Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 1608: Gathering Focus

Compared to the Magus Civilization and the Grand Apocalypse World, the Gallant Federation’s insights and achievements in technology truly surpassed those of most other civilizations.

After acquiring the wreckage of a square warship left behind by the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, the Gallant Federation employed some sort of method to pinpoint yet another ancient civilization’s ruins.

This one, however, was extremely small in scale. It was likely nothing more than a logistical supply station used by the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s legions in the distant past.

Yet it was precisely through this supply station that the Gallant Federation was able to discover and confirm another thing—the region surrounding the Shadowbat Civilization, currently embroiled in war, was highly likely the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s final primary area of operations.

Even the star charts and navigation routes preserved within the station revolved around that very star domain.

It took the Gallant Federation nearly a decade to move from the initial discovery to confirming that the Shadowbat Civilization’s periphery might conceal the remnants of an ancient technological civilization.

Ten years was, in truth, a very short span of time—especially for law-wielding powerhouses of top-tier civilizations, and for those deeply involved in the Clash of Civilizations.

Although the Gallant Federation did uncover valuable artifacts and ancient cultivation techniques within the ruins of the Black Merlot Civilization, federal scientists soon confirmed that these methods were fundamentally incompatible with human physiology.

Differences in organs, blood composition, and overall bodily structure made direct replication of those primordial cultivation techniques impossible.

Instead, another aspect of the Black Merlot Civilization uncovered within the ruins piqued the federal scientists’ interest.

Beyond their impressive individual evolutionary capabilities, the ancient Black Merlot Civilization appeared to have achieved extraordinary mastery in beast-taming techniques.

Millions of years ago, the powerhouses of the Black Merlot Civilization had ridden ancient war beasts into battle, clashing head-on with the Eiyurant Papillon Folk.

It was a confrontation of flesh and blood against cold technological warships.

A clash of savagery against civilization.

From the perspective of the Gallant Federation, the Black Merlot Civilization undoubtedly represented ignorance and barbarism, while the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization—seemingly the ultimate victor—stood as a symbol of wisdom, civilization, and triumph.

Their conflict was much like the present-day war between the Magus Civilization and the Gallant Federation itself.

“The Black Merlot Civilization’s beast-taming techniques could indeed help us cultivate Astral Beasts and extract the various elements needed for genetic experiments.

“However, compared to what can be uncovered from the Black Merlot Civilization’s ruins, I believe the legacy of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization is of far greater significance to our federation.

“Evidence shows that tens of millions of years ago, the Black Merlot Civilization went to war with the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization—and that the latter ultimately achieved a decisive victory.”

Emory, a renowned archaeologist, social analyst, genetic serum specialist, and intelligent systems scientist of the Gallant Federation’s professional archaeological team, delivered this assessment to the federation’s high command.

His words immediately drew serious attention.

Compared to cultivation-based civilizations, the achievements of technological civilizations were indeed far easier for the Gallant Federation to absorb and replicate.

The federation’s rapid rise to top-tier status had, after all, largely depended on assimilating the technological legacy of the ancient Alttis Civilization.

Now, the question was: could the newly discovered Eiyurant Papillon Civilization trigger a second technological transformation for the Gallant Federation?

With support from numerous federal scientists, the high command quickly authorized the deployment of additional forces toward the Grand Apocalypse World.

This was because the primary excavation zone of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s ruins lay within the broader star domain currently influenced by the Magus Civilization.

As a result, the Arid Expanse Worlds, once largely ignored by the Gallant Federation, had become increasingly lively in recent years.

Beyond the ten or so warfleets already dispatched to investigate the ruins, the Gallant Federation soon committed additional forces to the region.

To avoid alerting the Magus Civilization too early, these reinforcements were initially deployed with extreme caution.

On the surface, the fleets appeared to be heading toward the Golden Rock Worlds.

In the Gallant Federation’s own assessment, they believed the Magus Civilization was still unaware of the Eiyurant Papillon and Black Merlot civilizations’ ruins.

Yet the Magus Civilization was not so easily deceived.

Once it detected the Gallant Federation’s sustained troop buildup across nearby star domains and the intensifying conflict around the Shadowbat Civilization, it began reinforcing the battlefield where Sein and his allies were fighting on a massive scale.

What had once been a neglected, peripheral medium-sized star-domain battlefield had, over the past few years, become increasingly critical.

And when the number of law-wielding beings gathering around Marvelous Plane alone approached one hundred, nearly everyone understood that something else was going on.

***

Marvelous Plane...

Seventeen years had passed since this low-level plane was last ravaged by war.

For a world of this tier, seventeen years marked only the very beginning of recovery.

Thanks to substantial support from the Magus Alliance, Marvelous Plane had seen remarkable restoration and development over the past decade.

Vast stretches of green forest had reclaimed the land once more.

Even so, in many corners of the world, the scars of war were still plainly visible.

“Marvelous Plane’s rapid recovery is closely tied to the constant troop movements of the Gallant Federation and the Magus Civilization in the surrounding star domains,” Sein remarked from within the Ashen Fortress.

Over the past decade, the Magus Civilization and the Gallant Federation had clashed repeatedly in the starfields around Marvelous Plane.

Each large-scale conflict lasted two to three years.

Typically, after a period of fierce fighting, both sides would withdraw for half a year to a year before regrouping and resuming hostilities.

More often than not, it was the enemy that chose to pull back.

On rare occasions, the Magus Civilization also opted to avoid direct confrontation.

The primary forces representing the Gallant Federation in this starfield were the Aquarians.

Over the past ten years, King Orven had redeployed more than eighty percent of Aquaria’s total forces to this region.

At the same time, the Grand Apocalypse World appeared to be shifting more of its attention toward the battlefields surrounding the Shadowbat Civilization and Marvelous Plane.

Several sizable legions from the Grand Apocalypse World had already arrived in nearby star domains.

More recently, multiple Gallant Federation warfleets had also moved into the vicinity of Marvelous Plane.

As the Gallant Federation continued to reinforce its presence, the Magus Civilization naturally responded in kind.

In Marvelous Plane alone, nearly thirty allied deities, along with several law-wielding knights and mages, had been deployed over the past few years.

The convergence of tens of millions of troops gradually turned Marvelous Plane into a vital resource transit hub.

That was precisely why Sein remarked that Marvelous Plane had unexpectedly benefited from the war in recent years.