Clues

The Swarm Node Unit, disguised as native seafood, require almost no concealment on the ship. If discovered, they are either trampled on or thrown back into the sea without arousing suspicion.

Behind these reconnaissance units, Rowan had already assembled a professional Intellect team. The Swarm today was not the same as the Swarm that had first encountered the Riken Race; they now possessed considerable experience in deciphering the languages and scripts of alien races.

By observing and recording the conversations between the indigenous crew members, the Swarm gradually increased.

In the crew's quarters, the Scout Bug also discovered many books. Judging from the illustrations on their covers, these books were unlikely to be of much help to the Swarm in understanding the history of the indigenous race. However, the Swarm's goal was to decipher their written information. Although progress was slow due to the lack of a reference, it was better than nothing.

The ship's various machines were also a key target for the Swarm's observation. From these machines, Rowan could not discern any trace of an advanced civilization. In terms of energy, they used primitive fossil fuels, and in terms of power, they used an outdated design of boilers generating hot steam to drive the main steam turbine.

Such an outdated combination of methods is far superior to even the Riken Civilization, let alone a civilization of the Rat-folk level.

However, Rowan's understanding is quite good now, and he cannot generalize from limited information, but various signs have already given Rowan some ideas.

The Swarm's expansion accelerated further, with several ocean-going vessels being invaded daily. With more comparisons available, the work of deciphering the written and spoken language also progressed rapidly, and they were now able to largely understand the conversations between the natives.

Although the conversations among the natives on these ocean-going vessels contained almost nothing of substance, the Swarm still managed to glean some interesting information from the complex mix.

On one of the decks, the crew members are working diligently.

"Don't slack off, finish early and get some rest! We'll have to work overtime tonight!" A local manager kept patrolling and giving orders.

"Boss, the brothers have been working seventeen or eighteen hours a day for the past few days. They really can't take it anymore," a crew member complained. They needed to sort the seafood they caught last night and put it into the cold storage. Some of it even needed to be steamed or boiled before it could be stored, which was very troublesome and sometimes kept them busy until late at night.

"That's why I told you to hurry up and finish this quickly so you can get some rest and have a more relaxed evening."

"Boss, but everyone's been doing this for over ten days straight. If this continues, there'll be big problems."

"Yes, boss, you need to talk to the captain. You can't do this. It's treating everyone like dirt."

"Exactly! Before we set sail, I thought we were going to get some work, but after we got there, I realized we were going to risk our lives," the crew members chimed in, complaining.

"Shut up! Of course I know, but this arrangement is for your own good," the manager shouted.

"Boss, you can't be treating us like fools. Are you doing this for our own good?" The crew members clearly didn't believe their "boss's" explanation.

"You know nothing! Haven't you noticed that lately, those guys at the Wormhole Defense Base have been going out like crazy?"

"It is indeed strange, this is the first time I have seen those Mecha Warrior up close."

"Me too, but what does that have to do with us working eighteen hours a day?"

"Of course you've never had the chance to see those Mecha Warrior up close before. The connection between that and your observations is significant."

"Boss, stop beating around the bush and tell us already!" Seeing that their "boss" was about to tell a story, the crew members dropped what they were doing and swarmed around him. Actually, they weren't really there to hear the story; they just wanted to take a break. The "boss" clearly understood this too. He knew the importance of balancing work and rest. Lately, even he, who only needed to supervise and give orders, was exhausted, let alone the ones doing the actual work. If things continued like this, resentment would build up and could cause serious trouble. It was better to explain things to them clearly.

"Hmph, you all know that wormhole opens every now and then and releases a monster, right?"

"Boss, of course we know that. Tell us something we don't know... um..." But before he could finish, his companion covered his mouth and pushed him back. Everyone had come to rest, and they all wished that "boss" would start talking about the Origin of their race, preferably for a whole day and night. Some crew members were already yawning and preparing to take a nap.

The "boss" paid no attention to the crew's little antics and continued slowly, "Whenever the wormhole is about to open, the defense base will blockade a large area of the sea. At that time, everyone will be out of work." The crew on this ship are paid daily; they get paid for each day they work, and if they take a day off, they can only live off their savings.

"We know all that, um..." Another one was dragged away. But one fearless person continued, "Boss, what's the point of saying all this? We just got back from vacation." This one wasn't dragged away, because everyone was curious.

"So you know nothing. After the wormhole opened this time, the Mecha Warrior successfully dealt with the monsters, but not long after, the wormhole opened again. However, this time no monsters came out, or rather, they did come out, but they couldn't be found at the defensive positions."

"What should we do? Are we safe?" The crew member was alarmed. His own safety was at stake, and even those who had been dozing off were no longer sleepy.

"I don't know if there's any danger, but I do know that if you don't work soon, your savings will be gone. So, at my request, the captain has decided that while the defenses are still in disarray, everyone should go out to sea and collect whatever they can. We might be ordered back to port at any moment. At that point, your savings will depend entirely on what you catch in the next few days."

"Really? You're not kidding us, are you?" Several crew members were skeptical.

"Believe it or not! This is reliable information from the captain. You all know our captain's background, right? His sister-in-law's lover's nephew works at the defense base. That's firsthand information."

Although the source of the information was somewhat complicated, the crew chose to believe it because the captain and his crew had never exploited their labor so much before. Therefore, they worked even harder from then on, not for anyone else, but for themselves. The "boss" was pleased with this.

Rowan, through the scout bugs hidden on the ship, collected the entire conversation and found several key pieces of information from it.

The wormhole opens periodically? Monsters? Add to that the Mecha Warrior, and a rough outline of the situation forms in Rowan's mind. Could these natives really not be an advanced civilization? Do these types of wormholes truly exist in the universe?