26: Chapter 26 The Past of the Stars and the War of the Insect Swarm

Today is the first day of formal classes for the new cadets at the North Star Military Academy.

In the early morning, the elite class classroom was permeated with a solemn atmosphere, completely different from yesterday.

A huge circular holographic projection replaced the traditional blackboard, and against a deep starry background, the golden words "Summary of Human Interstellar History" rotated slowly.

All the cadets sat upright and attentive at this moment.

Because this class was not a simple historical review, but rather a foundation for these soldiers, who might step onto the front lines at any time, to understand the overall war situation.

The instructor was an old man dressed in a crisp retired officer's uniform, the general's star on his shoulder insignia marking his former prominence.

He did not engage in small talk, cutting straight to the topic with a resonant voice.

"Cadets, welcome to North Star, and welcome to your formal entry into this war concerning the survival of civilization."

"Before you learn how to shine and contribute on the battlefield, you must first clearly see the starry sky we inhabit and understand the opponents we face."

The holographic star map suddenly zoomed in, presenting a magnificently huge celestial structure composed of countless galaxies—a supercluster with a diameter exceeding 110 million light-years.

"This is the territory we have currently explored—the Virgo Supercluster."

"Humanity, as a member of the Ten Thousand Races Alliance, is one of the most powerful factions among them, and our territory covers 40% of the star systems within it."

On the star map, large areas were rendered in blue, representing humanity.

Immediately after, light spots of other colors lit up one after another.

"Standing shoulder to shoulder with us are other powerful civilizations," the old general's voice continued to echo.

"The Angel civilization that masters sacred technology, the Dragon race with formidable individual power, the Elves who are proficient in natural energy, the Demon race that shares the same origin as the Angels but holds opposing beliefs, those of the Light Giant Race born from plasma sparks, and various special life forms revered as 'God Races'... together, they occupy another 30% of the territory."

The golden, red, green, purple, white, and other light spots representing these civilizations shone brilliantly on the star map.

"And the remaining 20%," the old general's tone became slightly lower, "is occupied by countless races with strong adaptability but relatively weak individual or overall strength, such as the King Slimes with amazing mimicry and splitting abilities, the highly reproductive Goblins, and so on."

Finally, on the star map, a constantly writhing and expanding dark red area was highlighted; it was like a malignant tumor, eroding the edge of the supercluster.

"This is our common enemy—the Zerg."

"As of now, they have devoured about 10% of the star systems in the Virgo Supercluster."

"Currently, we humans, in cooperation with major powerful races like the Angels and Dragons, have formed a strategic standoff with the Zerg. Although the front line remains brutal, it is basically stable."

The old general's voice carried sorrow, "But many weak races, under the impact of the Zerg Tide, are unable to organize effective resistance and are still constantly retreating or even being wiped out."

The classroom was silent, with only the shocking dark red on the star map silently recounting the cruelty of war and the fragility of civilization.

"Now, let us trace our gaze back to the starting point of our civilization—that blue planet in the distant solar system, Blue Star."

The star map quickly zoomed in, finally focusing on a beautiful, azure planet.

"Humanity originated on Blue Star. But humanity's true entry onto the interstellar stage began with an accident that affected the entire galaxy, historically known as the Era of the Three Queens."

On the holographic projection, three female figures appeared, each with a distinct style yet equally emanating supreme majesty.

One was clad in silver armor, with dazzling blonde hair and faint white wings behind her, her eyes full of justice and order, labeled below: [Angel Civilization Sovereign · Holy Keisha].

Another was also in bright silver armor, with cold and glamorous makeup, her eyes rebellious and profound, bearing black wings, labeled: [Demon Civilization Sovereign · Liang Bing].

The third was like the embodiment of the sun, surrounded by a scorching golden halo, with an energy body resembling a miniature star embedded in her crown, labeled: [Sun Civilization Main God · Di Leina].

"These three queens from different advanced civilizations, due to their respective philosophies, beliefs, and strategic considerations, almost simultaneously turned their eyes to Blue Star, which was still in the pre-nuclear era," the old general explained.

"Different countries and regions, due to differences in culture and philosophy, cooperated with different civilizations respectively."

The image changed, showing the scene on Blue Star at that time: super soldiers in black dark alloy armor holding greatswords stood side by side with white-winged Angels; soldiers piloting demon aircraft advanced in coordination with tanks; soldiers bathed in stellar energy guided space-based weapon strikes...

"The Angels brought top-tier genetic engineering technology and the concept of order, the Demons brought deep application of dark energy and a yearning for freedom, and the Sun civilization brought the mighty power to drive stars and the belief in defending the country and protecting the people."

The scene changed, countless super gene soldiers were activated, and aerospace technology developed explosively.

In a very short time, Blue Star, whether forced or voluntary, stepped into the aerospace era.

"Laya, Angels, huh," Li Yuan looked at the image of Holy Keisha on the projection, whose form was similar to Laya's but whose temperament was completely different, and couldn't help but whisper to Laya beside him.

Laya was filled with immense confusion at this moment.

Her little face was full of question marks, and she responded in a whispered breath: "It's completely different from the Angel Legion I know... Heaven Mountain doesn't have these things..."

The Angels in her impression, although they also championed justice, what were these sci-fi-colored silver armors, Flame Swords, and Heavenly Blade judgment warships? She had never seen them before!

However, the next moment, the colors of the holographic image suddenly became gloomy.

"However, the seeds of crisis had already been sown. That scholar obsessed with exploring the mysteries of the void, the ruler of the River Styx civilization—Death God Karl!"

A phantom of a scholar wearing a hood with a gentle temperament appeared in the image, "He conducted a crazy experiment, attempting to forcibly tear open the dimensional barrier of the main biological universe using the power of a supernova explosion."

The image displayed that terrifying scene: 99 huge stars were detonated, energy was guided to collapse sharply, and space shattered like glass.

"He succeeded, but it also brought disaster. Void creatures, these incomprehensible existences, began to pour into our universe."

In the image, they ignored the rules, defined the rules, and eroded reality.

"Holy Keisha, Morgana, and Di Leina, the three queens, in order to stop the spread of the void and protect the civilizations and lives behind them, successively... fell."

The old general's voice carried a trace of imperceptible sorrow.

In the image, Angel wings were broken, Demon claws were shattered, and the light of stars dimmed.

An era came to an end with the passing of the queens.

The Void Era had arrived.

The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; the cadets seemed to be able to feel the despair in those dark years.

"In the end, Death God Karl, who caused all this disaster, chose to use his own existence and all living beings in the River Styx galaxy as a sacrifice to complete the absolute sealing of the void rift."

"The wounds of war needed to be healed, but civilization continued."

"Although Karl caused a great disaster, inventions like black hole engines, Void Engines, rule definition technology, and phantom body technology brought the power of rules to humanity."

"Humanity grew strong rapidly, and at the same time, relying on the deep alliance formed with the Angels and Demons, gained valuable interstellar vision, and Blue Star civilization entered a period of high-speed development."

"We healed our wounds, integrated technologies, moved into deep space, and met, communicated, cooperated, and even merged with civilizations in more galaxies."

"Humanity officially entered the magnificent era of the Ten Thousand Races."

The image flashed rapidly, showing scenes of human fleets sailing together with various alien spaceships, different races coexisting harmoniously in space stations, and a magnificent picture of the great collision of technology and culture.

"In this era, human wisdom shone once again."

"We discovered that while the individual power combined with super gene soldiers was powerful, combining technologies of super soldiers like dark energy technology, celestial computers, and Void Engines with mechanical technology that had stronger self-sustainability was more convenient for exploring the vast universe."

"And compared to fighting, exploration is the ladder of human progress."

"Galaxy after galaxy was discovered, countless resources were utilized, and various unique materials were found."

"Continuous development allowed human technology to completely surpass the era of gene soldiers."

"We once believed that the sea of stars would be a common paradise for humanity and the Ten Thousand Races."

The old general's voice paused here, and the star map zoomed out again, returning to the magnificent full view of the Virgo Supercluster.

But this time, everyone's mood was different.

"However, just when we had gained control of the Virgo Supercluster and dispatched exploration fleets toward the unknown depths of the universe outside the supercluster... they arrived."

At the edge of the star map, in that endless dark void, a dark tide representing "devouring" and "annihilation" slowly emerged.

"The Zerg," the old general's voice was cold and heavy, "We don't know where they came from, nor do we know the meaning of their existence."

"We only know that wherever they pass, there is only destruction."

The image played the last footage sent back by the exploration fleet: dense Zerg units submerged human starships.

Energy artillery fire exploded in the sea of Zerg, only to be instantly filled by more Zerg.

Sturdy alloy armor was easily torn apart, and energy shields burst like soap bubbles.

"They devour everything: planets, resources, energy, and even... life itself."

"The exploration fleet we dispatched was almost completely wiped out."

"Just when the fire of civilization was about to be completely extinguished by this tide of despair," the old general's voice rose sharply, carrying a kind of near-sacred reverence, "the Destiny System arrived."

"These talents are strange and varied, with varying strengths, but they broke the shackles of the past power system!"

"Stronger genes were activated under the influence of talents, superior materials were synthesized under talent abilities, and personnel with more combat potential were discovered under the guidance of talents!"

"The technology tree of the entire society seemed to have been pressed with a fast-forward button; military technology, biotechnology, energy technology, material science... almost all fields ushered in an explosive leap!"

"It is precisely by relying on thisAll people-level power leap brought about by the 'Destiny System', and the resulting technological explosion, that we, the Ten Thousand Races Alliance, finally, after paying an unimaginably painful price, managed to barely withstand the Zerg's military front at the border of the Virgo Supercluster, forming the... strategic standoff situation you see now."

The old general closed the holographic projection, his gaze like a torch, sweeping over every young and vibrant face in the audience.

"The glory and pain of the past are already in the past."

"The chapters of the future will be written by you."

"Remember this class, remember why we fight—for survival, so that the fire of civilization will not be extinguished, and for this starry sky beneath our feet that we have guarded with blood and sacrifice."

He paused, his voice like a great bell, striking deep into everyone's heart: "Class dismissed."

The classroom was silent for a moment, and then burst into warm, enduring applause.

This applause was not only for the old general's wonderful storytelling, but also for that magnificent history, for those departed heroes, and for the responsibility that had suddenly become heavy on their own shoulders.

The past of the starry sky has passed, and the war of the Zerg Tide has not ended.

Their journey has only just begun.