The joint fleet's operations bore fruit in the following days. They landed on the Tenth-Day Carriage Ball, established a base, and then dug underground to locate and eliminate the Zerg nests.

The landing operation seemed initially successful, but a growing unease began to spread among the allied high command. The reason was simple: the operation was proceeding too smoothly.

They were well aware that the Zerg possessed Fourth-Level powerhouses, including at least one who had reached the absolute limit of that level, and possibly more!

The Blade Emperor, who had shown himself once before, was now nowhere to be seen, which meant he could be lurking in some unknown corner, eyeing the allied forces. This invisible pressure worried the command structure far more than any overt display of strength on the battlefield; the unknown is always more terrifying than the known.

Nevertheless, the coalition never doubted that ultimate victory was theirs, because they were certain that across the vast expanse of the galaxy, no power existed that could stand against the might of the True Human Empire.

Just as the joint fleet was aggressively conquering territory, an urgent communication zipped across faster-than-light distances to the Joint Command, immediately followed by a cascade of alarms that descended like snow.

Trouble in the rear!

Less than one standard hour ago, massive Zerg armies had materialized outside the colonies recently secured by the various races in the Perseus Arm. This was clearly a premeditated military action: over a hundred colonies were simultaneously under attack! These colonies were scattered throughout the Perseus Arm, situated within the territories of every allied race, sending the respective species into immediate panic.

Because a joint fleet had been formed, each race had drawn its primary naval strength into the main body, leaving the colonies defended by small escort fleets composed mainly of light warships, supported by ground troops numbering anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, perhaps with a few hastily erected military outposts at best. This military strength was adequate for routine colonial security, but it proved as fragile as paper against the incoming Zerg hordes.

While the Galan species' research into the Zerg had yielded no substantive breakthroughs, the dozens of experimental mishaps reported over the past few days had already deeply imprinted upon the allied races the Zerg’s terrifying lethality, tenacity, reproductive rate, aggression, contagiousness, and stealth.

This was a naturally born warrior race; even a single specimen could not be underestimated!

To rescue their respective colonies, the various races issued two simultaneous demands: first, an order to their defending garrisons to hold their ground and not retreat a single step, dying to the last man if necessary to prevent a single Zerg from breaching the defenses; and second, a demand that the joint fleet immediately recall its main forces to return and crush the attacking Zerg armies!

However, just as Yang Ying had predicted, a severe schism immediately arose among the races regarding which colony should be prioritized for rescue.

The representatives naturally prioritized their own species first. Their demands were consistently for their own colonies to be saved immediately, with all others taking secondary priority. Dozens of races meant dozens of voices, and conflict inevitably brewed.

Races possessing superior military might naturally carried a louder voice, but the smaller races also had their means. Smaller groups with closely situated colonies banded together, shouting their unified demands to the Joint Command.

In an instant, all manner of strategic alliances and counter-alliances erupted within and around the Joint Command center, bringing its operations to a grinding halt.

The delegates were no fools. Seeing the paralysis, they quickly understood that compelling the joint fleet to rescue any single race was impossible, and further argument was fruitless.

Thus, the races swiftly passed the order to disband the joint fleet. Each race would take its own vessels and return to secure its own colony.

All of this was unfolding exactly as Yang Ying had planned.

Meanwhile, on the colonies of the various races, Zerg forces surged forth like tides from hyperspace. Led by the Brain Bugs, they quickly overwhelmed the orbiting escort fleets and began landing on the surface.

Zerg Broodlords converged like dark clouds, descending with massive ground forces. Colonial fighters and mechs scrambled to intercept, but before they could even approach the Broodlords, they were shredded by the surrounding air support.

The crab-like aerial guardians possessed an extremely long attack range, spitting vivid greenish-yellow spore pods from space that struck ground defenses—turrets, gun emplacements, fortress cannons, missile batteries, military bases, and so forth.

Recently evolved was the Aerial Spire Lord, which launched parasitic projectiles encased in hard shells designed to withstand the searing friction of atmospheric entry. Upon impact, their massive kinetic energy delivered damage comparable to a powerful Level Three siege cannon, and the parasites immediately activated to attack any foe. (This may sound exaggerated, but using parasitic organisms as physical projectiles for ranged strikes is a known Zerg design feature, not something Diamond invented.)

Once the Broodlords, laden with ground troops, landed, the colonies were plunged into a maelstrom of blood and slaughter.

Giant Ultralisks plowed forward, absorbing furious firepower to breach the defensive lines layer by layer. Hydralisks spat needle-sharp projectiles from the rear. Tens of thousands of Zerglings and combat constructs, along with smaller Drones, poured through the gaps in the formation, tearing apart everything animate in the enemy ranks.

Accompanying the Zerglings were their evolved forms, the Acidic Beasts. These bulky units were entirely filled with highly corrosive acid. They rushed toward targets and detonated without hesitation. Vast quantities of acid sprayed outward, coating an area of twenty to thirty meters in corrosive droplets. Any alloy material touched by the droplets was utterly dissolved, and living creatures melted into pools of thick gore.

Within the swarm, numerous Scourges released clouds of Black Miasma, effectively screening the ground forces. Any area enveloped by the Black Miasma became immune to all forms of reconnaissance, significantly reducing the hit probability of enemy ranged units.

The colonial defenders’ vision blurred as they fired wildly into the mists.

Then, with a tremendous roar, a towering Ultralisk burst forth from the Black Miasma, its hide shredded by beams and missiles, weeping mist where flesh once was. Yet, this only stoked its ferocity. Wielding two massive bone blades, it charged, all four limbs churning, and instantly shattered the final line of defense. Two nearby turrets immediately swung their barrels to focus entirely on the beast, but the Ultralisk roared, brought its bone blades down in a devastating arc, and cleaved both turrets in half. It then reared its front limbs high before slamming them down, crushing two mobile armored fortresses before it.

Following the breach carved by the Ultralisk, a pack of Zerglings shrieked and surged through. Nearby defenders unleashed a barrage of beam missiles, saturating the area and burying the monstrous creature in a sea of explosions.

In mere seconds, more than half of the Ultralisk’s body was annihilated, but it still charged another three hundred meters before finally collapsing, while most of the accompanying Zerglings were atomized by the covering fire and concentrated missile blasts.

Yet, immediately following, over a dozen more Ultralisks charged out of the Black Miasma, bellowing ferociously as they attacked the defenders. Simultaneously, over a hundred Mutalisks shrieked overhead, spewing Uranium Cannons and missiles from their rotational sacs toward the defensive positions.

With insidious ground assaults, overwhelming air support, and effective shielding, the Zerg armies quickly breached the ground defenses of most colonies and poured into the settlements.

The allied colonies were largely similar: they housed a group of initial pioneers, followed by equipment designed to modify the planetary environment, acting as a vanguard to begin the preliminary recovery of the war-scarred world, laying the groundwork for future large-scale migration.

The vanguard colonists were mostly veterans of military training and capable of taking up arms when necessary. In combat, they functioned as militia, wielding beam or plasma weapons, clad in environmental armor, and leading combat drones, defending the colony's roads and structures, forming another defensive layer.

It was clear they were preparing for urban warfare.

The first to reach them were Zerglings, sprinting like the wind. Wielding razor claws and snapping their fanged maws, they rushed into the buildings lining the streets through doors and windows.

The militia inside immediately engaged them. The Zerglings had evolved over several generations since Yang Ying first acquired StarCraft in Hand; their carapaces were harder, their reflexes quicker, their strength greater, and their movements more agile, making them exponentially more formidable than the initial Zerglings. They were on an entirely different plane of existence.

Beams and plasma strikes wounded them, but unless the blow struck a vital area like the head, the majority endured the damage.

As for missing limbs, such injuries were beneath the notice of a Zergling. Their minds held only the singular objective: tear the enemy apart. Even half a body remaining, if still capable of movement, was enough to launch a ferocious pounce, driving sharp appendages into the enemy or biting them to death with their jaws.

Overhead, Overseers and Broodlords maintained lofty vantage points. With broad sight and subtle psychic awareness, they monitored the battlefield constantly. As the fighting transitioned to close quarters, they deployed Lurkers onto the ground.

The Lurkers burrowed beneath the roads, utilizing the colony’s chaos. If a Zerg passed above, they were ignored. But if the targets were colonial defenders or militia, they would unleash rows of thick spikes, impaling the enemy and punching gaping holes in the pavement. Even armored vehicles could not withstand a Lurker’s thrust, and these subterranean assassins reaped a rich harvest in the fighting.

Since the Zerg held undisputed air superiority, they could launch direct attacks from above onto the defenders' positions, constantly deploying waves of ground troops into critical sectors.

The defenders' territory was continuously compressed. After seven or eight standard hours, most colonies had fallen to the Zerg, with only those belonging to the stronger races, such as the Galan and the Lo'ya, still fiercely resisting. (To be continued) A different kind of Beast.