Strategy

After thinking for a moment, Wang Dong issued a new order: "Scan the terrain of the habitable planets below and identify locations where large-scale disasters could be caused."

For every ten thousand members of a civilization wiped out, he could earn 1 Source Point. The Yatai star system below was the Yatai civilization's home system, with an extremely high population density. Each habitable planet had a population of several billion.

If he could cause a few natural disasters, he could kill hundreds of thousands—or even millions—in no time. It would be so satisfying.

The returns were even higher than simply destroying warships.

That was why "Otherworldly Space battlefields" with habitable planets were called "golden dungeons."

The only pity was that the universe was vast, yet habitable planets were rare.

The odds of encountering a habitable planet in an "Otherworldly Space battlefield" were even lower—one in a thousand.

They were the exclusive territory of certain legendary "European Emperor" captains.

And habitable planets with high population densities were rarer still, one in a hundred thousand. If a captain happened to find one, he would throw a huge banquet after returning, just to ward off bad luck.

Yet Wang Dong had three densely populated habitable planets right before him. If word got out, countless captains would be so jealous they'd want to kill someone.

It was fair to say that Wang Dong had hit the jackpot in this Otherworldly Space battlefield.

Just ten minutes later, the Shipborne Optical Computer projected three three-dimensional holographic maps, one for each habitable planet, and marked the locations that could potentially cause mass casualties.

Wang Dong gave them a quick look. There were massive hydraulic facilities, flammable and explosive installations in huge cities, nuclear power plants near densely populated areas, and enormous active underwater volcanoes that could be triggered...

"A supervillain straight out of a movie..."

Wang Dong had an inkling of what he was becoming.

"Good thing this Otherworldly Civilization looks so thoroughly evil."

Wang Dong could naturally see what the Yatai civilization looked like.

They were like gorillas wearing clothes, with little resemblance to what anyone would call "human."

Wang Dong figured that if his opponents had looked more like humans, he might have hesitated before choosing this method of slaughter.

"Too bad the War Axe doesn't have much in the way of supplies."

Wang Dong sighed. "The start is always this rough. There's nothing to be done when resources are limited."

His thoughts racing, Wang Dong worked out a rough plan.

Of course, the situation on the battlefield could change in an instant. How exactly he carried it out would depend on how things developed.

Every Otherworldly Space battlefield lasted only twenty-four hours. Once the time was up, the Kindling Warship would be forced back into its home universe.

With just over twenty hours left, Wang Dong didn't hesitate any longer. Following the Shipborne Optical Computer's markings, he chose the Yatai star system's fourth planet as his starting point.

This habitable planet had a population of 6.8 billion, four megacities with populations exceeding one hundred million, and three massive hydraulic facilities. There were fifteen targets in total to choose from.

Everything that followed went smoothly.

Relying on the Mirage System's concealment, the War Axe easily evaded the patrol fleet cruising through the star system and slipped silently onto the target planet.

First, it bombarded the flammable and explosive pipelines and warehouses in several megacities with its main guns. Then it used its secondary guns to destroy the cities' main firefighting forces, before moving on to demolish the massive hydraulic facilities.

With this three-part "natural disaster," the four megacities on the planet were engulfed in flames in just one hour.

The destruction of the three massive hydraulic facilities triggered catastrophic floods. Fire and water ravaged the planet.

After expending just 17 main-gun shells and 36 secondary-gun shells, the War Axe had earned 282 Source Points.

That meant more than ten million members of the Yatai civilization had already died in these man-made disasters.

However, because the War Axe had a "Source Point acquisition rate" of just twenty-five percent, its total earnings had been halved twice over.

The "inheritance tax" imposed by Kindling Warships was terrifying indeed.

And this was only the beginning.

The fires and floods couldn't be brought under control in the short term, and the death toll continued to climb rapidly.

As time passed, the Source Points the War Axe earned kept increasing.

Main-gun ammunition remaining: 106 rounds; secondary-gun ammunition remaining: 1,976 rounds; Source Points remaining: 354.

"Too bad we only have twenty-four hours. Once we leave Otherworldly Space, any deaths that follow won't count toward our record, and we won't get any Source Points for them."

Wang Dong felt a little regretful. Disasters like these fires and floods often lasted well beyond twenty-four hours. The worst of the flooding would come later, since its primary impact was ongoing.

After all, floodwaters took time to spread.

Ignoring the Yatai civilization, which had already caught on, the War Axe sped away from the fourth planet and headed for another nearby habitable planet.

This planet had only two megacities with populations of over one hundred million, but it had twelve cities with populations between seventy and one hundred million.

Destroying the massive hydraulic facilities could cause plenty of casualties, but the results came slowly. This time, Wang Dong chose a more direct approach: fire.