The Loophole

"I think the Zerg's role goes beyond this. The Original Epoch Clan have no rivals in this star system, and with the super fleet aided by the Glow, there's no need to create another biological force. And have you ever thought about when they were created if they really were the work of the Original Epoch Clan?" Cecil suddenly brought up a new idea.

Humins feigned a startled awakening. The Original Epoch Clan had been extinct for hundreds of thousands of years. If these things were products of that era, then their age would be astonishing.

"And why did they all appear at this particular time?" Cecil asked another question.

From Cecil's perspective, these things appeared all at once. They had been silent for hundreds of thousands of years, and their sudden appearance together made her sense a conspiracy.

But Humins shook his head and said, "Cecil, according to the records of the Riken Race, once their technology reached the point where they could observe the activity of the LKDW399 star system, they would detect a fusion reaction every so often. This means that the Thermonuclear Organism has existed for a very long time."

"And what about the Zerg? When did they appear?"

"The Zerg have only been known for a short period of time, about a century."

"But that's just the time we discovered them; it doesn't mean they weren't there before, right?"

Humins thought for a moment, then shook his head. "The Zerg are different from that Thermonuclear Organism. They are intelligent, organized groups. Development is their primary goal, and this star system is our territory. As long as they develop, they will inevitably come into contact with us."

"Humins, you have a point. An intelligent race that has broken free from ignorance and is capable of venturing beyond its Mother Planet cannot suppress its desire for exploration until it reaches its limits."

"That's the point. That's why I think the Zerg haven't been around for very long. At least much shorter than that Thermonuclear Organism."

"Humins, I've noticed that you've believed from the beginning that the Zerg and Thermonuclear Organism are not one entity, but so far there's no evidence to prove it. Why are you so certain?" Cecil suddenly discovered a bug.

"It's actually quite simple. According to the records of the Riken Race, a thermonuclear reaction can be detected in LKDW399 every few decades, and it's very regular. The values detected each time are also roughly the same. Cecil, what civilization do you think would do something so pointless, and haven't conducted any more advanced technological experiments in all these years?"

Seeing Cecil nod in agreement, Humins continued, "This is like a kind of circadian rhythm, only with the cycle stretched to decades. I'd venture to guess that this Thermonuclear Organism wakes up, moves around, and eats once every few decades, followed by a long period of hibernation. It may have survived for a very long time."

"You're right, Humins. The Original Epoch Clan's command set concealed this Thermonuclear Organism, preventing us from detecting its existence. If your speculation is correct, it also indirectly proves that the Zerg are relatively new. After all, if the Zerg had occupied that planet from the beginning, they would never have allowed that Thermonuclear Organism to act in this way."

"That's right. Unfortunately, by the time I made contact with the Riken Race, they had already exhausted their Thermonuclear Organism samples, and their technology was too primitive to extract any more from the samples. Otherwise, if even a tiny bit of the samples remained, with our technology, we could have deduced much more." Humins' tone was quite regretful.

"Not necessarily. If it and the Zerg really originated from the Original Epoch Clan, then that Thermonuclear Organism could also possess Zerg characteristics, such as Gene Lock."

"That's possible. At first, Riken Race said they hadn't gained anything, I thought they were just trying to appease me. It wasn't until I personally checked their records through some special channels that I realized they were telling the truth. I initially thought it was because their technology was too backward, but now it seems... indeed, a civilization capable of venturing beyond its Mother Planet, faced with a normal inanimate object sample, wouldn't at the very least come up empty-handed."

"If our deduction is correct, then this Thermonuclear Organism may have survived from hundreds of thousands of years ago. Damn, this is an astonishing achievement. If only we could obtain it..." Cecil's tone was full of regret.

"There's no need for that, Cecil. You must understand that the Original Epoch Clan that created it is extinct. Even if that Thermonuclear Organism really did live for hundreds of thousands of years, this technology must have a fatal flaw. Otherwise, there wouldn't be our New Epoch Clan."

Cecil pondered for a moment and realized that this made sense. He nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right. There's another possibility: Thermonuclear Organism don't actually have that long lifespan. They might have been in a dormant state all along, only awakening in the last few hundred or thousand years. That would make much more sense."

Humins' eyes lit up. "If that's the case, what woke it from its hibernation?"

"I have a guess: it was originally sealed in the Biological Laboratory of the Original Epoch Clan. After the Original Epoch Clan and other races' researchers perished, the laboratory continued to function normally for a long time until it was recently damaged. The Thermonuclear Organism's restraint device malfunctioned, allowing it to escape."

"But there's a flaw in your hypothesis."

Cecil thought for a moment and nodded, "That's right. Although the Original Epoch Clan is extinct, Ying is still here, and judging from its deletion of surveillance data, it is still monitoring this place. In that case, Ying will not allow any problems to occur in the laboratory."

"Unless this was originally an order from the Original Epoch Clan, perhaps they were unwilling to let their experimental results be buried, and did it on purpose?"

"But don't forget, the Original Epoch Clan are emotionless creatures; they don't experience emotions like resentment or regret."

Humins shrugged. "Who knows? Everything we know now comes from records, and we can't completely rule out the possibility that the Original Epoch Clan might have done this."

"Okay, that makes sense. Perhaps the Original Epoch Clan does want their research findings to see the light of day again, even if it's hundreds of thousands of years later. Is the Zerg in a similar situation?"

After thinking for a moment, Humins shook his head and said, "I don't know either. Although the Original Epoch Clan, those emotionless creatures, wouldn't have any taboos, I still think that the Zerg possess many intelligent individuals with their own souls. If they were truly created by the Original Epoch Clan, that would be incredibly powerful."

"Perhaps it was just bred from some native organism, which would greatly reduce the difficulty. Almost any member of the Alliance could do it. But I don't really care about that."

Thank you Jiyu the 1500 Qidian Coins reward, and thank you to the reader for the 100 Qidian Coins reward.