Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 610

Chapter 608, Busy Saving the World

Chapter 608:

After busying themselves with saving the world and beheading the Hive Tyrant, a node-like creature, the remaining Zerg still besieged Martins and his companions.

However, a beast fighting on instinct, no matter how powerful, posed a much less threat.

After the Space Marines eliminated the nearest enemy, no more monsters approached.

Without orders, without the ability to think for themselves, isn’t that what it’s like?

Two transport ships quickly appeared in the sky and took the Space Marines away.

A moment later, firepower poured down from orbit, blanketing the entire area.

Not only was the Zerg swarm decapitated, but the large-scale hatching nests were also eliminated.

…

Returning to the starship, Martins had someone write a battle report to be delivered to Governor Gu, while also contacting Alma Ewing.

Granted, Martins was now the overseer of the entire Nepeta Sector war zone. This included an Alliance fleet, hundreds of millions of Alliance troops, the defense forces of various worlds within the Nepeta Sector, and the Blood Shark Regiment—all theoretically under his command. However, while other forces might be fine, he still had to be cautious with Ewing and not treat him as a true subordinate.

In reality, this was also true.

The Blood Sharks were a relatively independent combat force. Ewing’s main force wasn’t even nearby, but was en route to another equally critical planet.

After the two men briefly talked about the situation on their side and exchanged some ideas about the overall battle situation, Ewing raised a question: “Did the one hundred new blood sharks perform well?”

“Of course, very well. They are all excellent fighters.”

Ewing was silent for a moment, and then asked, “Are the new bloods provided by the Alliance of this quality?”

After thinking about it, Martins did not lie: “Yes.”

“It’s… incredible.” Ewing said, “No wonder the Phoenix Regiment recovered so quickly.”

“The Blood Sharks will too.” Martins said, “Three hundred new recruits in one go, not only made up for your losses in the war, but also solved the problem of understaffing in the past.”

“Yeah, I never thought that new recruits would be so easy to recruit.” Ewing said, “They are all good guys, brave, tough, loyal, and full of faith…”

At this point, he swallowed back the word “too faith” that he wanted to say later.

“It’s a good thing after all. As long as you keep cooperating with the Alliance, the Blood Shark will remain strong forever.”

Ewing couldn’t help but said, “Will the Blood Shark still be a Blood Shark by then?”

Martins chuckled and asked, “Then do you think the Phoenix is still a Phoenix now?”

Without waiting for Ewing to answer, Martins continued, “In my opinion, yes. Our gene seeds are being passed on, our regiment culture is being passed on, and we are still fighting for humanity and for the Emperor. What’s the difference between this and the Phoenix in the past?”

Ewing was speechless.

He changed the subject, refusing to discuss it further. “Where is Commander-in-Chief Gu’s fleet now?”

“The latest news is they should be almost at Wuqi.” At this point, Martins made a request: “We still need to expedite our progress. There are some worlds you can disregard. The Blood Sharks’ primary mission is to quickly block the entrances and exits to the Princess. The Vanguard Fleet has detected signs of an enemy entering the Jingjie from the Princess Star Region. We’re still verifying the information, but it’s possible it’s a traitor chapter.”

“The Governor has taken the main force away, leaving us with limited resources. We’re also being held back by so many worlds in dire straits. The pressure is immense. If a traitor chapter truly enters the Jingjie Star Region, we need to find a suitable location to intercept them. Otherwise, all our efforts will be wasted.”

Ewing listened silently, then replied, “I understand. Don’t worry. But the Blood Sharks alone may not be enough. You must resolve the problem and catch up as soon as possible.”

“I will.”

…

After ending the call, Martins returned his gaze to the battlefield.

Tingzhen IV.

Tingzhen IV is one of the worst-hit worlds in the Jingjie Sector, among the more than 200 worlds captured by the Alliance.

A rough estimate suggests the total number of Zerg-beasts on the planet’s surface exceeds one billion. A cult of parasite-infected individuals has practically replaced the planet’s rulers, dominating over 70% of cities and large settlements. They maintain order in the cities and constantly conduct rituals steeped in religious overtones, claiming that only faith in their “gods” can bring salvation.

Some of these so-called gods are pure fabrications, while many more are fabricated in the image of the Emperor.

The latter are inherently deceptive.

These rituals are, frankly, simply designed to infect more people.

The parasite’s infection pattern differs from that of a conventional virus. Essentially, it seeks to manipulate the human mind, not simply inflict disease. Imperial research on Zerg parasitism suggests that it involves specialized psychic techniques.

Only through a mass psychic infection, disguised as a religion, can humans be infected and ultimately “genuinely” worship the so-called gods.

Regardless of whether it was a fabricated thing or simply the Four-Armed Divine Emperor, they would begin to believe in it wholeheartedly. At the same time, their bodies would gradually change: their skin color, teeth, skull shape, more limbs…

As for so-called salvation? So-called heaven?

Oh, there is.

The Zerg digester, after all.

But before entering the digester, they still have to proselytize and “revolutionize.” They’re busy.

The total population of Tingzhen IV before the war was around 4.5 billion, a civilized world in the industrial age. Today, roughly 40% of the world’s population is under the control of the cult, or around one billion.

This discrepancy is because, in just six months of the outbreak, the world has already lost around 2 billion people.

The remaining 1.5 billion or so are scattered across the planet in various ways. Among them, a handful of resistance groups exist, but they too are plagued by cult corruption. If it weren’t for their alliance with the Alliance, the triple blow of the Zerg, the cult, and internal corruption wouldn’t have lasted much longer.

The Alliance still wants this world.

The 2.5 billion people who survive are the most important reason. Even the one billion under the cult’s control aren’t completely beyond saving. The actual number of infected is only about 10-20%. It’s true they will eventually be corrupted if left unchecked, but at least that hasn’t happened yet.

A second reason is that if this industrialized planet can be saved, its ample industrial population and decent industrial base will be integrated, playing a significant role in the upcoming war.

This is why, based on local circumstances, the use of the Extermination Order is not considered.

Another, more fundamental reason is that using the Extermination Order would have extremely negative political repercussions.

Reprimands from the Imperial center and potential trouble from the Inquisition are secondary. What would the other worlds in the Jingjie Sector think if the Extermination Order destroyed a world? If the infestation escalates, the Extermination Order would be necessary. Any cults that get wind of the news would have a perfect excuse, allowing them to expand even more rapidly. The Alliance’s subsequent effort to easily conquer other worlds by simply issuing a decree would be difficult.

However, Martins is the overall commander of the entire sector war, and he can’t stay on Tingzhen IV for long.

But the problem here has been initially resolved.

The planet’s largest node organism has been eliminated, meaning the Zerg swarm has lost its ability to coordinate and integrate.

While some lower-level node creatures still exist, they lack sufficient authority and “brains” to control only their own Zerg swarm. This means that when human forces launch a counterattack against a portion of the swarm, the rest of the Zerg swarm will be unaware, and even if they were aware, they would not send reinforcements. These lower-level node creatures can only unite their own Zerg units and act according to established objectives. They will neither escalate the war nor exercise initiative.

This is until a new, global node creature emerges from among them, capable of reuniting all the fragmented Zerg swarms.

Humanity’s mission is to prevent the emergence of new global node creatures and continuously reduce the Zerg swarm population until it is completely wiped out.

Beyond eliminating the Zerg swarm, the more important goal is to attack areas controlled by the corrupt cult and liberate the population. While preventing further infection, the liberated population can restore productivity and form a local army.

In short, the problem of Tingzhen IV is far from being completely resolved.

But Martins no longer has time to stay here.

Fifty Phoenixes will remain here to continue this work.

Cooperating with them are three army groups of the Alliance Army and 60 million soldiers.

The person in charge will be a lieutenant general of the Alliance.

And Martins himself has to rush to the next critical world.

In his schedule, there are four more worlds that he must lead in person to solve the problem.

After these are dealt with, the rest will be thrown to the Alliance Army and the Navy Squadron to resist by mobilizing the power of the world’s native land.

At most four companies will be left to put out fires everywhere.

And he himself will take the other six companies and quickly reunite with the Blood Shark.

The enemy coming from the Princess Star Field should not be underestimated. If they want to keep their achievements in the Nepeta Star Field, they must not let the traitors who defected to the Zerg come in to make trouble.

There is still a big war waiting for him.

A month later, the intelligence about this enemy was also confirmed.

The bad news is that the newcomers are indeed a traitor regiment.

The good news is that it is not the Iron Armor.

————

3k

still owes 104

(end of this chapter)