Negotiations

"Is this real?" After watching the video, the Speaker rubbed his face. The scene in the video was like something out of a science fiction movie, and now that he was being told it was reality, he still found it hard to accept.

"It's normal to have doubts; we also questioned the authenticity of this video. However, after our experts examined it, the video showed no signs of modification or post-production processing. Furthermore, the video contains a hidden Cat Ear Spaceship and a verification code for the AI Celia, so its authenticity can be guaranteed."

What can it bring us?

"A lot of."

"For example?"

"We assembled a team of experts who, through studying the video and text data transmitted back by the Cat Ear Spaceship, used computer simulations to create the ecological environment of planet T853. Apart from this creature, all other life forms perfectly fit into this ecosystem," General Munro paused, then continued:

"Therefore, this creature was not born in the current ecological environment. It may have originated in an earlier period, in the previous ecological cycle of planet T853, or it may have come from elsewhere. After careful calculation, we are more inclined to believe the former, because judging from the abilities this creature has demonstrated, it does not possess the capability for interstellar travel."

"Therefore, we speculate that it is a species from the most ancient times, a living fossil." General Munro paused here, looking intently at Speaker Delrin to ensure his attention was focused, before continuing, "Its body may hold the secret to immortality."

Delrin began to understand why the military was being so cautious; these things were indeed quite shocking. His breathing quickened.

"Then what do you mean by coming to me? Aside from discussing military spending, I can hardly offer you any other assistance." Delrin's feelings were somewhat complicated. Although the technology of the Riken Race had advanced by leaps and bounds in the past hundred years, even if he completed his term as speaker, he would only have a little over 20 years left.

Once he steps down, he's out of the picture, and even if he gained some benefits on planet T853, it will be difficult for him to get a share.

However, since Munro came to him and showed him such confidential information, he must have something he could use. Now it's just a matter of how much the other party will offer.

"We need to organize a large-scale expedition to the T85 Star System."

"Large? How big is it?"

"A scale of one million people."

Upon hearing the number, Speaker Delrin nearly fell off his chair in shock. He exclaimed, "How much?"

"Your Excellency Speaker, you heard me right. The military is planning an expedition involving a million people." Munro didn't seem to mind the Speaker's lapse in composure; after all, the number was indeed enormous. He himself had been in a similar state when he first learned of it.

"That's impossible. Given the strength that creature displayed, with our current armaments, a single 300-meter-long ordinary-class warship could easily handle it. It's simply not enough to launch an expedition," Speaker Delrin roared. "You're dreaming. Even if I agreed, those councilors wouldn't agree, and the people certainly wouldn't."

An expedition involving millions of people—just hearing that number, even if Delrin wasn't a professional economist, he knew it would require an astronomical amount of start-up capital.

Even if Parliament passes all the resolutions, taxpayers will still raze the Capitol to the ground.

This is simply an impossible plan.

"Don't be so quick to deny it, Your Excellency. Under the current circumstances, it's naturally impossible, but what if the aliens struck first, and we were forced to retaliate?"

"You're planning to fabricate an alien civilization?" Delrin began to consider the feasibility of doing so, but after much deliberation, he still felt that the chances of success were extremely low.

"It's not entirely fabricated. Your Excellency the Speaker can review this video and related materials again."

Seeing Munro pull out another mini memory card, Delrin was speechless. He took the memory card, plugged it into the computer, and started playing some audio files.

The video is very disjointed and appears to have been edited. The content on it is the information that Captain Reggie transmitted when the Swarm attacked the Cat Ear Spaceship and Captain Regi ran out of stored energy.

"This is...?" In the video, he could only barely recognize Captain Regi of the Cat Ear Spaceship and Professor Lute, the chief scientific advisor. This was only because he had seen these two people in the previous video he had just watched. Otherwise, even the Speaker would not have recognized them.

After all, to him, both of them belonged to the previous generation.

"This is the last video data transmitted back by the Cat Ear Spaceship. The data was severely damaged, so it underwent some editing, extracting only the barely recognizable footage to create this video." Munro's calm voice turned serious.

"Judging from these lag-prone images, an alien force attacked them and intercepted their messages. The Cat Ear Spaceship is probably doomed."

Are you sure?

Munro nodded affirmatively.

"Is it a native civilization of the T85 Star System or Cat Ear Spaceship attacked by outsiders?"

"This is still uncertain, but it's highly likely to be a hidden force on our own soil. Judging from their need to launch a sneak attack on the Cat Ear Spaceship, their technological capabilities are far inferior to ours. The military staff analyze that they are not a threat; a large-scale expedition will be enough to subdue them."

"But just the fact that they attacked our ships is hardly enough to convince the public to accept an expedition involving millions of people." Speaker Delrin still had some doubts. Losses in other star systems like this were unlikely to make the Riken Person feel the pain personally. Getting them to tighten their belts and spend money to build an Expedition Fleet was almost impossible.

"They will agree, but it will take some effort. When the time is right, I hope Your Excellency will lend a helping hand."

Seeing that Delrin was still hesitant, he added, "Don't worry, Your Excellency, we have quite a few allies. You know, there's a Life Star there. With our current technology, we can easily adapt it to our Riken Race's lifestyle with just a little modification. That's unclaimed land, do you understand what I mean?"

Delrin's name struck him like a thunderbolt, sending a shiver down his spine.

Yes, there is a Life Star there. If countless families and conglomerates knew about this, they would definitely fight tooth and nail to create a family enclave there.

The area is remote and difficult for the Federation to govern. Even the colonies that the Riken Race converted on a nearby planet decades ago are now experiencing independence movements, not to mention other star systems.

These guys fighting aliens and capturing and studying ancient creatures are just side projects; their real goal is to go over there and become local tyrants? Delrin quickly saw through their intentions.

Thinking about it this way, he certainly has many natural allies, but if he makes a mistake, he could easily be doomed and written into history, leaving a bad name for himself for eternity. But if he doesn't agree, the speakership might be replaced before the election four years from now.

Abyss Order for the 100 Qidian Coins donation, and thank you to Dream of Being a Homebody for the 100 Qidian Coins donation.