Besides monitoring the progress of resource collection, the cluster leader devoted part of its attention to other matters.
The cluster leader asked, "What intelligence did we obtain from the prisoners' memories?"
A Collector individual that had searched the memories of the Boful Hegemony prisoners replied, "Coordinates for various locations within their territory, along with coordinates for some territories of other factions at the same level."
"Based on the information in their memories, this seventh-level world called the Boful Hegemony appears to be hostile toward the Konak Utopia we attacked previously."
Having heard its kin's report, the cluster leader considered it briefly before asking in return.
"Anything else?"
"No. It seems the prisoners we captured were all from the lower ranks. The Boful Hegemony's internal hierarchy is strict, and information channels between levels are extremely blocked off. This differs from Konak."
The Collectors had originally thought that capturing a batch of prisoners would give them a general understanding of the Boful Hegemony, but that was not the case.
Unlike the Konak Utopia the Collectors had encountered before, individuals of different status within the Boful Hegemony possessed entirely different intelligence, and knowledge rarely flowed up or down. Other than knowing their territory was vast and how many star systems it controlled, even low-ranking soldiers knew nothing of the Boful Hegemony's history.
It seemed to be a policy of keeping the populace ignorant, implemented by the rulers to stabilize their foundation of rule.
"How many star systems does Boful's territory contain?" the cluster leader asked.
"Thirty-two star systems."
After receiving the precise figure from its kin, the cluster leader issued its decision.
"We will not attack the Boful Hegemony yet. We will prioritize growth and expansion, then divide into thirty-two branches and attack Boful's entire territory at once."
"That way, even if what