A Planet Making a Run for It Was Too Absurd

On the flagship bridge of the Galactic Alliance fleet, the fleet commander seated in the central chair asked, "How far along is the charging?"

"It's already at 84%. It'll take a little longer before launch preparations are complete," a subordinate reported briskly.

The commander nodded and relaxed into his seat, gloomily twirling the facial tendrils with his tentacles. "The Planet-Crushing Colossus is good in every way, except its charging period before use is far too long."

"Actually, that's not so bad. All the swarm creatures capable of fleeing this hive planet have already fled. There's barely any resistance left, so our defense assignment is practically nonexistent. We can treat this as a brief vacation," said the deputy commander beside him, reclining leisurely against his chair as well.

There were too many high-intensity wars across the galaxy. Commanders like them had constantly kept their minds taut while performing demanding mental work. Now, they finally had some time to rest briefly.

"Resistance? Heh." The fleet commander sneered disdainfully. "At this point, what can those inferior creatures possibly do? They don't even outnumber us. They find lava planets too hot, frozen planets too cold, and gaseous giants too low in density. Meanwhile, we can already mine stars directly, extracting stellar matter like flowing water. The Alliance has as many as a million stellar mines like that. I really can't imagine how they could resist."

The deputy commander nodded in agreement. Matter was the foundation of everything. Whoever could make better use of matter was stronger. The two had no disagreement over the fact that the swarm had no chance of victory.

Still, their views differed somewhat.

"You can't put it that way. Precisely because swarm creatures are trash, while our soldiers are people with families, friends, and lovers, wouldn't it be tragic for them to lose their lives fighting such trash on the battlefield? There's no honor in that at all." The deputy commander shook the slime on his body. "As commanders, since we have a choice, we should reduce casualties whenever we can."

The fleet commander thought it over, then answered in agreement, "You do have a point."

Suddenly, a subordinate's report interrupted their conversation.

"Report! We've received a radio transmission from the hive planet!" A flat, paper-thin creature reported to the fleet commander.

"A radio transmission?"

The chief commander and deputy commander exchanged a glance, each seeing the other's confusion.

"Patch it through," the chief commander ordered.

"Yes!"

Soon, a creature utterly unlike anything they had previously known appeared in the holographic projection on the bridge.

Its body was sparsely covered in hair, except for the abundant hair on its head above its eyes. It had two arms and two legs and wore dry woven fiber garments... In short, it looked nothing like a beast. Instead, it resembled an intelligent species.

This contradicted the Galactic Alliance's previous understanding of the Babel Swarm.

"Hello, everyone in the Galactic Alliance fleet. Um... you can all understand what I'm saying, right?"

Lu Shang had intended to offer a greeting, but when he saw the assortment of aliens on the other side that looked like they could drain one's sanity, his words faltered. He was somewhat worried whether the Galactic Alliance language translated by the Babel Swarm could be understood by everyone on the other side.

"Who are you?" the chief commander asked.

It was both a question and an answer to Lu Shang's earlier question. There was no obstacle to communication.

"I am Lu Shang, the swarm commander of this hive planet," Lu Shang introduced himself.

Lu Shang spoke with great sincerity. "The swarm on this hive planet has long fully understood the strength of the Galactic Alliance fleet, so we have decided to sever ties with the Babel Swarm. We do not wish to engage in any armed conflict with you."

To be honest, Lu Shang had no desire whatsoever to get involved in the Babel Swarm's mess. Why should he get none of the benefits from the war, only to shoulder all its blame?

That made no sense!

The Galactic Alliance personnel had no idea what Lu Shang was thinking, but his words caused quite a commotion.

"You want peace talks?" the chief commander asked.

Lu Shang nodded. "Yes. On behalf of the swarm on this hive planet, I am making a request for peace talks with you..."

Before he could finish, an emotional flat alien on the bridge interrupted him.

"What right do you have to seek peace talks with us? When you destroyed so many civilizations and races, did you give them a chance for peace talks? Where is your bloodthirsty brutality? Your cold-blooded ruthlessness? Now that you're weak, you know to ask for peace? I'm telling you, that's impossible! You Babel Swarm are destined to pay for your actions!..."

The flat alien was dragged off the bridge while still cursing, but no one else on the flagship bridge blamed him. After all, he had voiced exactly what they were feeling.

After the chief commander and deputy commander briefly exchanged opinions, they gave Lu Shang a solemn reply. "We're sorry, swarm creature. Our orders are to 'leave none alive and wipe you out completely.'"

Lu Shang fell silent, sweeping his gaze over the aliens on the bridge. He felt helpless. The hatred born of war truly was not so easily resolved. He clearly did not want to bear this blame, but he had no choice.

"That truly is a pity. It seems you think you have a very good chance of winning," Lu Shang said regretfully.

His words plainly left the Galactic Alliance aliens stunned for a moment.

The Planet-Crushing Colossus was fully charged and poised to strike. A fully armed interstellar main fleet was watching from the side, and there were hardly any swarm creatures left on the planet capable of entering space to confront them. Yet the swarm creatures on this planet were confidently saying, "It seems you think you have a very good chance of winning"?

What kind of interstellar joke was that?

The chief commander did not know what others thought, but he wanted to laugh. After fighting interstellar wars for so many years, he had never seen such... such a ridiculous swarm creature.

"...What gave you such confidence? Can't you see that with a single command, you and your hive planet will be reduced to cosmic dust?" The chief commander suppressed the facial tendrils that wanted to twitch with laughter, asking in confusion tinged with pity.

He figured this Babel Swarm commander had probably seen clearly the Babel Swarm's future fate of total extinction and gone mad because he could not accept it.

That was not particularly strange. Back when they had faced the countless rampaging swarm creatures throughout the galaxy, quite a few Galactic Alliance fleet commanders had suffered mental breakdowns in despair.

"I say that because..." Lu Shang began, then suddenly paused. Smiling, he spread his hands. "Because I was stalling for time."

The next moment, the enormous hive planet vanished with extreme abruptness.

The chief commander froze...

So did the deputy commander...

It was not just them. The entire Galactic Alliance main fleet failed to react at once. Even the Planet-Crushing Colossus operators were dumbfounded.