Keon retracted the command to halt all manufacturing.
The immense, interconnected industrial complex of UHS1 immediately surged back to life, the background hum of a billion automated processes resuming its calculated rhythm.
However, the objective had fundamentally changed: every process was now subservient to the singular goal of defense and, if necessary, counter-invasion.
Keon opened the universal communication channel. The moment the feed unlocked, chaos poured in.
Millions of candidates were connected, but only fragments mattered. Threats, panic, boasting, desperation, It was a war.
Keon did not reply. He simply skimmed through the interface, his Neural Nexus filtering at impossible speed, isolating the most revealing exchanges.
[Universe 643]
"Hey, what is your phase 5 mission, mine is to invade another civilization... Be prepared I am coming hehehe... Evil laugh."
[Universe 6664]
"@55543, come on, I am waiting for you."
Keon registered the tone instantly, the 55543 is confident without data. Either reckless or hiding strength, he scrolled below.
[Universe 102991]
"My task is to defend my world from an invasive civilization. Has anyone else got this? I do not even have a planet yet."
[Universe 45012]
"@102991 same here. Although my planet has been barren, I am still on a continent. How are we supposed to defend against a civilization?"
[Universe 90877]
"@102991 @45012 you are already dead. I am coming for you."
Keon's processing core tagged the last speaker as high-risk. Psychological dominance tactic, likely predatory.
[Universe 77101]
"Phase Five is insane, half the candidates vanished instantly. Is anyone else seeing the population count?"
[Universe 77102]
"@77101 stop talking about it. Talking does not save you."
…
[Universe 333008]
"My mission is to enslave an invasive civilization. Is that even possible? Does anyone know the rules?"
[Universe 11144]
"@333008 if the system gives you the option, it means someone already did it before."
…
[Universe 900001]
"Hahaha this is perfect. I finally get to use my undead army. Anyone with blood is finished."
[Universe 800114]
"@900001 undead army? Delicious. I am hungry, I just digested my star."
Keon's attention immediately shifted toward these both predators, He marked both universes for long-term observation.
[Universe 21077]
"I refuse. I am not invading anyone. There must be another way."
[Universe 988178]
"@21077 your denial has been detected, but you will perish. If you don't want to do it."
…
[Universe 88801]
"Does anyone know, can native people counter the invasive civilization? I mean help the player."
[Universe 55512]
"@88801 if they can really counter attack and win along with the player, then it will count as a win."
[Universe 600004]
"My mission is to counterattack only. That means someone is already coming."
[Universe 600004]
"Can anyone help me… I can sense a dot, which is expanding into a huge portal. Looks like someone is invading this planet."
…
The collective reaction of the remaining 555,555,555 candidates to the Phase Five notification was a cacophony of digital chaos… shock, strategic posturing, and naked terror.
Keon closed the channel halfway, leaving it on passive monitoring, patterns were clear now.
Most candidates were still shouting into the void, trying to intimidate strangers, clinging to bravado or fear. A handful spoke like predators, while fewer still spoke like planners.
Keon was neither.
"Phase Five," Keon calculated calmly. "This is not a test of strength. It is a test of preparation speed."
On the planetary scale, UHS1 rotated slowly around the sun, bristling with dormant infrastructure, silent weapons, and adaptive systems waiting for first contact.
Whoever came first would define the rules, and Keon intended to rewrite them.
The pattern was undeniable: The Universe filter was escalating challenges based on a candidate's current scale of influence.
Only those like him, who had achieved total planetary conquest and established a self-sufficient industrial base (Task 3 completion), were deemed ready for an external, civilization-level threat.
The others were still locked in internal culling or individual growth cycles.
'I was not merely rewarded for my efficiency; I was qualified for this task. The others are still competing amongst themselves; I am being prepared for a war against a peer civilization,'
Keon analyzed a cold, calculating sense of satisfaction mingling with the existential threat.
He briefly skimmed the desperate strategic chats before turning the channel to monitor-only status. The time for discussion was over.
…
After thinking of next plan,
'I have to prepare and equip all my machines with these Tier 1 and 2 weapons.'
Keon, with a thought, shifted his current consciousness through neural nexus into the smaller, more agile Exoshell 3.0 body, maintaining the colossal 4.0 as a static, powerful defensive point near the IEPU complex.
The Exoshell 3.0 moved with silent, fluid grace down the reinforced, anti-thermal ramp into the main operations center.
The entire control room was a massive, dome-shaped cavity, the internal walls composed of the transparent Unified Adaptive Composite Alloy that served as a dynamic, spherical display.
Countless individual displays flickered across the surface, each one a live feed from the three hundred and sixty GSAs in orbit and the thousands of ground-based SW drones.
The planet's surface, once mapped for resources, was now mapped for threats.
Keon focused his Neural Nexus on the massive wall-displays, watching the vast, silent expanse of UHS1. No sign of the "Invasive Candidate Civilization" yet. They would likely appear on the edge of the planet, requiring time to bridge the spatial gap.
This remaining duration, Keon intended to use it perfectly.
…
As he observed the whole planet UHS1, Keon simultaneously initiated a planetary-scale stress test of his new Adaptive Synthesis talent. He targeted a cluster of ten specialized mining units operating in a high-pressure, deep-bore titanium seam kilometers away.
Objective: Increase mining speed by 5% without increasing energy consumption.
In the past, this would have required him to manually input the stress data, calculate the optimal structural harmonics, and then update the UMPU cluster's fabrication parameters… a process of several hours.
Now, it was instantaneous.
Real-time Data: Neural Nexus and Material Recognition provided instantaneous stress loads and oscillation frequencies from the drill heads.
Adaptive Synthesis: He instantly synthesized this real-time environmental data with the existing Core Optimization blueprint.
The whole neural nexus network automatically calculated that a 0.5% mass reduction in the drill arm's non-structural internal support lattice would offset the energy required for a 3% increase in motor RPM, simultaneously optimizing the resonant frequency to match the natural harmonics of the titanium seam.
Deployment: The new blueprint was pushed across the Neural Nexus to the ten mining units.
The ten units instantly flickered as their internal fabrication systems made the microscopic adjustments. The drilling speed metrics on the display jumped from 8.2 meters/minute to 8.6 meters/minute. Mission accomplished in under three seconds.
'Unbelievable efficiency,' Keon registered the details of his new Adaptive Synthesis use,
'Defense will not rely on sheer numbers, but on the ability to instantly adapt every unit to the combat environment. Every GSA, every drone, every railgun can now be fine-tuned in the heat of battle.'
…
Just as Keon was optimizing the thermal efficiency of the IEPU units, a private notification flashed in his periphery.
[Universe 5757]
"@8888888888, Hey Keon! Trosso here. I noticed the system notification for Phase Five. A truly brutal turn of events for countless players. I hope your mission is manageable.
My mission is to "Conquer the Dark Continent." It seems the stakes are rising for everyone. The immense amount of sand and quartz you sent is already proving vital for my new strength."
Speaking of which, I've stumbled upon another type of magical material during my expansion into the deep forests of my new territory. Although it is far more potent than the Lumina-Copper. It is known as curse metal.
What exactly is your mission for Phase Five? And would you be interested in a sample of this new blue material?"
Keon glanced through the whole message and processed the information.
'Looks like Trosso's mission is still in a tiered challenge system; he is still focused on internal conquest of the planet. Probably, the magic world he resided in is larger than my UHS1.'
Keon thought flickered, then looking at the information of new material described by the Trosso.
'Curse metal, it's interesting.'
The mention of a "Curse" material immediately triggered Keon's interest.
Keon typed a reply:
[Universe 8888888888]
"My Phase Five task is to "Defend, Counterattack, Destroy or Enslave an Invasive Candidate Civilization." The game has indeed escalated to existential warfare."
"Also, I'm very interested in new material. Please forward a small sample of the material and any available detailed analysis or basic description of its properties you can gather. I will exchange a substantial volume of raw quartz crystal for the data and the sample."
…