Marked

The representatives of the Outer-Ring Civilizations trembled with fear, but as the weaker party, they had little say. Moreover, it wasn't that the Mid-Ring Civilizations were intentionally targeting them; there was no way they could avoid war.

"In that case, aside from the Coalition Army attacking Zerg star systems 4-6, the outer Coalition Army in other directions should remain stationed in place. This is to prevent the Zerg from reaching the Alliance territory and being unable to provide timely support due to the distance."

"I think it's feasible. The Zerg don't have many troops left in their territory. We alone are enough to take them down."

Agreed.

"Reconsider!"

"..."

--

Before the Star Sea Alliance meeting was even over, the Swarm Blade had already obtained the meeting minutes.

"Excellent, having our own people makes things much easier. Now that the Mid-Ring Civilizations Coalition Army and the Outer-Ring Civilizations Coalition Army are separated, once we go to war with those guys, we won't need to worry about reinforcements for at least a short period of time."

"The Overlord has already placed his own people within the Coalition Army and granted us the relevant permissions. Now, all those Mid-Ring Civilizations fleets are within our sight."

As Rowan's understanding deepened, he discovered that the forced transformation of Intellect, the modification of their bodies, was merely to endow them with the identity of physical Node Unit. This allowed him to directly locate targets outside the universe, above dimensions, and capture their spiritual bodies directly into the Swarm Network for consumption and replacement.

However, transforming and modifying a target's body is not as ethereal as Swarm Network. Under the guidance of some high-tech instruments, even the slightest changes in the body can trigger alarms.

To deal with this situation, Rowan began planning long ago. The Life-Extending Plant he released were a way to modify the target's body in full view of everyone without arousing suspicion.

Although the Mid-Ring Civilizations has maintained regular monthly information exchanges despite decades of warp-speed travel and limited contact with the outside world, they have long been aware of the super-product of the Riken Star System: Life-Extending Serum.

With the Riken Star System being contributed by the Zerg, the Alliance laboratory, originally located in the Riken Star System, had long been relocated to the territory of the Koya Alliance and the Locke Mutual Aid Society.

When the Mid-Ring Civilizations fleet arrived at the front line, several batches of Life-Extending Serum happened to be released from various legitimate, informal, and underground black markets.

And then, by sheer coincidence, it was acquired by figures from various Mid-Ring Civilizations.

Life-Extending Serum have a very good reputation after years of clinical use, and there are already detailed instructions for use. For example, after taking them, they may alter some cellular structures in the body. It is best to report this to the relevant medical institution in advance to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Life-Extending Serum are indeed quite precious, but their value lies primarily in the imbalance between supply and demand. In reality, after years of continuous research and improvement, manufacturing Life-Extending Serum is not difficult. Moreover, their raw materials are not rare species, so their production volume is not low.

But to outsiders, this thing, a life-extending method without side effects, is practically a necessity. How many people are in the entire Star Sea Alliance? It's simply impossible to calculate.

Everyone needs this stuff, and even if its production volume is high, it can't supply everyone in a short time. Moreover, the Epoch Clan, which controls its production and sales, doesn't want the Life-Extending Serum to spread cheaply and actively limits its production speed.

Therefore, this thing, which is not particularly scarce or precious in the first place, becomes exceptionally valuable in some places.

However, in its place of origin, given enough time, one can always obtain this medicine through various means.

Therefore, the non-Central Circle tribesmen who obtained the Life-Extending Serum did not hide it; they reported and filed a record with the inspection agency in accordance with the instructions for use.

Then, during their hibernation period at sea, some changes occurred in their bodies, but because there was a record, it did not trigger any alarms from the body monitoring equipment.

Unbeknownst to them, the bodies of these outsiders from the Middle Circle were modified, and Rowan successfully located them. The warp environment was no match for Rowan; Rowan attacked from a higher dimension, directly extracting their spiritual bodies, modifying them, and then stuffing them back into their bodies.

The entire process was extremely skillful and took very little time. Their bodies didn't even realize that their consciousness had already died once; they continued working out of habit without attracting any attention.

The emergence of new Node Unit, within the Swarm Network's coverage, instantly illuminates the Coalition Army positions, providing the Swarm with timely intelligence. Moreover, these units, capable of obtaining Life-Extending Serum in advance, are no ordinary entities. Therefore, to a certain extent, the Swarm can even influence the Coalition Army decision-making.

Because they border the Swarm, the Koya Alliance and the Locke Mutual Aid Society been thoroughly infiltrated by the Swarm over the years, not only in terms of territory but also in terms of personnel and command structures. However, with the addition of new forces, it will take some time before they can reach the same level as before.

However, some races and individuals, learning from the Epoch Clan's experience, are very resistant to Life-Extending Serum. But that's alright, the Swarm has prepared a high-end customized version for this purpose.

In the years when the Swarm and the Star Sea Alliance were still trading normally, a large number of personal Biological Armor were lost. The owners of these Biological Armor were all wealthy and powerful, including Elder Humins of the Epoch Clan. Their bodies had long been fully modified, but some of them had too few Node Unit around them, and the Swarm Network had not yet covered them, so Rowan could not locate them, allowing them to escape for the time being.

However, with the expansion of the Swarm Network, it's only a matter of time before those guys are brought under the Zerg's control. Once they are all brought under the Swarm's control, this war will become much more interesting.

The Blade's discussion continued.

"The Mid-Ring Civilizations has a total of thirty-six fleets, which have been marked. Excluding the ten fleets supporting the central route, there are twenty-six fleets on the flanks. The Mid-Ring Civilizations itself also has varying strengths; the two strongest fleets are led by the Yuntu Clan and Sangqie Clan, who are top-tier even within the Mid-Ring Civilizations. Analysis of their warship structures suggests the presence of new weapons. The Intellect from the Academy of Sciences speculates that they are most likely Dark Energy weapons."

An Intellect reported, "Currently, these two fleets are the fastest, and I've marked their positions clearly. To intercept them, we'll need to increase our troop deployment."

"The technological gap between Mid-Ring Civilizations is greater than that between Outer-Ring Civilizations. The weakest are only slightly stronger than the Telo Civilization. The strong ones not only have their warship parameters skyrocketed, but they also have new energy and weapon systems. The Overlord once instructed that several Dark Energy devices be used for dismantling and research. I think this task should fall to the Yuntu Clan and Sangqie Clan."

Thank you to the Barbarian King with Ultimate and the Book Guest Good Brother Shuke for the 100 Qidian coins.