Chapter 1 Secondary Dimensional World, World Tree Civilization Controlled Zone, Tree King Palace

The Ancestor Tree King's mental link with Helaian was severed, and he knew she had been sealed by Black Star. He silently closed his eyes, his expression somber and bleak.

"What do we do?" The Stabilizing Tree King beside him asked, his tone complex.

The Ancestor Tree King rubbed his brow, his expression shifting, revealing frustration, disappointment, indignation, and regret.

After a moment of silence, he reopened his eyes and slowly spoke, his expression filled with helplessness and exhaustion.

"...Recall all troops stationed abroad, return to the secondary dimensional jurisdiction, and use all forces to defend the Mother Tree itself."

"Are we giving up the invasion?"

"Now is not the time to consider how to invade our opponents; it's time to guard against their counterattack."

The Ancestor Tree King's gaze was grave, a hint of unwillingness flashing within.

The coordinates of the Mother Tree's core had been exposed. If it were an ordinary opponent, the World Tree Civilization wouldn't be too panicked. They could seal off the dimension, mobilize heavy troops for a strict defense, and the enemy would have to cross countless defense lines even to attack the Mother Tree's core.

However, the three great civilizations were perfectly suited to counter this tactic. The High-Dimensional Apocalypse Transporter ignored any spatial seal and could penetrate any defense line. Once the Mother Tree's coordinates were exposed, it was like giving the three great civilizations the opportunity to steal their base, allowing them to strike directly at the heart.

The Ancestor Tree King dared not risk it and had to withdraw all troops to protect the Mother Tree itself. The offense and defense had been reversed, and now it was his turn to worry about the invasion of the three great civilizations.

And this approach, in the Ancestor Tree King's eyes, was merely a temporary solution. Even if they could repeatedly repel the armies of the three great civilizations, the Pivot Snake had been completely mastered by Black Star and could locate the Mother Tree's core at any time, meaning the World Tree would never have peace. The Ancestor Tree King could hardly think of a way to turn the tables. The civilization had thrived for so long, and he didn't know how long it had been since it had fallen into such dire straits.

They had hunted so many civilizations, and finally, they had met a tough opponent. Those who walk by the river are bound to get their shoes wet, and those who hunt geese all day will eventually get pecked in the eye.

"Is there really no way?" the Stabilizing Tree King asked in a low voice.

"Yes, and it's very simple. As long as we kill Black Star, everything will be solved," the Ancestor Tree King said expressionlessly.

"...If we could kill him, we would have already done it," the Stabilizing Tree King said with a distressed look.

"So the initiative of the war is no longer in our hands. Long-term strategies have lost the environment for execution. All we can do now is react to each move."

The Ancestor Tree King's tone was bitter.

Now, he didn't even know where his own fate would lead.

...

The Tree King's orders were transmitted through the mind network to all officers. Whether they felt shocked, panicked, or unwilling, all officers obediently carried out the orders.

The World Tree fleets that were wreaking havoc in the territories of the three great civilizations urgently withdrew in batches, and the army groups stationed outside the borders of the Shattered Star Ring also abandoned their strongholds, using wormhole jumps to leave and completely retreat.

The sudden withdrawal of the World Tree left many support units of the Star Alliance Army empty-handed, and many people were dumbfounded, not knowing what the World Tree was up to.

This intelligence was quickly passed up, attracting the attention of the higher-ups.

In the strategic command of the Star Alliance Army, an emergency meeting was underway.

The remote projections of the leaders of the three great civilizations were also present. They had received reports from the staff and were greatly surprised. They attended the meeting together to listen to the military's analysis of the reasons for the World Tree's withdrawal.

"The World Tree clearly has the initiative and can harass and devour our territory at will, but now it has suddenly stopped the invasion. Not only that, but even the army groups eyeing the borders of the Shattered Star Ring have been withdrawn. This situation is quite strange. We are not yet clear about the reason. What are your opinions?"

Commander Simon's tone was grave.

Everyone present had a serious expression, staring intently at the virtual strategic sand table.

They wouldn't optimistically think that the World Tree's withdrawal was a good thing. In their view, such an unreasonable behavior must be supported by reasonable unknown reasons.

In the military's view, the World Tree was probably up to something, but they didn't know the enemy's target, so the atmosphere was quite tense at this time, and anxiety permeated the air.

Teini tapped the table and said in a deep voice, "According to the staff's calculations, the World Tree's sudden withdrawal may be a feint, trying to mislead our judgment, while secretly brewing an unknown large-scale military operation, and the target is likely to be our Central Star Sea, the home planet of the three great civilizations!"

Hearing this, the expressions of the people became even more serious.

"In that case, we must continue to strengthen the defense of our home planets! The World Tree is withdrawing its troops at a critical moment. The action it is brewing is definitely not a simple formality. If we relax, they might really succeed!"

Simon's expression was solemn, and his voice was firm.

At this time, an officer of the EsGod hesitated and said, "Does no one think that this is because something happened within the World Tree?"

The EsGod leader turned his head and glanced at him, and said in a deep voice: "We can't pin our hopes on the enemy having problems themselves, we must first consider the worst possibilities in everything."

At this time, Louis, the president of the Light, thoughtfully said: "The World Tree's withdrawal must have a reason. Could it be that the traitor secretly leaked some intelligence to the World Tree again, leading to their new decision?"

As soon as the voice fell, many officers' faces hardened, and their expressions became more solemn.

In the past six months, while resisting the World Tree's invasion, the three great civilizations have been thoroughly investigating traitors internally. There are a lot of suspects, but they can't confirm the culprit.

And under the situation of foreign enemies pressing the border, the three great civilizations did not dare to kill the wrong ones rather than let them go. The cooperation of the Star Alliance Army was hard-won, and they were also afraid of causing internal turmoil by wrongly accusing innocent allies, which was inappropriate.

Mabrus agreed: "This is also a possibility, the existence of traitors is still an unstable factor, and it is most likely to lead to various variables."

"We still have to come up with an effective way to expose the traitor." The EsGod leader emphasized.

Just when everyone was expressing their opinions and discussing endlessly, another remote projection suddenly appeared in the conference room.

Everyone turned their heads to look, and the person who came was none other than Black Star.

"Yo, the meeting has already started, it seems you didn't wait for me."

Han Xiao looked around, nodded to everyone, and everyone nodded in response.

As one of the pillars of the war, he naturally received a meeting invitation, but he delayed it for a while in order to confirm that the coordinates of the Mother Tree sensed by the Pivot Snake were correct.

"You're late." Mabrus said helplessly.

Han Xiao waved his hand.

"Don't worry about these details, what were you talking about just now?"

Simon took the initiative to explain:

"The World Tree suddenly withdrew its troops and stopped the invasion of the entire territory. We are guessing the motive for their move... The biggest possibility at present is that the World Tree is brewing a large-scale military operation against the home planets of the three great civilizations. Another possibility is that traitors have leaked new intelligence."

"Oh? The World Tree withdrew?"

Han Xiao blinked, but he only knew about this now.

He thought for a while, then understood the World Tree Civilization's motives, and couldn't help but smile:

"Alright, don't scare yourselves, the World Tree retreated because they were afraid."

"Afraid?"

Everyone looked at each other, not understanding what Han Xiao meant.

The EsGod leader coughed and said, "Black Star, don't joke around, this matter is very serious."

"Who has the time to joke with you?" Han Xiao clicked his tongue, "I accelerated the maturation of the Pivot Snake, and now I have mastered the precise coordinates of the World Tree's core. The World Tree sensed this through bidirectional induction. They retreated because they were afraid that we would strike directly at their core, so they are returning to defense. There are no other possibilities."

"You found the location of the World Tree's core? Really?!"

The three of them were stunned, and suddenly overjoyed, but also a little terrified, fearing that this was fake.

Everyone was shocked, their faces changed drastically, and they stared blankly at Han Xiao, their eyes full of disbelief.

It wasn't until Han Xiao gave a definite answer that the three leaders and the officers present were truly excited and enthusiastic.

"How did you do it?!"

Mabrus hurriedly asked, and everyone else also looked at Han Xiao eagerly.

Seeing this, Han Xiao didn't hide anything and briefly explained the assassination of Helaian, focusing on the fact that the Pivot Snake had unlocked its sensing ability, which made everyone excited.

Because of the existence of the Pivot Snake, everyone had always been confident in this war, but that was confidence in the long-term trend. They originally thought that they would have to persevere under the World Tree's full-scale invasion for at least decades before they could wait for a turning point to determine the outcome, but they didn't expect Black Star to solve the key problem at this stage.

This was equivalent to reducing the war losses of the interstellar society by decades and freeing these officers in advance. It was impossible for everyone not to be excited.

"Well done! In this way, the initiative is completely in our hands!"

Mabrus clenched his fists excitedly.

While happy, he also felt a little ashamed. While they were still thinking about how to catch the traitor, Black Star had already found the key element to end the war and regain the initiative. The two sides were simply not on the same level.

Looking at the trend since the start of the war, almost every turning point had Black Star's figure. Now he has brought victory to the three great civilizations again. None of the three leaders felt it was an exaggeration to say that he led the direction of the war alone.

At this time, Han Xiao waved his hand and said casually:

"Don't say any extra words, the World Tree's weakness is completely exposed and they have completely fallen into a passive position. We should gather a large army to take the initiative to attack and completely end this enemy... In this war, the World Tree has reached the end of the road!"

Hearing this, Simon stood up abruptly, his eyes sharp, and his tone was firm:

"Lord Black Star is right, it's time for us to sound the horn of counterattack!"

As soon as the voice fell, everyone felt a sense of pride and stood up one after another, their expressions stern, looking at the three leaders, and pleading in unison.

"Please issue the order!"

Seeing this, Mabrus, Louis, and the EsGod leader straightened their faces, nodded heavily, and said solemnly:

"Okay! From now on, our side will make strategic adjustments. The primary goal is no longer to defend our territory. Now, completely destroying the World Tree Civilization is the new strategic goal!"

"Understood!"

The officers present responded in unison, their expressions murderous, eager to try.

Han Xiao, who was on the side, smiled playfully at this scene.

Although he and the three great civilizations had the common goal of defeating the World Tree Civilization, their specific needs were still different.

From the perspective of the three great civilizations, they would be most relieved if the World Tree was destroyed.

But from Han Xiao's point of view... he could only say that it was true that they were jointly resisting foreign enemies, and it was also true that they were using each other.

'After the main contradictions are resolved, the differences between me and the three great civilizations will also surface. These people are grateful to me now, but who knows what they will do then.'

Han Xiao's eyes flickered as he secretly calculated.

...

With the World Tree's withdrawal, the fiery fighting between the two sides stopped, making the war-torn explored universe suddenly quiet.

When the interstellar people were not mentally prepared, the war suddenly went out, just like the World Tree's invasion, coming and going in a hurry.

The top leaders of the three great civilizations finalized a consensus, and the change in strategy quickly affected the whole body. The Star Alliance Army no longer patrolled and guarded the territory, but began to gather towards the Central Star Sea.

Sensing the change in the situation, countless interstellar citizens who were originally frightened and at a loss were all stunned for a while, not understanding the situation.

There were different opinions on the Internet, and the Star Cluster Alliance observers lurking in the desolate universe belt were also confused by the World Tree's withdrawal.

They didn't know the secret of the Pivot Snake, and they were still kept in the dark. They could only collect intelligence from the public information on the Internet, and they were confused at this time.

"Strange, the World Tree should continue to erode the three great civilizations. Why did they leave for no reason?"

In the secret base, many Star Cluster Alliance observers were quite puzzled.

They leaked information in order to guide the World Tree to destroy the three great civilizations on a large scale. In the past six months, the World Tree's actions have perfectly met their expectations, allowing them to watch the fire from the other side.

Originally, things were developing in the direction they planned, and they were happily watching the show, but the World Tree suddenly slipped away, and these Star Cluster Alliance observers were caught off guard.

"There must be a reason for the World Tree to do this. Perhaps they are not satisfied with small troubles and are shrinking and gathering troops, preparing for a big wave!"

The observer captain analyzed for a while and came to a conclusion, his tone firm.

Hearing this, many team members also felt that it made sense, and the surprise in their hearts turned into expectation.

At this time, these Star Cluster Alliance lurkers did not know that the tool they used for their scheme, the World Tree Civilization that was pinned with high hopes, was currently like a clay Bodhisattva crossing the river, unable to save itself.