Returning

"Major General, it really feels like a dream. Before we came, you even made us write our wills, which made us all very pessimistic. But we never expected this mission to be so easy." Kaoyi recalled the scene before departure, feeling a pang of sadness.

"I didn't expect it to be like this either. After all, the Zerg hadn't even said a word before they went head-to-head with two civilizations. They're tougher than our muscles!" Bular sighed. These past few days, from being on edge to feeling at ease, have been quite a difficult experience.

"I like tough stuff, I like Zerg," Kaoyi laughed.

"Then you can apply to be a resident liaison officer in the future. With this experience, I believe you will have a greater advantage."

Kaoyi quickly shook his head. "No, although I really like the Zerg, I'll go wherever the Major General goes."

Bular glanced at her and shook his head; he knew perfectly well what Kaoyi thinking.

Friendly civilizations often have resident liaison officers to facilitate communication. This is usually a lucrative position, as it allows for publicly funded travel and the opportunity to experience the customs and traditions of other cultures. If a civilization has a particularly developed industry, one might even be able to witness the talents and skills of other civilizations.

To be honest, the experience with the Zerg is a bit disappointing. It's not that the Zerg are bad; they haven't done anything special to us, and we haven't given them any special treatment. But who can stand living in that run-down cave all day? Forget about local customs and traditions; in all this time, Bular hasn't seen a single Zerg.

Although A11 is only a planetary base on the outermost edge of the star system, it shouldn't be this bad. Under such circumstances, Kaoyi, certainly wouldn't come to suffer like this.

"Alright, tell everyone to finish writing the mission reports before entering hibernation!" Without lingering on the sentimental matters with Kaoyi, Bular gave the order.

"Yes, Major General!"

Meanwhile, Bular's fleet was returning to the main force. The basic framework of the agreement had been signed, and his mission was complete. The personnel responsible for finalizing the details had already departed, while he was going back to enjoy the fruits of his adventure.

But before that, everything the entire fleet saw and heard during its time with the Swarm needs to be compiled so that sociology experts can analyze more details and gain a better understanding of the Zerg.

After all, everyone knows that the Zerg are hiding secrets. If there were no checks and balances from various parties, powerful forces would probably have already taken action. Putting aside other factors, if this star field only had the Telo and Zerg forces, the Telo Civilization would have used all its strength to wipe out the Zerg and obtain their secrets.

Since this approach isn't feasible now, the priority is to cultivate good relations and secure a powerful future ally. However, if the Telo Race scholars can uncover the Zerg's secrets and their hiding place from the smallest clues, then after comprehensive consideration and analysis, the Telo Civilization might take the risk if the probability of success is high. As for offending the Zerg or their allies, what does that matter? Between civilizations, strength is always paramount.

As the person in charge of this operation and the captain, Bular had his own room on the warship. The room was more than 20 square meters, and there were no fancy decorations inside; the cold metal walls were painted with milky white paint.

All the furniture in the room was made of an unknown metal. A bed was placed in the corner, a desk and a chair were placed beside the bed, along with some lighting fixtures and living and working supplies. The whole room appeared neat and spacious.

Bular sat in his chair, his brow furrowed in thought. He knew that the summary report of this mission, written by ordinary soldiers who hadn't even left the ships, could only provide limited information. The key lay with him, Kaoyi, and the few diplomats.

As the person in charge who directly communicates with the Zerg the most, he is undoubtedly of paramount importance. This report will also be a test of his abilities; his observations, his attention to detail, and his analysis will all be reflected in the report. If the report is well-written, his achievements will be further enhanced; if it is poorly written, his credit will likely be greatly diminished.

Fortunately, it would be another four or five years before he returned to headquarters, giving him ample time to recall, reflect on, and refine the report.

--

"My Overlord, what is our next step?"

Rowan's gaze pierced through the void, as if he could see a much wider star field. Now the Swarm had to speed up. Although speeding up meant that many things wouldn't be done perfectly and there would be flaws, there was no time to worry about that now.

Through recent interactions and reflection, Rowan realized that although he had been intentionally trying to control the situation, the Swarm had gone too far. Consider this: what civilization could simultaneously develop and conquer multiple star systems when it only had one or two existing ones?

What's hidden here is enough to make many forces take risks. The reason they haven't taken action against the Swarm yet is due to internal checks and balances. But how long these checks and balances can last, and how much time they need to reach a consensus, is impossible to analyze due to insufficient information.

Now that the Swarm have aroused their covetousness, simply keeping a low profile is no longer enough. They need to cooperate with greater strength. For example, the Telo Civilization was able to negotiate well with the Swarm coveting them because of the Swarm's strength. If the Swarm were only as strong as they were a hundred years ago, they would probably not be greeted by diplomats, but by a direct invasion of their army.

However, while developing one's strength, it's still important to maintain a low profile. Focusing solely on development while neglecting humility will increase one's perceived value. It's like being a mountain of gold; to outsiders, it might only contain gold bars, with the rest buried in sand. Several groups discover the gold bars simultaneously, but argue over the small amount of profit. However, if the sand is gradually blown away, revealing more and more gold, when the profit is sufficient, the groups will temporarily stop arguing and divide the spoils.

Therefore, what the Swarm needs to do now is to do its best to conceal its brilliance while accelerating its development, maintaining a balance between keeping a low profile and speeding up.

Rowan pondered, "It seems I still have to carry on with traditional craftsmanship."

However, before proceeding with the next steps, it is necessary to locate all the eyes within the territory.

In the following days, the Swarm launched a large number of New-Style Scout Bug in all the star systems it had already occupied. These swarms were specifically developed to counter the Epoch Clan's surveillance Swarm. Thanks to the new technology used, although the density of these swarms was terrifying, they were still very difficult to detect without specialized detection methods.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Dragon Boat Festival.

Thank you for the 100 Qidian coins reward from Riyuerushui.