Chapter 260: Chapter 259: This Is the Price
Time had indeed reached its most critical moment.
There could be no more delays.
On the battlefield of Planet Two, the enemy’s assaults grew fiercer with each wave. With fewer than fifty thousand Warships remaining, their own forces were on the verge of collapse!
Once the enemy invaded the planet and destroyed all the Missiles and nuclear warheads, they wouldn’t be able to carry out the cleansing even if they wanted to!
Nearly ten billion of the civilization’s elite falling into enemy hands was absolutely unacceptable. If that happened, all of their civilization’s secrets, all their technology, everything, would become fuel for the enemy. It could even lead to the collapse of their entire civilization!
Haimo Lan closed his eyes in agony.
At this very moment, it seemed the only option left was forced expulsion.
But… but, to do so could tear the civilization apart internally. The entire organizational structure of their civilization might collapse.
It was a genuine dilemma.
At this moment, all the clamor seemed to fade away from Haimo Lan. Though surrounded by high-ranking officials of the civilization shouting, fuming, and desperately trying to persuade him, it was as if Haimo Lan couldn’t hear a thing.
He simply closed his eyes, silently lost in thought.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, his expression calm once more.
He raised his arm and gently pressed it down. An invisible pressure seemed to settle over the entire conference room, silencing it in an instant.
Haimo Lan looked at his secretary and said calmly, “Broadcast Conference Room One to the entire civilization.”
“Yes, sir.”
A high-ranking official said in shock, “Supreme Leader, this is…”
Haimo Lan gave him a calm glance, and the official immediately shut his mouth.
The cameras were quickly brought in. And so, the scene from Conference Room One, the very heart of the civilization’s power, appeared in every city, on every spaceship, and on every large screen.
At Base 665, a large crowd had gathered, their emotions running high. But as the image from Conference Room One appeared, the people quieted down involuntarily.
Under the gaze of hundreds of billions of pairs of eyes, Haimo Lan calmly picked up a communicator and dialed a number.
The people watched, their eyes glued to the screen.
A moment later, the call connected. The familiar figure of his mother appeared before Haimo Lan, and before the hundreds of billions of citizens watching.
His mother’s voice was filled with the relief of a survivor: “Lanlan, I’m fine now. We’ve evacuated Planet Two and are on our way to Planet Three.”
Hearing this, a murmur of unrest rippled through the gathered crowds in the many cities.
‘So you got to evacuate, but our people are still on Planet Two!’
Haimo Lan smiled faintly. “Is that so? That’s good. Mother, there’s something I need to tell you.
I’m sorry, I can’t save you. You… have to go back to Planet Two now. Not just you. Everyone on that passenger ship has to go back to Planet Two.”
In Conference Room One, all the high-ranking officials snapped their heads up, staring at Haimo Lan in utter horror.
On the screen, his mother’s expression froze instantly. Then she forced a smile. “Lanlan, what nonsense are you talking about?”
Tears welled up in the corners of Haimo Lan’s eyes, but he kept the smile on his face. “I’m not talking nonsense. Mother, I’m sorry. I can’t save you.
I will always love you. I would give my own life for you. But right now, I can’t save you. I just can’t…”
His mother instantly began to panic. “Lanlan, Lanlan, what’s going on? You’re the Supreme Leader of the civilization! I’m your mother! I worked so hard to raise you, and now you won’t save me?!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I can’t save you…”
Haimo Lan shook his head in agony, tears streaming down his face, yet his smile never wavered.
With a trembling hand, he gently disconnected the call. Then, under the gaze of hundreds of billions, he dialed another number.
“Is this the crew of the passenger ship ‘Longtian’? This is the Supreme Leader of the civilization, Haimo Lan. I am now ordering you, in my capacity as Supreme Leader, to change course immediately and return to Planet Two.
Yes, I am sending you to your deaths. If you disobey this order, even if you manage to return to the civilization in the future, I will have you executed for treason. Your families will be ashamed of you for generations.
If you obey, you will also die, but I will bestow upon you the title of heroes. I will personally handle your affairs after your passing, and your families will be proud of you.
Now, tell me your choice.”
In the dead silence, a trembling voice reached the ears of all the citizens.
“Yes… all members of the Longtian’s crew… will obey the Supreme Leader’s command!”
In the vastness of space, a passenger ship that had already put distance between itself and Planet Two, the battlefield, and the danger, instantly began to decelerate at full power, then accelerated in the opposite direction.
Because it hadn’t traveled very far and hadn’t reached its top speed, the ship soon returned to the space elevator of Planet Two, in full view of everyone.
At the same time, all ships were forbidden from leaving Planet Two.
The communication line was cut, and Conference Room One was filled with a deathly silence.
All the high-ranking officials of the civilization were silent.
There were indeed their close relatives or friends on the passenger ship Longtian. But now…
Not a single person could speak.
Haimo Lan smiled at the camera. His image and his words were broadcast to all the citizens, including the soldiers and people gathered at Base 665.
“Now, my mother, and the relatives of all the high-ranking officials—their wives, children, family, and friends—have also returned to Planet Two. Just like all of our loved ones, they are on Planet Two.
My compatriots, the people who remain on Planet Two at this moment are the elites of our civilization.
If there was even a sliver of hope, I would not be willing to abandon them.
But now, there is no other way.
Once they fall into enemy hands, our entire civilization could face annihilation.
For the sake of the civilization… I can only kill them.
My compatriots, none of us has a choice!
I understand everyone’s sorrow and anger. I personally feel the same sorrow and anger. But I hope you can understand that all of this is the price… the price for our civilization to become prosperous and powerful.
It is the price!
The only thing we can do is to channel this sorrow and anger into winning this war against Human Civilization, to secure the benefits we deserve, to continue advancing our civilization’s technology and growing stronger, so that we may avoid facing such a situation again in the future!
Now, I order… the cleansing of Planet Two to begin!”
Outside Base 665, all the citizens were stunned.
They stood there in a daze, motionless.
After a long while, a low sob broke the silence, and then everyone burst into tears, wailing loudly.
The enemy and they were not of the same species.
In a civil war, a conflict within their own civilization, there might be a chance of survival as a prisoner. But being captured by another civilization, one of a completely different species, the probability of survival was almost zero.
They lacked the ability to evacuate their compatriots from Planet Two; their fate was already sealed.
Dying at the hands of the enemy meant they would be forced to reveal all their military, technological, and other secrets, bringing catastrophic disaster upon their home.
This was almost a certainty. Because no intelligent life form could withstand torture administered with advanced technology.
Dying at their own hands… would at least prevent the enemy from obtaining this intelligence.
It was cruel, but the continuation of a civilization could not be achieved through emotions like indignation, pain, passion, or tragic heroism. Only reason—a cold, ruthless, and utterly brutal reason—could ensure a civilization’s survival.
Situations like this had occurred before. If not for the decisive actions of past leaders, their civilization might have gone extinct long ago.
As a true interstellar civilization, every single person understood the cruelty of the Cosmos and the difficulty of surviving within it.
And now, the cruelty of the Cosmos was laid bare before every one of them.
The base operators who had been dispatched, the ones who had been firmly blocked outside, began to approach the base once more.
This time, no one moved to stop them.