Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

When Fang Zheng met with Darth Vader again, even with the mask on, Fang Zheng could feel the low pressure emanating from the latter.

”Lord Vida, I regret your loss...”

Fang Zheng spread his hands helplessly, and Darth Vader nodded sullenly.

To be honest, if it was just the destruction of a planet, neither would be so surprised. After all, Fang Zheng has plenty of Star Destroyers at his disposal, which can be blown up and then collected for mining by the Stone Village. On the Galactic Empire’s side, the Dead Star has the same capability.

But manipulating gravity to pull a satellite into collision... how to say it, it feels like watching primitive people use a catapult to launch a ballistic missile, it just looks bizarre.

As a result, along with the destruction of the planet Sernpidal, the Empire’s counterattack also fell apart, leaving Darth Vader with no choice but to order a retreat. After all, their initial goal was to reclaim Sernpidal, so they sent quite a few ground troops. Now all the ground troops were wiped out, and continuing to fight under these circumstances would only lead to defeat.

So, other than withdrawing the army and reorganizing the defense line, there wasn’t much else Darth Vader could do. This move also dealt a significant blow to the morale of the Imperial Army. Continuing to hold out would only lead to a dead end. Moreover, this army was just a vanguard, not the main force, and Darth Vader is the de facto leader of the Galactic Empire. If anything went wrong during the battle with the vanguard, it would be quite a joke.

Therefore, to be cautious, Darth Vader chose to retreat and immediately contacted Fang Zheng.

”Mr. Fang Zheng, we need your assistance.”

”In what area?”

”In the military area.”

This time, Darth Vader answered without hesitation.

”We need you to help us form a defense line in the current Northern Expanse to prevent these guys from invading again... though it’s hard to admit, but these guys’ individual combat strength is beyond imagination...”

At this point, Darth Vader was also helpless, and Fang Zheng understood what he meant. Fang Zheng had watched the previous battles, and compared to their adversaries, the stormtroopers were indeed weaklings. In fact, from a combat perspective, those invaders were not much inferior to the Jedi Knights, which for a Jedi who could wipe out a group of stormtroopers felt like facing an entire army of Jedi Knights...

The only fortunate thing is that these guys don’t use the Primordial Force like Jedi Knights do, but their threat isn’t lessened because of it. On the contrary, these fearless creatures are much harder to deal with than imagined...

Not to mention that the stormtroopers are masters at outlining human forms... okay, that was a joke.

The Galactic Empire had never encountered a civilization using biological technology like this before, so they suffered quite a bit at first. Now both sides are evenly matched in fleet battles, but things are quite troublesome on the ground. Stormtroopers suffered heavy losses, with little to no achievements.

After finally dealing with the Rebel Army, they encountered such a formidable enemy. I don’t know if Darth Vader has any regrets... hmm, probably not.

”I need to think about it.”

”Alright.”

After chatting with Darth Vader a bit more, Fang Zheng closed the video communication and gathered his subordinates to explain the current situation.

”What do you guys think?”

”I think we should unleash the Zerg.”

Little Hei raised his hand and suggested.

”Because the other side is also using bugs, right?”

”Well... you have a point...”

Hearing Little Hei’s suggestion, Fang Zheng shrugged and then looked again at the image before him. This was a video taken by Little Ding Dong about the alien race’s combat. One could see that most of these invaders were alien life forms resembling humans. However, unlike ordinary humanoid creatures, they seemed more like a fusion of Zerg and humans. For example, Fang Zheng saw a combat unit that looked similar to a Hydralisk, but its lower half wasn’t like a Hydralisk’s tail; instead, it had two legs like a Lizard Man...

Not only that, these Lizard Man-like creatures had four arms, wielding Greatswords, and even used machine guns and other weapons, which was completely different from Fang Zheng’s Swarm. After all, Fang Zheng’s Swarm followed a complete biological technology path, whereas this side seemed to have focused on another tech tree.

”However, I’m not too inclined to use the Swarm, as it can easily be misunderstood.”

Saying this, Fang Zheng sighed and then connected with the Insect Matriarch Mirune through the Swarm Network.

”Mirune, let’s make a deal. Can you really not transform the Jumping Bugs into Pikachu?”

”I refuse, Master. That fluffy form will only waste energy.”

”But wouldn’t the impact be stronger? Look, imagine seeing a fluffy Pikachu, and just as you approach to touch it, its belly suddenly opens, revealing a bloody maw to bite the enemy. Isn’t that quite thrilling?”

”With all due respect, Master, the Swarm’s inherent intimidation doesn’t need these external embellishments.”

True, the sight of hundreds of thousands of Swarm descending from a hillside is incomparable to hundreds of thousands of Pikachu.

However, the Swarm’s appearance is truly a drawback... They appear more evil than any race of the Galactic Empire, and they look similar to the other side. If anyone suspects the Heavenly Dao Palace is related to the invaders, that would be troublesome. For this reason, Fang Zheng immediately ruled out deploying the Swarm Army. Next up, he’d have to rely on the Heavenly Dao Palace girls.

”Alright, then. The Heavenly Dao Palace will send some people to the frontline to assist the Galactic Empire in defending against the invaders. I will send the Swarm to circle from outside the Milky Way to intercept them.”

The opponents are only the Vanguard Army, and the attack has just begun. If the Army is cut off from the rear, the threat to the Milky Way would also decrease. For Fang Zheng, this is more than just assistance; the existence of this Milky Way is quite necessary, and he wouldn’t want a group of crazed creatures coming in to wreck havoc here.

After all, as the saying goes, when the city gates catch fire, the fish in the moat will suffer. Given the invaders’ reckless actions, once they deal with the Milky Way, their next target could very well be the Alfalfa Galaxy where Fang Zheng is located.

So to preemptively avoid such a scenario, keeping the enemies out of the Star System is the correct choice.

”Are we dispatching?”

Hearing this, Little Hei excitedly stood up, and Fang Zheng nodded.

”That’s right. You’ve all read the reports from Eiriri and Shihou, haven’t you? We’ll be deploying the Second Fleet primarily for planet conquest operations. It’s about time you all went out to unwind.”

”YEAH, great! I’ll go tell everyone the news right now!”

With that, Little Hei jumped up and ran out.

”Wait, Little Hei! We’re still in a meeting...!”

Illya quickly stood up in a panic and chased after Little Hei out of the room.

”It seems everyone’s been quite bottled up.”

Looking at the scene before him, Fang Zheng chuckled. Although everyone in the Expedition Army lived on the Ark of Star Spirits, like they did in the Heavenly Dao Palace, the tension and stress from the start of the expedition had been building up. Now, they finally had an outlet, realizing their wish.

Indeed, this is the Heavenly Dao Palace’s first large-scale external combat, so it’s a good opportunity to train unit collaborations between different forces.

Yet...

”These guys are tough to deal with.”

Looking at the star system map on the screen, Fang Zheng frowned, a serious expression on his face. This star system is different from other places; it’s rather desolate. If compared to the Earth’s surface, the Northern Expanse is like a vast uninhabited desert, with cities spaced far apart. And since it’s a border area, civilization isn’t highly developed. It’s akin to Africa—while capable of acquiring weapons from the civilized world, they’re unable to build a single aircraft.

Given this scenario on the frontline, one can imagine how painful it would be. The battle lines are too spread out and dispersed; the opponent only needs to hold any point to make a Straight Charge, with nothing much blocking them in between. The Galactic Empire has trouble deploying reinforcements; if the Northern Expanse star system’s planet is attacked again, the fall of any planet signifies the failure of the entire front.

Most embarrassingly, the Dead Star built by the Galactic Empire is utterly useless here. As a fortress, its defense radius is too short. Moreover, the Northern Expanse isn’t the Aaltina Galaxy; putting down an Ishelron doesn’t provide peace of mind...

Speaking of which, if the Empire built an Ishelron, it would depend on whether the other side has Yang Weili...

But that’s not important. What’s crucial now is to see what those invaders intend to do.

Not long after Fang Zheng made his decision, contact from Darth Vader came again. A new round of defensive operations against the invaders had been formulated, and Darth Vader hoped the Heavenly Dao Palace would help defend a planet called Tandania. This planet, located on the edge of the Northern Expanse Galaxy, isn’t a critical loss if lost, but if held, it’s greatly useful because Tandania is a gateway to the transportation route of the Northern Expanse Galaxy’s resources. If it cannot be defended, the Empire’s resource transport capability would be reduced by more than half.

Darth Vader entrusting Fang Zheng with this task also demonstrates his great trust in the Heavenly Dao Palace.

Finally, it’s time for the Heavenly Dao Palace to officially enter the scene.