The flying boats from the ancient plane disappeared into the void, and the fleets of the ancient races that were originally ready to move also distanced themselves. The entire star field suddenly fell into a strange calm.

"Your Majesty, all parties are retreating." Kerger pulled up the latest star field distribution map. "They seem to be... waiting and watching."

"Wait and see?"

Martin sneered and shifted his gaze to the star field mark representing the Matrix Galaxy.

"They're waiting for us to fight Matrix Galaxy to the death."

He magnified the details on the screen and touched several areas with abnormal energy signals with his fingertips.

"But the real problem isn't with them."

On the screen, the mark representing the Seventh Special Fleet had dimmed, while the other six special fleets recorded in the intelligence.

Still no trace. Even more disturbing was that those underlying forces that could sway the outcome of the battle—except for the few Gundams brought by Krent—hadn't even shown a shadow.

"Like a group of hunters hiding in the dark."

Martin whispered, a serious look in his eyes.

"We broke down the door, but we didn't see the owner's real knife."

He suddenly stood up, walked to the porthole, and looked at the wreckage of the starport in the distance that was blackened by war.

"Pass the order down. The fleet maintains a defensive formation and sends reconnaissance ships to infiltrate the outer reaches of the higher plane."

Just as Kage was about to respond, an alarm suddenly popped up on the screen - a faint but familiar energy reaction came from the reef belt three light years away, which was completely consistent with the engine characteristics of the Matrix Special Fleet.

"Found it."

Martin's eyes narrowed.

"They haven't hidden far away, they are just waiting for the moment when we relax."

He turned to look at the tactical screen, his fingertips heavily crossing the coordinates of the reef zone.

"It seems that the protagonist of this scene has not really appeared yet."