Chapter 324: Slaughtering the Planet |
Gemini Star, Polar Night City.
Standing in an alleyway of the city, Chen Mang held his telescope, looking up at the starry sky. There were very few pedestrians on the streets. Martial law had not been declared, but the situation was clearly too abnormal for anyone to leave their homes.
Only a scattered few walked the roads in twos and threes.
Above, the stars streaked rapidly across the sky.
He had no idea which corner of the universe Gemini Star was currently in. He had absolutely no coordinates and no points of reference.
He was even less sure how far they were from the ruins of the Kasa Civilization Federation.
The Refrigerator did not display the distance between them.
The only thing he knew for certain was—
They were currently at least a hundred thousand light-years away from the Kasa Civilization Federation ruins!
Nor were there many planets or stars.
It appeared quite barren.
Its resource richness fell far short of the Kasa Civilization Federation's territory, and the number of Ore Stars was drastically lower.
He had never seen this region before.
'They really know how to run,' he thought.
Chen Mang sighed softly. He did not know exactly how the Kasa Civilization managed to take all their planets and flee in such a short amount of time, but he was certain that this was not a standard method for a third-level civilization.
It had to be a unique technique belonging exclusively to the Kasa Civilization.
Otherwise, the Mechanical Civilization would have fled long ago during their time, instead of foolishly fighting to the bitter end.
Furthermore, they were not using the escape method of stuffing planets into a Space Portal. Instead, they used some method akin to a spatial jump to directly take the planets with them, and then continuously accelerated the planets to maintain their flight.
The speed of Gemini Star gradually began to slow down.
Clearly, the Kasa Civilization was preparing to set up a temporary camp in this desolate area. The resources here were truly scarce. If not for the massive batch of resources they had just confiscated, the Kasa Civilization would have gradually withered away on its own before long.
One had to remember.
The Kasa Civilization had a rather sparse population, and most of their people relied on the Medical Pod to extend their lives. Those things consumed a massive amount of resources. Without enough supplies, they would all die out without anyone else needing to lift a finger.
Logically speaking.
It was exceedingly difficult for a civilization to simply turn and run immediately after a war began.
It was not a simple matter.
Nor was it something that could be done on a whim.
Many factors had to be taken into consideration.
For example, the shortage of resources during the escape, or whether or not to bring their own planets. If they abandoned their planets and fled alone, how long could they survive? If they brought their planets and passed through starless regions, how many people would survive on the surface? Dragging planets along would definitely make them slower than the enemy's trains, so how could they possibly outrun them?
There were countless such problems.
Only by possessing a method like the Kasa Civilization's, capable of taking planets along for a spatial jump, could an escape be executed so effortlessly. Of course, the price was not small. The territory they had conquered over so many years was essentially handed over to the Zerg Civilization on a silver platter.
Of course.
None of that was the most important thing right now.
"Not hiding it at all, are they,"
Chen Mang muttered as he stood in the alleyway, looking at the screen. Trains were speeding across the ground, heading toward the strategic resource reserves of various cities. They were storing the newly confiscated resources in batches.
They weren't bothering to hide it this time.
On Gemini Star, the strategic resource warehouses across seventeen cities, which had previously been emptied, were now completely filled once again.
He did not know exactly how many resources the Kasa Civilization had confiscated this time, but it was absolutely an astronomical figure.
"Going to feast this time,"
Chen Mang laughed as he gazed at the scene before him.
Hungry.
So hungry.
Although he had acquired a lot of resources recently, for some reason, he still felt ravenous. It was nowhere near enough. This time, he could finally eat his fill.
It was obvious.
The Kasa Civilization was very relaxed right now, completely lacking any vigilance.
He had Xiao Ai monitor the relatively brief war between the Zerg Civilization and the Kasa Civilization in real-time. The strongest train in the Kasa Civilization had a defense level bracket of 160, and its maximum attack energy bracket was at level 180.
Naturally.
This war had not completely escalated into a meat grinder.
Both sides still retained a bit of rationality, slowly and continuously increasing their troops.
But based on the strength the Kasa Civilization had displayed so far, they were no match for him. Perhaps they still had hidden trump cards, but as long as he was fast enough to snatch this batch of resources first, he could go back and upgrade his armor to level 250 or even 300.
By then, no matter how great the Kasa Civilization's trump cards were, they would not be as great as his.
Then he could simply rob the rest of their resources too.
Everything was perfect.
Right at that moment—
"It is done."
In the alleyway, Xiao Ai stood outside the Refrigerator. A cable plugged into her body connected directly through the Refrigerator to the train's control console chain. The words "weird" and "strange" flickered across her cheeks. "I tested this city's AI. I can successfully hack it whenever I want."
"When that happens, all the infrastructure regulated by the AI in this city will be under my control."
"That loophole from last time hasn't been fixed at all."
"The AI's return confirmation command is still once an hour. They didn't even bother adjusting it to once every half hour or ten minutes."
"That is wonderful,"
Chen Mang sighed softly. He glanced down at his watch and turned toward the Refrigerator. "All combat squads, prepare yourselves. The operation will officially begin in seventeen minutes. All tactical instructions remain the same as last time. Everyone is responsible for their own assigned areas. Get in, hit them, and get out."
"Uh..."
"Wait, suspend the plan for now. Stand by for new orders."
That plan was too crude.
It made their civilization seem overly eager to plunder.
He had thought of a much better solution.
The Starlight Civilization, the society nestled on the back of the Black Tortoise. Inside that wooden cabin surrounded by farmland, the Hunchbacked Elder welcomed familiar guests: a smiling Chen Mang bearing gifts, accompanied by his trusted aide.
"..."
The Hunchbacked Elder glanced around in bewilderment. After a long moment, he croaked, "Your Excellency, if I recall correctly, it hasn't been that long since we last parted ways, has it?"
"There's something I need to consult you about."
Chen Mang smiled, setting down the gifts in his hands. "Last time I came, I noticed the crop variety here was a bit lacking, so I brought you a batch of agricultural seeds. See if there's anything you need."
"I've run into a bit of trouble recently."
"I'd like to know how to erase a civilization's brand from a planet."
The Hunchbacked Elder looked down at the gifts on the table. After a prolonged silence, he said softly, "Your Excellency, the Starlight Civilization is truly a peace-loving one. We do not wish to participate in any wars, but that does not mean we are completely defenseless."
"If Your Excellency forces us or uses some method to drag us into a war, then we will become enemies."
"You aren't trying to ask us to join a war to help you, are you?"
"Not at all."
Chen Mang smiled and replied, "I don't want another civilization coming over to split the meat anyway. I don't even have enough for myself. I like peace-loving folks like you. I love peace too."
"But from what you're saying, it sounds as if you are currently at war?"
"Peace always comes after war."
"Our peace did not come after war."
"You were defeated and forced to flee before you found your peace, didn't you? There's no difference between us. The only distinction is that you lost, while I will most likely win."
"..."
The Hunchbacked Elder fell silent and did not speak again.
Standing behind Chen Mang, Lao Zhu's lips twitched slightly. Wasn't Boss Mang being a bit too blunt? He was worried this Hunchbacked Elder might suddenly snap and attack them at any moment.
This was basically like taking someone who had been brutally beaten in the past, became terrified of fighting, went out of their way to avoid everyone, and then called it "loving peace."
And then having someone rip off the band-aid right to their face, tearing open their past and telling them: You don't love peace, you're just a coward who's scared of getting hit. The chances of them flying into a rage were at least fifty percent!
A few seconds later.
The Hunchbacked Elder shook his head, a trace of reminiscence lacing his voice. He murmured dazedely, "A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. A man must always experience failure at least once. I hope that failure completely crushes you."
"There are many ways to erase a civilization's brand."
"Assuming you want to erase a brand placed by your own civilization, you just need to confirm the removal directly. Of course, you undoubtedly want to erase the brand left by another civilization on a planet. There are three methods to do so."
"The first method."
"Once that civilization is extinguished, any brand it left behind can be easily wiped away."
"The second method."
"Directly blast the planet into pieces, and the civilization's brand will naturally be erased."
"The third method."
"Slaughter every single living being belonging to that civilization on the planet until the population reaches zero. That will clear the civilization's brand from the planet."
"This is only our second time meeting."
"Everyone has their own ideals, and I shouldn't interfere with your mindset. Especially not now, when you are clearly exuding a high-spirited, triumphant aura. You won't listen to anyone's advice right now. However, I must remind you of one thing: once a war begins, it cannot be stopped."
"Even if you claim victory in this war against this civilization."
"War is like a bone-corroding poison. It will haunt you endlessly. There are far too many civilizations in the universe. Can you guarantee you will win every single time?"
"You will lose eventually."
"You might win ninety-nine times, but the moment you lose just once, everything you have now will turn to ash."
"Perhaps,"
Chen Mang smiled as he stood up, preparing to leave. "Thank you for the explanation. When we next meet, I'll prepare a grand gift for you."
With that said.
He did not linger any longer, turning around and leaving immediately.
Compared to simply plundering the strategic resources from those warehouses, he leaned more toward shoving Gemini Star directly into his train. The city of Polar Night City had been built quite nicely; it should have belonged to him long ago.
The Hunchbacked Elder gazed at Chen Mang's retreating back, his expression complex as he remained silent for a long time.
The Starlight Civilization had their courage broken long ago, centuries prior. The root cause was simply that there were far too many civilization leaders in the universe just like Chen Mang.
But after all, Chen Mang had never been to a true civilization battlefield.
He did not understand.
He didn't realize just how cruel the battles between civilizations truly were.
Lose once.
And you were completely gone. If you were lucky, you might become a wandering civilization like them. If you were unlucky, you'd vanish without a trace forever.
The Stellar Train rested quietly on the Barren Plains of Gemini Star.
At this moment, several Refrigerators were sitting quietly inside the train's main cabin.
Chen Mang planned to find a way to send these Refrigerators to other planets after the war ended. Otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for him to track down the Kasa Civilization in the future. He hadn't fully devoured the Kasa Civilization yet, and he certainly wasn't going to let them off so easily.
"Rumble—"
"Rumble—"
The muffled hum of high-speed assembly lines drifted from Carriage 2 behind him. The Armed Black Hole Robots were rapidly mass-producing more robots. This batch of armed machines would serve as his main force to join the battlefield.
Once the war commenced.
This horde of armed robots would sweep through every city like locusts, beginning an indiscriminate purge of all living beings.
The cost to manufacture an Armed Black Hole Robot with a level 40 attack strength and level 0 defense was 3.12 million units of copper ore.
Robots with this level of firepower were more than capable of countering the law enforcement forces and ordinary citizens in these cities. Coupling this with the fact that the AIs of all seventeen cities could be seized by Chen Mang at any time, any locations with heavier defenses would be greeted by the stellar firepower of the Stellar Train.
From the very beginning, this was a war he was virtually guaranteed to win!
Even on an informational level, it was an absolute massacre.
The Kasa Civilization didn't even know of their existence yet.
He had spent a staggering 10 trillion units of copper ore to produce a full 3 million level 40 Armed Black Hole Robots. This would be his army, a grand mechanical legion. He then allocated another 3 trillion units of copper ore for ammunition consumption.
Right now, robot after robot was being rapidly assembled on the production lines.
Ready to join the fray at a moment's notice.
"..."
Sitting inside the Stellar Train, Chen Mang leaned back in his chair. He lit a cigarette and gazed wordlessly at the countless stars streaking across the sky above, his expression blank. In truth, his heart wasn't nearly as calm as he appeared.
A faint, lingering pressure weighed heavily upon his mind.
He knew the cruelty of the universe.
He also knew that defeat in a civilization war meant absolute, unmitigated racial genocide.
Just like how the Kasa Civilization effortlessly slaughtered the first-level civilizations within their own federation, not treating the people of other civilizations as human beings at all. Since he was participating in this game, he had to play by its rules. Otherwise, he would be the only one getting hurt.
But—
These were the lives of hundreds of millions of living beings, after all.
With a single command from him, every life form on this planet would face a bloody purge.
For him, giving this order came with considerable weight.
He just didn't want to show it.
Sitting in this position, he had to bear this pressure. For a civilization to develop and progress, it had to be built upon the corpses of countless beings from other civilizations. The glory belonged to everyone, but the burden of making the choices fell entirely on his shoulders.
An unknown amount of time passed.
The ashtray on the control console was now piled high with burnt-out cigarette butts.
The rumbling noises from the rear carriages had long since ceased.
"Captain,"
Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the train. "Biao Zi and his team have successfully delivered the Refrigerators to their tactical destination."
"Ready to commence operations at any moment."
"..."
Chen Mang slowly pulled himself from his thoughts. After a long silence, he stood up and looked at the console screen, speaking softly, "This operation is designated 'Humanity's Revival'. Everyone, take your positions. The war will officially begin in ten minutes."
The silent Polar Night City.
Barely any pedestrians roamed the streets. The vast majority of citizens were hiding in their homes, a faint sense of unease in their eyes. The official message handed down from above claimed that the Kasa Civilization was searching for a new territory to inhabit.
Why had they fled so suddenly?
Could it be that they had lost the war?
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Polar Night City.
Three Refrigerators sat in an open clearing. One by one, Armed Black Hole Robots marched out of them, steadily forming a mechanical legion on the Barren Plains. Not a single voice could be heard. Their formations were immaculate. Crimson light pulsed from the optical sensors of every machine, the weapons in their hands primed to unleash storms of furious lead.
The only sound was the soft scraping of grinding mechanical joints.
The entire scene was deafeningly silent yet brimming with chaotic tension.
Leading this army were—
The elder from the Jimei Tourism Group, Young Master Li, and his cosmic behemoth.
The men all sported bloodshot eyes and faintly contorted features. The rage in their pupils threatened to erupt into something tangible. They finally had the chance to take their revenge. The Kasa Civilization had annihilated their societies, causing them to forever lose their families, friends, and kin.
Now!
The time for vengeance had arrived!
This war would ignite here and now, and they firmly believed that the Human Civilization would seize ultimate victory!
The AIs of all seventeen cities had once again fallen entirely into Xiao Ai's grasp. Every signal sent by their early warning radars was intercepted by her. No one realized that a terrifying robotic armada had silently amassed right outside their walls.
They awaited only a single command.
To prepare to cleanse the city of all life.
This was how wars between civilizations always were. Betting their entire foundations to gamble on either a sliver of hope or absolute destruction.
This scene was not playing out at this city alone.
It was mirrored perfectly across the other sixteen cities.
The very next moment—
An order was transmitted from the Stellar Train, echoing in the ears of all the squad leaders stationed outside the seventeen cities.
Immediately after!
A deafening gunshot abruptly shattered the tranquility of the night!
An Armed Black Hole Robot fired the opening shot.
"My past life experiences tell me one thing,"
Chen Mang stood alone before the floor-to-ceiling window of the train cabin, gazing out at the distant horizon. Holding a cup of strong tea in his hands, he spoke softly, his expression perfectly calm: "If you must face a war, do your utmost to be the one who fires the first shot."
"Tell everyone."
"Leave no one alive. Not a single soul."
"Slaughter the planet in the shortest time possible."
"The Human Civilization shall experience a revival and be reborn through this baptism of blood and fire. Everything for humanity."
"Everything for humanity," Xiao Ai's solemn and serious voice echoed through the train.
This was the first war initiated by the Human Civilization since its reconstruction. The significance of this conflict went far beyond simply acquiring these resources or this planet. It represented the Human Civilization officially stepping up to the gambling table.
Whether they became the hunter or the hunted in the future.
No one knew.
But right now, he needed to win. He didn't have to win every time. He could afford to lose many times, but as long as he won just this once, the captured resources would be enough to trigger an explosively exaggerated surge in power for the Stellar Train.
To win, one first needed the capital to lose, and the courage to endure that loss.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat!!"
The shrieking roar of gunfire tore through the darkness, instantly obliterating the silence hanging over the cities!
Massive and concentrated volleys plunged the entire city into absolute panic in a matter of seconds.
At a glance.
Outside Polar Night City.
The impossibly dense, seemingly endless robotic armada rapidly advanced. They swept forward like a swarm of locusts, yet possessed absolute discipline. Not one machine took a step back, and the speed and cadence of every robot's march were perfectly synchronized.
Guided by the Doppler Radar, no living creature in the city could hide.
Step by step, they bathed everything within their attack range in blood.
The city's planetary defense weapons had completely gone dead. And just as the law enforcement squads and heavily armed civilians inside the city frantically organized themselves to mount a resistance.
"Rumble—"
The city's defense weapons turned their cannons squarely on them.
Right at that moment—
"Boom!"
A violent explosion rocked the air as a missile launched into the sky above Polar Night City, crashing heavily into the heart of the robotic army. The massive blast annihilated several thousand Armed Black Hole Robots in an instant.
A Mechanical Train was hovering directly above Polar Night City.
The train's weapon components aggressively rained fire down on the machine legion.
However!
Before it could fire a second missile, a beam of light shot over from the distance at a speed faster than the naked eye could track, striking the train squarely! Within moments, the train blossomed into a fiery explosion over the city!
Shrill alarms finally began blaring across the skies of Polar Night City!
More and more armed trains belonging to corporations and noble families surged from within the city, joining the ranks of the resistance. Yet every single one of these trains was under Xiao Ai's surveillance. The effects provided by the level 200 Doppler Radar constituted a catastrophic, multidimensional curbstomp when it came to intelligence gathering.
Before those trains even managed to power up.
Beam after beam of light tore in from the distance, scoring direct hits and turning each train into a firework in the sky.
Countless streaks of fire detonated in midair.
The most terrifying aspect of a robotic army was its absolute discipline. Even with a casualty rate of ninety-nine percent, not a single one would step back. If this were the cold-weapon era, an army like this could shatter the morale of any opposing force just by brandishing their blades.
Since its reconstruction, the Human Civilization had never initiated a war, nor had it proactively participated in any anomalous conflicts.
All this time.
Chen Mang had consistently chosen to bide his time on the fringes, intending to develop and grow a bit stronger before stepping onto the battlefield.
But the flight of the Kasa Civilization had upended his plans, forcing him to join the fray prematurely. He needed to reclaim the massive haul of resources the Kasa Civilization had made off with, in order to stand against the Zerg Civilization.
This was the first war he had taken part in.
And it was the first war he himself had instigated.
"So they still got the message..."
Inside the Stellar Train.
Chen Mang stood in the cabin, murmuring as he stared at the image on the Doppler Radar's screen. On the display, the Kasa Civilization's dozen or so core planets were hurtling side-by-side into the depths of the universe, keeping a uniform pace. Meanwhile, hundreds of Mechanical Trains had taken off from nearby planets, flying straight toward Gemini Star.
Evidently—
Even though he had jammed all information sources and possessed total control over the AIs of the seventeen cities, the news had still leaked out.
But that was fine.
Let's see if this encounter could test out just how deep the Kasa Civilization's foundations truly ran.
The next moment!
Chen Mang gently pressed a button on the control console. On top of the carriage, the deep-blue plasma veins crisscrossing the barrel of the Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon gradually lit up, entering its charging state.
Countless units of iron ore melted down into blinding, imposing energy that rushed rapidly into the main cannon's conduits, resembling liquid thunder surging through the veins of a god of thunder.
Ten seconds later, accompanied by a violent shudder from the train, an incandescent white beam shot straight through the dark clouds, blasting into the cosmos!
The space surrounding the muzzle twisted aggressively under the extreme energy overload.
In the blink of an eye.
The beam expanded as it blasted free of the planet's atmosphere. Tearing through the void, a blazing white pillar of light over a kilometer wide hurtled straight toward the train fleet rushing toward Gemini Star. Its core temperature rivaled the interior of a star.
Everywhere the beam passed, countless glass-like fractures were left in the fabric of space.
The attack intensity wasn't exceedingly high; it was merely at level 200.
It was a standard level of offensive power.
He thought it was decent enough, considering the Kasa Civilization's maximum attack intensity during this war had reached level 180.
But that was out in space. Firing a shot of this caliber in outer space didn't draw too much attention. But on a planet, the phenomena triggered by such a blast were utterly horrifying. A level 101 Akhenaten Main Cannon was already capable of obliterating a planet.
At level 200.
It was the physical manifestation of divine punishment!
In a matter of seconds, the train fleet had absolutely no time to evade before the incandescent beam washed over them, completely enveloping hundreds of trains with its terrifying might!
Hundreds of energy shields activated in an instant. Regardless of the cost, they were immediately pushed to their absolute maximum capacity, burning through massive quantities of iron ore in the process!
However...
This was the level 200 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon.
Those energy shields vaporized instantly, like thin ice meeting a branding iron. They didn't melt; they completely vaporized. There wasn't even a visible sign of collision; it was as if they hadn't been struck at all.
Just like that, an entire train armada was entirely erased from the universe.
Not a single piece of debris remained.
It didn't create even a speck of space junk. If the universe had an environmental protection organization, they would be giving Chen Mang a thumbs-up right now, praising him for being so eco-friendly.
In the silent cosmos.
Everything played out like a silent film—shocking and fundamentally impossible to process.
When sentient beings witness something entirely beyond their comprehension, their minds tend to shut down, instinctively refusing to accept the reality. For this beam of light, those hundreds of trains barely even counted as a target.
After melting them instantly.
Its speed did not slow, nor did its power wane.
It continued rocketing toward the profound depths of the universe!
Until it struck a target durable enough to fully absorb all its energy, this beam would obliterate everything in its path. Its power would continue to gradually escalate until the very moment it finally bloomed into a flower of death.
"..."
Inside the train, Chen Mang watched several streams of data flash rapidly across the screen. A main cannon with this much intensity placed a tremendous burden on the train. The thermal load generated upon firing was overwhelming. If they couldn't lower the temperature rapidly, a large number of train components would suffer damage, possibly even resulting in self-destruction.
But the 'Central Air Conditioning', an utterly mundane component, had gained a Divine Level Extraordinary Effect upon reaching level 200: a rapid cooling system. It quickly siphoned the heat from the train, so even after firing a main cannon of this intensity, the resulting thermal load was dispersed in record time.
This was currently the Stellar Train's strongest strike.
The level 200 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon.
This single shot—
Cost him one trillion units of iron ore!
It was obscenely expensive.
If the Stellar Train had remained permanently parked on Water Blue Star, even if he developed there for another hundred years, all the iron ore they mined wouldn't be enough to fire the level 200 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon even once. He believed the Kasa Civilization definitely possessed a level 200 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon as well.
After all, one of the requirements for advancing to a third-level civilization was that maximum attack energy had to exceed 20,000, which translated to level 200.
Since the war had already begun.
He wanted to see the extent of the Kasa Civilization's foundations. Firing this blast to destroy a few hundred trains was an absolute waste. He was merely initiating a dialogue with the Kasa Civilization; he was showing them his might.
"Commander Li, where is your grand army? Are you going to deploy? What about the other four military districts? Are they all hiding like cowards?"
He waited patiently for five minutes.
Seeing no signs of Kasa Civilization trains flying off the planet on the Doppler screen, Chen Mang narrowed his eyes and whispered, "You're running out of time."
Every living creature on Gemini Star was currently being rapidly purged.
The moment the lifeforms were fully purged would be the moment the civilization's brand was erased. At that point, the planet would be tucked securely away in his train.
"Why aren't we fighting back!!!"
"Tell me, why the fuck aren't we fighting back!!!"
Commander Li was bellowing ferociously in his study, his face twisted in rage. He could only receive news relayed through his subordinates and had no access to firsthand information. The moment he confirmed they were on the verge of defeat, he chose to withdraw to the Kasa Civilization and join their desperate flight.
The will of heaven simply hadn't favored him.
His tactical decisions had not been wrong.
But he never calculated that the civilization at war with the Zerg Civilization was also a Zerg Civilization. His reckless intervention had directly united the two rival Zerg forces against a common enemy, completely dooming his campaign.
Upon his return, he had still been quite enthusiastic when he met with the leader of the Kasa Civilization. Although his decision had been flawed, after the war began, the leader had made a series of supportive moves—such as giving him unlimited logistical supplies and using thunderous methods to root out all the internal parasites within the Kasa Civilization.
Coupled with the overt and covert signs of favor the leader usually showed him—claiming that in the entire Kasa Civilization, he was the only one truly thinking about the civilization's future.
All of this made him believe that, despite his defeat, he had truly become the leader's trusted confidant.
Except...
The moment they met, he was placed under house arrest. Stripped of all authority, even his personal train was impounded. Only his assistant remained to pass along frontline updates of the outside world.
Right at that moment—
The door to the study was pushed open.
The leader of the Kasa Civilization, draped in an overcoat and looking slightly fatigued, stepped into the room. Accompanied by his guards, he sat across from Commander Li. Looking as though he had caught a chill, he coughed a few times before staring dazedly out the window.
"Do you remember this place?"
"A long time ago, the Kasa Civilization went through so much effort to fight our way out of here, moving to that resource-dense sector."
"And yet—"
"It hasn't even been that long, but under my leadership, the Kasa Civilization has fled right back to where we started."
"And all of this was caused by your erroneous decision."
"Otherwise, when those Zerg Civilizations crippled each other, we might have had a chance to strike a decisive, final blow."
"But..." Commander Li glared at the leader, forcibly suppressing his rage. "Didn't you confide in me yesterday? Didn't you say that you had been wavering between those two choices yourself?"
"I merely made the choice for you!"
"True."
The leader pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, covering his mouth as he coughed softly a few more times. Looking exhausted, he said, "It was precisely because I couldn't bear the pressure of potential failure that I couldn't make a choice. Since you made the choice for me, it's only natural that you bear the consequences."
"In three days, you will be sent to the military tribunal. You will be sentenced to death, and executed immediately."
"Had you won, you would have naturally been treated with the highest honors."
"Since you lost."
"Then you can die."
With that said.
The leader did not linger. He immediately turned and left the study with his guards. A commander who defied control had no reason to exist. So what if the man genuinely cared about the future of the Kasa Civilization?
By comparison.
He much preferred those parasites.
They were more useful than granaries, and far more obedient.
After stepping out of the study.
He stood outside the door and glanced at his secretary beside him, asking softly, "Are we still unable to detect the enemy's train?"
"We cannot detect it."
The secretary quickly shook his head. "Our Doppler Radar can only pick up that a massive number of Armed Black Hole Robots are madly slaughtering our people on Gemini Star, but it cannot detect the presence of any trains."
"Sigh."
The leader sighed softly. After a long while, he murmured, "This means the enemy train's jammer is of a higher level than our radar."
"Do not take any action for the time being."
"Detach Gemini Star."
"Let's see what the other party's next move is."
"Have the men down below prioritize upgrading the radar. If it costs more, then it costs more."
The Kasa Civilization had finally managed to escape the crisis brought on by the Zerg, only for such an incident to erupt on Gemini Star. Faced with an invasion from an unknown civilization, until the other party explicitly demonstrated further malice, he really did not want to mount a counterattack. What the Kasa Civilization needed right now was quiet recovery, not war.
The opposing party didn't seem terribly malicious anyway.
They had merely fired off a casual shot from a level 200 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon. It felt more like a warning to keep their distance, rather than an outright attack.
The Kasa Civilization didn't lack the resources to fire a shot of their own.
But—
Forging a level 200 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon required an astronomical amount of Murphy Stones. All the level 200 components in the Kasa Civilization were carefully calculated and allocated based on strict priority rankings.
While the Kasa Civilization also possessed a level 200 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon.
It was kept as a hidden strategic trump card and would not be deployed lightly.
Even the Doppler Radar hadn't been upgraded to level 200 yet.
It wasn't because the radar was a low priority.
Rather, it was because they discovered that upgrading the Doppler Radar consumed far more Murphy Stones than the Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon. Even though both were seven-colored components, the Doppler Radar demanded vastly more Murphy Stones.
Although they possessed plenty of resources.
And had forged a massive number of high-level trains to form their military fleet, it was still incredibly difficult to break past their ceiling. The resources required to break that upper limit were greater than those needed to build an entire army. They weren't even on the same scale.
Gemini Star.
Chen Mang sat in the Stellar Train, watching the scene unfold on the Doppler screen. The dozen or so core planets of the Kasa Civilization continued hurtling deeper into the universe, while Gemini Star was abruptly cast aside, abandoned by the convoy.
The Kasa Civilization had abandoned Gemini Star.
They had absolutely no intention of fighting him head-on.
They had chickened out.
Their courage had truly been shattered by the Zerg Civilization. Faced with provocation from an unknown civilization, they lacked even the nerve to test the waters. They were even willing to tolerate the slight, at least until the other party made further aggressive moves.
"Very nice."
Sitting in the train cabin, Chen Mang suddenly burst into laughter. He felt like he finally understood the operational mechanics between civilizations in the universe. He heavily suspected that if his power were just a little greater right now, he could chase the Kasa Civilization down and slaughter them all the way.
A few years from now.
The Kasa Civilization would probably devolve into a peace-loving vagabond civilization, exactly like the Starlight Civilization.
He had originally wanted to use this shot to test the Kasa Civilization's foundations, but... the Kasa Civilization had just instantly caved.
It made him feel somewhat dazed.
In his mind, the Kasa Civilization had always been an overwhelmingly powerful entity. They effortlessly crushed several first-level civilizations. They were an unshakeable adversary, an utterly terrifying existence.
He had fully braced himself to withstand a storm of counterattacks from them.
This was his first war.
He had made comprehensive preparations.
Massive amounts of resources were primed for immediate deployment. His adrenaline was surging. But just as he was going all-out, the adversary he had long considered his greatest obstacle just turned and ran.
Fled without so much as a backward glance.
Just like when they faced the Zerg, they fled with fluid, practiced ease once more.
"Sigh,"
Chen Mang sighed softly again, but soon a smile slowly crept onto his face. Although the scale of his first war wasn't exactly sweeping or grand—feeling slightly anticlimactic—a victory was a victory.
The spoils weren't colossal.
But after all, it was the first victorious war since the reconstruction of the Human Civilization.
It was a good start.
Three hours later.
Guided by the Doppler Radar, every living being on Gemini Star had been comprehensively purged in a bloodbath.
The civilization's brand on this planet had been erased.
It had been completely reduced to an ownerless world.
The Stellar Train floated gently in the cosmos. Looking ahead at Gemini Star being slowly swallowed by a black hole, the corners of Chen Mang's mouth ticked upward as he chuckled softly, "Very nice."
A few moments later.
This planet appeared inside Carriage No. 10, resting within the brand-new level 200 Space Portal that Chen Mang had custom-built for it.
Now, peering out the window.
He could clearly see that incandescent beam of light still tearing through the distant cosmos. It had yet to hit an ultimate target, still racing deeper into the universe. Who knew when it would finally dissipate? Perhaps in a day, or perhaps in three years.
Fortunately, there were no Dark Abysses nearby.
Otherwise, it would become another cosmic bomb.
In the vast universe.
Civilization wars could be seen everywhere, and cosmic bombs like this were a dime a dozen. No one ever knew when a cosmic bomb might suddenly explode right next to them.
If the universe were compared to a pitch-black room.
The countless civilizations were akin to people wildly firing guns at each other in the dark. No one knew who they hit, and those who were shot had no idea who shot them. In a scenario like this, the only way to survive was to make yourself strong enough.
Otherwise.
Someone would eventually die from a cosmic bomb flying out of nowhere.
On Gemini Star.
"Hah!"
Chen Mang pulled the Civilization Seal from his pocket, blew a few hot breaths onto it, squatted down, and stamped it heavily onto the surface of Gemini Star.
With that—
The civilization's brand on this planet had been overwritten with the Human Civilization.
It also officially became the fifth planet possessed by the Human Civilization.
Naturally, the seal didn't have any red ink paste, nor did it require breathing on it, but how should one put it? A little sense of ritual was always necessary. After all, this was considered the first battle of the Human Civilization sounding the horn for their grand offensive across the cosmos.
It held a momentous, milestone significance.