However, false hopes will always be shattered. Everything that really happens in this world is far more cruel than the fragments captured from Soma's perspective.
Soma was put on show by the big capitalists. After a short period of stability in the turbulent empire, the war intensified.
First, the number of Zerg increased dramatically. Large numbers of Zerg swarmed towards the Empire from all directions and almost occupied a quarter of the Empire's planets. Although the remaining planets have not yet been occupied, they are under threat at all times.
However, the new ruling government centered on Soma did not save the people of the empire from the dire straits as they had expected.
At the beginning, the four major capitalists wanted to put on a show and let Soma lead the army to several surrounding planets to fight against the Zerg. However, as the number of Zerg increased and their strength became stronger, these selfish big capitalists retreated.
The cost and risk of fighting the Zerg are far greater than expected, and everything is beginning to get out of control.
It's not just the Zerg that's rampant, there are also those organizations and religions that took advantage of the public panic to flourish. After being eliminated like breeding insects, the remaining two or three organizations are growing stronger and stronger. The number of people joining is incalculable, and it is already large enough to establish a new regime.
The royal family's control over the empire was repeatedly weakened, and new organizations, led by the Holy Legion, divided the star regions and established new regimes, no longer obeying the control of the Galactic Empire.
But the ambitious Zerg did not stop plundering because of the internal strife of the empire. Instead, the internal division of the empire and the independent rule of several political regimes made the plundering easier. Under the command of those intelligent anthropomorphic Zerg, in just one year, another quarter of the empire's star field was swallowed up.
The empire was reduced to half its former size.
At this time, facing the Zerg that was coming in with great force and could not be killed, everyone began to feel fear from the bottom of their hearts.
The Imperials no longer expected the army and soldiers to drive out the Zerg, but only hoped to keep their current garrison.
When everyone began to passively resist and watched the Zerg grow stronger, only Rong Heng and his group had not given up. After a year of getting along and running-in, the five of them have developed an extraordinary tacit understanding and become companions who can fight side by side and rely on each other.
The interstellar pirate fleet led by the Black Phantom continued to expand, and the wanderers whose homes were destroyed joined in, becoming a considerable mobile force.
They had no fixed base, and their fleets would rush to wherever the Zerg attacked. They provided support everywhere regardless of losses, trying to save the precarious empire.
But it was all in vain.
The empire's star domain was shrinking again and again. Whether it was the chaebols and the ruling party that controlled Sikkim, or the several anti-government forces that attempted to split the empire, they all chose to strategically give up and retreat, and only defended their own bases.
And those abandoned planets, having lost all support, could only resist in despair, and were inevitably swallowed up in the end.
The situation is getting worse.
The interstellar pirate fleet had been united from the beginning to fight against the Zerg and rescue people everywhere, but after nearly two years of wasting time, the morale of the people has become scattered.
Only Rong Heng and the other four remained steadfast.
Some people secretly accepted recruitment by other forces with their fleets in order to seek temporary stability; others, under the temptation of interests, became traitors and sold out their teammates.
During a rescue operation, the whereabouts of Rong Heng and his companions were leaked by their companions and they were intercepted by the Imperial Fleet.
Just like the attack Rong Heng encountered in the Baghdad area many years ago, the opponent gained the advantage through careful planning and absolute firepower.
The warships around it kept falling, and the Black Ghost became dilapidated while holding on.
Finally, Hercules ignored the obstruction of others and transformed into a huge black dragon. He spread out his bat-wings that blocked out the sun and took the initiative to face the enemy's fierce artillery fire, delaying the fleet's attack and buying a moment of respite for the Black Phantom.
The gigantic black dragon perished together with the imperial fleet. Gunfire flew throughout the dark universe, and everything, whether steel or flesh and blood, turned into stardust in an instant.
The Black Phantom escaped from the encirclement and did not even have time to mourn the lost teammates before it met Qi's Ark halfway.
The huge ark was like an empty fortress, with countless warships and fighter planes neatly arranged around it.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Even though Rong Heng and his companions tried their best, they were still unable to break out. In the end, the remaining four were "invited" into the Ark.
The Qi that was waiting for them was completely different from before. He seemed to have changed his body again, no longer in human form, but a complete war machine. His body was three meters long, and from his head to his limbs, it was filled with powerful weapons.
The only thing that remains unchanged is its polite posture, and elegance seems to be engraved in its programming.
He did not take action against Rong Heng and the others, but only ordered his deputy robot to detain them politely.
The huge ark was sailing towards an unknown place in the universe until a blue planet appeared in the window. Then the ark slowed down and slowly entered the atmosphere.
Unlike Rong Heng and others whose movements were restricted, Ruan Shiqing could move freely on the Ark, and he naturally saw the blue planet - Blue Star.
This planet no longer has the dead silence in memory. After countless years, the former buildings have turned into wasteland, and all traces of human activities have been wiped out again. The sea has returned to blue, the land has become fertile again, the mountains are continuous, the plains are vast, the forests are in pieces, and the animals are growing wild.
Everything is full of vitality.
There is only one canyon, hiding a group of low buildings.
The Ark landed in the building complex, and Rong Heng and his party were also transferred into the building.
During the transfer, Ruan Jiao seemed to be aware of something. He turned his head and looked around, with the tentacles on his forehead swaying slowly. It was not until the robot soldiers sent them into a closed house that he spoke softly, "This is Blue Star."
He has been on this planet for many years, and even if he doesn't go out, he is familiar with the smell of the grass and trees here.
Rong Heng and his group were guessing why Daqi had imprisoned them here, but Daqi did not give them the opportunity to find out. On the second day after arriving at Blue Star, he ordered the robot to inject relaxation drugs into the four people and sent them into a special hibernation capsule.
Rong Heng tried his best to resist the effects of the drugs and questioned his purpose.
But Qi just said it was a deal.
Before Rong Heng could think clearly, he fell into a state of sleep.
Ruan Shiqing watched as Qi copied and stored his core program. Then he ordered the robots left behind to take care of the dormant chamber for the dead fetus, and he vaguely saw the tip of the iceberg.
He thought of Si Yan, who in his world completed his revenge silently.
In this world, Si Yan seems to be of no interest except for the title of "Mad King". Even when the empire has fallen into its current state, he has not made any move.
But in the world he lives in, Si Yan already knew that Queen Farah was murdered and had been secretly planning revenge for many years; in this world, there was no reason for him to do nothing.
He immediately thought of the deal that Qi had mentioned.
At this time, there were not many people who could do business with Xi Qi. Besides, apart from Si Yan, who else would go out of their way to protect Rong Heng and his party
Ruan Shiqing had a guess in his mind, so he no longer stayed in the hibernation capsule, but followed Qi to the underground.
At the feet of Rong Heng and his party, there was a huge underground laboratory. Countless glass columns contained corpses of humans, animals, and even Zerg. In addition, there was a central computer that controlled the entire laboratory. Numerous data flashed across the computer. Ruan Shiqing quickly captured the information and discovered that the entire laboratory was actually a huge artificial ovary, which stored countless animal embryos.
After checking step by step, Qi dialed a communication number.
Si Yan's holographic image appeared in the laboratory. Compared with the other world, he had changed a lot. His overly long hair covered his face. His temperament was cold and his eyes were full of paranoia and madness: "Are you settled?"
Qi said “hmm”: “When they wake up, the world should be different.”
Si Yan frowned, still doubtful: "Is the dosage of the medicine enough? They are different from ordinary people. If they wake up early, it will be very troublesome."
"I used three times the dosage." Hearing him say that, Qi hesitated and said, "This is the maximum amount, no more."
Si Yan had no choice but to give up after hearing this: "Let your people guard that place."
After ending the communication, Qi drove the Ark away from the Blue Planet.
Ruan Shiqing followed him, and gradually understood the meaning of his short conversation with Si Yan.
They seemed to have reached a consensus, completely abandoned the Empire, and instead began to focus on dealing with the Zerg. They did not fight the Zerg head-on, but mixed other things into the "stone" that the Zerg relied on for evolution...
Their actions were very covert and no one noticed.
As the years passed, only Sikkim, Tutar, and a few scattered planets in the surrounding areas were still holding on tenaciously in the empire's star field.
In order to ensure sufficient population, these planets that only wanted to protect themselves finally stopped shrinking and began to send rescue ships to rescue the survivors scattered everywhere, but even so, the population was still declining sharply. Under the pressure of the Zerg, the hierarchy on the surviving planets became more strict, and everyone was allocated supplies according to their contribution. There was always terrorism and repression going on.
In contrast, the number of Zerg is constantly increasing, and the number of low-level Zerg is growing almost exponentially. They are wreaking havoc throughout the universe, but there are no more extremely intelligent anthropomorphic Zerg.
Humans, insects, and other Zerg seemed to be dying one after another, and no one noticed at this time.
After a decade, the four great chaebols were replaced by the sudden emergence of the Holy Legion. The remaining survivors began to believe in the Creator in despair and prayed to the gods to bring them peace.
In the second decade, the leader of the Holy Legion, the Creator Alfonso, was killed and dismembered by angry believers because he could no longer perform miracles. Sikkim was in chaos due to frequent massacres;
Three decades later, the population of Sikkim dropped sharply. The four ancient tribes, the royal family, the big chaebols, and the sacred legion became a thing of the past and gradually faded into history. Especially the bloodlines of the four ancient tribes, the mermaid tribe and the nine-tailed fox tribe were completely cut off. Only the dragon tribe, which was not obsessed with bloodline, survived. After a long period of silence, it regained the right to speak and tried to lead the survivors to establish a new order and country.
At this time, the Zerg finally realized that there was a problem with the evolution of their group.
However, decades later, the harm had spread, and over time, even the anthropomorphic Zerg were affected, and their power began to decline. At this time, Si Yan and Qi brought countless robots to slaughter all the Zerg that were in decline.
The only ones left were the low-level Zerg that had evolved problems. They had no wisdom and acted only on instinct. Without the command and restraint of the higher races, they multiplied rapidly in a short period of time and became a disaster.
In the past four decades, low-level Zergs were almost everywhere, Sikkim had been conquered, and the surviving humans fled in a hurry, wandering in the universe, trying to find a new home.
At this time, Si Yan, who was approaching the end of his life, returned to the Blue Star with Xi Qi.
This planet is far away from the Galactic Empire star region, and because Si Yan and Xi Qi specially arranged to hide it, it has never been discovered by the Zerg.
The Ark landed in the canyon, and the surrounding cabin walls stretched out and supported the canyon walls in a staggered manner. The entire canyon instantly turned into an impenetrable fortress, properly protecting the buildings underneath.
Before he died, Si Yan went to see the hibernation capsule that was well taken care of. He did not leave a single word for the sleeping Rong Heng. Finally, holding the token of love between him and Farah, he walked to the end of his life with a smile on his face.
According to his will, Qi scattered his ashes into the river, and the ashes, along with the necklace with the two rings, sank to the bottom of the water.
He once tried to persuade Si Yan to leave his genes in the artificial ovary so that when everything started over again, he could also get a new one, but he refused and stubbornly chose to die.
Even though Xi Qi claimed to understand humans, he could not see through Si Yan.
According to their plan, hundreds of years later, the surviving humans will eventually become extinct, and the rampant Zerg will eventually die out.
And they just need to wait here quietly, waiting for everything to settle, and the artificial ovary will start to cultivate new life. And he, as well as all the dormant robots left behind, will also start again to create a new world where humans and robots live together - this is the promise Si Yan made to him.
Si Yan used the Zerg's laboratory left behind to design and build this huge artificial ovary system, which stores countless animal embryos, and he is responsible for taking care of these new humans.
Now that he has control over the new human beings, he can naturally formulate new systems and rules.
He checked the entire system to make sure there were no omissions, then cut off the power supply and went into hibernation.
The entire fortress fell into darkness, with only a very small amount of energy supplying the ovarian system to protect the sleeping elves.
Ruan Shiqing stood in the darkness, feeling vaguely uneasy.
Si Yan's arrangements seemed to be flawless, but he knew from Guang Yin that the world eventually fell into destruction.
He waited anxiously, not knowing how much time had passed, when suddenly there was movement in the storage room where the hibernation capsule was placed—Rong Heng woke up.
After waking up from a long sleep, Rong Heng felt a little weak, but he still violently dismantled the hibernation capsule.
Soon after, Ruan Jiao also woke up, and they woke up Nota and Ruan Yuebai.
The four of them wandered around in the fortress and found the video footage left by Xi Qi. They learned that sixty years had passed since they fell into a coma, and they also learned about Xi Qi and Si Yan's plan.
But instead of choosing to hibernate again, they decided to go out and see what was going on outside.
They drove the repaired Black Phantom, left the Blue Star and headed for the Imperial Star Territory.
The star field that I was familiar with had changed beyond all recognition. Many planets on the star map had disappeared, and only swarms of Zerg were nibbling everywhere. These Zerg had changed a lot compared to before. They had become much bigger, and their movements were sluggish, as if they only had the instinct to devour.
The Black Phantom reacted quickly, dodged swarms of Zerg, and wandered around the universe for a long time before it accidentally encountered a surviving human.
These survivors took root on the planet with a harsh environment. Their spaceships and battleships had no energy, and they were short of food and clothing. In order to survive, they returned to the most primitive state of life.
Only those warships and spaceships covered with sand and dust and used as residences still retain the memory of the Galactic Empire's former prosperity and glory.
There are not many of these surviving humans, only a few thousand in total.
They gathered in one place, not only to cope with the harsh environment, but also to fight against the Zerg that occasionally invaded the planet.
Most people had forgotten the once notorious Black Phantom. They looked at the landing spacecraft as if they had seen a savior.
Rong Heng and his party stayed on this planet.
Under the pressure of cruel enemies and harsh environment, these survivors finally learned to unite as one and seek survival together. Due to the extremely sparse population, the remaining people cherish every compatriot very much.
Therefore, Rong Heng and his party received a friendly welcome.
They stayed on this planet for two years before deciding to bring the survivors back to the Blue Star.
The environment on Blue Planet is much better than this, and is also suitable for human reproduction.
When the Black Phantom set sail again, this remote planet suddenly became lively. The survivors packed their luggage excitedly and boarded the Black Phantom with hope.
The silent Black Ghost was rarely lively.
However, Ruan Shiqing felt increasingly heavy-hearted.
Wherever the Black Phantom went, he saw countless planets collapsing and shattering, along with those huge and terrifying Zerg, disappearing into the universe.
This change is like a wave, sweeping in from far away. Although it is slow, it is inevitable.
Ten years after the Black Phantom led the survivors to the Blue Planet, a huge explosion swept across the Blue Planet.
In fact, the explosion had already begun. At first, there was only one planet, and then it spread to a small star field. Later, the scope of the star field expanded... The chain reaction spread out like ripples, and the scope became larger and larger.
The blue planet in this universe is also inevitable.
But in just a moment, the dazzling light swept across the blue star and swept towards the distance.
Everything returns to stardust.
This explosion may last for many years before it ends. After millions of years, the free stardust may meet again and condense into a new planet.
But as Guangyin said, this is a new world.
It has nothing to do with Rong Heng, Ruan Yuebai, Nota, He Yu, Ruan Jiao, and everyone who once lived in this universe. Maybe it can give birth to new life again, but the people from the past will never come back.
A feeling of desolation surged in Ruan Shiqing's chest. He suddenly opened his eyes and withdrew his mind from the crystal ball.
He sat up with his hands on his chest, and noticed that the light of the crystal ball on the bedside table was gradually dimming.
A little light leaked in from the gaps in the drawn curtains, and the voices of Brother Xiong and the sounds of machines came one after another, gradually settling his anxious heart.
There were thumping footsteps coming from the stairs. The little golden robot walked briskly up the stairs and poked its head in from the door. "Sir, Sir Garland sent me a message, asking me to tell you to go to the lab when you wake up."
The little robot was clinging to the door frame, with an exquisite bow tie on his neck. On the display screen of his eyes, two red dots were flashing regularly, indicating that he was in a very happy mood at the moment.
It is a liveliness and simplicity that is completely different from the Qi in the previous world.
"Got it." Ruan Shiqing smiled at him: "I'll be there soon."
The little robot responded and trotted down the stairs again, humming a lively and cheerful tune.
The falling star vines in the yard have grown longer. He has recently designed a new shape for them, and plans to trim them beautifully before the cubs come back to welcome them back.