Leaving

"Humins, I understand your doubts, but we Zerg were born in this star system and grew up in this star system, from ancient times to the present." Humins' question was difficult to answer, so Sarah could only be mysterious and give a vague answer, leaving the rest to the imaginations of others.

Sarah wasn't lying at all; the Zerg did indeed originate in this star system. As for where Efiash's egg was before Rowan was born, even Rowan didn't know. Besides, it wasn't important, because Humins asked where the Zerg came from, not where Efiash came from.

Upon hearing Sarah's reply, Humins stared intently at Sarah, trying to glean something from her subtle expressions. Unfortunately, his expertise in micro-expression analysis was misplaced; Sarah remained composed and returned his gaze.

Making eye contact is useless against the Zerg, because what's outward is just the Zerg body. Sarah could even place her body in front of Humins while her consciousness went off to play games with Rowan.

Sarah's fearless gaze seemed to give Humins some wrong impressions, and he began to ponder the meaning behind Sarah's words.

The preceding points are easy to understand, but why would the Zerg Empress emphasize the phrase "from ancient times to the present"? The Zerg's history is only a few hundred years long, so the concept of "ancient" is simply not applicable.

Furthermore, Humins never believed that a civilization primarily focused on biotechnology could have developed to this level in such a short time. It's important to understand that the biological route is far more difficult than the mechanical route; otherwise, why hasn't Zerg emerged among the more than two hundred civilizations of the Star Sea Alliance?

Could the Zerg have a very long history? But that's impossible. This star system where the Zerg live has been under the Epoch Clan's surveillance for tens of thousands of years, and there have never been any anomalies reported before. Could it be that there's a problem with the personnel responsible for monitoring? Humins made a mental note of this and planned to go back and check the historical records to see if there was anything fishy going on.

However, he quickly dismissed this guess, because the surveillance had always been the responsibility of "Ying," and "Ying's" core principle was that nothing should be done that would harm the Epoch Clan.

This means either the Zerg Empress lied, or the Zerg Origin before the arrival of the Epoch Clan. Humins leans towards the latter.

When the Zerg first came into the Epoch Clan's view, Zerg technological level, especially the flight speed of their Biological Weapon, was far from sufficient for long-range invasion. Even now, their current capabilities are still far from that level.

In comparison, the Zerg are an ancient race with a certain technological foundation, but due to some unavoidable reasons, their civilization was sealed away until recently, when it was unsealed and began to develop again. They seem to be more reliable.

After all, the Epoch Clan can create artificial intelligence that can survive for hundreds of thousands of years. It's not impossible for the Zerg, who follow the path of biotechnology, to plant some humans or Biological Weapon.

Suddenly, Humins inexplicably recalled what old Morgan had said earlier, and he shuddered, a rather chilling guess forming in his mind.

Before an ancient civilization collapsed, perhaps no people remained; they simply sealed away the Biological Weapon they created. Just as the Epoch Clan left behind "Ying," the true Zerg may have long since vanished into the annals of history.

Years later, these Biological Weapon awakened, inheriting a part of what their creators possessed... Could these creatures before us, including this so-called empress, also be a type of Biological Weapon? If so, it would explain why the Advisor Minister said that the Giant Flat Bug was one of them.

Thinking of this, Humins's gaze towards Sarah changed...

Sarah immediately noticed the change in the Ji Epoch Clan elder's eyes, knowing he must have some guesses. Although she didn't know what he was thinking, Sarah was quite experienced in this kind of thing.

Because during previous battles with the Riken Race, the Riken would always try to justify the things the Swarm had hidden, according to their own perspective and logic. Humins is probably in a similar situation now...

It's not that we're afraid he'll think, it's that we're afraid he won't. As long as Humins puts all his brainpower to work, whatever he comes up with will mislead the Epoch Clan's situation. In the end, it might even create a plausible identity for the Swarm, which is exactly what the Swarm wants to see.

A few days later, the Epoch Clan spaceship departed, and Elder Humins appeared somewhat lost and dejected. At the welcome party that day, he had exchanged many questions with Sarah, but most of the answers were vague and ambiguous, leaving him confused and unable to understand them.

He had barely slept these past few days, his brain constantly racing, pondering various possibilities, but whatever he deduced, he felt it was somewhat flawed.

Over the past few days, the Epoch Clan delegation has only achieved one result: acting as a peacemaker, securing the release of the Duoqi Swarm Duoqi Race paying a certain number of points. The Swarm's demands were very low, giving the Epoch Clan elders ample face, which was the only thing that brought Humins some slight satisfaction.

--

Watching the Epoch Clan's spaceship gradually disappear into the distance, Sarah exchanged a question with Rowan: "Overlord Majesty, what do you think of this Epoch Clan elder?"

Intelligence gathering is a two-way street. While the Epoch Clan extracts intelligence from the Swarm, the Swarm also gains a lot of intelligence about them, such as Humins himself.

Sarah once casually inquired about Humins's ethnicity during a conversation. Humins didn't try to hide his background, but he first warned Sarah that in the Epoch Clan, it was extremely impolite to ask someone's ethnicity without prior knowledge. Some new immigrants or neutral factions wouldn't react much, but the descendants who inherited their lineage were proud of their New Epoch Clan identity and therefore very sensitive about this question.

Then, Humins recounted his origins, explaining that his people were a tribe called the Sher. However, because his ancestors had migrated to the Epoch Clan tens of thousands of years ago, those ethnic customs had long been lost in the passage of time, so he didn't have much of a concept of the Sher Race.

Logically speaking, he was a true successor, but he didn't particularly like the way his successors behaved, so he became neutral. As a result, he was unwittingly pushed into the position of elder.

At the same time, he also told Sarah another piece of common sense: because the other two factions were locked in a power struggle and neither was willing to give in, the elders sent by the Epoch Clan to sign an agreement with the new race must be from a neutral faction.

"Not bad, hopefully he can give us a little surprise," Rowan said casually.

Thank you for the 100 Qidian coins reward for Yan Huo" and "Getting Up Is So Hard".