After a few more days of traveling through the North Sea, Minos and his party finally came face to face with the end of their peace.
Having reached more than halfway to the central area of the North Sea, where the core of the enemy forces lay, they spotted an islet in their path.
It was one of the various installations of the Mechanic Empire's space explorers, with a few guards on the outskirts.
Not knowing this was just one of the many enemy outposts around this sea, Minos and his group had attacked the place the previous morning, acting as if it were their last enemy.
After facing two robots similar to the previous one, the group fought a great battle in this place, achieving victory but suffering greatly, with even two deaths in their group.
As strong as they were, the enemies were extremely tough and fast, which had given them a chance to finish off Minos' people before they fell.
But after such a battle, Minos and his party discovered what was on the island previously ruled by the enemies!
There were no organic beings in the enemy facility there since all the essential personnel had been before their arrival there.
But Minos and his group found one of the many experimental stations of the Mechanic Empire, where those foreigners had conducted countless experiments on the natives of the Spiritual World during the centuries they had been in the area.
...
"The damned invaders have been plotting against us for a long time!" One of the Sea Folk in Minos' party shouted as the group explored the terrain they had conquered the day before.
Having won the battle here and noticing what had been left behind, they had decided to stay and investigate the enemy's facility while the group's wounded recovered.
But, as one would expect from more technologically advanced people, they hadn't left anything significant behind.
What Minos' group had found were only the basics, mostly information about the Spiritual World, which said the enemies had been investigating this place for centuries.
Minos and Ruth realized the beings behind the past abductions of people in the northern region of the Central Continent had been made by their enemies in this area of the North Sea.
Those behind Joey's abduction and the experiments he described were actually the invaders of this world!
They had been quietly operating in this world for a long time, learning the local language, customs, powers, rules, and forces to beware of.
In the process, they had built sophisticated facilities in the North Sea region, things that didn't even exist in the most advanced states of the Spiritual World.
"Our enemies are formidable. Not only have they been operating secretly in this area for so long, but their methods are anything but ordinary." One of the people from the Divine Continent who had joined the group during their passage through these lands commented.
"Yes, even though there weren't many robots like those fighting beings, there were a few dozen special robot creatures in this facility." Another being from the Divine Continent commented on the word they had learned after arriving on this island.
They had found little useful information about the enemies in this facility. But there were things left behind by the enemies that had helped the group understand a little about their opponents.
They now knew that the enemies used robots as their main force, not only in matters of war but also in their internal activities.
In the enemy forces, there were practically an equal number of robotic and biological. Those robots performed various functions, generally, those that were not so essential for living beings to do or that were too dangerous for living beings to do.
For example, if they wanted to explore a new world, usually only the robots of that race would move around first to test the conditions of the unknown place. If they wanted to wage war, these creatures would be the soldiers they used. In short, there were countless ways to use these creatures.
Just as there were different kinds of cultivators in the Spiritual World, there were different kinds of robots, from warriors to scientists, builders, and so on.
But robots were not seen by that society as the main essence of their civilization. They were used as support, and the biological people were the ones behind these creatures.
They could develop them without limit as long as they had the resources.
It was the resources of the Spiritual World that the enemies wanted!
According to the enemy's estimates, the minerals and resources of this world they had discovered by accident were enough to build millions of new robots and increase the strength of their civilization by 30% to 50%!
That was their purpose in this world, a sign that they didn't need the living beings that occupied this magnificent world!
Finally, Minos' group had discovered all this, or at least deduced it from the few traces left behind. But they still hadn't discovered the weaknesses of their opponents, so they thought the living beings of this civilization were even more problematic than the robots.
Even though the robots were powerful and had enough intelligence to fight as well as conscious beings, their creators could mass-produce them.
That was scarier than an artificial being capable of fighting at a high level!
Minos listened to the comments of the members of his group as they gathered in a central part of the enemy installations, about to leave this place and head towards the core of the North Sea.
He said. "This civilization must have its weaknesses. As strong and incredible as they seem at first glance, I believe we have a chance against them in the short term."
"What do you mean?" Someone asked.
"If the enemies were capable of mass-producing robots like the three beings we destroyed, then they should have overpowered us by the time they were in our world. But that didn't happen. Not only that, the enemies don't seem to be as strong as some of the world leaders, and they've been hiding all this time..." Minos said, pondering the matter.
"I think they can't get reinforcements in the short term. On the other hand, they don't feel strong enough to act openly in our world, which means they fear the strongest forces in the Spiritual World.
They also seem to be concentrating on the core of this area, which means that they don't have the strength to destroy us without taking great risks. So they're being taken care of because they have weaknesses to protect!
Let's take advantage of those weaknesses!" He clenched his fists, convinced that no matter how frightening and uncertain the future might be, the short term might not be as bad as they all imagined.
Depending on their luck, they might still have a few years to prepare for the real challenge!
