The Star-Destroying Strategy Was Too Ruthless

In the empty expanse between stars, even an onlooker who knew nothing of science or technology could tell at a glance that two spacefaring forces belonging to different factions were engaged in a fierce clash.

One side was a new-model fleet of the Galactic Alliance. The other was Lu Shang's planetary organisms—a fleet fighting against a creature the size of a planet.

This was a pure head-on collision. Their battlefield had been chosen in interstellar space, where matter density was extremely low, with an average of only one atom per cubic meter.

Thus, neither the Galactic Alliance nor the planetary organisms could use the environment to gain a greater advantage. It was a contest of raw strength—which side was stronger without relying on external factors?

This clash was not a command error on Lu Shang's part. He had arranged it deliberately, intending to find out whether the improved planetary organisms could face the Galactic Alliance fleet head-on. He needed to uncover every problem in this small-scale live battle.

That way, he would not need to think about how to solve those problems later, because they would already have been solved.

Lu Shang discovered that the planetary organisms performed far better than they had during testing. The enemy's black hole induction strikes were detected in an instant, and by the next instant, their trajectories had been altered and they had been hurled back, destroying one of the enemy fleet's warships.

This was all thanks to the time-acceleration effect created through spacetime expansion. The planetary organisms' psionic brains had ample time to react, and coupled with the Babel Swarm network's ability to transmit information faster than light, black hole induction strikes could not pose an effective threat in a short period of time.

Brilliant points of light continuously appeared along the edge of Scout Nebula. Every point was an evaporating micro black hole, resembling a string of luminous pearls against the starry sky.

The Galactic Alliance fleet had no idea it was being used as a testing stone. It believed it had finally caught a swarm organism that had failed to retreat into the nebula in time, and its enormous fleet clamped down tightly on the enemy.

After all, most swarm organisms hid within nebulae, where the effects of black hole induction weapons were greatly weakened. A Nestworld that had not hidden in a nebula like this one represented an extremely rare and substantial military achievement.

At first, no one considered the possibility that they might lose, because countless prior battles had demonstrated the lethality of the new-model warships against the enemy.

Although this fleet's commander found the layer of mist enveloping the celestial body somewhat strange, compared to a nebula, he felt that this layer of fog was worth trying to break through. What if it worked?

Moreover, to be safe, they had called in nearby fleets for reinforcements.

With several fleets joining forces to encircle and eliminate it, how could such a small patch of fog possibly withstand the unceasing barrage of black hole induction strikes?

This battle was in the bag!

It was not just the fleet commander who thought so. Every crew member in the fleet thought the same.

But as time passed and the fog proved unexpectedly difficult to thin, that thought gradually faded from their minds.

Because they discovered that the enemy could detect and lock onto the induced microscopic black holes at an unimaginable speed, then use psionic power to throw those induced microscopic black holes back at them.

Although the great distance and wide spacing between the ships meant that only a small number of those microscopic black holes struck vessels in the fleet, they still inflicted considerable losses on this Galactic Alliance fleet.

Even when they reduced the frequency of their black hole induction strikes, the enemy could use the matter within the fog to maintain an intense barrage of black hole induction attacks.

The gravitational interference ships were being destroyed at a visible rate. The main warships would soon be next!

Now, the fleet's only hope rested on the reinforcements currently on their way. If several fleets could attack from multiple sides, they would be able to devour this enemy!

The idea was beautiful, but when the fleet's chief commander saw an order sent by headquarters, he nearly passed out from anger.

After reading the intelligence report and orders sent by headquarters, the chief commander gave the order without hesitation.

"Withdraw from the battlefield!"

This Galactic Alliance fleet immediately entered faster-than-light travel.

The planetary organism did not forcibly keep them from leaving. It was not that it did not want to, but that it could not, because the enemy fleet was beyond the range of its psionic power.

While the fleet traveled faster than light, the deputy commander, freed from the strain of command decisions, asked the chief commander unwillingly.

"Why did you order a withdrawal? If we kept our distance and continued to entangle them until the other fleets arrived, it would not have been impossible to take down this swarm organism's Nestworld."

In this battle, they had lost one-tenth of their main warships and two-thirds of their gravitational interference ships. After sacrificing so many vessels, simply withdrawing like this was deeply frustrating.

"No one will reinforce us," the chief commander explained helplessly.

"The Babel Swarm is detonating stars on a massive scale. Fleets at the other occupied points have already pulled back. If our fleet does not retreat as well, we'll be surrounded by swarm organisms." The chief commander explained through gritted teeth.

How could he not want to join forces with several fleets and destroy the enemy they had finally managed to catch? But they could not do it.

The Babel Swarm was using micro black holes on a massive scale to destroy the stars within the battlefield, then turning the nebular wreckage left behind by those stellar explosions into defensive positions, advancing steadily and fortifying every step.

With this move, the Galactic Alliance was forced to abandon the star regions it had struggled so hard to capture.

After all, they could hardly stubbornly remain in stellar systems and take supernova explosions head-on with their faces, could they?

The deputy commander's expression turned exceptionally grim upon hearing that.

Once the swarm organisms put this strategy into practice, they directly forced the Galactic Alliance from an offensive posture into a defensive one.

The chief commander let out a sigh full of worry. "I never naively believed that swarm organisms would not learn from us, but..."

"But I never expected them to do it so quickly. Before, they could do nothing except manipulate molecular genes."

Elsewhere, within the swarm network, Lu Shang tirelessly issued orders.

"Blow them up! As long as it isn't controlled by the swarm, you can blow it up! Stop asking me what can and can't be blown up!"

"You need to learn to tell the difference yourselves!"

As he fought, Lu Shang did not forget to give the Master Brains and Overlords an on-the-spot lesson.

"See that? Overlords, Master Brains, this is how interstellar warfare is fought."

"Use every possible means to increase your own advantages and weaken the enemy's. As long as it achieves that purpose, you can do it by any means necessary."

"Because if you don't do it, your enemies will. So you must strike first and beat your enemies into pulp."

A Master Brain held a small notebook and pen with its tentacles and nodded its absurdly oversized head with great seriousness.

"I see."

Through the swarm network, Lu Shang immediately spotted the nodding Master Brain, along with the other Master Brains and Overlords. He said unhappily, "You understand, yet you still aren't taking notes! How are you supposed to deepen your memory if you don't take notes while learning?"

"You all want to keep being useless swarm trash, mooching off the swarm and waiting to die, is that it? Whip them! Whip them hard! Keep whipping them until they're willing to study properly!"

At the command, a tentacled swarm organism beside the Master Brains and Overlords immediately used its slender body as a whip and lashed the Overlords and Master Brains furiously.

"We're writing! We're writing! Stop hitting us! We're already taking notes!"

The painful wails of countless Master Brains and Overlords echoed through the swarm network.

"Tch. You only cry when you see the coffin." Lu Shang curled his lips disdainfully.