Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 836

Chapter 831, War of Insects and Beasts

Chapter 831: Zerg vs. Zerg.

The opinions raised by Sipleg’s subordinates had some merit,

but the Inquisitor ignored them.

There were two main reasons.

First, it was merely a hypothesis. They hadn’t yet carried out such an operation on a large scale, lacking empirical evidence. The hypothesis was based solely on logical inference and wasn’t guaranteed to pan out. There was still the possibility that a desperate struggle would result in neither side gaining any advantage, with the human army, having recovered its momentum, annihilated them

all in one fell swoop. Second, the current situation was too critical. If nothing was done, the three or four star regions surrounding Omgeria would face a massive green tide. The waaagh energy accumulated by the orks at their current scale was immense, capable of guiding their vast fleets and acting as beacons for interstellar navigation.

When the orks’ advantage in interstellar navigation was far greater than that of the humans under the influence of the Scarlet Scar, they would be even more unstoppable.

To resolve the current situation, luring the Void Zerg to them was a necessary measure.

Even if this bomb really grew larger and larger in the future and eventually exploded, that was irrelevant.

Who cares about the future when you’re about to die now?

Driven by this thought, Sipleg went ahead with his plan.

In a way, he was quite capable.

At least, his method of luring the Void Zerg to arrive had been successful.

A fleet of hive tentacles had indeed arrived in Omgeria four years after he had spread the infection to several worlds.

And it wasn’t just the human worlds he had spread the infection to.

Humans could be infected by the parasites, so wouldn’t greenskins be too?

Actually, they could.

Orks are supposedly giant mushrooms that reproduce asexually, so it’s hard to imagine an infection among them lasting more than two generations. Furthermore, there’s no privacy in Ork society; anyone whose mushrooms look out of place is simply culled.

Infiltrating the Orks is a cosmic challenge.

Despite this, infection does occur.

Infected Ork parasites possess six limbs, purple skin, and are incredibly burly and hideous. While their efficiency in spreading infection abroad is significantly lower than that of sustained infection within humans, they do have advantages. Among humans, once a parasite is discovered, they are completely banished from the entire race and must be eliminated. However, within Orcish society, those Orcs who thrive through infection often carve out a name for themselves within the tribe with their formidable individual strength.

Being fierce, strong, and skilled in combat is waagh, and the Orcs are not unacceptable.

However, the only problem is that true Orcs grow stronger and larger the more they fight and win—a positive cycle. However, while Orcish infected possess greater innate qualities, they lack the same prowess in defeating monsters and leveling up. Their strength is essentially fixed and unaffected by the waagh field.

This allows Orcish parasites to exist within Orcish society, but they struggle to rise to high positions. Coupled with the Orcs’ low infection efficiency, the Orcs face a more limited challenge.

The problem was that these Ork Infected were also Infected, capable of colluding and acting in concert with their human counterparts.

As for the Humans, Sifleg and his men had observed this. Although the Humans were at a significant disadvantage in the three-way conflict, they could take some action and create opportunities.

Combined with their secret method of accelerating the infection, these worlds quickly became incredibly attractive to the Hive Fleet, effectively drawing the Devourer of Universes. Thus,

the encounter between the Cancer of the Universe and the Devourer of Universes had arrived.

In the past, researchers within the Human Empire had observed battles between the Zerg and other alien species.

After all, the Void Zerg were devourers, consuming everything, not just humans. If they encountered other alien species, fighting was inevitable,

including the Green Orks.

However, perhaps due to a lack of observational data, some events occurring outside the human empire are either unseen or simply unheard of… In short, no observational sample of the confrontation between these two alien species has ever been larger than that found here in Ohmgeria.

In past observations, encounters between the two often resulted in a desperate, unyielding battle, followed by a swift victory for either side, achieving the greatest victory.

But in Ohmgeria, it was different.

After devouring the first few planets, the Zerg had tasted success. They recognized that the Green Orks were quite palatable food.

While fighting them wasn’t easy, much food in this universe was difficult to find, so the Orks weren’t particularly surprising.

While their flavor might be average, their abundance was substantial.

Thus, the Devourers of Universe set their sights on the Green Ork Empire and began their advance deep into Ohmgeria.

Isn’t this a coincidence? The Green Orks also viewed the Void Zerg in the same light:

these “beasts” were formidable opponents. While they lack fear, anger, or other emotional fluctuations, making combat less thrilling than against intelligent species, the key is that these beasts are vast in numbers and don’t play tricks. When they say they want to fight, they mean it, ready to fight until you’re satisfied.

So what’s not to like? Plenty of food, plenty of it, so get ’em!

Of course, as the two races engaged in a ferocious battle, each pouring ever-increasing numbers of troops into the other, they didn’t let humanity off easy, wiping out nearby human worlds. Sifleg himself was nearly caught in the crossfire, but luckily escaped.

He didn’t get far, though, observing from the edge of the battlefield with a small fleet.

Then, humanity witnessed a terrifying and brutal war.

The fighting raged simultaneously across hundreds of worlds, stretching out along vast fronts on both sides. Both races were relatively unreliant on logistical supplies. Not only could weapons and ammunition be manufactured locally, but even fallen “soldiers” could be reborn and hatched locally, allowing both sides to engage in brutal warfare without hesitation. In

the first phase, the Zerg gained an undisputed advantage.

The Dragonshell Orc Empire initially failed to grasp the level of warfare it was facing. They were still content to playfully defeat the fragile human forces. Their own tribes hadn’t yet been properly assembled, and the bulk of their forces remained deep within the Ohmgeria star field. Internal strife within the empire, and between clans within the tribes, continued to rage.

Even though Chieftain Dragon Shell himself was still around, he had the power and prestige to easily suppress all internal strife. Yet, he didn’t.

Instead, he encouraged it.

Without external pressure, internal strife is a good thing. Training the men under his command, selecting an elite force, and then launching a great war—isn’t that a perfectly natural choice?

Fight, and the more fierce the fight, the better.

Under such circumstances, facing the full force of the Void Zerg, it was natural that they would be defeated.

The Zerg, having feasted abundantly, quickly utilized the biomass to hatch new armies and bio-ships, and soon launched further conquests into the interior of Omgiria.

However, during this phase, they encountered stiff resistance from the Greenskin Orks.

The Dragonshell Clan’s combat effectiveness remained formidable, and Dragonshell himself was a highly astute commander.

He quickly analyzed the situation on the front lines and identified the Zerg as a formidable opponent, swiftly devising a countermeasure and launching a counterattack.

For three years, they engaged the Zerg in a brutal, stalemate in the southwestern region of Omgiria, with hundreds of planets serving as the primary battlefields, countless Orc and Zerg swarms clashing with each other.

Every second, countless Zerg emerged from their hatching pools to join the fray.

But in the same second, countless Ork youngsters emerged from spore plants, armed with guns or even machetes, and howled as they charged into the battlefield.

The Zerg possessed hard shells, while the Orks had sturdy bodies. The Zerg had swarms of low-level Zerglings, while the Orks had dense, even more numerous, armies of Fartling cannon fodder. The Assassin Zerglings were elusive behind enemy lines, while the Ork Special Forces possessed profound experience in behind-the-scenes combat. Unlike the common Ork warriors prone to shouting and yelling, they were silent, experienced, and brutal…

At the higher levels, the Zerg Bio-Titans faced the Ork King Kongs; the Hive Tyrants and the Ork warlords under the Dragon Shells engaged in earth-shattering head-to-head battles.

On the surface, neither side was outmatched.

However, despite the war’s three-year slog and unimaginable ferocity, the Orks, at home, gained the upper hand.

They replenished their losses more rapidly than the Zerg swarms.

Not only did they “farm” their territory while fighting, but they also built countless garbage cities, producing vast quantities of consumables for the front lines. Meanwhile, in the heart of Omgeria, hundreds of Ork-controlled worlds were continuously sending reinforcements and supplies to the front lines.

Over the course of three years of brutal attrition, the Orks grew increasingly powerful, at one point causing the Zerg to lose more than they could replenish.

In a war of attrition, perhaps only the Orks could hold the Void Zerg back.

Furthermore, in space, the biological fleets had destroyed two-thirds of the Hive Mothership’s forces, and it looked as if the Orks were on the verge of crushing the Void Zerg.

Across hundreds of planets, the Void Zerg were being beaten back, at one point pushed back to the vicinity of the planets initially invaded by the Void Zerg.

At this point, the Void Zerg were practically on the brink of collapse. With just a little more effort from the Orks, they could completely destroy the Hive Bases on these planets, locate the remaining fleets that had fled and hidden when the situation became dire, and eliminate them as well. Then, the war would be a complete victory.

This frightened Sipleg, who had been watching the battle nearby.

He had hoped you two would fight till eternity, until both sides were equally devastated.

And yet, it’s over in just three years?

The Greenskin Orcs had certainly suffered countless casualties during these three years, but how much better was this mighty force now than it was three years ago?

Sharper!

Three years of bloody battles with the Zerg had been like a whetstone. While it had worn away some chips, the resulting machete was sharper still.

Sipleg’s men were in a state of mixed emotions,

especially those who had opposed the plan from the outset.

The worst had already begun.

The rise of the Dragonshell Orcs hadn’t been stopped, but had actually been greatly strengthened. Now, after the bloody battle, the Orks had become so powerful, how could they continue to remain entrenched within the Omgilia star system?

With nothing standing in their way, they were determined to break free.

This progress might even be faster than if the Void Zerg hadn’t been called in. After all, if the Zerg hadn’t arrived, the Greenskin Warchief might have continued to watch his tribes, clans, and warlords fight among themselves for a decade or more before finally being satisfied and launching his army into battle.

Instead, Siplegg’s plan had given the Green Tide a significant boost.

Siplegg himself was bewildered.

After exhausting every possible means, how could this be the outcome?

However, his sadness didn’t last long; the situation took a new turn.

As the Greenskins launched a massive assault on the Zerg’s last few worlds, aiming to annihilate them once and for all, a new Hive Fleet arrived in Omgiria, crossing the Astral Tunnel.

This new fleet was even larger than the original Zerg!

Clearly, even during the previous fierce stalemate, the Hive had realized that this time they faced a different enemy, one that they couldn’t defeat with their current forces alone. They had likely called for reinforcements years ago, and now they had finally arrived.

Amidst these star systems, the two sides engaged in another major battle.

This time, the Zerg emerged victorious.

The flagship of a great warlord commanding the Ork army on the front lines was destroyed. This in turn triggered chaos in the Ork fleet, causing them to suffer heavy losses.

Then, taking advantage of the Greenskin Orks’ command breakdown and internal strife, the Zerg launched a massive counterattack.

It took the Greenskin Orks over a year to stabilize the situation, and the battle lines between the two sides remained roughly the same as they had been three or four years earlier.

But even with stabilization this time, the Greenskins were strategically on the defensive.

However, the stalemate between the two sides was likely to last for a long time.

Sipleg breathed a sigh of relief, but regretted that he could no longer observe.

He heard from the street behind that the main force of the Alliance’s Dark Side Expedition had arrived and was calling him in for questioning.

(End of Chapter)