NGC 6397.

It is about 7,500 light-years away from Human Civilization.

In fact, this area is already within the Devouring Zerg's coverage.

The Devouring Zerg call this place the "Claw Star Cluster."

Because from a certain angle, there is a giant claw-print-like area within the Star Cluster, occupying over 10% of the entire Star Cluster's volume; it is a nebula.

And the Civilizations within the Claw Star Cluster are naturally called Claw Civilizations.

However, there is more than one Civilization within the Claw Star Cluster, so the true designation is the "Claw Star Cluster Civilization Group," or the Claw Civilization Alliance.

There are eight Civilizations within the Claw Civilization Alliance, all of which have reached Tier 2.6.

Based on certain characteristics, the Devouring Zerg refer to these Civilizations as the Beautiful Beast Civilization, Storm Civilization, Winged Civilization, Electric Civilization, Psychic Civilization, Merchant Civilization, Stone Sculpture Civilization, and Holy Civilization.

The technology of these eight Civilizations is very similar, having already merged through millions of years of coexistence.

The only difference lies in their artistic expression, such as the appearance of their warships.

The Beautiful Beast Civilization is a Civilization with unique patterns, resembling Earth's beasts, and even possessing hands.

However, they have four legs and four hands, all very robust, with a body similar to a centaur, where the lower half provides support and the upper half is upright.

The Beautiful Beast's average size is around 5 meters, while females are only 3 meters and relatively rare, with a male-to-female ratio of 5:1.

Therefore, their social structure involves several males jointly possessing one female; it is not polyandry, but rather polygyny.

This is likely a social characteristic that has persisted from a long time ago, perhaps due to the inherently larger size of the males.

For Human Civilization, this structure is certainly abnormal.

However, for the Beautiful Beast Civilization, this is perfectly normal.

...

The typical characteristic of the Storm Civilization is that they live inside gas giants.

They build cities within gas giants, constantly experiencing storms hitting their bodies, which also makes their bodies very slender, like chopsticks.

However, it's not that exaggerated; the length-to-width ratio is only 1:16 (humans are 1:4).

The Storm Civilization's bodies also have many 貫穿 areas, like wind tunnels; their original rocky planet was a storm-prone planet, and after entering gas giants, their body evolution became even more radical.

...

In the Winged Civilization, every life form, upon birth, combines with another individual.

Because they are not symmetrical.

One has only the left half, and the other has only the right half.

The right half is male, and the left half is female; the original connection point between them was a small hand, but with technological advancement, it became a mechanical interlock.

They are very short and also very fat, like marmots, but in the eyes of Human Civilization, even naked mole-rats are ten thousand times better looking than them.

...

The Electric Civilization transforms themselves into electric light, composed purely of energy.

These lightning bolts contain some creation particles, and these creation particles are their true carriers; electricity is merely their energy.

Their speed can effortlessly approach the speed of light, with each individual being like a Flash, and they can move back and forth through matter, just like real lightning.

Furthermore, the focus of their technology allows them to pass through without any energy loss.

...

Every individual in the Psychic Civilization communicates using their own bioelectricity.

Their biological type is like a factory.

In fact, they resemble coral polyps, living in water and using their hands to catch microorganisms in the ocean.

However, they have evolved even further.

Each individual is as large as a yurt, with spacious internal chambers, and countless tentacles inside the body; the base of each tentacle is its brain, enveloped by a soft cushion.

These tentacles are very flexible and can do anything.

They communicate underwater through bioelectricity and gradually gave birth to Civilization, then used technology for more convenient and distant communication.

This is a Civilization that developed due to the need for communication.

...

The Merchant Civilization is the commercial core of the Claw Civilization Alliance.

All creatures within this Civilization engage in commerce.

However, their numbers are very small, only a few billion, which is rare compared to other Civilizations that number in the trillions or tens of trillions.

They resemble pocket monsters, with a large pouch in front of their bodies.

Originally for childcare, they are actually very prolific, giving birth to a dozen or two dozen offspring at a time.

Later, a population crisis erupted.

Too many people, not enough energy.

Then, family planning was implemented, and each pocket monster could only have one child; they reproduce solitarily.

After entering a higher Civilization, they themselves had little desire to reproduce, leading to a significant decline in population.

...

The creatures of the Stone Sculpture Civilization are not stone sculptures.

Rather, they like stone sculptures.

In their planets and Star Cities, various stone sculptures can be seen.

This is this Civilization's pursuit of art; even though they are already a higher Civilization, they are not lazy.

Their bodies resemble beetles, with hard exoskeletons and unusually thick chelicerae.

They are also very intelligent and powerful, being the strongest in the Claw Civilization Alliance.

...

Holy Civilization, an arrogant Civilization.

They are arrogant.

For a long time, they were the strongest Civilization in the Claw Civilization Alliance.

But because of their arrogance, they often had conflicts with other Civilizations, and even a war broke out a long time ago.

The war weakened them, but they are still the second strongest Civilization in the Claw Civilization.

And the war did not make them give up their pride.

Every creature in this Civilization is a warrior, very powerful.

They worship strength and extreme military might.

Although, they actually look very weak.

Their bodies are not much larger than an ant.

Like a smaller beast, their bodies are covered in scales, actually more like lizards, but without tails, and their heads have fierce insect-like mouthparts.

They have venom, but disdain to use it.

...

These eight Civilizations have existed here since the distant past.

According to records, they are also outsiders.

Because no Civilization has ever lasted long in this resource-rich Star Cluster.

However, because the Starry Sky is too vast, decades or millions of years of stability are possible.

In the past, they only had internal problems.

Actually, it wasn't even an alliance.

Until tens of thousands of years ago.

The Devouring Zerg arrived.

The terrifying Devouring Zerg, though still very weak at the time, only Tier 2.5.

But relying on their vast numbers, they forced the eight Civilizations to respond.

That was a branch of the Devouring Zerg, with a normal population of over 100 quintillion.

Ella and Yan Xia learned of the existence and some history of this swarm and the Claw Civilization Alliance through their dealings with the Devouring Zerg.

At this moment, the technology level of that Devouring Zerg has reached Tier 2.6 through trade with the Sun Zerg and Human Civilization.

Over tens of thousands of years, they continuously attacked this Star Cluster.

The Claw Civilization Alliance resisted desperately, and in the last few millennia, they have actually suppressed the Devouring Zerg and even launched some counterattacks.

The Devouring Zerg is very vast.

Their numbers are only more, not less, than the Sun Zerg.

However, because they are too dispersed and do not control wormhole technology, they have no way to get assistance.

Gradually, in the last century, this branch of the Devouring Zerg began to target other Civilizations, not putting all their attention on them.

Civilizations that have experienced war can grow.

The Claw Civilization Alliance is no exception.

From the early stage of Tier 2.6 Civilization, they gradually entered the mid-stage of Tier 2.6 Civilization, roughly Tier 2.64.

For the entire Milky Way, this is no longer weak.

The probe's observation.

The scale of the Claw Civilization Alliance is also very vast.

Because it is an interweaving of several Civilizations, there were originally many frictions, and they have experienced many Civilization explosions and Civilization destructions.

There are even some Civilization ruins.

This has led to their development of the Claw Star Cluster exceeding 80%.

This is terrifying.

Human Civilization's total development of all Stellar Systems it controls does not exceed 20%.

It can be said that the Claw Star Cluster is "very crowded" or "very prosperous."

The probe placed a small manufacturing plant in a remote Stellar System and then manufactured new probes.

These probes are very small now.

They are small spheres less than 10cm in diameter.

They mimicked some of the Claw Civilization Alliance's shell designs.

Ella even learned some of the Claw Civilization Alliance's language and technology through her dealings with the Devouring Zerg, and incorporated them as well.

Even if discovered, the Claw Civilization Alliance might not think it came from another Civilization.