had a diameter of thousands of kilometers, while the smallest were like marbles.

Black spheres?

Tom paused, then observed carefully. Upon closer inspection, he saw faint, scattered points of light within these black spheres. They dotted the almost pure black spheres, making them shimmer beautifully like jewels.

But...

Those weren’t points of light at all; they were clearly light emitted by numerous stars! And those black spheres weren’t spheres at all; they were clearly spatial gates!

More accurately, they should actually be the projection of a four-dimensional hypersphere in the three-dimensional universe.

Just as a three-dimensional sphere projected onto a two-dimensional paper plane becomes a circle, a four-dimensional hypersphere manifested in the three-dimensional universe is a sphere!

At this moment, the spatial barrier between the Star Beast Nation and the three-dimensional universe was like a sieve, riddled with numerous holes and gaps. The starlight from the three-dimensional universe passed through these openings and reached Tom’s eyes.

Under the energy of the supernova explosion, this spatial channel connecting the three-dimensional universe and the Star Beast Nation was truly opened!

"Evacuate! Evacuate simultaneously! Evacuate quickly!"

He had originally thought only one spatial channel would appear, but unexpectedly, so many had appeared at this moment. Given this, there was no need for sequential evacuation or echelon management; everyone should evacuate together.

The moment the order was given, the most core ships of Tom’s First Echelon fiercely advanced towards the nearest large spatial channel. Simultaneously, to improve evacuation efficiency and avoid congestion, fleets from other echelons also selected nearby large channels and maneuvered at full power.

The Moraise civilization did the same, accelerating at full power.

In just a few minutes, the First Echelon fleet surged towards the large black sphere, then plunged in without hesitation.

To this day, Tom still knew very little about dark energy theory and spatial dimension theory. The simultaneous appearance of so many spatial gates, rather than just one, was a true manifestation of this "limited knowledge."

Because of this, Tom was completely unaware of whether these spatial channels were safe.

Perhaps some changes were hidden within these channels, and their fleet would be instantly torn apart upon entering?

But now, there was no time to worry! Remaining in the Star Beast Nation would inevitably lead to their demise, no matter which side won. Escaping offered a glimmer of hope.

Then, Tom’s view was covered by an endless array of distorted and chaotic light and shadows, as if a grand light show was unfolding around his fleet.

Countless flashes and bright spots appeared and disappeared, disappeared and reappeared, sometimes close, sometimes far, sometimes blue, sometimes red, sometimes bright, sometimes dim—all sorts of bizarre and fantastical phenomena.

Tom cautiously maneuvered his fleet, daring not to make any unnecessary movements beyond doing his utmost to observe and record these changes.

Remarkably, his main body’s First Echelon fleet maintained contact with the other echelons and the Moraise civilization throughout this process, and it was not the special connection between clones, but conventional communication based on superluminal transmission.

So Tom simultaneously controlled the evacuation of five echelon fleets, while also maintaining contact with the Moraise civilization.

After just a few minutes, the surrounding dazzling light and shadows rapidly disappeared, and a pure black expanse dotted with starlight quickly emerged.

Tom knew that this likely meant the spatial "crossing" process was nearing its end.

After careful discernment, Tom confirmed that the external space was still within the Milky Way. He could even roughly determine the coordinates outside using the star map database.

This was about 600 light-years from the solar system where he was initially captured by the Star Beast Nation, which was not far.

However...

Receiving observation information from the other four echelons, Tom paused.

The external scenes seen by the other four echelons were not the same as what the First Echelon saw!

This seemed to imply that different spatial channels led to different external coordinates!

As he rapidly calculated, Tom also quickly determined the coordinates of the other four fleets, concluding that each was hundreds to two thousand light-years away from him.

The closest fleet was fine; he would only need to travel a few decades to rendezvous with it. But the other fleets would probably have to be abandoned.

The distance was too great; rather than making a long voyage to retrieve them, it would be better to simply rebuild them. After all, those fleets contained no rare or essential materials that needed to be recovered.

"Fortunately, all valuable materials and personnel were placed in the First Echelon. Even if all four other fleets are lost, it won’t be a big deal for me."

Tom breathed a slight sigh of relief, then thought of the Moraise civilization.

Since different spatial channels led to different coordinates, then... his side and the Moraise civilization would likely also be separated.

Quickly relaying the relevant intelligence to the Moraise civilization, Tom rapidly said, "Report your coordinates!"

The Moraise civilization’s reply came immediately: "Preliminary observations indicate that our First Echelon fleet’s coordinates have not deviated much from before; we are in a nearby solar system...

No good!

The Grey Worm Civilization! It’s the Grey Worm Civilization! They’re here! They’re here! Bluetoth Civilization, save us, save..."

The shifting light and shadows before him finally stabilized, and the vast starry sky enveloped Tom completely.

The journey through the spatial channel had ended. Tom knew that he had now truly returned to the three-dimensional universe.

At the same time, his communication with the other four echelon fleets and the Moraise civilization was instantly cut off.

Without the Star Beast Nation as a relay, the range of superluminal communication could not extend that far.

Recalling the message from the Moraise civilization just before communication was lost, Tom’s heart sank.

It was actually the Grey Worm Civilization?!

Before being captured by the Star Beast Nation, his side had broadcasted a distress signal via gravitational wave communication into space, attempting to use this bait to lure out the Grey Worm Civilization.

He had not expected that the Grey Worm Civilization had indeed been lured out and had truly arrived near that solar system, while his side, after a journey through the Star Beast Nation, was teleported out, with the Moraise civilization still being teleported to that location, but he himself was teleported 600 light-years away!

This, wasn’t the Moraise civilization like a meat bun, conveniently thrown right in front of the Grey Worm Civilization, that vicious dog?!

Tom gritted his teeth and immediately put all ships in the First Echelon into warp drive, beginning to travel at approximately four times the speed of light.

The Grey Worm Civilization could not be let go, and the Moraise civilization had to be saved. At the same time, this place was not suitable for prolonged stay, and they had to leave.

Since that was the case, they would immediately move towards the Moraise civilization!

However, before that, Tom needed to first rendezvous with the Second Echelon, the fleet closest to him, only over 300 light-years away.

Because at this moment, most of the ships in the First Echelon fleet were critical vessels such as residential ships, supply ships, and supercomputing ships. Although important, they...

Did not have many warships! There were only 100,000 of them in total.

The Second Echelon had 500,000 manned warships and ten million unmanned warships. He had to combine these forces to have any chance of temporarily holding off the Grey Worm Civilization’s attack.

Only temporarily holding off the attack, not defeating them.

Tom was not that arrogant.

But, as long as he could temporarily hold off the attack, Tom could buy time for his industrial production. Once more warships were produced, he could ultimately defeat the Grey Worm Civilization, and with great hope!

However, merging with the Second Echelon fleet would take at least 75 years. Although its course partially overlapped with rescuing the Moraise civilization, it would still take about 120 years to reach that solar system.

Adding the two together, it would be about 200 years.

"Moraise civilization, you must hold on, and you must tie down the Grey Worm Civilization. It will only take 200 years, and I will be there..."

But...

The Moraise civilization’s First Echelon fleet configuration was roughly similar to his own, consisting of a small number of warships and numerous critical vessels.

They did not have much combat power available, and it would likely be difficult for them to hold out for 200 years.

But, regardless of that for now, first travel to that solar system! It’s still the same saying: first do your best, then leave the rest to fate!

Tom’s heart was filled with urgency. But at this moment, urgency seemed to be of no use.

He finally calmed his mind and thus finally had the spare capacity to think about other things.

The series of events he had experienced in the Star Beast Nation had left too many questions in Tom’s mind.

Was that Space-level Star Beast... truly just capturing him for revenge for its "offspring"?

After entering the Star Beast Nation, was it truly just testing his combat limit?

The Destroyer Civilization’s entry into the Star Beast Nation seemed to be a sudden event. Based on comprehensive intelligence analysis, the Star Beasts seemed completely unprepared for it. So... how did the Destroyer Civilization find the Star Beast Nation?

From the current situation, it seemed that the Destroyer Civilization needed some time to prepare to launch the "Cataclysm of Destruction" strategic weapon. So why didn’t the Star Beasts use this time to escape the Star Beast Nation, avoiding a direct confrontation with the Destroyer Civilization, but instead all rushed forward like moths to a flame, confronting the Destroyer Civilization head-on?

Was it out of necessity, or did the Star Beasts believe they had the strength to confront the Destroyer Civilization head-on?

And...

How was the battle progressing now? Which faction ultimately won?

Tom knew that no matter which side ultimately won, it would have a significant impact on the entire Milky Way’s situation.

And, to determine which side would ultimately win, Tom knew that it likely depended on whether the Star Beasts not fleeing the Star Beast Nation but instead going to confront the Destroyer Civilization head-on was "out of necessity" or "a proactive confrontation."

If it was out of necessity, coupled with the Destroyer Civilization’s surprise attack, then obviously, the Destroyer Civilization had a greater chance of winning.

If it was a proactive confrontation, then the outcome was still uncertain.

But he likely couldn’t make a final judgment on this.

Tom stopped pondering this question, and then, suddenly, thought of something else.

Instantly, Tom’s entire body suddenly turned cold, and his brain seemed to freeze.

How did the Destroyer Civilization find the Star Beast Nation?

Soon after he was captured by the Star Beast Nation, the Destroyer Civilization suddenly intruded. Was this... truly just a coincidence?