Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 605

Chapter 603, Lord of the Swarm

In Chapter 603, Gu Hang heard a story from the narration of    the Zerg Lord Moreau.

In this story, the Ironclad Chapter was once not much different from the many other loyalist Chapters within the Imperium.

Loyal and wise, they joined forces with the Fury and Stone Shield Chapters within the Empress Sector to secure a region known as the “Zerg Sector.”

This region was formerly known as Ankaya, but long since destroyed. A Zerg plague erupted there, and Zerg fleets emerged from the uninhabited void, swiftly decimating the sector. The Ironclad Chapter, whose homeworld was within the Empress Sector, responded to the call for assistance and defeated this modest Zerg fleet.

But the crisis was only just beginning, and they had only repelled the outpost fleet.

Across the 14 worlds of this Zerg Sector, a steady stream of Zerg emerged. It was as if a vast fleet of Zerg tentacles were on the way, wave after wave, traversing space without interstellar tunnels, charging towards the “Zombie Zone.”

The Ironclads held firm here, diligently working.

They built a defense line in the “Zombie Zone.” When the enemy was few and weak, they could contain the situation within that zone. But when the situation worsened, the zone’s defenses collapsed, and the enemy wreaked havoc across the entire star field, even expanding into the Cosmic Zone.

First the Cosmic Zone government, then the Imperial Central Government, gradually began to address the persistent problems in this region. All parties began to increase their investment in the defense of the Zombie Zone, and naturally, the Ironclads, who were always fighting on the front lines, bore

the brunt of the support. The Empire even knew from the outset that the Ironclads were overnumbered. Yet, they turned a blind eye, believing it was necessary.

For one thing, the Ironclads were constantly dying and sacrificing themselves, and their forces needed to be constantly replenished. Even the Empire’s support included population support from various parties, allowing them to better screen recruits and recruit from every world in the Empress Sector. It was impossible to strictly limit the number of troops to 1,000. Otherwise, in a major battle, hundreds of men would be lost, and there would be no way to replace them temporarily.

Secondly, a strict limit of 1,000 would make it impossible to control the situation in the Empress Sector. Either the Empire would pour more resources, more Chapters, and more fleets, or it would allow the Ironclads to exceed their force limits. It had to choose one or the other. And the result was obvious: the Empire chose the latter. They would not pursue the Ironclads’ excessive population growth, but instead provided them with more support. Just hold the Zerg back.

The reality was just as the Empire had hoped. The Ironclads, along with a few nearby allied Chapters and the forces of the Empress Sector, were able to hold the Zerg back.

A similar disaster would often require the Empire to pay a far greater price to quell it. Furthermore, the Zerg-infested sector is a constant scourge. Unless a Dark Crusade is launched to eradicate the problem, targeting the dark outer regions unconnected by the interstellar tunnels, where the Zerg fleets originate, the Zerg swarms here appear to be constantly respawning, varying in size.

Being able to deal with this at such a low price is truly a blessing.

During this period, the Alfonzon Cult, funded by the Empire, provided resources to the Ironclads, subsequently establishing a strong trade relationship with the Ironclads. Their home base, Alfonzon, lies adjacent to the Princess Sector, and they rely on the Ironclads to protect them from the Zerg. Furthermore, the vast quantities of Void Beast carcasses and even living specimens provided by the Ironclads are highly sought after by the Alfonzon Cult.

These unique, powerful, and highly instructive creatures are of great benefit to the Alfonzon Cult’s specialized research. Even the carcasses of lower-level Zerg possess significant biological value when salvaged.

Some armored units produced by the Alfonzon Cult were rebuilt from the Zerg’s chitinous shell, a material comparable to steel.

Their long-standing cooperation fostered a growing relationship.

Under these circumstances, the Empire wasn’t particularly concerned about the situation spiraling out of control. While the Iron Armor enjoyed tacit approval and even additional support, with a sector backing them and a powerful Mechanicus with three Forge Worlds as an ally, the threat they faced from the Hive was constant and severe. Their strength was constantly eroding, likely in line with the reinforcements they received.

For a long time, the Empire worried more about the Iron Armor’s lack of support to resist the infestation than their growing power.

Iron Armor himself shared this concern.

Of course, it’s also possible that Humphrey Paul already harbored ambitions.

Things changed 180 years ago when they captured a… bizarre larva.

Later, Alfonzon Cult research concluded that it was a queen, or the larvae of a Void Zerg mother.

The birth of the Void Zerg primarily relies on the Queen. She designs and produces all the Void Zerg creatures within an entire Hive Fleet, even the Zerg’s living vessels.

The Queen is also the core of the Hive Fleet. Her destruction means the Hive Fleet loses its ability to reproduce, and both the living vessels and the incubation pools deployed on the planet’s surface become ineffective.

Furthermore, she is the highest-ranking node organism within the Hive Fleet. Her demise also means the loss of unified coordination and command across the entire Hive Fleet at a macro level. Lower-level node organisms, such as Hive Overlords, Hive Tyrants, and Neurozoa, can still command their forces, but they lose their ability to coordinate. Without the ability to swiftly support each other, the Zerg swarm becomes easily fragmented and destroyed.

Of course, the Zerg swarm has its own response mechanisms.

Prior to this, the Queen will hatch multiple larvae. This is the only known Zerg organism to have a larval stage.

These larvae are inactive in the Queen’s presence. Once the Queen dies, her creatures activate, fighting and devouring each other, eventually growing into new Queens.

Lower-level Zerg creatures quickly reconnect with the new Queen, and at this stage, the new Queen takes over her entire swarm.

The Ironclad, led by Humphrey Paul, raided the heart of a small, invading Hive Fleet. With remarkable valor, even recklessness, they boarded the largest Zerg vessel.

While these vessels were in reality giant, specialized organisms the size of starships, they were alive. Boarding was like entering the belly of a behemoth.

Within, they faced not only the massive influx of spawned enemies, but also the biological vessel’s own internal structural changes. These changes were all designed to kill them, such as the sudden release of highly corrosive fluids and the firing of bone spikes.

No one knows how Humphrey Paul accomplished this, but he accomplished this nearly impossible task, decapitating the Zerg Queen and returning victorious.

Taking this opportunity, the hive fleet was completely annihilated, and humanity once again achieved a glorious victory.

However, only a few people knew that Humphrey Paul brought back larvae when he returned.

They killed all the other larvae and abducted this one before it could grow and take over the Hive Fleet.

With the swarm destroyed, the larva had no one to command, its growth severely slowed by malnutrition, and no more biomass to produce broodbeasts… Thus, she was imprisoned and sent to the Alfonzo Cult.

They called her “Princess.”

The Alfonzo Cult reveled in this treasure, but this wasn’t a gift from Paul, but rather a top-secret mission: to study the Queen in order to control the swarm.

…

That was all Sebastian Moreau knew.

He was a high-ranking member of the Alfonzo Cult, one of the three Fabricator Generals, but even he knew only about the incident that occurred 180 years ago.

Besides the images he shared with Gu Hang, which he had witnessed firsthand, much of the rest was based on his own research and even speculation, and wasn’t necessarily entirely reliable.

But that was the general idea.

As for what happened after that, he had no definitive information or evidence.

The great sage Martin Valluk personally took over this research work, and only the sage Dubo was his assistant and participated in the project.

At the same time, the Archmagos had kept this a top secret of the sect. Of those who accompanied him to receive the larvae, except for the three Forge Generals and one Magus of the Main Work, all the others had their brains stripped of their self-awareness and memories and were transformed into servitors to prevent any leaks.

In other words, apart from those five, no one in the entire Alfonzo sect knew about this—oh, that should be four now, as Magus Dubo died during the sect’s previous attack on the Proud Claw Sector.

However, not knowing the exact circumstances didn’t prevent Moreau from speculating.

Alternatively, the larvae’s cultivation might have failed, but that possibility now seemed extremely low.

Where did the imprisoned neurozoa aboard Alfonzo II’s war ark come from? Where did the technology to enslave and control them come from?

It was likely the result of research on the Zerg Queen.

But were they simply using the Queen to develop and apply these technologies?

Moreau didn’t believe it.

He believed the Archmagos hadn’t rejected Humphrey Paul’s request and mission. The Void Zerg technology, including the neurozoa, was likely a byproduct of his research. The ultimate goal of this project is to produce and control a Zerg swarm.

Not just one or two Zergs, but an entire swarm.

It’s only natural that Humphrey Paul wants this!

It would directly solve the current problem facing his chapter.

Controlling the Zerg Queen means raising a massive Zerg army to fight against invading Zerg. And when faced with an invading Zerg, with a Zerg Queen, one could even seize control of their lesser creatures.

Furthermore, solving the chapter’s current problems wouldn’t be the limit.

With control of the Zerg Queen, with control of a Zerg swarm that can expand at will, the possibilities open up for countless more.

Judging from the current situation, Varuk’s research is likely successful.

This premise explains Gu Hang’s previous concerns:

the Zerg swarm blocking the northern front, the unusual “mortal” troops on the western front, the enslaved Neurozoa encountered in the southern front…

and, finally, why did Humphrey Paul launch a full-scale attack on the Magre Realm?

According to common sense, he couldn’t quickly convert the Magre Realm’s production capacity and population into his own war potential. However, from the perspective of being able to control a Zerg swarm, the situation was completely different: if the Zerg were unleashed, allowing them to devour a few large waves, how powerful would the resulting swarm be?

Gu Hang couldn’t even imagine it!

Why hadn’t Iron Armor used this ultimate tactic before? Perhaps it was because it was too far-fetched. Unleashing the Zerg to consume the world would significantly destabilize Iron Armor’s base, or perhaps they still had some bottom line.

But as the war situation worsened, Iron Armor would clearly be unable to do anything and rely solely on their inherent strength.

Defeating and crushing the Phoenix on the Western Front would clearly be a step beyond their bottom line. The Zerg were definitely involved

, but their involvement was likely modest, perhaps limited to crucial battles. Many Imperial survivors of the battle could only offer ambiguous accounts afterward, having never witnessed them themselves.

However, this bottom line wouldn’t be the only one to be broken.

After defeating the Phoenix, they would face the even greater wrath of the High Lords. The Ortopis Chapter, along with the combined forces of several other Chapters, and the Imperial Solar Astra Militarum and Solar Fleet would all pose even greater pressure.

Conversely, the Iron Armor suffered significant losses after their victory.

With one side gaining strength while the other weakened, why would they attack Magre? Just for fun?

Gu Hang could already imagine countless digestion tanks and incubation pools erected on Magre’s worlds, the Imperial worlds falling into a dead silence, and the Zerg emerging from them.

…

With a long sigh of relief, Gu Hang saw Sebastian Moreau off.

He then began to organize the materials, clearly documenting what was confirmed and what was speculation.

He would distribute these as detailed reports to Imperial Central and the northern front. “

You decide what to do.

If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up.”

So, you tall ones, be prepared.

Although Gu Hang had warned them before, it was still just speculation, a possibility. But now, we can basically prove it, and we can also roughly estimate the means they may use and guess their strategic goals in the Magre universe.

The persuasiveness is much stronger.

And the other thing to do is the war of public opinion.

Humphrey Paul and Martin Varuk are not afraid. Does every Iron Armor warrior below know it?

Do the other battle groups that follow Paul know it? Does

every world controlled by the Iron Armor know it?

Bugs are going to eat people.

Now, how will the big boss you follow feed his bug swarm when the war is difficult to fight?

The intelligence organization of the alliance is about to start to exert its strength.

At the same time, Gu Hang must also consider whether he should continue to stick to his plan of waiting for a year and a half.

The information brought by Moro is of extraordinary value.

————

This chapter makes up for yesterday.

There will be more in the evening.

(End of this chapter)