I am the Emperor of Humanity across the Multiverse

In the pitch-black expanse of space.

A mothership, nearly 800 kilometers long and about 550 kilometers wide, shaped like a semi-oval, was gradually decelerating as it headed toward Earth.

Attached to its underside were disk-shaped city destroyers, which, once they reached Earth's outer orbit, would follow a prearranged plan to enter the atmosphere and descend over major cities.

But...

*Zing—zing—zing—!* 

Suddenly, from the "upper-left" and "lower-right" of their trajectory, four and three bright blue beams of light respectively appeared, streaking across the void of space in an instant.

Two of these beams traveled incredibly fast, leaving the mothership no time to adjust or react before striking the same spot at the front of the ship.

*Boom!*

A green energy shield successfully blocked the beams' continued penetration, erupting into a violent explosion and ripples. Naturally, space is silent, so from a distance, the scene resembled a magnificent, soundless fireworks display.

Then, five massive blue plasma bolts hit the same point at the front of the ship, causing more explosions and ripples.

However, the mothership's energy shield remained firm, showing no signs of cracking or dissipating.

!? 

The sudden attack, though, forced the mothership to alter its course and further slow its speed.

It appeared that the Reapers inside the mothership's control room had received orders from the Queen to first deal with the "little pests" using some kind of stealth technology to launch this sneak attack.

After hundreds of years of covert observation, the Reapers had determined that Earth's humans were below a first-level civilization—perfect for slaughtering, entertaining, and enslaving. Even if human technology had advanced rapidly in the few decades of their journey, how could they possibly pose any threat?

Humans hadn't even ventured beyond their solar system, so neither the Queen nor the 3 billion Reapers aboard the ship had ever considered them a threat.

Adjusting their angle, using ballistic calculations, the Reapers in the control room swiftly pinpointed the general positions of the seven stealth ships and launched a probing barrage.

*Zing zing zing!* 

From the front of the mothership, thousands of turrets unleashed a dense barrage of green energy rounds.

The spectacle was visually stunning from a distance, but the probing barrage failed to yield any "results."

?

Could it be that the human ships were just as fast?

This unexpected development required more precise calculations and scans.

However, the human ships—namely the Atlas Fleet—operating stealthily had already arrived in the designated space from "above" and "below," with a straight-line distance of less than 30,000 kilometers from the Reaper mothership.

At this moment...

Inside the bridge of the *Dawn*, which was traveling "below" alongside a *Fides*-class and a *Selene*-class ship:

"First main cannon salvo ineffective. Repeat, first main cannon salvo ineffective. The fleet failed to penetrate the target's energy shield."

"Captain! We've detected the target releasing high-frequency pulse waves. If we continue coordinating with the fleet's salvos, our position will be completely exposed!"

In the compact, sealed bridge with tight observation windows, rapid reports echoed.

Eight crew members sat on both sides of the bridge, including the first officer, navigator, communications officer, and radar operator, responsible for navigation, communications, and monitoring to ensure the smooth operation of the *Dawn*.

At the front of the bridge were a helmsman and two gunners.

In command, seated at the center of the bridge, was Captain Sean Rice.

Captain Rice, a man in his fifties with streaks of white in his hair, wore a grim expression, clenching his jaw with his left hand to manage the pressure.

Through several holographic screens in front of him, Sean Rice had instant access to all the ship's dynamics.

Seeing the concise message "20 seconds until next salvo" displayed on the communication screen, he issued a command:

"Continue coordinating with the fleet for the next salvo! Adjust the ship's course toward coordinates 35.67.35, and maintain distance from the *Fides* and *Dawn*."

"Yes, sir!"

The helmsman and gunners quickly set the *Dawn* in motion.

*Boom. Boom.*

The vibrations of the fully charged plasma main cannon and five 460mm plasma-linked secondary cannons echoed through the ship.

And not just that—

*Swish. Swish.*

Forty missile silos launched forty strategic hydrogen bombs.

The Atlas Fleet's first attack had only used seven main cannons, firing superheated plasma bolts and 1.4-ton tungsten steel rods accelerated to 0.12% of the speed of light to probe the mothership's energy shield.

Realizing a single salvo wasn't enough to break through, the fleet followed its pre-planned strategy: closing in on the mothership and unleashing everything they had to keep pounding the same spot on the shield.

Sure, the shield withstood the first salvo, but the Atlas Fleet had anticipated this. They believed the shield had a breaking point, much like metal subjected to repeated stress that eventually leads to cracks or fractures—the "fatigue" phenomenon.

At this moment...

The holographic star map in front of Sean Rice displayed yellow dots representing the salvo of cannon fire, rapidly closing in on the red marker for the Reaper mothership.

Two tungsten steel rods and plasma bolts hit the target first.

Next came over 400 strategic hydrogen bombs, flying at Mach 65 with mini nuclear fusion engines.

Just then:

"Captain! The target is attempting to intercept our missiles... two down, thirty-four, fifty-one disabled, but the rest have broken through their anti-air defense network!"

*Beep—!* 

As the radar operator reported excitedly, the star map emitted a soft alert, showing that over 300 missiles carrying strategic hydrogen bombs had successfully hit the same point on the energy shield.

*Ri~Zing——!!!*

A "sun-like" burst from the equivalent of nearly 100 billion tons of TNT lit up the dark bridge through the sealed observation windows.

"..." 

Witnessing this scene, the entire crew fell silent.

After all, the destructive power unleashed just now symbolized humanity's first united effort to face a common enemy in the main universe.

Although hydrogen bombs are less effective in the vacuum of space, their extreme heat, immense energy, radiation, and electromagnetic pulses still packed a punch—especially in a close-range explosion.

After a brief silence, the radar operator refocused on his station. His previously tense expression suddenly shifted to one of excitement as he turned to Captain Sean Rice:

"Captain! The second salvo was effective! Repeat, the second salvo was effective!"

___________________

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