CHAPTER 88: CHAPTER 80: I BROUGHT A WEAPON THAT CAN KILL VOID SPIRITS!

The intelligence these few people knew was even less than the highest-ranking commander.

Yet the glaring S3 Level protected clearance was right here.

It was even more outrageous than if the Void Spirit Race were to attack right in front of them.

"Form up!" At this moment, the highest-ranking commander couldn’t care about much else and gave the order directly, "Prepare a one-million-strong force. Each person is only allowed to bring two protection-type war robots, evenly dispersed around the port."

On this planet of over fifty million people, basically everyone was a soldier—there were no workers or other posts.

The purpose of these one million people couldn’t be more obvious.

They were "human bait," placed there for the Void Spirits to discover.

If needed, the Goddess of Hope would conduct information monitoring, then disguise that Civilization Level researcher and blend him in among this million-strong force.

Even if the Void Spirits wanted to kill, it would take them a long time.

Of course, this would cause losses far worse than before, but S3 Level protected status itself meant that—even if the whole planet was destroyed, everyone died in battle—as long as it increased his chance of surviving, it was worth it.

In this survival war era managed by AI, the value of life had long been reduced to the lowest; everything was measured only by its value to the overall situation.

And though this sudden order was strictly enforced, it still brought out a lot of grumbling.

"Who’s the big shot that’s come here just to die?"

"Heh, the real big shots have long since gone into hiding. Anyone still coming here to die—can’t be much of a big shot."

"It is pretty weird; this clearance has got to be at least B Level, and still they show up here?"

"Who cares? We won’t be alive much longer anyway, so nothing matters anymore."

"You’re sounding pretty negative. Did the Void Spirits get to you already? Get away from me, quick."

"Heh, as if staying far away from you will let me live much longer."

"Damn, the Goddess of Hope cut off the comm. That guy really got affected."

"..."

There was some disturbance in the comm channel, but it quickly settled down.

This was really nothing out of the ordinary anymore.

The Void Spirits were best at spreading information memes—most of which were emotional influence memes. Sometimes, just to lull people, the initial effects weren’t even that strong, just a slight negativity, easy to resist with willpower.

But once they started spreading, they could bring massive death.

That’s why only citizens with self-awareness could take part in combat, not backup cyborgs lacking emotion and a concept of "self."

Even among cyborgs, those programmed with ordinary citizens’ experiences had better combat power than those programmed for absolute obedience—with no self—the latter weren’t even much stronger than AI robots.

Emotion and the instinct to survive were among humanity’s strongest defenses against the Void Spirits.

No matter how much the soldiers grumbled or complained, under orders, they all arrived at the port.

intersellar world Shen Yu was now aware of the situation, but he did not object.

Because, with so many people gathered, the Void Spirits would surely come!

"Disguise complete. All preparations are ready; you may leave now." Accompanied by the Goddess of Hope’s voice, intersellar world Shen Yu had changed drastically.

In fact, he had become himself from a few days ago, as a new recruit.

He blended directly into a group of recruits, truly setting foot on this planet.

"I can feel it." intersellar world Shen Yu sent a message to the Goddess of Hope. "There really are Void Spirits watching here."

Yes, the Void Spirits were formless, immaterial—no matter if with the naked eye or with all sorts of sensors, it was extremely hard to scout or locate them.

But Shen Yu could definitely sense them.

His Martial Arts Power was already at the Fourth Realm of the Golden Cicada Technique.

His Primordial Spirit Power was abundant and strong.

And in his perception, those suspected Void Spirit Primordial Spirit Power fluctuations weren’t strong—by martial standards, they were actually quite weak.

At best, only at the First Realm of Golden Cicada Technique.

"As expected." This discovery left intersellar world Shen Yu rather excited inside.

He had worried that these information beings from the void might be extremely powerful.

However, the native Primordial Energy of their own world was highly inert as well.

Theoretically, there shouldn’t exist overly powerful Extraordinary forces here.

"They’re just exploiting information tech that Human Civilization can’t match yet." intersellar world Shen Yu’s confidence in defeating the Void Spirits grew.

Not long after, in a secret place outside the port, he met with this planet’s senior commanders.

"Welcome, Mr. Han Yu. I am Jere Saint, Elron Planet’s top military commander." As soon as the supreme commander Jere Saint saw intersellar world Shen Yu, he said, "May I know your purpose here? We will give you our full cooperation."

The meaning was obvious.

If you’ve got something to do, do it fast, and get out just as fast.

But intersellar world Shen Yu acted as if he didn’t get it.

He sized up the high-ranking commanders in front of him.

It was obvious they were also curious about his arrival. In fact, their mental state seemed pretty decent?

"This is my first time at the front." intersellar world Shen Yu said. "Could you tell me the current battle situation on this planet?"

"It’s been 7.45 Mother Star days since detecting the first traces of the Void Spirits. So far, we’ve lost 3.64 million human soldiers planetwide." Jere Saint stated the numbers plainly. "We’ve recruited 2.73 million new troops. We’ve implemented a series of effective strategies. If the enemy doesn’t get reinforcements, average daily casualties will likely decrease. You know, the beginning of a war is always when the most people die. Soldiers’ will is hit hard by the direct threat of death, but after a time, they adapt and it gets better."

Exactly—in interstellar civilization, battle status is measured directly by own-side casualties.

Even by average casualties.

The lower that number, the more effective the resistance; if it drops enough, it can even be proclaimed as a "victory."

Sounds ironic?

Yet that’s reality. Everyone has to adapt, not compare with old war concepts.

Even Jere Saint, in the last part of his sentence, looked a little more relaxed.

After all, with only Void Spirits—while the death rate was huge—it was still better than combining Void Spirits with bioweapons.

At least, if information flow was controlled, most who died because of Void Spirits would pass quietly, without inciting further fear.

But add direct biological weapon threats, and everything changed.

Faced with this answer, intersellar world Shen Yu could only fall silent.

After a while, though, his eyes suddenly grew sharp.

As his Primordial Spirit operated, the commanders’ expressions in front of him shifted subtly.

They couldn’t describe it, but it was as if, in a flash, this researcher had turned into a warrior before their eyes.

"There’s a commonly accepted view in Human Civilization these days," intersellar world Shen Yu looked at the frontline commanders and said slowly, "the speed of our civilization’s extinction depends on only two factors: first, the Void Spirit Race’s killing speed; second, the speed of cyborg manufacturing. Some even think reducing cyborg production costs and improving efficiency are more important than weapon and defense research."

Jere Saint looked at the suddenly serious intersellar world Shen Yu, mouth slightly open as if to speak.

But he suddenly froze.

Lacking clearance, he never asked or tried to find out what those two top-secret projects involved—the ones that this Civilization Level researcher had worked on.

But now there was no time to think; intersellar world Shen Yu had already spoken.

"I am here to utterly destroy that notion—I have brought a new weapon that can kill Void Spirits!"