"Weren't we told them to leave a long time ago? How did they end up here? Who let them come back?!"
The Kunde Race leader suddenly stood up, filled with shock and anger.
At this moment, all the high-ranking officials present could no longer sit still; they were filled with fear and unease, realizing that the situation was completely out of control.
The immigrant fleet was the Kunde Race's last hope, their Achilles' heel. The confidence to wage war on their own territory stemmed from sending away all their people. Now, seeing their people, who shouldn't have been there, return, all the high-ranking officials panicked.
Sizzle--
Just then, a virtual screen suddenly popped up automatically on the conference table. The screen flickered with white noise, and finally a figure wearing the uniform of a high-ranking imperial officer appeared.
All the Kunde Race high-ranking members present were drawn to this, and were utterly astonished.
The figure stood with his hands behind his back, exuding an air of authority. His voice, though aged, was powerful as he slowly began to speak:
"Let me introduce myself. I am Tarrokov, Marshal of the Crimson Dynasty Exploration Army. I am the one who has been clashing with you all recently."
Seeing this, everyone present understood.
They initially thought the enemy was merely eavesdropping on their intelligence, but now it seems it's more than just an intelligence leak; the enemy can initiate communications at will, meaning they've likely taken control of all their networks.
This was the worst-case scenario; for a moment, everyone's mind went blank.
Tarrokov glanced at them, then looked at the Kunde Race leader, his face expressionless. "All your intelligence is under our control. We have long since cut off your command from the outside world. All the reports you have received recently have been fabricated by us. In fact, your troops are almost entirely wiped out."
Don't harbor unrealistic hopes. We saw through your Scorched Earth Plan long ago and completed the final ambush several days ago. You no longer have the armed forces to resist.
This feast of shrimp and pork heart directly shattered the beliefs of most of the Kunde Race leaders present, leaving them stunned and slumped in their chairs.
"You, you..." The Kunde Race leader trembled violently.
Tarrokov didn't even blink, calmly stating, "Now, on behalf of the Crimson Dynasty, I issue you an ultimatum. Our long-range Psionic Energy weapons are deployed and have locked onto your immigrant fleet. I'm giving you five minutes to consider: resist... extermination! Attempt to contact the immigrant fleet... extermination! Cut off the quantum network link... extermination! No response after five minutes... extermination! If you choose to surrender and unload all weapons, we promise not to fire. Your fate is in your hands."
His tone was as calm as if he were going out to buy groceries in the morning. For a high-ranking imperial commander of his caliber, wiping out an entire race wouldn't even make him blink.
But to the Kunde Race leaders, every word sounded brutally cruel.
The Empire secretly recalled the Kunde Race immigrant fleet, with another objective being to undermine the fighting spirit of the Kunde Race core fleet. When the survival of an entire race is placed on the other side of the scale and becomes a bargaining chip, it can always cause the enemy to collapse; this is an experience the Empire has gained over the years.
Compared to the past, the Three Universal Civilizations no longer slaughter civilians who are powerless to resist. Otherwise, they would not give them a choice. Their confidence to show leniency comes from their overwhelming civilizational strength.
After issuing the ultimatum, Tarrokov disappeared, and the screen displayed a five-minute countdown.
"It's all over, everything's over!"
"We shouldn't have started this war in the first place! Look at what we've done!!"
As time ticked away, most of the high-ranking officials present were on the verge of collapse and despair.
Everyone had considered their current predicament, but before the executioner's blade actually fell, everyone harbored a degree of wishful thinking.
Before him lay a chaotic meeting room, where high-ranking officials had lost their composure and were completely disoriented. Gazing at this scene, the Kunde Race leader sat silently in his seat and slowly said, "There is no hope. Surrender."
"So now you know how to surrender? Where were you before?!" Even the high-ranking officials who usually revered their leader were now throwing caution to the wind, pointing at him and cursing, "If it weren't for your stupidity and radicalism, would we have ended up like this?!"
"That's right! If we hadn't started the war in the first place and had just fled, we wouldn't be in this desperate situation!"
"You're right, it's all because of your poor decisions! You are the greatest sinner of our tribe!"
As the Kunde Race leader watched these high-ranking officials, who had once flattered him to varying degrees, vent their anger on him, he chuckled derisively.
Those who run away are always the smartest.
Not only should they hand over their homes to others, but they should also actively run far away to avoid causing trouble for the invaders. How generous!
Forced to flee their homeland, the entire tribe was filled with confusion and panic. If they fled without a fight, the tribe's dignity, once shattered, would be difficult to rebuild... If we could kill enough enemies, or sacrifice enough soldiers, perhaps we could free the tribe from this defeated mentality, ignite a shared sense of vengeance, and usher in a new golden age. Unfortunately...
In the end, he said nothing.
The war ended with the surrender of the Kunde Race and lasted only a short three or four months from start to finish.
Compared to its previous existence, the Crimson Dynasty ended the war in less than half the time.
The root of this change lies in Han Xiao's contributions—providing coordinates saved the Empire the effort of finding the enemy's main base, and controlling the enemy's quantum network allowed them to crush the enemy at the intelligence level. These two important reasons greatly accelerated the course of the war.
The plot has changed dramatically. In the records of the previous life, the Kunde Race caused considerable trouble for the Empire. However, with Han Xiao's help, the Kunde Race has not caused any trouble for the Empire and has not been able to stir up any waves. From beginning to end, they have been completely dominated by the Empire and have no power to fight back.
The Empire took over the remaining Kunde Race fleet and transported everyone home.
Meanwhile, Master Han, who was slacking off in his old lair, also received a notification from the control panel.
[[Shattered World - Kunde Race War] is complete!]
[Task Evaluation: Perfect]
[You have gained 45e experience, 4 random rewards, +7500 Crimson Dynasty contribution, and +1 Legend Points.]
[Star Cluster Legend Points (Light Dust Star Cluster): Kunde Race Campaign Meritorious Contributor - You participated in the war between the Empire Exploration Army and the Kunde Race, and made outstanding contributions.]
[The [Civilization Destroyer] Milestone Begins]
[Milestone Activation Requirements: Participate in three large-scale interstellar war missions (galaxy-class or higher) concerning the survival of civilizations, and help your side successfully defeat the opponent. Mission rating must be no lower than "Excellent". Current progress: 1/3]
[Tarrokov's favorability +30, Urranrell's favorability +5, Tenny Armellos's favorability +10...]
[Dungeon Generation: [Kunde Race War]]
"Finally finished. Pretty efficient, huh?" Han Xiao's eyes flickered.
Although he didn't personally participate in the battle this time, his intelligence assistance earned him a perfect mission rating.
The rewards were good. Although the experience gained couldn't compare to the experience gained from challenging Beyond Grade A BOSS, players generally couldn't do Beyond Grade A challenge missions anyway. 45e experience was still a very generous reward even for players in later versions. Han Xiao wasn't picky; he was mainly just slacking off this time anyway, so the rewards were basically free. He was happy with whatever he got.
Four random rewards, these are good stuff, I'll keep saving them and wait for an auspicious day to perform a ritual and draw ten times in a row.
The 7,500 Imperial Contribution Points were quite substantial. The Kunde Race were merely an indigenous civilization, Tu Shu little threat to the Empire. Han Xiao estimated that a portion of these Contribution Points came from his sharing of information about the Spacetime Shearing Technology.
Although I have mastered Ultimate Knowledge, Imperial Contribution Points are still very useful. They can be exchanged for various rare resources or military support from the Empire. Moreover, if one day a Beyond Grade A is willing to stay and serve in the Legion, I might have to spend Contribution Points to exchange for Ultimate Knowledge of other systems.
Ultimate Knowledge is monopolized and controlled by advanced civilizations. Without a specific reason, Beyond Grade A individuals are generally not allowed to exchange for Ultimate Knowledge from other systems, even if their contribution level is high enough. Using Ultimate Knowledge to attract talent for their own faction is tantamount to stealing business from advanced civilizations, which they will not agree to. Therefore, Beyond Grade A allies have an unspoken understanding that they will basically not impart Ultimate Knowledge to each other.
Only those with Beyond Grade A subordinates have the authority to exchange items. Of course, such exceptions are extremely rare, since most Beyond Grade A subordinates are unwilling to be subordinate to others.
Han Xiao had a vivid memory of the [Civilization Destroyer] milestone. In the Explored Universe, civilizations at the galaxy level and above were protected by the Peace Treaty, and wars of annihilation were almost nonexistent. Generally, only players from the chaotic evil faction had the opportunity to activate this milestone.
The effect is quite good. Wearing the [Civilization Destroyer] milestone grants a 6% increase to all types of damage, a 25% increase to attack splash range, and comes with a deterrent aura.
However, achieving this milestone comes at a great cost, requiring participation in or even instigating a life-or-death war between galactic-level civilizations. The opportunity is extremely rare, and there is a high probability of facing even stronger manhunts afterward.
Being in the Order faction makes achieving this milestone even less likely, but the advantage is that you won't be wanted, which lends legitimacy to your evil deeds.
The lack of Political Asset was within Han Xiao's expectations. The Kunde Race was still somewhat lacking in influence; whether or not they were eliminated was not important to the empire, but it did boost the empire's favorability among its high-ranking officials.
Besides Old Tar and the Führer, a whole host of future imperial generals, including Tenny, have gained some favor with them, which can be considered a reward for fighting side by side.
The final generated instance, [Kunde Race War], is a series like Secret War and Germinal, and individual campaigns can be extracted from it to form separate Dungeon Crystal.
Since the Kunde Race is a relatively weak group, the only difficulty factor is the large fleet battle, so the challenge level won't be high, but the rewards won't be low, which is perfect for players to use as fertilizer.
After tallying his gains, he turned off the control panel and let out a sigh of relief.
Perfect Mechanical Sense, Space-Time Shearing, mission rewards—this time the harvest is very rich. The Kunde Race is the only obstacle. After dealing with them, the second phase of exploration can get back on track and proceed smoothly... Han Xiao pondered to himself.
Because of his intervention, the outcome for the Kunde Race changed.
In the previous life, because the Empire spent a lot of time exploring, it gave the Kunde Race immigrant fleet enough time to move too far and allowed the Kunde Race army to have a buffer, unlike now when they were caught off guard.
Lacking knowledge of the map, the Empire was delayed for a long time by the strategic depth of the Kunde Race territory, giving the Kunde Race more time to study the Empire's tactics. As a result, when the Empire infiltrated the Kunde Race command system, the Kunde Race were not kept in the dark. Instead, they discovered the suspicious points, leading the war into a more complicated game and putting up a fierce resistance.
Therefore, the Crimson Dynasty did not choose to persuade them to surrender, but instead directly annihilated the Kunde Race.
Because the infiltration was detected, and the long distance provided more time for reaction, a portion of the immigrant fleet managed to escape, unlike now, where they were almost entirely wiped out by the Empire.
But this was not a good thing. What Han Xiao didn't know was that the Kunde Race's chosen new home was still within the territory of the Shattered World —after all, they didn't have the concept of star fields or the scope of the _book_. As exploration and development progressed, the Empire discovered the Kunde Race's new home. By then, the Empire had already taken a liking to Spacetime Shearing Technology, so they raised their swords to kill and silence them. The Kunde Race's new home was turned into dust in the universe and secretly executed.
But now, fate has brought us to a new crossroads.
Han Xiao stroked his chin, entered the Quantum Network Vision, and remotely projected his image towards Lighthouse Star, intending to see how the Empire planned to deal with the Kunde Race this time.
In the Lighthouse Star Commander's office, two figures stood and sat; the one standing was Tarrokov, and the one sitting was Urranrell's remote projection.
The war is over, and the Empire has captured a large number of Kunde Race shrimp. Now the problem to worry about is what to do with them – whether to kill them or keep them. The leader and a group of high-ranking officials need to make a decision.
Tarrokov was reporting to Urranrell at that moment, and he mentioned the issue of prisoners at the end.
"... The escorting force is expected to arrive at Lighthouse Star in seven days. Your Majesty, what should be done with these people?"
Urranrell clasped his hands together, resting his chin on them, and said in a deep voice, "The higher-ups have already discussed it. Some people advocate eradicating the entire clan, while others believe they should be kept in captivity and educated. A final decision has not yet been made. Do you have any suggestions?"
Tarrokov stroked his mustache. "The war is going well. Since the enemy has chosen to surrender, I don't think it's necessary to carry out pointless killings. We can choose a few planets within the Empire's territory for them to settle down, keep them under strict guard, temporarily prohibit them from entering interstellar society, and then carry out cultural transformation over several generations."
If the results are good, it's not impossible to transform them into our vassal civilization, and then we can lift the restrictions on their entry into interstellar society.
In battle, he was ruthless and decisive, never blinking an eye no matter how many enemies he killed. However, after winning a battle, he was not bloodthirsty.
Urranrell pondered, "In that case, we need to divide their thoughts and require their leaders to do some things."
"Yes, I'm about to remotely interrogate their leader... By the way, our people conducted a comprehensive examination of the Kunde Race's high command and found some abnormalities in their mental state, seemingly due to the influence of Psionic Undercurrent, amplifying the neural areas in their brains that control anger and impulses."
Upon hearing this, a cold glint flashed in Urranrell's eyes.
"Ha, it's those supercluster civilizations' doing again. Not only did they pack up and discard the technology, but they also secretly released the Psionic Undercurrent. Otherwise, they might not have been so aggressive... Who was most severely affected by the Psionic Undercurrent? Their leader, right?"
"Well, you're wrong. The Kunde Race leaders were the least affected by external influences."
Urranrell was speechless, shaking his head helplessly, "That's quite interesting, isn't it? Another example of the logical differences between different species..."
Beep beep.
Just then, the landline on the table rang. Tarrokov went over and pressed it, and his secretary's voice came through.
"Commander-in-Chief, Black Star is online. Shall we connect to his remote projection?"
"Why are you here at this hour?" Tarrokov muttered, shaking his head. "I'm reporting to the Führer and asked him to wait online for a moment..."
At this moment, Urranrell waved his hand, "No need, let him in, he's not an outsider."
"All right."
Since the Führer doesn't mind, Tarrokov is fine with it too.
Soon, Han Xiao's remote projection also appeared in the room, and he saw Urranrell at first glance.
"Your Excellency, you're here too."
"Black Star, I've heard about your contributions to this war. You've done a great job." Urranrell nodded with satisfaction.
"I only did a tiny, insignificant job."
Han Xiao said modestly, glancing at the two of them, "What are you two talking about?"
"It's nothing, just discussing how to deal with the Kunde Race, nothing's been reached yet..."
Urranrell briefly repeated what he had just said, then casually asked, "Black Star, do you have any suggestions?"
"I have no objection. I'm just here to ask how the Empire plans to handle this."
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.
Having no opinion is also a form of opinion.
Urranrell narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
She turned to Tarrokov and gestured for him to continue his report, indicating that she didn't mind Han Xiao listening in.
After listening to the report, Urranrell offered a few words of encouragement to the two before logging off to visit Li Wanji.
After seeing the Führer off, Tarrokov turned to look at Han Xiao and smiled.
"I'm going to interrogate a high-ranking member of the Kunde Race. It's good you're here; shall we come together?"
"Well, I'm very busy."
Han Xiao scratched his chin and said half-jokingly, "But since you've invited me, I'll reluctantly come along."
He was interested in leaders who were on their last legs, thinking that they might trigger special missions, like the previous DarkStar Leader.