Chapter 941. The Hive’s Presence Reaches Nexus and Covenant ears.

Chapter 941: Chapter 941. The Hive’s Presence Reaches Nexus and Covenant ears.

Liu Shu decided to send a message to Danlier and Sarlos to gather and communicate. Even though Danlier was in the middle of the war, she didn’t have to be on the front lines all the time. After her show of strength, the Nexus’s leadership was very careful about deploying the top powers.

In a way, keeping Danlier tied up by not showing up was the best option. The problem was Balaya.

Moreover, after all the recent wars, both the Nexus and Covenant were exhausted. So the conflict was much smaller in scale than before.

The Corrupted Church was working overtime to stop Balaya, and they also sent a good deal of forces to stop her army’s advance. They were in a truly precarious situation.

Liu Shu noticed too, but one priority mattered more right now, and that wasn’t attacking the crumbling Nexus. ’Even a starved tiger is bigger than a house cat. Attacking the Nexus with more intensity will only trigger a stronger counterattack. What I must do right now is start my takeover of the Covenant while telling Danlier about the parasites and what we discovered.’

How could you be both allied internally while outwardly being an enemy? Gentle conquest.

Liu Shu lowered the number of forces on the Nexus front, left behind the general and enough forces to defend, and moved everything else toward the Covenant.

This tactic wouldn’t have made much sense in the past, but with Stella acting as the interstellar highway, the army could move within a year at most.

"Now. Let’s start attacking the Covenant, shall we? I must target all the Solar Systems that aren’t in Balaya’s control, as I am still not confident in winning against her, even with the new Temples."

So, the commander of the new warfront began approaching the Covenant’s worlds. Liu Shu spread out with them, too.

So, Danlier, who was in one of their usual frontlines with the Nexus, received two very different messages within a week. The first, and faster, was that the Golden Sap Empire had begun an attack on them and even conquered a Solar System before they could react.

Danlier was confused, but she didn’t panic. The Golden Sap Empire’s leadership wasn’t stupid, so there had to be a reason for this. Danlier was very intelligent, so she quickly understood part of Liu Shu’s aim.

’The Nexus is being besieged, so they probably don’t want the Nexus to focus on them. If the Nexus decides to give up several solar systems to counterattack with a few dozen Level 300s, they might be in trouble.’

A week later, she received another message through the secret channel she opened to communicate with Flor and others a while ago.

’As expected. Parasites, hm...’

The Hive was not unknown, so Danlier knew about it. Until now, though, the Hive had been active far away from their sector, so neither the Nexus nor the Covenant had to deal with it.

’This is troublesome. <Astraelis> hunt is a widespread practice, so tracking down everyone is impossible. Moreover, if this had been going on for a while, I can’t even imagine how deeply it had etched into our society.’

Danlier rubbed her forehead and spoke up. "Stop attacks on the Nexus, but do not retreat. Keep the frontline active and draw the Nexus’s attention. When that’s done, we need to clean up house back at home. Also, prepare a stealthy vessel. I need to meet someone."

Balaya, who just quite happily smashed a Mothership-Class from the Nexus, was confused when she heard Danlier’s words. "What’s wrong, Danlier?"

Danlier answered with a sigh. "You know of the Hive, right? They seem to have entered our domain. <Astraelis> are carrying parasites nearby."

Balaya was surprised. "...That’s dangerous. How did you even notice?"

Danlier shrugged. "The Golden Sap Empire published about it publicly in a way that our informants would get to know about it. It seems that Lady Heavenly Willow is taking care of Mother, doesn’t she?"

Balaya answered with a sigh. "That young one is really strange."

Danlier was faintly surprised. Balaya showed little to no emotion to other World Trees. So, seeing her sigh and speak with a clearly complicated tone was quite interesting. "Mother, I’ve been thinking about it for a while and... When Lady Heavenly Willow becomes stronger than you, can you not be stubborn? I don’t want to see Mother die."

Balaya glanced at Danlier and spoke lightly. "Are you that convinced I will lose?"

Danlier chuckled. "If I told you otherwise, I would be insulting your intelligence."

"...I guess you are right. Even when her <Ascension> is below mine, we can be considered equal. Moreover, I’ve heard that she developed the <Temple> buffs quite a bit, hasn’t she?"

Danlier was surprised once again. "Have you been investigating her?"

"I have." Balaya didn’t lie. There was no need to. "I’ve been listening to the people living a bit on the edges, who are closer to the Heavenly Willow, and I hear quite a lot of news. There are even tourists who come to the Covenant’s worlds and some who go to the Golden Sap Empire’s worlds to rest for a few years."

Danlier listened with fascination. This was a complete first. Not even those other World Trees at the same level as Balaya ever got so much attention from her. "I also heard about it. The Golden Sap Empire is quite forgiving with their immigration policies, isn’t it?"

"The reason is clear, though. Those who go there are never affected by Heavenly Willow’s blessings. Not even local World Trees. It seems that they’ve managed to create a systematic method to control who receives it and who doesn’t."

Danlier nodded. "What about Deadly Petal? Have you heard anything about her?"

Balaya answered positively. "Yeah. I even made contact with her a few months ago and exchanged some words with her."

This was news to Danlier. Balaya commented. "She doesn’t sound any different from before... Well, she seems to be trying to sound less annoying, but she quickly reverts back to her usual sneering tone. Deadly Petal has always been a peculiar World Tree. There is a reason I left an entire flank to her in the past. Good potential, hunger for growth..."

Danlier and Balaya spoke for a while longer, and as a result, the Eclipse Sylvan realized Balaya’s mindset wasn’t as stubborn as she had expected. She was almost getting to know Balaya once again.

’Why didn’t I know about this side of Mother?’

Danlier was honestly confused and also frustrated with herself. ’Have I been mischaracterizing her? Have I been too close-minded about her?’

Danlier loved Balaya deeply as her daughter. She had proved it with her actions time and time again. Even her recent betrayal, when she secretly surrendered to the Golden Sap Empire, was driven by that same familiar love. That desire to keep Balaya safe and let her grow freely.

"Danlier?"

Danlier blinked. "Yeah. Sorry, I spaced out. I have so many things in mind lately."

Balaya glanced at Danlier for a few seconds and asked. "Danlier... What do you think of how I’ve ruled after taking over?"

Danlier tilted her head and pondered seriously. She then smiled and chuckled. "You governed like an annoying World Tree, Mother. The number of headaches you’ve given me with some of your actions is not few."

Balaya answered in a thoughtful tone. "I see... Deadly Petal told me that Heavenly Willow does things differently than we do. That she is more involved, but also doesn’t micromanage her people. I was wondering if I’ve meddled too much lately."

"Actually. It’s a bit the opposite, Mother." Danlier smiled gently. "Mother’s gaze reaches everywhere. Your presence is all around our Covenant. So, I would love it if you could help me a bit more, instead of just ordering the direction of our Covenant while focusing on your own matters."

Here, she needed to clarify. "I know you are keeping our borders safe, Mother. I am not ignorant or hypocritical. Your presence and effort to push back all kinds of threats do not go unnoticed. The number of roots you’ve sacrificed. The amount of damage you receive almost daily. I know about it all. All World Trees are similar. What I am asking is that, if you are free, and I ask about something you can glance over and answer, you’d be able to answer."

Balaya pondered over her words, and then she asked. "Danlier... are you hiding something from me?"

Danlier paused and looked up for a moment. "...I am, Mother."

She didn’t lie.

"Still, even if you ask right now, I won’t tell you."

A chuckle escaped her.

"Nevertheless, I promise you. All I’m doing is so that you can continue spreading your roots freely. Now, can you help me with this new parasite problem? I need your eyes and ears, Mother."

Balaya looked at Danlier, her powerful mind going through many scenarios. In the end, though, she didn’t blame or snap at Danlier for hiding things from her. Instead, she answered her words. "Alright. I’ll try to help."

***

The Nexus also got to know about the problem soon enough. They had their own spies in Golden Sap Empire territory, and going in and out of the Golden Sap Empire was not that difficult.

What most of these spies didn’t know was that they were being closely monitored by the Golden Sap Empire’s own intelligence network. It was a calculated loss of information. Some of the spies who managed to get information they didn’t want to be known had been killed many times over all these years.

Artos and Galaya read the report, and their faces became complicated. Galaya asked. "How long until the reinforcements arrive from the center of the galaxy?"

"A few decades, not much. If we hold until then, we’ll be able to flip the table."

Galaya looked at the report and spoke quietly. "A few decades and the table itself might be gone together with the table you want to flip."

Artos didn’t deny her words. "Alright, let’s prepare to tackle this. Danlier will probably stop the advance... Problem after problem lately. The Golden Sap Empire appears, the Covenant grows stronger, and now the Hive approaches. Moreover, our messages to the Globular Star Cluster Empires have been half-ignored because that Tree has luckily managed to develop time-related skills."

From his perspective, it felt as if everything was going as wrong as it could. It was so bad that he and Galaya were gathered together in one room, not as opponents, but as temporary allies.

Galaya joked a little. "Now that the Hive is here, though, the Globular Star Cluster Empires won’t ignore us with the same excuses."

Artos agreed with that comment. "Let’s move. We need to use our resources a bit more tightly from now on and create isolated zones for the important people to live."