At this moment, the management of the Eight Great Civilizations gathered to prepare for a possible attack from the Civilization Federation.
“We have never taken precautions regarding the black hole. If the information from the Devouring Zerg is true, then we might be the first to be hit.”
The contemporary leader of the Stone Sculpture Civilization displayed a blank starry sky.
The Claw Star Cluster was indeed prosperous, but there were no living beings near the black hole.
Only some garbage disposal plants and black hole research laboratories were located there.
In the displayed starry sky, those places couldn't even form a small dot.
Besides the black hole, it was also a dense area of Neutron Stars and White Dwarf Stars, with some energy factories nearby.
The leaders of the other seven Civilizations knew that the Stone Sculpture Civilization was not speaking without cause.
If the Devouring Zerg could sell information about the Civilization Federation to them, why couldn't they sell information about their own Civilization to their suzerain Civilization?
Moreover, there had been a long-standing war between them, so the information sold to them should be incomplete, and perhaps the Civilization Federation had already begun its move.
“I agree. It’s best to prepare as soon as possible and establish a defensive line near the black hole.”
The leader of the Winged Civilization expressed deep concern.
At the same time, its gaze swept over the other Civilization leaders.
In fact, they weren't just now realizing that the Human Civilization’s Civilization Federation was about to start a war.
It was just that in the past century of communication, they had not been in agreement.
The leader of the Electric Civilization spoke, “It’s the same old problem: whoever is afraid pays.”
“The Milky Way is so vast, why would the Civilization Federation attack us first? Just because we are close?”
“wormhole technology is not that easy to control. How many years has the Civilization Federation been developing? According to my guess, the Civilization Federation might have only discovered a few ancient wormhole routes.”
“Our Civilization has been rooted in the Claw Star Cluster for 200 Hao Xi, and we have inherited some data from previous Civilizations, with a history of over a thousand Hao Xi, yet we have never heard of any wormhole routes in the Claw Star Cluster.”
1 Hao Xi is equal to 22,010 human years.
With over twenty million years of history showing no information about wormhole passages, the Electric Civilization leader could not possibly spend a large amount of money to build a defense network for a mere “possibility.”
If it were outside the Claw Star Cluster, it could actually contribute resources from over 1,000 Stellar Systems to build a defense network.
But this was inside the Claw Star Cluster.
Facing the black hole.
If there were no so-called wormhole passages, then it would mean these investments would be wasted.
And if they remained concerned and wanted to maintain it, they would have to continue investing funds.
It was simply an astronomical figure.
“I think it’s just a scheme by those Devouring Zerg.”
“The Civilization Federation actually has no intention of expanding, at least not within the next 1 Hao Xi.”
“After all, they just ended a war, and now there are even Extraterrestrial Civilizations eyeing them. How could they dare to start a war?”
“The Devouring Zerg revealing this information is, firstly, to extort us, and secondly, to make us fall into panic and invest a lot of energy here at the black hole, to create an opportunity to take advantage of us.”
The leader of the Storm Civilization sided with the Electric Civilization.
“Yes, this information all comes from those cunning and hateful Zerg. We must not fall for their trick.”
The Merchant Civilization valued the input and return of money the most; asking them to contribute money was tantamount to killing their own parents.
“Short-sighted! If Human Civilization truly comes, how will we, without defense, face the powerful Human Civilization?”
“Are we just going to wait to be slaughtered?”
The leader of the Lishou Civilization angrily looked at the leaders of the three Civilizations.
However, its words could not convince those leaders.
“You also said it was just ‘if’.”
“You are far-sighted, why not present the evidence instead of just talking empty words here?”
“Our Spiritual Civilization does not have that much money to waste. Since your Lishou Civilization does, why not take on a bit more?”
The leader of the Spiritual Civilization scoffed at the idea of the Lishou Civilization leader.
Their Eight Great Civilizations were not pushovers.
Even if Human Civilization came, what could they do?
Human Civilization had only just advanced from Level 2.6 to Level 2.7, and it was a Civilization that had only existed for 10 Hao Xi.
Among their Civilizations, the youngest had a history of 40 Hao Xi.
Each of the Eight Great Civilizations was a Level 2.6 Civilization, and united, they were not afraid of a typical Level 2.7 Civilization.
Moreover, the opponent would be fighting long-distance.
Even if there really was a wormhole, what then?
How many warships could pass through one wormhole at a time?
At that time, the wormhole would be like their food delivery point; Human Civilization could only send warships one by one to their doom, nothing more.
“Your worries are completely unnecessary. You might as well consider how to eliminate the nearby Devouring Zerg.”
The leader of the Sacred Civilization spoke.
When the Zerg arrived, their Sacred Civilization was the first to be attacked and suffered the most severe losses.
Now, they could barely maintain their second position and might even fall to third or fourth place in 1 Hao Xi.
Every citizen of the Sacred Civilization hated the Zerg and wished to exterminate them.
Among the Eight Great Civilizations, they were also the most active.
Although the Devouring Zerg’s attention had shifted, there were still many Zerg hives left by the Devouring Zerg near the Claw Star Cluster.
These hives produced over a hundred billion Zerg daily, constantly harassing them from all directions.
The Sacred Civilization was planning to dismantle these hives one by one.
For this reason, they absolutely could not invest here.
With only three of the Eight Great Civilizations feeling a sense of crisis about the black hole, this matter could not be resolved from the beginning.
The leaders of the Winged Civilization, Stone Sculpture Civilization, and Lishou Civilization exchanged glances, all sensing each other's helplessness.
In fact, how could they not know that the decisions of the other five Civilizations were more correct?
To spend a great deal for such a small possibility would severely hinder Civilization development.
If all this money were invested within their own Civilization, for research or other purposes, it could promote a certain degree of technological progress.
And if Human Civilization truly didn't come, this money would be wasted.
Even more importantly, the fundamental reason was not these.
Rather, from a distribution perspective, the three Civilizations they supported actually had a very large central area, while the other five Civilizations were mostly outside the Claw Star Cluster.
Even if an attack truly came, their three Civilizations would be attacked first.
After the meeting, the leaders of the three Civilizations held another small meeting.
Since the other Civilizations were not concerned with this matter, they would have to bear the costs themselves.
Construction began ten years later.
All of this was recorded by probes.
...
Year 243521 AD.
Civilization Federation.
Star City Zero.
Ella received information from the Claw Star Cluster.
“I didn’t expect it to be transmitted back so late.”
Yan Xia had almost forgotten about it; Ella had mentioned it over 100 years ago.
However, Yan Xia had not hibernated and had always been conscious. These 100-plus years were real, full of various information, and even with his strong psychic power, he couldn't process it all.
“It is indeed a bit late.”
“After the Devouring Zerg knew we were inquiring about information, they also sold the news of our impending attack on the Claw Star Cluster to the Civilizations there.”
“This led to three Civilizations there being very wary of the black hole, constantly monitoring it, making it difficult to transmit information back through the wormhole.”
“It’s also fortunate that those Civilizations haven't deeply researched black holes and wormholes, otherwise, they might have discovered clues, and all eight Civilizations would have acted.”
It’s not that knowing there’s a wormhole inside a black hole means you can just rush into the black hole and enter the wormhole.
That would only tear one to shreds by the black hole.
Only Civilizations capable of resisting black hole-level gravity can find and open a wormhole at the edge of the black hole's event horizon and enter.
Because these wormholes were left by Level 3 Civilizations, they don't need to be opened, but one must reach the surface of the black hole's event horizon.
The Civilizations of the Claw Star Cluster, due to the abundant resources within the Claw Star Cluster itself, did not extensively research black holes, which is why they are currently unable to even confirm whether a wormhole passage exists within the black hole.
“Devouring Zerg…”
Yan Xia knew that Ella's capabilities had limits and couldn't restrain those fellows.
In fact, after returning, Yan Xia had already discovered that Ella’s binding power over the Star Countries had significantly decreased.
Not just because of the virus.
In fact, Ella’s computing power was sufficient.
But distance limited its binding power.
For example, going to a Star Country, thousands of light-years away, even with tachyon communication, a round trip would take one or two years.
The time difference caused the binding power to decrease geometrically.
This was true even for Star Country regions, let alone the Insect Star Kingdom.
Although the center of the Insect Star Kingdom was closer to the Civilization Federation than the Twenty-Eight Star States Alliance.
However, the territory of the Insect Star Kingdom was too vast.
Moreover, the Insect Star Kingdom mainly conducted genetic technology research, which meant Ella could not control the Insect Star Kingdom from a mechanical level.
The Devouring Zerg that later separated from the Insect Star Kingdom were as far as 20,000 light-years away, making them even harder to control.
Those Devouring Zerg currently outside the Claw Star Cluster were 7,500 light-years from the Civilization Federation, and tachyon communication would take 5 years for a round trip.
Furthermore, many Devouring Zerg had already weakened Human Civilization technology; their own internal technology reserves were very rich, for example, they also controlled the technology within the Claw Star Cluster, making them even harder for Ella to control.
Currently, Ella’s control over other Star Countries and forces belonging to Human Civilization actually came from the Civilization Federation’s strength.
However, those that were too far away, where the military could not reach, would always engage in behaviors that did not align with Human Civilization’s interests.
When they conquer more distant star regions through wormhole passages, perhaps control will return somewhat.
“Do you have a countermeasure?”
“Since the Claw Star Cluster is prepared, this war will likely be more difficult.”
The most important thing was not to get bogged down; it had to be a quick victory.
Perhaps the difficulty only increased by 10%, but the resources required would increase by 500% or 1000%.
Ella was always very confident.
“Of course.”
“There will always be conflicts within a Civilization group. I can use this and then, when their conflicts are deepest, deliver the decisive blow.”
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