Humanity is missing, luckily I have billions of clones-Chapter 345: Absurdity

He detected that on the First Planet, the planet closest to Southern Fish H11, a white subgiant star, the situation seemed to be amiss.

The Purple Moon Civilization’s fleet was broadly divided into seven main combat fleets and one logistics support fleet.

Four of these seven main combat fleets were stationed on the First Planet, Second Planet, Third Planet, and Fifth Planet, respectively.

The Fourth Planet, where the Civilization Main Fleet was located, had two main combat fleets stationed there, while the last remaining main combat fleet undertook the tasks of space escort and mobile support.

Stationed on the First Planet was the Sixth Fleet of the Purple Moon Civilization.

And the Sixth Fleet’s combat power seemed to be weaker than the other fleets.

This point had already shown many signs during Tom’s comprehensive stress test, which lasted for over a decade.

At the same time, there also seemed to be some delays in the supplies and parts that the logistics support fleet replenished for the First Planet.

On several occasions, when other fleets supported the First Planet, a series of uncoordinated scenes appeared in their battlefield deployment and formation arrangement.

There was even one instance where two fleets were mixed in one defensive zone, while another defensive zone was completely empty.

If the Purple Moon Civilization fleet had not made quick adjustments, their attacking fleet would have almost broken through there to strike ground targets.

Even so, their side achieved a partial victory in that battle, achieving a combat loss ratio of 1.2:1.

At this moment, with another instance of poor coordination, the scattered clues hidden beneath the vast war over the past years, which had gone unnoticed, were finally connected by Tom.

Thus, a somewhat astonishing inference appeared before Tom.

There was a significant divergence between the Purple Moon Civilization’s Sixth Fleet and the other fleets, or rather, between the leadership of the Sixth Fleet and the main body of the civilization and other military forces.

This was an internal conflict within the Purple Moon Civilization.

This was a very reasonable matter.

After all, other civilizations could not be as completely unified internally as his own, with everyone acting in concert.

As long as there are people, there are their own interests.

As long as there is a group, there will be areas where its interests are inconsistent with those of other groups, and there will be differences and conflicts.

And at this moment, facing their military pressure, the internal differences and conflicts within the Purple Moon Civilization were increasingly exposed.

This manifested on the battlefield as frequent lapses in the Sixth Fleet’s and First Planet’s defense duties.

And this seemed to be a good opportunity that he could exploit.

With careful planning, their side might truly be able to seize this opportunity to take the First Planet.

Looking at the entire battlefield, and surveying the overall battlefield situation, the loophole that appeared at the First Planet due to the internal conflict of the Purple Moon Civilization was almost the only opportunity he could use.

The emergence of this opportunity was also completely reasonable.

After making good use of this opportunity, his expected gains would also be substantial enough.

It’s just...

Gazing at the giant white star, a faint smile appeared on Tom’s lips.

"If I hadn’t known that your Purple Moon Civilization also controlled a group of Electromagnetic Life, and that you had hidden a portion of your warships extremely close to the star, then at such a good opportunity, I might have truly believed it.

However, since you have prepared the banquet, how can I not attend? That would be too impolite..."

Under Tom’s control, a large number of warships set out again.

This time, Tom dispatched a full 1 million warships.

1 million warships, plus supporting unmanned combat forces and various logistics support spacecraft, totaled nearly five million.

Such a huge fleet cluster gathered together, vast and mighty like a sea of stars.

This time, Tom was determined to win! The target: First Planet!

Facing Tom’s massive deployment, the Purple Moon Civilization also showed sufficient attention.

A large number of warships and supplies were replenished at the First Planet; for a time, with the vast white star as a backdrop, the vicinity of the small First Planet was a blur of shadows, all the light emitted by the tail flames of warships.

After intense preparations for battle, Tom’s massive fleet finally arrived.

The vast interstellar war began once again.

Facing this unprecedentedly large-scale interstellar war, both warring parties exerted their full strength.

Although the fighting did not spread to the planet due to the planetary defense line, it did affect the giant star only tens of millions of kilometers away.

Under the bombardment of these stray bullets, even the stellar activity became unprecedentedly violent.

Tom ignored everything and focused wholeheartedly on fierce attacks.

Since the main fleet defending the First Planet, the Sixth Fleet, was suspected of having internal conflicts with other fleets, then he would amplify this contradiction.

As expected, after the war had lasted for about two years, by exploiting a perceived weakness in the supply of a certain sub-fleet of the Sixth Fleet, Tom successfully surrounded this sub-fleet.

Under normal circumstances, a certain fleet of the Third Fleet, located on the edge of this battlefield, should have come to support.

But at this moment, not only did they not provide support, they actively retreated, seemingly intentionally delivering their comrades to Tom.

This sub-fleet was successfully annihilated by Tom.

This was like stirring up a hornet’s nest, immediately causing a series of changes.

The Sixth Fleet, which bore the brunt of the defense, seemed to be in disarray, its tactical skills plummeting, and cooperation between its units ceased, almost turning into a disordered army.

The Third Fleet warships that came to support, realizing the situation was dire, even fled for their lives, seemingly wanting to withdraw from the battlefield.

Amidst the chaos, the fall of the First Planet was almost a foregone conclusion.

Soon after, huge fireballs erupted on its surface, destroying all surface buildings and bases, and all fleets withdrew.

The First Planet thus fell under Tom’s control.

A large planet that Tom had painstakingly pursued but failed to acquire now fell into his hands in such an absurd manner.

This seemed absurd, but when combined with the situation over the past decade, it appeared so reasonable.

Those repeated instances of poor coordination, communication breakdowns, and internal conflicts, slowly accumulated, bit by bit, finally erupting all at once, leading to this bitter outcome.

No matter who looked at it, they would find no fault.

Any civilization would lament their own good fortune and lament the misfortune of the opposing civilization, whose internal conflicts completely erupted at such a critical moment.

However, Tom felt no such lament.

He simply issued an order without any emotional fluctuation.

Thus, the Main Fleet, located over ten billion kilometers away, also began to set sail, flying towards the First Planet.

The loss of a large planet with extremely high strategic value means that any normal civilization’s next move must be to quickly gather the fleeing fleets, reorganize their forces, and then attack the fallen planet, hoping to retake it while the opponent has not yet established a firm foothold and has temporarily not had time to build a ground logistics system.

At the same time, they would also inevitably dispatch a large number of combat forces to intercept the opposing Main Fleet, preventing the opposing Main Fleet from landing on the fallen planet.

Once the opponent’s early combat forces merge with the Main Fleet, and a large number of engineering personnel, engineers, and industrial forces land on the planet to begin industrial construction, then retaking a planet would only be possible by slowly gnawing at a hard bone.

Evidently, the Purple Moon Civilization did just that after the First Planet fell.

They rallied their routed forces, allocated warships from other planets and mobile forces, and once again formed a massive fleet, charging menacingly and relentlessly towards the First Planet and Tom’s Main Fleet.

Their stance seemed to be to stop Tom with a desperate resolve.

However, Tom remained completely unperturbed by this situation.

He knew very well that the Purple Moon Civilization’s fleet would certainly not be able to capture the First Planet, nor would it be able to stop his Main Fleet.

Because Tom had already seen through the current situation.

On Fourth Planet, in the conference room of the Purple Moon Civilization Main Fleet’s flagship, the Da Hao, a group of high-ranking Purple Moon Civilization officials, whose bodies were reddish-brown like hairless animals, sat around the conference table, their faces filled with relaxed smiles.

"The First Planet has successfully fallen, successfully falling into the hands of the opponent."

The Purple Moon Civilization’s leader, who sat at the forefront and was particularly robust, said with a hint of emotion in his voice: "The matter that has been planned for over a decade has finally succeeded."

"Yes, it’s been over a decade. For these past ten-plus years, we have been trembling with fear, treading carefully. We were both afraid that the clues were buried too deep for the opponent to notice, and afraid that they were buried too shallow, too obvious, and that the opponent would detect the flaw. It was truly a dilemma."

"Yes, fortunately, fortunately, all of this ultimately succeeded, finally luring the opponent into the trap."

"Alas, it’s also because the situation was truly too urgent. Our Purple Moon Civilization had to show its existence and make its own contribution in this major event, which is why this confrontation with the Bluetoth Civilization is so urgent."

"That’s right, the sooner we deal with them, the sooner we can set sail and not delay important matters.

If not for this, why would we bother expending so much effort to set up a trap.

We could just fight steadily, and at most in a few centuries, we could exhaust the Bluetoth Civilization to death."

Inside the conference room, the Purple Moon Civilization’s high-ranking officials discussed animatedly.

A moment later, the leader cleared his throat, and the conference room instantly fell silent.

"Send the order to the Eighth Fleet, tell them to get ready, those ’electric slaves’ will soon be put to use..."

Any civilization that has had contact or been hostile with the Purple Moon Civilization clearly knows that the Purple Moon Civilization has a total of seven fleets under its command.

But besides the Purple Moon Civilization itself, no one knew that the Purple Moon Civilization also had an eighth fleet.

This fleet has a special name.

Electric Herding Fleet!

This fleet has been established for several millennia.

Now, it is time for it to demonstrate its power for the first time.

...

Time flowed by quietly.

Under the Purple Moon Civilization’s "desperate" interception, Tom’s Main Fleet advanced with great difficulty, often having to pay a huge price to move forward just a few million kilometers.

At the same time, the First Planet also encountered an unprecedentedly fierce attack.

The warships, each possessing Strong Nuclear peak-level technology, charged recklessly as if their lives meant nothing, desperately assaulting the defensive line Tom had established on the First Planet.

This led to Tom facing immense pressure on both battlefields, barely able to resist despite giving his all.

This was truly giving his all.

Although Tom knew from his assessment of the overall situation that his side would surely be able to hold the First Planet and that the Main Fleet would definitely arrive, what if he relaxed too much and his opponent noticed something?

Even acting needed to be realistic.

It was under these circumstances that it took nearly a year for the Main Fleet to finally reach the First Planet.

With both fleets merged and warships resupplied, the two battlefields became one. Tom’s pressure immediately eased, and he could finally intercept stray projectiles and space attacks outside the planet.

This provided the conditions for launching ground industrial construction.

Thus, with the combined efforts of Primal, billions of clones, and billions of engineers from various races, countless intelligent machines, general-purpose robots, and large industrial facilities landed on the surface of the First Planet, which was still covered in lava, and began construction, completely disregarding the extremely high temperatures.

On the Da Hao spaceship on the Fourth Planet, the Purple Moon Civilization’s high-ranking officials all looked solemn.

"The Bluetoth Civilization’s industrial strength has exceeded our previous imagination."

"It’s just that they relied on existing industrial facilities they had from the early stages to be so fast; it will slow down later."

"That’s a good thing, at least we don’t have to wait that long anymore."

"The Bluetoth Civilization’s AI technology is also unimaginably powerful. According to our calculation experts’ analysis, they very likely once integrated a Mechanical Disaster’s algorithm."

"It’s truly enviable that they encountered such a good opportunity. But it doesn’t matter, soon, all of this will be ours..."

"Order the Electric Herding Fleet to activate the electric slaves!"

Amidst an atmosphere of tension and anticipation, the eyes of the high-ranking officials simultaneously turned to the large screen, which, after multiple layers of extinction, allowed direct viewing of Southern Fish H11.

Soon, their strategic weapon, which had been researched, trained, and modified for thousands of years, even leading to the establishment of a fleet for it, was about to demonstrate its power in actual combat.

At that time, the detectors deployed around the star would transmit relevant information back via Stellar Communication Technology, allowing them to witness this grand spectacle without any delay.

"Countdown, three, two, one... Launch!"

At this moment, everyone’s hearts tightened.

At this moment, everyone was filled with excitement. Some even stood up uncontrollably, staring at the large screen with fervent anticipation.

The countdown had reached zero.

But... the Southern Fish H11 star remained calm, as if nothing had happened.

Is this... a communication delay? But it shouldn’t be...

The Head of State looked at the military leader with some doubt.

Black beads of sweat seeped from the military leader’s forehead. He took out his communicator, and before he could speak, a panicked voice came from within the communicator.

"Reporting to the Leader, reporting to the Head of State, a new group of electric slaves has appeared on the star! Our electric slaves are being interfered with and cannot activate the ’Solar Storm’!"

What?!

At this moment, the Purple Moon Civilization’s Head of State, military leader, administrative leader, and other high-ranking officials all stood up, their faces filled with horror.

What does ’new electric slaves’ mean?!

Where did they come from? When did they arrive?

Almost instantly, the Purple Moon Civilization’s Head of State suddenly understood everything.

Thousands of years ago, an unknown civilization had quietly visited their experimental star system. At the same time, the electric slaves, not yet fully tamed, had a relatively large-scale riot.

It was suspected that one electric slave had escaped.

At the time, they had other things to do, and besides, it wasn’t a major issue, so they didn’t bother with it.

Could it be... that the civilization that visited their experimental star system back then was this Bluetoth Civilization?!

No wonder this Bluetoth Civilization recognized their disguise and directly identified them as the Purple Moon Civilization upon meeting them!

Everything made sense!

Clearly, this Bluetoth Civilization had also, through some method, expanded the population of Electromagnetic Life and mastered a way to domesticate Electromagnetic Life.

They knew from the beginning that their side possessed the Electric Herding Fleet, that their side possessed electric slaves, and that their side had set up an ambush on the star in advance!

In that case, the trap their side had painstakingly set up around the First Planet... wasn’t it already seen through by the opponent from the beginning?

For such a long time, over twenty years... the opponent had been playing along with their side?

Despite clearly seeing through their trap, the opponent had remained patient, instead turning the tables and, just as their side intended to use the Electric Herding Fleet and electric slaves to trigger a "Solar Storm" and wipe out all opponent’s population, industrial facilities, and spaceships on the First Planet, they also sent their electric slaves to the star to interfere with their electric slaves?

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Doesn’t this mean that all their painstaking efforts ultimately only resulted in the First Planet being handed over to the opponent for free?

A surge of anger suddenly welled up in the Head of State’s heart, and beyond that, an intense, uncontrollable sense of shame.

So, the clown was me after all?

He clenched his finely set teeth, trembling with anger and shame.

"Order the Electric Herding Fleet to eliminate that group of external electric slaves! Then, command our electric slaves to launch the Solar Storm, immediately!"

Under this outburst of rage, the high-ranking officials were silent as cicadas in winter.

Fortunately, fortunately, their side still had the Electric Herding Fleet, which could get extremely close to the star and directly attack those electric slaves, while the opponent’s warships, limited by their technological capabilities, could not get too close to the star and thus could not directly threaten the electric slaves.

There was still room for redemption, fortunately, fortunately...

But soon, the Electric Herding Fleet’s reply came back from the area extremely close to the star.

"Our side is under large-scale attack from the opponent and cannot perform the electric herding mission! Repeat, our side cannot perform the electric herding mission!"

...

Inside the Humanity spaceship, looking up at the colossal white star, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Tom’s mouth.

"Intentionally exposing a weakness at the First Planet, making me migrate the Main Fleet and all population here, and then relying on the Electromagnetic Life hidden on the star to launch a large-scale indiscriminate attack using stellar energy, to annihilate my main force in one fell swoop...

What a good strategy, any other civilization would almost certainly fall for it.

But... this is what I’ve already played with and discarded!

Now, you want to rely on superior technological strength to eliminate my Electromagnetic Life through those fleets less than 4 million kilometers from the star’s surface...

Indeed, my fleet cannot get that close to the star, so I cannot attack your Electromagnetic Life.

But... if I can’t attack Electromagnetic Life, I can attack your stellar fleet. You dare to hit my Electromagnetic Life, I’ll hit your stellar fleet, come on, let’s hurt each other!"

Thus, in the intensely substantial light of the white subgiant star, a total of four parties at different altitudes engaged in a chase.

In the plasma ocean on the star’s surface, plasma waves hundreds to thousands of kilometers high surged constantly. Under the influence of the star’s magnetic field, prominences reaching hundreds of thousands of kilometers erupted continuously, extending straight into the unseen sky.

More than ten million Electromagnetic Life forms chased each other in this ocean of light and heat.

One electromagnetic wave signal after another was sent from one group of Electromagnetic Life to another.

"Senior, it’s me, it’s me!"

"Dad! Uncle! Why don’t you recognize me anymore!"

"Don’t attack the Bluetoth Civilization, don’t! They are here to help us!"

"Wuwu, no, no... Why aren’t you speaking? What happened to you?!"

Amidst a mix of sadness and anger, one group of Electromagnetic Life mechanically tried to arrange themselves in a fixed pattern on the star’s surface, while another group desperately tried to block them.

Tom was not worried that his Electromagnetic Life would fail to stop the opponent’s Electromagnetic Life.

Even if the opponent’s Electromagnetic Life had been completely controlled and were acting against their will, Tom knew from his side’s previous experience in activating Stellar Cannons that this kind of large-scale attack based on stellar energy required extremely high collective coordination, almost to the point that even slightly strong external interference would prevent it from being achieved.

While the Purple Moon Civilization’s technological level was higher, it was not high enough to completely crush their side. Given this, the Electromagnetic Life trained by their side would inevitably be able to interfere with the Electromagnetic Life trained by the opponent.

It was precisely for this reason that Tom had the confidence to step into the trap the opponent had set for him.

The two groups of Electromagnetic Life constantly entangled in the plasma ocean of light and heat. At an altitude of several million kilometers, the Purple Moon Civilization’s Electric Herding Fleet desperately attacked the Electromagnetic Life cluster led by Electric Disaster. At an altitude of nearly ten million kilometers, Tom’s fleet desperately interfered with the Purple Moon Civilization’s Electric Herding Fleet, preventing them from locking onto his Electromagnetic Life and causing too much damage.

In the outer regions, realizing their plan had failed, the Purple Moon Civilization quickly reacted.

The First Planet had truly fallen into the opponent’s hands, and the Solar Storm could not be triggered. Therefore, they could only rely on sheer strength to reclaim the First Planet, or to annihilate the warships interfering with their Electric Herding Fleet, thereby allowing their Electric Herding Fleet to annihilate the opponent’s Electromagnetic Life!

Achieving either one would suffice!

At this stage, the opponent had not yet fully completed the construction of their industrial system, and their strength had not returned to its peak; their side still had a chance!

Facing the large-scale deployment of the opponent’s fleet, Tom, who instantly perceived the opponent’s intention, once again smiled.

"They want to take advantage of the fact that I haven’t completed my industrial system yet to reclaim the First Planet or annihilate my stellar fleet...

It seems that the previous industrial construction period was too short, and you still don’t know how much industrial strength I truly possess..."