Jiang Shu and Zhan Feng dealt with the various probes.
Zhan Yun, meanwhile, served as the shield wall in this clash.
Whenever words carried hooks of inquiry, quietly extending like a venomous serpent's tongue toward the War Alliance's recent martial lockdown, fluctuations in the Ancestral Land, or even that earth-shattering energy eruption deep within the Ancient Path, her voice would rise at precisely the right moment.
Sometimes she blocked them off under the pretext of the Star Alliance's routine combat-readiness inspections; other times, she deftly used some envoy's harmless earlier pleasantry to shift the topic, steering their veiled inquiries toward their own internal affairs.
Her answers were watertight, like military regulations drilled a thousand times over. A courteous smile rested on her face, but her gaze was as clear and cold as an ice-sealed Cold Pool. There was not the slightest anger at having intelligence pried from her—only an unyielding barrier that kept others a thousand miles away.
Amid this false warmth and the invisible clash of blades, the atmosphere slowly heated up, then settled heavy as lead.
The Star Chart on the great hall's vaulted ceiling flowed silently, eternally looking down upon the contest of wits among the intelligent beings below.
At last, the platinum Mech Divine Envoy that had remained silent all this time became the point of breakthrough once more.
"Your views on the future are indeed thought-provoking."
After Zhan Yun redirected the discussion yet again, its voice—gentle as polished jade—rang out, neatly bringing the previous meaningless topic to an end.
"Great changes are approaching. Cooperation may be the only way out."
Its scarlet electronic eye swept across everyone in the hall before finally settling on Jiang Shu and the other two seated at the head.
"For that very reason, while our nation's Mother Body Core was