Chapter 608 The wind leaves traces and the geese pluck their feathers
The last days of the year came quietly as the people of the empire celebrated the victory in the Battle of Phaethon. In Augustgrad, the imperial capital of the Tyran Empire, which was decorated in a festive atmosphere, the first day of winter
The second snow came belatedly, sweeping away the haze that shrouded the city.
Augustus knew that the queen and their daughter Louise were waiting for him to return in the palace, and that Korhal and the people of other worlds were also waiting for their emperor to return victorious, but he must be too late.
At this moment, Augustus was on the Imperial flagship Hyperion, and the battlecruiser that had been with him for ten years was on its way to the Imperial storage world Brokas Hur (storage world/Brokas Hur).
, the distance from Korhal is getting further and further away.
Although mainstream media in the Tyranid Empire such as the UNN Universe News Network are promoting the victory of the Empire and the Kaimorian alliance in Phaethon, and the swarm has indeed retreated beyond the southern and eastern borders of the Empire in the Koprulu sector, the war
The suffering brought by the war itself and the people of the empire on the border did not end there.
About 1/4 of the imperial territory was affected in the second total war. Nearly 10 billion imperial people were forced to migrate to the safer core world, suffering from uprooting and displacement. Even with the imperial government's immigration and refugees
With the help of the Bureau, multiple departments of the Ministry of Transportation and the Imperial Army, the journey of escape was also full of hardships, not to mention the fact that the swarm of terrifying insects were always chasing after him.
According to incomplete statistics, in just half a year, more than 400,000 refugees lost their lives while escaping to the core world, and countless people are missing. If they have not just lost contact with the empire, they are lost in the long journey.
In the sea of stars, there is a worm's belly.
The tribulations and tests have just begun. The imperial army is on the border, ready to deal with the next round of the insect swarm's offensive.
To supply such a large army, the empire's finances are already quite tight, and the trauma left by the war on the empire has also brought about a series of chain reactions.
More than twenty imperial worlds were almost completely destroyed by the swarm, including prosperous agricultural worlds, resource worlds and hub worlds. Even those worlds that were not destroyed by the swarm could not maintain normal production order. During the war,
The rear area is also very tight, not to mention the war zone.
As a result, the food crisis and resource shortages caused by the war gave Augustus and his court ministers a huge headache. Currently, they can only transport resources and food from other worlds. At the very least, the refugees must be fed.
Then we'll talk about the rest of the issues.
"Your Majesty, this is today's lunch." An orderly knocked on the door of the captain's room of the Hyperion and walked in, dragging a coffee-colored tray with cups and saucers under the gaze of two Royal Guardsmen.
On the tray was a plate of roasted pigeon drizzled with sauce, a plate of carefully seasoned boiled bracken, a staple MRE ration and hot tea. The emperor originally insisted on eating the same ration as the frontline Marines.
But his appetite has been very poor recently and he can't eat anything. The first-class officer cook of the Hyperion can only rack his brains to try to get him to eat something.
"Put it here, Corporal Frank." Augustus just raised his head from his desk and was busy reading the backlog of documents. On the holographic projector in front of him, there was a blue and white polygonal sign that was rotating.
It is the symbol of the Umoyan Protectorate Army.
Augustus could only obtain a series of scarce resources such as food, medicine, and clothing from the nearby United States of Umoyan. Although the Umoyan people had a small territory, their advanced biotechnology was enough to make up for this disadvantage. Only in comparison
For the Tyranid Empire, the main force fighting against the swarm, Umoyan's life has not been good recently.
The Umoyan Council is very sensible and understands the path of death. For this reason, it also provided a series of advanced high-end military products, such as laser weapons and AI-equipped combat robots and iron crows. Although it is only a castrated foreign trade version, it is still
Very advanced.
However, this was obtained in exchange for Augustus's guarantee that he would not make territorial claims to the Umoyan territory.
There is also some highlighted information on the panel of the holographic projector. For example, the evil Dark Archon Orega has enslaved a Cerebrate in some way today and imposed a cruel rule on the protoss' home planet of Elshi.
.
At the same time, a great pirate named Alan Schezar and his Scavengers have emerged in the southern territory of the empire where order has collapsed. Now, the Scavengers, Chimera and Kai
The Moran Pirates have become the most notorious pirate force in the Koprulu Sector.
When Corporal Frank left the captain's cabin, General Jim Raynor was about to walk in. The former immediately stood up straight and saluted him.
"Go about your business, boy from Nuff." General Reno was very easy-going most of the time, although that did not mean that he presented himself as a good guy in the military.
"Yes, General." The orderly walked sideways to the corridor outside the captain's room.
"Jimmy, what's the matter?" Augustus still didn't raise his head, just picked up the cup of hot tea and took a few sips.
"Can't I come to you if nothing happens?" Renault closed the door.
"You have never done this before." The emperor raised his eyelids and said, "Keep your paws away from my precious wine cabinet. You are committing a crime."
"Unless I'm a magician, I can't get the wine in the safe." Renault walked across the blue marble on the floor and sat down on a leather sofa next to Augustus, and moved his legs in a very unsightly manner.
He leaned up on the coffee table and carefully looked at the flower arrangements in the vase.
This made Augustus frown again. Since the last time a hungover Tychus rushed into the captain's cabin and drank all the water in the vase, these flowers picked from Albion
It's almost withering.
"The communications duty sergeant on the signal bridge received news from Bennett and Hank that they have arrived at Zerus," Reno said.
"How are they doing now?" Augustus realized that he must have missed the news.
More than half a year ago, Augustus sent a fleet to Zerus, the home planet of the original zerg, with the purpose of seizing the original schism pool on the planet.
Zerus is located in the center of the Milky Way, much closer to the center of the Milky Way where the stars shine. Even with a warp engine, it can only be reached through a long hibernating voyage. Counting the time, this almost forgotten fleet has finally arrived.
Arriving at Zerus.
They were walking on the same road that the swarm of insects took from Zerus to the Koprulu sector. The scenery they saw along the way was also barren. Even these unknown worlds and undeveloped virgin lands that were far larger than Koprulu had once been
What kind of magical alien races have been nurtured, have now long since faded into the smoke of the past.
"When sending the message, Bennett had only just made a preliminary exploration of Zerus and had not had much contact with the Zerg above. But considering the time it took for the information to be transmitted, he had probably already contacted Zerus.
The bug is in hand." Renault knew what kind of test this expedition fleet, which was bound to be isolated and helpless, was facing, even though their commander was the emperor and his most trusted general:
"However, the situation on Zerus is much better than we expected. Since the original zerg escaped, the number of zerg on it has not been much. Although the number of zerg is still absolutely dominant, the original zerg also has its own disadvantages.
Few. And the original cleavage pool is still well preserved. It seems that even the zerg need that cleavage pool to optimize their genes."
"Jaco Bennett is one of my best generals. Any tasks I give him will be resolutely implemented and executed." Augustus nodded and asked: "Where is Zeratul?"
"Zeratu appeared once." As soon as Renault finished speaking, expressions of dumbfounding appeared on the faces of both the monarch and the minister: "He jumped on Bennett's ship and left a stone to record his memory.
Ian Crystal has disappeared."
This Dark Templar elder, who is quite prestigious among humans and protoss, is a very special figure to people like Augustus and Raynor. Augustus and Zeratul are brothers, but he is also considered a brother.
Kerrigan's half-master, Princess Louise calls him Grandpa, and the Royal Cerebrates call him Uncle.
Zeratul has maintained contacts with the Tyranid Empire court for a long time. Korhal and Aiur are the two worlds where Zeratul goes most often. This is a very strange thing, because Zeratul often loses contact.
Even his fellow Dark Templars often fail to find him.
"I know that Zeratul is very busy, busy saving the world, but no one except Zeratul himself knows what he is busy with." Augustus shook his head and said:
"What exactly did he find in Zerus?"
"Perhaps, Zeratul really received the revelation from the Xel'Naga. He just warned Bennett that the mysteries about Zerus, the original zerg and the original split pool are closely related to the dark future of Annihilation." Raynor replied.
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"That's right, he likes to ask others to guess riddles, and then announces the answers when others are scratching their heads and wondering about the solution." Augustus spread his hands, and at this time he felt an appetite. He grabbed the roasted pigeon next to him and started to chew on it.
.
Although it is said to be a pigeon, it is actually a species of bird unique to Albion. The pigeon-like bird inhabits the caves between the ledges. It is a dexterous and curious species. Because of its delicious meat, this bird
Breeding birds were bred over a century ago to create a superior breed of small, free-range chickens.
"Zeratul likes to tease people like this. I think he can't quite figure out the Xel'Naga's true intentions." Raynor's ability to accept is relatively strong.
"But Zerus is too far away from us. Launching an additional war there may completely bring down the empire." Augustus thought for a while and then said: "I think there is only one way now, first split the original
We’ll wait until Chi moves back, and by the way, let Yaco and Harnak pack up some original Zerg Chieftains.”
"I've seen it. That splitting pool is not small, and it's not that easy to drain. Besides, you think the zerg above would watch us steal their, um, um, holy pool." Renault paused:
"And I don't understand, running all the way there just to get a piece of the pond?"
"There are too many things you don't understand, Jimmy." Augustus smiled: "This is a big project. First, drain the water out of it, and even dig out three feet of mud from the pond. Ya.
There are several Kalai phase technicians in Co's fleet - if we have the protoss warping technology, we can get twice the result with half the effort."
"Don't worry, Dehaka will help us."
"I didn't expect that we were going to steal the Zerg's things." Renault shrugged. But he thought this plan was good.
"Damn it, Jimmy, what do you think I relied on to build this empire?" Augustus put the tea cup on the table.
"People's hearts are supreme, and the benevolent are invincible." Renault immediately gave the standard answer: "Determination, courage, and belief."
"It depends on concentrating resources to build an invincible army and arming them with ideas. In order to maintain the army, sometimes we have to steal, cheat, and rob." Augustus was really hungry.
He even ate two pigeon legs.
"The best way at the moment is to move the pool back."
Sarah Kerrigan has not experienced the steps of being transformed by the Overlord into the Queen of Blades, and then being planned by the Xel'Naga artifact, but in other words, she has not been controlled by Amon's influence at all, and does not have to go through the artifact.
Wash away that part of the swarm's genes.
For Xel'Naga Orus, as a candidate for a pure form, the human Kerrigan has not been affected by the Xel'Naga Amon at all. He is the purest natural product of the reincarnated universe rather than being influenced by the Xel'Naga Amon like the protoss.
A race that has been nurtured by ignorance.
One of the rules of the Xel'Naga guarding the endless reincarnation is that the creator cannot interfere with his own creation.
The humans were lucky, because Amon looked down upon them. The primordial zerg were lucky, too, because they managed to survive on Zerus.
But the question is whether Kerrigan now meets the requirements of a pure form. If she does, she can directly absorb the energy of the original split pool to become an incarnation similar to the original Queen of Blades, and she will have the ability to become Thrall.
Naga Kerrigan's qualifications.
To deal with Aemon, you still need a new Xel'Naga. Augustus doesn't have this talent, but he has a wife.
In Augustus's view, there is only one person who is qualified to become a xel'naga and has really succeeded, and that is Sarah Kerrigan. Augustus will not take the risk of sending anyone else to the position of creator, because except for
Kerrigan, and no one else ever made it.
What's more, Xel'Naga is the creator of the world and can both create and destroy the world. The new Xel'Naga must be someone Augustus absolutely trusts.
And even though Kerrigan's psychic power has now reached a level that even her teacher Tassadar would admire, whether her current human body can withstand the energy of the Primordial Split Pool, and even the powerful primitive Zerg can't.
It is possible to be strangled to death.
This requires step by step and a little testing. A slight mistake may lead to disaster, which is definitely not something Augustus can afford.
"Where are you going to put the original split pool?" Raynor asked.
"Of course Korhal - we could build another zoo with primitive zerg in it, like Jurassic Park." Augustus said. "The money from admissions and zerg shows would keep us going.
Operation."
"Thank you for thinking it through. It sounds like a good deal." Renault pondered for a moment: "I hope it doesn't get messed up."
At this time, the Hyperion trembled slightly, but the sofas and chairs fixed on the wall and the ground did not move at all: "Your Majesty, Brocas Hel has arrived."
"Let the governor come to see me." Augustus said to the other end of the communicator.