Chapter 5

Three days ago, after returning to the base with Malovich's squad and reporting the incident to the company commander, Tang Fang was taken to the medical room to treat his leg injury.

To say that Wei Haitao is a scoundrel with a head full of sores and a crotch full of pus is no exaggeration. Combining the photos from Thomas's image recorder, Malovich's report, and the findings of the special operations team sent to deal with the alien corpses in the pit, he actually found a flaw in Tang Fang's report.

The photos from Thomas's image recorder can prove that they were attacked by aliens after finding Tang Fang. From the special operations team's report, it is not hard to see that the aliens killed by the fragmentation grenades were not the same as the one that killed Konda.

Comparing the photos of Tang Fang "unconscious" in the image recorder, the location where Sarov found him, and the scattered battle traces at the scene, it can be determined that he had already woken up at that time.

Thomas and Konda are both dead, but he managed to escape by hiding behind a rock. As a member of the squad, what else could his actions be if not abandoning his teammates and failing to save them?

When the report filled with doubts appeared on the commander's desk, Tang Fang was moved from his old room to a cell.

Today, he received the ruling from his superiors, leading to the current situation.

Operation Butcher? Last year I bought a watch, in plain terms, it's just a supply mission.

The corpse of the unknown alien was brought back to the base by the special operations team. After a detailed and meticulous examination by biological experts and a comprehensive analysis of the data, a shocking conclusion was reached: if encountered in a dark underground cave, one alien's combat power is equivalent to a five-man combat squad. Even in an open wilderness, the odds are fifty-fifty in a one-on-two battle.

The entire company consists of 240 people. Excluding those responsible for cooking, maintenance, medical care, and scientific research, there are only about 120 combat personnel. It wouldn't take much; two dozen aliens could reduce these people to a pile of ribs.

Planet 5 is so vast, who knows how many aliens are hiding underground. It's necessary to send someone down to investigate and bring back detailed intelligence. From the data collected by the research ship, this is just a Level 7 resource planet. If the number of native species in the underground caves is large and their individual combat power is strong, there's no need to continue wasting time here. The universe is vast, and resource planets are countless.

Who will go to investigate? No matter how tough the guys are, they are still human. Who would want to become the zucchini loin meat or the human offal soup on the swarm's dining table?

The ball was kicked back and forth, and Wei Haitao had the idea to involve the warden of the Xianyu No. 1 Space Station on nearby Planet Landon. Thus, the Butcher was released. Of course, the term "Butcher" is relative to ordinary people. As for who will be the butcher with the knife and who will be the lamb to be slaughtered after entering the underground of Planet 5 and encountering those terrifying aliens, that remains to be seen.

...

Three days later, the Sand Scorpion armed transport helicopter slowly ascended. The vibration of the fuselage was transmitted through the seat, making it feel like shivering after urination.

Tang Fang remained silent, coldly staring at the row of people sitting opposite him—black, white, fat, thin, scarred, unscarred, all 200-watt light bulbs, and bald heads that would make lice fall over.

He never thought that he, Tang Fang, would have a day when he would be in the company of murderers, and in such large numbers. Making him the commander to lead this mission? Wei Haitao clearly had no good intentions. Would these men, who have tasted blood and pulled teeth from tigers, listen to his commands? A joke. He feared that as soon as the Sand Scorpion armed transport helicopter landed, these people would tear him apart.

"Hmph."

The man with a cross-shaped scar on his forehead grinned, revealing a mouth full of uneven yellow teeth.

Tang Fang took a deep breath, ignoring him, and shifted his attention to the images in his mind. During his confinement, he had reviewed the events of the past few days and had a basic understanding of the functions of the StarCraft 2 system.

Whenever a life form dies in front of him, he can collect life energy, which is then converted into game crystals, allowing him to produce combat units and bring them to life through the summon button.

As for more advanced technology buildings, they do not unlock automatically as they do in the game. For example, the Zerg base and the spawning pool have been built, but the infested lair, roach Warren, and evolution chamber are still in a gray, uncontrollable state. It seems that upgrading technology is far more complex than just accumulating crystals and gas in the game.

Even more frustrating is that the spawning pool can indeed upgrade the movement speed and attack speed of the Zerglings, but the cost is so high that it makes Tang Fang want to smash his keyboard. The metabolic acceleration, which originally required 100 crystals and 100 gas, now requires 1000 crystals and 1000 gas. As for the adrenal gland, it's even more absurd, requiring 2000 crystals and 2000 gas. For humans, the death of one person can absorb 5 points of life energy. To accumulate 1000, it would take 200 people. If it were rock worms, it would be even more terrifying, requiring 500. Not to mention that upgrading technology requires not only crystals but also gas. Mary Sue, he doesn't even know where to get the gas.

His thoughts drifted back to the present. The imperial sword emblem on his sleeve, representing the empire, felt like a sharp blade hanging over his head, ready to take his life at any moment. Tang Fang strongly disliked this feeling, to the point of being repulsed and disgusted.

Over the years, the empire has been waging wars and expanding aggressively. The upper echelons have been both strict and brutal in their treatment of the military. Any male over 18 years old must serve an 8-year compulsory military service. More than a million young soldiers die on the battlefield each year. As a low-ranking soldier like Tang Fang, he has no power to resist and can be discarded as cannon fodder at any time, just like the trial three days ago, where he was not given the chance to defend himself.

When Tang Yan was still alive, he had more than once wanted to escape this country, but he was held back by his younger brother and sister. If he left, they might face lifelong slavery or even public execution.

In fact, Tang Yan had a very, very crazy wish. If possible, he hoped to overthrow this dictatorial country, pull that old man who disregards human life from the throne, and stomp on his face with a thick-soled military boot, making him feel the earth, hear the people's voices, the cries of the common folk, and the endless accusations and curses of the young soldiers' spirits in hell.

Tang Fang inherited everything from Tang Yan, including his hatred for this country. If it were before, this wish would be nothing more than a daydream, but now, with the StarCraft system as his support, he is not averse to letting the old man on the throne taste the fear of trembling, and making all the imperial nobles experience a life of anxiety.

One day, the swarm will flood his castle, the mothership will destroy his palace, and the banner of freedom will wave in the wind.

...

"Whoosh." With the sound of the air jets, the Sand Scorpion armed transport helicopter landed, and the rear door slowly opened, casting a dim yellow light on Tang Fang's slightly pale face.