Ch88 – Volunteering

As He Wei Ye predicted, at the point of the route to Celtic Star that had no other alternative, the Valens staged their ambush on the transport ships.

“Reporting to the Colonel! Several mechs and small warships are approaching fast!”

“Get ready to engage!” The Mech troops of the Third Army was immediately ready to fight.

The Valens were a crazy and war-like race. Long before human beings appeared they were already plundering the resources of various races in their usual tyrannical manner. Their battle with the Blue Star Empire had been going on for thousands of years, and they have never ceased to covet the rich resources of the Blue Star Empire. Human wisdom and creativity were things they longed for so much, they would even dream about it. They wanted to make humans their slaves so that they could control them.

Ironically, the Earth’s genetic modification technology was learned from the Valens. When humans were no longer so weak, the Valens finally lost the advantage they’ve long held over the humans.

Defeated by the Earthlings, whom they’ve always regarded as a lowly race, the Valens simply couldn’t accept it. They regarded the armistice agreement signed with humanity 20 years ago as a humiliation. When they heard that the Blue Star Empire and the Rutes were in a critical situation, they did not hesitate to tear up the armistice agreement and they took to looting a burning house. Their actions were extremely shameless and despicable!

They loaded powerful self-destruct devices on each of the mechs and small warships. They ignored the attacks of the imperial army and focused exclusively on the transport ships. This was a heavy burden to the Imperial troops that needed to protect the transport ships and this was the reason for the Valens’ continued success.

“At nine o’clock, two mechs have detonated! Quickly dodge! Quick!”

“The transport ship took a heavy hit. The left cabin twin engines have failed. The left cabin twin engines have failed!”

The rumbling sounds of explosions echoed continuously, and fierce explosions came one after another.

“Retreat! Retreat!” Finally, the Blue Star Empire chose to retreat, and the transport ship was blown up once again.

“Hahahahaha!” The arrogant laughter of the Valen leader, McCarthy came from a giant cosmic fortress hidden in the meteorite belt. “Huh, these stupid Earthlings. Let’s see how long they last against the Zergs without any supplies! Have Roger and the others come back.”

“Yes, sir.”

Just when they were basking in their victory from the sneak attack, the team responsible for monitoring the Blue Star Empire and the Rutes sent back urgent news, “Reporting to the leader, we’ve found fluctuations in the transmission waves. The Blue Star Empire has sent another fleet of transport ships! And the Rutes’ mech squad is in charge of support! ”

“What?!” McCarthy was shocked.

“The Blue Star Empire’s transport ship is moving towards Celtic Star at full speed and is expected to arrive in an hour at most.”

“What?! Have Roger and the others already withdrawn?”

“Yes, the Empire took advantage of the time when we withdrew. Roger has already entered the meteorite belt …” The man no longer continued. Even if Roger’s squad went back, it would be too late to intercept them.

“Let the team in charge of surveillance engage. Even if they die with them, those transport ships cannot be allowed to reach Celtic Star!”

“But Lord Hudson is the one in charge of surveillance today …” The Valens had a strict hierarchical society and Lord Hudson’s status among the Valens was special, second only to Leader McCarthy. Such self-destructive missions were generally never given to bigshots like Hudson.

“So what?! Tell him this is my order!”

“Yes……”

After receiving the order, Hudson smiled disdainfully.

“There might be some trickery afoot. We will continue to monitor. We must not act blindly!”

“Yes, Lord Hudson!”

Hmm, they were merely a surveillance squad. There barely had one small warship with stealth function and it didn’t carry a large number of explosives. How could it destroy a heavily guarded transport ship? The Empire had a saying ‘like ants shaking a tree’. They were a surveillance team consisting of only six people. Without the appropriate mechs and warships, they would be shot down by the Rutes even before they could approach. Such a sacrifice was simply meaningless!

McCarthy simply wanted to take this opportunity to take out his competition! Well, you better think again!

On the other hand, the mech troops of the Third Army quietly followed behind Roger, avoiding the Valens’ surveillance equipment, and successfully sneaking into the cosmic fortress of the Valens hidden within the meteorite belt.

Their troop leader, Marshal Gao immediately ordered, “Immediately, destroy all the monitoring facilities and self-destruct equipment, cut off the circuitry. Sweep the Valen base!”

Countless imperial troops merged quietly into the corridors of Valen’s base like a dark tide or a silent blade. Wherever they passed, the Valens collapsed quietly, and no information could be transmitted.

The next second, the power in the base stopped suddenly, and they were plunged in darkness.

“What’s going on?!” McCarthy yelled immediately, “Earthlings! Those cheap dregs must have entered our base!”

“Commence the self-destruct sequence! The Empire must not be allowed to get our supplies!”

McCarthy gave the order fiercely, and then quickly changed into protective clothing. Under the protection of the guard, he quickly escaped through the secret underpass. He didn’t spare a thought to the remaining Valen soldiers.

Although the Third Army had already dismantled the self-destruct devices in the base, many of the Valens still carried a large amount of self-explosive ammunition. Knowing that they had been abandoned by their commander, they fought even more fiercely, bringing considerable trouble to the Third Army. Fortunately, these people were arrows at the end of their flight. Although they inevitably suffered casualties, overall, this operation was still a great success.

Though there weren’t a lot of Valens for their sneak attach operations, there were a lot of looted supplies. Now that the Third Army had come over, they could finally recover this batch of supplies that rightfully belonged to the Empire. They were loaded onto another transport ship and sent to the frontline.

Therefore, He Wei Ye’s plan was a complete success.

The imperial army created a diversion and took advantage of the Valens constantly underestimating their enemies. They not only destroyed the Valens’ fortress in one fell swoop, but they also successfully delivered the second batch of transport ships to Celtic Star, giving the several million soldiers on the frontline their much needed supplies.

“Oh! My dear brother! Are you alright?” Gilbert dropped from the mech and gave He Yun Chen a firm hug.

He Yun Chen frowned slightly and distanced himself from him, “I’m fine.”

“I heard that the transport ships this time came with a lot of food. Our warriors can finally eat their fill!” Gilbert couldn’t hide his excitement. Once the supplies were in place, he believed that the Imperial Army and their Rute Warriors would have nothing to fear from any enemy!

“Yes, we can certainly eat our fill.” He Yun Chen stared intently at the incendiary bombs being unloaded from the transport ship not far away.

*********

Gilbert could never have imagined that he would be treated to a “bug feast” at the Empire’s temporary base.

Obviously with so many delicious nutrient solutions and instant lunches delivered, Gilbert thought they’d be having their fill of those. But then, why was he being given these? Even if Gilbert had been told in advance that he could make Zerg into canned food, he wasn’t at all ready to taste them quite so soon.

Seeing these vicious bugs lying on the plate with his own eyes was really terrifying!

But after having a taste these insects, Gilbert was completely conquered by their deliciousness. These ugly and dangerous things were so delicious once cooked!

When Gilbert returned to the Rutes’ Capital Star, he immediately convened the needed manpower and began to build canneries on various resource planets. The collected Zerg corpses were all made into delicious canned food. During this time when food was scarce, the emergence of canned Zerg meat had greatly alleviated the food shortage.

Aside from tasting good, these Zergs also seemed to have a special energy within their bodies that could replenish their physical strength. He Yun Chen felt that after eating the Zergs that day, the exhaustion he’d felt from several days of toil, disappeared. He took a team to battle with the Zergs and let his men eat their fill. Although the new nutrient solutions tasted good and the instant meal were even more delicious, everyone obviously preferred to eat the bugs.

They were delicious, nutritious and they could vent their anger! It felt so good!

Now that they had lots of power, there was no need to worry about the Zergs breaking through the protective barrier. Many soldiers couldn’t bear the quiet. Every time they ate, they would fly towards the protective barrier, stare at the immense Zerg main force, open a hatch door and while starting at the Zerg army outside, take out a plate of bug meat and start eating. While eating, they would should loudly,

“Smells so good! Delicious! So tasty!”

He Yun Chen knew that they were feeling dejected. Although, he felt helpless towards this sort of behavior, he didn’t say much, and let them continue carrying out their “psychological attack” on the Zergs.

Although the Zergs were low in intelligence and could not understand the words of the Imperial soldiers, they also knew fear. They could recognize that the Imperial soldiers were eating their own kind. The change from predator to prey made them retreat a little, and they even didn’t dare to flood in as much as before, for fear of adding food to the Empire.

As the Empire’s soldiers fought more, they became braver. The Zergs who launched the attacks almost never came back. Fear finally made the Zergs choose to run away, leaving only those who could not fly.

The news came back to the military headquarters, and the people there were so stunned their mouths fell open. They have now…climbed onto the top of the food chain?

Even if only part of the Zergs were left, their numbers were still staggering. But the soldiers could eat up all these precious resources all at once. They even thought of artificially breeding these insects, so they issued orders to try to capture these bugs alive as much as possible.

However, the good times didn’t last long. Just when everyone thought that the war was coming to an end, the Zergs made a comeback and came back with new kinds of bugs to attack.

The new flying insect was much larger than the previous one, and it was covered with a hard carapace. The sound of their flying was comparable to that of a small bomber. They have sharp mouthparts and double pincers, which could chew through the mechs. They were very difficult to deal with.

Appearing with these flying insects, there were also some ground-walking bugs that could change color. They weren’t large, but they crawled very fast and could blend into the surrounding environment. Their carapace could block the detection of infrared probes. Even the latest mechs couldn’t detect their location.

These ground insects were always hidden around the protective barrier. When the imperial army cleared the flying insects, they would rush in and tear the mech to shreds!

The war situation on the frontline was just improving when it became strained once again.

At the same time, in the Imperial Army Headquarters

“Report to the Supreme Commander. Mr. Ruan would like to request an audience.” He Wei Ye’s light brain rang and his adjutant’s voice came through.

“Let him in.”

He Wei Ye looked at Ruan Tang standing before him and asked, “Why have you come to see me this time? Is there any progress in the research of the new Zergs?”

Ruan Tang raised his head, and said firmly, “Supreme Commander, I would like to go to the frontline.”