Behind the Scenes

The New Epoch Clan had fallen to its lowest point and could no longer control all the other races. With the establishment of certain rules, things could never go back to the way they were before.

Although the New Epoch Clan continued to suppress the Alliance through various means, their power was no longer comparable to that of the Original Epoch Clan.

Originally, the Original Epoch Clan confined each alien race to its own Mother Planet, forbidding them from expanding. They stationed troops in the alien race's star system and monitored everything.

However, the New Epoch Clan could not reach this level at all. In the early stages, the military power of the Epoch Clan was actually controlled by "Ying". When their mentality changed and they took over the army, the other tribes had already developed.

Even though the New Epoch Clan was still the strongest force at that time, they could no longer station troops in the Mother Planet of other races as before. Although they still carried out some garrison operations afterward, they were all concentrated in a star field, stationed in a certain star system, unlike before when they were so scattered.

According to Bular, the nearest garrison of the Epoch Clan is nearly a hundred light-years away from the Swarm. To reach the Swarm from such a distance, one would have to pass through the territories of many other races.

Those surveillance devices are now mainly distributed in emerging civilizations and unclaimed star systems. The established civilizations have already removed those surveillance devices, since no one wants to be monitored. In fact, Bular was very proud when talking about this, saying that there are only a few civilizations in the outer circle that can discover and eliminate these devices, and the Telo Civilization is one of them.

Rowan instructed Danton to express his doubts: wouldn't this behavior provoke an attack from the Epoch Clan?

Bular hesitated on this issue, but when Danton pressed him repeatedly and even hinted that it would make the talks more difficult, Bular finally provided some information.

The New Epoch Clan is composed of researchers sent by other races, or rather, "Sold out." They are able to pass the Epoch Clan's vetting process because they are very strong in terms of knowledge and skills. Moreover, their thoughts are relatively pure.

This is why the early stages of the New Epoch Clan were so chaotic. These researchers were not adept at management or the power struggles between civilizations.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't this group of people whose mindset changed. As time went on, the outsiders and members of the same tribe within the New Epoch Clan began to interbreed, and some tribes were even hermaphroditic, able to reproduce without mating.

These descendants, having never lived with their original maternal clan, experienced a more natural shift in mindset. These descendants, or the subsequent generations, are the true New Epoch Clan.

They enjoyed their New Epoch Clan identity even more because, nurtured from a young age, they had a broader learning environment that was not limited to scientific research. As a result, the New Epoch Clan eventually produced its own political and administrative personnel.

However, the "immigration" channels for the New Epoch Clan have not been closed, and researchers from other tribes are joining every moment. Therefore, the New Epoch Clan is still fraught with contradictions, with the Descendants who have changed their mindset and the first generation of immigrants in conflict.

However, because the Descendants acted in a way that was more in line with the interests of the Epoch Clan, they gained the support of "Ying" at the rule level. As a result, the researchers who still cared about their mother clan and had just immigrated there were suppressed.

However, according to Bular, due to a series of measures adopted by the New Epoch Clan, many researchers from the original civilization were forcibly sent to the Epoch Clan. Many of these individuals joined with intense hatred, and when the hatred accumulated to a certain extent, they even secretly formed a clandestine organization.

Their goal was to overthrow the rule of the Epoch Clan and the rules they established, liberating all the original civilizations and freeing them from oppression. Their ideals were commendable, but without the Epoch Clan's suppression of the established foreign tribes, wouldn't those nascent civilizations have suffered an even more tragic fate?

Regardless of their reasons or interests, their rhetoric still finds considerable traction. However, such organizations would certainly not be tolerated by their Descendants, so once discovered, they often face bloody suppression. Yet, for hundreds of thousands of years, they have stubbornly persisted, thriving ever since.

This was almost an open secret, but until these rebels showed any abnormality or gave themselves away, they remained part of the New Epoch Clan, enjoying the protection of the rules.

Therefore, the so-called New Epoch Clan can be roughly divided into three major factions: first, the Descendants who have completely changed their mindset and enjoy their new identity; second, the immigrants whose mindset has not changed, who, although they have the identity of the New Epoch Clan, identify more with their original ethnic group; and finally, the rebels who want to overthrow the rule of the Epoch Clan.

Of these, the first two can exist in the open. The Descendants, being the most compatible with the New Epoch Clan's designation, possess the greatest power, while the immigrants are far less powerful. However, because they share similar demands with the rebels on certain issues, they receive the rebels' support.

The extent of the rebels' power remains a mystery. They are a diverse group, with members holding legitimate identities and some even having Descendants have joined.

There are also many smaller factions interspersed among them, each with its own different purposes and ideals. Rowan was secretly astonished upon hearing this, as it differed slightly from the history of the Epoch Clan provided by Duoqi Intellect.

Rowan, however, believed Bular's account more readily, since the Duoqi Civilization mostly knew official history and wouldn't record many discordant details.

Attacking the Epoch Clan's surveillance devices was, of course, not permitted, and in the early days it would even be considered an act of war. However, as the power of other races grew and expanded, coupled with factional infighting within the Epoch Clan itself, the rules were modified many years later.

A civilization capable of detecting and accurately locating Epoch Clan surveillance equipment will be considered to have reached a certain level of strength and will be granted greater freedom and respect upon proving this. The Epoch Clan should voluntarily remove all hidden equipment within the civilization's territory, but will be permitted to install legitimate observation equipment.

The number, location, and scale of these observation devices, as well as the types of data observed, will be decided in consultation with the civilization and will be jointly supervised by the Epoch Clan and the civilization.

Therefore, the Epoch Clan doesn't care as much about those surveillance devices as before. Plus, with the garrison far away and difficult to inspect, damaging a few wouldn't be a big deal. However, Bular cautioned that base stations receiving signals cannot be attacked. Damaging a single monitor is somewhat understandable, but damaging a base station is a bit of an exaggeration.

Of course, it would be even safer if someone within the Epoch Clan spoke on their behalf. Bular subtly suggested that the Zerg could join their the Alliance and receive protection. Danton did not refuse on the spot, only saying that he would report the suggestion to his superiors.