Sudden

The two sides continued to clash fiercely over the demarcation of territory. The Star Sea Alliance insisted that the Zerg withdraw to their original position—the line between Origin Star and Proxima.

As for the Zerg, although they had already expanded toward the outskirts of this starfield and occupied hundreds of star systems, these dozen or so systems they had conquered were truly dispensable. But they had fought so hard to take this land. How could they simply hand it over based on empty words?

Was Rowan the sort to back down? Back when he had not yet established branch bases, if the Star Sea Alliance had acted more forcefully, there might have been the slightest possibility. But now, it was completely impossible.

Finally, the Zerg also demanded to detain the prisoners for one hundred years. Even though every race had entered the interstellar age and optimized their own genes to some extent, one hundred years was still a very, very long time. For certain relatively short-lived races, it was nearly half their lifespan.

However, the Zerg had considered this as well and thoughtfully provided supplementary options. There were two in total. One was to help prisoners of war enter hibernation. They could close their eyes and open them again, and a hundred years would have passed. They would not need to suffer through the torment of time at all.

For races with families, the Zerg also offered a second option: replacements. The Zerg did not care who exactly the prisoners in their hands were. As long as the numbers matched, that was enough.

Thus, if a prisoner could find someone willing to live as a prisoner in their place, the Zerg could exchange them. That way, the older brother could come hibernate for a few years, then be replaced by