Record

"According to records, the Swarm started from another planet in the LKDW399 star system and defeated the Riken Race. The combat units used by the Zerg at that time were almost identical to those used now. Could they have transferred the characteristics of the Zerg to some unknown creature?" Humins raised another speculation.

"But why would they do that?" Everything has a reason. Individuals may do things that are not beneficial to them, but a civilization that would do such a thing probably hasn't developed to the point where it's as advanced as the Riken Race.

"Perhaps it's just to make the origin of the Life-Extending Plant more legendary, after all, the Riken Race once promoted Life-Extending Serum to the entire population at the beginning," Humins said tentatively.

"No!" But before Cecil could speak, Humins himself rejected the conjecture.

"What? I think this speculation is the only one that makes some sense out of all the possibilities. When the public's awareness is low, packaging the origin of the promotional material can usually achieve good results."

"I spent some time with the Riken Race before, and their intranet couldn't defend against our intrusion at all. The Life-Extending Serum was indeed being promoted to the entire population, but its origins weren't mentioned at all on the intranet. I also sent people to visit them in person, and the Riken Race had no idea what the Life-Extending Serum's ingredients were, let alone its origins. The Riken Race weren't worried about promoting it at all, because just based on the name of the potion, they didn't need to worry about such things."

Cecil nodded and said, "Indeed, the Life-Extending Serum alone is enough to make people flock to it. And I just remembered that the pictures and videos in those documents show no signs of being modified. At least, with my technology, I can't tell, and I believe the Riken Race can't hide this from me."

The matter reached a stalemate again. The two argued for a long time, but most of their speculations were rejected one by one, and in the end, they still could not resolve the conflict between the two issues.

"Actually, there's another possibility." Just as the silence was turning awkward and Humins was about to hang up, Cecil's eyes suddenly lit up, and her beautiful young face seemed to glow for a moment. Then her expression became somewhat serious.

"What's possible?" Humins asked hastily, as if the question itself was driving him to the brink of madness.

"In my opinion, the probability of the Riken Race causing problems in this matter is extremely low. They have neither the ability nor the need to take any inexplicable actions to target us in advance."

Humins nodded in agreement; not everyone enjoys outsmarting thin air.

"And our monitoring system also worked without issue."

Humins nodded again. This was the point of contention. The current outcome proved that the two could not both be true at the same time; one of them must be wrong.

Cecil continued, "Indeed, both of them are fine."

Humins was waiting to hear the next speculation, a question that was also troubling him, when Cecil suddenly paused, seemingly preparing his words. True to his good manners, even though he was now impatient, Humins didn't urge him, but simply waited silently on the other end of the communication device.

Finally, Cecil seemed to have sorted out the problem. She looked up and said, "They're both fine! But there might be a problem with one of the components."

"What part?" Humins asked at the opportune moment.

"Ying!" Cecil said the name heavily, his face solemn.

"Fire?" Humins repeated, then suddenly understood Cecil's meaning. The Riken Race was fine, the surveillance equipment was fine, but the person handling the surveillance equipment problem... "Cecil, you mean..."

"That's right! The problem most likely lies with Ying. I just went through the whole issue from beginning to end and suddenly noticed a flaw."

What flaw?

"The records in this star system are just too clean."

"Is cleanliness a flaw?"

"Indeed, other star systems always have some events like planetary crustal movements that emit energy fluctuations, which are then recorded. Even if they are few, there will be one or two such events. But this star system has nothing."

"You mean, this star system also has anomalies, but all of them have been concealed by Ying?"

"That's right! Remember what the Riken Race records mentioned? They only built a spaceship to investigate after discovering thermonuclear reactions on LKDW399. Isn't it perfectly reasonable for a nascent civilization to discover another civilization might exist right next to it and immediately build a spaceship to investigate?"

Seeing Humins nod, Cecil continued, "Even if LKDW399 only had one thermonuclear reaction before, considering the battle between the Riken Race and that unknown creature, there were at least two thermonuclear reactions, right?"

"That's right."

"The two dates are nearly a century apart, but there is no mention of it in the records."

"Yes."

"When the Riken Race went to LKDW399 for the second time, they had already unearthed our spaceship. At that moment, their level of attention would increase, right?"

"Yes." Humins nodded repeatedly.

"However, there are records of battles with the Zerg and thermonuclear reactions, but no records of battles with unknown creatures, even though the two occurred not long apart."

"Ying selectively deleted some records!" Humins exclaimed, his eyes wide, echoing Cecil's speculation.

"That's right!" Cecil's expression grew even more serious.

"Ying" is a product left behind by the Original Epoch Clan and is the cornerstone of the New Epoch Clan. Although it is a rigid program, it possesses extremely high authority, even surpassing the authority level of the New Epoch Clan's Council of Elders.

However, as long as the core principles set by the Original Epoch Clan for "Ying" are not violated, "Ying" is a loyal protector and never makes any unnecessary moves.

But now that it has one, what does that mean? Does it mean that "Ying" has developed self-awareness, or is this a task left to it by the Original Epoch Clan?

Both of them were somewhat alarmed. In the Star Sea Alliance, no one was indispensable, but "Luminous" was absolutely essential. Even the New Epoch Clan and other races, who were wary of "Luminous," had to admit this.

The premise is that it must be controllable and under control. The two touched their necks with trepidation. Such an important matter had been impulsively mentioned in the video call. If "Ying" really became conscious and harbored malicious intentions, the highly intelligent robot guards would probably break down the door and kill them the next second.

Within the Epoch Clan, a large number of mechanical creations are controlled by "Ying," serving as powerful tools for suppressing other tribes. This is why other tribes fear the Epoch Clan and dare not overly develop mechanical automation. However, what the other tribes do not know is that many within the New Epoch Clan also fear this.