Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 669

Chapter 667, Death of Tiekai

. “Be careful, he’s very strange,”

Salilius offered a kind warning during the battle.

But Martins had already sensed it,

and he thought it was normal.

Humphrey Paul must have been the first of the Ironclad Space Marines to be infected, likely the ‘favored’ of the ‘Zerg Queen’, having undergone a more advanced transformation. This Ironclad Chapter Master differed significantly from the average Space Marine.

Consequently, his previously vital points may no longer be vital; his body is capable of many inhuman movements…

perhaps all of this is normal.

It was precisely because of these factors that Humphrey Paul was able to display such formidable combat prowess, even rivaling Salilius. Normally, the ‘living’ Humphrey Paul might have been an outstanding leader, perhaps the most formidable warrior among the Ironclads, but his strength, in the entire universe, certainly could not reach the level of Salilius.

Logically, he should have lasted only twenty or thirty rounds before being stabbed to death by the Holy Lance.

But it was pointless. After Martins joined the fray, no matter how much Humphrey Paul’s insect transformation had intensified, he couldn’t stand up to two top warriors simultaneously.

Especially with Martins’s “Nirvana Guard,” dozens of men blocked the battlefield, preventing the other armored warriors from supporting Paul.

Finally, as Humphrey Paul was fending off the phase sword, Salilius pierced his body with a spear, pinning him to the ground. Seeing his body still thrashing and trying to break free, he pressed down on him, pinning him to the ground with his divine shield.

Martins seized the opportunity and swiftly decapitated him with his phase sword.

Seeing Humphrey Paul still wriggling, he struck several more blows, completely dismembering him.

Now, even if the insect-transformed Humphrey Paul could continue fighting without a head, it was useless.

Salilius lifted Humphrey Paul’s head with his spear and loudly proclaimed their victory.

The enemy leader who had sparked a catastrophic rebellion, a war spanning four cosmic realms, mobilizing countless manpower and resources, and even causing even greater catastrophe, had finally been slain. His head held considerable weight, worthy of being placed on the point of Salilius’s sacred spear, displayed as a trophy of triumph.

It also served a practical purpose: demonstrating to all nearby enemies that their leader was dead!

Of course, this gesture was far more effective against foes like the Greenskins or Chaos Traitors. Even for Chaos Traitors, the elimination of a traitorous leader would severely shake the morale of the remaining forces, let alone the Greenskins, who would likely be routed.

However, the symbolic significance of ‘raising the enemy leader’s head’ held little meaning for the Infested or the Zerg; but the destruction of a leader held immense significance,

even greater than for the Greenskins themselves.

For the Greenskins, the death of their leader can cause panic and a loss of morale, leading some to believe they are weak and unable to achieve victory. This loss of faith is devastating for the Orcs, who believe in “whatever you think will come true.” Furthermore, after the death of their supreme leader, lesser and even lesser ambitions will rise up to fight for the position of supreme leader, leading to mutual slaughter and infighting.

This is already a terrifying event, especially when it occurs in the middle of a war.

However, compared to the Zerg, the impact of the Orcs losing a leader may even be minor. For

the Orcs, the loss of their leader merely leads to a significant drop in morale, internal strife, and panic… But for the Zerg, the loss of their leader is equivalent to the loss of their ability to think.

The thinking of the Zerg and the Infested depends on that of their superiors. They may possess the “intelligence” to handle current affairs independently, but they lack subjective initiative. This means that for the Zerg and individual Infested, they roughly understand “how to do something,” but not “what to do,” let alone “why” to do it.

The most direct manifestation of this is that after completing their current orders but failing to receive further instructions from the next higher level, they transform into true primitive beasts, remaining motionless. At this point, they will indeed be attacked, but that’s simply the instinctive behavior of a beast.

But at this stage, who would be foolish enough to risk human lives in a direct attack? From dozens of kilometers away, massive cannons can be set up and each one can be blasted one by one—they don’t know how to run or hide anyway.

For the Infested and the Zerg, if only a few squad leaders, similar to mid- and low-ranking officers in the human army, had died, it would be manageable. After all, the Zerg’s command rules can be overridden downwards. At most, a higher-level node unit or another node unit of the same level can take over for the individuals under the deceased node unit.

Unless they act independently,

then there’s really no way around it.

The Zerg must send new node creatures to connect with the out-of-control lower-level units and re-manage them before command can be restored.

Some Imperial scholars specializing in the Void Zerg believe the Zerg’s structure is a radiating network.

They boldly hypothesize that the Zerg possess a “Void Will,” the source of all power.

From this single point, it radiates to various Hive Mind entities, forming what scholars call “tentacles.” This Hive Mind, in turn, empowers countless Queens, forming Hive Fleets, considered part of the tentacles. The Queens provide the genetic material that incubates the Zerg’s vast armies, including bio-ships and high-level node creatures, and empower units like “Generals” and “Overlords.” These units, acting as commanders, in turn empower mid-level Hive Tyrants, who in turn delegate authority to further layers of power…

Thus, a network is formed.

However, destroying any node means that all units below it are “disconnected.”

This principle applies to Zerg swarms and infestations, from small to large. This is why, on large-scale battlefields, killing low- and mid-level node creatures has little impact. After their death, numerous node creatures of the same level remain on the battlefield, capable of assuming their authority. Their former superiors can even directly govern subordinate units. The slight additional computing power cost is negligible.

However, if the single node creature with the highest authority dies on a vast battlefield, the situation is complete.

All higher-level node creatures below it become brainless; the loss of these brains will cause the mid-level nodes to become brainless as well… The entire Zerg or Infested army will then experience a domino-like chain reaction, ultimately bringing the entire Zerg swarm to a standstill.

The death of Humphrey Paul had a similar effect.

Could a node creature of the same level assume his authority?

No.

Can a higher-level node creature take over his command?

No.

Of course, more advanced node creatures existed, like the Queen. However, the distance between him and the Queen was too great. It was impossible for the Queen to take over his command of an entire army from just one or two star regions away, or even temporarily delegate authority to a higher-level node creature.

Unless she could dispatch a higher-level node creature, obtain authorization, travel to the western part of the White Curtain Star Region, and then authorize a top-level node unit to reconnect the lower nodes one by one.

But that was impossible, and humanity wouldn’t give her that opportunity.

Humphrey Paul’s death set off a chain reaction throughout the Ironclad Army.

Before Salilius and Martins, the Ironclads, who had just been desperately battling their own Space Marines, became wooden and mechanical. They still fought instinctively, but with a far greater stiffness than at the beginning. They only attacked the enemy in front of them, ignoring any situation further away.

Even basic combat was like this, let alone executing sophisticated tactical coordination.

The same thing happened to the Titans and Knights of the Iron Armor faction.

Martins and Salilius immediately ordered their troops to break out of the encirclement and withdraw from the battle.

The order was executed remarkably smoothly.

As soon as the troops disengaged, long-range fire arrived.

The enemy was left to suffer the bombardment.

Even this simple bombardment seemed insufficient.

The accompanying Mechanicus masters, after meticulous calculations, determined several detonation points. The troops retreated, and the land-based “Dongfeng Fen” missiles were launched, detonating precisely at the calculated detonation points.

At this point, there was no point in calculating casualties from exposure, cover, or within fortifications. They wouldn’t even try to dodge. A single Dongfeng Fen missile, sweeping across an area equivalent to an average city, would easily wipe out hundreds of thousands of enemies.

It could be said that the Battle of Wanzhou Star was won the moment Humphrey Paul was killed by the combined efforts of Salilius and Martins.

Of course, an overall victory doesn’t necessarily mean the war is completely over. After all, there were countless enemies to be eliminated on Wanzhou Star, and it wasn’t feasible to bombard them inch by inch with Dongfeng Fen missiles; that would be too expensive. Ground forces would have to deal with the situation.

The general process involved ground forces dividing into small teams and scattering to search. If they encountered a small number of enemies, their sharpshooters would use ultra-long-range sniper rifles to eliminate them one by one, concluding the task. If they encountered powerful individuals, they would employ heavy anti-armor firepower, destroying them from a distance before targeting them. If they encountered a large cluster, they would call in long-range artillery.

There were still risks, such as the team walking into the presence of undetected infected or Zerg, leading to pursuit. Or if they were trapped in buildings, wreckage, or tunnels, making direct artillery attacks difficult, they would have to investigate. If they were numerous, they would simply blow up the buildings and tunnels, burying the enemy. If they were few… there was no other option; they would simply clear them out one by one.

All of this would result in casualties.

In theory, these casualties could be avoided. However, a single Dongfeng Fen missile costs 800,000 tax coins, and a single Astra Militarum life is worth only five. Higher-ups will take stock.

Unless assessed as necessary, bunker-buster bombs and other high-powered weapon attacks—the Army should justify them. A few dozen or even a few hundred casualties would be a much cheaper price to pay.

This isn’t just the case on Wanzhou Star; the many star systems and worlds the Iron Armor has wreaked havoc could be doomed to the same fate.

It now appears that Humphrey Paul himself is the largest node organism in the Iron Armor Legion. Other Iron Armor units operating on distant worlds are acting under his authorization. With his death, the authorization chain is broken, and they can no longer connect to the Queen. All authorizations expire, and everyone

is disconnected from the internet. Until a new connection to the supreme Void Will is reestablished, they cannot move.

Their destruction has been terminated.

Even if humanity still needs years to combat these “offline” and inactive Zerg and Infested swarms, it’s essentially a cleanup operation, and the cost will be minimal.

In the skies, the starships operated by the Ironclad Infested were similarly grounded, swept up and destroyed one by one by the combined fleets of the Alliance and the Western Legion.

These ships were unworthy of capture. Their internal structures had been extensively altered, and if they weren’t infected, they wouldn’t be able to operate. Towing them back for repair and modification was possible, but the time and cost would be more than building new ones.

Mars took several “Infested warships” and forced personnel to clear the Infested from them. Once cleared, they would dispatch tugboats to remove the spoils.

Their decision sparked considerable resentment. Clearing the Infested from the ships would involve significant casualties.

But the oilmen clearly didn’t care. They only cared about these precious research specimens and how much new discoveries they could make.

Salilius was powerless to stop this and could only turn a blind eye.

In fact, he assigned all these “aftermath work” to his staff and subordinates.

He and Martins jointly wrote a battle report.

After polishing, one copy will be sent to Holy Terra as a victory report to calm the mood of the Terra masters and to commend their merits.

The other copy will be sent to Gu Hang.

If nothing unexpected happens, they will leave a part of the troops responsible for the aftermath to deal with the White Curtain Star Region, and even to the west of the White Curtain, the remaining troubles of the many worlds that have been ruined by the Iron Armor.

Their core force will launch a counterattack on the east side of the White Curtain Star Region, defeat the swarm of insects pouring out of the Queen Star Region, and try to enter the Queen Star Region to join forces with Gu Hang.

(End of this chapter)