Chapter 984 - Punishmen (1/2)

The door opened up, and a butler-type robot walked in with a push cart with boxes of food stacked on it.

“It’s time to eat!” the dynasty soldiers who were currently on duty cried out.

Ever since they became captives, these Kunde Race civilians had lived in fear toward their unknown future. However, they were not abused in any way. The dynasty gave them their meals every day, and the civilians had calmed down greatly because of this. None of them made any irrational moves.

The butler-type robot then weaved through the crowd to pass out food. These captives all sat up straight and began devouring their food as they chatted with each other. The atmosphere was still pretty calm.

In the crowd, an adult and a child were eating their meal. The female adult then poured half of her food for her child.

“Mummy, aren’t you eating?” Upon seeing that, this child raised his head.

“You eat first. I will eat after you are done.”

The adult female looked at her son lovingly.

“No, let’s eat together.” The child shook his head and mumbled, “If only daddy was here. Mummy, where did daddy go?”

Upon hearing that, the mother fell silent. She then looked at her son and forced out a smile. “Your father may be on another spaceship and is unable to visit us. He will come and visit us after everything is over.”

“Hurray! I really miss him,” the child said with excitement. “When will everything be over?”

“It should be soon…”

She obviously was not confident, but she still had to force herself to look calm.

Upon seeing her child engrossed in his meal, she turned around and wiped her tears away.

She knew full well that her husband would probably have met with misfortune… because her husband was a military officer.

She had been sent away at the start of the war but brought back again as a captive because of the dynasty. Although the dynasty had sealed off all information, she could imagine the losses in the battlefield since the Kunde Race had lost.

Since she could not communicate with the outside world, she did not know if her husband was dead or alive, and she was still holding onto the last bit of hope in her heart. In front of her child, she had to suppress her fear and unease, and she was enduring a huge pressure in her heart.

After her child went to sleep at night, her face would be washed in tears as she wept silently.

She did not know how the Crimson Dynasty would treat them and could only lie to her own child.

Beep beep beep…

Right at this moment, a holographic screen popped out and attracted everyone’s attention.

A familiar figure then appeared on the screen.

“It’s the leader!”

A commotion broke out immediately with some of them standing up.

The same scene happened on all the Kunde Race prison spaceships. Most of them were completely clueless about what was happening on the outside after the dynasty sealed off all news. This was the first piece of news that they had received ever since they became captives and also the first time that they had seen their leader on the television since.

This mother placed down her food and pulled her child to watch the screen.

On the screen, the Kunde Race leader faced the camera and slowly said, “Members of my fellow race, I have a piece of news to announce. We have lost the war completely, and around seventy percent of our military strength has been wiped out. The fleets that are lost or destroyed are as follows…”

He then began reading out the long list of units that had been lost or destroyed. The family members of the soldiers all had their attention focused on the screen, afraid that they might miss a number.

As the list was read out, there would be some who collapsed on the ground with their hearts shattered and heart-wrenching crying from time to time.

This little child did not really understand what was going on. However, he suddenly felt his mother’s body swaying, having almost collapsed. He hurriedly turned around to hold her hands.

“Mummy, what’s wrong?”

This mother’s body was trembling slightly. If she was a human, her face would definitely have been pale at the moment. She stabilized her body and tried to speak calmly. “I’m alright.”

She had heard the name of the fleet that her husband was serving, and her final trace of hope had been shattered. Her vision blacked out, and she almost fainted.

But upon thinking about her son beside her, she suppressed her emotions and could not even cry.

Sobbing sounds could be heard everywhere, and grief filled the entire room.

After finally reading out the entire list, the Kunde Race leader said with a deep voice, “I have to take responsibility for the loss of the war. This wrong decision made by the upper echelons resulted in the loss today.

“In truth, this war could have been avoided. The enemy wasn’t the one who started the war; I was.

“The dynasty came from afar to explore the unknown. They are actually a peace-loving civilization, but my arrogance and enmity blinded my heart. A third party made use of me to view the Crimson Dynasty with enmity. We then attempted to take the initiative to attack the Crimson Dynasty, which incurred the rage of the dynasty.

“We originally had the chance to live together peacefully without any war or bloodshed. We would only have had to change our culture. It is a pity that my mistake resulted in us losing this option.

“My arrogance destroyed the bridge for both parties to communicate. I take responsibility for everything that has happened, and my mistake has pushed the entire civilization into the pits of despair.”

He then took out a document, which was the confidential report of the first psionic explosion trap and the dynasty’s casualty tabulation to prove that he was not lying.

Following which, the Kunde Race leader stood up and bowed to the screen.

“I was the one who destroyed many families in this war, and I apologize for that.”

Everyone now understood the reason for this speech. It was for him to own up to his mistakes and explain the reasons for the war.

Looking at this scene, many people flew into a rage.

I’m sorry?

You caused such great harm to the entire race. Is apologizing even useful‽

If not for you starting the war, all those soldiers wouldn’t have died, and we would still be leading a normal life. How would we have been reduced to captives‽

It is all because of you that our civilization has met with such a crisis! All of these could have been avoided!

A single sorry is enough‽

The Kunde Race leader then returned to his seat and continued speaking expressionlessly.

“I know that everyone is very concerned about how the Crimson Dynasty will deal with us. Rest assured, the Crimson Dynasty is a civilization far more advanced than us, and they will not massacre commoners or take away our intelligence. They have decided to let go of us and settle us down in another Star System. They will return our freedom to us and help us construct our new homeland…”

Upon hearing that, everyone began to calm down slightly. This was the problem that they were all worried about.

It was already extremely lucky for them to emerge alive, and the other party was still willing to let them go and return their freedom.

It seems like the Crimson Dynasty is a peace-loving civilization indeed… Many people had such a thought.

Their race had provoked the war and was in the wrong, but the dynasty still treated the captives with mercy and behaved benevolently. After making such a comparison, everyone’s enmity toward the dynasty weakened.

Of course, there was no such thing as rationality for such a matter. As the party who started the war, there were still many people in the Kunde Race who harbored hatred toward the dynasty, especially the family members of the soldiers.

However, after this explanation, their anger was mainly directed toward the Kunde Race leader.

At this moment, the Kunde Race leader took out another document with Han Xiao’s resume written on it. This was provided by the dynasty.

“Our new homeland will be in the territory of a bigshot in the Crimson Dynasty. His name is Black Star, and he will provide protection for us. He is a respected figure, and it was because of his request that the dynasty decided to return us our freedom.”

Looking at Han Xiao’s picture on the document, everyone remembered this individual who had spoken up for them.

In the office on Planet Lighthouse, Han Xiao’s projection was currently watching the Kunde Race leader’s speech together with Tarrokov. Upon seeing that scene, Han Xiao looked at Tarrokov and laughed.

“You guys are truly the best. You didn’t only give me the resources of the Kunde Race population but also helped me build up my image for free.”

Tarrokov took a sip of his tea and smiled. “You’re welcome.”

The speech continued, and the Kunde Race leader introduced their new homeland to them but did not mention anything about the propaganda and lockdown of news that they would be subjected to.

“The outcome today is a result of poor strategies, and the upper echelons will have to take responsibility for this matter. The upper echelons will all be punished, and I will keep this lesson in mind to lead our race with wisdom in the future to build up our new homeland.”

Boom!

As these words were said, the crowd immediately broke out in a huge uproar.

“What right does he have to lead us after making such a huge mistake?”

“He punished all the upper echelons but didn’t suffer the slightest punishment? Too hypocritical!”

“Does he plan to hold on to the position of leader until he dies‽”

Everyone flew into a rage.

The entire race was harmed by you to such an extent. What right do you have to continue leading us‽

Did we agree‽