Those who reincarnate must die.

Under Zhuge's command, it took less than two days for humanity to basically wipe out the Zerg on the Great Dust Star, and the fleet landed on this desolate planet.

Humanity's expeditionary force is powerful, but to establish a foothold in an unfamiliar star sector, fleets alone are insufficient; they must rely on planets. The Red Manco system is remote, and apart from the insectoids, few other powers are interested in it, making it the most suitable forward base for newly arrived humans.

After completing the occupation of Great Dust Star, Zhang Lang immediately ordered expeditions to be sent to the other planets in the Red Manco system to occupy and develop them.

Although those are uninhabitable planets with almost no possibility of terraforming, it is still a good idea to establish mining sites on them as reserves of mineral resources.

The Red Manco system has six planets. Once all of them are occupied, the star Red Manco will be considered part of humanity's sphere of influence. This means that seven planets have been occupied in one go, and the main storyline is seven percent complete.

"Zhuge, how long will it take for us to establish a foothold in this galaxy?" Zhang Lang asked the AI ​​beside him as he reviewed the various data and work progress displayed on the screen.

"The Redmanco system is relatively resource-poor, with only one low-habitability planet, so the major powers are not very interested in it. Only the Zerg have a 42% chance of trying to reclaim their territory. However, according to intelligence, the Zerg's main force is currently fighting with the Bloodlust for a system with very rich biological resources, and they will at most send small groups to harass us. Based on this assessment, it will probably take us four to six months to complete the occupation of this system."

From a practical standpoint, humanity must establish comprehensive infrastructure in this star system and stabilize the situation before embarking on further expansion. This is a lengthy and meticulous process, often taking months or even years.

However, Zhang Lang couldn't wait. The mission only lasted five months, and he didn't have the patience to waste too much time in this remote star system.

"Has the Zerg's star path been cracked?" Zhang Lang's gaze fell on the sign of the star path exit on the star map.

In this world, civilizations rely on star trails to travel through the universe. If a star trail is opened up between two star systems millions of light-years apart, they may only need to travel a few million kilometers to reach each other, which can be seen as a shortcut to travel through space.

The Star Paths were not constructed by any particular race. According to the theories of this world, the Star Paths form a complex, three-dimensional network structure, spreading throughout every corner of the universe, seemingly existing since the birth of the universe. Wherever the matter density reaches a certain level, there will almost always be entrances and exits to the Star Paths nearby. However, these entrances and exits are invisible to the naked eye and can only be observed when technology has advanced to a certain level.

Even if such "wild" star trails are spotted, one cannot enter them rashly. Primitive star trails are often unstable, containing powerful spacetime turbulence. Even the hardest materials known to humankind cannot remain intact in such an environment. Therefore, after observation, the star trails must be reinforced and the internal space stabilized before they can be utilized.

Therefore, every civilization that has reached the stage of cosmic exploration possesses countless star paths. To prevent other races from using these star paths, each race typically encrypts them, ensuring that only its own race can use them.

Now that humanity has conquered Dust Star, besides seizing resources, the most important thing is to crack the starway entrances and exits controlled by the Zerg in this star system.

"Not yet," Zhuge said honestly. "The Zerg are a purely biological civilization. Their star paths almost exclusively recognize the entry and exit of organic matter, which is fundamentally different from our human construction logic. It will take time to decipher them."

"What if we destroy it and rebuild one?" Zhang Lang countered.

"The Starway cannot be destroyed," Zhuge replied. "Even if we destroy the Zerg's stable facilities in this star system, it will only prevent us from entering the Starway from this end. The Zerg can still cross the Starway from the other stable end, but they may suffer some losses due to the decreased stability."

"The time and resources required to find new star paths and rebuild stable facilities are estimated to be more than 25 times that of cracking them."

Zhang Lang stroked his chin: "So, even if we crack this part of the Star Path, it will only allow both us and the Zerg to pass through. To completely control a Star Path, we must control both ends, right?"

"Yes, sir!"

Zhang Lang stroked his chin. "Does your database contain the locations of all the star paths in the Proon sector?"

"Not all, only what we have already explored, but enough to connect all the known star systems in the Proon sector."

"That's good!" Zhang Lang pointed. "Pull it up!"

"Yes, sir. To make it easier for you to access the information, please use a virtual reality device."

Zhang Lang put on the holographic glasses next to the chair. Soon, his surroundings became pitch black, followed by a dense array of large points of light. Within these points of light, there were faint, fine lines connecting them, intricately intertwined, like a three-dimensional net.

Each point of light here represents a galaxy, and each thin line is a star path. Click to zoom in and you can see detailed information such as the composition of the galaxy, the length of the star path, its stability, the location of its entrance and exit, and which race it belongs to, etc.

Ordinary people would be overwhelmed by such a complex three-dimensional maze. However, Zhang Lang, as a monster with top-tier water attributes, has brain processing capabilities that far exceed the limits of living beings. With a glance, he memorized the information of every star path.

Zhang Lang took off his holographic glasses. "How long do you estimate it will take to completely decipher the Zerg's star path?"

"Based on the current progress, it is estimated that it will take another 106 hours."

"Alright!" Zhang Lang nodded: "Five days later, you will send an advance force, consisting of half combat units and half operational units, to cross the star path and occupy the Zerg star system on the other side."

Upon hearing Zhang Lang's order, even the usually rational AI hesitated for a moment: "Sir, at the other end of the Star Path, the main battlefield is now the Mother Nest and the Blood Frenzy. There are billions of troops fighting there. Even our main expeditionary force may not be able to defeat them. Sending an advance force is tantamount to sending them to their deaths."

"Don't worry, in five days you'll just need to wrap things up." With that, Zhang Lang pulled over the control panel and his fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly drafting a battle plan.