Chapter 1309 - A Gamble (2/2)

The three Universal Civilizations had always been exploring the unknown areas of the universe; this wormhole report claimed to have discovered an unknown Universal Civilization, which would be an enormous threat if true.

In this respect, the three Universal Civilizations were very experienced. Once an outside enemy appeared, they had to carefully deal with internal conflicts. This was clearly not a good time to deal with the unbalance of individual strength.

Back then, there was not a lot of time for the three of them to discuss matters. In the end, they decided not to take the risk. They stopped their plan and chose to step back from the association. In turn, they spent tons of resources authenticating this wormhole report. They knew their priorities.

This set of wormhole data was one of the things EsGod had left behind. As EsGod had been sealed for many years, it had become an unimportant project long ago. However, with this astonishing discovery, it became a top-priority project. Its progress was directly monitored by the three Universal Civilizations’ leaders.

The final results were, although the conclusion of this wormhole report was slightly exaggerated, the data was completely legit. An unknown advanced civilization was indeed discovered, only it was not confirmed to be a Universal Civilization.

If it was true… this would be a priceless ‘exaggerated’ conclusion. Marbruce knocked the table and slowly said, “The priority now is to collect information about this unknown civilization and confirm their strength, societal structure, attitude toward outsiders, and so on. Everything else can be put aside for now.”

Louis and the pope nodded.

The three Universal Civilizations had a strategic plan for this kind of situation. No way were they going to directly make contact or start a war. Once they discovered an advanced civilization in the unexplored universe, their top priority was to carefully collect intelligence without exposing their presence. Afterward, only then would they choose different approaches depending on the strength, culture, and many other factors of this civilization.

Although the explored universe had entered the galactic society era, from the entire unexplored universe’s perspective, it was still in the ‘exploration era’. Discovering the enemy before being discovered was an enormous advantage, so of course, they were going to use it to its fullest potential. “Don’t forget to carry out measures against all possible scenarios before exploring further,” the pope said.

“I know.” Marbruce nodded.

The measures the three of them were speaking of were mainly preparing for war, as well as preparing to send strategic annihilation weapons toward this unknown civilization’s territory through the wormhole. In extreme situations, they would not mind directly destroying its territory, turning it into a desolate universe belt, wiping out all lives of this unknown civilization, not showing any mercy at all.

“This matter is extremely important. If a war really breaks out, the Beyond Grade A Association will be a powerful force too. Should we tell them about it now?”

Louis brought up this sensitive question and asked the two of them for their opinions.

Though the existence of Beyond Grade As threatened their rule, they were also a powerful force against outside enemies. Since the situation had changed, their mindset changed too. There was no such thing as an eternal enemy in their eyes.

The pope pondered for a moment, waved, and expressed his opinion.

“Let’s just be cautious. We haven’t figured out the state of this unknown civilization; there’s no need to tell it to the association now. Think about it. If we can coexist with this unknown civilization that happens to be a Universal Civilization, once they take in the galactic society system, the association will have another choice of becoming allies with them, which will impact the structure of the galaxy… We can’t guarantee the association’s loyalty, so we should keep it a secret for the time being.”

“Make sense.” Marbruce nodded. “Let’s not announce this publicly for now. We’ll secretly investigate the situation, then consider whether or not to publicize it depending on the situation. It won’t be too late to tell the association about it when we need their help.”

From the way the three of them looked at it, there was clearly no need to immediately tell the other organizations about this for now. They were all unstable factors, and who knew what trouble they would cause?

“Since that’s the case, let’s put aside our conflict with the association first,” Louis suggested. “Calm these Beyond Grade As down, don’t let them cause any trouble, and make peace with them temporarily… This is their goal too. Find a reason to agree with their goal, relay our intention of stopping the conflict, and make the association think we decided to compromise.”

The other two nodded in agreement. Although they could not deal with the association, as long as the Beyond Grade As did not cause troubles, it was enough for them.

At this time, Marbruce suddenly thought of something

If I remember correctly, Black Star has this set of wormhole data left behind by EsGod too. I seem to recall he even specifically asked the dynasty about our progress of studying this set of data…

Now that I think about it, does Black Star know something?

As this thought flashed past his mind, Marbruce shook his head.

He felt the possibility of this was very limited. Compared to asking Black Star, it was better to obtain intelligence through investigating themselves.

Furthermore, they had just agreed not to leak this secret to the outside world. Therefore, even if Black Star might know something about it, he did not plan to ask him. After all, Black Star was the leader of the organization opposing the three Universal Civilizations for now, so they were no longer allies.

In a certain Black Star Army base, an enormous star map hovered in the room. On it were marks of the movements of the three Universal Civilizations’ various armies, drawing out many arrows.

Han Xiao stood before the star map and carefully looked at it.

Quite some days had already passed since the three Universal Civilizations retreated from the Mechanical Race territory. In the past few days, the three Universal Civilizations’ armies’ movements had been very abnormal. Originally, they were stationed at the various Star Fields, prepared to deal with the Beyond Grade A Association at any time. However, now, they were all recalled back to the Central Galaxy, as if they had no intention of starting a war at all.

If that was all, he would not be so troubled. The weirdest part was that the three Universal Civilizations had remained silent all this time, neither making any announcement nor contacting him to relay their intentions. It was extremely odd, as if they had no time to deal with him.

He had been trying to find out what was going on behind the curtains. However, the three Universal Civilizations kept their secret extremely well hidden this time, and he did not discover anything at all. “Did I really guess right?” Han Xiao murmured.

What could make the three Universal Civilizations change their decision last minute?

At this point in time, there were not many possible scenarios. However, the butterfly effects he caused had changed countless things. One of them was that EsGod had given the dynasty the key toward the World Tree Civilization’s territory long ago, which was an unstable factor.

From his perspective, the most likely situation was that the three Universal Civilizations had discovered the World Tree Civilization. Due to the existence of an external enemy, the three Universal Civilizations retreated so quickly without any warning.

“If that’s really the case, the three Universal Civilizations will definitely investigate the wormhole thoroughly. They might tell me about it, but they might also keep it a secret… Given the three Universal Civilizations’ way of doing things and my current position, the latter is more likely.”

Han Xiao frowned, bit his nails, and did not feel good about this.

If the three Universal Civilizations chose to keep it a secret and secretly explored further, given how ignorant they were about the World Tree Civilization, the risk of them being exposed was extremely high. If making contact was already unavoidably brought forward, him continuing to hide the information about the World Tree would increase the risks. Now might be the best time to share what he knew.

However, he might have guessed wrong. If the three Universal Civilizations retreated not because they discovered the World Tree Civilization, it would be horrible.

“So, this is a gamble. It all depends on whether I’m willing to take the risk…”

Han Xiao’s expression changed rapidly.

Di di di…

At this time, his communicator rang.

He took it out. It was surprisingly a call from a dynasty emissary.

“Greetings, Your Excellency Black Star.”

As soon as the communication was picked up, the dynasty emissary nodded in a friendly way, looking quite respectful.

Han Xiao sized him up and cut to the chase. “Finally decided to explain what you guys did?”

“That’s humorous of you. I’m here to negotiate with you on behalf of the three Universal Civilizations this time. We are willing to accept the association’s proposal. We will allow you to restrain the Virtual Mutiny Virus technology on your own…”

The dynasty emissary said a ton of things. At its core, what he meant was that the three Universal Civilizations were willing to take a step back. They no longer required Manison to submit the virus technology and trusted the association’s integrity, allowing it to control this kind of high-risk technology. In short, they would no longer interfere.

“Oh?” Han Xiao raised his brows. “Since you guys have accepted that the association’s promise is effective, you’re recognizing the association’s correctness. What about the trade laws against the association?”

“They won’t be removed for the time being, but it can be discussed.” The dynasty emissary smiled.

Looking at his emotionless smile, Han Xiao acutely sensed the strange attitude of the three Universal Civilizations. He was filled with conflict.

His intuition felt stronger. He felt he might really have guessed the truth.

After a few seconds of silence, Han Xiao took a deep breath.

I’ll take the bet!

As he made up his mind, Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and slowly said, “I’ve received your message. Please relay this message to Marbruce.”

“What is it?”

“… From how strangely you guys are acting, it looks like you guys have finally deciphered the wormhole data left by EsGod, right?”