Once More
From birth, the Rat-folk have a clear purpose: they are born for the Swarm. Even when they were still wild beasts, they were monitored and nurtured by the Swarm.
If the Intellect abilities of the Riken Race's military, political, and business leaders only account for 80%, then for the Rat-folk, it's 100%. Therefore, the Swarm can be said to completely represent the will of the Rat-folk.
Furthermore, the Rat-folk are completely surrounded by the Swarm's territory, and these areas are not open areas, so there will be no "internal and external collusion" like the Riken Race did back then.
But at this point, the Rat-folk's own opinion was no longer relevant.
The Koya Alliance used the Rat-folk for publicity. Having had experience before, they were adept at it, fabricating stories that portrayed the Rat-folk as extremely pitiful. This civilization, which initially developed faster than the Epoch Clan, had stagnated for hundreds of years under the oppression of the Swarm.
The Swarm continues to play its old role: a ruthless and cold-blooded invader and exploiter. With the foundation laid more than 20 years ago, the Swarm's villainous role has become deeply ingrained in people's minds. As soon as this information was released, it almost immediately found itself in a situation where everyone was condemning it.
The "saints" immediately joined the battle, carrying immense public opinion, demanding that the Epoch Clan amend the rules, exceptionally invite the Rat-folk civilization to join the Alliance ahead of schedule, drive the Swarm out of Origin Star, and at the same time provide assistance to the Rat-folk civilization so that they can get rid of the Swarm's shadow as soon as possible.
The Epoch Clan Council of Elders convened again, and Elder Humins, who had become a permanent resident of the Riken Star System, once again paid homage to Queen Kerrigan. Unlike before, Humins was now "one of their own," and the Biological Armor the Swarm had given him was not so easily obtained.
The last time they saw him, the Swarm secretly collected a sample of his skin and then completed the transformation while he was in hibernation. But to better conceal his identity, he still had to do what he was supposed to do. However, behind the scenes, he had already provided the Swarm with a great deal of intelligence.
However, this intelligence wasn't very significant. Although Humins was an elder of the Epoch Clan, he was actually more of a marginal figure. He had come to the Swarm at someone's instigation, but his true intentions were the same: he simply wanted the Swarm's genetic technology to help with the breakthrough of the Life-Extending Serum. He knew nothing about the deeper behind-the-scenes schemes.
It was another elder of the Epoch Clan who instigated him, and it was also this person who told him about the Life-Extending Serum. It would be impossible for the shrewd and experienced Humins not to have noticed the problem. But he was already very old, Life-Extending Serum would be of great benefit to him, so even though he was being used as a pawn, he was happy to do so.
However, Humins got what he wanted; his spirit and memories enabled a new Intellect to take his place and gain immortality, no longer having to worry about lifespan. If he knew this, he would probably be satisfied.
Perhaps...
Hummings's visit to the Swarm was at the instigation of that man, who urged him to take advantage of the Swarm's dire situation and try to find some good loot. However, that man was unaware that Humins had already "defected," and since he was too far from the Swarm's territory, the Swarm couldn't reach him.
Rowan planned to have Humins try to lure the man over. The Epoch Clan elder must know more information, and it would be great if he could be given a small gift.
Humins pretended to linger among the Swarm for several days before finally leaving in a "furious" state.
As before, when Humins relayed the news of the breakdown in negotiations, the Epoch Clan Council of Elders did not hesitate any longer. Instead, they "followed public opinion" and modified the rules. They emphasized the sanctity and inviolability of the newborn civilization 'Mother Planet and notified the entire the Alliance, demanding that any civilizations within the Alliance that violated these rules rectify the situation within a specified period.
Although the Swarm were not directly named this time, this rule applies to the entire Star Sea Alliance, including the relationship between the Swarm and the Rat-folk. Sure enough, a separate notification was subsequently transmitted through the Quantum Communication System, requiring the Swarm to withdraw from the Origin Star System within 20 years, just like last time.
He knew the target was the Rat-folk as soon as the Riken Race encountered trouble. So when Rowan received the news, he just chuckled and showed no annoyance or surprise.
The Epoch Clan acted swiftly; three months after the message was sent out, the engineering team building the Quantum Communication System for the Rat-folk arrived on the outskirts of Origin Star.
"What? The Zerg actually dare to stop us from entering?" Inside the warship, a male member of the Ji Epoch Clan was somewhat incredulous. It wasn't that there weren't civilizations that dared to refuse entry to the Epoch Clan; they were either arrogant idiots or genuinely powerful. But in the outer circle, they were mostly the former.
"Captain, what exactly happened?" another female Epoch Clan asked. Her golden face was adorned with purple patterns, making her appear somewhat alluring and beautiful.
"It's not clear yet. Colonel Edres is in contact with them." Epoch Clan, who was referred to as the Captain, shook his head.
"How dare an outer race interfere with the actions of the great Epoch Clan? Do they have a death wish?" The male team member was furious at being suddenly stopped by the Swarm. He was relatively young and belonged to the Epoch Clan by birth, possessing a special sense of superiority.
In his view, if a small outer clan dared to intercept the Epoch Clan's warships, what was there to talk about? They should just start fighting.
Based on his experience, although the Epoch Clan only had a dozen or so warships, their combat power was enough to overwhelm an entire foreign fleet. Even if they couldn't win, they could use their speed to stall until reinforcements arrived. At this moment, there was an Epoch Clan fleet stationed in the Riken Star System, and it wouldn't take them long to get here.
"Shut up, Wright!" The Captain was also a little annoyed, but not as aggressive as Wright. Their team had come with a special mission and had hitched a ride with the construction team. They had no say in the matter and could only wait for the outcome of the negotiations.
On the other side, Edres had just finished negotiating with the Zerg. Although he was also furious, the thousands of Zerg Octopus Monster surrounding the warship quickly calmed his feverish mind.
"Elder Humins, they request to return in twenty years."
In the scene, Humins leans back in his chair, listening to Edres's report. As the only elder of the Epoch Clan in this area, he rightfully holds the highest authority.
"Their reasons?"
"The Zerg mean that they are too closely integrated with the Rat-folk, and there are too many clans hiding in the galaxy that need time to evacuate. During this time, they do not want to be disturbed by the outside world."
"How dare you!" Humins straightened up and shouted after hearing Edres's words. He then pretended to close his eyes in thought, and finally sighed, "Edres, I will report the situation to the Council of Elders and let Council of Elders make a decision. Until then, you should remain where you are."
"Yes, Elder."
Thank you for the reward of 1,500 starting coins, and thank you to the zz street brick buyer for the 100 starting coins reward.
I didn't write yesterday because of something, but I stayed up late last night and wrote more than one chapter. I just woke up today, so I'll update one chapter first, and I'll update the other one after I finish writing it.