Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 647

Chapter 645, Subspace Trek

. This is the dilemma Gu Hang faces: fifty severely compromised worlds, even including the two Forge Worlds, represent a serious problem.

If they were to intervene, they wouldn’t have the money or resources to launch operations against all of them simultaneously. Under the “Insect Control Office” model, the Alliance plays a leading role, its military acting as a force to disrupt the balance. Essentially, it relies on the planet’s own resources, integrating local military forces, recruiting soldiers, and producing military resources to eliminate both serious and less serious infestations.

On worlds where the “Insect Control Office” model isn’t applicable, the Alliance’s expeditionary forces will not only face tough challenges and key battles, but also face the task of full-scale annihilation campaigns.

That would be prohibitively difficult, and the Alliance can’t afford to engage in so many intense battles across so many worlds simultaneously.

If they were to concentrate their forces and tackle each world one by one, how long would it take to tackle those fifty worlds?

Yet, they couldn’t ignore it, lest a major disaster develop later, leaving them too late to regret.

It seemed that conventional means offered no effective solution.

But who had pulled out the good stuff before?

Virus bombs would be extremely useful at this time.

If pushed to the limit, they could even be used as extermination weapons.

Although their blast radius is, at best, a 100×100 kilometer area, even the most crude naval gun fire, meticulously blasting every inch of a planet’s surface, would be considered an extermination order. Naval guns’ blast radius wouldn’t necessarily be as wide as a virus bomb, and there’s no spreading effect. With enough virus bombs, they could be used as extermination weapons, dropping one every few dozen kilometers, and that would be considered an extermination order.

And it’s a “green” version. Virus bombs designed to target infected individuals are unlikely to affect ordinary people.

But this is destined to remain a fantasy,

at least for now.

This is a newly developed technology; the first black box production line has just been rolled out, and the output of finished black boxes is insufficient.

Using it as a final solution is definitely not feasible.

Furthermore, even if production were to be ramped up, the cost of these bombs was still high. If used as a naval gun, the price would be prohibitively expensive.

The virus bombs currently in production would be of little use in

solving any of the problems. If they were truly needed, it would take another month or two.

The Alliance could afford that time.

The first batch of virus bombs wasn’t intended for the fifty completely destroyed worlds, but for the two lost Forge Worlds.

These two worlds must be conquered before other problems can be addressed.

The remaining Varuk main fleet had retreated into the orbits of the two Forge Worlds. While their numbers were limited, they still possessed significant defensive capabilities, relying on the Forge Worlds’ formidable defenses. If left unchecked, these remaining ships could still emerge from orbit from the two Forge Worlds and strike a devastating blow to the Alliance.

The Alliance’s operational staff had also developed a series of operational plans, exploring how to breach the outer defenses of the two Forge Worlds and unleash the expensive and scarce virus bombs.

But during this fourth stage, another thing happened: a forging general found a way to contact the alliance.

Barosia is one of the three Forge Worlds of the Alfonzo Cult, and its Forge General has surprisingly escaped the Infestation.

Of course, he wasn’t an opponent like Moreau. Previously, he had supported Varuk’s actions, but he had held back during his bio-transformation efforts, avoiding the Infestation. After Varuk’s defeat, he reconsidered, realizing that continuing to mingle with the Infested would inevitably lead to his downfall. While maintaining a feigned rapprochement with them, he contacted the Alliance, urging them to urgently come to Barosia.

The Forge General’s ability to remain hidden among the Infested stemmed primarily from a technology he had developed that allowed him to deceive both the Infested and the Zerg, disguising himself as part of the Infested.

However, this disguise had its limitations. In a message to the Alliance, he declared that he was running out of pretense. As the Zerg’s unified will strengthened its hold over the Infested, the risk of his cover being blown grew.

He could help some of the Alliance’s smaller ships bypass the orbital defenses and reach the surface. He could also, at a crucial moment, have some of his men launch a rebellion, sabotaging the defenses of starports and star fortresses, sparking unrest and allowing the Alliance’s forces to advance.

This was a good move; the series of plans previously formulated by the Alliance General Staff could be set aside. Presuming Barossia had an insider presence would significantly reduce the difficulty of the campaign.

But Gu Hang merely glanced at all this and ignored it.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care; on the contrary, he initially devoted considerable energy to Alfonzo’s various capture strategies.

However, something suddenly occurred that directly diverted his attention.

First, he saw new information pop up on his system dashboard, the event panel that had been unused for years.

It was news about the Phoenix Chapter.

[As one of the founding chapters, the Phoenix Chapter, renowned throughout the Empire, is facing one of its greatest crises in its ten thousand years of existence.] Their Chapter Master and the renowned Glorious Queen-class battleship, in the chaos of defeat, forcibly activated their Warp Drives, tearing through the veil of reality and plunging into the Warp, attempting to escape the Ironclad’s pursuit. This is an ancient technology, carrying an extremely high risk. They are now lost in the Warp. Your psychic abilities can contact them.

[Please decide your actions carefully. Your actions determine the next steps in this event.]

[Event Branch: Unknown.]

…

This [Event] naturally piqued Gu Hang’s interest.

Both the Phoenix Chapter and the Glorious Queen battleship held a deep, deep interest in Gu Hang.

Of course, acquiring a founding Chapter like the ones he currently possessed was unrealistic, but even if that wasn’t possible, simply saving them and earning the Phoenix Chapter’s unwavering friendship would be invaluable.

Gu Hang would need to carefully consider how to capitalize on this [Event].

(End of Chapter)