After the Astartes warriors completed the occupation, within Schicksal and throughout every nation, those humans deemed "garbage" by the Empire were reduced to less than one in ten.
From Schicksal's upper echelon and the monarchs of various kingdoms to impoverished civilians struggling to survive, all underwent repeated Imperial screening before being sentenced and executed.
As for whether such actions would incite terror among the remaining populace, it had never once entered the Astartes' considerations.
Once the purge concluded, fleet officials responsible for stabilization immediately began distributing vast quantities of food to the poor.
In a technologically advanced world, such methods might not yield immediate results. But in this medieval era—drained by Schicksal's eastern crusades and indulgence taxes—food held a temptation beyond imagination.
The source of this food was straightforward. The fleet utilized local materials, converting soil, wood, water, and other common substances into edible nutritional supplies through atomic recombination technology.
Meanwhile, after days of covert observation and intelligence gathering, Su and Kevin—now deprived of their powers—blended into the masses of ordinary civilians hoping to depart with the fleet. They successfully infiltrated the fleet's internal ecological city.
Not long after, the Redemption Fleet received higher-level orders, and operations swiftly commenced.
They left behind a small garrison fleet within the solar system, along with ten million primary ground combat troops. The main force adjusted its heading and advanced toward a new battlefield.
Within the battleship Saintess Prayer, Keqing remotely constructed a physical body for herself using the ship's nanite units.
Upon learning that Kallen was aboard this fleet, she immediately came to see her.
"Kallen?"
Keqing studied the Saint Kallen before her, one brow slightly raised, arms crossed. With a single glance, she determined that this was not the Kallen she knew.
The Kallen in her memory did not possess such clear—almost naive—eyes.
"Yes, that's me."
Saint Kallen looked at the girl before her—twin violet ponytails tied with ribbons into shapes resembling cat ears, a light-purple dress accentuating her lively aura.
Her voice was gentle. "May I ask what you wished to speak to me about, miss?"
"Nothing. I thought you were someone else."
After confirming this was not Black Kallen, Keqing let out a soft sigh and introduced herself.
"Hello. I am the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing, Keqing—personally appointed Imperial Governor by Kiana Kaslana. I'm here to clean up the mess they left behind."
"Greetings. My name is Kallen Kaslana."
Saint Kallen offered an elegant bow before straightening.
"I am not the Kallen Kaslana of your Empire."
"I know."
Keqing nodded. Having served in the Empire for years, she was well acquainted with the concept of parallel universes.
Given her familiarity with Kiana and the others, it was not difficult to guess that the appearance of this parallel-world Kallen here was no coincidence. Most likely, just like herself, she had been pulled in to shoulder trouble.
"I still have many matters to attend to. I'll take my leave."
As soon as she finished speaking, Keqing's body instantly dissipated.
She truly was overwhelmed. In that universe, after humanity uploaded their consciousness, they had lost all traces of humanity. Their actions bordered on madness—merging not only enemies and alien races into the network, but even their own kind.
"She left in such a hurry?" Saint Kallen murmured, confusion on her face.
At that moment, the Red Queen suddenly appeared.
"I have news for you."
"Hm?" Saint Kallen turned to her.
"They have returned."
"The three of the Finality Empire?"
"Yes."
As she answered, the Red Queen understood clearly that the fleet's earlier withdrawal from the cosmic corridor had not been accidental.
She had been ordered here to retrieve someone.
And now that person had been retrieved.
Soon.
The Redemption Fleet reentered the cosmic passage through which it had come. After another traversal, it arrived within the star system of another universe.
Yet the moment they emerged, the starfield flickered violently. Enemy warships surged into existence from all directions, instantly surrounding the Redemption Fleet.
In the next second, the enemy fleet opened fire at full capacity.
Photon torpedoes, energy beams, and missiles rained down in dense volleys, slamming against the Redemption Fleet's shields. Layer upon layer of energy ripples erupted, yet not a single strike inflicted damage upon the hull.
While maneuvering the Redemption Fleet to evade, the Red Queen simultaneously organized a counteroffensive.
As an artificial intelligence, she could complete decisions and operations in an instant. If the enemy relied on manual human control, she could have crushed them through superior micro-control alone.
After several exchanges, however, she deduced from the enemy's near-perfect evasive maneuvers and defensive patterns that their operator, like herself, was also an artificial intelligence.
The conflict immediately shifted into a contest of computational power. Both sides leveraged their technological advantages, launching attacks in attempts to weaken the other and seize battlefield superiority.
At that very moment, the Red Queen suddenly detected massive spacetime fluctuations within the ship.
Boarding.
Countless modified cyborgs materialized throughout the vessel's interior. Some were even fused directly into the walls.
The Red Queen initiated rapid self-diagnostics and quickly identified the key to the enemy's infiltration.
In this universe, the threshold for temporal traversal was exceedingly low. The enemy had not boarded through conventional teleportation. Instead, they had traveled backward in time—from the ship's future interior positions to the present moment.