The appearance and departure of the second Swarm's Duke Lindong were both exceedingly sudden—this creature, which could to some extent be considered a Star God, had never intended to truly match the Iridium Star people in military strength. Its goal was to destroy from the very beginning.
"Actually, this is not at all surprising. The Swarm's innate nature has always been destruction," Bai Zhongqi said, somewhat annoyed as he raked his fingers through his hair.
The destruction of Laipeli Star was a tremendous blow to the United Empire. For the Iridium Star people themselves, it was manageable, but for other civilizations that had joined the United Empire seeking peace, the impact of this incident on their confidence was self-evident.
Bai Zhongqi specifically called for Prime Minister Guo Lingmei and Knight Zang Xingyan, realizing that he could no longer ignore the situation of the Iridium Star United Empire as Chancellor.
"I am aware of the impact the destruction of Laipeli Star will have on the member civilizations and I am clear on the psychological turbulence they are now experiencing, but we must ensure the stability of the United Empire. I do not have the leisure to deal with our internal issues, so these matters must be entrusted to the government of the United Empire and the Knights."
Guo Lingmei bowed her head in respect, "Your will shall be done, Your Majesty."
Bai Zhongqi continued, "The government of the United Empire must manage the civil servant corps well and also conduct proper thought leadership. You need to tell the civil servants and representatives of each civilization that joining the United Empire is not a one-time solution that solves everything. We are now a community of shared destiny, an alliance assembled to fight for the survival and future development of our civilizations. Therefore, each civilization should strengthen its ideological construction, recognizing that our arduous war has just begun. Only by uniting as one and contributing all our strength can we ultimately defeat the Swarm. Until then, we can only grit our teeth and persevere. Iridium Star will spare no effort to eradicate this calamity."
Bai Zhongqi then addressed Zang Xingyan, "The same goes for the military of the Unified Empire. Soldiers joining the Unified Empire Army must be prepared for this; we were established to fight and may have to sacrifice, but our sacrifice is meaningful. Only by fighting can we protect our civilization."
Zang Xingyan smiled and said, "This incident truly shows the Chancellor's foresight. When the Unified Empire Army was established, we had a much larger political and ideological work department than Iridium Star had. Now it seems it was indeed very necessary. Besides coordinating some internal conflicts, unifying our ideological understanding is extremely valuable."
He continued, "Compared to the internal situation of our United Empire, the provocation of the Swarm's Duke is the more crucial issue. If each Swarm Duke could lead a large number of Insectoids in warp travel, and each one possesses the level of that Duke Lindong, even if our military scale far exceeds that of the second Swarm, we will still see many planets destroyed by them."
Bai Zhongqi also felt a headache over this matter. The Swarm's current approach reminded him somewhat of the tactics he used when seeking revenge against Xiao Yu's Star Alliance. He didn't care about engaging the enemy head-on but used the Glass Bead to constantly swallow planets and deplete the strength of Xiao Yu's Star Alliance. Now, the actions of the Swarm were essentially the same, destroying one planet after another within the Iridium Star United Empire, wearing away the strength of Iridium Star.
"One small consolation is that, because there's only one space-time corridor leading in and out of the Orion Arm, and with the Stargate heavily guarded, the Swarm cannot directly warp into the inner parts of our Great Star Zone. At least we can ensure the safety of Iridium Star's homeland," Guo Lingmei said with some relief.
No matter what grand plans for galactic integration, Iridium Star people, including Bai Zhongqi, certainly placed a higher priority on their homeland. The current closed structure of the Orion Arm, although inconvenient, now actually offered more protection for the Orion Arm.
The meeting didn't last very long, and it ended after a brief time. Just as Bai Zhongqi was preparing to have dinner with his family, more bad news arrived.
"Another member civilization's planet has been attacked. This time, the target is over eleven thousand light-years from Laipeli Star. The attacker who claims to be Duke Canxing arrived alone, without even bringing a squadron of flying Insectoids," Zero brought the display in front of Bai Zhongqi.
When Bai Zhongqi saw the display, he couldn't help but open his mouth wide and said, "He doesn't need to bring other Insectoids, given his size alone; I don't know how many Insectoids he can match up with."
Bai Zhongqi had not expected this Insectoid Duke to be so much larger compared to the previous Duke Lindong, who seemed human-sized. This Duke Canxing looked more like an insect than a human. His body was over 35,000 kilometers long and more than 7,000 kilometers wide, resembling a caterpillar's shape, except with a gigantic mouth on the head.
It was obvious why he was named Canxing; the huge mouth was designed to devour planets.
The planet he consumed was theoretically a minor planet, about the size of Ceres. Like Laipeli Star, the Iridium Star people were unable to lay the Stargate here in time—the placement of a Star Whale squadron had not yet begun, and the locals put up only a minimal resistance. In the end, in the display, Canxing chewed up the planet with one massive bite.
Unlike Lindong, who absorbed heat to fire "Vitality Bombs" that directly vaporized matter, Canxing truly chewed up a planet on a macroscopic physical level with his tightly packed teeth. All the buildings, facilities, population, and various other life forms on it were consumed like bacteria on a piece of food, all swallowed into Canxing's belly.
The entire process was like a caterpillar eating a fruit, finished in just a few bites, even though the process of chewing with each bite took over ten minutes.
Bai Zhongqi's brow furrowed, and he asked, "Did neither the Unified Empire Army nor the Iridium Star Universe Army take any action?"
"The Unified Empire Army had just been regrouping. The Iridium Star Fleet initiated warp travel as soon as they detected the situation, but Canxing simply chewed up the planet. By the time the Iridium Star Fleet arrived and launched an attack, he had already initiated warp travel, leaving that region. We couldn't determine the direction of his warp," Zero explained the situation, clearly very disheartened and resentful.
"Canxing didn't have time to completely devour the planet. His objective was to destroy it before our fleets could arrive, and he has accomplished that goal," said Bai Zhongqi, his expression sour. Now he had grown into a major stakeholder with significant interests. Although the destroyed assets weren't core to Iridium Star, the maneuvers of the second Swarm were equivalent to a slap on his face—a stinging pain.
"Such attacks will not cease," Bai Zhongqi surmised.