Ch84 – The Zerg Assault

These small batches of scattered Zerg were nothing to be afraid of. The Rutes immediately dispatched the local army for trapping and clearing once they were discovered, but during this brief encounter, the Zergs showed why they should be worried.

Gilbert’s figure appeared on the large screen of the conference room. Behind him were several insects. They came in all sizes, from bugs so small they were only as big as their nails to ones so large they were as big as a hill. Their colors were garish but beautiful and their upper bodies were armed with extremely sharp, sawtooth-shaped feet.

“These Zergs are extremely hard and they directly traverse the vacuum of space. Ordinary lightsaber can’t cut through their carapace. There are only a few weak points in the entire body of each type of Zerg. For instance, this one that’s the size of a hill, it’s better to start between their brows. ”

He patted the big bug next to him and motioned for the camera to zoom out. He then took out a light blade and thrust towards the opponent’s carapace. Once the ear-splitting sound died out, everyone couldn’t help the way their hearts suddenly beat faster, they were all staring at the screen. The camera was again zoomed in. Only a faint white mark was left on the hill-like Zerg’s carapace. When Gilbert wiped it with his finger, even that white mark was gone.

He zoomed out once again. He leapt high, and jumped onto the Zerg’s body until he came to the top of its head. He raised the light blade and pierced it ruthlessly. But even so, this relatively fragile spot was still hard and what’s more, it contained something highly corrosive. After the light blade was pulled out, it had already been slightly distorted.

Gilbert dropped the light blade and shrugged. “And that’s how it is.”

Everyone in the conference room, without exception, looked at him with grave expressions.

There was no need to quibble about Gilbert’s strength. Gilbert, as the leader of the Rutes, had a physique equivalent to the double S constitution of the Empire. But their troops are not all double-S-class powerhouses. Many were only A-level, and even some were B-level logistics personnel. Moreover, human beings cannot be exposed to the vacuum of space for too long. They can only drive mechs to fight. This meant that once the Zerg infiltrated the mechs, their soldiers will have no means to fight back.

Cheng Ji said, “We will need some time to prepare.”

Gilbert smiled helplessly. “Then we hope our son becomes a dragon.”

“What?” Cheng Ji stared blankly. He pondered for a long time, before he heard He Yun Chen coldly say next to him, “It’s ‘We are awaiting news of your success.’”

“Oh, is that so?” Gilbert greeted him, then waved the matter away, “Sure enough, you understand me best. Then, we are awaiting news of your success. Goodbye.”

The screen suddenly went dark, and then several videos of their battle with the Zergs were sent over. The overall strength of these scouting Zergs cannot be considered as their best. Except for the hill-like Zerg that seemed to be their leader, the other Zergs could relatively easily be finished off by the mechs.

[Oh, by the way, you’ll need to destroy these Zerg’s heads. Otherwise, if you just cut off their bodies, they will divide at a very fast speed, super ~ terrible!]

Looking at this message, although Gilbert’s face did not appear on the screen, everyone still couldn’t help imagining his face brimming with enthusiasm, and his secretly clenched fists.

The Blue Star Empire shared a border with the Rutes. And as they say, without the lips, the teeth will feel cold. Once the Rutes fall, the Zerg’s next target would be the Blue Star Empire. These Zergs were like beasts that were slaves to instinctual desires. They only knew how to kill and devour and cannot coexist with any other race. Do not expect them to know how to cower. There was no possibility for negotiation. Fighting was their only option.

Cheng Ji said in a grim voice, “News of the Zerg will be temporarily blocked from the people. At the same time, we will begin preparations to dispatch troops and supplies. They are to set off in three days.”

But before their preparations were completed, a large number of Zerg forces emerged in an endless stream and launched offensives to various planets. The number of Zergs was really too overwhelming. The Rute army was losing ground. Several frontier planets in Rute system were quickly occupied by the Zergs. Gilbert could no longer maintain his enthusiasm, sending three emergency communications to the Blue Star Empire for help.

Four hands were difficult to defeat with two fists. A warrior using a mech may kill five or ten Zergs, but what if there were one hundred, one thousand, or ten thousand? Even if he was strong, he will tire, and once tired, he will be rushed up and devoured.

This was a more terrifying existence than any foe from alien planets.

Cheng Ji, the emperor of the Blue Star Empire, said in a deep voice, “Which army is the closest to the Rutes?”

“It is the 13th and 14th Guards of the Fourth Army, and also the garrison of the 21st Planet.”

“Send out the order. They are to immediately go to Rute’s planet as reinforcements.”

“Yes! Your Majesty!”

Everyone understood that His Majesty’s decision was right. Although the battlefield was not within the Blue Star Empire, the Rute Star System was adjacent to the Blue Star Empire. Both sides have always been allies and friends, whether in public or private. The Blue Star Empire must send troops to their rescue, otherwise they would only be routed by the Zergs one by one.

However, the total number of these three troops was less than 20,000, which can only be regarded as the vanguard of the reinforcements. They needed to establish a line of defense on the front line and wait for the main force to arrive.

Cheng Ji’s eyes turned to the Marshals of the various armies. “How is the army’s mobilization?”

“The first army’s 700,000 people has been assembled!”

“The second army’s 650,000 people has been assembled!”

“Third army…”

The seven major groups had a total of 70 million soldiers, of which the elite 5 million troops have all been assembled. Another 500,000 logistics personnel, 200,000 special operations forces, and 20 million nutrient solutions were all ready to go.

“This operation shall be entrusted to Supreme Commander He of the First Army, and the army is to immediately mobilized their forces to …” Cheng Ye’s eyes made their rounds of the generals, and finally fell onto He Yun Chen. “Marshal He, you are to take command of the Special Forces and immediately set off. The remaining troops will carry the supplies and follow after. The rest will be placed under martial law and should be prepared to be sent off as reinforcements at any time.”

“Yes! Your Majesty!”

By the time Ruan Tang learned from the Star Network about the Zerg offensive, He Yun Chen had led the 200,000 special task force soldiers and left capital star.

Although Ruan Tang had never experienced war, he has watched a lot of movies about the war. The impression he had of it was of blood and death. This made him worry about He Yun Chen’s safety, but he could do nothing but wait.

“Brother, why doesn’t Brother He come over anymore?” A few days without his playmate, Ruan Yu couldn’t help but miss He Yun Chen.

“Brother He has something he needs to do. He went to another planet and will be back soon.” Ruan Tang pressed down his worry and squeezed out a smile.

After the war with the Zergs started, all the news on the Star Network was about the front line. This war would determine the future of the Blue Star Empire and all its citizens. From time to time Cheng Ji would give speeches to the public, to boost their confidence and provide them with the best news from the frontline.

But under this constant stream of news, no one knew exactly how much damage the government was concealing.

The war on the front line quickly turned fierce. The number of Zergs was more than they estimated. The new types of Zergs didn’t just appear in their vanguard, more and more of the new types were also appearing on the frontline, each with its own powerful innate abilities. However, it was the corrosive ability of the hill-type Zergs that has caused serious damage to the mechs and warships. Even with the support of more than five million imperial soldiers, they could barely compete.

The coalition forces of the Rutes and the Blue Star Empire currently used Celtic Star, which had a more complex terrain, as their temporary base. It was difficult to withstand wave after wave of these Zerg offensives.

In this tense and dangerous battlefield, it was completely impossible for millions of soldiers to continue to eat natural foods, so nutrient solutions to maintain their physical strength and supplement nutrition was absolutely essential. Several resource planets in the Rute Star System had been severely hit, and they encountered difficulties in securing their nutrient solutions. Therefore, more nutrient solutions needed to be transported from the Blue Star Empire. At the same time, supplies included organic armor, energy packs, weapons and other military supplies.

Countless supplies were being transported to the front line.

However, at this time, an unexpected incident occurred. Their old enemies the Valens, who had fought against the Empire for thousands of years, tore up the peace treaty and took the opportunity to hijack the Empire’s transport ships. They killed all the soldiers on the ship and all the supplies were robbed.

The supplies and munitions worth hundreds of millions of GM coins were robbed. It had a great impact on the war. Without timely replenishment of mechs, energy sources, food and weapons, the soldiers on the frontline immediately sunk into a perilous situation.

“What do these Valens want?” When the news came back to the Blue Star Empire, Cheng Ji could no longer maintain his composure as an emperor. He almost lifted the table in the conference room in anger. “Are they tired of living?”

Others were also puzzled by this. If it was an invasion of another intelligent alien race, these Valens may have formed an alliance with them for the mutual exchange of benefits. But with the Zergs, there was no such thing as an alliance. All living things in the entire universe were just food to them. They had no intelligence, there was no benefit for their existence. All their actions were just to satisfy their instinct to devour.

No one expected that the Valens would launch an attack on the transport ships of the Blue Star Empire regardless of its consequences. If the Blue Star Empire and Rutes fell, they would be unable to escape the fate of being swallowed by the Zergs.

“These Valens are simply crazy!”

“Your Majesty, what are your orders?”

“Let the nutrient solution companies step up production of the new nutrient solutions immediately. Send another batch to Celtic Star as soon as possible. And dispatch 100,000 mech warriors from the Second and Fourth Army to protect them!”

“Yes! Your Majesty!”

The Blue Star Empire once again raised 20 million nutrient solutions within three days and it was immediately sent to Celtic Star. One hundred thousand mech warriors accompanied them. This way they won’t be subdued by the Valens so easily.

However, they underestimated the madness of the Valens.

The lunatics were willing to use suicide attacks to blow up all the nutrient solution in the transport ship. They were unwilling to let them deliver the supplies to the frontline. At the same time, the Valens also launched attacks at the Empire’s rear. They were harassing the Empire while it was empty of its soldiers.

In front was the fierce offensive from the Zergs. Behind them, the Valens were glaring at them like a tiger watching its prey. With simultaneous attacks from the front and the rear, the Imperial army was practically rushing in two directions. And due to the lack of supplies, the army’s combat power could not be maintained. The situation on the frontlines was rapidly going downhill.

Hearing the consecutive casualty reports from the frontline, all the Empire’s top military officials were enraged. The general of the Third Army, Gao Meng, even wanted to personally lead troops to besiege the Valens’ territory, to exact vengeance on those avaricious and selfish lunatics. However, He Wei Ye stopped him.

“Do you still need to appreciate the shameless attack and hide tactics of those lunatics? If you have the skills to fight guerilla warfare with them, it would be better to lead your soldiers to transport the supplies to Celtic Star. Apart from the transport ship, split all the supplies and have each mech equipped with a thousand nutrient solutions, energy packs and weapons. At least a part of the supplies will be sure to reach our soldiers! “He Wei said, absolutely fuming.

“I see …” Gao Meng also knew that what He Wei Ye was justified. So he reluctantly restrained his anger and assembled his men to prepare to go out once again.

Supreme Commander He personally ordered that this time the nutrient solutions to be delivered to the frontlines were to be the newest improved version to ensure that the soldiers would be able to obtain the highest degree of replenishment.

After the nutrient solution companies took over the production and sale of drinks such as Cola and Sprite, based on the method of making these drinks, they were also unexpectedly inspired to add fruit flavors to the nutrient solutions, which gave birth to this improved version of nutrient solutions. They had been preparing to promote these to the market and thus there were ready stocks in several warehouses. On the other hand, Supreme Commander He also hoped that the fructose component would better help the soldiers absorb the nutrients and replenish their physical strength.

Previously, when they agreed to have the canteen established at the military headquarters, they only had the soldier’s welfare and enrichment of their quality of life in mind. Unexpectedly though, it also promoted their training and combat capabilities. All the soldiers were eager to enjoy good food and in order to get to the canteen earlier, the soldiers would train very energetically and strived to complete the training tasks as quickly as possible. Many soldiers fared better in the phase evaluation, and some even managed to have a breakthrough in their physical and mental constitution, ascending a rank.

The Academy of Sciences later conducted researches on this phenomenon. They concluded that the act of eating itself produced a pleasant sensation, and chewing helped relieve tension and boost morale. Sugar can stimulate the brain to secrete a chemical substance that helps people maintain balance, makes it easier for them to fall asleep, and it reduced people’s sensitivity to pain.

In the face of extreme scarcity, hunger and exhaustion would magnify the mental stress of the soldiers. So Supreme Commander He believed that these improved nutrient solutions may replace natural foods, and ease the tension of the brave and ceaselessly fighting soldiers on the frontlines. He hoped it would boost their morale and keep their spirits up.

At this moment, when he was in a state of utter exhaustion, Ruan Tang took the initiative to seek him out to introduce portable natural foods called “canned goods”.