Ever since Xiao Yu had left the Solar System over ten thousand years ago, one question had constantly perplexed him. What exactly was the true nature of the Milky Way? During this long journey, Xiao Yu had gained a general understanding of the galaxy’s structure, but it was still like viewing flowers through a fog, he couldn’t see clearly.

As a result, whatever he wanted to do always carried the risk of insufficient information. So despite the high price, he decided to purchase this encyclopedia-style document.

A full ten million tons of Swarm limbs were transferred from Xiao Yu’s fleet to the Molian Civilization. Upon receiving the document, Xiao Yu immediately archived it and copied it into his personal database for himself and the Luka scientists to consult.

“Do you wish to purchase anything else? We have some excellent items to recommend,” said the Molian being. “For example, scientists captured from a certain Level 4 Civilization, these individuals have deep expertise in various high-energy physics fields. As long as you offer them a bit of goodwill and a safe, comfortable environment, they’ll pledge absolute loyalty and work tirelessly to advance your civilization. And the price is cheap, the least expensive one is only five hundred thousand Transaction Points.”

After securing such a large deal, the Molian being seemed to be in high spirits and began enthusiastically promoting additional goods to Xiao Yu.

And Xiao Yu was indeed somewhat tempted. He had long been considering ways to expand the population of intelligent beings under his command. After all, the larger the population, the more talent such as scientists, would naturally emerge. Solely relying on the natural reproduction of the Luka people would take an unknown amount of time to reach a sufficient level. Moreover, a single civilization’s thought system could easily fall into cognitive blind spots.

“But… the scientists are too expensive. I still need to purchase additional technologies and intelligence reports. I’m not sure if my remaining resources are enough. I’ll need to plan carefully before making a decision.” With that in mind, Xiao Yu replied, “Thank you for your kind offer. I’ll give it careful consideration.”

Sensing Xiao Yu’s lack of eagerness, the Molian being quickly changed its pitch. “Perhaps you’re more interested in technological goods? For instance, tech that allows for up to forty times lightspeed travel within the framework of a Level 4 Civilization, or cheap methods of producing antimatter. They’re all quite affordable.”

This sudden enthusiasm from the Molian being made Xiao Yu feel slightly wary. “The items it’s recommending are all either endlessly resellable, like technologies or difficult to preserve long-term like intelligent lifeforms. I need to be cautious and not let a moment of impulse cause me to fall for its tricks.”

“I’ll need to consult with the elders of our civilization. If there are any purchase requests, I’ll let you know,” Xiao Yu said.

“Very well,” the Molian being replied in a tone of deep regret. “Then I won’t disturb you further. Farewell.”

“Farewell.”

After exchanging parting words, Xiao Yu quickly withdrew his full focus and convened a meeting of all Luka scientists stationed across the two fleet divisions.

Once all information from the initial transaction had been submitted, Xiao Yu asked, “What are your thoughts on this first trade? Also, do you have any suggestions for our future actions?”

“The transaction process was unusually smooth,” Luka Two was the first to speak. “Far smoother than we expected. But I believe we should not let our guard down. Based on the purchasing power we’ve shown so far, there’s a high chance we’ve been categorized as a ‘low-value’ civilization, that is, a civilization not worth the effort of plundering. If I were the one running this market, for a civilization like ours, I’d opt to trade fairly and then let them leave. That way, we might even do free advertising for them and draw in more customers.”

“I’m not well-versed in such schemes and political machinations,” said Luka Three, head of the Science and Technology Division. “But I think I understand your point. To summarize, what you mean is: if we reveal our true purchasing power in the future. Say, by exposing our supply of Alien Beast flesh, we might be upgraded to a ‘high-value’ civilization, and this Level 5 Civilization could potentially attempt to plunder us?”

“In simple terms, that’s exactly my view,” Luka Two nodded.

“I have no opinion to offer. Intelligence analysis is not my area of expertise,” Luka Four said, remaining silent.

“I believe we should take Lord two’s opinion seriously,” said another scientist from the Psychosocial Sciences Division as he stood up. “I noticed one fact, if they can so casually sell living intelligent beings as commodities, then we cannot expect them to possess even the most basic moral standards. If they could quietly eliminate us and take our resources without affecting the reputation of their market, why wouldn’t they?”

As the Luka scientists continued their intense discussion, Xiao Yu’s mind was also spinning rapidly, calculating and analyzing.

“You all make good points. We definitely cannot rely on the other party’s sense of morality to ensure our safety. That means we must consider a very realistic question: the power we have outwardly displayed. Namely, this fleet of fifty thousand warships, how much deterrent effect does it really have on them? And based on that level of deterrence, how much purchasing power can we safely display? These are the questions we need to think through.”

“Additionally, there is one fundamental point I want everyone to keep in mind. Our purpose here is not war or deception, but to obtain the things we need. If trading can get us what we want, then we trade. If war is the only option, then we go to war.”

“Now, I want all of you to compile a list of all the items we currently require. I will use that list to cautiously probe the Molian Civilization’s attitude toward us. If they choose war… then we choose war.”

During this time, Xiao Yu had used his own means to basically confirm one point: within this star system, the seemingly vast and numerous installations and bases were, in reality, largely operated by inefficient artificial intelligence. Which meant that the Molian Civilization was not nearly as powerful as it appeared on the surface.

In other words, if Xiao Yu unleashed his full power in a surprise assault, it wasn’t impossible that he could take this entire star system. But for now, Xiao Yu chose not to.

His reason for avoiding war had nothing to do with morality. It was based on a much more practical concern, he simply didn’t know enough about the Molian Civilization’s war methods or whether they were hiding their true strength. The risk was high, and the potential for loss too great. That was all.

Three days of continuous discussion later, the Luka scientists submitted a list to Xiao Yu, detailing all the technologies currently needed.

On the list were topics like anti-gravity technology, antimatter production, dark matter, how to increase curvature travel speed, the reason for the power ceiling of gravitational bombs, and why high-energy particle collisions produce mysterious mass increases, among others.

Among these, Xiao Yu had already partially mastered anti-gravity technology, as evidenced by his development of force field shields. But for reasons still unknown, his force field shields could block artificial gravity from gravitational bombs but could not counteract the natural gravity of massive celestial bodies. It was clear that some unexplained process was at play, but Xiao Yu hadn’t yet identified the cause.

After removing topics that could likely be solved in the short term and adding a few personal questions related to human civilization, the final list was complete.

The list consisted entirely of technology and intelligence-related items. Excluding the unpriced intelligence entries, Xiao Yu skimmed through the technology topics and arrived at a rather shocking conclusion.

To resolve everything on the list would require at least three billion Transaction Points.

“Three billion Transaction Points… that’s three billion tons of Swarm limbs… It’s obvious I can’t afford that. But… what if I factor in White Dwarf Alien Beast flesh?”

‘Hello, I have a new resource I’d like to submit. Please evaluate it for me,’ Xiao Yu sent the message after a moment of thought.

“We’re happy to assist. Please provide a sample of the resource… Understood, a ship has already been dispatched to collect it. One moment please… Hm? Such a high-grade Alien Beast material? May I ask how you obtained it? Ah, apologies, that’s your private matter. I shouldn’t have asked. After our evaluation, we can offer thirty Transaction Points per ton for this material.”

Thirty points per ton, a full thirty times the value of Swarm limbs. The price was clearly on the low end, but still within an acceptable range.

“Very well. In our upcoming transactions, I will use a mixed-payment model with these two materials. Now, please answer my question. In your civilization’s history, how much do you know about this species?”

As Xiao Yu spoke, he transmitted a genetic segment of a human.

But as he transmitted the genetic data, Xiao Yu suddenly sensed something strange, a peculiar data stream.

These data streams were silently slipping through the communication interface between Xiao Yu and the Molian Civilization, making their way toward Xiao Yu’s database.