California, Sacramento.
Inside a coffee shop.
Simon picked up the coffee on the table, took a small sip, and then silently looked at the fat man in front of him.
The other person, holding Donut, stared at him silently.
After a long pause, Simon finally couldn't hold back any longer and spoke up:
" Mr. Donut?"
"... It's me, just call me Benjamin. You must be Simon?"
Benjamin nodded and looked Simon up and down.
He was a quiet and reserved young man with a scholarly air about him; he was probably someone who did clerical work.
I was so mistaken that I mistook him for a spy sent by King.
"What a coincidence, I didn't expect you to be in Sacramento too." "Let me make this clear first, I haven't completely dispelled my suspicions about you, so don't expect to get any information from me."
He took a bite of the Donut, tossed the remaining half around, and gestured to Simon in a famous manner.
"Tell me, what exactly is this 'non-aggression pact' you're talking about?"
"Brother, I'm not hiding anything from you anymore. Let's be sincere with each other."
Simon nodded, then took the initiative to explain,
"Although I don't know which star sector you're in, Mr. Benjamin, I do have a general idea of your location."
Over the course of several days, as the number of rounds continued to advance, Simon's highly mobile strategy began to gradually demonstrate its advantages.
He carefully concealed himself and gathered intelligence from all sides to ensure he could seize the opportunity at the right time.
"I have completed formal diplomatic contact with Miss Alice, but frankly, I don't trust her. You know, a neighboring country isn't a good choice as an ally."
Benjamin nodded slightly, not rushing to reply, but waiting for Simon to continue.
He was a huge fan of grand strategy games, and naturally, Benjamin had no reason not to play a title like Stars!
He naturally understood the strategy of befriending distant states while attacking nearby ones. Compared to a neighboring "friend" whose true nature was unclear, a distant country with no immediate conflict of interest might be a better target.
But Benjamin knew almost nothing about Simon, and couldn't even be sure if he was really a newbie, so naturally he wouldn't be so foolish as to believe his nonsense.
"To be frank, Mr. Benjamin, I can tell you very clearly that I play a build that isn't strong in the early game and needs a safe window to develop, which is why I thought of contacting you."
"Stop, stop, stop! Don't tell me you're planning to join me and complement my style. Go ahead and try to fool someone with that nonsense."
Benjamin waved his hand, interrupting Simon directly.
He'd heard this kind of nonsense countless times in his gaming career.
They may appear loyal on the surface, but at crucial moments they'll suddenly betray you and abscond with the warehouse—that would be utterly shameful.
More importantly, does his claim of being vulnerable truly mean he is vulnerable?
Benjamin's eyes flickered.
He himself plays the Zerg swarm strategy.
Based on his analysis and the various discussions within the club over the past two days, HE's biggest problem is not that it is weak, but rather that it is too strong.
Being too strong is not a good thing in this kind of game. It means that it will bring a very strong threat and sense of oppression, and become a hidden danger that all surrounding countries would like to get rid of as soon as possible.
It's impossible for him to develop peacefully; he'll be fighting from beginning to end.
In fact, Benjamin himself was also worried.
If King is really nearby, the other side will definitely launch a full-scale attack without hesitation.
Hide yourself and clean up the mess.
And then... become the ruler of the universe!
"Oh, no, I just want to survive as long as possible. This is my first game."
Simon smiled and continued,
"To be honest, although I don't like Alice, I really don't have any way to fight back right now. Besides... I'm more worried about King than her."
"You saw King?"
"Yes, to be precise, King found me. One of my reconnaissance fleets was destroyed at coordinates (2449, 924). I'm afraid the enemy will be able to deduce its approximate location soon."
"A warmonger?" "A warmonger."
Benjamin frowned, staring at the coordinates on the paper.
My worst fears came true.
King is too close to me.
What's even more terrifying is that the other side has now found a super experience pack.
If King manages to devour the little guy whole, or even Alice along with him, then all his swarming attacks will be for naught.
He needs time to get started.
"If I'm not mistaken... Mr. Benjamin, you're nearby too, aren't you?"
Noticing the change in Benjamin's subtle expression, Simon breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he had guessed correctly, and quickly increased the stakes.
"You've seen it too. If this continues, the result will be that the three of us get wiped out by King, and this game won't be interesting at all. It's just too boring."
"Cooperation is impossible, Simon. Even if it were, I would choose to ambush King when he attacks." "That's exactly what I want, Mr. Benjamin. Like I said, I don't trust Alice; she's a threat to me too."
Simon did not deny Benjamin's words; instead, he went along with him.
"Whether you believe me or not, I can tell you that Alice relies on IS Inner Strength; her defense is top-notch, but her offense is slightly weaker. I can find a way to lure King deep into my territory, let Alice wear him down, and then..."
Faced with an open goal, Benjamin can use his special ability to quickly overwhelm the King's territory, completely eroding it.
But these conditions are a bit too good to be true.
If what Simon said is true, then he was the only beneficiary throughout the entire process.
Alice was wasted in vain and ultimately gained nothing, while Simon merely survived a few more rounds, only to be crushed at any moment by the increasingly arrogant Simon.
How can I trust you?
"I just want to survive, sir. Here's what we'll do: tonight you can send a scout ship to these coordinates, and I'll take you to one of my star systems and open its borders to you."
Benjamin frowned at Simon, then nodded.
"Sure, but I'll send a cargo ship and give me all your resources. You just want to survive, right?" "Of course."
That evening, Benjamin immediately dispatched a reconnaissance ship and activated the scanner.
Simon wasn't lying to him; after all this time, the two finally met for the first time in the vast universe.
Benjamin also confirmed the approximate location of Simon's base camp and successfully left with the resources.
Everything is proceeding smoothly.
The same goes for king.
Rust Belt, inside an apartment building.
King sat cross-legged in a chair, holding a notebook covered in scribbles and writing something intently.
"Hmph... So you were hiding here, you little rascal."
"Slap"
She slammed her pen on the table, then began working on the computer. "First and Second Fleets, (2000, 1500), assemble! Sixth Fleet..."
As others predicted, she did indeed choose WM War Monger as her racial trait.
Thanks to this trait, as well as the CE Cheap Engines trait, she was able to quickly build several large fleets early in the game.
Expensive to maintain? Requires a lot of materials to build?
Why not just rob them?
As the saying goes, "My neighbor stores grain, I store guns; my neighbor is my granary."
This is also "King," or rather, Joan's consistent gaming style.
Instead of supporting a bunch of lackeys, I'd rather destroy the world myself.
Joan designed several extremely inexpensive warship templates for herself.
It has to be said that Stars! really brought her a lot of surprises.
Fully customizable warships, fully customizable races...
She can go to great lengths to create a completely customized style scheme of her own. This is an amazing experience that has never been seen in previous games.
That night, several massive fleets began to assemble in an No Man's Sky not far from Simon.
at the same time.
"Beep beep beep"
Alice put down her handheld console and looked at the computer screen not far away.
The scanners on several stealth reconnaissance ships are emitting loud alarms.
"Ha, they actually came."
Alice chuckled softly, then vigorously rocked her wheelchair to move herself in front of the computer.
Instead of immediately taking action, she opened her Novamail account and quickly drafted an email, which she then sent to Simon's inbox.
That night, everyone was doing their own thing.
Throughout the game, the eight players, operating entirely asynchronously, each employed their own strategies while maintaining a remarkably coordinated teamwork.
It was a truly strange feeling. Even though we weren't actually online, everything was happening entirely locally, and even communication required waiting a long time via email.
But it created a strange sense of connection between them.
It was as if, at this very moment, the eight people were actually sitting around a round table in some "neutral country," discussing the supreme principles of the entire galaxy.
However, no one knows where the situation will ultimately lead.
Everything depends on all the actions being summarized tonight.
late at night.
Simon stood facing his old computer, his expression serious.
Even though he believed he had made ample preparations, he still needed to carefully consider every step of the following operation.
"Just a little bit more..."
There are no truly useless traits in this game.
His IT Interstellar Traveler, though seemingly weak in terms of warfare, possesses a terrifying ability, or rather, a technology.
[gate] Stargate.
This is also the most crucial part of his next steps.
Simon stared intently at the screen.
However, instead of a game screen, he saw a novamail mailbox.
On the left, in the recipient column, Benjamin, Alice, and several other names were listed.
[alice]: [2 unread emails]
[ Benjamin ]: [1 unread email]
He took a deep breath, opened Benjamin's communications, and drafted an email to send.
The content... consisted of a portion of the star map he possessed, marked with several jump traces he had discovered, as well as the security links he had deduced.