Chapter 209: Uprising in the Wasteland Alliance

Of course, when we call this region barren, it doesn’t mean every star system is just an empty void with nothing inside.

What it really means is these systems lack valuable or rare resources, and the number of natural life-bearing planets is low.

If you look at the bustling regions of the Orion Arm, especially the Drak Empire’s exclusive domain, the Dustlight Star Region—it may be only two-thirds the size of the Desolate Star Region, but it boasts over 50,000 stars.

The most important part is, over there, the proportion of natural life-bearing planets can reach one in five hundred.

By the way, this ratio compares the number of natural life-bearing planets to the total number of planets, not the number of stars.

Meanwhile, here in the Desolate Star Region, except for the area held by The Alliance, that number plummets to just one in thirty thousand.

On average, you’d have to search through seventy thousand planets before you find a single natural life-bearing world.

And just so we’re clear, by ‘natural life-bearing planet,’ we don’t mean worlds that are suitable for humans, or those that already have intelligent life.

We’re simply talking about any planets capable of nurturing life, in whatever form that may take.

And not every race has the same needs as humans, after all.

Centuries ago, humans believed that without oxygen or water, a planet couldn’t possibly harbor life.

That attitude couldn’t have been more arrogant—or ignorant.

If the Klein hadn’t shown up here, dragging the Syndicate Collective with them—

Then…

Even now, civilizations in the prosperous zones would still see this place as utterly barren.

Traveling all this way to develop it? A complete waste of time…

A sure way to lose your shirt on any investment.

——

Federation Year 248.

At this moment, all the leaders of the secondary civilizations within the Wasteland Alliance were gathered together.

“Yesterday, the capital region of the Zeta Republic was attacked by an unknown force and has now completely fallen. It’s the third time recently that one of our member civilizations has had its administrative hub destroyed.”

The speaker was the leader of the Zonic Federation, widely recognized as the second most powerful civilization within the Alliance, right after the Salvador Empire.

Right now, anger practically radiated off him.

He didn’t know who their enemy was, but anyone daring to strike at the Alliance must have grown tired of living.

It never crossed his mind that the enemy’s strength might far exceed their own.

After all…

If they were really that much stronger, why sneak around like this?

Okay, in some ways, that logic isn’t totally wrong.

But he forgot one other thing…

If the enemy was only average, how did they manage to slip through each Alliance territory and strike three capital regions in a row—without anyone noticing?

And how fast did those places fall for not even a single warning to get out?

Yes, you’d say these problems were all overlooked, but really…

The answers are just so terrifying that everyone instinctively ignores them.

When the Zonic Federation’s leader spoke up,

More than half of the representatives around the table couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.

“Emperor Wei, I have a question for you,” someone called out.

“Please, Emperor Wei, ask away.”

Zonic treated Wei with extra courtesy—after all, the Salvador Empire was the most powerful civilization in the Alliance.

Civilizations have always communicated from a position of strength.

“My question is, do you really have time to worry about these things right now?”

“What do you mean?”

Zonic’s brow furrowed slightly.

He might not understand what Wei was getting at, but the malicious undertone in that voice was unmistakable.

There was even…

A distinct note of mockery.

“What I mean is… If you check the clock, it should be starting right about now!”

“Hmm? What’s starting? What are you talking—”

Halfway through the sentence, Zonic suddenly went stiff and turned to look at his right.

He wasn’t looking at the other leaders in the meeting room, but rather, inside the Zonic Federation’s capital region, at a subordinate giving his report.

What had he just heard?

Over a thousand warships had suddenly appeared in orbit over the capital planet, and there were signs they’d used some kind of legendary jump drive?

Wait, didn’t Wei just say something is supposed to ‘start’ about now…?

“Wei, who exactly are t—”

Once again, the question trailed off, never finished.

Zonic’s figure vanished, and a virtual window popped up beside him. On it, a brief message appeared.

[Signal Lost…]

Seeing this, five people in the meeting room turned as one to stare at Wei.

“Emperor Wei, can you explain to us what’s happening here?”

“No rush. You’re about to get the news yourselves.”

“What news?”

The five blinked in confusion.

But moments later, they each received an urgent message.

Sure enough, it was from the commanders of their own contingents in the Joint Fleet.

The corners of Wei’s mouth curled into a knowing smile, as if he’d seen this all coming.

A while later, when all five answered their communications, what appeared before them were five faces locked in terror.

Five commanders from different civilizations—each assigned to the Joint Fleet—wore the exact same look of horror.

And they all reported the same event.

That is…

Within the Joint Fleet, eight civilizations had suddenly turned traitor and launched a rabid assault on their allied fleets.

Caught off guard, with no warning, and especially with those eight fleets positioned on the outer perimeters…

Not to mention, those eight made up the bulk of the strength.

The moment the shooting started, several fleets trapped inside were crushed almost instantly.

At that moment, the commanders had been reporting this very event.

“Wei, all of you—just what are you thinking?!”

Wei and seven other leaders said nothing, just gazed back at the rest with sneers frozen on their faces.

Because they knew: everyone else in the room was already dead—no point wasting words.

Within seconds, the five survivors’ faces twisted with terror.

Ten seconds later…

All five vanished just as Zonic had, leaving behind the same message…

Signal lost.

Wei stood up and looked around at the others.

“Everyone, the Joint Fleet has been destroyed, and the administrative centers of the other civilizations wiped out. Next, as per the mission assigned by The Alliance, we’re to begin a full purge of the Desolate Star Region’s core. However…”

“To avoid any conflict between ourselves over competing for targets, I propose we work out territory assignments before picking our missions. How about it?”

For them, this mission came with rewards that were more than generous.

Seizing a star system and carrying out a complete purge would net you five million points.

There were eight parties, and even if they included the Ziyang Empire and Xitoris Kingdom for a total of ten, each could claim over a hundred star systems.

Doing the math, that’s at least a few billion points for each participant.

As for leftover forces within those civilizations, that wasn’t a problem either.

They’d just send their outdated fleets into battle, collect the points, and use them to buy brand-new warships from the Human Federation.

A totally free upgrade, really.

As for how many soldiers would die along the way…

That wasn’t even something to bother worrying about.

These secondary civilizations were short on everything—except people!