Star Lord: Rob the alien race and you will get a hundred times the reward

Chapter 124: Prisoner's Dilemma in the Subspace

The reorganization of affairs was proceeding in an orderly manner. The crew members who had experienced the brutal baptism of war were in a very tired mental state. After confirming safety, most of them lay down in the hibernation cabin and restoring their energy and spirit by soaking in nutrient solution.

Many crew members of other ships did not have enough hibernation chambers, so they could only lie down in any lounge. The psychic materials used to restore their energy were consumed in large quantities, and the inventory soon ran out.

Fortunately, this is one of Liu Wen’s bases, and the spiritual energy resources stored here are very rich, all thanks to the harvest in the trading area during the period of the Combined Fleet. After deploying a batch of logistical supplies, the two armies were finally settled.

"Our logistical supplies are behind schedule, and we need Commander Liu to take more care of us. Also, the warship's repair and maintenance dock needs to be rebuilt, and we also need a few living cities. I see that Commander Liu seems to have a living city here as well, so he should have the relevant construction capabilities?" Although Zhang Boping's tone was inquiring, his face showed certainty.

Liu Wen smiled and said, "That's not a problem. This subspace is a hundred light years in diameter. Apart from a dozen star systems, it's all vast void. I will arrange for people to build a void living metropolitan area and build a corresponding life service platform."

Xu Zemin said: "We don't know how long we need to stay here yet. We need to restore instant contact with the Human Alliance defense line as soon as possible to lay the groundwork for subsequent plans."

"The subspace is now separated from the universe, and it cannot be contacted even with the ability of hyperspace communication. Therefore, it is likely that we need to transfer from the main universe." Zhang Boping didn't care about restoring instant contact. It would be useless even if they could get in touch. With their limited military strength, they couldn't even protect themselves, let alone assist in combat.

"Please ask Minister Li Wenge from Tianhe Unit 1 to come over and have a chat. As a rapid support fleet under the Human Rights Union Headquarters, they may have more efficient means of communication." Liu Wen suggested.

The other two had no objections, so Liu Wen sent an invitation message. Not long after, a slight space fluctuation appeared. With a flash of light, Li Wenge, wearing a tall and straight major general's uniform but with an exhausted look on his face, appeared in front of them.

"I'm Li Wenge from the Tianhe Division 1. I'd like to meet Commander Liu, Chief of Staff Xu, and Chief of Staff Zhang." In terms of military rank, Li Wenge is actually the highest one here, but in terms of battlefield authority, he is the lowest one.

After leading the Tianhe Division to join the 1002nd Army's combat sequence, his temporary leadership fell under the jurisdiction of Liu Wen, so he was only considered a subordinate unit of the group army and had nothing to do with his own rank.

Of course, this was only in name only, so when the other party saluted, the three of them also stood up to return the salute, and they communicated with each other on a level basis.

"Minister Li, the main reason we came to you is to ask whether your Tianhe Division 1 can still communicate with the Human Union in real time. We are now trapped in the subspace with limited resources and manpower. We can no longer play any beneficial role in the battle situation, so we would like to consult the Human Union about arrangements for us." Liu Wen said straight to the point.

Li Wenge wondered why he was called over in such a hurry, but it turned out to be a communication problem. His energy and spirit, which had been forced back into shape after exhaustion due to excessive mental exertion, instantly declined a lot, and he looked particularly listless.

"I have the Human Union's conceptual-level trans-temporal communication equipment. Basic communications are still maintained. I can authorize the communication authority to the command center."

"Thank you very much for the help, Minister Li." Liu Wen was very happy to hear that they still had the ability to communicate. Having communication meant that their two armies could respond promptly to changes on the battlefield. It was much more convenient than transferring through the main universe, and there would be no delay.

"Is there anything else we need to discuss?" Li Wenge could no longer hold on and urgently needed to return to the psychic battleship to sleep and recover.

"No, please make the trip."

"Okay, if you need anything, please contact me immediately. I'll go back to sleep first." Li Wenge left as soon as he said it. After transferring the communication authority to the command center, he jumped away and returned to the psychic battleship. He fell into sleep while the psychic battleship absorbed void energy to recover.

With the communication authority granted by Li Wenge, Liu Wen and the other two were finally able to contact the Human Rights League Operations Department.

When the 12th Operations Department learned that the two army groups had not been completely wiped out but had hidden in a subspace, there was silence for a long time before the order to rest on the spot was issued.

Apparently, the Operations Department did not expect these two crippled foreign armies to play any role in such a large-scale battle. They just asked for a list of casualties and a battle damage report and that was it.

Whether it is subsequent compensation or military action arrangements, now is not the right time. We need to wait until the war reaches a certain stage before we can deal with them in a unified manner.

With the endorsement of the People's Liberation Army's Operations Department's orders, the two armies can fully enter a state of rest and recuperation, and obtain information on the progress of the war through the People's Liberation Army's Intelligence Department. There is also real-time image broadcasting of the battlefield in the command channel, which allows everyone to understand the battlefield dynamics more intuitively.

Xu Zemin and Zhang Boping stood in front of the projection to view the battlefield images, while Liu Wen took a small spaceship sent by Laura to the core control center of the industrial zone, which is also the scientific research center of the Bonucci Industrial Zone.

Shirley and Bai Haitang followed Liu Wen to the control center. Only then did Bai Haitang have time to complain.

"Boss, you almost scared me to death along the way. The Void Universe is full of enemies, and they all have the ability to attack with rules. Do you know that if you touch them even a little, I in the Main Universe will be seriously injured if not killed."

Seeing the other party's resentful look, Liu Wen spread his hands: "What can I do? If I hadn't seen the wrong situation and directly gave up the defense of the two wormhole channels and transferred you all back, you would be really finished now." "Yang Zhenshan is still sleeping in the medical cabin because of mental overdraft. He is a seventh-level fusion cultivator. This is his real body. Without the natural protective layer of the main universe filtering, if he dies, he will really die."

Bai Haitang was surprised. She was recalled to the Joint Headquarters by Liu Wen who noticed something was wrong after the Joint Headquarters was attacked. Therefore, she had no idea that the deputy commander of the advance battalion was seriously injured and in deep sleep.

"Is that person too seriously injured and in deep sleep? It seems that several level seven psychics who worked with us before were injured, and there has been no news since we returned to the joint headquarters." Bai Haitang said in surprise.

Shirley explained: "Several squads of soldiers from the advance battalion were injured while covering the fleet's retreat to the headquarters. More than half of them fell into a deep sleep. Fortunately, no one died. This was all thanks to the psychic warships of Tianhe Unit 1. The rescue was very timely!"

After Bai Haitang came back, he assisted in the reorganization of logistics, so he didn't know much about the internal affairs of the fleet. It was only at this time that he learned from Liu Wen and Shirley how dangerous the battlefield was.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ask: "What about the damage to our Star Fleet?"

Shirley's face darkened and she said, "It's tragic. The total strength of the Star Fleet is actually only 30 corps, which are pieced together from many sources. Including the logistics fleet, there are more than 500,000 ships in total, with more than 350 million people in service. Nearly half of them died in battle, and one-third were injured. The main universe's medical space stations are full, so we had to temporarily mobilize several living space stations to accommodate so many people."

"We lost our territory this time, and the main universe suffered heavy casualties. Once the military strength returns to the level before the establishment of the joint fleet, the pension alone will almost bankrupt the territory."

Bai Haitang didn't expect the casualties in this battle to be so severe. Ever since following Liu Wen into the interstellar space, she had gained great advantages in every battle. However, this sudden emergency call-up had pushed the territory to the brink of bankruptcy in just one battle, and the myth of Liu Wen never failing had collapsed.

"Boss, our territory can't even afford the pension, right? I remember discussing before that the pension for an ordinary crew member was 4 million or 5 million contribution points. With more than 50 million people killed in the war, doesn't that mean we have to spend at least 250 trillion contribution points? Does our territory have that much money?"

Liu Wen glanced at the other party and said, "The territory has only been developed for a short time, so there must not be so many contribution points in reserve. In addition, you brought the wrong unit. You said credit points, not contribution points."

"I went offline a while ago and took a look at the compensation plan submitted by Fox and the others. The compensation for ordinary crew members is 7,750 contribution points plus 3,487,500 credit points."

"Currently, the number of casualties in the war exceeds 160 million, and the total expenditure exceeds 3 trillion contribution points. As for credit points, we can get them by selling some technical information to the Shangxia Republic. Therefore, although the territory has suffered some damage, it is not bankrupt."

After hearing the conversation between the two sides, Shirley reminded: "The loss of the fleet is actually not a big deal. The Nix subspace and Sera Industrial Zone were evacuated in advance. The Galaxy Fleet led by Jack occupied a small territory in the void at the border of the open star field for temporary storage. The population and industrial capacity were almost not lost. Therefore, although the war potential has declined seriously due to the interruption of resource acquisition, there is almost no problem with the core of the territory."

"Nix Subspace has a large land mass with a diameter of three light years. The resources are actually very rich. It is enough for the immigrants inside to survive and reproduce for hundreds of years. It is also enough for them to survive this total war. The only problem comes from the Sera Industrial Zone and us."

"There are very few immigrants in the industrial zone, but more technicians and researchers. Although the resource reserves are abundant, they are also limited. Our development is now limited by the level of science and technology. The resources used in scientific research are far more than those used to build warships. We estimate that it can only support a few decades before the problem of insufficient resources arises."

The lack of resources that Shirley mentioned was not the lack of conventional metal resources, but the lack of psychic resources. The size of the subspace is limited, and humans are a race that practices psychic energy throughout the nation. When it comes to level seven technology, many materials will also move towards psychic materials. This means that the consumption of ordinary psychic materials is very large, and the demand for psychic products is gradually increasing with the passage of time.

It's okay in the Thraya space, the concentration of psychic particles is acceptable, and the speed of absorption and conversion can barely keep up with the consumption. But it's not the same in the Bonucci Industrial Zone. There are thousands of high-level psychics alone, and various psychic warships and other large equipment also need to absorb psychic particles. This leads to an extremely huge demand for psychic energy. No matter how much reserves there are in the Bonucci space, they are just ordinary psychic materials, which can't withstand the long-term consumption of so many people.

This is also the reason why Liu Wen can't wait to contact the Human Alliance. He needs to use the Human Alliance to suppress these high-level psychics and ensure that his current power prevents them from taking over the psychics, giving himself enough time to solve this logistical support problem.

Even if an accident occurs due to resources, the suppression during this period can speed up the research and development of level seven technology, and create a batch of qualified rule-level warships as soon as possible, so that he can have the ability to protect himself.

During the previous chat, Xu Zemin suggested taking the elite route, and it was with this point in mind that, within a limited range, with limited resources and limited manpower, taking the high-end route is undoubtedly the best choice to obtain the greatest combat power with the least expenditure. If they need to survive the long winter of total war, they need sufficient internal stability, and the premise of stability is that the military strength of all parties is equal, which can force all parties to maintain peace.

It was the first time that Bai Haitang knew about the twists and turns involved. After Shirley explained it to her, she realized that a little white rabbit like her might be sold to a black-hearted boss like Liu Wen and would probably happily count the money and hand it over to him. They are all very cunning and can hide more than a dozen things in one sentence.

Liu Wen listened quietly to Shirley explaining to Bai Haitang the current situation and what they needed to do. He felt very complicated. He had not thought about these things at first. It was only after Xu Zemin secretly reminded him that he suddenly realized that he was actually the weakest one here, because he had no high-level combat power to protect himself, and his existing power and strength were actually completely incompatible.

The reason why he was able to successfully squeeze out many veteran pioneers and take the seat of army commander from a lord who had just entered the star field was not because of how much power he had, but how much power he influenced and the influence he created through his actions in the star field.

The establishment of the joint fleet gave him the final say over hundreds of alien civilizations, and he had nearly three thousand legions of troops. He also had dozens of human lords following him, and they obeyed his orders because of the benefits he brought.

Therefore, Liu Wen is very much in line with the Human Alliance's taste. He is a fast-growing individual, is brave and resourceful, and can create value. Isn't this the kind of lord that the Human Alliance needs?
What's the point of just fighting and killing? Humanity has never lacked such heroes, but what the Human Alliance needs most are people who can hold up the banner of human civilization and lead humanity forward.

(End of this chapter)