But Gao Ming seemed to have changed his nature, following up his previous announcement of alliance with Alien Warriors for mutual support with another one, declaring that the Doomsday Church was willing to heed the National Defense Bureau's call to extend the Alien Battlefield's duration, forming allies with the National Defense Bureau to suppress any organizations that disrupt peace and stability.

This caught the various factions waiting for battle entirely off guard.

Soon after Gao Ming released the announcement, the National Defense Bureau responded, accepting the Doomsday Church's proposal for an alliance and issuing a non-aggression pact, which called on all Alien Warriors to join the new alliance and adhere to principles of peaceful coexistence and noninterference.

The pact stipulated that Alien Warrior organizations could operate without official registration, but they were not permitted to use their powers to influence the real world;

When necessary, they could develop their keywords and attributes on the combat network;

Should it be discovered that an Alien Warrior had violated the principles of the pact and caused damage to reality, they would face combined punitive action from the National Defense Bureau and the Doomsday Church.

Details on how the top three would be allocated would be discussed after all situations had stabilized, with the major forces each sending representatives to negotiate.

...

Once the pact was issued.

All the Alien Warriors, including the 16th Group Army, were caught by surprise, as no one expected to end up with such a result after all the anticipation.

This didn't at all reflect Duge's style...

But then everyone thought about it, considering Duge's keyword was related to despair, it might not be the best for growth; maybe he was playing possum, waiting for the right moment to strike.

With Duge on one side and the powerful National Defense Bureau on the other, the other forces suddenly found themselves without a clear direction.

While everyone watched and waited, Yin Feng from the 16th Group Army suddenly issued a declaration, announcing his participation in the non-aggression pact;

Once he set the precedent, the rest couldn't sit still.

The Benevolent Association, the 3rd Group Army, the 8th Group Army, the Assembly Line Organization, and even the already-weakened Green Star Business Federation, all one by one issued announcements joining the non-aggression pact.

As all significant and minor forces declared their adherence to the pact, all the noise and disputes seemed to quiet down all at once.

Each force retreated to its own territory, continued recruiting and purchasing troops, and closely monitored information from other forces;

Especially the National Defense Bureau and the Doomsday Church, fearing that they might suddenly join forces and launch an assault, or that one of them might suddenly make a move on the space battlefront...

The Benevolent Association, the 3rd Group Army, and other forces were also covertly making connections, engaging in various underhanded tactics behind the scenes.

After all.

The power that the National Defense Bureau showed publicly was too overwhelming, and they had to take precautions, especially with the great weapon of the space battlefront at play.

Besides refining their own keywords, all the forces were busily contacting local officials, building spacecraft, and discussing the movements of the federal government while preparing to flee Green Star...

Before the federation was established, each country had its own aerospace technology, and fleeing Green Star wasn't hard; what they feared was interception from the space battlefront.

Rashly ascending to space, if they were attacked by the space battlefront, even with their strong physical constitutions, they couldn't guarantee survival in the harsh space environment.

...

Used to Duge's rush tactics, faced with the current situation, all the Alien Warriors felt lost, unsure of which direction to go.

...

On the combat network.

Gao Ming, Yin Erchuan, Yu Xia, and a few other Alien Warriors acquainted with Duge met up for a meeting.

"Brother Lin, what's our next move?" Gao Ming asked, "Are we really not going to fight the remaining five hundred plus people?"

"If everyone's behaving, why fight them?" Duge replied indifferently, "This time, we're not after resources, we're exploring the universe. In a couple days, once the rankings are out, the National Defense Bureau will invite everyone to enter the space battlefront. After taking down the Hill Civilization's space jump technology, we'll confront the Hill Civilization itself; we won't play on Green Star anymore, we'll fight in the universe."

Most of the Alien Warriors from Qiyuan Star had gathered around Gao Ming, nearly forty in total, likely all the Alien Warriors that survived from Qiyuan Star, but not many of them were actually useful, not a single one good in a fight.

In fact.

The number of top-tier keywords was limited, with most being unimpressive, and it was all too common to end up with a useless keyword, while most lacked Duge's ability to bring any given keyword to its potential.

To put it bluntly, Gao Ming was just using Duge's reputation to intimidate others, while actually quite apprehensive on the inside.

"Will Pan-Universe Entertainment allow us to do this?" Yin Erchuan queried, "We're already challenging their limits."

"So what if we are? If we don't challenge their limits, will those guys spare us?" Duge scoffed dismissively, "Deliberately changing the rules was done just to target me, right? Tell me, how many good keywords has Qiyuan Star come across this time? If it weren't for a bit of my own skill, on this Alien Battlefield, we would probably have been wiped clean by them. Either way, we're being targeted, so we might as well go all out. Are you guys scared?"

"Scared my ass," declared Yin Erchuan, "I'm not like those cowards from Qiyuan Star, just scraping by. A life spent cowering has no meaning. Brother Du, you've finally won a few times and have been deliberately targeted. If we keep going, the rules of the Alien Battlefield are likely to get tougher and tougher. If worst comes to worst, we'll just flip the table. Entering the Alien Battlefield is a matter of risking our necks to begin with. Having enjoyed it thoroughly a few times, I'd say it's already worth it, even if I die."