That was the end of the conflict.
It ended with nearly a hundred casualties for the humans and zero Protoss casualties.
There was no doubt that the Protoss had gained a lot of advantages in the first conflict.
But it was only a small advantage, and then a very fatal flaw was exposed.
The concentration of spiritual energy was insufficient.
Even though the Revival of Magical Powers had been going on for nearly a decade, the concentration of spiritual energy on Earth was still only a few hundredths or even a few thousandths of that on the Heavenly Realm.
It simply could not support the continuous consumption of practitioners above the Jiedan stage.
For practitioners above the Jiedan stage, as long as the output was large, the spiritual energy reserves in their bodies would decline, and it would be difficult to replenish them.
Even the super practitioners of the Shenguang Order were one-off combat power. They could not continuously replenish their spiritual energy in large quantities.
Unless they carried spiritual stones with them, even if they were Sages, they were only one-off combat power.
It was just that spiritual stones were a scarce resource. Not everyone could have hundreds or thousands of them. In addition, the Heavenly Realm had been over-developed. In the crisis of chaos, the ubiquitous "pollution" had led to fewer and fewer spiritual stones. Finally, it had reached the point where it was on the verge of exhaustion.
Therefore, the Protoss who came to Earth, no matter how high their level of cultivation was, were mostly one-off combat power.
What about the humans?
As long as there were enough factories and raw materials, the guns, cannons, planes, tanks, and mecha in the hands of humans could be produced in large quantities.
In addition, there were also consumables such as robots that could replace human soldiers. If a large number of them were put into the war, even the most powerful Protoss would be overwhelmed to death under the sea of robots.
…
On the same day that the Protoss attack on the Federal Parliament broke out, it quickly spread on the Internet and caused an uproar.
The human netizens were furious:
"Biting the hand that feeds them! Ungrateful wretches. "
"If I had known, I wouldn't have taken them in."
"The so-called Protoss are just a group of terrorists who have no concept of civilization in their minds. They think that they can conquer the whole world with their fists and violence. They are too naive! We humans will not succumb to their idea of a slave society. "
"War? Who's afraid of who?! You guys started it first. We can only fight back! "
"Fight! Fight! We will never be cowards. "
"If people don't offend us, we won't offend them. If people offend us, we will cut the weeds and eliminate them!"
"What about nuclear weapons? Why haven't we taken out our nuclear weapons to suppress the arrogance of the Protoss?"
"Are you crazy? The destructive power of nuclear weapons is too great. Not only will it destroy the Protoss, but it will also destroy our homeland. We can't use it easily unless it's the last resort!"
"In any case, a grudge has been formed. If a terrible war comes, then so be it!"
Most of the netizens were very hot-blooded. They really couldn't take it anymore and shouted back.
There were even netizens who started a war donation campaign. If you donated half a month's salary, he would donate a month's salary. In a short period of time, a lot of money was raised. It was very enthusiastic.
However …
Even if the people were boiling and the cries for war were everywhere.
However, war was a major event after all. Unless there was no other choice, it could not be launched easily.
The upper echelons of the federal government were transferred to a mysterious underground command center. Many human leaders held another meeting.
A conference to decide war or peace.
In the underground conference room.
At a large oval table the size of a football field, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Federation, as well as the leaders of Z, M, Maoxiong, and other countries, gathered together and discussed solemnly.
Speaker Fang Xiuping, who had a white bandage on his left hand, accidentally injured his arm by a falling brick, said in a dignified tone, "The way of thinking of the Protoss has been different from ours all these years. Our way of thinking has always been difficult to influence them. It is basically impossible for them to accept our way of thinking."
The idea of integrating the two races into one was not very realistic.
"Not only that, but not only did they not accept our way of thinking, they are also trying every possible way to swallow us up and force us to yield. As soon as the news that the nuclear weapons are ineffective was leaked, the balance was broken. They immediately acted almost without hesitation, as if they had been suppressing it for a long time."
Bang!
The leader of the Hairy Bear Tribe slammed his fist on the table and said fiercely, "It seems that our previous goodwill and help are basically useless. It's as ridiculous as the Indians helping the European colonists. The wisest thing to do is to eliminate them near the Space Gate from the very beginning, instead of accepting waves and waves of Protoss immigrants!"
"Sigh …"
Deputy Speaker Lawrence Ford sighed and said, "We have tried our best. For more than a decade, we have done our best for peace. We have shown our sincerity. Even when we were scolded by the citizens of the Federation, we persevered. In the end, we can only use war to maintain peace?"
"If there are only two paths ahead: war and slavery, then I choose war!"
"Yes! We can only fight a war! "
"But …"
A heavyweight member of parliament said hesitantly, "Are we ready for war? Do we have the confidence to win? Our opponents are a large number of Transcendents. "
"Senator Wash, I can answer the questions about war preparations."
A burly general in the middle with thick eyebrows and tiger-like eyes stood up. He was a three-star general staff officer named Moreden Peters. As he turned on a projection screen, he said in a loud voice, "Actually, we've been making military preparations for the past decade or so."
"No matter how peaceful the public opinion is, we have been seriously preparing for war.
"For more than a decade, the equipment developed by our military unit has been developed to counter the Protoss' extraordinary abilities.
"Most of the military exercises that our army has conducted over the years have been carried out with the Protoss as the imaginary enemy. The soldiers have been rigorously trained.
"I can responsibly say that even in the face of the very powerful Protoss, our soldiers will not panic or lose their morale. Instead, they will fight bravely and fearlessly.
"In addition, by using highly realistic virtual game technology, our most elite troops have a 30% chance of killing the practitioners of the Shenguang Order without the use of nuclear weapons.
"Of course, the biggest difficulty is that the military's military expenditure has shrunk over the years. More than 30% of the soldiers have been laid off, and the training funds and equipment purchase costs are insufficient. As a result, we have only trained 11 of the most elite troops. We are seriously short of numbers."
At this point, the members of parliament and the leaders present could clearly hear the resentment in Moreden's words.
But even though he was complaining, Moreden still adjusted himself very well and continued, "We need at least a hundred elite troops to basically be able to resist the valiant Protoss cultivators. Therefore, from now on, the military expenditure must be increased by ten times as much as before! Only then can we complete the training task in a short period of time.
"In addition, according to the analysis of our military experts, the Protoss actually have a certain weakness. That day, when they attacked the first headquarters of the Federation, they had the ability to destroy the AST Mecha Clan, and then severely injure the third mecha operator of the M nation who came to support them. They could have even sent a few Protoss to chase after the fleeing Federation members of parliament and kill or control some of them.
"But they did not. They only severely injured the AST Mecha Clan and then left in a hurry. They did not want to be entangled too much.
"According to the analysis of our elite military experts, the reason why the Protoss stopped their follow-up actions was not because they were soft-hearted or because of a special warning. It was simply because they had consumed too much spiritual energy and could not continue fighting.
"The spiritual energy on Earth is too thin, and the rate of consumption is far greater than the rate of replenishment. Even the top combat power of the Protoss, who can destroy hundreds of mechas with one blow, will consume far more spiritual energy than they can recover in battle.
"That day, perhaps the Protoss had fought on Earth for the first time. They forgot that this is not the Heavenly Realm. In their complacency, they exposed a fatal flaw.
"It is this fatal flaw that allows us to see the possibility of defeating the Protoss!
"As long as we launch a 'war of attrition,' no matter how high their cultivation is, there will come a day when they will be exhausted to death by us.
"Moreover, taking advantage of the current thinness of spiritual energy, the earlier we launch the war, the greater our advantage. If we continue to delay, when the concentration of the so-called 'celestial particles' reaches a considerable level, I'm afraid that the scales of victory will once again tip back to the Protoss.
"So, let's strike earlier! It's better to strike earlier than later! The longer it takes, the more disadvantageous it will be for us! "
Moreden issued a proposal for war.
All the councilors and leaders nodded in agreement.
After so many years of understanding, most of them had a good idea of the individual strength of the Protoss. They were definitely comparable to humanoid bombs, humanoid tanks, and humanoid nuclear bombs. In addition, they were highly mobile, agile, and had a very high IQ. Every one of them was very difficult to deal with. They were not existences that could be easily killed.
Coupled with their characteristics of fast recovery and long duration of combat, under the premise of the failure of high-power nuclear weapons, the fate of mankind becoming slaves of the Protoss would probably be irreversible.
Fortunately, the current Protoss still had a relatively fatal weakness.
If they did not seize this opportunity …
"Then let's go to war! We still have a great chance of winning! "said a representative.
"It's been almost two hundred years of peace. In the end, blood and fire cannot be avoided!"
"Fight! It can only be war! "
In the conference room, except for a few silent people, the opinions were basically the same.
Only a formal declaration of war and discussion of the various aspects of the war plan were left.
For example, public opinion control, entering a state of readiness for war, activating various war machines, carrying out a comprehensive mobilization, and so on.
However, only two days had passed.
Just when everyone was in a state of panic.
Suddenly, there was news from the Protoss that they wanted to negotiate.
The leader of the Protoss, Bakedu, personally made a video call and contacted the Federal Speaker, Fang Xiuping. The two of them chatted across the air.
"Speaker Fang, don't make any more unnecessary preparations and sacrifices. Know your place and obediently lead the humans behind you to surrender to us, the Protoss."
Bakedu said earnestly, "This time, I will show a little bit of kindness and not treat you humans as slaves. Instead, I will give you humans a little status. How about becoming subjects of the Protoss?"
"We will not enslave you, nor will we kill you at will. You only need to abide by the rules set by the Protoss and serve us sincerely. How about that?"
"As long as you perform well, there will be endless wealth, generous land, great power, and even the possibility of becoming a member of the Protoss and obtaining the identity of the Protoss. All you need to do is bow slightly and respectfully call us' Your Excellency '."
"How about it? Are you tempted? Do you want to be the first to surrender? If you can take the lead and set an example, you will be put in a lot of important positions in the future. Your future is limitless. "
At this point, the corner of Bakedu's mouth curled up, and he looked quite proud.
But he did not notice that Fang Xiuping was looking at him as if he was looking at an idiot.
Fang Xiuping saw through his intention of taking the initiative to contact him at a glance. "It seems that the Protoss have also realized that this is not the best time to start a war, right?"
"So you softened your attitude a little and made slightly better demands?"
Fang Xiuping looked disdainful. "But I'm sorry, I'm not at all interested in the benefits you mentioned. Moreover, we humans are ready for war and will enter a state of total war at any time."
"We have simulated it with our supercomputers. As long as we are willing to pay the price of about 200 million casualties, we can wipe out all the Protoss on Earth within about three years and achieve the final victory."
"But we still want to give peace a chance. We don't want the cities to turn into ruins, for hatred to spread rapidly and for people to be plunged into misery and suffering."
"So, make a solemn apology for the attack on the First Federal Headquarters a few days ago, and give generous compensation to the families of the dead and wounded soldiers. Even if you say 'we are sorry' without much sincerity, it can restore peace, stop the cruel war that will follow, and everything will return to the previous peace."
"How about it? Can you say the word 'sorry'?"
"Are you kidding me?"
Bakedu's face darkened. "How could the mighty Shen Clan apologize to an ant? What kind of big dream are you having? "
"Arrogant, is it?"
Fang Xiuping muttered, "Then prepare to pay the price for your arrogance."
With that, he hung up the video call.
The negotiations broke down.
However, two days later, they noticed that the human side had entered a state of full mobilization and combat readiness. They had cut off the water and electricity supply to the Protoss residential areas, as well as all kinds of material supplies. Trade was interrupted, and the route connecting Jupiter's Portal of Space was disrupted. A complete lockdown was implemented.
In just a day or two.
Many of the Protoss residential areas had regressed for thousands of years and had fallen into a state of semi-collapse.
The war had not even started, but the sanctions war had already overwhelmed more than a billion Protoss immigrants. Complaints were heard everywhere.
As for the reason for the lockdown, most of the Protoss knew through the television media and wireless broadcasts that they could only blame the higher-ups of the Protoss for stirring up trouble for no reason, attacking the Federal Councilors for no reason, killing hundreds of human soldiers, and committing a major murder.
"We have no intention of making things difficult for you. If you want to lift the sanctions, it's very simple: apologize, make a public apology, and pay compensation!"
"As long as you apologize, the lockdown will be lifted immediately, and we will let bygones be bygones."
Most of the Protoss fell silent as they watched Fang Xiuping's righteous words on the television or the radio, as well as the indisputable images of the attack.
Only a small portion of the Protoss clamored, "Apologize? Who do you think you are? "
In the face of such sanctions, be it the Protoss or any other race, generally, they could only hold out for three days.
Once the three-day limit of tolerance was over, they would either have to compromise, or both sides would suffer. There was no other choice.
Hence, the ball was once again in the hands of the higher-ups of the Protoss.
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