Galaxy Domination Guide-Chapter 753 - 739 The Dead Silence of Borke

This is the core area of Borke civilization, which, if described using terms from Earth, can be compared to metropolitan areas like New York in the United States or Los Angeles, or perhaps Neon-roaring Tokyo or London in the United Kingdom. Such core areas of civilization are not only heavily guarded by military forces, but also typically fortified with rigorous defensive installations and equipped with various countermeasures.

"It’s probably true that even for other civilizations of the Ten Titans level, it wouldn’t be easy to simply obliterate the core area of Borke civilization," Han Jiaxue said with some surprise.

"Let’s go see what exactly happened," Bai Zhongqi said.

Zero understood and released a reconnaissance Enslaved Beast. The Swarm civilization, having evolved to level 30, combined with Bai Zhongqi’s introduction of reverse biomimetic concepts, had made Zero’s Enslaved Beasts extremely formidable. This reconnaissance Enslaved Beast looked like a creature with two pairs of huge dragonfly-like wings, but its body and propulsion parts resembled those of a mechanical warship. Small for a warship, it was only over sixty meters in length, yet capable of advanced forms of flight such as warp jumps and tunnel travel.

After detaching from the Blade Empress, the Reconnaissance Ship quickly approached a planet of Borke civilization, which, according to Bai Zhongqi’s data, originally had over a hundred thousand orbiting structures serving various functions, with an annual cargo throughput of hundreds of billions of tons and at least three billion permanent residents living there.

However, the scene the Reconnaissance Ship witnessed was shocking. The orbit was littered with remnants of structures, not a single one intact, a clear indication of a brutally fierce battle having taken place.

"Notice that there are no traces of warships or weapons from other civilizations, only remnants of Borke warships and buildings," Bai Zhongqi pointed out.

With wide eyes, Han Jiaxue expressed incredulity, "Does that mean whoever attacked Borke civilization didn’t suffer any losses? That’s impossible. Even our Iridium Star Fleet couldn’t achieve that."

Zero said, "We would reclaim our warships, and the effect should be similar. However, I suspect it might be the handiwork of the Galactic Emperor, who is quite dissatisfied with those Ten Titans. He may wipe out a few of your planets just to teach you a lesson."

Bai Zhongqi remained skeptical, "Could it really be so?"

Without any interference, the Reconnaissance Ship entered the planet’s atmosphere. The planet had a relatively arid environment, but there were some water bodies, making it suitable for life forms like primates or others akin to them.

The Reconnaissance Ship cruised over the cities built by the Borke people. Contrary to the gruesome scene in orbit, the surface appeared far less devastated. Most of the infrastructure was still relatively intact, showing no signs of intense combat.

"There’s a problem here. Usually, after securing space supremacy in orbit, a civilization would choose to assault and occupy a planet through coordinated planetary bombardment and landings. Now this planet no longer shows any signs of life, and from the state of preservation of the infrastructure, it seems to have not undergone planetary bombardment or violent military occupation. Yet all its inhabitants have disappeared."

Zero looked at the scarred but architecturally and systemically intact surface, her eyes radiating a peculiar combativeness. "It’s the doing of the Swarm. It’s not just that all intelligent life has been killed off. Every animal, plant, and even organic matter on this planet has been nearly swept clean. Only the Swarm does this, devouring everything biological on a planet and leaving behind a deathly still world, because living organisms are an essential part of the ecosystem. Soon this planet will descend into chaos and become a Dead Planet."

Bai Zhongqi was quite astonished, not having expected that what he intended to do was already accomplished by another. His original plan was to exploit the disaster-potential of the Swarm to deal a significant blow to the civilizations of the Fallen Empire and instill fear in them. However, the second Swarm, who had acted before him, seems more aggressive or, perhaps, more in tune with the core essence of the Swarm. They left nothing behind after consuming the whole planet.

Soon, the scouts deployed by Zero brought back something useful.

"It’s related video and impactful data. It seems this Swarm doesn’t care about leaving any significant information behind."

Han Jiaxue sighed, "The Swarm isn’t afraid at all, are they?"

The video was recorded by a panicked Borke individual.

"... Our fleet has failed; this was a battle entirely beyond our imagination, even more imbalanced than the conflict between the Ten Titans and the United Empire of Iridium Star in the Orion Arm. Our detection radars completely failed to pick up any fleets, only the tiny eggs scattered across the cosmos which people had no way of stopping. They can penetrate Energy Shields and physical matter, and they seem prepared to lose countless eggs in the process. Once they come into contact with living organisms, these eggs parasitize within them. Even if you realize and cut out the eggs, the person dies. We don’t know why this happens, but it forced us to bury many of our own."

"I don’t know how many days I can hold on to. Ten days ago, all fleets and weapons platforms in orbit were emptied, and the eggs had reached the ground. Now, the streets are filled with mutated Insectoids hunting down humans. From the initial Insectoids with limbs and insect heads to the now more terrifying High-Level Insectoids, our planet has lost its future."

"The Insectoids not only slaughter us Borke people but also devour any form of life. This way, we survivors hiding in the shadows can no longer live on — no food, and perhaps soon no oxygen. This planet is finished."

The final entry in the video was even more unsettling. The recorder was clearly infected by the eggs, and the new Insectoid that emerged from his body turned around and devoured his corpse. The Insectoid seemed to have no concept of what he had recorded, promptly leaving to seek new targets.

Bai Zhongqi took a deep breath and said, "So, all these Insectoids have left already?"

As the Swarm Empress, Zero had the most authority to speak, "I’m afraid this is just how the Swarm harvests DNA and organic matter. Eventually, all the Insectoids are re-absorbed by the Insect Nest, becoming nourishment for the Empress. A planet is turned into a dead zone, and they then move on to the next target to repeat their tale."