It had to be said—at this moment, both of the Shepards were completely dumbfounded by Duanmu Huai's way of doing things.
Sure, he said it was "getting straight to the point," but this was way too straight to the point…
By comparison, Duanmu Huai himself appeared perfectly calm. This had always been his plan. After all, the reason the Stellar Federation and the Inquisition had their eyes on the Terminus Systems was primarily because of mineral resources. Minerals wouldn't be destroyed, so he could simply issue an extermination order, cleanse all the planets in the Terminus Systems, and leave behind only a few suitable for Stellar Federation colonization.
From the Inquisition's perspective, all xenos deserved death.
But for the Shepard siblings, who came from a military background, this was… a completely different matter.
"Uh… are we really going to do this, Inquisitor?" the younger Shepard asked uneasily. "Issuing extermination orders and purifying entire planets… there are innocent civilians on them…"
Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow.
"You should know the Inquisition's creed. Our targets are demons, xenos, and heretics. As long as they fall into one of those categories, they are purified—no other options. Frankly speaking, if it weren't for the need to mine resources, I would've just wiped the entire Terminus Systems flat. It would've been simpler and saved time."
"Uh...…"
In fact, Duanmu Huai didn't even need to let them choose. He could've purged every planet, then had Dardaniel send people over to install a few atmospheric terraforming devices. After a full reset, start over—wouldn't that be even easier?
"But wouldn't this give other races a bad impression of humanity…?"
"Rabbits are gentle because they lack the power to resist and can only act cute. There can't be two tigers on one mountain. If humanity wants to establish its position in the universe, it has to be ruthless. Soft-hearted benevolence accomplishes nothing."
Duanmu Huai cut him off. From his observation, it was clear that among the siblings, the elder sister Shepard was more iron-blooded, while the younger brother cared more about order.
Mm. Neither was necessarily a bad thing.
Duanmu Huai understood the younger Shepard's thinking. He believed this approach would push other races away from humanity, and clearly hoped for a universe united across species.
But Duanmu Huai knew better. History and experience had taught players a bloody lesson: Those not of our kind are bound to harbor different intentions. No non-human race would obediently follow humanity. The Protheans and the Prophets were the best examples. The latter had even been humanity's allies—yet during the war against the Forerunners, the Prophets sold humanity out without hesitation to preserve their own species.
The result?
Humanity was annihilated by the Forerunners. The Prophets became their lackeys and barely survived.
The Protheans were the same. They had once been a vassal race of the Empire. The moment the Empire fell, they immediately crowned themselves kings of the mountain.
When it comes to the survival of one's species, everyone always prioritizes their own.
Traitors like that human-collaborating doctor on Pandora were the exception, not the rule.
That was why Duanmu Huai had never entertained the idea of uniting with other races. Ideological and factional disputes among humans might be reconciled, but the gulf between species could never be bridged.
You couldn't convince a tiger to eat grass, nor could you make a rabbit eat meat. Objective reality could not be changed by subjective will. The failure of the Imperial Truth was the clearest warning.
So Duanmu Huai didn't care at all whether his actions provoked fear or hatred among alien races.
In a few years, the Reapers would return to harvest the galaxy anyway. By then, every alien civilization would be wiped out. All he needed to do was protect humanity. Without the Inquisition lifting a finger, the xenos would be exterminated on their own. After that, the Inquisition would simply destroy the Reapers.
Done.
Humanity protected. Xenos and heretics eliminated. The Stellar Federation's dominance in this region firmly established.
One move, three gains.
"...…"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, the Shepard siblings stood obediently before him, not daring to breathe loudly. Duanmu Huai sat there, a faint killing intent flickering in his eyes.
He understood that in many cases, advocating peace was the mainstream public opinion. People believed that as long as relationships were good, there wouldn't be any problems. Be like brothers, fight side by side. Movies loved to portray different races and cultures laughing away their grudges after fighting together…
Heh. But that was just movies.
Movies were fiction. History was reality.
Using history as a mirror, one can know past and present.
Throughout history, how many dynasties tried appeasement and marriage alliances with barbarian tribes?
Did it solve anything?
Of course not. Once you weakened, they still invaded you. Alliances? Brotherhood? All bullshit.
Only when a nation was strong and its people prosperous would all others come to pay tribute.
Once a nation declined and its people suffered, all that followed was chaos and invasion.
What applied to nations applied to species as well.
Only when humanity was strong would other races bow and show goodwill.
The moment humanity weakened, all supposed affection would turn false, and xenos would bring calamity upon mankind.
That was why Duanmu Huai had no fear of alien resentment.
Back in the Warring States period, didn't all six states hate Qin to the bone?
And what happened in the end?
Qin unified the realm—not through friendship, but through wealth and military strength.
In conflicts between nations and species, soft-hearted mercy had no future. The kindness you showed was nothing but weakness in the eyes of xenos.
"Choose."
Duanmu Huai stared coldly at the two before him.
"I know why you're here representing the Stellar Federation. Leave the planet selection to you. Pick the ones suitable for colonization. The Inquisition will purify everything else."
"...…"
The younger Shepard wanted to say something more, but at that moment, the elder sister stepped forward. She quickly selected several planets within the Terminus Systems and explained her reasons clearly. It was obvious she had already thought this through. Duanmu Huai said nothing more, simply nodding.
"All right. You may go back. We'll proceed according to this plan. Tomorrow, we set off for the Terminus Systems."
"Yes!"
The elder Shepard saluted, then turned and left with her brother.
"Did we really do the right thing, sis?"
After returning to their own warship, the younger Shepard finally frowned and spoke uneasily.
"The Terminus Systems are full of criminals. What the Inquisition is doing might push them into uniting against us. We'll be under immense pressure."
"That just makes it easier to clean them all up at once."
Compared to her brother, the sister saw things more clearly. She shook her head and replied:
"You know what kind of people live in the Terminus Systems. To them, we're enemies no matter what. They were always going to band together against us. Since that's the case, we might as well show them how powerful humanity really is—let them know we're not to be messed with."
Hearing her answer, the younger Shepard said nothing, only nodding silently.
Wasn't he a soldier too? Didn't he also want to display humanity's glory?
It was just that compared to his sister, he was more cautious. He had originally hoped to feign weakness, lure the enemy into underestimating them, and then proceed step by step. But Duanmu Huai was clearly far more hardline—and since his sister had already made her decision, he would follow her lead.
As for the Terminus Systems campaign itself, Duanmu Huai had no strong opinions. In fact, the elder Shepard had only selected three planets, each with solid reasoning.
One lay at the border between the Terminus Systems and current Stellar Federation territory—naturally essential for future troop deployments and colonization.
The second was a central colonized planet that radiated influence throughout the Terminus Systems—necessary for controlling the region.
The third lay on the opposite side of the Terminus Systems, acting like the mouth of a bag. Occupying it would completely block other forces from entering the region.
After that, the only difference would be whether to steamroll forward directly or seal the exits first and then trap them like turtles in a jar.
"Huu...…"
Duanmu Huai sighed, set aside his thoughts, reached out to pat Aegis on the head, then stood up, preparing to rest.
However, at that moment, he suddenly heard laughter and cheerful voices outside. The door opened, and An, Maria, and the others crowded in around Zhen Jiling.
"Knight! Knight! Zhen Jiling has blown up! She's insanely popular!"
"Oh? Really?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai smiled. He'd known Zhen Jiling's Superior Charm would work—but he hadn't expected it to work this well.
Zhen Jiling herself was extremely excited and happy. Her outgoing personality made her perfect for this kind of interactive work. During this stream, although the platform had promoted her heavily due to Stellar Federation orders, the fact that so many viewers stayed proved her own strength.
"Yes! Knight, at the very beginning, when people came in and saw Zhen Jiling, quite a few of them cursed at her! We were scared to death!"
Grea nodded vigorously. This was their first time witnessing livestreaming, and they had all been watching nearby. When they saw people enter and immediately start insulting Zhen Jiling, they were shocked and couldn't understand why anyone would be so aggressive.
It was understandable. Having followed Duanmu Huai until now, this was the first time they had truly experienced a modern online environment through the Stellar Federation. Because it was officially promoted, the platform went all out—which naturally annoyed many people and triggered rebellious reactions. Some thought that an unknown newcomer receiving full-network promotion must be suspicious.
So when the stream started, many viewers rushed in just to vent their anger, terrifying the girls watching on the side.
If it had been Grea or Feilin, they probably would've ended the stream on the spot and gone into depression.
But Zhen Jiling lived up to her Superior Charm. Faced with complaints and passive-aggressive remarks, she remained cheerful, smiling and chatting with everyone. Before anyone realized it, not only did the viewer count not drop—it kept climbing!
Her stream itself wasn't anything special. She introduced herself, performed some Uma Musume songs and dances, then chatted casually about makeup and daily life.
And yet—
It exploded.
"How many viewers?" Duanmu Huai asked, eyes lighting up.
"Five hundred million!"
An answered hurriedly, startling even herself as she said it.
Five hundred million!
That was hundreds of times the population of Manaria!
Even Duanmu Huai was shocked. He knew the Stellar Federation had long expanded beyond the Solar System and probably had a population in the tens of billions, but…
Five hundred million viewers on a first stream…
Worthy of Superior Charm.
Truly insane.
Duanmu Huai chatted with Zhen Jiling for a while. He had been a streamer himself once and knew how disgusting online abuse could be. Even though Zhen Jiling looked cheerful, he worried she might carry psychological scars.
But Zhen Jiling was calm about it, saying she'd experienced similar things within her own tribe before. As long as she "talked it out" and let people recognize her cuteness, everything would be fine.
When you say "talk it out," do you mean physically or magically?
In any case, seeing that Zhen Jiling wasn't shaken, Duanmu Huai felt relieved. He encouraged her a bit more, and everyone left.
Of course, An and Grea originally wanted to try streaming themselves—but after witnessing this, they were too scared to try.
As for Feilin, she had already made up her mind.
Why stream when lurking and watching the drama is so much better?
"Hmm...…"
After Zhen Jiling and the others left, Duanmu Huai sat back down, thought for a moment, then opened his terminal and connected to the Stellar Federation network, finding the streaming platform.
Since Zhen Jiling could retain five hundred million viewers on her first stream, he wanted to test something.
Now that he had added points to Charm, how many viewers could he retain?
With the Stellar Federation's user base, he wasn't asking for five hundred million—five thousand should be reasonable, right?
So Duanmu Huai opened a stream titled "Wildly Handsome Alpha Takes You Across the Universe" and smugly went live.
After a moment, someone entered. They looked at Duanmu Huai.
"Holy shit, what the hell is this monster?!"
[HalfBlackHat has left the stream]
Then another person came in.
"Jesus Christ, I was just scrolling late at night—why did I run into a ghost?!"
[BasketballRAP has left the stream]
Then Duanmu Huai's screen went black.
[The streamer has violated platform regulations by broadcasting disturbing content. Stream has been banned.]
"..."
Staring at the system notification, Duanmu Huai silently closed the terminal.
Fuck this, I'm done streaming! Tomorrow I'm going to slaughter those xeno bastards in the Terminus Systems to vent my anger!
(End of Chapter)