The Key

"Xiya, are you telling the truth?"

"Of course, I wouldn't joke about something like this!" Social relations expert Xiya said seriously.

The clues that had just been pieced together took another turn. If the god the Rat-folk spoke of wasn't the Zerg, then what could it be?

"Has anyone else discovered anything else?" Bianca's purple facial markings furrowed as she asked the others, realizing that the inability to uncover the truth was due to a lack of information.

Seeing everyone shake their heads, Bianca clapped his hands and encouraged them, "Don't worry, we've only just connected to the Rat-folk's internal network and aren't very familiar with it yet. Plus, it's been too short, so it's normal not to have any results yet. Let's keep trying!"

In the days that followed, as they gradually learned more about the Rat-folk, they uncovered even more intelligence.

"I found something interesting on a very obscure website. It says that after the Heavenly Punishment, the Rat-folk were guided by the gods and survived those difficult years. But more than ten generations of their ancestors hid underground and never saw the sunlight in their entire lives." Amina was the first to report her recent discovery.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration. I've read the data; the average lifespan of Rat-folk is quite low, but it's still around sixty years. If that's the case, more than ten generations ago, they should have just crawled out of the ground by now," Wright scoffed.

"Not necessarily. I've found that the Rat-folk are actually a rather meticulous race; they rarely boast," interjected social relations expert Xiya.

"Cramer!" Bianca suddenly called out.

A male member of the Ji Epoch Clan nodded, his fingers tapping rapidly on the input device in front of him. Soon, a virtual sphere appeared. He looked at the data on it and said, "Over the past few days, with Warwick's help, we've reconstructed the model of Origin Star. Based on surveillance records, traces remaining on the planet's surface, and some records on the Rat-folk's intranet, I've roughly calculated the mass, material, speed, and angle of the meteorite that struck Origin Star. Adding atmospheric data from a thousand years ago, we've concluded that the impact would have stirred up dust that would have obscured the sun, but this occurred less than a century ago."

Bianca nodded in satisfaction. "So, if the records of the Rat-folk are true, a thousand years ago, their average lifespan was less than ten years?"

"They may not have started evolving yet at that time, and considering factors such as medical conditions and the external environment, it's possible that their average lifespan was low. Of course, it's also difficult to find such a large difference within the same species. I suggest collecting some skeletons of Rat-folk from different periods; this would allow us to obtain more accurate data." The Epoch Clan member who spoke was a leading expert in life science research.

Bianca nodded. "I'll consider it if conditions allow, but I think the Zerg definitely deserve some credit for it."

"Very likely, after all, the Life-Extending Plant of the Riken Race were obtained from the Zerg. Moreover, according to the records, the Zerg Empress and several ministers who have appeared in public have not changed their appearance. With their technology, helping the Rat-folk extend their lives is no problem at all."

Bianca agreed and recorded these points, marking them carefully. Issues related to lifespan usually received more attention. If the Riken Star System Epoch Clan knew this information, those research fanatics might kidnap some Rat-folk to try and crack the Zerg's methods. After all, they had been coveting Zerg technology for a long time.

"Any other discoveries?" Bianca asked after finishing her notes.

Xiya raised her hand and spoke, "I've realized that my previous definition of the Rat-folk civilians being unaware of the Zerg was incorrect."

"How so?"

"I forged Rat-folk's identity, created some social media accounts, and tried to communicate with Rat-folk at different levels."

Are you going to just ask them if they know about the Zerg?

"Shut up, Wright!"

Xiya rolled her eyes. "Of course I wouldn't ask so bluntly. I was just asking them, as Rat-folk, what their opinion was of our colony and fleet?"

"How did they answer?"

"They think all those things belonging to the Zerg are theirs," Xiya shrugged. "Especially some of the less educated Rat-folk, they don't care about these things at all. Rat-folk society has pretty good welfare; they can live a comfortable life even without working. The only requirement the Rat-folk government has for them is that they must have children."

A member of the Epoch Clan raised his hand and interjected, "The Rat-folk rarely publicize anything outside of the Origin Star. Only on certain highly specialized websites do they release information such as the commencement of construction on a certain colony or the commissioning of a certain type of ship. Moreover, the Rat-folk control astronomical telescopes and other observation instruments, making it impossible for ordinary Rat-folk to obtain these things. This results in their extremely limited understanding of space."

"That's right, of course, those Rat-folk I just mentioned don't care about any of that. However, the well-educated Rat-folk clearly know something. When I chatted with them using an account with a normal Rat-folk identity, they were vague about some things, clearly trying to avoid the topic, and subtly inquired about my personal information. But when I chatted with them using an account disguised as a senior engineer, although they were unwilling to talk much, the details in their words clearly revealed that they knew about the existence of the Zerg."

Seeing that everyone was listening attentively to her information, Xiya continued, "I believe the Rat-folk have been artificially divided into two parts: one part is ignorant and unambitious, only responsible for increasing the population, while the other part will come into contact with the reality of the world!"

"Keeping the unambitious members of the clan ignorant to prevent them from being dragged down, while allowing the elites' ideas to be implemented more effectively—an interesting system. The Rat-folk ruler who came up with this strategy had great foresight." Brant clicked his tongue twice. "Can you find out when the Rat-folk implemented this policy?"

Yate raised his hand. "According to records, the Rat-folk unified the world in less than a century, starting from their kingdom era. After unifying the Rat-folk, the First Empress mobilized the entire race to develop space technology. However, strangely, after the failure of the first lunar rocket, there are almost no further records. I initially thought it was because the resources were too great, Rat-folk temporarily gave up on leaving their Mother Planet. But what I just heard from Xiya suggests that they may have split the Rat-folk into two parts at that time."

"The First Empress?"

"That's right! A very powerful ruler who ruled for decades, establishing the Kerrigan Dynasty, which continues to this day. The Rat-folk deeply revere her. It is said that when she passed away, blood rained down, which the Rat-folk believe was the sky weeping for their queen."

"Her name?"

"This is also a strange thing. All historical records refer to her as the First Empress or Empress Kerrigan. I still haven't found out what her common name was."

"Perhaps the Rat-folk want to deify her; after all, they believe in such things," Wright said dismissively, scoffing. What use is a powerful native ruler, no matter how formidable?

But Bianca fell into deep thought, "In the history of the Rat-folk, has anyone else received this honor?"

"No!" Yate thought for a moment and said definitively. Amina, who was also in charge of historical research, nodded in agreement.

"Interesting. I have a feeling that the identity of this First Empress hides crucial information. Unraveling it might help us complete our mission more effectively."