Run If You Can't Win

"Surrender?"

For the Zerg, this was a strange concept. The Overmind found it unfamiliar, because up to now... the Zerg had never truly surrendered in any meaningful sense.

When they had been crushed by the Holy Worm State, they had not considered submitting to or joining the Holy Worm State. Instead, they had fought against it, thinking of ways to increase their numbers and defeat their opponent.

After growing stronger and expanding their territory within the Gate World, when faced with the many Sixth Strata, the Zerg had not considered coexistence or joining them. They had still accumulated strength, planning to crush everything in one wave.

Even when facing the powerful Seventh Stratum, the Zerg had never considered surrender. They had only sought out the Spirit Venerable, praying to the Spirit Venerable for a solution.

In the end, the Zerg had been incorporated only because the Spirit Venerable had mediated... Strictly speaking, that could not be called surrender either. Without the Spirit Venerable, the Zerg might have resisted to the bitter end. Even if their species had been wiped out, they would never have entertained the thought of surrender.

"Surrender means one side admits defeat. Unconditional surrender means completely handing the right to choose over to the enemy currently at war with you..."

"No, that won't do. If we do that, then if the enemy wants to destroy the Zerg, wouldn't it be effortless? How can the Zerg place its survival in the hands of another species?"

The Overmind flatly rejected the answer given by the Spirit Domain. Although the Spirit Domain had always been correct and had helped the Zerg reach this point time and again, this time, the Overmind did not intend to heed its answer.

The Zerg could not take such a risk. They had not yet