"General, please wait a moment. We need to hide all the planets again."
"Clan leader, may we witness this awe-inspiring scene?" Academician Liu asked, standing up.
"Of course, we Tree Race have nothing to hide, especially from our friends. Please take a look."
In the sky, dozens of planets the size of stars, along with several stars, immediately arranged themselves in an orderly fashion. It was clear that the treants on these planets were releasing energy, and soon more than fifty celestial bodies were arranged in a ring around the star.
Some particularly large tree-men had already detached from the planet's surface and flown into the sky. Hu Yu and the others only saw the distant starry sky slowly begin to blur and then disappear, all within a span of about ten minutes.
Once the space became clear, the distance was completely dark, with only the side facing the star being bright. This star didn't feel like a star in the night sky, but rather like a beacon in the darkness. Where the light shone, there was light; where the light couldn't reach, it was pitch black.
"Gentlemen, it's finished. I wonder if any of you have noticed anything?" The Tree Race Chief interrupted the dumbfounded humans.
" Academician Zeng, Academician Liu, did you two figure it out?" Hu Yu said with a smile, "I didn't understand anything, I just felt it was amazing."
"No, the fleet outside might be able to capture some images."
"Gentlemen, I'm sorry, your fleet is also on board. There's really nothing for you to learn, but if the general needs it, we can tell you."
"This is too expensive; we cannot afford it."
"Haha, let's talk about it later. I'm sure you all have a lot of questions, right? Haha, feel free to ask."
"Elder, if I remember correctly, you seem to have known about us humans all along, is that right?" Hu Yu asked.
When the Grand Elder first saw Hu Yu's fleet, he said, "So it's you."
"This, clan leader." The elder looked at the Tree Race leader.
"Go ahead and speak. It's nothing. Human Civilization is now a trustworthy friend. Since we're friends, we should be honest with each other. Speaking frankly will help eliminate any barriers."
"Yes, General. Indeed, we have seen you humans before, but there was only one, and he captured me."
"Is he an old man?"
"Does the general know him?"
"I guessed it, Elder. Why did that old man from our humanity capture you?"
"Who knows? After he captured me, he subjected me to all sorts of studies, but that's not all. The real problem is that he humiliated me, saying I was just a dull tree that would never amount to anything. General, if this old man is still here, please let him out. I absolutely have to have a word with him."
"Elder, I apologize on behalf of our human elder, but he is not currently in our territory. We don't even know his whereabouts. Elder, what happened afterward? What does our elder want to know?"
"And then? He humiliated me, then left me outside his territory and went. I don't know his purpose; he didn't ask me any questions at all."
"No wonder the Grand Elder attacked us right away; so that's how it is. However, we really don't know anything about this matter, and we've always wanted to find this mysterious old man."
"I find it strange that you haven't even reached the Small Star Sector Civilization, yet your elder from over two million years ago was already far more powerful than us."
"You saw that old man more than 2 million years ago?" Hu Yu asked in surprise.
"Yes, I remember it very clearly. More than two million years is just yesterday for us Tree Race."
"It's nothing, Elder. Regardless, I apologize to you on behalf of humanity."
"Actually, it's nothing. He didn't hurt me. I just had a lot of anger inside. Now it's all right. We've become friends with the general. Let's not dwell on the past. Besides, it was just a trivial matter."
"We admire the Grand Elder's magnanimity."
"Patriarch, I'm very curious why your planet is so enormous, completely defying the laws of the universe," Academician Zeng asked.
"Haha, I knew you'd ask that. Actually, it's just a smokescreen. What you see aren't planets at all. They're just the intertwined roots of our people forming a giant sphere. We then transport soil from other planets to store water and various elements. To put it bluntly, the planets you see are hollow. They're less than 5,000 kilometers thick."
"So that's how it is." Everyone suddenly understood.
"Chieftain, your Tree Race is so powerful, why do you choose to live in seclusion? Even though you haven't developed technology, you should at least have the strength of a mid-to-high-level civilization in Small Star Region. Shouldn't you be summoned by Great Star Region Civilization to assist in the fight against the Insect Race?"
"Fighting the Insect Race? The Great Star Region Civilization? Hmph." The chieftain was slightly displeased. "General, it is because of fighting the Insect Race that our strength has been reduced to less than one-tenth, and we have also been hunted by other civilizations. In order for the Tree Race to survive, we have had no choice but to choose to live in seclusion."
"How is this possible? Aren't the Small Star Sector Civilization checked and balanced by the Great Star Region Civilization Alliance? How come other civilizations are attacking you? Could it be that the Great Star Region Civilization are directly taking action?"
" The Great Star Region Civilization did not intervene; if they had, we would no longer exist. However, the Great Star Region Civilization Alliance is not monolithic, and due to the unique nature of our Tree Race, dealing with us might be beneficial in the fight against the Insect Race. Therefore, the Great Star Region Civilization turned a blind eye, allowing other civilizations to hunt down our people."
"Chieftain, what do you mean? Destroying the Tree Race is equivalent to losing a portion of our strength in fighting the Insect Race. How can that possibly be beneficial in the fight against the Insect Race?"
"General, you are unaware of the special nature of us Tree People, hence your assumptions. As you just witnessed, it only takes a few thousand elders to cut and conceal this space. The energy required for this is enormous. To be honest, some of our people possess a special space within their bodies that allows them to store the energy they normally absorb, unleashing it all at once when needed, with terrifying power."
" The Tree Race is indeed extraordinary; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them a miracle of the universe."
"We would rather be ordinary beings, at least not allowing other civilizations to covet our people. When the Insect Race descended, we assisted the Great Star Region Civilization clearing the swarm. At that time, we had more than 2 billion elders. During the battle, countless elders were surrounded by the swarming Zerg and had no choice but to self-destruct, perishing together with the Zerg."
"Over tens of thousands of years, the number of elders has dwindled to less than 500 million. The surviving elders have also been greatly depleted, with little energy remaining. The Tree Race has suffered a severe blow. It was at this time that the Far Watcher Civilization attacked us."