" Hu Yu, clean up the mess as soon as possible, tighten the defenses. The Mechanical Civilization doesn't just appear out of thin air; there might be some unrest coming."
" Lord Yun San, haven't we been relentlessly pursuing the Mechanical Civilization? They can't possibly rebuild in such a short time."
" The Mechanical Civilization is also Great Star Region Civilization, albeit only at a rudimentary stage. But as you just saw, hiding in three-dimensional space is very easy for them; even some Small Star Sector Intermediate Civilization can do it. The Mechanical Civilization will only hide better and deeper. Their development speed is also hundreds or thousands of times faster than our bio-technological civilizations. It won't be long before they rebuild a massive fleet and devour the entire galaxy like a swarm of ants."
"Should we continue searching for Mechanical Civilization?"
"Of course we should. We should eliminate them as many as we can, but if we encounter any lords, we must handle them. Do not attempt to deal with them ourselves."
"Why?"
" The Mechanical Civilization is a very special civilization. The lord is supreme and controls all the lower-level mechanical beings. As long as the lord exists, the number of lower-level mechanical beings is within the lord's control. If the lord is killed by you, every lower-level mechanical being will become the lord. Do you understand?"
"Understood. If we find the lord, we will report to you immediately, sir."
"Alright, you can continue." After saying this, the Yun San Civilization's warship disappeared into the fourth dimension.
" The Great Star Region Civilization is truly powerful," Number One said enviously.
"Kid, one day we'll be part of Great Star Region Civilization," Wen Zhonghua laughed. Although they lost quite a few warships this time, the gains were also very substantial, making Wen Zhonghua extremely happy.
"General, the minister and the others have arrived, as have Number One and the leader of Xuan Star," Yang Fan said.
"Quickly, open the hatch and let everyone in."
The main ship's hatch opened, and Luo Zhigao and his group walked in first.
"Minister!" Hu Yu stepped forward and gave a standard military salute. Then the two grown men embraced again. Nearly 40,000 years had passed since their last separation.
A large group of men embraced each other, tears of joy streaming down their faces. Although they had been separated for 40,000 years, it did not increase their sense of estrangement. On the contrary, it made them feel even more connected by blood and inseparable.
Tears soaked their clothes, and they looked at each other speechlessly, unable to utter a single word for the myriad thoughts in their hearts. Even the other leaders and members of the civilizations standing nearby were deeply moved by this scene.
" Vice Minister Fang, Wenfei, Academician Gao, come, come, everyone, please have a seat." Wen Zhonghua wiped away his tears before remembering to entertain these compatriots he had been separated from for so long.
"Everyone's still the same as before." Luo Zhigao down and looked at Hu Yu's group one by one with a friendly expression.
"Hmm? Where are Academician Zeng and the others?" Luo Zhigao asked.
"Minister, Academician Zeng and the others—went to the Matter River."
"What Matter River?" Luo Zhigao asked, puzzled.
"It's a dangerous place in the Insect Zone, rumored to have a powerful defense system there. Academician Zeng and his team's research has been hampered, so in order to help the fleet rise to prominence as soon as possible, they decided to go to the Matter River to find out."
"And now?"
They've lost contact.
"What! They've gone missing!! Has anyone gone to look for them?"
"No, Academician Zeng deliberately lost contact. There's a special area in the Matter River where all warships entering it lose contact. However, we'll re-establish contact with Academician Zeng and his team once they leave the special area."
Hu Yu didn't tell Luo Zhigao about the danger zone, otherwise, given Luo Zhigao's temper, he would definitely rush into the Insect Zone to find Academician Zeng and the others. Hu Yu was also afraid that Academician Zeng and the others would be lost forever, but now there was nothing that could be done, and he could only believe that the academicians could create a miracle and return from the danger zone.
"By the way, Minister, I've sent warships to Epsilon Eridani many times over the years, and even stationed them there permanently. I also sent warships to monitor Upsilon1 Hydrae Epsilon Eridani, but I've never heard from you. Where did you go?"
"It's a long story. After we parted ways, I led my fleet to evade the pursuit of the Xuan Star Civilization and headed towards the center of the galaxy." As he spoke, Luo Zhigao glanced at the leader of the Xuan Star Civilization beside him.
The leader of the Xuan Star Civilization felt somewhat embarrassed. He had a deep-seated hatred for Luo Zhigao back then, but that was an order from the previous leader, and he hadn't been involved. Even so, the leader of Xuan Star still felt a little uneasy.
Seeing this, Hu Yu took the initiative to say, "Minister, the previous leader of Xuan Star did make some mistakes, but he later atoned for them with his life, and we no longer have any hatred between us. This time, the leader of Xuan Star led the fleet to help and used the antimatter star to blackmail the Hydra Civilization. We should all be grateful to the Xuan Star Civilization."
"Haha, I know. I also received the message that said, 'Anyone who dares to bully the friends of my Xuan Star Civilization, even if they escape the galaxy, my Xuan Star Civilization will swear to hunt them down to the end!' As the leader of a civilization, being able to turn enemies into friends is the greatest achievement. Hu Yu, leader of Xuan Star, you are both people worthy of my respect, Luo Zhigao."
" Minister Luo, in the past, my Xuan Star Civilization..."
"There's no need to dwell on the past. Now that we're friends, we should look forward. There's a saying among us humans: 'No fight, no friendship.' Sometimes, it's through fighting that true friends are forged," Luo Zhigao interrupted the leader of the Xuan Star Civilization.
" Human Civilization is indeed a civilization worth befriending. Our Xuan Star Civilization officially joins the Star Ring Alliance from this day forward, and we will move forward hand in hand with everyone."
"Welcome to the Xuan Star Civilization, everyone! Our Star Ring Alliance now has eight Small Star Sector Civilization, a cause for celebration! We've acquired ten Flying Bear Civilization warships, bringing our alliance's total technological civilization count to ten as well, one warship for each civilization. Let's have a competition to see which civilization can analyze the most and most useful technologies." Hu Yu distributed the rewards directly, and every civilization in the alliance was overjoyed. The value of a complete Small Star Sector Advanced Civilization warship was immeasurable for these civilizations.
"General, it's been a long time since you've been reunited. We shouldn't disturb you. Leave the cleanup to us." The Xuan Star Civilization also became cheerful at this moment.
"Okay, after we've tidied everything up here, let's have a grand celebration."
Several leaders of civilizations left one after another, except for seven short people, including Number One, who remained beside Academician Xiao.
" Hu Yu, who are these kids?"
"Oh, the seven leaders of the Aquila Civilization," Hu Yu said with a smile. "Actually, they were already in the fleet when we first joined forces, but back then they were just commanders without any real power. Later, we let them grow on their own, and in just tens of thousands of years, they've grown into Small Star Sector Intermediate Civilization."