The Martial Unity

RUMBLE

The air in a chamber in the Panamic Space Station quivered as a wormhole slowly opened up within the tiled, isolated chamber. Several commanders stood at the far end of the chamber, garbed in military uniform with the crest of the Panamic Alliance on the chest of their uniforms.

Their expressions were tense and hardened, for they understood what was at stake. Their training had prepared them for attacks in outer space by other parties, such as the Evolutionary Army, Greater Tekvoria, and potentially the giants, but they had never been trained to protect against an invading alien army.

Not just any ordinary alien army, but an alien army that was much wider than even a planet.

The sheer size of the army was so great that it exceeded their ability to withstand with just their conventional space force. All the warships and MECHAs in the world didn’t have the ability to singlehandedly drive off such a large and powerful family.

That was why they needed to summon every military asset that they could get their hands on.

WHOOSH

 A gigantic hole through the very fabric of reality opened up as a large number of individuals stepped through, donned in Martial attire. The moment they set foot into the chamber, a tremendous pressure weighed down on the human commanders of the space force of the Panamic Alliance. They found themselves standing before the most powerful warriors gathered in human civilization. At the very forefront were the strongest of them all, three of the four Transcendent Candidates of human civilization.

Bodhisattva Maitreyi, Sage Jinryong, and of course, of course, Amare.

Her expression was steeled, and her eyes blazed with a fierce determination. Every instinct in her wanted to remain with Ria after her daughter broke through to the Apprentice Realm at the miraculous age of just five years. But she had only been given even more reason to fight hard. Fight hard to protect her daughter’s limitless future and ensure that it wasn’t stolen from her.

The three Transcendent Candidates were prepared, each of them understanding the sheer significance of the battle. Their heavy presence bore heavily on the tense atmosphere, making the commanders feel more reassured with the power that they could feel from them.

Behind them, however, was an even more reassuring sight.

Thousands of Martial Sages emerged from within the wormhole, wearing more brittle expressions, even if they steeled themselves for what was to come.

10:32

Human civilization had experienced a complete explosion of Martial Sages within Panama ever since the Enlightenment of Self AI has been uploaded to the organic tree network in the Beast Domain. Breaking through to the Sage Realm was no longer about a long, long voyage of self-discovery and self-enlightenment, but rather about drowning yourself in a neural transfer of data collected and processed by an organic superintelligence.

It had certainly made human civilization stronger, but it had destroyed the profound significance of the Enlightenment of Self, as technology often had the tendency of doing.

But the strategic value and the power it gave Panamic Civilization simply could not be ignored. Three thousand Martial Sages were an overwhelming Martial force.

Of course, the quality of Martial Sages had also gone down due to an explosion of newbie Martial Sages, but measures had been taken to mitigate those factors to an extent.

Many in human civilization had opposed the excessive explosion of Martial Sages, but it didn’t matter, because the ultimate say went to the Emperor of Water, who had become the de facto king of the entire continent. He had insisted he would be able to keep the Martial Sages in check, and miraculously, he had managed to keep his promise.

In the past five years, he had grown so powerful that not even thousands of Martial Sages could necessarily keep up with him or pressure him. In fact, it was the domineering presence of the Emperor of Water that hung over their heads, keeping them in check.

Now, however, anybody who may have opposed the expansion of the Sage force excessively was now grateful that it had happened, for it was their only chance against the terrifying laminar army that charged towards Gaia.

The same was true for the tens of thousands of Martial Masters that emerged behind the Martial Sages. When they gathered in the Martial base in the Panamic Space Station, their collective presence inspired a tremendous amount of confidence in the generals of the space force.

“Welcome to the Martial base of the Panamic Space Station, I am General Gorvein of the Space Force of the Panamic Alliance,” the gruff older man declared. “We are now facing an unprecedented threat to human civilization with an alien invasion into outer space, as you have already been briefed. The time has come to face an existential threat to all of Gaia and human civilization.”

His eyes sharpened. “The stakes are everything. His Majesty is already fighting the entity that we believe is responsible for the partial destruction of our solar system. And now, it is our turn to join the war between species, worlds, and civilizations.”

The general continued, trying to convey that they needed to fight because the conflict affected everything, including them. Conscripting Martial Artists was always a challenge because they were the only ones who could keep each other in check, and if enough of them refused, then they could not be compelled using force, especially when the Emperor of Water was out fighting himself.

This time, however, the cause for war was undisputed. “Space war is unprecedented for all of us, unlike our peers in other continents,” the general admitted. “We have done drills, and all of you have been involved in basic training as we prepared for a race to the stars, but it cannot compensate for actual experience. This is something that all of you undoubtedly know better than anybody as Martial Artists.”

They certainly did. They knew that their inexperience with space battle was damning. Indeed, the Panamic Alliance had conducted many drills and basic crash courses on how Martial Art could be adapted to spacefare.