A Plan

The Captain pondered for a moment, "If that's the case, they're trying to steer our thinking towards the relationship between the Zerg and the Rat-folk. In that case, what they want to downplay is the fact that the Rat-folk civilians are unaware of the Zerg's existence?"

"Very likely."

"Please continue the discussion. I'll go see Edres when I have time."

Two hours later, the Captain returned.

"So, Captain, any new discoveries?" Wright asked eagerly.

"I asked Edres for some details. According to his recollection, when we asked to visit the Rat-folk city, the Rat-folk high command was quite enthusiastic, proactively arranging guides and being very proactive." The Captain continued, frowning, "But when our personnel asked to travel independently, the Rat-folk high command's expression changed. They seemed caught off guard, very reluctant, and offered some dubious reasons to refuse us."

Recalling his conversation with Edres, the Captain continued, "But the colonel and his men were very firm and said some harsh words. The Rat-folk leadership had no choice but to agree. However, in the end, they gave us a fifteen-day deadline, citing the fact that the Rat-folk people are quite conservative and have never had contact with extraterrestrial races."

"Heh, now that I think about it, they weren't lying. Those Rat-folk- people really had never seen an alien race before." The Captain chuckled with a hint of sarcasm at the end.

"This is really strange. The Rat-folk and the Zerg have lived together for hundreds of years. The Rat-folk's leadership knows about the Zerg, but the common people don't. Is this the Rat-folk's leadership's own idea? Or is it the Zerg's idea?" Amina asked, puzzled.

"We need more information," Bianca said softly. "The time we had before was too short, and the objectives were vague; we didn't gather intelligence in a targeted manner. Captain, I request permission to conduct another in-depth investigation into the Rat-folk society, and also to gain access to their internal network."

The Captain and shook his head. "I just spoke to Colonel Edres about this, and he immediately sent a message to the Rat-folk's higher-ups, but they quickly rejected us."

"What? How dare they?"

"I'm increasingly convinced that there's a huge secret hidden here," Amina chuckled.

"I've been thinking about this for a while now. In twenty years, the Zerg have been able to destroy their Megastructure without any hesitation. What secrets could they not take away or destroy?" Bianca laughed, as if she had thought of something interesting, "Now that I think about it, isn't it these Rat-folk civilians? The Zerg can't possibly kill them all, can they?"

"Indeed, thinking about it this way, some of the doubts from before seem to make sense now. Besides, it's not that the Zerg can't, but that they dare not. They can ignore us, but they can't ignore the entire Epoch Clan." The Captain was quite proud of his clan's strength.

"But what should we do now? Although the formal agreement hasn't been signed yet, the Rat-folk are already considered members of the Alliance. We can't force them to go against their wishes, otherwise we don't know how those guys who write articles will attack us," Wright said, scratching his head.

"This is indeed a problem. The Rat-folk are definitely on high alert against us now." The Captain was also somewhat perplexed by the issue.

"Captain, can we use some special methods?" Amina suggested.

The Epoch Clan's technology is extraordinary. Their individual stealth armor easily evades the Rat-folk's surveillance system. Their full-system simulation system allows them to disguise themselves as Rat-folk; with a little caution, questioning ignorant Rat-folk civilians shouldn't be a problem. However, the Rat-folk's short stature and the significant difference in size between them and the Ji Clan still present a possibility of exposure. If the Zerg were to intervene, the chances would increase considerably.

Moreover, the questions they asked seemed rather abnormal to the ordinary Rat-folk. Just like on Blue Star, if someone asked passersby on the street if they had ever seen Ultraman, or if Ultraman had been with them for hundreds of years and they didn't know him, they would probably be considered crazy and might even be reported to the police.

The ordinary Rat-folk will certainly be unaware of what's happening, but once the Rat-folk leaders find out, they'll definitely know what's going on. If it gets exposed later, they'll bear the brunt of the blame, so it's best to be cautious.

After a moment's thought, the Captain shook his head. "No, we don't need to worry about the Rat-folk, but the Zerg might get involved. Zerg technology is rather unpredictable; we don't know if we can avoid their surveillance. In diplomatic situations like this, we need to be cautious."

"What should we do then? Just wait it out like this?"

"I will report this issue to Colonel Edres, explain the stakes, and ask him to do his best to advocate for us." The Captain thought for a moment and decided to shift the blame first. Then he thought that if Edres didn't work out and his side's mission completion rate was too low, he would still have to take responsibility.

"Warwick, can you access their intranet?" The Captain thought for a moment, then turned to a male team member and asked. This was their team's electronics expert, responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of most of the equipment, and providing remote information support when necessary.

"No, I don't have permission." Warwick shrugged.

"I asked about this earlier too. The Rat-folk said they're discussing it, but it's still uncertain when or if they'll have a result. I need you to use your expertise to find some special methods. Can you do that?"

"Hehe, I left some stuff behind in that Rat-folk city when I went on vacation. As long as the Captain can get authorization to use the information receiving radar, I won't have any problems. I guarantee it will be completely unnoticed," Warwick said with a lewd grin.

"Can you guarantee we can bypass the Zerg's surveillance?" the Captain asked, still concerned.

"No problem. The Zerg follow a biotechnology route. Even if they have some knowledge of cyber technology, they won't be very advanced. At the very least, they'll be far behind our technology." Warwick patted his chest confidently.

The Captain nodded. "I'll get the authorization as soon as possible. I need you to find all the suspicious information from the Rat-folk's internal network."

"Wow, that's a huge amount of work. If you're in a hurry for results, I need some help."

"Until we get results from Colonel Edres, the others have no assignments. They'll follow Warwick's instructions for now and get results as soon as possible."

"We guarantee to complete the mission." "Yes, Captain!" everyone answered in unison.

The Captain nodded and hurriedly left the meeting room. Although things on the internet are more troublesome to modify, if they really need to be modified, it's just a hassle; for the Rat-folk's higher-ups, these are not problems.

He didn't have high hopes for Warwick's side; important intelligence could only be obtained by delving deeper into their ranks. He had a feeling that once the mystery was solved, it would be a great achievement.

But before that, he had to work on Colonel Edres and get his qualifications to go to the Rat-folk society as soon as possible.