Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Expansion and the Sacred Planet Clash
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While improving the legion internally is important, expanding outward is also a crucial factor.
Truthfully, it felt a bit late. Back in the imperialistic era, when unclaimed lands were plentiful—like the great powers racing to colonize—the smart move was to plant your flag on empty territory before the competition even heated up.
Overlooking the disastrous border disputes and map redrawing from haphazard claims, or minor issues like the native inhabitants already living there—all shoved aside as secondary for the sake of national gain.
Naturally, I wanted to leave the Deneb Federation alone and focus on growing my star systems. But more pressing than that was concealing our hive consciousness... no, the fact that we prey on other species. Internal reforms simply had to come first.
While the Deneb Federation was busy fighting the Telluris Assimilator, I built a society that at least functioned on the surface. Even if other races eyed us suspiciously, our purely biological nature was so unique that any oddities mismatched their common sense could be brushed off as trivial.
So now, it was time to expand.
Beyond just claiming land before other races could lay eggs on it, there was another reason to hurry the expansion.
We had no more straws to stick into the Deneb Federation.
As Space Whales, Lushaka Warhounds, and all sorts of miscellaneous creatures deeply infiltrated Deneb daily life, their economy was shifting heavily toward agriculture.
President Lydia Moretti seemed eager to reduce dependence on the Lushaka Kingdom and achieve self-reliant defense. Unfortunately, democratic nations don't work that way.
Munitions manufacturers who exploded in growth supplying dedicated weapons for Space Whales during the war.
Animal rights groups who couldn't resist the Lushaka Warhounds—smarter than dogs, obedient, and with endlessly varied appearances.
Idealists insisting on befriending aliens rather than antagonizing them.
Self-employed folks and corporations jumping into farming as crop prices skyrocketed to import more Space Whales.
A torrent of lobbying and vote-chasing was pressuring the president. Plus, her own brash personality and history of suffering at the hands of the Telluris Assimilator meant opposition forces were dug in deep too.
Even so, a president who won the war might as well be a god.
With sky-high approval ratings and her second term just beginning, she'd surely spend the next decade crushing those myriad opponents and finding some resolution.
But no major surgery right now. The war had just ended; they needed recovery time. The military was still too powerful to abandon Space Whales entirely.
So this month, we'd smoothly extracted a massive haul of food from the Deneb Federation. A non-bio nation running an agriculture-heavy economy? That ceiling was doomed to crash eventually.
Neglecting spaceship alloys and mineral production meant cutting investments in space and mechanical engineering. For fragile humans to make their voice heard across the vast galaxy, nothing was more vital.
The president and her advisors knew this full well and weren't letting go. But in this ruthless galaxy, stagnant growth like that spelled obsolescence.
Before their military weakened and they returned to normal economic growth post-demobilization, I needed to widen the gap.
But here's the problem: I was stagnating too. Siphoning the Deneb Federation and reforming the legion's internals had stalled star system expansion, killing our growth engine.
New genes. I needed fresh genes.
Watching Jarvis finish planetary terraforming, I immediately ordered scouting of nearby star systems.
No forces in the system? Plant a space station right by the star. That system was mine now.
But the space stations from the game were inefficient—not even proper docking for ships or real architecture, just crude territory markers. And they guzzled organic materials without restraint.
Truth be told, our species never had space stations... Poor me, adrift in the void without a place to rest.
"Jarvis, clear all the drifting trash near the star."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Since our kind lacked dedicated space stations, we needed a lifeform that could loiter semi-permanently near a star like a structure.
Yet it also had to be huge enough for other lifeforms to dock, with vast organic storage holds.
So for the first time in ages, I tapped my main body's power to create a new specimen.
A massive size with storage space? Nothing but Space Whales fit the bill.
I selected three hefty whales and fused them into a single Rare Whale evolution.
Sure enough, three whales stuck together in a pinwheel shape—squinting from afar, anyone would call it architecture.
A bit small? I'd make a new one at medium cruiser-class size later.
With that splendid space station ready, expansion kicked into high gear without restraint.
Loaded with organics from the Deneb Federation, we churned out Space Whales nonstop, deploying Rare Whales everywhere.
Once the Federation's honey ran dry, this radical expansion would grind to a halt. Use it while we had it. Without their food shipments, the entire legion would rely solely on Earth production.
Discovering farmable planets like Earth in expanded systems would be ideal.
But against hopes, habitable planets were scarce.
I could guess why. Probably from my gaming days. My crappy computer reduced computation by slashing habitable planets.
Broke back on Earth, and now karma hits here? This was too bitter.
But fortune favors the persistent. Just as hope for new habitables withered into disappointment...
We finally spotted a promising habitable world.
And it wasn't ordinary.
Diverse ecosystems from frigid poles to scorching equator, rich atmosphere, thriving flora and fauna. A hidden gem where the planet itself seemed alive, adapting the environment for inhabitants—caught in our scout fleet's sights.
Rare even in the game. Lucky find.
No time to waste—install a Rare Whale and claim the planet.
Alright, this one's mine too—
"Begone!!!!!!!!!!!!"
A Psionic thought wave blocked the Rare Whale deployment.
"Who are you to defile our holy land? Get lost now!"
A fleet had slipped through the opposite hyperlane, closing on our armada.
Officially, the second race after the Deneb Federation that the Lushaka Kingdom encountered. They rode ships carved like trees screaming "plant species here~."
Problem: their tech wasn't primitive small-ship level like the Federation. They already fielded medium destroyers alongside.
Even tough-skinned Space Whales would meet their end from one solid laser hit from those destroyers.
A species with clearly superior military might to our legion, hostile on first contact over intruding their "holy site." Not the best impression.
Just okay. Skip one planet, plenty of empty land. No need to redden faces. I'd love to withdraw gracefully.
Normally, I would. I want friendly ties with all races ahead.
But I couldn't.
No more empty land?
Precisely: this hidden planet's system was the ultimate chokepoint.
Hyperlanes here: four into our territory, four opposite—total eight. All nearby systems funneled through it. No passage, no expansion elsewhere.
Fail to take it, and attackers seize this fortified hub. Defending means blocking all four connected systems on our side—unsure from which they'd strike.
And worst: a rival was here.
Against an untrusted stranger with superior firepower, meekly retreat from the key chokepoint?
"Withdraw now, monster! Have no fear of divine wrath!!"
Ah... what do I do?