The messenger of the Devourers, the arrogant Big Tooth, along with the guards he brought, were transformed into exquisitely plated, delicious dishes in the mouths of humans.
Even those humans he looked down upon as lowly insects were now sitting at pristine dining tables, loudly critiquing the quality of their meat and discussing how it should be cooked!
This was an immense humiliation for the proud Devourer civilization!
The messenger they sent had been turned into exquisitely plated dishes right before the humans' eyes!
"Sir, there's a communication from the universe. It should be the Devourer civilization's fleet," Moss suddenly said.
"They're finally here."
Emrys tidied himself up and then said to the others, "Everyone, keep eating. I'm going to take a call."
His humorous remark made everyone laugh.
Then, Emrys entered the United Nations building, calmly sat down in a chair, and had Moss transfer the communication.
A somewhat ethereal projection suddenly appeared before him, looking no different from Big Tooth, but the other party was wearing clothing woven from a special material, which seemed to indicate a high status.
"I am Stonefang, the Supreme Commander of the Devourers's fleet." After introducing himself, his amber vertical pupils fixed on Emrys.
"You killed the messenger of the Devourer civilization in an almost insulting manner. Don't you need to give us an explanation?"
"An explanation? What kind of explanation do you want?"
Emrys crossed his left leg over his right, leaned casually back in his chair, and said flippantly, "If you can treat humans as food, why can't humans treat you as food?"
"Let me guess, you must be feeling very uncomfortable right now, aren't you?"
Looking at the Supreme Commander of the Devourers's fleet in the projection, Emrys sat in his chair, fiddling with a chess piece in front of him, a sarcastic smile on his face.
"From being a high and mighty hunter to suddenly becoming the prey, this huge shift is hard for you to accept, isn't it?"
The chill in Stonefang's eyes seemed to freeze the air.
"This—is—different!"
"Oh, it is indeed different." Emrys nodded, agreeing quite readily.
"Your meat is good, very chewy, and the meat yield is also high. The only thing I'm not sure about is your reproductive speed. If you have seven or eight offspring per litter, then you could replace pigs and become a stable source of meat for humans."
"Emrys, that's what humans call you, right?" Faced with Emrys' words, Stonefang did not get angry but stared at him calmly.
"Don't try to provoke me. This communication, I am representing the Devourer civilization to propose a peace agreement to humanity."
"Peace agreement?"
Emrys couldn't help but laugh.
"How did your attitude suddenly change so quickly? Weren't you just trying to turn humans into livestock?"
"Because of you." Stonefang was silent for a moment, then said.
"You, along with those suddenly appearing warriors and that warship, have proven that under your leadership, humanity indeed has the qualifications to fight the Devourers. Although we will ultimately win, according to our estimates, we would lose a large amount of resources, which is not in our best interest."
He paused for a moment and continued.
"Therefore, after discussion in our council, we decided to reconcile with humanity. We will provide technology to humans, and humans will be responsible for providing resources to us. This way—we can both profit without war, how about it?"
"Hmm, a good proposal."
Emrys smiled, but before the Devourer fleet Commander could speak, he interjected.
"But—the thing I like to do most is say no to those who are full of themselves."
As soon as he said this, the Devourer fleet Commander's face suddenly darkened, and a cold glint appeared in his amber vertical pupils.
"Are you toying with me, Human!"
Emrys leaned back in his chair, playing with the chess piece.
"Yes, I am toying with you."
Emrys was well aware of the Devourer civilization's conspiracy. If humanity agreed to them now, it wouldn't be long before humans would lose their will to resist, eventually being slowly devoured by the Devourer civilization, completely reduced to livestock, to animals being bred!
The idea was good, but unfortunately, the Devourer civilization did not know what kind of universe Emrys came from, nor did they understand the Imperium of Man!
Peaceful coexistence?
What a joke, the dictionary of the Imperium of Man does not contain these two words; only dead xenos are truly good xenos!
Cooperation is possible, but the prerequisite is that you must have the qualifications, like the Eldar or the Necrons. Unfortunately, the Devourer's only value, or rather their qualification, is to become new canned rations for the Astra Militarum, nothing more.
"Don't you want peace?!"
Stonefang, the Commander of the Devourer fleet, showed surprise and astonishment in his eyes.
"We came with sincerity, to avoid provoking a war between two civilizations. Isn't this what you hoped for?"
"No, I think you might have misunderstood."
Emrys' lips curled into a gentle smile as he slowly rose from his chair, clutching the chess piece, a cold chill flickering in his eyes.
"The Imperium of Man never accepts the surrender of xenos, and our principle for dealing with xenos is, and only ever will be—War!"
"Fighting xenos in space, fighting xenos on the ground, in landing battles, in siege battles, encirclement battles, annihilation battles, breakthrough battles, blitzkriegs!"
"We love war!"
Emrys' extremely delighted expression, as it fell into Stonefang's eyes, made him seem like a man-eating daemon crawled out of bloody hell!
It even seemed to have an illusion, as if Emrys' handsome face, by human standards, was shrouded in a bloody mist, revealing eight ferocious, roaring, angry, and terrifying faces!
"Madman—you, not humans, you are simply madmen!"
At this moment, the Commander of the Devourer fleet finally felt the fear and chill that spread from his spine to the top of his head.
"What good is this to you? Isn't peace what you desire?"
Yes, from a rational perspective, the fleet Commander was right.
The Devourers recognized humanity and was willing to sign a peace agreement, exchanging technology for resources. This would avoid war between both sides and achieve a win-win situation. Wouldn't that be more in line with political interests?
Yet, such a proposal was rejected!
Humanity chose war!
The outcome of the negotiations was a zero-sum game; only one of the two civilizations, with brilliant histories and originating from the same Earth, could survive!
This was undoubtedly the worst possible outcome!
But Emrys' emotions grew more and more agitated, more and more excited, veins bulging on his forehead, his whole person seemingly in a state of extreme frenzy.
"Madman, you are—a madman!"
Stonefang was startled by his wild demeanor, his pupils suddenly constricting, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Yes, we are madmen!"
Emrys spread his arms, his face filled with madness, laughing wildly and ferociously.
"We love war. Humanity—is such a race. We will not stop until we have completely slaughtered you!"
"On the roads, in the trenches, in shattered cities, on plains, ice fields, deserts, seas, skies, the universe—all forms of war!"
Bang!!!
He suddenly brought his fist down, smashing the tabletop.
His ferocious and blood-red pupils, like a rampaging beast, opened their gaping maw towards the Devourer fleet Commander, drooling with hunger!
"You've messed with the wrong people, Devourers—
In the depths of Emrys' pupils, a sea of blood seemed to churn, mountains piled high with endless skeletons, and upon a brass throne, the god who dominated slaughter laughed wantonly.
"Regret? Too late."
"I will personally crush your proud Devourer civilization, slaughter you all, trample your warships, and destroy your civilization!"
"I will make you taste what it's like to be treated as livestock, as poultry; I will make you feel fear to your very soul; I will make you regret stepping into the Solar System!"
"Are you ready, beasts?"
Emrys grinned, slamming the chess piece fiercely onto the broken tabletop.
"War—has begun, a war to decide who gets to sit at the table, and who will become the food!"
Stonefang froze for half a second, then looked down at the tabletop.
The chess piece he had been toying with was indeed a 'King' from a chess set, symbolizing the key to victory or defeat in the entire game.
And at this moment, this chess piece pressed forward resolutely!
"Check Mate!"