Chapter 251: Chapter 250: Not Retorting
Beyond that, Li Qingsong also saw combat ships, packed as densely as a swarm of bees, congregating on planets and within military bases.
At a rough count, the total number of warships, large and small, was over 1,500,000!
More warships than he currently possessed!
Everything pointed to the power and prosperity of this civilization.
Li Qingsong roughly estimated that, in terms of equivalent human population, this civilization had at least three hundred billion intelligent beings.
And now, for reasons he did not yet understand, this powerful and prosperous civilization had become his enemy.
Li Qingsong was filled with a sense of gravity.
When the fleet was only a few hundred billion kilometers from the local star, Li Qingsong sent a second message to the Harville Civilization.
“Our fleet has arrived as agreed. May I ask which planet you have prepared for us?”
“Esteemed Human Civilization, we eagerly welcome your arrival.
The planet we have prepared for you is Planet Three. As you can see, Planet Three is a gas giant containing abundant fusion energy.
It also has 20 large moons in hydrostatic equilibrium, which hold plentiful mineral resources.
We believe this is sufficient to show our sincerity.
However, there is a small matter.
We sincerely hope to engage in exchange and cooperation with you, and we do not wish for any unexpected factors to cause any misunderstandings during this process.
Therefore, we hope that your warships will refrain from entering the star system for the time being. Please remain a hundred billion kilometers out and temporarily place them under our custody. Your residential, industrial, and supply ships, however, may proceed to Planet Three to begin preliminary operations.
Please trust that our sincerity is unparalleled. To engage in exchange and cooperation with your esteemed civilization is the heartfelt wish of all our people.”
When Li Qingsong saw this message, he almost laughed out of sheer anger.
This time, Li Qingsong’s reply was simple, consisting of only a handful of words.
“F*ck your mother! Go f*ck yourself!”
After a slight course correction, Li Qingsong’s fleet charged straight for Planet Two, the second-closest planet to the local star.
It was the larger of the two rocky planets.
After advancing to a Strong Core Civilization, which could obtain energy through protium fusion, the value of gas giants had decreased to that of rocky planets.
This was because rocky planets also contained large amounts of protium. At the same time, large rocky planets possessed mineral reserves that far surpassed those of gas giants.
No matter how many moons a gas giant had, under normal circumstances, they couldn’t compare to a large rocky planet.
One could say that Planet Two was the most valuable planet in this interstellar system, which Li Qingsong had designated “Lyra G16.”
Since it was a desperate, all-or-nothing gamble, he might as well go for the most valuable prize!
Some time later, Li Qingsong received a reply from the Harville Civilization.
“Esteemed Human Civilization, we approached you with sincerity, hoping to engage in friendly exchange and cooperation. To that end, we were willing to cede a large planet for your use.
But… is this how you repay us? Not only have you insulted us in a formal and serious diplomatic setting, but you have also defied our directives and are attempting to invade our Planet Two.
Because of this, we are forced to respond. We hope you understand that all responsibility for this war lies with you!
We solemnly advise you to pull back from the brink immediately!”
Li Qingsong more or less understood their intentions.
The reason they went through all the trouble of putting on this righteous facade—even though he had already seen through it—was simply to sow dissent within his own ranks.
For an ordinary, group-based intelligent civilization, such a tactic might have created a faction of dissidents who would question and oppose the current decisions, holding their civilization back.
But unfortunately for them, it was impossible to divide Human Civilization from within.
This tactic was destined to be ineffective against him.
“F*ck you! Still putting on a f*cking act at a time like this? If you want to fight, then let’s fight! Cut the crap! F*ck this, f*ck that, f*ck everything…”
Li Qingsong let himself go completely. He unleashed a torrent of every foul word developed throughout the history of Human Civilization, and even included all sorts of creative profanities he had deciphered from the Harville Civilization’s own dictionary. He broadcast this continuous stream of insults to the entire star system.
Li Qingsong’s intention was also simple.
‘You want to create dissidents among my people, so you have to maintain your righteous facade. No matter how much I curse you, you have to worry about your image.’
‘But I don’t have to worry about my image!’
‘Which means, right now, only I can curse you. You can’t curse back!’
And what would be the result of continuous insults, of them having to grit their teeth and maintain their image, unable to retaliate in kind?
It would almost certainly infuriate everyone in the Harville Civilization, from the Supreme Leader down to the common citizens.
And enraging them was precisely Li Qingsong’s goal.
‘Only when you’re angry will you lose your reason. And that’s when I’ll have my chance!’
At this point, they were still several months’ journey from Planet Two. So, Li Qingsong continued to decelerate the fleet while creatively varying his insults.
On Planet Three, aboard the Harville Civilization Flagship, the “Honor,” the tall, lanky figure of Supreme Leader Haimo Lan stood behind a massive desk. He stared intently at the report in front of him, his long face having turned blue with rage.
The filth and vulgarity of the words on it surpassed the limits of his imagination.
“This Human Civilization… Crass! Vile! How can such a filthy civilization exist in the Cosmos!”
Haimo Lan cursed furiously in the empty office, venting a bit of his anger after a long while.
The office door was pushed open, and his secretary walked in.
“Supreme Leader, this is the seventh round of dialogue documents submitted by the Minister of Diplomacy. Please review it.”
Forcing down his anger, Haimo Lan glanced at the document. After seeing phrases like “strong condemnation” and “we advise you to maintain your decorum,” he felt a rage coiling in his chest that he couldn’t vent, no matter what.
But in the end, aside from a sigh, he made no changes to the document. “Let it be.”
The secretary paused for a moment before continuing, “Supreme Leader, the calls within our civilization to severely punish Human Civilization are growing louder. There is strong public criticism regarding the Minister of Diplomacy’s overly weak responses. Furthermore, according to reports, over ten thousand people in our civilization have died from excessive anger due to the insults from Human Civilization. What are your thoughts…?”
Haimo Lan snorted coldly. “The civilization has issued repeated injunctions strictly forbidding the private reception of enemy signals!”
“But Human Civilization is using a broadcast format. It’s truly difficult to prohibit…”
“Then they can bear the consequences themselves!”
“Yes, sir. Also, emotions are running high within the military. Many soldiers are petitioning to dispatch the fleet to attack Human Civilization proactively and vent their anger…”
“Absolutely not!”
Haimo Lan refused without hesitation. “The enemy has no logistical support. We are defending our planets with ample supplies. Time is on our side!
Prepare our defenses! Just wait for them to attack! That will be the time to unleash our fighting power!”
“Yes, sir.”
The secretary bowed and slowly withdrew.
Once again, Haimo Lan was alone in the large office.
Only then did his face twist as he viciously spat out the words.
“Humans, f*ck your mothers! F*ck you, f*ck this…”