Planet-Crushing Colossus: Full of Useful Tricks

This lesson was not forced upon them by Lu Shang. The Overmind and the Brain Cores had requested it themselves; they wanted to learn from Lu Shang how to make better use of their brains.

After Lu Shang stipulated that he would teach in his own way, the Brain Cores and the Overmind readily agreed.

And so, things had developed into their current state.

The Overmind and the Brain Cores huddled in their own caves, using tentacles to hold little notebooks and pens as they attentively watched Lu Shang's live lessons through the Swarm network, taking notes all the while.

If anyone dared to lose focus during the lesson, they would directly order a nearby Swarm individual to lash them fiercely with its body like a whip, continuing until they were willing to study properly.

After a round of whipping, the Brain Cores were still howling miserably, but the Overmind endured the pain and asked, "Brain Core Lu Shang, the Swarm has temporarily contained the Galactic Alliance's offensive. What should we do next?"

Lu Shang thought for a moment before answering, "We cannot focus solely on defense. A prolonged defense will inevitably fail. We must attack while defending and defend while attacking. By continuously destroying stars, we can expand nebular environments favorable to us, allowing Swarm garrisons to penetrate deep into Galactic Alliance territory and continuously send Swarm forces to attack the enemy's rear industrial bases."

"Once their industrial foundation is lost, their capacity to replenish forces will diminish with every battle. If we can destroy it all, it will mean their military strength will gradually be worn away through constant fighting, with no means of replenishment."

As he spoke, Lu Shang paused, then added, "Oh, right. You said just now that we had contained the Galactic Alliance's offensive. On that point, I hold the exact opposite view. Nebula tactics have only forced them into a temporary retreat. The enemy will soon find another way to return."

At that moment, the Galactic Alliance General Staff was in a state of utter disarray.

Lu Shang's stellar destruction tactic was simply too insane. For the moment, these staff officers could not think of any way to counter it.

They could not exactly have their fleets hold fast in star systems and take supernova explosions head-on, could they?

That would be madness!

And with the Swarm creatures hunkered down within nebulae formed from stellar remnants, black hole induction strikes could no longer achieve the powerful wartime effectiveness they had shown before.

The enemy could steadily push the Galactic Alliance back step by step!

"No, absolutely not. Against a fully staffed fleet composed of new-model warships, unless two or more fleets attack the same Swarm garrison point, a one-on-one engagement will find it difficult to pose any threat to one."

Another staff officer fluttered his wings in agreement. "Nebular matter is a major obstacle, and the Swarm's Brain Cores have realized this. That is why they have ordered Swarm creatures to destroy stars on a massive scale, scattering stellar matter to create vast areas of environment favorable to them."

"Not only will black hole induction weapons struggle to damage Swarm garrison points, even the weapons of old-style ships will find it difficult to threaten the enemy. Lasers will be blocked and weakened by nebular matter, shells will be eroded and slowed by their high-speed movement, and plasma cannons will be weakened even more severely."

"This decision is too brilliant, so brilliant that it hardly seems like a strategic decision Swarm creatures could have made."

Even though they were enemies, these alien staff officers could not help but admire the decision-maker who had devised this tactic. The moment it was introduced, it directly reversed the Overmind's Swarm's disadvantage.

After all, they could not send their fleets into the nebulae to fight. The environment there was unsuitable for black hole induction strikes, while all other attack capabilities would be greatly weakened as well.

But what about the Swarm?

Their psionic power would not be affected by this nebular matter.

The more the Galactic Alliance's military staff officers considered it, the more terrifying they found their opponent. Then, when they recalled how smoothly their earlier plan to use the Swarm Overmind as bait to lure in the scattered Swarm had been carried out, they found it absurd.

"Either the Swarm Overmind was deliberately concealing its abilities before, or the Overmind's Swarm has gained some existence beyond our expectations. Neither possibility is good news," an alien staff officer said, his antennae trembling with an ugly expression.

After discussing for a long time without reaching any conclusion, someone suggested, "We can concentrate our forces at a single point and use that point to break through the Babel Swarm's front line."

But the proposal was quickly opposed by the other staff officers.

"No. If we concentrate our forces, the Swarm creatures in the other directions will no longer be contained."

Then someone else suggested, "Perhaps we could try the Colossi."

"The Colossi? The Colossi are useless now."

The staff officer who had made the suggestion retorted, "Let me correct that. Under the current battlefield conditions, they can no longer effectively threaten the enemy, but that does not mean they are useless."

"We all know that the Colossi have an effective range. Beyond that range, the high-energy particle beams they fire undergo significant dispersion and can no longer threaten celestial bodies. Therefore, whenever destroying a celestial body, the Colossi must accompany the fleet into the target's star system."

"If we can use the dispersion of those high-energy particles to blast away the nebular matter along the route to the target celestial body, we can clear out an area within the nebula."

The proposing staff officer paused before adding, "Of course, that cleared area will only exist briefly. The Swarm creatures within the nebula will certainly immediately move nebular matter to fill the blasted-out gap, but that process cannot possibly be instantaneous."

"Based on this, we can conclude that after the Alliance fleet uses the Colossi to disperse the nebular clouds, it will gain a window of opportunity to directly threaten enemy units."

"As long as we seize that window, the enemy's current strategy will be completely dismantled."

They would use the Colossi's dispersed bombardment to clear away the nebular matter surrounding the enemy, then have the fleet seize the opportunity and launch massive black hole induction strikes to eliminate them.

Moreover, the Colossi were readily available. Many had not yet been retired and dismantled, so there was no need to wait for the war machine clusters to manufacture them. The strategy could be implemented immediately.

It was indeed an idea well worth discussing.

One staff officer said, "You have overlooked one point. The enemy can move through space, and the nebula covers a vast area. The Swarm creatures within it can simply hide in regions where the nebular matter is denser, while the Colossi require charging preparations every time they are used."

"That is indeed a problem." The proposer nodded. He did not deny that such a possibility existed.

Soon, another staff officer added, "We can organize the Colossi into an independent support fleet. Multiple Colossi can charge simultaneously and directly clear the nebular matter around enemy units over a wide area."

"Under interference from gravity disruption ships, the enemy will be unable to travel faster than light and can only move at sublight speeds. That process will be the window for the fleet to launch black hole induction strikes."

The Galactic Alliance's order was issued, and Planet-Crushing Colossi were quickly pulled from the old-style fleets and organized into a support fleet composed entirely of Colossi.

Just as Lu Shang was attempting to assign the planetary creatures to engage the Galactic Alliance fleet on a larger scale, this support fleet of Colossi appeared on the battlefield.

Although the planetary creatures had sensed that something was wrong early on and prioritized using dispatched scouts to trigger black hole induction strikes, knocking out quite a few Colossi, the remaining Colossi still instantly blasted away the Scout Nebula surrounding them.

Then came the Galactic Alliance fleet's fierce black hole induction strikes...