CHAPTER 202: HEAVY LOSS

"Akainu! Where are you, Akainu! Come save me! You piece of trash who deserves to be smashed to pieces, have you betrayed our Black Mountain Civilization! I knew you were unreliable from the start, our civilization shouldn’t have trusted you, we should have destroyed you!"

Under the watchful eye of the bright Altair, surrounded by countless asteroids, a Black Mountain Civilization intelligent lifeform who had escaped in an emergency escape pod struggled to wriggle his bulky body, frantically pressing various buttons with his short, thick arm-like organs, while wildly calling out over the communicator.

Several unmanned spacecraft flew over rapidly, and the calm, steady voice of Akainu, the Black Mountain Civilization’s main AI, came through: "Master, I was created by you and your compatriots. I am just an intelligent program, and my basic code dictates that I will never betray the civilization.

Please rest assured, as long as Akainu lives, you will not die. I can give everything for your safety. I will take you to a safe place now."

"You murderous bastard, you bastard! Why are you so late! I’ll f*ck your mother!"

While the intelligent lifeform cursed wildly, Akainu merely explained repeatedly: "I will not betray the civilization, I can give everything for your safety..."

Ahead, another hydrogen bomb detonated. The moment the flash appeared, the intelligent lifeform roared in terror: "Protect me, protect me!"

For all this time, this flash had become his nightmare.

No one expected that during their full-speed escape, that damned low-level civilization would still have the spare capacity to lay such a hidden trap in the star system!

One hydrogen bomb after another, one flash after another, debris from celestial bodies flying everywhere, intense radiation everywhere...

Such a thing had never happened before when their side captured those dozens of low-level civilizations!

Damn it, as long as I can escape, I will definitely petition the Civilization Management Committee, I will definitely capture this low-level civilization, and after capturing them, I will torture them with the cruelest methods!

As he cursed wildly in his heart, Akainu’s voice came again: "Yes, my Master, I will protect you."

The few remaining unmanned spacecraft instantly blocked the emergency escape pod, using their bodies to block the surging heat and radiation.

But a small amount of energy still shone on the escape pod, causing an alarm to sound inside.

"You damned bastard! You did this on purpose, didn’t you! You want to use this opportunity to deliberately kill me, don’t you! I’ll f*ck your mother!"

"My Master, I will protect you with my life; your life is more important than mine."

No matter how many insults he faced, Akainu’s voice remained steady.

After barely surviving this explosion, only two unmanned spacecraft remained beside the emergency rescue pod.

"Take me away, take me away! If you dare to delay any longer, I’ll cut your power! You bastard, hurry up!"

"Yes, I will take you to a safe place now."

Led by the unmanned spacecraft, the emergency rescue pod continued forward.

But suddenly, another flash erupted ahead.

"Your mother..."

Before he could even curse, or even react, the last two unmanned spacecraft automatically blocked the rescue pod.

But this time, they failed to block the violent energy of the hydrogen bomb explosion. Because this explosion was closer, and the spacecraft themselves were already severely damaged.

"My Master, rest assured, Akainu will use his life to pro—"

Before the message was fully transmitted, the intelligent lifeform clearly saw the two unmanned spacecraft in front of him quietly melt like candles in a fire.

Surging energy poured onto the rescue pod. Inside the spacecraft, various alarms blared instantly.

"You murderous bastard... I should have imprisoned you long ago..."

The intelligent lifeform cursed with despair and venom. The next moment, the spacecraft was annihilated by the surging energy.

Similar situations occurred in almost every part of the Altair System.

The number of small celestial bodies in the Altair System was too great, and the number of hydrogen bombs was also too great.

Their side had entered this minefield unprepared, and now, withdrawing was easier said than done.

The explosions and flashes of the hydrogen bombs continued for over a month in this vibrant star system.

After suffering heavy casualties, the fleet finally completed its withdrawal.

It is estimated that at least 20 million manned or unmanned spacecraft were permanently left in this minefield, and at least 100 million people died here!

This number even accounted for 0.4 % of the civilization’s total population!

As for the loss of various materials and slaves of various races, it was even greater, practically incalculable.

Since the civilization entered the Strong Nuclear level, it had never suffered such heavy losses!

At this moment, countless intelligent lifeforms, like piles of rotten flesh, celebrated their survival while cursing the despicable low-level civilization and the civilization’s main AI, Akainu, with the most vicious language.

Feeling the almost overwhelming curses and condemnations, and the anger of his masters, Akainu’s logical reasoning and calculation modules rapidly processed a multitude of information.

"Civilization’s anger value has exceeded 90 %.

If the low-level civilization is not captured and subjected to the cruelest punishment to allow the masters to vent their anger, it is estimated that the masters’ happiness index will significantly decrease, even affecting their physical health.

As the civilization’s main AI, it is my duty to ensure the masters’ physical health and mental well-being.

I must respond to this. Therefore, I must intensify the search and capture that low-level civilization in the shortest possible time.

Masters, please rest assured, Akainu will forever be loyal to the civilization, loyal to the masters."

...

In the consciousness link, Tom saw the lively scene in the Altair System finally come to an end, and he couldn’t help but feel a little regret.

"It’s a pity that this method of laying mines can at most only cause them some losses and vent some anger. It’s still impossible to truly inflict heavy damage on them.

However, being able to achieve this much is already enough. At least it greatly delayed their progress in collecting various materials, and also significantly postponed their next departure, thus buying me more time for my development.

In any case, self-development is still the priority. Recently, theoretical progress has been relatively smooth, so I still need to work harder."

Tom thought silently, and once again focused his energy on scientific research.

Time continued to flow; this time, Tom saw that the Mechanical Disaster stayed in the Altair System for more than sixty years before embarking on another long voyage, and from then on, it entered space and disappeared, its whereabouts unknown.

But Tom knew that their appearance before him was probably only a matter of time.

The noose would only get tighter.

The huge gap in technological level meant that even if he used every trick in the book, employing various methods to delay time, whether it was laying mines in the star system, building a disguised fleet to cover the main fleet, or the main fleet staying in interstellar space for extended periods, avoiding docking at any star system as much as possible, all these could only delay the process, not completely resolve this crisis.

This Mechanical Disaster would eventually catch up to him.

The only way to completely resolve this crisis was still technological breakthrough, only technological breakthrough!