Suspicion

Seeing the situation gradually getting back on track and improving, Conrads's expression became serious.

Given their current situation, the Zerg have virtually no chance of turning the tide. At this point, the Zerg could detonate their Stellar Bomb at any moment, so he must keep a close watch and issue a retreat order immediately.

The Lashudia Clan warships were positioned at the forefront of the battlefield, and because they only had their own Unmanned Fighter and no Mid-Ring Civilizations to act as a shield, the Lashudia Clan, despite having the strongest technological capabilities, suffered the highest combat losses among the Mid-Ring Civilizations. This willingness to lead from the front left the other Mid-Ring Civilizations speechless.

In reality, several years before the formation of the fleet, the Lashudia Clan had already transferred all the personnel from the lead warships. The reason the warships were able to move and demonstrate good coordination was because the Lashudia Clan had applied for assistance from the Epoch Clan's artificial intelligence early on.

Therefore, even if the first hundred million warships are completely destroyed, for the Lashudia Clan, it would only be a loss of some resources. And those resources are not difficult to obtain in the vast universe. As long as the Lashudia are alive, what does losing some resources matter?

However, the other races were unaware of all this. Now, even the Outer-Ring Civilizations had gone to the front lines, leaving only the Lashudia Clan's oversight team behind the entire battle formation.

This so-called oversight team, carrying all the Lashudia, had its rear shipping lanes completely cleared, free from any interference. Even if the Zerg detonated the Stellar Bomb, they could immediately disengage from the battlefield, enter warp drive without interference, and return safely with all their people.

The plan is going smoothly, and all the races have joined, but Conrads always feels that something is not quite right, as if he has missed something.

The Zerg have already demonstrated formidable strength; even without revealing their new units, they seem capable of holding off the Coalition Army. The Zerg Megastructure and the Desolate Class Mothership are relatively easy to deal with, as they are units that have already appeared, only with some new features added.

However, the Puffer Cannon Fish can become a key factor in determining the outcome of a war. Previously, the Zerg had gone to great lengths to hide them, and with their perfect camouflage, they had already fooled the Star Sea Alliance.

Although the appearance of the Puffer Cannon Fish did destroy some of the Coalition Army warships, these Coalition Army should have been completely eliminated by the Stellar Bomb in the Zerg's plan, without needing to expose them at all.

Wouldn't it be better to accumulate more troops and then deliver a crushing blow to the unsuspecting Coalition Army on a battlefield without Stellar Bomb?

For the sake of eliminating enemies that could have been wiped out anyway, just to eliminate them a little bit earlier, they exposed the devastating weapon, the Puffer Cannon Fish. Conrads thought only an idiot would make such a decision. But the Zerg's past formidable achievements silently proved that they were not idiots.

Since the Zerg are not idiots, yet they made a seemingly idiotic decision, there must be something fishy about it.

Conrads fell into deep thought, trying to put himself in Conrades' shoes and imagine what conditions would lead him to make such a decision. But after much deliberation, he felt that there seemed to be no need to expose the Puffer Cannon Fish under any circumstances.

Three cobblers with their mediocre skills can outwit one Zhuge Liang.

Feeling constrained by his own thoughts, Conrads summoned his Adjutant and staff, expressing his concerns and hoping to resolve the issue with the help of the collective.

"The lord is right, there are indeed some contradictions. Even if the Zerg don't expose those ranged units, there's a high probability they'll leave all the other Coalition Army forces behind except for us." Because those participating in the discussion were all from the Lashudia Clan, some of their words were quite blunt.

"It's unwise to reveal your hand for a low-probability event."

"The Zerg aren't stupid; they would never make such a critical mistake."

After several discussions, everyone reached the same conclusion as Conrads.

"If I were Zerg, I would definitely give this new unit a grand debut."

"That's right."

"Perhaps the Zerg see this as a grand opportunity to make their debut?"

"How is that possible? If it weren't for prior arrangements, even we wouldn't have been able to escape the power of the Stellar Bomb. Killing the already doomed enemy early, only to lose ourselves in the end, is that what you call a grand entrance?"

"What if the Stellar Bomb is fake?" a staff officer blurted out in a moment of inspiration.

But this casual remark struck like a thunderbolt, jolting Conrads and his quick-thinking advisors awake. Soon, everyone grasped the crux of the problem.

Yes, the Zerg never said that what awaited the Coalition Army was a Stellar Bomb. This information was only guessed by the Coalition Army based on some intelligence.

A guess, though one that fits the current situation perfectly, has unknowingly gained more and more support. At some point, even Conrads himself became convinced that this guess was the Zerg's plan.

As targeted strategies for this plan were put forward one after another, everyone seemed to forget that this was just a guess and that other possibilities had also been considered.

This message was as if it had been personally confirmed by the Zerg. In reality, even if the Zerg had confirmed it, Zerg rarely communicated with the outside world and had little credibility to begin with. Moreover, it was wartime, and anything the Zerg said as the enemy should be questioned.

But everyone ignored these things; at that moment, the rigor of advanced intelligent civilization vanished.

Conrads was sweating profusely, as if some mysterious force was manipulating everything.

Could it have been the Zerg?

As one of the parties involved in this incident, the Zerg were the first to be suspected by Conrads. However, he could not understand how the Zerg had managed to do all this.

Out of precaution against the leaders of the biological route, the various tests at the front-line camps were almost insane. Whether it was the Outer-Ring Civilizations or Mid-Ring Civilizations, every member participating in the war wore a special Personal Terminal.

This Personal Terminal is essentially a portable recorder. It can record video and audio within the wearer's field of vision around the clock, and can also monitor the wearer's physical data at any time. At the same time, it supports remote real-time data upload, and even if it is a signal terminal, it can store various data for two years for later review.

Moreover, their built-in programs have powerful and unique security algorithms, so any changes to the data are not only impossible to complete, but these operations are also recorded in detail.

In addition, every member undergoes a rigorous scanning and inspection process whenever they go on a mission or enter or leave the warship. Even those who stay on the warship without leaving are subject to regular checks.

Thank you, Happy Hero, for the 100 Qidian Coins reward.