Mysterious

"They seem to be hostile. Sound the alarm, raise the war level, and prepare for battle at any time!" General Heaton, watching the monitors, directed the deployment of the defenses.

The warship's engines are warming up, weapons are charging, and cannons are turning...

Compared to the Zerg, who have already determined not to take radical measures, this outside force poses a much greater threat to the Riken Race. Although they haven't revealed their purpose for coming here so far, their demeanor doesn't suggest they're any good people.

"General Heaton, if the enemy's target is our defensive line, should we fire first?" an aide asked.

"Screw it, the Zerg are here, what business is it of ours?" But after thinking for a moment, he added, "However, it's hard for us to guess Zerg are thinking. If they do attack the Binary Star Defense Line and the Zerg don't care, then we'll have to rely on ourselves."

"Understood, General."

"Report! We've received a broadcast message! The source is an unknown force's fleet, and the direction of the information is unknown." A communications soldier suddenly reported.

None of the factions had communication channels with other factions, so they could only communicate through primitive public broadcasts. The Riken Race had tried to communicate with the Swarm, but unfortunately, the Swarm ignored them.

"Can we decipher it? Let's see what they're trying to say?"

"General, the other side is speaking our Riken Race language!"

"What!?" Several generals exclaimed in unison upon hearing the report.

The languages and scripts of each civilization have evolved and improved over time, each possessing its own unique characteristics. The possibility that this new power, whose origins are still unknown, could have evolved a language and script exactly the same as the Riken Race is not just close to zero, but practically zero.

But this completely unfamiliar force has made a move as soon as they entered the scene. One possibility is that the other party has overwhelming technological superiority and directly infiltrated the Riken Race's network system, intercepting, analyzing, and deciphering their language and writing system. But judging from their appearance, they don't seem capable of such an operation.

The second possibility is that the Riken Race have been under surveillance all along, so Riken Race language and script are no secret to them. Combined with previous speculations about the "treasure" spaceship, this possibility is very close to the truth.

"Damn it, these guys, don't they even bother to pretend?" Being monitored for so long without realizing it is quite a slap in the face for a race that prides itself on being highly intelligent.

"Never mind the rest for now, what did they say?" Face-saving matters are no longer the focus.

"They said they came from the great Duoqi Civilization and demanded our unconditional surrender, telling us not to invite trouble." The communications soldier stammered as he finished speaking, involuntarily taking a step back. His words were too sarcastic, and he was afraid of being beaten.

"What?" A general seemed completely unable to accept such a concise and to-the-point approach—wasn't this done without even a heads-up?

"Is this insane?" Another general couldn't believe it either. They didn't even follow the most basic diplomatic etiquette. It would have been more acceptable if they had just kept quiet like the Zerg.

"Arrogance and ignorance, arrogance and ignorance!"

"This shows they completely disregard us!"

Seeing the group of high-ranking officers burning with rage, the communications soldier reporting the information unconsciously took two steps back.

Just as he was considering whether to leave, Hamis suddenly turned and asked, "Is there anything else besides this information?"

The communications soldier thought for a moment, found nothing missing, and shook his head. "Reporting to the general, nothing!"

"Is there any information in other unknown languages?" Hamis asked again.

"No, only our Ricken language."

Hearing the communications officer's reply, Hamis seemed to reignite his anger. "Damn it, I knew those Zerg guys could understand us!"

"That's normal, isn't it? After all, most of our missing soldiers from the past few wars were probably captured by the Zerg. And for a technologically advanced civilization, having a template makes deciphering a language not a difficult task."

"Well, that's true. But in that case, the Zerg are indeed the variable."

"That's right. The Swarm is mysterious not only to us, but also to this so-called Duoqi Civilization. Otherwise, given their arrogant attitude, they wouldn't have missed the opportunity to intimidate the Zerg."

"So we really are too incompetent?"

"Don't underestimate yourselves. I've now confirmed that the Zerg are definitely not native to the T85 Star System. Otherwise, there's no reason why we would be being monitored while they aren't, given that two civilizations are so close together."

"You're right, but I feel like something's missing."

"I understand. According to our deduction, this Duoqi Civilization isn't the true owner of the Treasure Ship either; they're likely just errand runners. Given the technological capabilities of the real civilization behind it all, the distance that's a problem for us might not be a big issue for them. This entire star system might be under their surveillance. So..." Novaru analyzed.

"So how did the Zerg, with their far inferior technology, break through the blockade, evade surveillance, and maintain their mystery?" Hamis continued, understanding the implication.

"That's right, that's exactly what I mean! There's a contradiction here!"

"Could it be because they're pursuing a biotechnology-based approach?"

"Scientific theories are the same; whether mechanical or biological, they are merely manifestations of their own. Just like us, many technologies are in the biological field, so there's no need to mythologize them."

At the same time, on the bridge of the Duoqi Race fleet flagship.

"Even the Suzerain hasn't given us any more information about this Zerg. It seems they really do have something unique about them." Dialo murmured, stroking his cracked chin, which resembled volcanic rock. "But how exactly did they do it?"

"Your Highness, I have done some analysis before. If there was a very talented person in the other side's history who, when civilization was still very primitive, created a hypothetical enemy like Suzerain, and then kept his abilities hidden and developed to this day," Aslite said.

Dialo shook his head. "It doesn't make sense. To achieve this level, it's definitely not something a genius can do alone. It requires the cooperation of the entire clan. Do you think that's possible? Besides, the Suzerain didn't even provide information like the other side's language and writing system. This is definitely not something that can be accomplished by simply hiding one's abilities."

"Yes, so we have a second guess: the other party is an outsider. The Zerg are an advanced intelligent race, and it's unclear why they ended up in this star system. Therefore, from the moment they appeared, they displayed a very high level of technology, but before that, everything was a blank slate."

"It is indeed possible, but it still doesn't quite make sense. Such a massive migration of civilizations couldn't possibly have escaped the Suzerain's monitoring. Moreover, it takes time for a fallen race to develop again."