“Exactly, Elder Hus. It seems we need to find another approach. You’re stationed there, and with these speculations, have you found any clues?” Elder Cecil asked, shrugging slightly.
Elder Hus shook his head. “I arrived too late. Although the Swarm isn’t particularly strong, they are a completely unfamiliar form to us. Their social structures, networks, and information systems are impenetrable. Combined with so of their unique thods, even with them occupying LKDW399, infiltrating and investigating there isn’t easy. Moreover, I lack sufficient specialized personnel here. We’re essentially searching for a needle in a haystack with only a handful of people. Unfortunately, so far, we haven’t found any noteworthy information.”
“Can’t we use diplomatic pressure to force them?” Elder Cecil frowned.
“The Swarm follows a biological path entirely different from ours, making technological or scientific blockades difficult. They are also an extrely insular race, showing almost no willingness to engage in communication. They are self-sufficient in terms of resources, so economic sanctions are out of the question. If this were before they joined the Confederation, perhaps military pressure could have been an option, but now…”
“Rules can’t be broken, but only because the stakes aren’t high enough. If those people knew the Swarm’s true value, they’d likely start a war imdiately.”
“True, but for now, they don’t know, so we can’t…” Elder Hus’ face showed a look of regret, and the two fell into silence.
Just as Sarah thought the conversation would end there, Elder Cecil suddenly looked up and said, “Perhaps we can try another thod.”
“What thod?” Elder Hus’ eyes lit up as he eagerly asked.
“Elder Hus, can you confirm whether this creature also belongs to the Swarm?” Elder Cecil pointed to the image of Godzilla in the second set of materials.
Elder Hus appeared to think carefully for a mont before replying, “I can’t confirm that. This creature only appeared briefly, and I’ve never seen it among the Swarm’s combat units. If it weren’t for the Riken Race’s records, I wouldn’t even know it existed.”
“Is there any other information? Can I see the original materials?” Elder Cecil asked.
“Of course, no problem. However, the Riken Race, in their greed to monopolize the life-extension serum, deliberately destroyed many records. Even with all the thods I’ve used, I’ve only managed to gather fragnted information. It’s good for you to take a look; perhaps you can piece together more than I have.” After saying this, Elder Hus perford a series of operations, and the information was transmitted to Elder Cecil via the quantum communication network with almost no delay.
Elder Cecil opened the materials one by one, and as expected, they were all fragnted. However, she had anticipated this. Most of the New Ji Race, aside from a few individuals, were formidable researchers, and Elder Cecil clearly leaned toward information processing.
Her hands moved rapidly, as if using so algorithm to sift through the data for useful information. Elder Hus, in no hurry, waited patiently.
Suddenly, Elder Cecil’s eyes lit up, and she exclaid, “This record is interesting.”
Hearing her voice, Elder Hus, who had been dozing slightly, suddenly opened his eyes and craned his disproportionately long neck to look over. Unfortunately, separated by the communication link, he couldn’t see what was displayed on Elder Cecil’s side.
Noticing Elder Hus’ reaction, Elder Cecil smiled slightly and considerately shared the screen with him. “Look here. According to this record, the Riken Race encountered attacks from a native species on the planet they called Neighboring Planet. Unfortunately, while there are so images of the native creatures, the most crucial parts have been destroyed and can’t be restored. Otherwise, we could see if the creatures that attacked them ever existed among the Swarm.”
Elder Hus focused on the shared screen. Indeed, it ntioned attacks by a native, communal species, but the specific descriptions and images were destroyed. Such creatures exist on almost every ecological planet, and based on this alone, it was impossible to determine if they were related to the Swarm.
“The record even states that they gained the upper hand in battles against these creatures. If they were part of the Swarm, I doubt the Swarm would be so weak.”
“True. Later, as you ntioned earlier, they were defeated by enemies from another barren planet. Could it be that this creature has no connection to the Swarm?”
“Possibly. The original Ji Race’s laboratory was relocated so far away for two reasons: one, to avoid trouble, and two, perhaps because they needed diverse ecological environnts to aid their experints.”
“There’s a section of information here that’s been damaged. Let try to repair it.” Elder Cecil perford another series of operations. Elder Hus, not being specialized in this field, couldn’t make sense of what she was doing.
After a mont, Elder Cecil’s voice ca through, tinged with excitent. “Elder Hus, if this is accurate, it might explain why you’ve never seen that creature again.”
Elder Hus quickly looked over and read the newly revealed information. “The creature was actually killed by the Riken Race, and relatively easily at that. Though it’s not surprising. This creature may seem powerful, but its lack of agility makes it a sitting duck if enemy weapons can penetrate its armor. This is likely why I’ve never seen it among the Swarm’s combat units—it’s been phased out.”
Hearing Elder Hus’ words, Elder Cecil was montarily stunned, but she quickly shook her head. “Elder Hus, the reason I was thinking of isn’t the one you just ntioned.”
“Is there another reason?”
“Have you considered that this creature might have been unique? Now that it’s dead, you’ll never see it again…”
“Is that so? I find it unlikely. Although I don’t have much evidence, there’s one thing you must know, the Swarm’s primary combat units are octopus-like creatures. When they reach a certain stage of growth, they exhibit thermonuclear reactions. I suspect they possess sothing similar to what this creature had.”
Hearing Elder Hus’ explanation, Elder Cecil also scratched her head, muttering to herself, “Is that so? But why would the Swarm keep such an outdated creature on this planet? I’ve seen the Swarm’s combat records. Their units can even absorb nutrients from their comrades to repair themselves. Given their style, they wouldn’t waste resources on such a large creature.”
“That is indeed hard to explain. Perhaps this creature once perford so great service? Or maybe it’s simply a morial of so sort?”
“Great service? With such primitive thermonuclear reactions, if it had participated in any major battles, it couldn’t have escaped our monitoring and early warning systems.” As she said this, Elder Cecil’s eyes suddenly widened.
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