Piecing It Together

"The subsequent history recorded by the Riken Race is not clear and has been embellished in many ways, but based on scattered information, they suffered a crushing defeat. Although the fleet that went there was not completely wiped out, it was routed and had to retreat. The information about this creature was recorded at that time, and the Life-Extending Plant was discovered in the creature's nest."

"The lair? Isn't that the Zerg's royal court? With the Zerg's strength, would they allow a force of that caliber to land on their homeland?" Cecil asked doubtfully.

"This is indeed a very interesting place. According to the records of the Riken Race, they believe that the Zerg's main base is on another uninhabited planet, not this Ecological Star. When their fleet first entered the LKDW399 system, that Ecological Star was completely undefended. Some Riken Race believe that the Zerg may not even be native to LKDW399; they may just be newly arrived outsiders."

"Their hypothesis is invalid. We just discussed this; given the Zerg's strength, they couldn't possibly evade our surveillance network. Therefore, they cannot be outsiders."

Humins nodded and said, "Indeed, the Riken Race, being small fry who have just stepped out of their Mother Planet, have limited perspectives and cannot see these things, so their conclusions are naturally wrong. But in any case, the Zerg, this creature, and the Life-Extending Plant are real, and they are most likely the work of the Original Epoch Clan. Considering their strength, they are not qualified for interstellar travel, which means that the vicinity of the LKDW399 star system is their lair. It's possible that those Original Epoch Clan's Biological Laboratory are right here."

Cecil's eyes flickered, and a star map opened before her. She manipulated it slightly. "Let me compare their positions..." A series of complex operations followed, during which she even used her elder privileges.

Two star maps unfolded before her: one was the current star map, and the other was a map from hundreds of thousands of years ago, before the Original Epoch Clan had perished.

"Back then, there were so few other races. Even my own Pot Spirit Race, were only just entering the primitive stage." Looking at the star map before him, Cecil sighed, "Back then, the Alliance's territory—oh, I mean the Epoch Clan's territory—was pitifully small. If the LKDW399 star system really was the location of those Original Epoch Clan's Biological Laboratory, then they really did move to a very far distance."

Back in the days of the Original Epoch Clan, the other races were more like appendages, production bases for some auxiliary researchers. The Original Epoch Clan restricted the development of the other races, and most of them only had territory in one star system of their Mother Planet star system, making them only slightly stronger than the Riken Race.

As the Original Epoch Clan's population gradually decreased, their enthusiasm for expansion had plummeted. Therefore, before Original Epoch Clan extinction, although they had marked out vast territories and made deployments in many star systems, they actually occupied very few of them.

At that time, the location of the Zerg could no longer be described as a remote suburb. It was separated from the main territory of the Epoch Clan by a vast sea of stars. If it weren't for coordinates, even the Original Epoch Clan would have a hard time finding them in a short time, let alone those controlled opponents.

"Quiet, undisturbed—that's exactly what those Original Epoch Clan need," Humins said. "But the question is, where are they? If the Zerg are products of a laboratory, why would they release these creatures at this time?"

Cecil smiled slightly and said, "Humins, don't overthink it. Not everything is a conspiracy."

What came to mind?

"It's certain that the Original Epoch Clan has become extinct. Although there are no records of it in the Biological Laboratory, it's clear that it's no exception. And after the Original Epoch Clan died, what do you think happened in the laboratory?"

Humins's expression slowly turned serious. Seeing his expression, Cecil continued, "It seems you've thought of it. Back then, the outsiders were, to put it nicely, research assistants; to put it bluntly, they were slaves doing menial tasks, constantly conducting tedious experiments, occasionally providing the Original Epoch Clan with some ideas and thoughts, making a small contribution to the development of the Epoch Clan."

Humins picked up where Cecil left off, continuing, "However, no matter how much they contribute, they are ultimately not the Original Epoch Clan. They are different from us; aside from the permission to move around in the master's room, they have almost no other privileges."

"Yes," Cecil continued, "After the master dies, the slaves are trapped in the room. Although they can move around inside, they cannot open the outside door. As for the communication equipment and ships, these are the master's property, and the slaves have no right to use them. But with Ying around, the master's property will be well protected. If any slave tries to make a move, Ying will not show any mercy."

"So...?"

"So they all died long ago, shortly after the Original Epoch Clan perished. Or perhaps they stubbornly survived and eventually died of old age. Or perhaps they reproduced, but without being able to leave the laboratory, resources would quickly run out, eventually leading to some kind of disaster. In any case, they are most likely finished, otherwise they wouldn't have disappeared without a trace all these years."

"What you're saying is very likely. Perhaps they haven't completely disappeared, but after the extinction of the Original Epoch Clan, the Alliance fell into chaos for a long time. Even if they sent out some information, it was probably ignored."

"Hehe, we might lose this information, but Ying definitely won't. Ying must have detailed records of these things. Let me take a look..." Cecil finished speaking and continued to operate the instrument in front of her, but her expression gradually changed from a slight smile to a grim one.

"No, that Biological Laboratory itself has an extremely high level of secrecy. To open it, we would need to convene Council of Elders of the highest level, and then, under Ying's supervision, obtain the support of more than 80% of the members before we can decrypt this document. And the subsequent records will probably have an even higher level of secrecy."

"Eighty percent..." Humins shrugged. "It seems almost impossible to get the information we want from Ying. Besides, I don't want any random people involved, and I'm sure Cecil, you wouldn't want that either."

The Epoch Clan has about five thousand elders, who come from more than two hundred other clans. Not to mention the intricate network of relationships behind them, simply gathering them together is an impossible task.

Although there are as many as 5,000 elders, most of them are dormant, and there are not many active ones. Moreover, most of them are scattered in various regions under the Alliance.

To convene the highest-level Council of Elders, at least 90% of the elders must participate.

Thank you to Barbarian King with Ultimate and Jiduo Lunhui Shao Yiren for the 100 Qidian Coins.