Ground Battle

The reason humans kept in captivity appeared within Zerg territory was very simple. Although the Federation was now in decline, it still possessed a vast number of weapons of mass destruction.

To make the Federation hesitate, the Zerg could only keep the populations of some planets as hostages!

That way, fearing that carpet bombing would harm civilians, the Federation fleet would not dare launch devastating attacks against Zerg-occupied colonial planets.

At the same time, the humans the Zerg chose to preserve were generally the most educated people on those colonial planets—engineers, scientists, and the like.

Such people had little combat capability and virtually no ability to resist, yet they could keep the factories running and the mines operating for the Zerg.

The young and able-bodied, veterans, the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled were turned into Zerg food.

This slaughter plan, which preserved only the elite population, also ensured the Zerg's security on the planet.

After all, if they were just ordinary civilians, the Federation might simply wipe them out along with the Zerg without feeling too heartbroken.

But if the captives on the planet were skilled workers, engineers, scientists, and the like, then it would be difficult for the Federation to act. After all, rescuing these people would greatly strengthen the Federation!

Since the Zerg would not eat these people anyway, they might as well leave them in Zerg custody for a while. This was the prevailing view among the Federation's upper ranks.

Faced with as many as one hundred million surviving humans on this planet, fleet commander Luo Hong found himself torn.

If he burned those hundred million people to ashes along with the Zerg, the mission could proceed smoothly, but they would surely bear lifelong guilt and the stigma of being cold-blooded.

That was a