Cleanup

Large chunks of metal debris in the orbit of Laze Planet were quickly gathered together. Smaller fragments were also cleared away by numerous Larval Form. Those Larval Form, which had just been released from the fiber web, had been idle throughout the battle and had hardly lost any energy, making them perfect for doing some menial tasks.

These Orbital Cannon are mostly enormous machines, tens or even hundreds of meters long, wide, and tall. When piled together, they form huge metal mountains.

Besides the wreckage of the orbital cannon, numerous warships were also floating in space. The Riken Race suffered a double loss this time. Not to mention the casualties, nearly 300 warships were directly destroyed in the last few rounds of attacks alone. Including those that self-destructed later due to damage to their main engines and inability to escape, the number exceeded 500.

This caused the number of the Riken Race's main warships to drop below 2,000 again.

Moreover, if the damaged warships hadn't withdrawn from the battlefield earlier, and if the functional ships hadn't been forced to leave the main battlefield due to their inability to defend against the strong electromagnetic pulse when Laze Planet was bombarded by "Riken's Radiance," and hadn't evacuated when the situation turned unfavorable, they would have been the first to retreat.

The number of ships lost by the Riken Race would likely be several times higher.

Even with just these, the mountain of metal piled up from the warship wreckage that was gradually towed back and gathered was in no way inferior to the mountain of Orbital Cannon wreckage.

It should be noted that Riken Race warships is over a kilometer in length; these are truly behemoths.

After most of the debris was gathered, some Larval Form rushed over and transformed into Creep Seed. Soon, purplish-gray fleshy tissue crawled out from the gaps in the debris and rapidly multiplied and grew.

The mountain of metal debris was slowly covered by a purplish-gray color. After being corroded and absorbed by the Creep, it decomposed back into metallic elements. Then, the Ancient Class stepped forward one after another, extending their tentacles to connect with the Creep and replenish the losses from the war.

The Swarm suffered considerable losses this time, but compared to the losses in the first battle for Laze Planet, it was negligible. Those Ancient Class, aside from those used as charging meat shields, were mostly not completely wiped out.

Without external assistance, they would only need to drift in space for ten or twenty years to recover; with external assistance, the recovery speed would be even faster.

As for the Larval Form and Mature Form that are lost, even if they die, their remaining body tissues can help other Swarm units recover faster. Moreover, these space combat cannon fodder-level combat units only need to occupy a radiation source and spend some time to be produced continuously.

Like its Origin Star System, the Riken Star System contains a giant gas planet that resembles a power bank.

With Laze Planet as its Frontline Base, it's believed that the Swarm will soon march on that gas giant.

--

The defeat in the war against the alien race plunged the Riken Race into a state of great panic. If it weren't for the fact that it was wartime and changing commanders would have had a negative impact, Hamis and his men might already be in the staff office for tea, just like Masai.

After their victory in the first battle to attack and defend Laze Planet, the Riken Race invested a great deal of resources in Laze Planet, to the point that the construction of the "Wenwu" twin-star defense perimeter and the Mother Planet's defense perimeter both came to a standstill.

The original plan was to achieve a decisive victory in one battle and completely keep the Swarm out of Laze Planet.

Moreover, the various weapons and equipment newly added to the regular ranks have also achieved good results, perfectly countering the relatively simple unit combinations of the Swarm. Everything was going well, and everyone thought that this offensive and defensive battle would be won again. On the Mother Planet, they even started discussing the celebration banquet and the guests to be invited.

Who knew the situation would take such a sharp turn for the worse? In just half a day, not only did the victory that was within their grasp vanish, but the defenses of Laze Planet were also lost, and their warships suffered heavy losses, with 20% of them wiped out in one fell swoop.

To this day, the Riken Race still haven't figured out how the Swarm managed to hide so many troops on Laze Planet.

This is absolutely abnormal.

Previously, all patrol records, surveillance videos, mission reports, and other data from the Laze Planet defense line, including those from the exoplanetary asteroid belt, were unearthed and analyzed frame by frame by think tanks and staff working day and night.

However, no abnormalities were found.

"The Zerg couldn't possibly have such advanced technology to secretly transport so many combat units to Laze Planet and hide them away from us."

"Ha, are you still dreaming? The fact is, they actually did it."

"You mean there's a problem with our work?"

"Who knows?"

Want to fight?

"So you think you can't win an argument so you resort to violence? Well, who's afraid of who? Come on!"

"Shut up, all of you!" Speaker Antonio was also a bit annoyed as a full-blown brawl was about to break out. These high-ranking military personnel, despite their important positions, were still very keen on resolving disputes by force, something that Antonio, a politician by training, still couldn't get used to.

Antonio can be considered a pioneer for the Riken Race. When he first took office, the Riken expeditionary force was defeated in the Proxima Star System. This turned the position of Speaker from a coveted one into a hot potato. However, under Antonio's leadership, he successfully resisted the Swarm invasion and won the first Battle of Laze Planet as his third term was about to expire. His experience was truly legendary.

But the most legendary part was yet to come. Antonio was a very capable Rickon. During his tenure, taking advantage of the alien race's covetousness, he vigorously implemented reforms and gradually seized military power through various means such as winning over and suppressing, Riken Race one of the most powerful Rickons in history.

Thus, when his three terms as Speaker expired, riding the wave of his great victory in repelling the foreign invasion, he transitioned the Riken Race from Federal Council to a military government. As the wartime Speaker, there was naturally no question of him being replaced or removed from office. Subsequently, the forces that had previously hindered him regarding the Life-Extending Serum were secretly divided and suppressed by him, and his power grew day by day.

Time flies, and to this day, he remains the most powerful person in the Riken Race.

Therefore, what Antonio, sitting in the highest seat of parliament, said was very effective; the impending brawl was suppressed, and the meeting proceeded normally.

The Riken Race are, after all, a highly intelligent civilization. The elites born from a population of hundreds of billions are not just empty names. Based on the slightest clues, two different theories gradually took shape.

The first theory is that the Swarm had already established its presence on Laze Planet long ago. How long ago? Long before the Riken Race even explored Proxima Star System.

After all, the Riken Race still cannot confirm exactly when the Swarm entered space. Some Riken even speculate that Swarm members are space creatures from birth, capable of surviving freely in the space environment.

If that's the case, then they may have already been to the Riken Star System a long time ago.