Translator: AnubisTL
Chen Mang sat expressionlessly in the locomotive cabin, observing the scene before him. After accepting the resources offered by the Zerg Queen Mother, he waved his hand, signaling the two to go catch up.
He only needed to allow the Zerg Queen Mother to enter his train.
The main reason was that the Zerg Queen Mother's individual strength wasn't particularly formidable. If she were from a cultivation civilization or something similar, he would never have allowed her aboard. Her presence would significantly weaken his defenses. Without the protection of the train's max-tier armor, he wouldn't be completely defenseless, but he would be in a much more precarious situation.
It would be quite embarrassing.
Of course, it wouldn't be fatal.
At this point, he was nearly impossible to kill.
Inside Carriage 13 of the Stellaris train:
As Kira led the Zerg Queen Mother on a tour of the carriage's Civilization Wonders, the Queen Mother exclaimed in astonishment, "You mean you've been running away from home ever since you went out to play last time?"
"So you're a runaway after all."
"I thought you were just off having fun somewhere."
"..."
Kira retorted, her voice tinged with anger, "Father, how could you not care at all that I've been missing for centuries?"
"You know, with the Zerg's lifespan, a few centuries pass quickly. But let's not dwell on that. Continue your story. You entered a random wormhole, arrived in a resource-poor galaxy, and established your own Zerg Civilization."
"And then? What happened next? How did you connect with the human civilization?"
"Afterward..." Kira said, her voice drifting off. Though only a few years had passed, for some reason, it felt like the story had happened long ago, her memories hazy, as if someone had forcibly implanted them in her mind.
"After that, I continued developing my Zerg Civilization. During that time, I annihilated many civilizations, and my Zerg Civilization grew increasingly powerful. I had just wiped out my strongest opponent, the Third-Tier Civilization known as the Mechanical Civilization."
"Afterward, I focused on recuperation and consolidation. Nearby lurked the Kasha Civilization, another Third-Tier Civilization, which had formed the Kasha Civilization Federation by uniting numerous smaller civilizations. But the Kasha Civilization was cowardly; even when I was at my weakest, they never dared to attack me. Instead, we both continued to develop our strength, which suited me just fine."
"Behind me, there was another Zerg Civilization. That guy had been competing with me, trying to devour me."
"Originally, all three of us were in a stable situation, none daring to initiate war."
"But for some reason, the Kasha Civilization suddenly became aggressive and launched a preemptive strike against my civilization. Fortunately, I seized the opportunity to form an alliance with the other Zerg Civilization to jointly oppose the Kasha Civilization Federation. That fool was easily manipulated."
"By then, the situation had greatly improved."
"Our two Zerg Civilizations first joined forces to annihilate the Kasha Civilization. After eliminating her, I would become the most powerful civilization in the region, gaining vast resources to fuel my expansion into other galaxies."
"If everything went according to plan, I might even establish my own God-tier Zerg Civilization."
"Hmm."
The Zerg Queen nodded approvingly, her face filled with admiration. "Truly my daughter. Even starting from scratch in a barren galaxy, you've carved out your own territory. You've grasped the essence of military strategy—forming alliances and exploiting weaknesses."
"Then tell me, where did things start to go wrong?"
"Ah..."
Kira sighed softly. "After that, things became much simpler. There were no conspiracies, no alliances—nothing like that. Lord Mang led human civilization to establish itself and advance to a Third-Tier Civilization almost overnight."
"Then, with thunderous force, he destroyed the Zerg Civilization."
"I originally intended to emulate you, Father, and die rather than surrender. After all, I believed that even if I died, a mere Third-Tier Civilization couldn't completely destroy my soul. You would surely be able to revive me."
"But then I suddenly met a man I fell in love with at first sight, and I surrendered, submitted, and married him."
"That man was Chen Mang?"
"No, he was one of Chen Mang's most trusted subordinates."
"Good, good, good!" The Zerg Queen Mother's voice trembled with excitement. "You should have told me sooner! I never imagined such a connection existed. Now the Zerg Civilization is truly safe! Excellent! You're a credit to your lineage."
"..."
Kira didn't seem particularly pleased. She gazed at this somewhat unfamiliar father with a complex expression before finally whispering, "When I stormed out last time, I admit I was angry with you. But in my heart, you've always been a man who would rather die than surrender. Why would you..."
The Zerg Queen shook her head, stopping Kira from continuing.
TL/N: if you are getting confused with the switching genders, don't be, the Zerg Civilization is gender neutral so both expressions are applicable.
"Though you live within human civilization, it's clear you're not at its core. You don't truly understand it. To you, it might seem merely a powerful civilization, but the strength human civilization currently displays almost guarantees it stands at the very pinnacle of the cosmos."
"It even surpasses the divine race at their peak."
"Unless the Cosmic Rules intervene, no force in the universe can halt human civilization's advance."
"Human civilization is destined to unify the entire cosmos."
"The universe will witness an unprecedented era of unification—an unstoppable tide that no one, not even the Zerg Civilization, can resist."
"And..."
"I sense you misunderstand me. When have I ever chosen death over surrender?"
"Huh?"
Kira blinked, instinctively replying, "When I was little, you told me stories about great Zerg figures, each of them choosing death over surrender. You even emphasized that point specifically."
"Did you not listen to the endings of those stories?"
"I ran away from home before I even heard the end of the stories."
"The ending of those stories is that all those people died. I told you those stories to teach you a lesson: those who refuse to yield, even to death, will ultimately die. If you don't want to prove your dao through death, sometimes it's better to compromise."
"Is that what you meant?"
"What else could I mean?"
The Zerg Queen glanced around before lowering her voice. "Enough about that. Listen, getting all the God-Tier Civilizations to surrender is just the first step for human civilization. Next, they'll use the resources they've gathered to grow even stronger. Eventually, everyone will have to submit to human rule."
"The entire universe will be unified under one banner."
"Human civilization's ambitions go far beyond merely becoming a God-Tier Civilization."
"The Zerg Civilization must be the first Alien Civilization to completely submit to human rule."
"Father," Kira sighed wearily. "Lowering your voice won't help. We're being monitored by AI the whole time. They've already heard everything."
That silly child...
The Zerg Queen's smile faltered for a moment. Of course I wanted them to hear! Why is my daughter so dense? She forced a chuckle. "Alright, let's drop this. Where's my son-in-law? Take me to see him."
This was an unexpected delight.
From now on, their Zerg Civilization would be deeply intertwined with this son-in-law. In a sense, his status aboard the Stellaris train would determine the fate of their entire civilization.
"Must be eliminated."
In a remote corner of the cosmos, several planets converged, each occupied by a single figure. Each figure radiated a terrifying aura, and countless strands of Divine Sense clashed and intertwined in the void.
Among the 27 God-Tier Civilizations,
the Human Clan possessed five, all of which, including the former "human civilization," were train-based civilizations.
The remaining two—
the Daoist Civilization and the Star Refining Civilization—were both cultivation civilizations, renowned for their unparalleled strength.
At this moment,
the seventeen Immortal Emperors from these two civilizations had gathered. This represented the entirety of their combined Immortal Emperor forces, their ultimate combat power. Each Immortal Emperor was equivalent to a fully equipped train, capable of destroying planets with a mere wave of their hand.
"According to intelligence reports, the 'New Human Civilization' that annihilated the human civilization possesses only one train. This train's power is extraordinary; a single train can destroy an entire God-Tier Civilization."
"According to the train rules,"
"When the train conductor dies unexpectedly or of natural causes, the train will self-destruct."
"No one can inherit the position."
"In other words, if we kill the train conductor named Chen Mang, the human civilization will naturally perish."
"Are you willing to surrender seventy percent of your civilization's resources?"
"No."
"Then fight."
"With all seventeen Immortal Emperors acting together, assassinating a train conductor who couldn't even lift a chicken should be as easy as reaching into a pocket."
"But the train's armor is at maximum Tier. Can you breach it? The main cannon is also at maximum Tier. Can you withstand it?"
"I can't breach the armor or withstand the cannon, but we can infiltrate the train and assassinate him from within."
"How?"
"Feign surrender, get close enough, and deliver a fatal blow. Once we're inside the train, it's our territory."
"Do you think he'll let us in? No train conductor would allow an Immortal Emperor onto their train—that's common sense. Even if his tone is arrogant, we shouldn't underestimate the leader of a civilization capable of annihilating humanity."
"In recent years, I've developed a divine medicine that can conceal one's cultivation, rendering it undetectable by radar. Even the highest-tier radar systems can't penetrate its effects. If we pretend to be sect disciples following a Nascent Soul Stage Elder, we might have a chance to infiltrate the train."
As the words faded, the Divine Senses that had been buzzing with rapid communication suddenly fell silent. After a moment, one Divine Sense slowly began to glow, its contained information indicating agreement with the plan.
Immediately afterward, the remaining Divine Senses also gradually lit up.
The group unanimously approved the plan.
"Unanimously approved! Let's name it the 'Mangslayer Plan'!"
"We'll discuss the specific details later."
"A fitting name."
Sitting in the locomotive cabin, Chen Mang glanced at the train radio's rapidly scrolling chat logs and sighed. "They've chosen a pretty good name for this plan—the Mangslayer Plan. I knew these cultivation civilizations couldn't be trusted."
No one knows a person's flaws better than their own family.
The cultivation civilization posed the greatest threat to him.
He had long designated the cultivation civilization as a top-priority observation target.
Just moments ago, he had received the Zerg Civilization's entire resource offering—a truly staggering amount. It totaled 97,928 Foundation units of iron ore, causing the train's resources to skyrocket to an inexhaustible level.
To put this in perspective, upgrading a Seven-Colored Grade Accessory from Tier 0 to its maximum level required only about 1,100 Foundation units of iron ore. This single stockpile was enough to fully upgrade every accessory on the train.
Combined with the train's existing iron ore resources, the Stellaris now possessed a total of 91,239 Foundation units of iron ore.
TL/N: The math ain't mathing. I know, it was like that in the raws.
The Zerg Civilization had shown remarkable sincerity, offering their entire collective resources.
Of course, iron ore was their primary asset; materials like murphy stone were relatively scarce. But this didn't concern him. He had little need for murphy stone anyway—its presence or absence made no difference.
Thus, he immediately took two actions:
First, he spent 1,100 Foundation units of iron ore to upgrade the long-neglected Seven-Colored Grade Accessory, the "SPY-7 Doppler Energy Shield," to Tier 10,000—its maximum level!
With the combined buffs from multiple Civilization Wonders, it reached Tier 10,003!
At this point...
He simultaneously possessed Tier 10003 armor and a Tier 10003 energy shield. When activating the "Train Special Ability," his defensive strength could temporarily reach Tier 20006, allowing him to withstand hundreds of fully upgraded main cannon blasts as effortlessly as drinking cool water.
The resources possessed by a God-Tier Civilization far exceeded his expectations.
After all, the Rugged Civilization had been a 7th Tier Civilization, and when he seized all their resources, he had obtained nearly 10,000 Foundation units of iron ore. Yet now, the Zerg Civilization had contributed nearly 100,000 Foundation units of iron ore.
Hmm...
Compared like that, it seemed about right.
Given that it was a God-Tier Civilization, 100,000 Foundation units of iron ore was a reasonable amount, not excessively extravagant.
After accepting the resources offered by the Zerg Civilization, his second action was to upgrade every train accessory to its maximum level—from critical components with high priority to those of lesser importance and even ones he hadn't yet acquired.
All of them maxed out!
Countless panels flashed across the screen, notifications of acquiring new Civilization Wonders and alerts that he had upgraded various accessories to their maximum level for the first time.
Among these accessories was the "Train Radio," which he had upgraded to Tier 200 and then never touched again.
After upgrading it to its maximum level, he obtained an overpowered effect.
[Train Radio Tier 10000 Overpowered Effect]: Allows eavesdropping on all communication within radar range, limited to audible speech, Divine Sense, and other eavesdroppable methods. Electronic communication cannot be intercepted.
A truly remarkable overpowered effect.
It was precisely through this effect that he learned two Immortal Cultivation civilizations were preparing to dispatch seventeen Immortal Emperors to execute the Mangslayer Plan.
"Immortal Emperors, huh?"
Chen Mang mused thoughtfully. He recalled the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion once mentioning that Immortal Emperors were seemingly immortal, their lifespans coexisting with the universe itself.
Sounds pretty impressive.
Let's fire off a few shots to test the waters first.
(End of the Chapter)
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