Story

The eyes of everyone present lit up. Dr. Bart had spoken very clearly, and everyone understood.

Who wouldn't want to live a few more years, especially those in high positions of power?

Although the actual problem with this fruit is not merely the minor flaw that Dr. Bart so casually mentioned, the allure of extended lifespan will drive the entire civilization to pursue it, and in that case, it might truly just be a minor flaw.

"Doctor, is there any assistance you need for your research? We will do our best to help you if possible," General Masai said directly, showing that there was no need for beating around the bush when speaking to these researchers.

Get straight to the point: we are very interested in this project. Please feel free to suggest anything you can do, and ideally, deliver results as quickly as possible. Once you produce results, everything else is negotiable.

If they can achieve results with their existing personnel and equipment, then the beneficiary will be their current influence in the T85 Star System.

To be frank, these people were essentially feudal lords enfeoffed in the provinces. If they could control a valuable and unique "specialty," their influence and voice within the entire civilization would be greatly enhanced.

However, their fleet was ultimately there to fight and explore new lands, so the equipment they brought consisted mostly of various weapons, space factories, and fortress components, and the personnel were mostly combat personnel.

Therefore, the amount of scientific instruments and personnel that can be carried within the limited internal space is extremely limited. Not to mention that the entire fleet was manufactured and assembled in space, and those precision instruments were produced on the home Mother Planet Rickon, whose internal structure is not suitable for turbulent transportation environments, such as passing through the atmosphere.

Therefore, it is uncertain whether the equipment carried by the fleet can meet the research needs of Bart's team.

But Dr. Bart wasn't a superman; he couldn't do things beyond his capabilities. He shook his head and said, "We lack specialized equipment, and the right researchers are too few. With our resources alone, it's unlikely we'll achieve any significant results in a short time."

This is getting a bit troublesome, General Masai thought to himself.

According to Dr. Bart, it might not work in the short term, but it might work in the long term. He is middle-aged and can afford to wait, but the older officers like Major Porter probably can't wait; they might even die before seeing any results.

It would have been fine if I hadn't known about this, but now that I know I still have a chance to live for many more years, to avoid any unforeseen circumstances, it's naturally best to make this thing as soon as possible.

In their eyes, no long-term benefit could compare to extending their own lives. If he insisted on delaying, it might even cause a riot. After all, he was only the leader of the alliance with the largest number of troops; if things really got out of hand, everyone else had their own soldiers.

However, if they seek help from their Mother Planet, the fleet can only act as a raw material supplier, and selling raw materials and selling finished products are two completely different things.

Just as General Masai was weighing the options in his mind, Dr. Bart continued, "General, I think it's too early to discuss the results. What we need to do now is confirm the plant's growing environment and yield. If we have a large number of them, we can accumulate data quickly through numerous experiments, which might shorten the time to obtain results."

General Masai realized that Dr. Bart was right; if this thing was a rare commodity, he wouldn't even be able to become a materials supplier.

The commanders at the meeting quickly reached a consensus, and after the meeting ended, multiple teams began to explore Godzilla's lair.

At Godzilla's lair, if the Riken Race had carefully explored the lair right after Godzilla was killed, they probably wouldn't have found many Life-Extending Plant. This is because the plants had only recently been created, and even with full effort, they hadn't grown much. That's why they needed some of their own people to guide them; otherwise, Riken Race could have found them at all.

However, after so many days, some flaws had naturally been smoothed over. Therefore, when the Riken Race tribe arrived here, they found a considerable number of Life-Extending Plant without much effort.

Upon learning this news, General Masai was relieved and ordered the Special Operations Team to collect more samples and bring them back.

Unbeknownst to the Riken Race, the Life-Extending Plant had already been tampered with by the Swarm. Some Creep Seed, hidden within the Life-Extending Plant's root and stem tissues, were carried aboard the Riken Race spaceship.

Although doing so might seem like taking off one's pants to fart and wasting effort, Rowan had no other choice; it was the most suitable method he could think of.

The simplest way is to have Kaida, who is on a mission, take the Creep Seed back. With Chloe's cover, they will hardly be discovered.

If this were merely a game between the Swarm and the Riken Race, this approach would naturally be the most efficient and prudent. However, considering the possibility of other observers, certain issues must be addressed beforehand.

If only two parties are involved, the Swarm can unleash its unpredictable nature without restraint. However, if not, and the Swarm might even be on the other side of the game, then it must conceal as many of its cards as possible.

In fact, even if the Swarm loses Kaida or Chloe, it wouldn't be a big problem. If possible, the Swarm would not hesitate to sacrifice them.

But why did they do this? Why did they bring Creep onto the boat? This is the question of tracing the origin. The Riken Race certainly couldn't discover these things, but there's no guarantee that there might be Chess Player could see them.

It would be a loss to expose a portion of the Swarm's capabilities over something so trivial. Therefore, the Swarm must now lay the groundwork for its eventual harvest.

Rowan speculated that even if Chess Player existed, they would likely learn about the situation through information channels of a less advanced civilization. There might be a few observation devices, but they certainly couldn't possibly have a complete grasp of everything.

The increased number of observation devices also increases their chances of being exposed, and once exposed, they can no longer maintain their detached status Chess Player.

Therefore, the Swarm doesn't need to be overly restrained, but it should tell its story well in major events.

For example, if Creep creation appears on Riken Star, its origins will definitely be traced. How exactly did it appear on Riken Star? This is something that the Chess Player must figure out.

Therefore, it's definitely not feasible to simply bring them back using "one of our own." This makes it impossible to create a coherent story.

A successful story is one like Kaida guiding the Riken Race to discover Life-Extending Plant.

From Chloe's capture to her rescue, and then the promotion of the Captain who had risked his life to protect her, to the Insect Nest resuming its hunting activities, Chloe was furious and ordered the Special Operations Team to drop Nuclear Bomb.

Then the Nuclear Bomb lured Godzilla out. The Riken Race chased Godzilla, entered its lair, killed it but couldn't take it with them, and while waiting for reinforcements, Kaida slipped away and discovered the treasure.

The entire incident, from instructions from superiors to mission communications with colleagues, and even the Gunboat's travel logs, can be used as evidence.

Even tracing back further, why Chloe became the captain, why she participated in this operation, and even her family, education, and work experiences all have a reasonable trajectory.

That's what makes a successful story.