Activation

"The T81 Star System (the Riken Race's designation, the Origin Star System of the Swarm) are Starlight, decreasing by about 0.26% per year. This suggests the existence of an advanced civilization, building Dyson Sphere and utilizing Hengxing energy?" A Rickon, looking at the data before him, exclaimed in shock, "This change has been going on for decades?"

"This progress is much faster than ours!" The Riken Race has only just started building a similar device, and it's still in the experimental stage. The other side's progress clearly shows that their technology is quite mature.

"The T81 Star System is about five light-years away from the T85 Star System, which is about the same distance as us."

"They're a full 9 light-years away from us. Luckily, the T85 Star System acts as a buffer, otherwise we'd be in a real predicament. It seems their technology is more advanced than ours..."

"For them to reach us, they'll first have to get past the Zerg. Why don't they attack the T85 Star System? Maybe that would force the Zerg to withdraw. Perhaps we should send someone to visit this civilization; maybe we can join forces against the Zerg."

"Have you forgotten what the Speaker just said? Haven't you considered that the civilization in the T81 Star System might also be Zerg?" Ricard couldn't stand it any longer.

Hearing Ricard's words, everyone was shocked and horrified.

If the T81 Star System is also Zerg by the Zerg, then things become quite serious. This would mean the enemy could potentially control more than two systems, significantly increasing their strategic resources and adding countless variables to the equation.

The Zerg forces that have arrived in the Riken Star System so far are only from the T85 system. If the Zerg conquer multiple systems, it is very likely that other systems will also send troops, but because the distance is too great, they are still on their way.

The Riken Race are already struggling to hold off the Zerg forces in a single star system; if more were to come, they might as well just surrender.

This is not an exaggeration, but a real problem facing the Riken Race. According to the General Staff's calculations, if there are Zerg reinforcements from other star systems, such as the T81 Star System, it will take the Zerg about 50 years to reach the Riken Star System from the T81 Star System, based on Zerg current maximum speed.

More than forty years have passed since the expeditionary force was defeated in the T85 Star System. In other words, if the Zerg did indeed occupy the T81 Star System, then Zerg reinforcements from there could appear before the Riken Race at any time in a few years.

This made the previous delaying plan a joke. The T81 Star System has been under the control of the Zerg for an unknown period of time, but judging from the changes in the brightness of the stars, it has probably been a very long time. If troops were to be sent there, they would probably be far more numerous than the Zerg troops in the T85 Star System.

Once the Zerg armies from both star systems are surrounded, they probably won't be able to hold out for long.

The only thing to be relieved about is that, apart from T81 Star System, the other galaxies in the direction of T85 Star System are all more than ten light-years away from the Riken Star System Galaxy. Even if they are occupied by the Zerg and send out troops, they will not be able to reach the Riken Star System for a while.

This means that the Riken Race can only withstand the Zerg forces of two star systems at most in the short term, and it's hard to say whether this is good news or not.

I guess so, compared to a few minutes ago.

"It seems we have no other choice."

Although the Riken Race had made up their minds, the Zerg were being far too cautious, sending out large numbers of Mature Form and Larval Form, with the Ancient Class swarm constantly lingering millions of kilometers away from Chuyun Planet.

"This distance is actually no longer a safe distance; I think we can start now."

"I think we can wait a little longer. Given their current location, if they evacuate in time, the losses won't be too great."

"That's not necessarily true. There are too many unforeseen factors in this plan, and we don't even know how well it will turn out."

"Has our plan been leaked?"

"How could that be? After all, they've already started to penetrate our home turf; it's normal for them to be cautious."

"Then let's wait a little longer. Our setup shouldn't be so easy to detect."

--

"Isn't this level of caution unusual for us?" Sarah asked, looking at the message in front of her.

"There is a bit of a problem, but our troops are already in the outermost orbit of Chuyun Planet, so it's not a big issue," Morgan said after thinking for a moment.

"Then let's send 500 Ancient Class as a token gesture. If we don't go, the Riken Race won't activate their system, and it'll be a waste of time."

"Your Majesty, delaying the inevitable seems to align with our strategic plan," Terra, the former Captain of the Queen's Royal Guard, said with a hint of doubt.

"That was before. The Overlord has some new ideas now." Sarah patiently explained to Terra, who was very close to her.

Terra nodded to indicate that she understood. Sarah was indeed Her Majesty the Queen; she always managed to get firsthand information from the Overlord.

--

"They've moved!" A Ricken observer shouted as he detected the movement in the Ancient Class swarm on the monitor.

"How many?"

"They are currently in a state of cloaking, and due to their clustered together, their gravitational waves interfere with each other, so we can only make a preliminary estimate of around 500."

"That's a bit too little." Officer Ricken pondered for a moment, then decided against speculating and reported the information, as the decision on what to do was beyond his purview.

--

"500? Should we start?"

"Start it up. Our deployment is about to be discovered, and there's no point in delaying. Besides, even if we start it up, it will take some time, and more Zerg forces might get closer."

Chuyun Planet, a gas giant, is filled with intense hurricanes and lightning. There are only two ways to ignite this massive gas giant.

One approach is to increase its mass. When its mass reaches 80-100 times its current mass, the planet's gravity, which increases with its mass, will be strong enough to compress its core and cause hydrogen fusion. At that point, it will become a new star, emitting light and heat.

Of course, this method is somewhat fantastical for the current technological level of the Riken Race.

The second method is much more reliable.

The reason why the Chuyun Planet, filled with flammable hydrogen gas, didn't explode into a fireball is simply because it lacked another element that would participate in the reaction—oxygen.

If a large amount of oxygen can be injected into Chuyun Planet, it can be ignited.

As natives of the Riken Star System and having long operated on Chuyun Planet, the Riken Race had long ago detected a large amount of solid matter in several of Chuyun Planet. This solid matter was deposited deep within the Chuyun Planet. While it might be far-fetched to completely ignite Chuyun Planet by filling it with this solid oxygen, it would certainly be more than enough to trigger a massive explosion.

If the plan goes smoothly, the explosion will inflict significant damage on the Zerg forces, enough to halt their offensive.

Thank you PigCola for the 5000 Qidian Coins reward, and thank you Pili Zhutian the 501 Qidian Coins reward.