Chapter 157: Seizing a Planet

Words : 1482 Updated : Sep 23rd, 2025

Xiao Yu was preparing for a massive offensive. This operation would be launched with a force of three billion ultra-miniature starships and twenty thousand large starships. Loaded within those large starships were several hundred million Ground-Type Mark II combat robots. The target was a moon near planet three that had reached hydrostatic equilibrium—a moon located close to the Swarm Queen. The Hebei would accompany this fleet and once again showcase its formidable power. The Supercomputing Center had been completed, and construction across planet two was nearing its end. On all nine of the large moons, Xiao Yu’s manufacturing plants sprawled far and wide. Throughout the entirety of planet two’s system, countless transport ships bustled and shuttled ceaselessly. After Xiao Yu issued the assembly order, a spectacular scene unfolded in the planet two system. Countless ultra-miniature starships began flying out from their individual hangars, streaming into the vast ocean of the cosmos like surging tides. Seen from afar, it was as if a tangle of yarn had appeared in space—multiple threads trailing from it, connecting to different moons. As the yarn ball twisted and grew, its volume increased, and its numbers swelled. The entire assembly process took Xiao Yu five hours. Once completed, under the command of the Supercomputing Center, this colossal fleet set out for planet three. Planet three was already a domain ruled by the Swarm. Countless bugs rampaged through its system, mirroring the chaos once seen in planet two. The only difference was that machines had been replaced by bugs. Xiao Yu closely observed the movements of the Swarm while issuing high-level strategic commands to the Supercomputing Center. These orders were decomposed by the Center and computed accordingly. “Swarm detected ahead. Estimated number: one hundred million. A1 squad, move in to intercept.” As soon as Xiao Yu gave the order, the Supercomputing Center executed it immediately. A detachment of approximately one hundred million ultra-miniature starships split from the main fleet—an overwhelming force against the Swarm unit ahead. “Begin long-range energy cannon and laser cannon assault... commence close-quarters combat. Raise coordination to ninety percent. Engage in conservative combat mode.” Conservative combat mode meant prioritizing self-preservation over enemy destruction. Under this directive, ultra-miniature starships would avoid suicide tactics and prioritize evasion when facing mutual destruction scenarios. While this mode consumed more energy, time, and computational power, it greatly reduced losses. Operating under conservative mode, the starships became significantly more agile. After three hours of intense engagement, Xiao Yu managed to completely annihilate the enemy Swarm at the cost of two million starships. By now, the fleet was just one hour away from planet three—approximately twenty million kilometers from its destination. This region was already deep within the Swarm’s core territory. Xiao Yu observed that the Swarm Queen, sensing the imminent battle, had accelerated its production of bugs. A Swarm force of over ten billion bugs began moving toward Xiao Yu’s fleet. However, Xiao Yu did not choose to engage. Instead, he chose to evade. His objective this time was not to eliminate the enemy’s living forces, but to seize a moon and establish a foothold within the planet three system. The Swarm Queen reacted swiftly. Xiao Yu noticed that the massive Swarm force changed its heading in response to his fleet’s maneuver. But it was already too late. In the time it took for the Swarm to react, Xiao Yu had already advanced the battlefront by five million kilometers. At roughly fifteen million kilometers from planet three, the largest battle since the war began broke out. In this clash, both sides deployed hundreds of millions of basic combat units. The battlefield spanned over a million square kilometers. Countless ultra-miniature starships surged toward the Swarm. Once the Swarm’s fierce counterattack was temporarily held back, the remaining large starships and a portion of the ultra-miniature fleet, led by the Hebei, charged forward aggressively. With the enormous planet three as the backdrop and the light of Aquila three shining from afar, endless Swarm bugs and starships engaged in a brutal melee. Artillery fire and laser beams crisscrossed the sky—this was a true meat grinder. “Ten million kilometers to the target. Hmm... approximately one billion bugs are stationed there. What are they doing?” As Xiao Yu drove the Hebei forward with unstoppable force, he began observing the target moon and noticed a strange phenomenon. After analyzing it, Xiao Yu reached a conclusion—one that made him even more determined to act quickly. “They... they’re mining? This... this is insane.” Xiao Yu was deeply shocked. He saw countless bugs working across the surface of the moon. These bugs looked different from the combat units in space—apparently a specialized type. They burrowed into the surface, using their mouths to devour a certain mineral. After digesting it for a while, they excreted waste while retaining useful materials within their bodies. Xiao Yu watched as a bug, now bloated with mineral resources, slowly floated into the air and flew toward the Swarm Queen. Upon reaching her, it was absorbed into her body—never to be seen again. “I have to stop this.” Xiao Yu made up his mind instantly. “If I don’t seize these moons, the Swarm Queen will. She’ll gain even more resources to produce even more Swarm bugs.” “Advance! Advance!” Xiao Yu pushed the Hebei’s engines to maximum thrust, leading his fleet in a headlong charge through the Swarm’s resistance, closing in on the moon. This moon, after all, was not the Swarm Queen’s base, and the Swarm’s strength here was far weaker. Under Hebei’s lead, the bugs were simply unable to hold back Xiao Yu’s assault. The battlefront pushed forward rapidly. By now, the Swarm Queen seemed to have realized Xiao Yu’s true objective. She began accelerating bug production and dispatching them toward the moon. But it was already too late. Xiao Yu’s fleet had closed the distance to just one hundred thousand kilometers. That was within the effective range of energy cannon fire. “Ultra-miniature fleet—block the pursuing and incoming Swarm reinforcements. Large ship fleet—initiate scorched earth bombardment...” The first command was delegated to the Supercomputing Center. Instantly, billions of ultra-miniature starships formed a semicircular defensive formation, shielding the twenty thousand large starships inside and engaging the Swarm in direct combat. The second command, Xiao Yu executed himself—personally directing the firepower of all twenty thousand-plus ships toward the moon. The surface of the moon, as well as the surrounding space, was crawling with Swarm bugs. In the face of such overwhelming numbers, the most effective attack strategy was... mass destructive weapon carpet bombing—otherwise known as scorched earth tactics. “Fire!” Xiao Yu ordered. Instantly, tens of thousands of high-yield hydrogen bombs, mixed with even more energy shells, launched toward the moon’s surface. The energy shells traveled faster, striking first. Massive explosions sent countless fragments of rock—and bug remains—soaring into the sky. Before those fragments could even fall back down, the second wave of attacks—hydrogen bombs—arrived. Blinding white flashes of hydrogen bomb detonations lit up the moon’s surface. The radiation from the tens of billions of degrees in temperature spread wildly, transforming the entire surface into a molten lava world. Under such conditions, no Swarm creature could survive on the surface. This was a true scorched earth. Xiao Yu had swept the moon’s surface clean. “Scorched earth complete. Now entering the cooldown period—estimated time: one day.” With that conclusion reached, Xiao Yu turned to face the next wave of Swarm attackers, coordinating with the ultra-miniature fleet to intercept the reinforcements. The large starships, with far superior long-range attack capabilities compared to the Swarm, assumed the role of archers. Before the ultra-miniature ships and bugs made contact, the large vessels would unleash heavy fire to weaken the enemy as much as possible. Using the moon as a forward base, Xiao Yu launched a battle for the ages with his back against it. The battle raged for an entire day before the situation finally shifted. The extreme surface heat from the hydrogen and energy cannon bombardments cooled to tolerable levels. Without hesitation, Xiao Yu initiated the landing operation. A vast number of ground robots were transferred from the large ships—unable to approach the surface—onto smaller vessels, which then delivered them to the moon. Upon landing, the robots immediately began constructing various bases. These robots, while possessing decent combat capabilities, also had a certain degree of construction ability. At this moment, their building skills came into full play. With equipment unloaded from the ships, they rapidly erected a base and established a protective energy shield. Once the base was complete, they began deploying ground-based laser turrets, energy cannons, and various other terrestrial weapon systems. Seizing a planet wasn’t the hard part—holding it was. Especially with the Swarm all around, defending this moon would be even more challenging. But Xiao Yu felt no fear—he had more than enough strength to meet that challenge.

Chapter 157: Seizing a Planet

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