When the world first learned that the apocalypse was coming, the various factions were unwilling to believe it.
They even thought it was a disaster fabricated by the Holy Cross Group to seize control.
It wasn't until Homura Saigo verified this claim with detection devices that the major world powers finally fell silent.
They never imagined that the outbreak of the so-called Third Stellar Particle would trigger such a massive crisis.
What seemed like a gift from the mother planet actually contained a devastating catastrophe.
At this point, they finally understood, or at least could comprehend from their own perspective, why the Holy Cross Group, despite possessing overwhelming power, was unwilling to rule the world and forbade other factions from researching the Third Stellar Particle.
It turned out it wasn't that they didn't want to, but that there was a greater crisis to face.
If they couldn't overcome the apocalypse, no amount of power would be meaningful, so rather than choosing tyranny or dictatorship, it was better to open up and invite all factions to conduct joint research.
Driven by the impending end of the world, they would surely achieve better results.
After finally understanding the Holy Cross Group's position, the various factions quickly established a mature cooperative mechanism with them.
Although the Holy Cross Group did not actually rule the world or demand any power, there was no doubt that as the current pinnacle of technology and physics, they had redefined the world order with their unparalleled deterrence and influence.
Now, the world structure had shifted to a "one superpower, many strong powers" dynamic, with the Holy Cross Group at its core and the various nations collaborating in joint research and development.
Although, in terms of R&D progress, the other countries were mostly lagging behind.
But in terms of resource allocation and verification methods for certain repetitive experiments, these factions still played a rather useful role.
After all, the crucial flashes of inspiration in scientific research only make up one percent of the work, or even less.
The truly arduous, repetitive work—the ninety-nine percent of hard labor—is the norm for researchers.
The various nations didn't know much about the Third Stellar Particle, but their output of research grunts was indeed quite outstanding, significantly boosting the efficiency of the research.
For the Holy Cross Group, collaborating with the nations solved their resource problems and greatly increased research efficiency.
And for the nations, the deep involvement of their researchers allowed them to deepen their own understanding of the Third Stellar Particle, giving them hope of catching up to the Holy Cross Group's progress.
Under this win-win scenario, the collaboration progressed very quickly.
Many factions even proposed building an Academy City right at the Holy Cross Group's headquarters in Tokyo, dedicated to the scientists' research.
The Holy Cross Group did not refuse this proposal.
It is worth mentioning that during this shift in the world order, although it was the most peaceful transition in history, there were still many conflicts.
After all, there were plenty of factions in this world who couldn't comprehend the deterrent power of a weather weapon, or who would try to play the victim and cause trouble, banking on their status as a weaker group.
Even though Kudou Asuka had already demonstrated terrifying deterrent force, various factions still tried to probe the Holy Cross Group's true strength through various means.
At one point, an assassin even attempted to assassinate Kudou Asuka, claiming he didn't want an empress to rule the world.
Such an act naturally provoked the wrath of the Holy Cross Group.
Even though Kudou Asuka's current physical constitution was such that she could survive a direct hit from a nuclear bomb, daring to assassinate her was still an immense provocation.
So, on that very day, a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns attacked the organization behind the mastermind, burning it to the ground and wiping it out completely.
Under the dominion of her majestic power, no one could hide any information.
Only then did people realize that the Bull of Heaven was not the only world-ending armament Kudou Asuka could control; she possessed multiple weapons of the same class.
For a time, the major powers were scared into silence, strictly reining in their own people for fear of any organization going rogue.
As for the terrorist organizations, they were left to fend for themselves.
After realizing that the nations alone were not enough to restrain all organizations, the Holy Cross Group also underwent reforms under Kudou Asuka's leadership.
As the spokesperson and a member of the rescue team, her and her companions' most important mission was to overcome the decadent wind, not to defend against random small- and medium-scale conflicts.
Therefore, she outsourced the task of protecting the Holy Cross Group's headquarters and its various research institutes to the victims they had previously saved.
The Bull of Heaven and Demon King of Dystopia projects involved over a hundred thousand victims of Third Stellar Particle human experimentation. Among them, more than half possessed combat power exceeding that of a normal human, and over one percent had power surpassing conventional firearms.
After being equipped with the mass-produced BDA weapons from the Holy Cross Group's headquarters, their strength basically reached the seven-digit standard.
In modern society, a single seven-digit level combatant was an individual who could easily match an army, someone who would be difficult to defeat even with an entire military force.
And the Holy Cross Group had a hundred thousand such combatants.
This was equivalent to a large army in itself, with combat power exceeding the combined total of all other armies in the world.
Furthermore, this was a conventional army, which, unlike the Bull of Heaven, did not need to be held back as an ultimate deterrent.
Under these conditions, Kudou Asuka followed a suggestion from Canary and named this army of victims the "heavenly Army."
She not only gave them the job of protecting the research projects but also granted them the special authority to monitor those same projects.
As victims themselves, they were the ones who hated human experimentation the most.
Their presence would not only ensure the safety of the experimental projects everywhere but also guarantee that the tragedy of human experimentation would not be repeated internally, preventing other factions from taking desperate measures. It was a move that killed two birds with one stone.
The victims, who held the Holy Cross Group in extremely high regard, were deeply grateful for Kudou Asuka's appointment.
To be able to reintegrate into society while also upholding justice and preventing others from suffering the same fate as them—it was the job they had dreamed of.
Thus, in addition to the ultimate deterrence represented by Kudou Asuka, a more flexible conventional deterrent was established through the "heavenly Army."
A world system was completed, with the Holy Cross Group and the nations' research projects as the basic order, and Kudou Asuka and the "heavenly Army" as the basic deterrent, forming a stable model for the world's operation.
Even ordinary people around the world could feel the changing times, sensing that humanity was rapidly advancing into the next era.
People grew accustomed to naming this era by its keyword, calling it the era of the Third Stellar Particle.
However, looking forward from the long river of time, the future—or rather, the present—rescue team had another name for this era.
The Age of God-Groups.