If two species live as neighbors, it is clearly unrealistic for them to ignore each other entirely.
In the history of Old Earth’s humanity, there were far too many real-world cases where leaders would engage in normal dialogue even as their people fought to the death. The blood spilled by the Saracens once rose above the horses' hooves, and invaders would cut open the stomachs of the dead to scavenge for swallowed gold.
Yet, their descendants would still trade and interact.
The real world is always more helpless than a power-fantasy novel; the entire universe feels like a giant, makeshift stage.
It was the same for humans and the Zerg.
Before the armistice, these two malicious neighbors spent every waking moment studying each other, secretly building strength with the ultimate goal of "killing the other side one day." After the armistice, due to technological sharing, they were forced to hold their noses and establish localized cooperation.
The Time River was a quintessential product of this era.
It couldn't even be called a honeymoon period; at most, it was two races engaging in a clash of mutual deception while pursuing shared wealth, temporarily displacing their conflicts outside their respective habitable sectors.
After the extinction of the King Worms, the shared consciousness carried by biological units collapsed. No living entity could ever again bear such massive fragments of consciousness while simultaneously and precisely controlling the energy fields between nest planets.
In response, humans pulled out the Data Canopy.
Since biological ascension was no longer possible, everyone might as well achieve mechanical transcendence together.
Humans provided the matter, and the Zerg provided the technology. Refined Star Core energy, combined with the precise segmentation and anchoring of energy fields, used the Data Canopy as a carrier. Thus, the ruins of the collective consciousness and countless transit ports between star sectors were born.
Both sides engaged in a long, drawn-out squabble over the usage rights of this collaborative result. Every "port" was strictly brought under regulatory scope. The ruins of the collective consciousness were not something one could enter at will. Fearing that the boundary between life and death would be blurred, both races strictly forbade the uploading of a complete personality... or rather, a "Zergality." The Artificial Havana only accepted recorded fragments.
Immortality was achieved, but not entirely.
For a species, death is often a self-preservation mechanism. Biological entities use death to filter, eliminating faulty genes and continuing superior options, ensuring the species remains forever on the path of evolution.
The uploading and transcription of a complete personality involved too many moral, ethical, and legal issues, and it was too easy to pollute the Data Canopy. In a sense, humanity had planted a curse upon itself—a curse that "all life must eventually walk toward death."
In this process of "mutual enrichment," it was inevitable that humans and certain Zerg would cross paths.
Such intersections usually occurred between the high-ranking members of both sides—at the very least, among those groups holding the keys to core technological secrets.
Clark’s battleship was equipped with a Time River port. Such ports were generally anchored to fixed coordinates. The practice of setting up an independent path for a single vessel was enough to demonstrate the silver-grey female’s status among the Core Gene species.
Its behavior was so perfect it was nauseating; even the rhythm of its conversation possessed a distinctly human character. This was an effect that could not be achieved through simple mimicry of form or expression—the opponent truly understood the meaning behind these micro-expressions and could use them skillfully. Sakti couldn't help but wonder if it belonged to the faction of Zerg that maintained regular contact and exchange with humans.
Things were becoming intriguing.
A Core Gene Zerg with usage rights to a Time River port and an extreme understanding of human behavioral patterns also happened to control a "black coal kiln" that continuously produced Star Core energy.
Sakti needed to know where that mass-produced energy stone eventually flowed—to the Zerg, or to humans.
Sakti never underestimated the brutality of the Zerg, but he also never underestimated the greed of humans.
Tracing back through history, the Mapuz Academy of Sciences had once purchased humans on a large scale for illegal experiments to further expand xenogeneic contamination. These humans came from the black market, from exile planets, and from slum worlds.
During the Old Earth era, humans were packed into iron trains or ferries and transported as cargo. In the Space Age, iron trains and ferries evolved into smuggling ships, but the fact that humans were cargo remained unchanged.
It was a hellish joke of the New World.
If humans were replaced with the even more precious Star Core energy, one didn't need to think twice to know how much risk a smuggler would be willing to take—even to the point of backstabbing their own race—to conduct the trade.
Thus, faced with the silver-grey female’s method of controlling the conversational rhythm throughout, Sakti maintained his hypocritical smile and returned a look that said, "Then let's talk."
"You don't seem much like a Core Gene Zerg."
"Ah," the other side also offered a polite smile. The silver-grey female sat there in a posture that was both upright and leisurely. "Regarding that, I have heard some very interesting rumors. They say your Human Common Language is very fluent."
"Behavior can be faked, but details are hard to deceive. It is said that when you... argued with the natives of Ja, you would occasionally blurt out human language."
"Argued" was truly an overly euphemistic description.
The reality was that every time Sakti had a "friendly sparring session" with those burly female Zerg in Angon, once both sides got heated, it was easy to let out some "warm greetings" during the fight.
The black Core species had tried his best to avoid showing abnormal behavior, but the words he had occasionally blurted out by accident had now turned into a boomerang, striking him right in the head.
He wanted to pry a brick out of the opponent's wall, but the opponent had brought a sledgehammer to smash his foundation.
This made the Core species truly unwilling to delve into exactly what else this silver-grey psychopath had investigated.
The opponent's approach was simply irritating, like a spider weaving a web, wrapping the prey in those light, sticky threads, not letting a single corner go.
"So I thought, perhaps you would prefer me as I am now." There was no emotion in Clark's pale grey eyes.
"If I guessed wrong, then I apologize."
"However, my original form might scare your male, and it would likely make you feel pressured, which is contrary to my original intention."
"What do you want to talk about?"
Continuing to circle would only lead to being thoroughly scouted or being led by the nose until he couldn't recover. The black female Zerg finally stopped beating around the bush.
"As I said, let's talk about Angon, and talk about the energy star."
The opponent replied.
"Rather than what I want to talk about, why don't we first discuss your thoughts?"
"The energy star belongs to me, just as Angon belongs to me. I watched it being built; I watched Katra become the victor of the Great Sacrificial Arena."
"But Katra... was a bit too barbaric. He didn't seem like a clever Zerg, so I didn't spend much energy paying attention to him."
"And you," those eyes looked toward the black Core species, "you are rejecting me, just as you rejected those Armed species from entering Angon."
"You are unwilling to join the Armed species, and you don't want my subordinates interfering in the matters of the Great Sacrificial Arena. When we first met, your body language already showed enough resistance. Therefore, the key point of this conversation is not what I want to talk about, but you."
A quiet smile flickered in the pale grey pupils.
"What do you plan to do with Ja?"
"Do you want to give it freedom?"
What heart-piercing words; what a dangerous, life-threatening question.
One wrong move and his head would go flying.
"I am very interested in the future of Ja," Sakti said bluntly, "and at the same time, I am very dissatisfied with its current state."
The high-ranking Zerg sitting before him showed no signs of anger. Its mental stability was almost on par with the black female's; it showed no change in expression even when faced with an inferior's accusation.
Thus, Sakti discarded all flowery rhetoric and roundabout negotiation tactics.
"Ja should have been utilized better and more efficiently, but you failed to do that."
In the distance, the guarding Armed females all looked over because of these blunt words, seemingly wanting to twist off the head of this audacious offender.
But Clark’s demeanor remained steady.
"Tell me more. You have an opportunity to convince me to my face right now."
"The current Ja is just a black mine."
Sakti’s tail-whip swayed gently, beat by beat. "Even star charts won't mark its coordinates. You hide it away in a place that can't see the light, wasting a large number of Armed species to guard it long-term."
"Considering the unique nature of Star Core energy, I believe this approach brings in sufficiently large profits."
Clark smiled.
"How does the human saying go? Quietly reaping wealth. I like that expression very much."
"But it's unstable," the black female Zerg interrupted decisively. "You know what a Star Core energy mine represents. Other Core Gene groups know it, and so do the humans."
"Ja has no fixed port. Small-batch, low-grade energy stone trade can only rely on black market transport ships. For large-batch or special transactions, I guest you need to personally oversee them. Was your previous landing at the satellite base to handle Star Core energy issues?"
"This approach is actually laughable. Ja isn't on the charts, but those swarming black market traders can still easily lock onto its location... All traders know of its existence, yet no Zerg speaks of it, as ridiculous as a group of healthy Zerg collectively pretending to be blind."
"The so-called 'quietly reaping wealth' only adds difficulty to your own transaction process; it doesn't reduce the number of people in the know."
"Perhaps you are backed by a high-ranking group, and other Zerg don't dare to easily set foot on your private property—but if, and we both understand the nature of this race, the instinct for slaughter and struggle is written in our genes—once another Zerg wants to swallow this planet, a Ja without a port can only rely on those pitiful Armed teams stationed on the satellites for defense."
"Your fleet has to go through two or three jump points to reach Ja. Distance makes it impossible for your control to grasp every change here at all times. In fact, after the previous surface riots broke out for a long time, those Armed teams high up on the satellites only then took emergency suppression actions."
Clark looked at him peacefully.
"Your ambition is just like your eyes—when I saw the footage of you fighting Katra, it became hard for me to ignore the fact that an ambitious man had emerged on my planet."
"So, what do you want me to do, my victor?"
Sakti took a deep breath, feeling his eyelid twitching wildly.
Why was there such a thing as combat footage... It was as if his most embarrassing moment had been recorded, ready for public execution at any time.
Clark really knew how to mess with his head.
This forced him to take half a second to adjust himself before speaking again.
"Give me two Great Cosmic Cycles," he said, looking deep into the other's eyes. "I can turn the entirety of Ja into an impregnable fortress, and I can bring the trade routes right to Ja's doorstep."
"The loss during the distribution of low-to-mid-grade energy stones is massive; the profits they bring are actually pitifully low. When you regulate them, you can't ensure that your enforcement is effectively implemented on every low-grade transaction. If we can open up the entire production process of energy stone refining—if the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the entire industry are all consumed by you alone—you will reap an unimaginably vast volume of resources and wealth right on the spot."
"No Zerg, or human, will be able to touch your private property. Zerg who covet the Star Core energy will not be able to come within a single step of it."
Clark smiled.
"Among the Zerg who cannot come within a single step... does that include myself?"
It asked.
