Transit

The Riken Race's fourth colony was located on Liwen Planet, and its construction was slightly later than the other three colonies. After the first two colonies were completed, the question of whether the third colony should be located on Guiyun Planet or Liwen Planet caused a dispute within the Riken Race.

One planet is the third planet in the star system, and the other is the fifth planet. They are about the same distance from the central star Mother Planet, and each has its own advantages.

In the end Guiyun Planet won because its transformation was relatively easier.

The three colonies drained the Riken Race's resources, preventing them from expanding further in the short term. Just as they were catching their breath and planning to build a fourth colony, the Zerg appeared.

After that, the Riken Race focused their resources on expanding their existing three colonies and building their fleet, putting the construction of a fourth colony on hold once again.

Subsequently, the Expedition Fleet failed, Riken Race added a large number of land-based and orbital defense weapons, along with related power supply facilities, to their construction list.

In this situation, the previously shelved plan to build the fourth colony was instead restarted.

It's not that the Riken Race has become so wealthy, but rather that the outer edge of the star system urgently needs a supply base. The defenses of Laze Planet and the Wenwu Binary Star Defense Line are heavily fortified with troops. If all of Rickon's food, clothing, and supplies were transported from their Mother Planet, the Wenwu Twin Stars would be better off. However, Laze Planet is too far away, and the supply line would be too long, resulting in a serious waste of resources.

Moreover, while supplying the Wenwu Binary Star Defense Line from their Mother Planet is acceptable for short periods, it will be unsustainable over long periods.

In this context, the fourth colony was established on Liwen Planet in the binary star system. This colony differed greatly from the previous three; much of its infrastructure was incomplete because it was designed as a large-scale production base.

This colony mainly produces various daily necessities to supply the various bases at the front, so there are not many Rickon people stationed here permanently, only a few million, which is not even a fraction of the two hundred million people in the Guiyun Planet colony.

Just as the Riken generals had predicted, the Swarm army headed straight for the star. When it passed the second planet in the star system, where only a few Riken Race orbiting satellites were collecting data, the Swarm unceremoniously dispatched five thousand Ancient Class to destroy them and occupy the area.

"The adaptability and integration of the Swarm are truly amazing."

The second planet is very close to its star, so the temperature here can reach several hundred degrees Celsius. The reason why the Riken Race don't have many facilities here is that setting up things here would be too costly and inefficient.

However, these Octopus Monsters of the Zerg can not only easily resist high temperatures, but can even fly in a vacuum close to absolute zero. They can also mutate into various other types of units, which amazes the Riken Race and makes them yearn for the path of biotechnology.

After passing Second Planet, the Swarm continued its advance, only stopping when it reached First Planet 'First Planet orbit, where it established a new base.

Thanks to the much larger radiation energy here, it is believed that it will not be long before this place develops to a larger scale than the Chuyun Planet Base.

The First Fleet the Riken, which had been following closely, had already stopped when the Zerg split up to occupy Second Planet. The journey ahead would not only be hampered by an overheated environment that would accelerate the aging and wear of the warships, but also, at maximum power output, could even cause equipment to overheat and malfunction.

More importantly, Second Satellite is garrisoned by 5,000 Ancient Class. If they want to continue, they must bypass them; if the Zerg forces ahead turn back, they could find themselves attacked from both sides.

Therefore, continuing to follow them would be too dangerous. However, the Swarm's purpose was exceptionally clear and obvious, and they made no attempt to conceal it. There was no need for them to continue following, since they couldn't stop them anyway.

"If this continues, we'll soon lose even the ability to fight a single brilliant battle," some of the officers said worriedly, seeing this situation.

"What can we do? We're too weak; we can only endure it."

"This feeling is awful."

"Since the Zerg have already put on a show of trying to persuade us to surrender, why haven't they taken any concrete action? Do they want both substance and face, but not even the most basic dignity? Does strength really mean they can do whatever they want?"

"The weak have no diplomacy," as the saying goes.

The Swarm army swaggered through the three major defense lines of the Riken Race, settled in the direction of the star, and then continued to live a quiet life, quietly developing its strength. But things got lively again on the Riken Race side.

Even setting aside the fact that the 20,000 Ancient Class did not employ Optical Camouflage, and that their closest distance to their Mother Planet, Rickon, was only ten million kilometers, many amateur Rickon astronomers were able to observe this massive force using civilian telescopes.

Because the Space Octopus was basically in a state of Optical Camouflage during the previous battles, the released photos were all color line drawings observed by various instruments. Later, the Swarm released its cloaking, but that had a very bad connotation. In addition, due to the control by the military and parliament, almost no complete high-resolution images of the Space Octopus were released.

The people of Reken knew the Zerg were attacking, but they had virtually no concept of it. This time, the Swarm army crossed Reken's Mother Planet, Riken Council and military were completely unable to control the massive amount of civilian observation equipment. Enthusiasts took a large number of Ancient Class photos and uploaded them online, showcasing the bizarre shape of the Space Octopus in the clearest possible way.

It was only then that the ordinary people of Rickon truly realized the horror of the alien creatures; their enormous numbers contrasted sharply with their own fleet following behind.

The alien forces passed close to the Mother Planet's defenses, but the aliens could only watch in fear, not daring to even fire a warning shot, for fear of causing unnecessary misunderstandings.

This fueled public discontent with Parliament and the military, and reignited panic. This time, no powerful force stepped in to stir things up, but the level of panic far exceeded that of before.

After all, what you hear is never as real as what you see with your own eyes.

Major shopping malls and supermarkets were emptied in a short period of time, and the people of Ricken who had not stockpiled supplies took to the streets, and large-scale protests broke out again.

They demanded that the parliament Antonio provide solutions and expedite the supply of materials. These demands were not unreasonable, but production takes time. However, the panicked public desperately needed time. Conspiracy theories proliferated, and peaceful marches gradually turned into violent protests, clashing not only with the security forces maintaining order but also beginning to storm military supply depots.

If things continue like this, the Riken Race will disintegrate from within without the Zerg even needing to intervene.

But at that moment, something unexpected happened.

"They're here!"