The First Superhuman: Rebuilding Civilization from the Moon

What on earth had just happened?

Could that giant, green eye simply have been some bizarre natural phenomenon?

Impossible! No one on the ship believed that for a second.

But the high-resolution scans had definitively proven there was no biological mass present. It looked as though the terrifying visage had been naturally formed by the seawater itself!

The Senior Scientists gathered in the conference room, debating fiercely. Their imaginations ran wild as they analyzed the telemetry, desperately trying to connect the scattered fragments of data into a coherent theory.

Meanwhile, Jason and Austin stood off to the side, discussing military strategy...

Although the vanguard fleet had safely evacuated to high orbit, the localized war continued. The Federation was currently conducting a relentless, long-range orbital bombardment using automated Swallow interceptor drones.

The overwhelming speed and precision of the Federation’s space-based weaponry turned the skirmish into a completely one-sided massacre. Any suspicious target that broke the ocean’s surface was instantly subjected to indiscriminate, pinpoint orbital strikes.

It was an absolute turkey shoot: I can hit you with impunity, but you can’t even touch me.

It was horrifyingly easy for a L-Level civilization to bully a primitive Level-K civilization.

"The post-strike battle damage assessments are in. The primary military installation hidden beneath the ’eye’ sector was completely vaporized by our orbital nuclear strike. The remaining scattered missile silos in the surrounding grid have been systematically eliminated by our drones," a tactical officer reported.

"However, there is a high probability that secondary military facilities remain hidden deep underwater. While they haven’t exposed themselves yet and pose no immediate threat, this is undeniably a complete, overwhelming crush of our technological superiority."

A military analyst reviewed the latest telemetry. "A fresh batch of high-altitude reconnaissance probes has successfully achieved optimal orbit... Based on the residual thermal signatures, we strongly believe that the hostile entity—whatever it is, survived the blast and is currently hiding in the deepest oceanic trenches."

Austin scowled. "Then we just unleash the heavy ordinance! Drop a few trillion-metric-ton nuclear warheads and literally boil the ocean! I refuse to believe we can’t wipe this thing off the face of the planet!"

Even after all these years, Austin’s tactical mindset leaned heavily toward extreme overkill. Of course, his ruthless methodology was always driven by an absolute desire to ensure humanity’s safety. To him, this planet didn’t belong to the Federation anyway. If they completely cracked the crust and rendered it uninhabitable... so what? The universe had plenty of other rocks.

Jason immediately shook his head. "No. If we use our trillion-metric-ton payloads, the ensuing shockwaves and thermal pulses will completely obliterate the entire global ecosystem. Every last fish, shrimp, and microbe will be incinerated, and it would take millennia for the biosphere to recover."

"There is absolutely no need to escalate to a scorched-earth protocol yet. What tangible benefit do we gain from glassing the entire planet? Just to vent our frustration and flex our muscles against a primitive civilization? War for the sake of pride yields no real benefits. So why do it?"

"If we still have any intention of claiming this world for colonization, we can’t just indiscriminately blow it to pieces. Our priority should be gathering intelligence and understanding this unknown enemy!"

In truth, there was another reason Jason hesitated, though he didn’t voice it aloud. He personally didn’t care much for this dead, ruined rock, especially with the lingering radioactive contamination across the continents.

But millions of citizens back on the Ark actively yearned for a true planet. Many dreamed of one day surfing natural waves and swimming in a real ocean. He had heard their public petitions, and he couldn’t just casually destroy that dream.

Hearing Jason’s measured logic, Austin forced himself to calm down. For a true interstellar civilization, every action had to be driven by cold, calculated interests, not subjective emotional outbursts. Acting purely on anger was the hallmark of a naive society.

He thought for a moment before continuing. "But the enemy exists. It is highly probable that the native humanoid species was completely exterminated by this unknown entity!"

"Furthermore... judging by its preemptive strike, it is hyper-aggressive. If we genuinely want to colonize this planet, we have to flush it out and destroy it eventually."

Jason took a slow sip of water, shaking his head. "Yes, but from a purely tactical standpoint, its offensive capabilities are vastly inferior to ours. It only managed to catch the vanguard off guard because of the element of surprise! Austin, take a step back and look at the current situation. Just a handful of our automated Swallow drones have completely suppressed its entire defense grid. The disparity in power is absolute!"

"As it stands, this unknown enemy poses zero existential threat to the Federation!"

The two men argued back and forth, but neither could entirely convince the other.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Austin. "Since you’re so confident there’s no real danger... why don’t we use this hostile entity as a live-fire training exercise?"

He gestured angrily toward the data logs. "You saw how those rookies completely choked during the ambush! They panicked at the first sign of a real crisis. They lack the fundamental instincts of real combat soldiers."

"The core issue is a complete lack of genuine battlefield experience. No matter how advanced our VR simulations are, they will never replicate the chaotic reality of a live firefight. Can a green recruit ever hope to beat a battle-hardened veteran? Absolutely not!"

"I propose we pull the automated drones back and order the Federation Marines to execute a manual, ground-level sweep!"

"But..." Jason frowned deeply. "What if things go sideways? We could actually suffer casualties."

Austin anticipated the hesitation and immediately fired back. "Since when is a soldier afraid of a little danger? If they break the moment their lives are on the line, what kind of soldiers are they? When we were running black ops back on Earth, we faced the possibility of death every single day!"

"Is joining the military just about wearing a slick uniform and looking cool? Real combat isn’t cool; it’s a meat grinder! If they never face genuine danger, they will forever remain a flock of helpless sheep! If we’re just going to coddle them, we might as well disband the entire Marine Corps and replace them with combat robots!"

"Besides, by deploying ground forces to actively engage, we can flush out this hidden enemy much faster!"

Austin rattled off his arguments rapidly, venting all of his pent-up frustrations regarding the current state of the military.

Jason sighed heavily. He pondered the proposal for a long moment, realizing he truly couldn’t find a better solution...

With their current technology, holographic VR simulations were incredibly immersive, but it simply wasn’t enough. In a simulation, the recruits subconsciously knew they weren’t going to actually die. The psychological weight was entirely different... To them, it felt like a highly realistic video game.

It had reached the point where many of the military’s combat simulations had devolved into popular "battle royale" style games for the civilian public. Turning lethal combat training into a casual game was a glaring symptom of a larger societal issue.

But the Federation undeniably still needed a human military; they couldn’t rely solely on autonomous drones for everything. Jason knew this better than anyone.

While the two commanders debated strategy, the scientists on the lower floor had finally reached a theoretical consensus...

One of the lead researchers slammed his fist on the table, standing up excitedly. "What if it’s an artificial intelligence?! Think about it! The native civilization must have been incredibly reckless or incredibly ’lucky’ and somehow managed to create a self-aware, rogue AI!"

"This rogue AI would have been inherently hostile from the moment of its inception... It retreated into the deep ocean trenches, rapidly built up a massive military-industrial complex, and launched a global war of extermination against its creators! That perfectly explains the orbital nuclear flashes we detected years ago!"

Another scientist immediately shot the theory down. "But a rogue AI doesn’t explain the manifestation of a two-hundred-kilometer-wide biological eye! Could it just be some massive, underwater optical telescope? But the telemetry confirmed it was just colored seawater; there was no physical structure there!"

"Could it be some kind of advanced holographic projection generated from the seabed? Like shining a light through a prism?"

"Impossible. The spectral analysis confirmed it wasn’t a projection; the physical pigment was present on the surface of the water... Besides, what tactical advantage does an underwater telescope provide?"

The debate quickly devolved into another fierce, unsatisfactory shouting match...

Meanwhile, Jason was seriously contemplating Austin’s proposal. Given the relatively low threat level, should they really use this hostile world as a live-fire crucible to forge their rookies into real soldiers?

Thinking it over carefully, Austin’s logic was sound...

It was a simple biological reality: if a person didn’t walk for years, their muscles atrophied. If they didn’t smile, their facial nerves stiffened. If they didn’t think, their cognitive functions declined.

Skills and instincts that were left unused naturally deteriorated.

Because the Federation had achieved internal utopia, the military hadn’t faced a genuine enemy in over a century! Without a crucible to forge their skills, the entire profession had naturally gone soft... It was inevitable!

Should they just run away from this planet?

No!

Jason firmly believed the situation hadn’t escalated to the point of a full retreat. Nowhere in the universe was absolutely safe. If they tucked their tails and ran at the first sign of resistance, they might as well find a quiet corner of the galaxy, hide like cowards, and never explore the stars again!

"...Alright. We’ll do it your way! We will execute a hybrid manual-sweep operation utilizing both Marine ground forces and AI support..."

Jason sighed deeply, his expression resolute. "But we must ensure maximum tactical oversight!" With a resigned look, he signed his digital authorization onto the operational order.

Austin’s face lit up with grim satisfaction. He immediately pulled up the communication channel to hail his subordinate officers, eager to give them a brutal chance to "redeem themselves." Of course, a large-scale live-fire planetary assault couldn’t just be organized with a simple memo; he needed to oversee the deployment personally.

Unable to tolerate the endless academic bickering of the scientists any longer, Austin abruptly stood up and left the conference room.

And so, the Leviathan fleet, which had only been docked for a few hours, was rapidly redeployed. But this time, it wasn’t just a vanguard of five ships, it was a formidable armada of fifty heavily armed dropships!

The massive Titan-Z dreadnought took the rear-guard position, personally commanded by Austin. The dropships were manned by mixed squads, with hardened veterans directly mentoring the green recruits.

Nearly half of the Federation’s entire active-duty military force was mobilized to participate in this grueling, live-fire training exercise...

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