While Andrew's territory was expanding, within the local galaxy group, many used this opportunity to conquer territories or even their neighbours, weakened by the battle with the invading forces.
However, this was only in this one group of about fifty galaxies within the universe, numbering between 100 to 200 billion galaxies.
The rest of the universe was not so lucky, and they were all fighting for their lives or trying to escape when they lost.
It didn't matter how powerful the factions were when they were attacked on all fronts by a numerically and technologically superior enemy.
-That's it, we can't expand anymore without compromising our defense capability.
Andrew said as the last system was taken over by its new system master.
The whole thing took a bit over three weeks, during which the territories' industrial might was fully unleashed, and the results were astonishing to say the least.
All together, the territory was now comprised of 356 stations and at least two thousand fuel gathering sub-stations placed in the systems with no or minimal resources.
In addition, the fleet also grew exponentially, with 1250 corvettes, 820 frigates, 235 heavy frigates, 189 destroyers, 120 cargo ships, 55 tugs, 45 tankers, 70 resupply ships, 500 drone frigates, and 650 drone corvettes.
This was the result of every shipyard in the territory working around the clock, and some of the smaller territories pledging their allegiance to Andrew.
There were also the damaged ships left from the invasion, but at the moment, there were not enough shipyards to repair them since most of them were building the newly designed ships, which were much better than their standard counterparts.
-How long will it take for us to expand again?
Ruinr asked over the coms as she was deployed on patrol along with almost two hundred ships.
-We can take over a system or two at any moment, but for a big expansion like the one we just finished, it would take at least a month or even more before we are ready.
And that's just considering the defense aspect and keeping the new systems, if we are to conquer some of our neighbours, it will take much longer.
Jalina explained.
This expansion took a toll on their resources, and it would take some time to replenish them, not to mention that they would need a much bigger fleet to defend the territory.
-I don't think we need to worry about our neighbours.
Tarina chimed in.
-If my predictions are accurate and they have at least some common sense, they will join us sooner or later, especially the ones that are now surrounded by our territory on all sides.
The diplomat said with a satisfied smile.
She was swamped by all the diplomatic work, but she was more than happy to do it, and she also treasured the trust she was given not only by Andrew, but by all the other diplomats she was working with.
If she were never banished, then at most she would be a diplomatic aide to some lesser diplomat in the Five Races Federation diplomatic core.
Thanks to Andrew, she was now a head diplomat for a territory much larger than she could have ever imagined.
Remembering Andrew's words when he slapped her and Runir, she could not help but smile.
She could barely believe that she wanted to end herself back then.
Now she thought about her exile as one of the best things that could ever happen to her and the same was true with Runir, who was now the supreme fleet commander of the territory, while in the federation she would be lucky to command a corvette at this point.
-Let's hope you're right.
Lan said, with some skepticism.
-You don't need to worry, they know that they can't win in a battle, and since we surround their territories, they can't expand, so the only way for them to develop is to join the territory.
The diplomat explained.
-Didn't think about it that way.
Andrew admitted.
After thinking about it for a moment, he came to the same conclusion as Tarina.
The smaller territories and systems, that were surrounded by his territory, had limited options to do anything and if their leaders were not stupid or suicidal, then war was unlikely.
The most likely scenarios were either to submit or to try and negotiate a passage through his territory, which would make them depend on his goodwill.
-That's why you're keeping me around.
The diplomat grinned.
-So what do we do now?
Nairin chimed in before Andrew could say anything more.
-Now we develop as much as we can.
The human responded.
-We have neglected our research lately, and we also need to expand our fleets, not to mention that I want to accelerate the cleanup on Earth as much as possible, and it would also be nice to start terraforming Mars.
Andrew pointed out the things that they planned to do, but there was always something in their way.
-We had no choice; we needed fleets and defenses to survive.
Aelita said neutrally.
-Yes, we had no choice, but we do have a choice now, and it's past time we went ahead with further research.
Andrew agreed.
-Our technological advantage is diminishing fast, and if we want to stay ahead of others, we need to act now.
He added, displaying the leatherboard on the main screen.
While they had gone up quite a bit in the military, diplomatic, and territory categories.
The research category was the one in which they were steadily going down.
-You see that?
Andrew asked.
-Millions of territories have caught up to us or even surpassed us in the research category.
-It's not like we did not research at all.
Nairin chimed in.
-I know, but the research we did was mainly personal, while others were tackling the main research, steadily catching up to us.
Moreover, we need to get to the fifth tier of research if we want to have a chance of surviving in the battle verse.
As of now, we are still using tier three shields, and we use the low-level shipyards, while others are already using a mid level ones.
In the end, no matter how advanced Vulcan's shipyard is, we won't be able to keep up with others if we don't upgrade the other shipyards.
-There is no problem with doing research as far as the research modules go, since most stations have at least one of those.
However, we simply don't have enough resources to conduct several main research projects at the same time, and the time required to complete them is also quite long.
Jalina said after looking at her data and doing some math.
-I know, and that's why we need to focus on getting more materials, which should not be that hard with all the territory we just acquired.
-We need a week to prepare.
Aelita suddenly said.
She was quiet till now, because she was doing some math.
-What do you mean?
Andrew asked.
-We need a week to build more cargo ships, expand our resource storage capacity, and gather required resources, to start working on four research projects at once.
She explained.
-Or we can ask the merchants for help.
Lanarine said, with a grin.
-We have two merchant ships incoming, it's Terelen and Tanera, and they seem to be in a hurry.
-What are these two doing here?
Nairin asked.
-Didn't Terelen say that they would not be able to come here until the invasion was over?
She added.
-Yes, he did, but it seems that something changed.
Andrew agreed.
-You can ask them directly, they are hailing us.
Sarill said.
-On screen.
-Andrew, what the hell did you do?
A question from Tanera came as soon as the connection was established.
-It's nice to see you, too.
He smiled, but the elf was not amused.
-Calm down.
Terelen said, trying to pacify his sister.
-Don't tell me to calm down when the whole guild is near panic, not to mention the empire.
She argued back.
-And you screaming at him helps how exactly?
Terelen asked, shutting her up.
Tanera didn't even realize she was screaming until he pointed it out.
-Sorry for that, my friend, but this time you really did stir things up.
The elf apologized.
-Don't mention it, but I would like to at least know what rattled everyone up so badly?
Andrew asked, as he had no clue what he had done to cause such a reaction.
-When one of the first thousand contacts the guild demanding information about an upstart territory, it is a big deal, since usually these guys dont interfere in anything beyond the Battleverse.
The elf explained.
-Alright, this explains why the guild was in an uproar, but what about the empire?
Andrew asked.
-When the guild sent the information, it was the full report, so it naturally contained the information about the noble title you have in the empire.
I was there when they contacted the emperor, and believe me, I have never seen him so surprised or so scared.
-What did they want with the emperor?
Andrew asked.
He was surprised that these guys even contacted the Empire.
Contacting the guild for information was quite understandable, but why the empire?
-They wanted more detailed information about you and Aelita, and they also issued a warning to the empire not to try and take over your territory, as is mostly the case when someone from the battleverse has connections to someone from the new universe.
Not that the emperor had such plans for you.
I have no clue what you did to make them see you and even protect you, but whatever it was, you are among the few that managed to do so.
And when I say a few, I mean less than a dozen in the last ten millennia.
The merchant dropped the bombshell, stunning everybody.
It took a moment for Andrew and the ladies to get over this information.
-Alright, that explains a lot, but why did the two of you come here?
The last time we spoke, you said you won't be able to come here until the invasion ended, and by then we would be in the battleverse.
Andrew asked, hoping to change the subject as this was starting to give him a headache.
-Well, when the Ilinians, who by the way are the ones from the first thousand contacted the guild and the empire, they didn't only ask for the information, but they also asked the guild and the empire to assist you with your development as much as possible.
They, however, restricted it to trade and information sharing.
Whatever they are planning, they don't want us to influence your progress too much.
-Alright, we will talk about it all at length when you arrive, as it seems this will take quite a while to discuss this matter properly.
Andrew sighed.
He already suspected what the Ilinians wanted, considering their previous message sent through Admiral Gezrin, and he didn't like it one bit.