NOVPUBThis “good cop, bad cop” routine might not have been something Luo Wen had personally experienced, but he had seen and heard enough about it.
Even if what they said was true, it would have to wait until an actual army was at their doorstep. Otherwise, surrendering the moment they were threatened would only encourage further exploitation.
As a result, no matter how heartfelt or impassioned the performances of the five-member group and the Troi diplomats, no matter how much they professed to consider the Swarm’s interests, the Swarm remained unmoved.
When Froede, the Troi representative in charge, almost stopped attending the discussions altogether, the Swarm followed suit. Marlene ceased attending the meetings, leaving Danton to deal with the situation alone.
The Swarm’s stance left the five-member group and the Troi delegation feeling humiliated, escalating their threats against the Swarm. However, when the Swarm mobilized tens of thousands of Primordial bodies to encircle the A11 base and the Troi diplomatic fleet, their bluster subsided significantly.
Perhaps they realized that if they pushed the Swarm too far, it was uncertain whether the Swarm would ultimately be destroyed, but there was a very real possibility they would perish here first.
Thus, the meetings devolved into prolonged and harmonious stalling.
Before long, possibly due to boredom, the five-member group proposed visiting the Rat folk civilization and the Riken. Although the proposal seemed spontaneous, Luo Wen detected a different undercurrent.
It reminded him of a certain “Master Negotiator” who frequently used extreme pressure tactics during negotiations—first proposing utterly unacceptable terms to wear down the other party’s patience before finally revealing their true bottom line.
Applying this approach to the current situation seemed oddly fitting. But what secrets could the Riken or the Rat folk civilization hold that would attract their interest?
Luo Wen deliberated carefully, analyzing the situation, and ultimately arrived at a conclusion.
The Riken were likely just a smokescreen. Having unearthed the ship left behind by the Ji race, their monitoring devices had already been put in place. Whatever secrets they held were probably already known to the Ji race. Thus, the five-member group’s real target must be the Rat folk civilization.
But what was there in the Rat folk civilization? Luo Wen, who had personally shaped their society and witnessed their growth, saw nothing particularly secretive about it.
However, this relationship was unknown to outsiders. Moreover, the rapid development of the Rat folk civilization meant the Ji race hadn’t even buried their ships there, let alone activated any monitoring devices. As such, the Rat folk civilization appeared profoundly mysterious to the Ji race.
From another perspective, the Rat folk’s growth rate had far surpassed that of the original Ji race, breaking the latter’s records. This alone would be enough to entice the Ji race’s successors to investigate. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
Yet Luo Wen believed there was more to it than just this. Something else must have drawn the five-member group.
Due to a lack of intelligence, Luo Wen couldn’t entirely figure it out yet, but he had his suspicions. Regardless, he instructed Danton to firmly reject their request.
The Ji race was the Swarm’s main adversary and hypothetical enemy. Whatever the enemy wanted, simply denying it outright was the best course of action.
Time flew by amidst the endless stalling. Perhaps feeling humiliated, or perhaps cowed by the encirclement of Primordial bodies, the Ji race’s five-member group gradually stopped attending meetings, retreating to their Troi battleships to do who-knows-what.
As time dragged on, Luo Wen even began to suspect they had entered some form of hibernation. After all, such prolonged delays were utterly pointless.
If no agreement could be reached and they refused to lower their demands, why were they lingering here? Luo Wen couldn’t help but feel perplexed.
Luo Wen, despite being an immortal species with a potential lifespan surpassing the combined history of all members of the Interstellar Technological Confederation, had only been fully conscious for a few centuries.
As such, he was still relatively immature, and his understanding of time paled in comparison to those of ancient, long-established civilizations.
When a civilization’s technological level passes through several early stages of rapid breakthroughs, further innovation becomes increasingly difficult as scientific theories mature.
Technological stagnation becomes an inevitable challenge for all old civilizations, where thousands or even tens of thousands of years without significant progress is the norm. Even the once-mighty original Ji race had faced such a bottleneck, falling into what was known as the Dark Age.
Thus, long periods of living in an almost unchanging environment tend to breed various problems. The time discrepancies caused by interstellar travel only exacerbate these issues.
To address such challenges, one method was the “Youth Project” once adopted by the original Ji race. This involved abandoning natural childbirth and opting for centralized collective upbringing, reducing familial bonds and fundamentally eliminating the root causes of certain problems. Many civilizations had since emulated this approach.
Another method, however, was to take cryogenic sleep technology to its pinnacle. This involved eliminating tedious preparation processes and achieving plug-and-play functionality, enabling individuals to enter cryosleep anytime and anywhere.
Simultaneously, such civilizations developed industrial automation on a massive scale. Combined with the vast resource reserves of outer space, social welfare systems could sustain their entire populations effortlessly.
People could live well without any need to work. Beyond pursuing personal hobbies, they could spend most of their time in cryosleep, effectively extending their lifespans.
This approach offered a unique advantage: with everyone in cryosleep, the problem of loved ones leaving on interstellar journeys only to return centuries later as mere memories in photographs no longer existed.
However, the downside of this method was that such civilizations would essentially stagnate, relying on past achievements and placing their security in the hands of interstellar rules and alliances.
Fortunately, within the Confederation, while political scheming and factional rivalries abounded, such stagnant civilizations were treated with leniency. After all, provoking these dormant civilizations prematurely and reigniting their drive for progress would only create more competition and adversaries for everyone else.
Naturally, the new forces in the Outer-ring were not entitled to such leniency. The privilege of stagnation was reserved for civilizations in the Middle or Inner Circles. These ancient powers had well-established territories. As long as they refrained from expansionist activities or causing trouble, other factions were happy to let them maintain their status quo.
Most civilizations were compelled to choose between these two paths for their future development. However, some opted for both.
For example, the Ji race. They relied on new forces to continually replenish their ranks of researchers, driving societal progress, while allowing other members to enjoy the benefits of a stagnant lifestyle. The five-member group clearly belonged to the latter category.
As the principal decision-makers from all three factions essentially withdrew from negotiations, the conference concerning the Swarm’s potential entry into the Confederation turned into a farce. Each day, lower-level representatives would argue incessantly, yet none had the authority to make concessions on the debated issues.
And so, the situation remained deadlocked.
